...

Reminder: This chapter has nothing to do with the main storyline whatsoever.

Note: Inspired by Danganronpa style survival game.

The side story begins some time after the first few chapters of the main story.

...

"..."

A navy haired girl laid on the bed of her assigned dorm room.

The interior was designed to match her interests, including a whole kitchen set and a fridge.

"...This...How did they get this...?"

She was very distraught. Which was rare for a person like her.

She was the only one who didn't show the item that she received to anyone else.

"This dog collar..."

Tightly gripping her bedsheets, she cried softly, "Why did you need to remind me...?"

...

"...Amen."

Jean prayed to the shrine that was set up in her dorm room.

She hoped that maybe the Gods will answer her prayers and free them from this suffering.

She hoped that maybe someone from the outside could rescue them from this situation.

She hoped that...even if she were to die, she wants her sister to live on safely.

Slowly, she stood up and took a glance at the bag of dandelion seeds that she just obtained earlier in the day.

"...Hm..."

Something about it intrigued her, for some reason.

Maybe it wasn't just a normal bag of dandelion seeds she could plant...?

This thought prompted her to pick it up and open it.

"...Eh? What's this...?"

Inside the bag, was indeed, dandelion seeds.

But there was something else hidden in it as well.

A note.

"When the dandelions bloom,
Appear another set of seeds.

Send the seeds into the moon,
And you will alert me.

Wait a bit, and I'll come soon,
So you'll all be set free."

"...H-Has my prayers...been answered...?" Jean blinked, feeling confused, yet at the same time, relieved.

Immediately, she looked around in her room for a place to grow the dandelions.

"Ah, can I use that...?"

She glanced towards an indoor plant sitting in the corner of her room.

...

...

...

Morning.

Although one couldn't tell whether it's morning or not, as the windows are sealed shut.

The one thing that allowed Albedo to know the time of day was by the digital alarm clock that sat on the bedside table.

"8:30"

It was way later than when he'd usually wake up.

From what he noticed during the nighttime, this clock seemed to use the 24 hour time system.

So it was easy to know that it was time to get up.

And get up, he did.

He performed his daily morning routine, with the facility that his dorm provided.

He then picked up his sketchbook, and left the room.

...

Albedo arrived at the cafeteria.

"Ah, Kreideprinz! You're just in time for breakfast." A blue haired juvenile greeted.

But to the beige haired boy's surprise, there were much more people awake at this time than he expected.

"Ahh, this waffle is so good!!" Gorou shivered in joy, "Thank you for this again, Xiangling!"

"Aw, you're so cute! No problem, I can cook for you any time!" The navy haired girl smiled happily from the stove.

"Seconds, plea- Woah!" Bennett nearly dropped his plate, just as Kokomi walked by to prevent anything from falling.

"S-Sorry..." Bennett scratched his cheek nervously.

"It's alright, please be more careful." The pink haired girl smiled.

"Sist- I mean...Jean. Do you want anything else?" Barbara asked the girl who sat beside her.

"No...It's okay. Please enjoy your own food."

And on another table, a blue haired girl scolded two boys who seemingly got into a small food fight when one decided to lace the other's food with chili.

"You boys better behave yourselves, do you understand?" Eula crossed her arms.

"Understood, ma'am..." The two boys lowered their heads in unison.

"What if we added your fireworks in my next performance?" A brown haired girl said.

"That would sound amazing! Although, do you think the sound of the fireworks would overlap your music?" A blonde haired girl tapped her chin.

"Wait! Wouldn't it be cool if we make the fireworks sounds go in a beat, like...Ta, ta, ta, ta..." Xinyan tapped on the table in a rhythm.

"Ahh, that would be even better! I could do that, maybe!" Yoimiya nodded.

"...Just thinking about it is gonna make me go deaf..." Sayu closed her ears.

The cafeteria was so...

Lively.

Compared to the time when departments were separated and not allowed to speak to each other...

It seemed like everyone made themselves new friends.

"..."

And without another word, Albedo walked his way to the two loneliest and quietest students.

"Greetings. I didn't expect you to be the latest one to arrive, Mr. Kreideprinz." A white haired boy spoke with a smile. He held a book in his hand.

"...Good morning..." And a dark haired boy quietly greeted, before immediately going back to munching on his favourite dish, Almond Tofu.

"Good morning to you both." Albedo set his sketchbook down on the table, "You both radiate a different aura from the other tables."

"Oh, do we?" Kazuha chuckled, "I wonder why...?"

"..." Xiao frowned.

"Right, then." Albedo sat himself down.

"...Aren't you going to get breakfast? It's the most important meal of the day." Kazuha said.

"I'm not hungry." Albedo simply replied, "Although, I would like to talk. Especially to Xiao."

Upon hearing his name, Xiao glanced away, avoiding eye contact the best he could.

"Talk about what?" Kazuha noticed Xiao's nervousness, and spoke for him.

"Firstly, I'd like to know what item you got yesterday, Xiao."

"*cough*"

Xiao's eyes widen as he choked on his food.

"Oh dear." Kazuha patted his back, in an attempt to help him swallow his food, "Drink some water."

Quickly, XIao downed his glass of water, finally swallowing his food before taking deep breaths.

Albedo watched, somehow unamused, "...You can answer now, yes?"

"...It's this." The dark haired boy hesitantly held out...

"A lantern?" Albedo raised an eyebrow.

