"Boss, this screenwriter's script is incredibly bold! She actually wrote a story where the protagonist travels to a world with no Pokémon at all, and then starts living a peaceful, ordinary life there."
Zoroark spoke with great enthusiasm, but Edward's expression turned a bit strange. He glanced at Zoroark—if he didn't already know that Zoroark wasn't the type to joke around or make weird insinuations, Edward would have seriously wondered if Zoroark was hinting at him.
Still, Edward genuinely had some interest in this kind of premise. After all, in the Pokémon world, there wasn't really a concept of "isekai" dramas. And usually, for something that could be considered the first of its kind, unless the script or acting was catastrophically bad, it would almost certainly explode in popularity afterward.
Just like Back to the Future, and other early works that pioneered the time-travel genre—since then, more and more isekai movies and dramas proved that the market had a very high tolerance and appetite for such stories.
But as he continued to look at this script, Edward's expression grew increasingly subtle.
"Hold on… you said 'she'? The screenwriter is a woman?" Edward caught a particular detail.
Zoroark nodded. "Yep, she's a woman."
Edward was surprised. After all, seeing such an old-school "little-sister-obsessed" type of script, he instinctively assumed it had been written by a man.
Because, long ago when Edward used to read web novels, having a little sister was practically the standard loadout. In later novels, the "little sister" would usually turn into a non-blood-related type—probably influenced by works like My Little Sister Can't Be This Cute and other sis-con anime.
So, when he saw this sister-obsessed story, he automatically assumed the screenwriter was male.
He never expected it to be a woman.
Now he was even more interested, so he decided to continue reading.
…
"Alright then." Yuta thought for a moment. For the sake of his own peaceful life, he had to at least try—try to encourage his little sister to improve in this area. If he crushed her enthusiasm now, that would be bad.
Slowly, Yuta opened the newspaper-wrapped lunchbox. As the newspaper layers grew thinner, an indescribable smell filled the room. It was hard to describe exactly what it was.
Yuta felt that just inhaling the smell was enough to make him die on the spot. This odor surpassed every stench known to mankind.
Suddenly, he found himself seeing a group of tiny angels swirling around him, holding his hands, trying to guide him toward heaven—toward a beautiful place where terrifying little sisters did not exist.
"Big… brother?"
Kaede's voice, however, was like the merciless call of a demon, dragging him back to the mortal world.
Kaede looked at Yuta, who was staring blankly at the lunchbox in his hands. She couldn't understand why he was making such a dazed expression—as if he had been stunned into stillness.
Yuta shook his head. The strange, pungent smell still dominated the air. His entire outlook on life had shifted. He never imagined his little sister's cooking could be so horrifying.
Just smelling it already caused hallucinations?
What kind of insane ability was that?!
"Kaede… what exactly did you make today?" Yuta suddenly felt that he absolutely had to ask.
"W-Why are you asking that? Idiot brother! I told you to eat it, so eat it! You'll know once you eat it!"
Kaede's face turned bright red—and Yuta felt like it wouldn't be surprising if actual steam were rising from her head.
Suspiciously, he glanced at her again before slowly opening the lunchbox. But the moment he cracked open the lid even a little, he regretted it instantly. The smell that had been trapped inside surged out in full force, nearly knocking him unconscious.
"Wait here."
Yuta looked at Kaede with serious eyes. Suddenly, an item he had bought long ago now had a purpose.
He sprinted into his room, rummaged around for a while, and finally came out wearing a gas mask. Only then did he return to the living room, expression solemn, as he used his chopsticks to poke the lunchbox like he was about to diffuse a chemical weapon.
Kaede bit her lip, glaring at him furiously. To her, his actions were basically screaming, "Your cooking is trash."
When the lunchbox was completely opened, Yuta finally saw its contents—a single boiled egg.
Yuta silently glanced at his blushing, terrifying little sister Kaede, then looked down at the egg. He suddenly felt that although his sister excelled academically and in many other fields, she could never escape the label of "hopelessly directionally challenged."
And now… apparently, she also deserved the title of "culinary idiot."
She had never really cooked before, but judging by this boiled egg alone, she had already made an impressive debut on the path of dark cuisine.
"M-My dear sister… this is… a boiled egg, right?"
Even though there was nothing else in the lunchbox, Yuta still wanted to cling to a little bit of hope.
"Yes. Please eat it."
Kaede glared at him again but, remembering her club's activity requirements, still answered honestly.
"Ah… it really is a boiled egg… I thought maybe you stuffed something unimaginable inside it and shaped it like an egg…"
Yuta collapsed onto the table, gas mask or not—it felt like he could sense pure despair radiating from the odor.
Was he really supposed to eat this?
If he ate it, he would definitely die, right? Absolutely die!
Yuta stared at the lunchbox with a complicated expression, screaming internally.
Just from the smell alone, this egg had surpassed all human limits.
Suddenly—
BANG!
A deafening sound snapped Yuta out of his death contemplation. He turned toward the source—the old tree in their yard.
He recognized that tree. He had planted it when he was a kid, and it had grown healthily ever since. It was such a lovely tree—whenever he looked at it, he felt like he was seeing himself: battered by wind and rain, yet still growing strong.
But that was all in the past.
Because now, the tree had been snapped cleanly in half.
The cut was far too smooth to be natural.
So… the situation was crystal clear.
Yuta gulped and slowly turned back toward Kaede.
