Our protagonist, Kaede Akamatsu, wakes up wearing a regular school uniform in an empty classroom, along with Shuichi Saihara. They both remember being kidnapped by men with vans but are confused as to where they are and why they were inside lockers. Their pondering is cut short by a raging mecha chasing them to the gym where 14 other students are gathering. The students are panicked and confused, with the exception of Rantaro Amami, who seems unusually calm. The five mechas, known as Exisals, turn out to be piloted by five Monokuma Cubs (Monotaro, Monophanie, Monodam, Monosuke and Monokid) who ask whether the students remember their talents. When they say no, the Cubs discuss that the mind-altering procedure is not correctly done and they haven't received their first memories yet, and blame something called the "Ultimate Hunt". Kaede seems to recognize the term "Monokuma" but is cut off before any details can be revealed. The Monokuma Cubs decide to give the students their signature clothes before using a "Flashback Light" to make them remember their talents, and the prologue restarts.
The events are then replayed, with no one recalling their initial encounters and with no idea of what a Monokuma is or any knowledge of being kidnapped. This time Kaede is more confident in who she is and goes around introducing herself as the Ultimate Pianist to everyone else, who are also wearing new clothes and claiming they are Ultimate students, with the exception of Rantaro, who cannot remember his talent. Kaede makes her way out of the main school building, only to find that the entire area is inside a huge cage. The Cubs gather everyone in the gym, where we are introduced to Monokuma, their so-called father, who claims to be the headmaster of the Ultimate Academy for Gifted Juveniles. Monokuma introduces the killing game, where one must commit murder without being found out in a class trial to escape, encourages the students to kill, then leaves them to it.
After Monokuma leaves, the students enter an underground area that Gonta Gokuharanote found that the students believe could possibly let them escape the dome. They find a path called the "Death Road of Despair", a gauntlet that exhausts and hurts those who take it, and after many attempts everyone gives up, most of them blaming Kaede for pushing them so hard to get through, although some such as Kaito Momotanote stand up for her.
The next day everyone gathers in the cafeteria. Kokichi Omanote blames the others for bullying Kaede, inciting more argument. Depressed and blaming herself, Kaede retreats to her room for the rest of the day. Later, Monokuma returns, now with a motive to murder - whoever murders first will be allowed to graduate with no class trial. After giving the motive, Kaito snaps at Monokuma, claiming that no-one would be willing to commit murder. Monokuma allows Monotaro to use his Exisal to make an example of Kaito, but he fails and accidentally crushes Monokuma. Believing that Monokuma is dead, the students celebrate.
Later, Shuichi Saiharanote comes to find Kaede, saying he wants to show her something. He shows her a hidden door he found in the library which is opened by a keycard, and proves the card slider has been used with his detective skills. The next day comes fast, and Monokuma reappears, showing that he has as many copies of his body that he needs, and gives them an additional motive: If no murder is committed before two days are up, the school will be flooded with Monokumas, killing everybody. Rantaro asks if anyone remembers the 'Ultimate Hunt', but no-one knows what he's talking about.
Back with Shuichi, he suspects that the one who controls Monokuma, the Mastermind, is one of the students. He also notes that the wording of the rules means that the Mastermind would need to give the order to create the Monokuma army from somewhere inside the school, and tries to build a trap in order to catch the Mastermind while they enter the secret room to do so. He asks Kaede to help him, and the pair convince Miu Irumanote to build motion-activated cameras and an alarm system in her newly-opened Research Lab, which is a tailor-made workshop.
On the final day of the time limit, Rantaro claims that he has a plan to capture the mastermind before heading off on his own. Kaede and Shuichi set up their trap in the library before moving to a room upstairs. Shuichi reveals his backstory, where he solved a murder case before the police did and gained his Ultimate title as a result. However, seeing the hateful eyes of the culprit disturbed him so much that he wears a hat to avoid eye contact, and learning the culprit's backstory leads him to fear revealing the truth. Kaede reassures him that he was only doing what a detective was meant to do.
They see multiple students walking past their room towards the basement. Soon after, the alarm rings. When they arrive at the library, they discover the hidden door swinging shut and Rantaro dead. After everyone arrives, Monokuma asks the culprit to step forwards, however, no-one claims the kill, so the students progress to a class trial anyway. Kaede accuses Tsumugi Shiroganenote of possibly using her cosplay ability to disguise herself as the other students, but Tsumugi proves that this is impossible as she is allergic to cosplaying real people, coming out in a rash from wearing Kaede's clothes.
The trial soon begins soon after. Shuichi is quiet and nervous throughout the trial, and eventually everyone gangs up against Shuichi because all of the evidence points to him. Too quiet to defend himself, Shuichi is defended by Kaede, who lies for him. After Kaede successfully manages to clear Shuichi’s name with the assistance of Kiibonote , Kaito, Gonta and Kirumi Tojonote , everyone begins to panic due to not knowing who could’ve committed the crime. Surprisingly, Kaede then claims she’s known the culprit all along and reveals herself as an Unreliable Narrator, after which Shuichi, who had been silent due to knowing who the true culprit is and being too afraid to say it, takes over the case to reveal the true killer - Kaede herself, the only one who could have set up the trap used to kill Rantaro. She decided to not come forwards as the culprit because she wanted to atone for killing a friend, and didn't want to leave the others behind. Additionally, she wanted to help Shuichi with his fear, as well as attempt to find the Mastermind in the class trial.
