[Detective Conan] Paving the Way Home with a Beautiful, Strong, Tragic Script

I transmigrated, and into the Conan world, the one with the highest death rate.

The world said that I could return to my original world only after earning the recognition and affection of every main character in this world.

I was silent for two seconds, then nodded. "Got it. I'll go crash the moon landing. And, Mr. World, could you do me a favor and give me a System that lets me trade emotions for points and a few useful little gadgets?"

The world was pretty generous. It gave me not only a System, but also an upgraded dream-stealing machine.

"Thank you, Mr. World." I expressed my gratitude solemnly. "By the way, can I step in at any point in time?"

"Your mind can, but your body cannot. Since your mind transmigrated from the three-dimensional world, it can break free of the two-dimensional timeline. Your body, however, is a product of the two-dimensional world, meaning me, and normally has no right to break free of its timeline."

"Understood. My mind alone will be enough." I nodded briskly. "As long as my mind works, that's all I need."

There are countless storylines in the world. Surely I can find one to write?

This is hilarious. Let's start with the Boss Dazai storyline.

Come on, Zero, Gin, Vermouth. You're my first picks.

First, the three of them enter this world in their respective roles, as a police officer and subordinates of the Black Organization's Boss, and live out an entire lifetime, fully immersed in it.

Let's see how you like this fascinating premise: a world created for one person.

"Zero, I..."

"Shut up. My enemy has no right to call me that." Rei Furuya looked disgusted and furious. "What did you do to Hiro?"

"...I could never hurt him, and I could never hurt you. Believe me, Z... Furuya-kun." The boy took off the suit he'd worn for years and changed into a sand-colored trench coat, just so he could meet him looking his best. He didn't cry, but his expression looked as if something inside him had shattered.

Rei Furuya raised his gun at him. Then, at the sound of the gunshot, he saw something in the boy's eyes break apart.

"Anywhere but here. Please don't shoot here... I'm begging you..."

This was where all six of them had gathered to eat yakiniku in the book's world he had seen.

Later, he fell in the dream world.

Before the world shattered, Rei Furuya, Gin, and Vermouth watched the entire story from beginning to end as third-party observers. They saw him learn the fates of five people in the "book" ahead of time, resolve to save them, and use a series of coincidences to rescue all four. They watched him do everything in his power to become the Black Organization's greatest Boss and earn Gin's allegiance. They watched him say, "This is the only world where all five of us are alive. I have to protect it..."

And, in the end, they watched him fall from the rooftop.

The second person he chose was Jinpei Matsuda.

Let's try the Itachi storyline.

Since childhood, Jinpei Matsuda had trusted and admired the unrelated older brother who had lost both his parents and lived with his family. But his brother was always busy. Whenever Jinpei wanted to play with him, his brother might flick him on the forehead and say, "Sorry, Jinpei. Maybe next time."

Then one day, his father fell to the ground. The culprit seemed to be the very older brother he had always trusted.

His brother stood there, blood dripping from the knife in his hand, and taunted him: "You foolish little brother. Come stand before me again when you have the strength to match mine."

He thought his brother was a traitor and hated him for over a decade.

He joined the undercover operation and entered the Black Organization, hoping to avenge his father.

But at the end, he watched the brother he had always believed was a traitor deliberately take Jinpei's gun and point it at his own chest, helping Jinpei, who had lost all his strength, pull the trigger. He fell before him, then secretly slipped a USB drive into Jinpei's pocket as he lay dying. Finally, he flicked him on the forehead and said, "Forgive me, Jinpei. This really is the last time..."

The third person to get put through the wringer was Kenji Hagiwara.

Let's try the story of Geto Suguru slowly falling into a long, bitter summer.

There were too many things beyond the scope of common sense for the law to control. He had seen too many people cry, and his childhood friend and fellow classmate began to develop psychological problems. But because that friend had always been so tolerant, considerate, and patient with him, he failed to notice in time. In the end, the two of them chose completely different paths.

When asked again whether he'd eaten too much cold noodles, he replied, "It's nothing. I'm just having a bitter summer."

At the moment they parted ways, Hagiwara, shaken to the core, instinctively raised his gun in disbelief. His dearest friend, now a grown man, paused for a moment, then gave him a faint, bitter smile. "If you want to kill me, then do it. Your choice has meaning."

In the end, he encountered him gravely wounded and watched him die by his own hand.

The fourth was Hiromitsu Morofushi.

Let's try Shu Ouma's storyline.

Do you like cat's cradle, Hiromitsu?

Here, take the red string from my hands and live on in my place.

World Consciousness: ...Even if you're plagiarizing storylines, you're a real piece of work.

You know the injuries in the dream world feel completely real, right? That includes hitting the ground after falling from a building, and having your body brutally wounded and stabbed through.

And just look at their faces when they wake up!

Their whole worldview has shattered! They're desperately trying to find you!

Rei Furuya, Gin, and Vermouth have red-scarf and falling-from-a-height PTSD. Jinpei Matsuda has last-time and forehead-flick PTSD. Kenji Hagiwara has your-choice-has-meaning and bitter-summer PTSD. Hiromitsu Morofushi has red-string and exchanging-lives PTSD...

Utterly tragic.

Me: Mr. World, is there a problem? (kind smile)

I just want to go home.

World Consciousness (thinking of the energy emotions can generate, and speaking sincerely): No, please continue.

PS: The protagonist will develop genuine feelings and will truly protect them. But nothing matters more than going home. He wants to get back to his own little nest and return to a normal life. That doesn't seem like a problem...

PPS: He may seem like a master of secret identities, but he actually uses the same face every time. When they exchange information, everyone will probably assume the differences are due to different timelines in different worlds...

PPPS: In the end, every main character may try desperately to find the nonexistent "book" containing the different endings of billions of worlds, hoping to find and confirm the protagonist's timeline in this world. (But they'll never find it.)

(Also, the protagonist chose Boss Dazai's storyline first because he really does look about ninety percent like Boss Dazai. The only missing ten percent was the dark circles, which years of staying up late filled in. Their appearances are basically identical.)

Theme: Returning to the original world matters more than anything