It's a fine day outside Hope's Peak Academy.

I am Hayato Tachibana, the Ultimate Forensic Psychologist.

I don't see it as a very special talent. Anyone could be good at detective work, but no one can hit bulls-eyes every time he or she shot an arrow.

The fact that Hope's Peak doesn't have a uniform surprises me a bit. Right now, I'm just wearing a black, unbuttoned tuxedo with a white shirt and a blue tie. My hair isn't even combed well.

This school's supposed to be for the best of the best in certain fields. I've heard of the Ultimate Etymologist, Ultimate Manga Artist, Ultimate Politician... Even Ultimate Occultist.

But me, I'm just a guy who's good at deduction. There's nothing wrong with that.

I step into Hope's Peak Academy.

The lights go out.

I start to feel dizzy.

I can't see where I'm going at all.

Suddenly, I trip on something. A wire, maybe? I hope not. I fall.

>>[]<<

I wake up.

I was inside the main hall, where I'm supposed to be.

I see a note beside me.

Come to the gym right away!

You might get in trouble!

-The Ultimate Libero

"The Ultimate Libero"? I know that's a position in volleyball, but...

Oh, I have to go to the gym.

I run as fast as I can. I spot a bright, brown door with a glass pane, and I can tell that there are definitely people inside.

I open the door, close it, and rush to the small crowd of other students.

"Oh, that makes for the sixteenth person," says a girl beside me. "I'm Ikeru Fujisato, the Ultimate Libero."

So that's the Ultimate Libero.

Ikeru's already signed up for the Olympic cadets in volleyball. She's barely lost any games, except for maybe a few neighborhood games when she was younger.

Ikeru had her black hair tied into a ponytail. She was wearing a dominantly dark blue seifuku with a red collar and red neckerchief.

"Oh, hi!" I reply. "I'm Hayato Tachibana, the Ultimate Forensic Psychologist. Not much of a talent, really, but I'm at least happy to be here."

"Happy?" snaps a blond boy. "How could you be happy? There's clearly something wrong around here! And you're supposed to be the Ultimate Psychologist?"

"Ultimate Forensic Psychologist," corrects the tall guy near me.

"Uh, Riku, you might wanna calm down if there's something wrong," responds another girl. "Hayato, didn't you notice the boarded-up windows in the hall?"

The blond guy, apparently named Riku, looks a bit young for a high school boy. He's wearing a green polo and cargo shorts.

"I was rushing a bit to come here, since Ikeru sent me this note telling me to hurry up here. So, yeah, I didn't really take the time to look around."

"Oh, I'm sorry about that," Ikeru apologizes.

"It's fine," I reply. "Anyway, since stuff's clearly weird around here, can't we assume we're all complete?"

"Maybe," replies another girl beside Riku. "Why?"

"I thought we could stop to introduce ourselves to one another while we wait, y'know?"

"That's a good idea," replies Ikeru.

"Just state your name and talent, as well brief background information. I don't appreciate precious time wasted," adds the girl beside Riku. "Who's first?"

"Me," says the person to my left. He was a tall brown-haired boy with blue eyes and steel rectangular glasses. He was wearing a brown trench coat with black buttons on top of a white polo with a black necktie, and finally, black slacks and leather shoes.

"I'm Yuuki Izumida, the Ultimate Journalist. Often, people say that even I, a regular 17-year old from Japan, write better newspaper articles for, say, The Tokyo Daily or The New York Times; I don't blame them for that. After all, this is a world filled with lies, myths, and misconceptions, and yet it was the journalists from the past and present who were themselves ones who started such an issue in the first place."

"Say, I am curious. Have you ever started your own newspaper agency?" asks one of the girls.

"I have considered it, but it's hard when you're working for multiple at once!" Yuuki says with a smirk. "Who's next?"

"I am Nitoru Tetsushima, the Ultimate Roboticist," says the next person. He has very messy, dark gray hair. He's wearing a black collared shirt with some keycard-ID hanging from a lanyard and jeans.

"Many people nowadays believe that programming is either complicated or a joke. And yet, they all have an undying love for robots, humanity's future. I live to revolutionize the world of technology. And I believe that someday in about a decade... Robots will take over humanity!"

"I'm the Ultimate Manga Artist, Natsuki Aniyama."

Her hair is short and pink. She's wearing a white seifuku with a cyan collar and dark red neckerchief. Not to mention, her cyan mini-skirt makes me want to puke.

I've read a few manga drawn by her, like The Calling of Tsuruya or My Heart Goes Doki Doki!. Nowadays, she draws for her fans.

"I illustrated Yamiko the Hitwoman, Kenichi Katana, and a few others. I drew manga style art as a hobby until some of my friends encouraged me to start my own webseries... Wait, am I wasting too much time with myself! I'm terribly sorry!"

"There's no need to apologize, Aniyama," says the same girl.

"My name is Takeshi Ogata, the Ultimate Guitarist."

He's got spiky, silver hair and green eyes. He's wearing a black jacket and a white band tee, as well as black denims and red sneakers.

He's done many hit performances, solo or with a group, all with his guitar.

"If ya know the band Silver Stone, we used to be a regular light music club 'till our school popularized our music and we made some fresh moola out of it."

"Please, I discourage you from using slang terms; not everybody here is familiar with them," says the next girl. "Anyway, allow me to formally introduce myself. I am Katsumi Kurosahi, the Ultimate Etymologist."