Kaede is voted the culprit and Kaito, Gonta and Tenko Chabashiranote , refusing to believe she really wanted to kill someone, try to defend her against Monokuma only for Kaede to willingly allow herself to be executed, entrusting her hope to the rest of the cast. Monodam uses Kaede's execution to murder Monokid. After the execution, Kaito starts yelling at Shuichi for breaking down as he is the one Kaede entrusted her will to, and punches him before telling him to come to Kaede's Research Lab, a music room, and grieve properly. Here, Shuichi sees her piano and remembers that she told him to not fear the truth.
In the outside world, we see a memorial taking place for Kaede, with people saying she died in an accident while running away from "those guys". We also see Gonta discovering strange letters written on the ground- 'horse a'.
Shuichi, the new player character, is woken up by Kaito, who takes him to the cafeteria. Shuichi has stopped wearing his hat, having confronted his fear of eye contact. In the cafeteria, the Monokubs give the students a collection of items which must be used to open up new areas, including several Research Labs; Maki Harukawanote refuses to let the others inside hers, which the others find very suspicious. The students find another Flashback Light and activate it in the gym, recalling memories of themselves running from the Ultimate Hunt. In order to save themselves, each one of them erased their memories of their talents; however, no one can remember any more details. Shuichi tries to force himself to remember, and recalls a cryptic memory of himself with the memory erasing device, saying "I... don't really want to live. I want to die... like everyone else". Everyone laments about not asking Rantaro about the Ultimate Hunt before he died.
The Monokubs drop off the next motive in everyone's room - a video showing what has become of each student's loved ones- but Monotaro accidentally mixes them up and most of the students are given another student's video. Shuichi is given Kaito's video, revealing that Monokuma is holding his grandparents hostage. The students decide that if everyone has someone else's video, there is no motive for murder - however, Miu, Ryoma Hoshinote and Kokichi want the videos returned to the correct owners. Ryoma reveals that he is deeply depressed and feels he has nothing to live for, and therefore wants his video as it would give him an incentive to live. Kokichi reveals that the reason he tries to stop people from cooperating is that people being optimistic and cooperating makes Monokuma far more likely to mess with everyone. Kirumi reprimands him for causing chaos and uses her talent to help the other students, acting as a maid for everyone. Kokichi leaves, but asks Gonta to come with him.
This evening, Kiato summons Shuichi and insists on doing astronaut training with him, and talks to him about Kaede. Seeing as Kaede entrusted her will to Shuichi, Kaito decides to take him under his wing and guide Shuichi into becoming a man worthy of her will. This evening training becomes a regular event.
The next day, Angie Yonaganote has managed to convert Himiko Yumenonote to her religion, prompting Tenko, who is protective of Himiko, to call her a brainwasher. Angie has decided to show everyone that living in the school forever is the best choice, and in order to show them how great their lives can be, has teamed up with Himiko to put on a magic show. Later, Gonta starts rounding everyone up for an unknown reason, although several students- Ryoma, Maki and Miu- evade him, and Kirumi is allowed to leave because she is busy. Gonta brings everyone to his Lab, where we find out that Kokichi lied to Gonta that everyone hated insects, so he would capture everyone and Kokichi could steal their motive videos. Kiibo is able to use his recording features to convince Gonta that Kokichi was lying, and the motive videos are retrieved and returned to their owners, but not before Kokichi watches them.
The next day, Himiko and Angie's magic show occurs. Himiko's trick is escaping from a tank of water before piranhas are dropped in with her. The trick seemingly fails and the other students panic for Himiko's safety. The piranhas are dropped, the curtain is pulled, and Ryoma is found dead inside the tank before he's devoured by the piranhas. Afterward, Himiko reappears, making her one of the primary suspects.
The students start investigating, questioning how Ryoma's corpse could have wound up in the water tank. Himiko refuses to reveal how she did her trick, insisting that it was real magic. Inside Ryoma's Research Lab, within the door that he claimed was a shower room, there's a second research room for his secondary title, the Ultimate Prisoner. Determining that Ryoma was drowned in the cellblock's sink, Shuichi is still blanking on the real culprit.
The trial begins with Shuichi still doubting his investigation. As it goes on, Himiko is initially suspected and Kokichi goes after her to remove her as an obvious suspect, prompting Tenko to defend her. Tenko declares that she will always trust Himiko, even when Angie suspects her, causing Himiko to warm up to Tenko. Shuichi is able to defend Himiko by revealing the trick behind her stunt, clearing her name.
