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Hey everybody! Baconforbreakfast426 here, back again with another theory!

Before I begin discussing this theory, I'd like to recommend you check out the first part of V3 lore theory here. Trust me. A lot of points I'll make in this theory will make more sense if you check the first part out, because I'm gonna be bringing up the points I made in the first part A LOT! Here's the link:
www.deviantart.com/baconforbre…

The Danganronpa series is probably the only series where the antagonists couldn't stop laughing at the end of Marley and Me. Tsumugi is no exception to this notion. However, even though Junko literally destroyed all of mankind, Tsumugi holds the honor of being the person I want to toss off a cliff and eat popcorn as she screams in terror and meets a grizzly fate. Why? Because she not only killed my best boy Rantaro, but she framed Kaede for it, got away with it, and killed my best V3 girl for absolutely no reason! There. You get it now? Good. Anyways, you've still gotta give Kodaka credit for creating a good villain that is not only threatening, but also has a supervillain-esque aura and a callous disregard for others that would make Cozy Glow cower in fear. Heck, she even looks like a super villain (and like she's about to shoot all the predators with night howler serum). However, after looking a bit closer, I think that there's more to her than her surface suggests. I'll be honest, after I realized what this theory's about, it changed the way I saw V3 completely.

A while back, around a few months, due to a bout of sleeplessness, I decided to watch V3's final chapter late at night (God, Kiibo deserved better). I've seen multiple insane fourth-wall breaks in the past, but I've never seen a fourth-wall breaking plot twist that ties into the plot quite like the one in V3. Even though I knew about it beforehand, I was still left in shock by what I was witnessing on screen, and like almost everyone watching it, that shock persisted for a LONG time after the fact. However, what also persisted inside me, but didn't fade, was something about Tsumugi's lines that really bothered me. Something was just off about everything she was saying, and it wasn't just the web of lies she was weaving. A lot of the actions she says she did seem forced for the purpose of shock, like they're things that she'd never do all by herself like she said (Just admit it, Tsumugi. You didn't move the entire V3 cast, especially not Gonta, into faraway lockers while they were all unconscious. You're not fooling anyone.) A lot of what she says seems to be speaking on behalf of all of Team Danganronpa and not herself, kind of like when a company tells their employees to say a certain thing, and her lines just seemed to do nothing but further force the cover-up that is the audition tapes (which I discussed in detail in part 1 of this theory) further into the outside world's heads. Everything about her just seems automated, like a forced advertisement for a business. She seems to be linked to the outside world in an unnatural way, like an AI was forced into a human. It was almost as if the very essence and sinister messages of Team Danganronpa were implanted in her head. That's when it hit me. What if Tsumugi wasn't an exception to the flashback light? What if she was just a normal teenager, but was brainwashed into being the ideal mastermind? The more I thought about it in the months following, the more it seemed to make sense. Thus, I'm her making this theory for you all to read. However, it's important to know that this is just a theory, and you guys may have your own ideas as to what's going on, and that's fine. So take this theory with however much salt you see fit. Anyways, let's get ready to THEORIIIIIIIIIIIZZE!

In order for this theory to make sense, it first needs to make logical sense in the V3 world. If the audition tapes were real, then things would be plausible, but it likely wouldn't get very far for one reason, one I didn't discuss in part 1. Any parent, regardless of how beloved Danganronpa is in the V3 universe, would not want their kids willingly jumping into a series that could very well kill them, so if the audition tapes were real, the series never would've lasted as long as it did. However, things are amped up to 11, because nobody wants anyone to actually be running something so twisted with the intention of being its ringleader. If teenagers were willingly joining Team Danganronpa with the intention of being a mastermind, especially with how many Karents (Karen parents) there are now, that series would have been taken off the air faster than you can say, "TASTE THE RAINBOW, MOTHERFUCKER!" Even if they did lay low to find masterminds instead of having auditions, they would likely encounter the same problem. Thus, in order to keep running, they turn to the same method they use to get normal contestants to get the mastermind-kidnapping them and brainwashing them to their twisted visions. Pregame Tsumugi doesn't even look like someone who's a dangerous mastermind. She just looks like a regular teenage girl who wouldn't hurt a fly, quite a contrast from her in game design. So yes, given the evidence we have, someone being brainwashed into being the mastermind is entirely possible in V3's universe.

However, now that we know that Tsumugi being brainwashed into being the mastermind is possible, we have to ask another question. Why Tsumugi? One does not simply kidnap a random kid off the street, thrust them into a killing game, and decide they should be the mastermind (at least not the first time. More on that later). Yes, it could happen, but it just doesn't ring right with me. It just feels better, somehow, if Tsumugi's actions alerted Team Danganronpa and let them know they had to strike. But how would they find someone like that? Isn't Danganronpa universally loved by all? Well, I don't think that the series was as universally loved as Tsumugi claims it is. As I discussed in part 1 of this theory, there are people who don't know or just don't care about the series, which proves that it isn't all love from everyone. That, and that there are bound to be at least a few Karents in the world of V3. We also need to look at it logically. There is bound to be a lot of people who don't think a show where people are brainwashed and forced to kill each other should be on the air. There are bound to be a few suspicious people, as well as a good chunk of people working to try and take Danganronpa down. They weren't enough to actually bring Danganronpa down, as we see from it running with real people for 43 years, but Team Danganronpa still couldn't take chances. They couldn't do much about the adults protesting except deny accusations and cover things up, which, as I discussed in part 1 of this theory, is Team Danganronpa's bread and butter. However, the teenagers well-known enough that threaten their plans? That's another story. Just like the contestants, they could kidnap them and force them into what they were fighting against, physically and mentally, by transforming them into a mastermind against their will. Not only is this a fate as bad or worse than death (in my opinion), but the shock and betrayal the outside world would feel "realizing" that someone they thought was on their side was a twisted mastermind could be enough to quell the protestors for a while, at least until the aura of distrust wears off. If you have something you have desperate need to get rid of, I.E. teenage protestors threatening to expose your secrets, and another thing that you're in desperate need of, I.E. masterminds for your game, combined with having technology to make the surplus fix the deficit, I.E. a flashlight that can change your memories, and BOOM! You've got a solid theory! As for who Tsumugi was before being brainwashed, I don't think her personality and talents would be changed, unlike the rest of the V3 cast. The only thing that would've been changed is her attitude towards Danganronpa and all of mankind (that, and Team Danganronpa's ideologies getting programmed into her brain). This was to make the betrayal cover-up more believable for the outside world. Tsumugi was likely still a cosplayer with the same personality and interests as her in-game self (just likely not world-famous), but she either played a role in protesting that got her well-known, was coming dangerously close to bringing Danganronpa down, or both. Either way, she was likely known by a large enough percentage of people to be targeted by Team Danganronpa and forced into the role of mastermind.

Back when I first came up with the idea of this theory, I watched and rewatched and rewatched again the pregame section of V3's prologue to see if pregame Tsumugi gave off any red flags that would damper the theory. I was delighted to find out that there were next to no red flags in sight, and the ones that could be red flags could be easily explained. The one I want to start on is the one that had me concerned for the longest time, and that's one of pregame Tsumugi's only lines.

"Huh? Who's that? Where are they?"

It was the "where are they?" part that had me concerned for the longest time, as I was worried that it meant Tsumugi knew who they (the Monokubs) were. However, inspecting things closer, it's actually a pretty reasonable response for anyone to say. Not to mention, pregame Tsumugi looks pretty scared when she says that line. The last two things I want to clear up is two small details: Tsumugi's stuttering and her smile when she recieves new clothing. However, these can be easily explained, since a good chunk of the pregame cast were doing the exact same thing on both accounts. Thus, I don't really consider those two details reliable ones.

Now that the red flags are cleared away, I'd like to bring up one thing I paid close attention to when rewatching the pregame prologue-Tsumugi's position. In order for this to make sense, pregame Tsumugi would need to be in a position where it would be hard to get away without people noticing. And in every part of the time she was in the pregame prologue, she was exactly that. Every scene she was in, she was in a position where people would most likely notice if she tried to get away, even when the Monokubs were taking center stage. As far as we can tell, everybody was so shocked and confused about what was going on, they didn't go anywhere.

