Upon hearing the mechanical noise, Dubian Che snapped out of his daze and, without worrying about why someone was filming him now, asked, "What do you plan to write for the script?"
"Didn’t I tell you already?" said Kiyono Lin, nodding to herself as she reviewed the saved video. "Someone from an alternate world comes to ours and turns into Dubian Che."
This clip would come in handy.
"And then what? Don’t tell me it’s a hero saving the beauty, the scene is in Ochazuke, and the girl being saved is actually a demon."
"Hero saving beauty... Ochazuke... demon..."
Seeing Kiyono Lin looking like she was already plotting out the story with the three keywords, Dubian Che quickly stood up straight, "I was just spouting nonsense, don’t take it seriously! The hero saving the beauty is too clichéd!"
Ignoring him, Kiyono Lin muttered to herself, "You come to this world and have the ability to save girls and receive rewards."
"You’ll face demons who steal the souls of young women, each more formidable than the last. By saving them, speaking as ’Card Face to Fight,’ you’d gain stronger powers. But in the end, you’d be killed by a cunning demon disguised as a girl in Ochazuke."
Dubian Che felt a chill run down his spine as he broke into a sweat.
"God, please stop talking!"
"Is there something wrong with this script?" Kiyono Lin frowned slightly.
"It’s not that it’s bad, it’s just that I don’t think it’ll be popular."
"Then do you have any ideas for a script that you feel could be popular?"
What script could Dubian Che have?
But he definitely couldn’t let a cunning demon, disguised as a girl, kill him in Ochazuke.
"How about this," Dubian Che looked at Kiyono Lin in front of him, "I’m an employee from a company in an alternate world, and my mission is to take the female lead away from this world to switch bodies for a rich patron to extend their life. But this girl somehow has the ability to see through lies, and she immediately sees that the incredibly handsome male lead is actually a bad guy."
Kiyono Lin stopped fiddling with her SLR camera.
"But the girl doesn’t run away. Instead, she approaches the male lead and says if he fulfills her last three wishes, she’ll willingly go with him."
"What wishes?" Kiyono Lin lifted her eyelids to look at Dubian Che.
Kiyono Lin’s cherry-colored lips parted slightly in surprise, looking incredulously at Dubian Che, "Are you sure you want to have a romance with the female lead?"
"Is there a problem?" Dubian Che looked puzzled at Kiyono Lin, who appeared a tad cute with her expression.
"What about Jiutiao Meijie?"
"Hissss," Dubian Che gasped sharply, nearly getting killed by reality while trying to avoid death in the script.
He quickly backtracked, "Then let’s leave out the romance. Play baseball, get a part-time job, or even participate in a music competition. Spread your music to the world, anything is fine."
"Continue." Kiyono Lin made a face as if the plot was uninteresting.
"The male lead gets moved without realizing it, and during the surgery to switch bodies, he helps kill the rich patron, letting the girl live on as him, what do you think?"
"Hmm—" Kiyono Lin pondered, "And then the ending is: After gaining power and wealth, the girl kills the male lead to avoid exposing herself."
"Why do I always have to die? It’s just too weird!"
A boy struggling with his bicycle on the overpass shot an angry glance at Dubian Che, who was speaking loudly to the beautiful girl.
"What does the male lead dying have to do with you?" Kiyono Lin looked at him oddly.
"...Anyway, the male lead can’t die."
"The twist makes it more interesting. I’ll decide the specifics of the script myself. Consider your ideas a reference," said Kiyono Lin, envisioning the script while looking into the distance.
The evening breeze was gentle, and more people started going out for walks.
She suddenly remembered something, turned her head, and looked at Dubian Che, who was still insisting that the male lead could not die.
"Tomorrow night, there’s the biggest fireworks festival in Tokyo at the Meiji Shrine Outer Garden. Such great material, I want to include it in the film."
"But we’ve already spent the entire budget, the actors aren’t decided, and there’s no script. I don’t want to die."
"I’ll work hard tonight to write a scene around the fireworks festival and then choose the actors and filming location during the day."
"Alright, good luck, but don’t stay up too late. I don’t want to die."
"We’ll see," said Kiyono Lin, picking up her backpack. "Let’s head back."
Dubian Che slung his equipment over his shoulders, and as he walked toward the overpass stairs, he muttered, "Remember, I don’t want to die, I want to live."
"You won’t die too badly."
"Hey! Aren’t we friends?"
"You’re so noisy, can’t you be quiet for a bit?"
Finally reaching Kiyono Lin’s upscale apartment, Dubian Che was drenched in sweat.
"What would you like to drink?" Kiyono Lin opened the refrigerator and asked.
"Barley tea, with ice."
"Thanks." Dubian Che took a big gulp.
Watching the contented Dubian Che, Kiyono Lin couldn’t help but laugh.
"What are you laughing at? You didn’t put a love potion in the tea, did you?" Dubian Che looked at her warily.
"Did you really put a love potion? What’s going on? Are you after my well-exercised body? Sorry, but you’re too purpose-driven, and your methods are too disgraceful. We just can’t happen."
"Drink up and leave," Kiyono Lin picked up her notebook and started thinking about the script.