The trial moves into a debate between the only suspects, Maki and Kaito, where Kaito declares that he trusts Maki and doesn't believe either of them did it. Maki then reveals crucial information she was hiding to avoid suspicion - that Ryoma was killed at a different time frame than everyone expected. After a long and tough battle, Shuichi begrudgingly accuses Kirumi of the murder as she was the only one able to set up the mechanism that moved the body. Kirumi gives her backstory and explains that she was the only one given her original motive video. She turns out to be the prime minister of Japan, despite officially being the personal assistant to a fake one, who fights against a calamity rampaging around the world. Believing the contents of the video and pushed by her love for the people, she was determined to escape no matter what. She approached Ryoma about the plan, and in a moment of weakness, Ryoma allowed her to kill him by turning his back to her because in his video, which Maki received and later gave back to him, he was shown that nobody in the outside world cared for him, giving him nothing to live for.
With Kirumi about to be executed, multiple students ask to be executed in her place, believing that she needs to live in order to help her people. Shuichi is once again horrified that exposing the truth had caused tragedy. Kirumi riles up everyone to revolt against Monokuma for her sake while she escapes. However, Kokichi sees through her attempt, and she runs away with no cover. She refuses to give up on her will of living and tries to flee her execution, but that doesn’t stop Monokuma, who executes her painfully anyway. Monodam uses this execution to murder Monosuke.
The loss of the reliable maid shatters the students' morale, but Kokichi is still suspicious of Maki's involvement in the case. He prods Maki that he had seen her video and she, no longer able to control her rage, attempts to strangle Kokichi in front of everyone. Kokichi accuses Maki of arranging Ryoma's death because Ryoma had discovered what Kokichi later saw in Maki's video: that Maki is actually the Ultimate Assassin.
The introduction screen to the chapter is a news show in the outside world. It shows images of a huge meteor shower.
Pressured by everyone, Maki retreats to her room, and without her presence, the others enter her Research Lab, which confirms Kokichi's accusations. Everyone is frightened by the fact that a confirmed murderer is among them, but there's still a more important issue. Kirumi's recollection about the situation in the outside world and their own returning memories make the students question just what is going on outside the Ultimate Academy. Monodam, Monotaro and Monophanie pull a coup on Monokuma, ousting him as the boss of the killing game. In the meantime, a new floor opens up, revealing Korekiyo Shingujinote and Angie's Research Labs, and Iruma does some maintenance on Kiibo. They also find a computer room, which contains a device that runs the Neo World Program. Another Flashback Light is found, and everyone besides Maki uses it to see an image of a group funeral for the 16 characters. Kaito begins bringing Maki to his and Shuichi's evening training, and the message Gonta found has more letters added to it, but not enough to form a coherent sentence.
Angie comforts the despairing students with the conformity of her religion and decides that they should just live inside the school in harmony. Angie forms a Student Council consisting of Himiko, Tenko, Tsumugi, Gonta and Kiibo, who start setting rules for everyone despite opposition from the rest of the students. Tensions rise as people begin arguing, with many of the students outside the Council feeling that the Council are oppressive and cult-like.
Monodam appears and presents the new motive - one of the 4 dead students will be revived and added as a transfer student using a book from Korekiyo's lab. Korekiyo insists that reviving the dead is impossible, but Angie and her cult decide to try it out. Using her skills as both an artist and religious fanatic, Angie easily makes wax sculptures of everyone who died and plans on reviving Rantaro with the ritual provided. She chose Rantaro to be resurrected because he was the only one who had not killed anyone, and therefore was the most likely to keep the school's harmony. Tenko reveals to Maki and Shuichi that she only joined the Council because she's afraid of Angie's influence and fears for Himiko's safety, and pleads with them to try help her convince Angie not to attempt the ritual. The trio talk to Angie, but fail to convince her. They decide to try to convince her again the next morning, but find Himiko outside Angie's lab, worrying that Angie won't come out no matter how many times she knocked. Kokichi picks the lock on the door, and the group find Angie dead among the wax sculptures of their fallen friends.
Kaito, who has a phobia of ghosts and the supernatural, is terrified by the occult aspects of the case and claims that he is too sick to investigate, with Maki taking his place as Shuichi's sidekick for investigating the murder. Panicking that another murder has happened, the students accept Korekiyo's idea to go through with a spirit communication ritual to ask Angie's spirit who had murdered her. The original group is Korekiyo, Himiko, Kiibo, Tenko and Kokichi, but the group decides that a robot is not a good choice for a seance and replace him with Shuichi. Himiko volunteers to be the medium, but Tenko convinces her to take her place so that Himiko can talk to her dead friend. Tenko then tells Himiko that she doesn't have to contain her feelings, and that if she wants to cry, she should cry as hard as she can. Tenko then puts herself inside the cage as the ritual demands, with Korekiyo, Himiko, Kokichi, and Shuichi surrounding the cage and singing the ritual's chant in darkness. A loud sound is heard in the middle of the ritual and Tenko is found dead inside the cage, with Himiko collapsing in shock when they find her.