"Ah, sorry about that, my dear adorable big brother. It seems I accidentally broke your tree just now~" Kaede replied with a big, innocent smile.
"Of course, it definitely wasn't because I heard someone's inner thoughts and reacted. Nope, totally an accidental loss of control~"
Her voice was sweet and pleasant—no surprise she had won first place in a singing contest—but Yuta only felt a wave of icy dread.
"I can't guarantee what might happen if I lose control again~"
Kaede intentionally glanced at Yuta's waist, her smile growing even sweeter.
"So… you know what you need to do, right? My dear big brother~"
Her tone sounded like she was acting cute—but it carried a chilling edge.
Yuta looked sadly at Kaede, comparing the risk of eating this egg with the risk of being snapped in half by his own sister.
In the end… he reached toward the lunchbox.
At that moment, his world was filled only with the sound of his heartbeat. He stared at the egg, his trembling hand inching closer to that ominous creation of dark cuisine.
But the texture was surprisingly good.
Even though the shell had been removed and it had been sitting for a while, it was still warm.
Yuta knew why—Kaede had used her psychic powers to lock in the heat. For her, something like that was trivial.
As Yuta picked up the egg, Kaede actually felt a bit nervous, though she hid it completely.
To Yuta, however, she looked emotionless—just waiting for him to consume this biochemical weapon.
The closer the egg came, the stronger the nauseating smell became. Yuta even touched his gas mask multiple times—had he really put it on correctly? Or was the mask just fake?!
Staring at the egg, he suddenly hallucinated a devil's face forming on it, whispering to him:
"Eat me… eat me… your soul will belong to me…"
"Kaede… if I pass out later, please make sure to take me to the hospital!"
Yuta looked at her with determination. If he couldn't avoid this path, at least he should set his affairs in order.
"You! You stupid brother—!"
Kaede gritted her teeth, wanting nothing more than to snap his waist right now.
"I'm digging in!"
Yuta ripped off his mask, shut his eyes, and shoved the egg into his mouth.
As he chewed, his expression slowly changed.
The taste…
"So? How does it taste?"
Kaede asked anxiously. She had heard his inner monologue earlier, and now she was dying to know whether it tasted good or bad.
"This flavor… is surprisingly good…"
Yuta swallowed the egg completely. He started to wonder if he had wrongly accused his sister this whole time.
Once he bit into it, the flavor transformed entirely—there was a fragrant aroma, and it actually tasted delicious. Unlike a normal boiled egg, Kaede's egg had a completely unique undertone.
"Kaede… what did you add when you boiled this?"
Yuta was curious—was his sister secretly a genius?
"I… I added… added these…"
Kaede shyly pulled a few items from her bag and placed them on the table.
"Wait—are these… truffles?!"
Yuta stared, astonished. How had she even gotten her hands on truffles?
"Mhm! I read in the textbook that these are extremely precious ingredients, so I went to the mountains to find some."
Kaede puffed her chest out proudly.
"Hold on… this one… this one looks…"
Yuta noticed that one of the truffles looked off.
Maybe because it had been boiled, the color seemed wrong. Yuta scraped the surface with his pen—the black coating fell away, revealing a blood-red surface.
"…Ah. Poisonous mushroom."
Yuta rolled his eyes and collapsed to the floor.
And so, with Kaede's emergency teleportation, Yuta still ended up in the hospital. His weekend was determined by the doctors to be spent there.
"What misfortune!!"
A tragic wail echoed through the hospital halls.
…
Edward finished reading with the expression of an old man on a subway scrolling through his phone.
This script… someone actually submitted this?
Incredible.
"This isn't sis-con. This is straight-up brother-con!"
Edward finally understood. He originally thought this was a sis-con story—but by the time he reached the end, he realized… this was absolutely a brother-con script.
"Where's this screenwriter?"
Edward was genuinely curious. Just what kind of person could write such a legendary creation?
Zoroark brought in a girl—quiet, gentle-looking, slightly shy.
"…Your name is Urobuchi Gen?"
Edward looked at the résumé, face turning odd. The girl shyly nodded.
Edward sucked in a breath.
Good lord.
Good lord.
Could this Urobuchi Gen become that future Warrior of Love? Edward didn't know—but he found the idea extremely interesting.
"What else have you written?"
Edward asked with curiosity.
The girl hesitated, then lowered her head and pulled a notebook out of her bag.
"This… I wrote this. But I think it still needs some revision…" she murmured.
Edward took it out of curiosity.
"Song of Saya (Saya no Uta)."
Alright, that confirmed it. Completely confirmed.
This girl was the Pokémon-world projection of Pure Love Warrior Urobuchi.
Edward flipped through the script. Though it still differed from the future masterpiece he knew, it already had the outlines and emotional tone.
He found this quite amusing. The legendary Urobuchi Gen, appearing in his company—what a fun development. Edward planned to support her, let her spread "love" in this world as well.
It would definitely be… interesting.
"Not bad. All these scripts can be submitted. But this Song of Saya—are you planning to make it into a drama? A movie? Something else?"
Edward asked, and after a moment of hesitation, the girl answered that she wanted to turn it into a game—but needed time to revise the script first.
Naturally, Edward agreed. That wasn't a problem for him at all.
"And this one?"
Edward held up the brother-con script.
The girl didn't hesitate. It was intended as a TV drama.
Edward didn't object.
Although, based on what he knew of this girl's style… the final result might be a little mentally devastating for the audience.
But it should be fine.
(End of chapter)