Everything is starting to check out, apart from one little hitch. A little while before finishing off this theory, I decided to look up Tsumugi's bio, and I learned that it was implied in the final chapter that she wasn't just the mastermind for the 53rd killing game, but a few before it (something I missed on first viewing of the final chapter). Understandably, this left me scared that my entire theory would come crumbling down. However, after thinking deeper for a few hours, I realized that it was actually the final puzzle piece I needed to solidify this theory. In part 1 of this theory, I talked about how multiple pieces of evidence throughout V3, along with some logistic standpoints, pointed to V3 being a virtual simulation that killed you for real if you died in-game (I wonder what Team Danganronpa does with all those dead bodies. Maybe they have a crematorium?). While I had a lot of evidence to back it up, it's Tsumugi being the mastermind of multiple killing games that's my definitive proof. You see, if Tsumugi masterminded multiple killing games and everything was real, it actually creates plot holes. Because Rantaro is a survivor sent into the 53rd killing game, it confirms that hope was chosen in the 52nd, which means Tsumugi would have died, which means she wouldn't have been able to mastermind the 53rd killing game. If the Danganronpa TV show took place in the real world, this would make zero sense! However, not only does it make sense if V3's a simulation, but it also confirms this entire theory that Tsumugi was brainwashed. Remember how I said Team Danganronpa wouldn't kidnap a random person to be the mastermind THE FIRST TIME AROUND? Well, after they've had the real Tsumugi die, they still have her personality template to use again. That leaves two possibilities. Either Tsumugi was made into an AI like Monokuma and the Monokubs, which is likely, or someone was forced into their shoes. Given pregame Tsumugi's behaviour in the prologue, I'm leaning toward the second possibility more than the first one. After all, forcing someone into Tsumugi's body in the simulation is as simple as connecting them to the simulation and changing their skin while they're unconscious (again discussed in greater detail in part 1). And when another threat came their way, people were tired of the current mastermind, the mastermind wasn't high school aged anymore, or a mix of those things, Team Danganronpa can always repeat the cycle. If Team Danganronpa kept kidnapping and brainwashing a new mastermind every year, things would look awfully suspicious on their end and make it more likely they'd get shut down, so it makes sense that they'd want to keep one mastermind running things for as long as they could. It would also be a way to divert attention from the kidnappings that happen every year. People were made to believe that the cast willingly joined, and that Tsumugi was the mastermind, but what about one teen's unexplained appearance? It's a way to divert attention from investigating Team Danganronpa. It's kind of like the 1-2-4 prank. You get three pigs (or some other animals), you paint the numbers, 1,2, and 4 on their backs, release them into a public store, and enjoy watching everyone look everywhere for the third one (please note that I'd never do this in real life). Anyways, it's crazy to think that the pregame Tsumugi we saw in the prologue might not have actually been Tsumugi. Heck, there could've been a boy in that girl's body, and we wouldn't even realize it! I can only imagine how a boy would react to that happening. I'm just glad that my theory is not only still possible, but it might very well be the truth.

Edit: There's one last problem I'd like to clarify that can be explained by this theory, and also serves as further evidence (which I only realized a day or so after I published this theory). If Rantaro was so determined to end the killing games, even as his pregame self (again, explained in detail in part 1), why didn't he confront and expose Tsumugi on the spot in front of everyone? It would likely end the killing games pretty quickly and save everyone from dying. Well, let's go back to what I discussed in the last paragraph, about people being forced into Tsumugi's body. Humor me for a moment. What if Team Danganronpa decided to be a bit cheeky and place Rantaro and Tsumugi in the same classroom to spark a chuckle among their fans? I mean, it just sounds like something they'd do for laughs! We saw in the prologue that each member of the pregame cast was corralled into the gym by the Exisals almost immediately after they tried to leave. If you're wondering what they are, they're most accurately summed up for me by the final entry in this list video (the short at the end of the entry makes me laugh every time):
www.youtube.com/watch?v=rxefgz…
Anyways, another detail I'd like to clarify is why Rantaro was skeptical about this being a killing game until the Monokubs showed up. Well, you need to take something into account. The pregame cast were never supposed to retain their memories. They were supposed to be wiped when they woke up, which Rantaro would have known. So of course he's gonna be a bit skeptical if this is really the 53rd killing game! However, this lack of a memory wipe also gave Rantaro the oppurtunity to learn secrets about the killing game he couldn't know before and that Team Danganronpa would never want to go out to anyone for entertainment's sake, I.E. that they forced people to become the mastermind. I can imagine Team Danganronpa placing Rantaro and Tsumugi in the same room together for shits and giggles, playing off Rantaro being absolutely clueless that he's in the room with the mastermind he met once before. However, because the memory wipe wasn't activated, it wound up having some unintended consequences. When pregame Rantaro saw pregame Tsumugi either fall out of a locker in the room or when he did so, I can imagine that he'd go right ahead and confront her about what he remembers her doing. However, either by witnessing her reactions to what happened or through the confrontation itself, Rantaro realized that something was off, and that it wasn't Tsumugi he was talking to. Thus, he agrees to keep his mouth shut about what he knows about the killing game and the mastermind's role in it until he can figure out what's really going on, which as we see, didn't happen in time. This could also be an explanation as to why he seemed so skeptical as to what was going on (I'm still laughing about the content of the video I linked to). Just to clarify, the outside world wouldn't be seeing this exchange take place. Remember that, in the final chapter of V3, it's stated that everything the outside world saw in V3 was through Kiibo's eyes, and that people playing V3 are focused in on Kaede and Shuichi. This makes it entirely possible that an interaction like this could have taken place between Rantaro and Tsumugi in the pregame prologue, and because the cast were moved back to the same lockers they were in before, Team Danganronpa could've still snuck in that cheeky humor. Overall, not only does this theory make sense logically, but also when considering many of the V3 cast's actions and the world around them.
Conclusion/Epilogue