With two murders happening and no clue who committed them, Monokuma takes back control from the Monokubs and announces that if there are two murders with different culprits, only the first body to be discovered is counted, and the second culprit would go free. The trial begins but the discussion is stuck after solving Angie's locked room trick. Kokichi mocks Himiko, who is upset that no one is talking about Tenko's case. He tells her it is not only irrelevant towards capturing the culprit, it is also set up to look like a suicide. Encouraged to prove him wrong, Himiko then turns the discussion into the method of Tenko's death, and the debate is concluded with Korekiyo's guilt not only for Tenko's death but also Angie's death, who had caught him setting up the trap that killed Tenko.
Korekiyo breaks under the pressure, revealing that he is possessed by his dead sister, who is something akin to a split personality. He admits that he had never believed the ritual would work and only did it for his own motive independent from Monokuma's; that he wants to send 100 'admirable friends' to be with his dead sister, with whom he had previously been in a sexual relationship. Korekiyo is executed, with Monodam killing himself in the process. Emotionally exhausted from the loss of her two friends, Himiko cries herself to sleep in the middle of the courtroom. Meanwhile, Kaito hides from everyone the fact that his sickness is not because of his fear of ghosts but because he's already dying, muttering over and over that he's not going to die inside the academy.
The chapter starts with a video of Rantaro speaking to an unknown audience. He references the most important rule of the killing game: the game will only end in two circumstances- if someone commits a murder and gets away with it, or if the killings proceed until there are only two students left. He also tells the audience to remember that they had wished for this killing game. Meanwhile, Kokichi is talking with Monokuma about making the game more interesting by asking the mascot’s favor. Monokuma agrees with his plan.
At the morning meeting, the memory given to them by Monokuma is about the calamity that had befallen the outside world: asteroid rain and general chaos have severely damaged society. There was an attempt to save humanity called the Gofer Project, but for some reason it failed and as the result the students were locked inside the Ultimate Academy. A new floor opens up, revealing new Research Labs- Shuichi's, Tsumugi's, and a locked door. Gonta gathers everyone so he can inform them of his plan- he wants to fight the remaining Exisals so the students can escape the school. Everyone dissuades him and Miu claims she already had a plan for escaping. The students let Miu reveal her plan, which is to escape to another world without Monokuma and the killing game. It turns out, Miu had modified the virtual world into a world where there’s nothing that can cause violence. Monokuma adds that there's a clue to the outside world in the virtual world, and those who dislike the idea of fleeing to the virtual world are convinced to at least try finding the clue, with all the students willingly entering the new world.
The world turns out to be very small and limited, so they just focus on finding the clue. The group splits into two, with one group searching the main mansion and the other searching the nearby chapel. Miu knocks the signboard they used to cross the river into the water, leaving the two groups separated. Baffled by her strange behaviour, they try to find a way to regroup. They succeed and find Miu’s avatar lying in the snow, unmoving. The students log out of the program and find Miu has died, clutching at her neck. Not only that, they also find a vial of poison next to Kokichi’s seat, and Kaito had logged out long before the murder occurred. With that, it is assumed that Kaito killed Miu and tried to pin the murder on Kokichi.
Monotaro, who had previously adopted Miu as his 'mommy', hacks into the Neo World Program, which provides the students with a lot of new information they previously had no way to find out. He reveals that Miu had extensively altered the virtual world, and, despite her insistence that nobody could be hurt there, had left a hammer hidden away. The trial starts, and as it progresses, the students determine that Miu had intended to murder Kokichi and pin it on Kaito, but something obviously went very wrong. Knowing that Miu had requested to meet Kokichi, the students demand Kokichi to recount what was happening in that meeting. Kokichi, furious at the other students, decides to hurt them in return by declaring that Miu's killer is Gonta. Unable to believe him, Kaito and Tsumugi denounce Kokichi as a liar and a murderer, refusing to believe that someone as kind as Gonta could kill anyone. Gonta has no idea what Kokichi is talking about, and still doesn't understand the concept of the virtual world despite having gone there. But Shuichi, who notices discrepancies in their logic, clashes with everyone and affirms Kokichi’s testimony as the truth. Gonta is voted the culprit without knowing his reason of committing the murder.
The trial ends without satisfaction. Gonta has no memory of killing Miu thanks to an accidental mix-up with his headset, so Monokuma brings Gonta's virtual world avatar, 'Alter Ego Gonta', as a witness. Alter Ego Gonta explains that he and Kokichi found the Flashback Light in the virtual world, and what it told him about the outside world horrified him so much that he despaired. He and Kokichi then planned to kill everyone by having them wrongly vote for Kokichi, as a Mercy Kill to save them from the fate of living in either the school or the outside world. Listening to the Alter Ego, Gonta is willingly executed and rejects Kokichi's proposal of being executed along with him. The remaining Monokubs, Monophanie and Monotaro, die in the course of the execution, leaving Monokuma without assistance.