Xiao held a stick, with a lantern hanging off it.

"Right, the district that the Liyue dormitory is in celebrates a festival called Lantern Rite every year, don't they?" Kazuha said.

"...Yeah. Right." Xiao nodded his head, keeping a tight grip on the "lantern".

"How can a lantern be of use in the situation that we're in...?" Albedo wondered.

"I don't know...I just...got it, I guess..." Xiao prepared to put the "lantern" away.

"Maybe because that isn't a lantern at all."

Immediately, Xiao froze.

"Really?" Kazuha asked, with a smile.

"..." Xiao was looking at every single direction besides the two boys.

"That stick looks an awful lot like a sparkler, doesn't it?" Kazuha closed his eyes, and smiled, "I've seen a lot when Yoimiya brings it to school during the summer festival."

"You just hooked the lantern onto the sparkler. Creative." Albedo nodded.

"That-"

"But the sparkler isn't your real item that they gave you either, is it?" Kazuha asked, "Yoimiya could've given you that, didn't she?"

"Uh..."

Xiao felt like he was backed into a corner. Why was he so afraid, anyway?

Was it the fear that...Others would fear him?

"Tell us, what did you really get?" Albedo asked, "Not telling to truth could end up hurting even more than that item itself."

"...!"

Did...Albedo already know what it was?

"Judging by both your expressions, you both know something important. Fill me in, please." Kazuha leaned in closer to them.

"This..." With a shaky hand, Xiao pulled it out from his pocket,
"...Switchblade."

"I see."

To Xiao's surprise, Albedo pulled the switchblade from his hand, and opened it...

"Slice!"

Giving himself a cut on his hand.

"Y...You..." Xiao blinked.

"...Bold." Kazuha turned his attention back to his book.

"Surprisingly not as sharp as I expected it to be. The only thing that made it hurt was the speed of the flick." Albedo closed the switchblade, now covered in blood.

"...I, you...Why...?"

"What do you mean, why?" Albedo allowed his hand to bleed out, "Didn't you hear about what I said yesterday?"

"What...did you say?"

"I said that I will kill the game masters." Albedo looked at him dead in the eye, "And for that, I need something to kill them with."

"But...you hurt yourself..." Somehow, Xiao was the least intimidating one here.

"That was to test the blade." Albedo got up from his seat.

"But you're not serious, are you?" Kazuha asked.

"If the game masters are serious about us killing each other, then I am serious about killing them." Albedo glanced at the white haired boy, "An eye for an eye, if you will."

"...You're more violent than I thought." Kazuha laughed, "But I guess...That just means I can't judge a book by it's cover."

"..." Xiao spooned some Almond Tofu and continued to finish his meal.

"I'll get to washing my hand..." Albedo walked away, "Have a nice meal."

...

It's time for:

Game Masters' frequent life updates!

"Even though this is more about our contestants than us...But it fuels my ego, so I'll take it, hehe!" A (H/C) girl crossed her legs, giggling.

"First of all..." Another girl spoke.

She looked almost identical to the (H/C) girl, the only difference being a maple leaf in her hair, and a bandaged right hand.

"We got our response back from Ms. Raiden, right?" She asked.

"Forget the response first, did you see that just now?" Yet another girl joined the conversation.

She also looked similar to the other two girls, but she did have a small...less-visible difference.

Under her clothes, she has a bandaged abdomen, given to her from a...No, multiple stab wounds.

"See what?" The first girl asked, her name known as 'Kat'.

"On the cameras. I saw...Albedo flick open the switchblade and hurt himself." 'Shadow' replied, "You missed it though."

"S-Seriously?!" Immediately, Kat turned her chair towards the large screen, filled with camera footages from different locations.

"Um, guys? Ms. Raiden's respon-" 'Maple' was cut off by Kat's ear-piercing squeal.

"Ahh!" Kat banged her fist on the table continuously, "S-So cool!"

"Hey, my mug is gonna fall!" Shadow glared.

"Shut up, you! Don't interrupt me when I'm feasting my eyes on the glory of Albedo Kreideprinz himself!" Kat shouted back.

She looked back at the cameras, as the beige haired student seemed to be walking towards a pantry to wash his wound.

"Hey...He does want to kill us, right? He does want to kill me, right?" Kat's cheeks slowly began to flush a red hue. She looked so drunk from the thought.

"Ms. Raiden is gonna kill us instead if we don't look at her response now!" Maple shouted, closing her eyes.

"Oh." Kat immediately switched back from insane Kat, to a-little-less-insane Kat.

"Let's hear it?" Shadow asked, while still having her attention on the cameras. It was her job to be the shadow that watches everyone's movements.

"...Ahem." Maple cleared her throat.

"In order to encourage students to kill, I will set a new temporary decree:

Ask them to write down their greatest regrets, one for each individual student. Put them in a box, and allow students to draw them as lots.

Report back to me after you have done that."

The three girls went silent for a short moment.

"Essentially..." Shadow began.

"Drama! That's it!" Kat stood up, clapping her hands, "Indirect conflict! The best way to drive someone to kill."

"Is it?" Maple tapped her chin.

"Shadow, remember that gun I gave you yesterday?" Kat glanced towards the (H/C) haired girl.

"What about it?"

"Well..." Kat snickered, "Let's add one more little rule to this decree."

...

(What other theories could arise from this chapter?)