With that, we reach the end of the journey that was solving V3's lore. I know I already said it in part 1, but I can't believe that my 16-year-old brain managed to solve V3's lore as well as this side chunk of it, and all by myself with only the internet and age-old memes to help me out. I swear, if I was a dog, I'd be the type to try and herd tractors when I should be herding sheep. But do you really think I'd give a fuck? No, I wouldn't. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this theory! If you have any more ideas for things I can theorize about, please post them in the comments section below! I always like having a good challenge for my brain to work on.

Tsumugi Shirogane is from Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony by Nippon Ichi Software, Spike Chunsoft, and Tookyo Games

Anyways, that's all I have for now! This is Baconforbreakfast426, signing off.

Description
Hey everybody! Baconforbreakfast426 here, back again with another theory!

Before I begin discussing this theory, I'd like to recommend you check out the first part of V3 lore theory here. Trust me. A lot of points I'll make in this theory will make more sense if you check the first part out, because I'm gonna be bringing up the points I made in the first part A LOT! Here's the link:
www.deviantart.com/baconforbre…

The Danganronpa series is probably the only series where the antagonists couldn't stop laughing at the end of Marley and Me. Tsumugi is no exception to this notion. However, even though Junko literally destroyed all of mankind, Tsumugi holds the honor of being the person I want to toss off a cliff and eat popcorn as she screams in terror and meets a grizzly fate. Why? Because she not only killed my best boy Rantaro, but she framed Kaede for it, got away with it, and killed my best V3 girl for absolutely no reason! There. You get it now? Good. Anyways, you've still gotta give Kodaka credit for creating a good villain that is not only threatening, but also has a supervillain-esque aura and a callous disregard for others that would make Cozy Glow cower in fear. Heck, she even looks like a super villain (and like she's about to shoot all the predators with night howler serum). However, after looking a bit closer, I think that there's more to her than her surface suggests. I'll be honest, after I realized what this theory's about, it changed the way I saw V3 completely.

