I kinda feel like I'm being left behind...in still stuck at work
Don't get discouraged. There's still time to write yourself into the break room scene. Nothing of great importance has happened yet. To be fair though, a model probably would be a late riser for "beauty sleep." This is still only the prelude chapter. You won't get left behind.
As odd as it may sound, and since I don't remember it being mentioned in Broken's posts, I wonder if the advantage Monokuma mentioned could be the ability to essentially make someone else blackened in that time, even if they hadn't been the killer? I mean, it seems strange, as well as broken (heh) and all too tricky, but it's just a thought.
I will not mention what the implication of the rule is here. However, there is an infinite cheater among you that might have a better idea of how such a rule could be exploited. If someone can brave his lair that is. I mean approaching him right now would be like this: