A dialogue box popped up, bypassing his OS entirely. “Congratulations! You’ve unlocked the Ultimate Pirate execution!”

A shadow loomed over him. Monokuma stood there, holding a physical copy of the game. "If you wanted to play so badly, you should have just supported the developers! Now, let’s begin the Class Trial for the Theft of Digital Goods!"

The fluorescent hum of the convenience store was the only thing keeping Makoto awake as he scrolled through a sketchy forum thread at 3:00 AM. He wasn't looking for spoilers; he was looking for a miracle. Specifically, a file titled

Suddenly, his monitor flickered. The familiar neon-pink blood of the franchise didn't just appear on the screen; it seemed to leak from the bezel of the monitor. A glitchy laugh—high-pitched and iconic—echoed not from his speakers, but from the corner of his dark room. "Upupupu..."

"You shouldn't have bypassed the eShop, Makoto-kun!" she cried. "The version you downloaded... it has a logic error!"