Everyone demands that Kokichi needs to tell them about the outside world, but he refuses and instead rants about how they were fooled by him, and insults Gonta. The students condemn Kokichi as evil and Kaito attacks him, but he easily counters the attack. The strain causes Kaito to cough up blood, worrying the others and allowing Kokichi to flee the scene. Kaito brushes off their concerns and leave on his own. Meanwhile, Kokichi mutters to himself that he will end the killing game, and the strange message that Gonta found is fully revealed: “This world is mine. Kokichi Oma”.
The chapter starts with Kaito claiming that he’s healthy. The students talk about how they want to get a doctor to check on him, but it instead makes them remember Gonta’s despair. The memory of the class trial also reminds them of Kokichi, who they haven’t seen since then. Shuichi and Kaito are no longer talking, having fallen out because of the events of Gonta's trial. Monokuma drops by and opens up the next floor, so the students go exploring.
They find Kaito’s Research Lab in the new floor. Inside, they find a document detailing about the Gofer Project. The meteor shower spread a strange virus, which was causing untold numbers of deaths, so a plan to save humanity was enacted: the government would collect the Ultimates and send them to space so they would survive Earth’s destruction and hopefully be able to live on new, habitable planet. The document also supports Gonta's vision from the Flashback Light.
The students find Monokuma's Exisal Hangar. With no Monokubs to pilot them, the Exisals are completely harmless. In another door inside the hangar, there’s a bathroom, which is odd since ostensibly only Monokuma and the Monokubs can get inside the hangar. Shuichi takes it as a sign of the existence of a human mastermind behind Monokuma. Meanwhile, back on the fifth floor, Shuichi gets through the locked door and discovers a new Research Lab- Rantaro's. However, Monokuma tells him that because Rantaro died before he could find his lab, the lab will remain permanently locked. The students don't find any new Flashback Lights.
That night, Maki comes to Shuichi and tells him that Kaito seems oddly interested in her weapons. Shuichi goes to her lab and finds that Maki's trying to get him and Kaito to talk again, but it doesn't work. Kaito is quite fascinated with her weapons, and Maki teaches him and Shuichi to put together her crossbows. Kaito claims that he has a plan to save the surviving students, and at breakfast, he reveals it: fight against Monokuma by arming themselves with Maki’s weapons, as there’s no longer Exisals to enforce the rules. With Monokuma weakened, Kaito is confident that they can win. They gather in the gym to prepare for their assault, but Kokichi is there, carrying his own weapons.
Immediately noticing hostility, Kokichi threatens everyone with a bomb he carries. He decides that he will play the killing game until there’s only two survivors, and then claims that he will use the bomb on everyone, excepting a single person who can choose to join him. When no one steps forward, he applauds their determination and says that the plan is just a lie. The bomb is actually an EMP bomb that can deactivate electronic devices for a certain amount of time. He gives the other students each a new weapon called an 'Electrohammer', which is capable of knocking out electronic devices, including Exisals, and reveals that he'd previously asked Miu to make him the weapons, but while Miu had made them, she'd refused to fight Monokuma.
Maki suspects Kokichi’s intentions and again tries to strangle him, but Kaito prevents her from actually killing him. As a sign of his goodwill, Kokichi leaves the Electrohammers behind. The students decide to use the Electrohammers to get through the Death Road of Despair. It works, but at the end, the door opens and reveals that the outside world is devastated. Horrified, the students are forced to retreat back inside their cage.
Kokichi pops up and explains the state of the world: as previously mentioned, the government enacted the Gofer Project to save humanity, but a doomsday cult was preaching that humanity deserved to die and wanted to destroy the Gofer Project. Meanwhile, the students didn't want to leave their family and friends behind, and mindwiped themselves, removing their talents so that they could no longer be considered Ultimates. The government disagreed with the students and executed the plan anyway by capturing them and undoing the mindwipe except for the knowledge of the Gofer Project. However, the leader of the doomsday cult infiltrated the Gofer Project and flew the spaceship back to the destroyed Earth. Kokichi then claims that he is the leader of the cult, and thus the mastermind behind the killing game.
Kaito attempts to attack Kokichi, but he’s protected by the Exisals. Kokichi says that seeing the despair the sight of the outside world inflicted on the others is entertainment enough, and then abducts Kaito and locks him inside the Exisal hangar before leaving.
Shuichi spends several days in his room, so depressed at the state of the world that he no longer has any will to live. Maki then shows up, forcing Shuichi out of his depression. Having found a Flashback Light, Maki uses it on the remaining students, minus Kaito and Kokichi. It gives them new information- the ones behind the Gofer Project was Hope’s Peak Academy, which all of them had attended, and the doomsday cult were the Remnants of Despair. The new knowledge gives the group the motivation they need to rescue Kaito. The group decide that they'll take on Kokichi the next morning. That night, Shuichi walks around the Exisal Hangar and sees an unusual sight: the Exisals are circling Monokuma, preventing him from moving. He finds Kaito in the hangar's bathroom and the two make up, with Kaito encouraging him to keep going.