A while back, around a few months, due to a bout of sleeplessness, I decided to watch V3's final chapter late at night (God, Kiibo deserved better). I've seen multiple insane fourth-wall breaks in the past, but I've never seen a fourth-wall breaking plot twist that ties into the plot quite like the one in V3. Even though I knew about it beforehand, I was still left in shock by what I was witnessing on screen, and like almost everyone watching it, that shock persisted for a LONG time after the fact. However, what also persisted inside me, but didn't fade, was something about Tsumugi's lines that really bothered me. Something was just off about everything she was saying, and it wasn't just the web of lies she was weaving. A lot of the actions she says she did seem forced for the purpose of shock, like they're things that she'd never do all by herself like she said (Just admit it, Tsumugi. You didn't move the entire V3 cast, especially not Gonta, into faraway lockers while they were all unconscious. You're not fooling anyone.) A lot of what she says seems to be speaking on behalf of all of Team Danganronpa and not herself, kind of like when a company tells their employees to say a certain thing, and her lines just seemed to do nothing but further force the cover-up that is the audition tapes (which I discussed in detail in part 1 of this theory) further into the outside world's heads. Everything about her just seems automated, like a forced advertisement for a business. She seems to be linked to the outside world in an unnatural way, like an AI was forced into a human. It was almost as if the very essence and sinister messages of Team Danganronpa were implanted in her head. That's when it hit me. What if Tsumugi wasn't an exception to the flashback light? What if she was just a normal teenager, but was brainwashed into being the ideal mastermind? The more I thought about it in the months following, the more it seemed to make sense. Thus, I'm her making this theory for you all to read. However, it's important to know that this is just a theory, and you guys may have your own ideas as to what's going on, and that's fine. So take this theory with however much salt you see fit. Anyways, let's get ready to THEORIIIIIIIIIIIZZE!

In order for this theory to make sense, it first needs to make logical sense in the V3 world. If the audition tapes were real, then things would be plausible, but it likely wouldn't get very far for one reason, one I didn't discuss in part 1. Any parent, regardless of how beloved Danganronpa is in the V3 universe, would not want their kids willingly jumping into a series that could very well kill them, so if the audition tapes were real, the series never would've lasted as long as it did. However, things are amped up to 11, because nobody wants anyone to actually be running something so twisted with the intention of being its ringleader. If teenagers were willingly joining Team Danganronpa with the intention of being a mastermind, especially with how many Karents (Karen parents) there are now, that series would have been taken off the air faster than you can say, "TASTE THE RAINBOW, MOTHERFUCKER!" Even if they did lay low to find masterminds instead of having auditions, they would likely encounter the same problem. Thus, in order to keep running, they turn to the same method they use to get normal contestants to get the mastermind-kidnapping them and brainwashing them to their twisted visions. Pregame Tsumugi doesn't even look like someone who's a dangerous mastermind. She just looks like a regular teenage girl who wouldn't hurt a fly, quite a contrast from her in game design. So yes, given the evidence we have, someone being brainwashed into being the mastermind is entirely possible in V3's universe.

However, now that we know that Tsumugi being brainwashed into being the mastermind is possible, we have to ask another question. Why Tsumugi? One does not simply kidnap a random kid off the street, thrust them into a killing game, and decide they should be the mastermind (at least not the first time. More on that later). Yes, it could happen, but it just doesn't ring right with me. It just feels better, somehow, if Tsumugi's actions alerted Team Danganronpa and let them know they had to strike. But how would they find someone like that? Isn't Danganronpa universally loved by all? Well, I don't think that the series was as universally loved as Tsumugi claims it is. As I discussed in part 1 of this theory, there are people who don't know or just don't care about the series, which proves that it isn't all love from everyone. That, and that there are bound to be at least a few Karents in the world of V3. We also need to look at it logically. There is bound to be a lot of people who don't think a show where people are brainwashed and forced to kill each other should be on the air. There are bound to be a few suspicious people, as well as a good chunk of people working to try and take Danganronpa down. They weren't enough to actually bring Danganronpa down, as we see from it running with real people for 43 years, but Team Danganronpa still couldn't take chances. They couldn't do much about the adults protesting except deny accusations and cover things up, which, as I discussed in part 1 of this theory, is Team Danganronpa's bread and butter. However, the teenagers well-known enough that threaten their plans? That's another story. Just like the contestants, they could kidnap them and force them into what they were fighting against, physically and mentally, by transforming them into a mastermind against their will. Not only is this a fate as bad or worse than death (in my opinion), but the shock and betrayal the outside world would feel "realizing" that someone they thought was on their side was a twisted mastermind could be enough to quell the protestors for a while, at least until the aura of distrust wears off. If you have something you have desperate need to get rid of, I.E. teenage protestors threatening to expose your secrets, and another thing that you're in desperate need of, I.E. masterminds for your game, combined with having technology to make the surplus fix the deficit, I.E. a flashlight that can change your memories, and BOOM! You've got a solid theory! As for who Tsumugi was before being brainwashed, I don't think her personality and talents would be changed, unlike the rest of the V3 cast. The only thing that would've been changed is her attitude towards Danganronpa and all of mankind (that, and Team Danganronpa's ideologies getting programmed into her brain). This was to make the betrayal cover-up more believable for the outside world. Tsumugi was likely still a cosplayer with the same personality and interests as her in-game self (just likely not world-famous), but she either played a role in protesting that got her well-known, was coming dangerously close to bringing Danganronpa down, or both. Either way, she was likely known by a large enough percentage of people to be targeted by Team Danganronpa and forced into the role of mastermind.