She's done a good job on the formal part...

She's in a ponytail like Ikeru and has black hair like Ikeru. She's wearing thick, black glasses over her red eyes. She's wearing a long white scarf, a black blazer, a white shirt and a red necktie. Not to mention, her black skirt and short white stockings.

"Coming from a family of various Europeans and Japanese alike, I had to learn several languages in order to cope up with all of my relatives. As a result, I found numerous connections and similarities between them. Eventually, my interest for learning languages and studying word roots sparked; I couldn't stop. Now, I am the proud creator and origin of thousands of words and speaker of hundreds of languages — though, I daresay that's just an exaggeration."

"I'm Riku Aoki, the Ultimate Fisherman. Don't judge."

I've never heard of Riku before, but it shouldn't surprise me. All of these people are world-famous, but it seems that Riku's small town talk for his excellent fishing skill, and I'm no different.

"My small fishing village commends me for the amount of different fish species I've caught, as well as their masses and number, though I believe it's no big deal, really."

"I'm the Ultimate Weightlifter, Chikara Daisho!"

He had black hair with yellow dyed tips almost spiking down to a pompadour, wearing a black jacket, a yellow shirt, a short blue scarf, and black slacks. If I were to estimate his height, he's be half my height, surprisingly, not to mention his voice sounds much lighter than I'd expect from a professional weightlifter.

Rumors are, he can lift a 2-ton truck. Or at the very least, he can lift a 1-ton truck. His title explains it all.

"Well? Am I shorter than I look? I'm Chikara Daisho! I bet I can lift y'all even if you were bunched up together using chains!"

"Have you been reading the side novel of My Heart goes Doki Doki! called Doki Doki Lift Club? You remind me of one of the characters there... Ooh, just wish I didn't have such a bad memory, though!" says Natsuki.

"Next," says Yuuki.

"I am Hirohito Demegawa, the Ultimate Politician! I am a hundred-percent sure all of you know me, no explanation needed!"

Hirohito was a redhead wearing a gray vest, a white long-sleeved shirt, a red necktie, and black slacks.

He's the son of Mikami Demegawa, the current Japanese prime minister. Often I hear on the news that his son helps him with his political actions, and half of them turn out to be really great - and I say half, because politicians aren't the best people nowadays.

"I am Yuri Wakabayashi, the Ultimate Biologist."

She had black bangs going to the right and long hair. She's wearing a brown blazer and a white shirt with a blue bow tie, as well as a black skirt. It's also worth noting that she has a few bandages wrapped on her right leg.

"I discovered a new species of toad last week," she states. "I also found a new string of rhinovirus being spread about a year ago, but it's not that much of a deal as of now since it's just common cold..."

Nuff said for an Ultimate Biologist.

"I'm the Ultimate Pyrotechnician, Hikari Himura!"

He's the Ultimate Pyrotechnician?

Hikari had spiky hair raised to the top, red at the base and yellow going up. He was wearing a purple bow tie, a white shirt, and an orange suit.

"You should thank me for the amazing and beautiful fireworks displays that I set up every New Year's Eve. It's not just about the timing or location of the firework guns, but also the colour and shape of such masterpieces."

"I am Phoebe Washimura, the Ultimate Lucky Student. Although, the school did joke about me being the Ultimate Irony once. I don't understand, but I'll let it slide."

I know for a fact that Hope's Peak Academy chooses a random lucky student through a lottery every year. That must mean Phoebe.

And, I do get one reason why she's the Ultimate Irony: her white hoodie has the text, "I HATE HOODIES".

"I am Kodo Nagashiba, the Ultimate Cryptographer!"

He has short, dark yellow hair and blue eyes. He's wearing a dark green jacket over a black shirt, as well as jeans I'm starting to get sick of.

He's managed to decrypt many old writings on many old artifacts throughout the world. It's also said that he's been trying to decode the Zodiac killer's message.

"I am the Ultimate Voice Actor, Reiko Shibuya!" the next person says, perfectly imitating Natsuki's voice. It's hard to tell if this person's a man or a woman. But regardless, he or perhaps she had messy, dark cyan-green hair, and wore a white polo with a cobalt blue necktie as well as black slacks. "I voice acted in many video games and films. I copy voices the exact way people want me to," he/she continues in Yuuki's voice.

"I didn't give you permission," responds Yuuki.

"My name is Kudoko Toya, and I'm the Ultimate Archer!"

She had short, hot pink hair with square-cut bangs. She wore a gray, sleeveless jacket over a light green turtleneck sweater and a green knee-length skirt. On her back was a large bow and quiver, and on her left wrist was wrapped bandages.

"I shoot bullseyes whenever I'm paired with my bow! No wind or obstacle or moving mechanism can stop me from hitting the dead center of my target!"

"And finally, I am Ikeru Fujisato, the Ultimate Libero! I'm a world-class volleyball player. I'm really skilled at it, I guess, but that's it. I'm not that special, I don't think..."

"I think that's all," says Riku. "What now?"

"I think we should wait," replies Yuuki. "After all, there's nothing else we can-"

A small bear, half white and half black suddenly jumps up from the stage.

"What the hell?" reacts Riku.

"It's just a regular stuffed teddy bear!" declares Chikara. "I could lift it with a strand of my hair!"

"I am not a teddy bear or stuffed toy," says the bear. "I am Monokuma!"