The next morning, the group break into the hangar. However, they find that neither Kaito or Kokichi are there. Instead, someone has been crushed inside the hangar's press. The press cannot be lifted, so there's no way of knowing who died, though Kaito's jacket is hanging out of the press. With barely anything to go on, the group head into the fifth trial.
The class trial starts and an Exisal enters the courtroom, but it switches between acting like Kokichi and Kaito, further confusing everyone. Maki continually insists that Kaito is dead and the person inside the Exisal is Kokichi, who killed him. Shuichi manages to get Maki to reveal the truth: believing Kokichi to be the mastermind, Maki took a crossbow, some arrows she poisoned using the poison from Shuichi's lab, commandeered an Exisal and invaded the hangar with the intention of killing Kokichi. When she got there, Kaito had used a crossbow he'd asked Himiko to get him to try to get Kokichi to stand down. Maki shot Kokichi with a poisoned arrow and demanded that he confess, but Kokichi told her that he didn't know what a Remnant of Despair was and that he had no idea what she was talking about. Furious, Maki tried to shoot him again, but Kaito blocked the shot and was poisoned. Maki ran off to get Kaito the antidote, but when she gave it to him, Kokichi drank the antidote himself. Ergo, Kaito is dead and Maki killed him.
Shuichi refuses to vote, believing that the case isn't closed. Using more arguments and logic, Shuichi realises that Monokuma doesn't actually know who either the victim or the culprit is. Monokuma joins the groupnote to pin down the answers, and Shuichi then realises something important: the game is still going and Monokuma has no idea who the victim and culprit are; ergo, Kokichi couldn't have been the Mastermind. He then concludes that the most likely outcome is that Kokichi was crushed in the press, and Kaito killed him.
Maki refuses to believe that Kaito is the culprit, but Shuichi manages to convince her and the others. After the closing argument, he realises that Kaito and Kokichi must have been trying to force the game to end by putting Monokuma in a position where, since he couldn't determine who died and who the murderer was, he couldn't act without breaking his own rules. Shuichi then tries to continue the plan by lying that Kaito is dead and Kokichi is still alive, but Kaito stops him, saying that it's time to give up. Kaito then reveals himself, alive and well... sort of.
He reveals that he and Kokichi conspired together after Kokichi pretended to drink the antidote and actually gave it to Kaito. Kokichi asked Kaito to kill him, both to force the killing game to end and because as there was only one antidote, Kokichi would soon die of the poison, making Maki the blackened. Kokichi also revealed that all along, he'd hated the killing game and wanted to end it. Kaito willingly agreed to help, but admitted that he still hated Kokichi.
The others try to fight Monokuma to prevent Kaito's execution, but they're stopped by two things: first, Monokuma revived the Monokubs, who take back the Exisals and confront the students; and second, Kaito reveals that he's already dying, so there's no point in trying to save him because he'll die soon anyway. He willingly goes to his execution, but dies before it can kill him. The rocket Monokuma used crashes to the ground, showering everyone with debris and knocking off Kiibo's ahoge. Monokuma is furious that Kaito died peacefully, and Shuichi snaps that the killing game is over, but Monokuma disagrees, hitting them with a Flashback Light. They see a glimpse of Junko Enoshima taunting that despair will always exist.
That night, the group minus Kiibo train in Kaito's memory. Meanwhile, Kiibo ponders the nature of hope and despair. With his ahoge gone, he can no longer hear his 'inner voice', which he'd always turned to for guidance. With only silence in his head, he comes to a very disturbing conclusion: the Ultimate Academy is steeped in despair, and he will destroy it. He unleashes his new upgrades, takes to the skies and starts blowing up the Academy.
And now for something completely different! We're suddenly introduced to a brand new character, a young boy named Makoto (no, not that one). He's having a hard time lately- he got into an elite school, but can't keep up with his teachers' lectures or his classmates' conversations, so he's mostly ignored. At home, his parents are always on his case. He's fed up with everything and wants to run away from his life... but suddenly, he's happy, saying that it's OK because he has a reason to live. We're not told what that reason is, but it's something he can access via his phone. He thanks whoever he's talking to for giving him a reason to keep going, and finishes by saying that someday- but then he's cut off.
Back at the Ultimate Academy, Tsumugi, Himiko, Shuichi and Maki are stunned by Kiibo's actions, and manage to convince him to come down and talk to them. Kiibo, who is eerily calm, tells them that he has to destroy the Academy to destroy despair, and that their deaths as a result would be upsetting but acceptable. Monokuma and the Monokubs attempt to kill Kiibo for damaging the Academy, but Kiibo easily holds them at bay. Shuichi manages to get Kiibo to back down by saying that Monokuma's strict adherence to the rules and Kokichi's theory that the Killing Game is being televised seems to imply that there's still someone watching, so maybe it isn't as bad as they think. Kiibo says that he'll give the others until dawn to come up with some proof, and then goes back to fighting off Monokuma.
Shuichi, Maki, Himiko and Tsumugi start combing the Academy, going to places they could not previously access. Shuichi and Maki find and search Kokichi's Research Lab and his room, which reveals that Kokichi was the leader of a group called D.I.C.E., a small gang of people who only committed harmless pranks and nonviolent crimes. They also find a history of Hope's Peak Academy that seems to contradict what the Flashback Lights told them, a number of blueprints that Kokichi asked Miu to make, and a clue to a second message. Shuichi follows the clue and finds the message- 'twins b'.
Shuichi and Himiko then search Rantaro's Research Lab. Using the messages- 'horse a' and 'twins b', Shuichi solves a puzzle and finds a flash drive with a video from Rantaro to Rantaro. It reveals that Rantaro was the Ultimate Survivor, a title he'd earned by surviving a previous killing game, and that he'd earned certain perks for this killing game. Afterwards, Shuichi and Tsumugi search a new room in Kaito's Research Lab, where the students were put into cold sleep.
The survivors then regroup in the library, where Maki reveals a prototype that Kokichi had asked Miu to build- a vacuum designed for sucking up bugs. Everyone recalls Gonta claiming to have seen tiny bugs that nobody else saw, but there are no bugs in the vacuum. Kiibo blows open the door to the hidden room, where they find several things: Rantaro's Survivor Perk, a shotput ball, and a strange being called 'Motherkuma', which gives birth to spare Monokumas. As they leave, a fight between Kiibo and one of the Exisals destroys the entrance, trapping Himiko in the hidden room.
With no choice but to have faith that Himiko is OK, Kiibo directs Shuichi to a classroom where he saw something odd. In that classroom, Shuichi discovers a machine that can produce Flashback Lights to order, with multiple options as to what each Light can show. Himiko then shows up, revealing that she found a secret passageway in the hidden room that leads to a bathroom. After investigating, Shuichi stops the war between Kiibo and Monokuma by demanding that they hold a class trial. Monokuma agrees, but demands that Kiibo's upgrades be removed in exchange, which they agree to. After Kiibo's upgrades are removed (and his ahoge restored), they find another clue- the vacuum Miu built did catch something, but it wasn't bugs, it was the sixth Monokub- a hive mind of tiny flying Monokumas with cameras and microphones, called Nanokumas, that are everywhere, constantly recording video and audio and sending it back to Motherkuma for the mastermind to see. Once that's cleared up, the final class trial begins.
Shuichi reveals that this trial is a retrial- he's found evidence that Kaede didn't kill Rantaro. It turns out that Kaede's trap failed- the shotput ball actually missed. The mastermind was the real killer, utilising the hidden passageway and Motherkuma to take advantage. Once the trap failed, the mastermind hit Rantaro with their own shotput ball, stole his Survivor Perk Monopad, took Kaede's shotput ball and retreated back into the hidden room, leaving Kaede to conclude that her trap actually worked. Ergo, the mastermind went against their own rules and Kaede was wrongly convicted. Furious, Shuichi rages against Monokuma, before pinning down the culprit... Tsumugi. Initially, Tsumugi denies being the mastermind and blames it on Junko. When the others rebut this, Tsumugi begins to cosplay as Junko, constantly switching between the two. She claims that Junko was the real leader of the doomsday cult, who infiltrated the Gofer Project as 'Tsumugi Shirogane'. However, the others refuse to believe it, pointing out that Junko has been dead for years.
Cornered again, Tsumugi reveals that her talent isn't just cosplaying, it's being able to perfectly become the person she cosplays. She displays this by constantly shifting through the characters from the first two games, down to their voices. She then reveals the truth: the entire franchise wasn't real. Instead, all of it was made up, a series of reality shows that were made for the benefit of a wholly peaceful world that requires stimulation because of the boredom that their peace brings. This edition is the 53rd season, and the audience has been wild for it, including Makoto from the chapter 6 prologue. They reveal a number of large screens showing the faces of people watching and displaying their comments. Tsumugi then explains that she's just one of the people working on the killing game- Team Danganronpa.
Tsumugi begins to repeatedly taunt the other survivors, saying that they're all just fictional characters in a fictional world. When the others deny this, Tsumugi drops another bombshell: they all signed up for the show willingly because they loved it so much. They were never Ultimates, they were normal people with no talents. They were given new personalities and identities for the show, along with their talents. When the survivors deny that they would want to be part of the show, Tsumugi starts playing audition videos: Shuichi's shows him saying that he'll do anything to be part of the show, he wants to be an Ultimate Detective, and is totally fine with the idea of killing someone; Kaede's shows her saying that she's perfect for a killing game because she has no faith in humanity; and Kaito's shows him saying that he wants to kill everyone for fame and fortune.
As they watch the videos, Tsumugi drops even more bombshells: Kaito's illness was fake, written into him as part of his character, and so, crucially, were Maki's feelings for him. Monokuma says that the audience wants to see them despair, and Shuichi is left horrified, with no idea of what to do.