Back when I first came up with the idea of this theory, I watched and rewatched and rewatched again the pregame section of V3's prologue to see if pregame Tsumugi gave off any red flags that would damper the theory. I was delighted to find out that there were next to no red flags in sight, and the ones that could be red flags could be easily explained. The one I want to start on is the one that had me concerned for the longest time, and that's one of pregame Tsumugi's only lines.

"Huh? Who's that? Where are they?"

It was the "where are they?" part that had me concerned for the longest time, as I was worried that it meant Tsumugi knew who they (the Monokubs) were. However, inspecting things closer, it's actually a pretty reasonable response for anyone to say. Not to mention, pregame Tsumugi looks pretty scared when she says that line. The last two things I want to clear up is two small details: Tsumugi's stuttering and her smile when she recieves new clothing. However, these can be easily explained, since a good chunk of the pregame cast were doing the exact same thing on both accounts. Thus, I don't really consider those two details reliable ones.

Now that the red flags are cleared away, I'd like to bring up one thing I paid close attention to when rewatching the pregame prologue-Tsumugi's position. In order for this to make sense, pregame Tsumugi would need to be in a position where it would be hard to get away without people noticing. And in every part of the time she was in the pregame prologue, she was exactly that. Every scene she was in, she was in a position where people would most likely notice if she tried to get away, even when the Monokubs were taking center stage. As far as we can tell, everybody was so shocked and confused about what was going on, they didn't go anywhere.

Everything is starting to check out, apart from one little hitch. A little while before finishing off this theory, I decided to look up Tsumugi's bio, and I learned that it was implied in the final chapter that she wasn't just the mastermind for the 53rd killing game, but a few before it (something I missed on first viewing of the final chapter). Understandably, this left me scared that my entire theory would come crumbling down. However, after thinking deeper for a few hours, I realized that it was actually the final puzzle piece I needed to solidify this theory. In part 1 of this theory, I talked about how multiple pieces of evidence throughout V3, along with some logistic standpoints, pointed to V3 being a virtual simulation that killed you for real if you died in-game (I wonder what Team Danganronpa does with all those dead bodies. Maybe they have a crematorium?). While I had a lot of evidence to back it up, it's Tsumugi being the mastermind of multiple killing games that's my definitive proof. You see, if Tsumugi masterminded multiple killing games and everything was real, it actually creates plot holes. Because Rantaro is a survivor sent into the 53rd killing game, it confirms that hope was chosen in the 52nd, which means Tsumugi would have died, which means she wouldn't have been able to mastermind the 53rd killing game. If the Danganronpa TV show took place in the real world, this would make zero sense! However, not only does it make sense if V3's a simulation, but it also confirms this entire theory that Tsumugi was brainwashed. Remember how I said Team Danganronpa wouldn't kidnap a random person to be the mastermind THE FIRST TIME AROUND? Well, after they've had the real Tsumugi die, they still have her personality template to use again. That leaves two possibilities. Either Tsumugi was made into an AI like Monokuma and the Monokubs, which is likely, or someone was forced into their shoes. Given pregame Tsumugi's behaviour in the prologue, I'm leaning toward the second possibility more than the first one. After all, forcing someone into Tsumugi's body in the simulation is as simple as connecting them to the simulation and changing their skin while they're unconscious (again discussed in greater detail in part 1). And when another threat came their way, people were tired of the current mastermind, the mastermind wasn't high school aged anymore, or a mix of those things, Team Danganronpa can always repeat the cycle. If Team Danganronpa kept kidnapping and brainwashing a new mastermind every year, things would look awfully suspicious on their end and make it more likely they'd get shut down, so it makes sense that they'd want to keep one mastermind running things for as long as they could. It would also be a way to divert attention from the kidnappings that happen every year. People were made to believe that the cast willingly joined, and that Tsumugi was the mastermind, but what about one teen's unexplained appearance? It's a way to divert attention from investigating Team Danganronpa. It's kind of like the 1-2-4 prank. You get three pigs (or some other animals), you paint the numbers, 1,2, and 4 on their backs, release them into a public store, and enjoy watching everyone look everywhere for the third one (please note that I'd never do this in real life). Anyways, it's crazy to think that the pregame Tsumugi we saw in the prologue might not have actually been Tsumugi. Heck, there could've been a boy in that girl's body, and we wouldn't even realize it! I can only imagine how a boy would react to that happening. I'm just glad that my theory is not only still possible, but it might very well be the truth.

