It doesn't actually matter what the V3 cast were like before the killing game and people fixate too much on it imo
fun fact: we don't actually see everyone's joy at being 'selected' for danganronpa until the 6th chapter. it's very possible what we see as the 'pregame' megafans of danganronpa are as fabricated as the ones we see throughout the entire game. but they serve a purpose more as a plot device rather than a tangible Thing.
i may also be somewhat bitter because somebody kept using it exclusively to tell the same bloody shipping story they always do