The viewpoint abruptly switches to Kiibo, who also has no idea of what to do, and instead has turned to his inner voice. Once he's directed to remedy the situation, Kiibo becomes the champion of hope, declaring that he'll never give up- only for Tsumugi to ruin that by explaining that he's had a very specific role: he's the audience surrogate. His 'inner voice' is actually a constant audience survey, with the viewers deciding what they want him to do next, and the whole time, the audience have been seeing through his eyes. His ahoge is actually an antenna, hence why when it broke off, he could no longer hear his inner voice. Kiibo is temporarily daunted, but decides that he'll champion hope for the entire world, gaining the new title of 'Ultimate Hope Robot' in the process.
Tsumugi, in response, decides to turn things up by announcing a new vote between herself (representing despair) and Kiibo (representing hope). If Tsumugi wins the vote, the killing game will continue- but since they're so determined not to kill anyone and they know the Flashback Lights are fake, they'll have to live in the Academy forever. When the survivors demand to be returned to their old self, Tsumugi and Monokuma say that it's impossible- the Flashback Lights overwrote their memories, so they have nothing to go back to. Tsumugi then says that if Kiibo wins, however, then the game will end- but only two can survive, so they'll have to choose two to sacrifice. Kiibo immediately offers to sacrifice himself, but that still leaves one more person, and everyone's stumped. One Mass Panic Debate later, Maki volunteers as the second sacrifice, saying it'll be worth it if she can kill Tsumugi. Kiibo encourages the others to keep going, saying that they'll find hope, but Shuichi interrupts, rejecting the idea of hope.
Kiibo and Shuichi argue about hope, with Shuichi saying that hope is what got everyone into the killing games in the first place. Afterwards, Tsumugi demands a vote, but Shuichi asks one last question: if they vote for hope, what will happen to Kiibo, Maki and Tsumugi? He asks Kiibo to think about it, and the Ultimate Hope Robot figures it out: the punishment is being forced to participate in the next killing game, which is what happened to Rantaro. So even if they choose hope, maybe Shuichi and Himiko will escape, but the killing game will keep going, with Tsumugi as the Mastermind, Kiibo as the audience viewpoint and Maki as the new Ultimate Survivor. Shuichi is officially done at that point, saying that he's done with both hope and despair. He's sick of a world that treats them like toys and laughed as his friends kept dying... so he refuses to vote.
Everyone is shocked at this, saying that refusing will mean dying... but Shuichi doesn't care. He wants to throw the audience's wants back in their faces by giving them an ending that they'll hate. Kiibo also chooses to abandon hope, despite his inner voice, and relinquishes the viewpoint. Shuichi then asks Himiko and Maki to choose to refuse to vote with him, despite Tsumugi and Monokuma's protests that doing so would be suicide.
The viewpoint switches to Himiko, who declares that even if she's a fictional character, her life is real, and it's the only weapon she's got- so she'll use it to end the killing game so Tenko, Angie and the others can rest in peace. Tsumugi says that if they all refuse to vote, she'll win by default, but Shuichi reassures Maki, telling her to believe in herself like she believed in Kaito.
The viewpoint then switches to Maki, who declares that she'll believe in her feelings because without them, her life has no significance. Tsumugi asks if they want to die that badly, but Shuichi rebuts that they need to end the killing game because even if it was fiction, it's real to them and it really affected them.
With everyone decided, Shuichi tries to force a vote, but Monokuma and Tsumugi refuse, instead throwing several minigames in a row at Shuichi, who refuses to play them in order to bore the audience. Afterwards, Tsumugi asks what Kiibo's inner voice says... and Kiibo is hacked by the audience, who are infuriated at his defiance. However, he manages to fight their control enough to encourage the others to continue... just before his personality is erased. Shuichi and Tsumugi argue, with Shuichi saying that even if they're just fiction and lies, a lie (and fiction) can and will change the world, and he'll use all the love he has for his friends to do just that. He then takes on the audience through Kiibo in a series of Theory Armaments.
They finally vote. Maki and Himiko wonder what will happen if there's a tie, as they expect, but Tsumugi reveals that she didn't vote either- as Kiibo would automatically vote for hope, he'll win as the only person who voted. She's willing to accept her death, but intends to throw Kiibo into the next killing game as punishment. But as it turns out, Shuichi's appeal was successful: Kiibo didn't vote either. The killing game is over. With the final survivors resigning themselves to death, Kiibo takes up the job of inflicting the punishment by continuing his earlier work of blowing up the academy. Maki, Himiko and Shuichi are seemingly buried under rubble, while Tsumugi and Monokuma are crushed under falling debris. Kiibo finally sacrifices himself by blowing himself up to break through the dome the Academy rests under.
After the credits roll, the final three emerge from under the rubble. They're unsure of both how they're still alive and what they'll do now, as nobody made any plans beyond 'stop the killing game'. They decide that maybe the outside world wanted them to live, and Shuichi then brings up an interesting possibility- Tsumugi may have been lying, and maybe the events of Hope's Peak Academy and Jabberwock Island really happened. They have no way of knowing, but it's possible. So, with their story at an end, the trio leave the Academy and move into the real world.