Edit: There's one last problem I'd like to clarify that can be explained by this theory, and also serves as further evidence (which I only realized a day or so after I published this theory). If Rantaro was so determined to end the killing games, even as his pregame self (again, explained in detail in part 1), why didn't he confront and expose Tsumugi on the spot in front of everyone? It would likely end the killing games pretty quickly and save everyone from dying. Well, let's go back to what I discussed in the last paragraph, about people being forced into Tsumugi's body. Humor me for a moment. What if Team Danganronpa decided to be a bit cheeky and place Rantaro and Tsumugi in the same classroom to spark a chuckle among their fans? I mean, it just sounds like something they'd do for laughs! We saw in the prologue that each member of the pregame cast was corralled into the gym by the Exisals almost immediately after they tried to leave. If you're wondering what they are, they're most accurately summed up for me by the final entry in this list video (the short at the end of the entry makes me laugh every time):
www.youtube.com/watch?v=rxefgz…
Anyways, another detail I'd like to clarify is why Rantaro was skeptical about this being a killing game until the Monokubs showed up. Well, you need to take something into account. The pregame cast were never supposed to retain their memories. They were supposed to be wiped when they woke up, which Rantaro would have known. So of course he's gonna be a bit skeptical if this is really the 53rd killing game! However, this lack of a memory wipe also gave Rantaro the oppurtunity to learn secrets about the killing game he couldn't know before and that Team Danganronpa would never want to go out to anyone for entertainment's sake, I.E. that they forced people to become the mastermind. I can imagine Team Danganronpa placing Rantaro and Tsumugi in the same room together for shits and giggles, playing off Rantaro being absolutely clueless that he's in the room with the mastermind he met once before. However, because the memory wipe wasn't activated, it wound up having some unintended consequences. When pregame Rantaro saw pregame Tsumugi either fall out of a locker in the room or when he did so, I can imagine that he'd go right ahead and confront her about what he remembers her doing. However, either by witnessing her reactions to what happened or through the confrontation itself, Rantaro realized that something was off, and that it wasn't Tsumugi he was talking to. Thus, he agrees to keep his mouth shut about what he knows about the killing game and the mastermind's role in it until he can figure out what's really going on, which as we see, didn't happen in time. This could also be an explanation as to why he seemed so skeptical as to what was going on (I'm still laughing about the content of the video I linked to). Just to clarify, the outside world wouldn't be seeing this exchange take place. Remember that, in the final chapter of V3, it's stated that everything the outside world saw in V3 was through Kiibo's eyes, and that people playing V3 are focused in on Kaede and Shuichi. This makes it entirely possible that an interaction like this could have taken place between Rantaro and Tsumugi in the pregame prologue, and because the cast were moved back to the same lockers they were in before, Team Danganronpa could've still snuck in that cheeky humor. Overall, not only does this theory make sense logically, but also when considering many of the V3 cast's actions and the world around them.
Conclusion/Epilogue

With that, we reach the end of the journey that was solving V3's lore. I know I already said it in part 1, but I can't believe that my 16-year-old brain managed to solve V3's lore as well as this side chunk of it, and all by myself with only the internet and age-old memes to help me out. I swear, if I was a dog, I'd be the type to try and herd tractors when I should be herding sheep. But do you really think I'd give a fuck? No, I wouldn't. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this theory! If you have any more ideas for things I can theorize about, please post them in the comments section below! I always like having a good challenge for my brain to work on.

Tsumugi Shirogane is from Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony by Nippon Ichi Software, Spike Chunsoft, and Tookyo Games

Anyways, that's all I have for now! This is Baconforbreakfast426, signing off.