Although Edward was indeed a little curious about whether this man named William was an undercover agent, that was obviously not something he could just go up and ask about directly. After all, walking up to someone and bluntly asking, "Are you an undercover?"—no matter how you looked at it, that was nothing but a foolish thing to do.
So, Edward did not dwell on it too much. In the end, even if William truly was an undercover agent, it had nothing to do with him.
At present, throughout the entire Hoenn Region, the only two organizations that had any real presence—Team Magma and Team Aqua—had already been heavily suppressed by the League. Their current state was miserable; they could only hide pitifully in the shadows, licking their wounds while searching for a chance to re-emerge.
So, even if William really were an undercover, Edward figured that the man had nowhere else left to infiltrate. Who knew—maybe the next time they met, William would have already gone and thrown himself into either Team Aqua or Team Magma instead.
"The world is truly full of strange coincidences. I've heard that there are indeed cases where two people, not relatives and sometimes not even acquainted with one another, somehow look astonishingly alike," Edward remarked as he took a sip of fruit tea, sighing with a sense of wonder.
Just like in his previous life—there had been certain crosstalk comedians who looked strikingly similar to famous singers, and the resemblance really was uncanny. Or all those countless imitators of celebrities that had appeared back then: as long as you looked somewhat like a star, you could make a living off it. The same went for impersonators of famous athletes as well.
What he was hesitating about instead was whether he should take out Infernal Affairs and contribute it to this world. Of course, Edward himself did not have the spare time to slowly shoot it. He was far too busy—preparing for the filming of The Grudge 2, among other things. So even if he really were to film Infernal Affairs, he would only write the script and then hand it over to some director, letting them film it instead.
Speaking of filmmaking matters, Edward suddenly remembered something else. Thus, the very next day, he returned to the company and sought out Zoroark.
"Zoroark, didn't I tell you before to start preparing the crew for RULE#1? How is the preparation coming along?" Edward asked as he looked at him. Upon hearing this, Zoroark quickly pulled out a folder and handed it over.
"Boss, regarding the crew arrangements for RULE#1, the preparations are already nearly complete. The only thing we're lacking is the main director. This is a list of directors the company has found—please have a look," Zoroark explained.
Edward took the folder. He did not recognize most of the names on it, but each director had a few representative works listed beside them. That made Edward think back to something—hadn't Zoroark said earlier that only one director had been interested in coming to ask about this project? So why had several new candidates suddenly appeared?
"Boss, I did send it to that one director at first. But somehow, the other directors applying for positions here also found out. After reading the script, several of them expressed their strong desire to film it as well, so…" Zoroark said helplessly. The matter had turned into quite a fuss, leaving even him feeling it was a bit troublesome to handle.
The corner of Edward's mouth twitched, but after scanning through the materials and works, he decided in the end to hand RULE#1 to one particular director. This director specialized in making films with depth, and of the six movies he had directed so far, four had received fairly solid ratings. Conveniently, he was also the very same director who had initially sought out the script.
The man clearly had some skill, and he had also signed a long-term contract with the company. Naturally, Edward had to give him some benefits.
Thus, under Edward's arrangement, the script for RULE#1 was entrusted to this director named Luis Roda. The man was so excited that he thumped his chest repeatedly, assuring Edward that he would definitely make the film well, and that he would ensure RULE#1 became a success in the history of League cinema.
"Director Luis, what kind of story do you think RULE#1 is?" Edward asked with a smile as he sat back on the sofa. Zoroark brought tea and then quietly left, not staying to eavesdrop.
Luis, hearing the question, immediately understood that this was his boss testing him.
Although Luis was an adult and already a mature director who had made six films, Edward still wanted to hear his understanding. After all, even many seasoned and celebrated directors could produce vastly different results depending on how they interpreted a script. A misinterpretation could ruin an entire film.
"From the script, the film opens with what seems like a straightforward case of a policeman shooting down a serial killer. But it's actually a façade that hides deeper mysteries, immediately seizing the audience's attention. As the protagonist is transferred to the miscellaneous department that deals with supernatural events, he gradually encounters all kinds of eerie phenomena."
"Each paranormal incident functions like a piece of a puzzle—seemingly isolated, yet ultimately pointing toward one massive secret lurking behind everything. That kind of gradual linkage is very important. For instance, the inexplicable noises in the swimming pool or the television that switches on by itself—these details cleverly exploit the audience's natural fear of the unknown, steadily amplifying the sense of suspense. And this suspense isn't just built on jump scares or visual horror, but on the lack of clarity about the underlying logic of events. It keeps viewers curious and tense right up until the final twist at the end."
"In my opinion, from a purely script-based perspective, RULE#1 can actually be interpreted in two ways—either there really are ghosts, or there are none. But Boss, your script seems to lean toward the idea that…" Luis spoke at length, and Edward was very pleased.
Luis had indeed perceived the unique charm within the script.
Even the name RULE#1 carried significance. It originated from a religious doctrine in Edward's past life, though he himself could not speak too much about it here. Interpretations of RULE#1 had always varied widely. Edward did not wish to declare which camp he belonged to, but personally, he leaned toward the belief that there were indeed ghosts involved.
After all, the suicides of the students and the many bizarre occurrences hardly seemed like things that could happen without supernatural influence. The literal meaning of "RULE#1," however, was rather intriguing—it essentially meant firmly believing that there are no ghosts in the world, and no matter what happens, one must not waver in that conviction.
But of course, in the story, that conviction ultimately wavers.
"My initial idea for RULE#1 was simply to highlight some social phenomena," Edward explained calmly. "But later I realized that if filmed that way, probably nobody would want to watch it. So I decided to weave in supernatural elements—you can understand it as having ghosts involved."
There were plenty of films that reflected social realities. Foreign countries had them too, such as India's Toilet Hero or the well-known Dying to Survive. But earning good results with such films was never easy. And since the setting of RULE#1 was itself rather ambiguous, Edward decided to frame it in this way.
Luis eventually left, carrying with him a large sum of funding from Edward. He would begin filming RULE#1, though compared to Edward's own projects, the resources allocated were somewhat less generous.
Even so, the advertising budget was still considerable. The investors were not fools—just by looking at the script, they could tell the film's potential quality. The only difference was that without Edward personally directing, their confidence in it was naturally lower.
After sending Luis off, Edward could finally begin preparing in earnest for The Grudge 2. The filming would still take place at the same location as before, which Edward trusted very much, since he had already purchased the property.
It had not been used for anything else since, so it could be cleared and set up again immediately.
"This time…" Edward thought of Fuji Takako. Her acting skills were undoubtedly excellent. And since Edward had even summoned Kayako herself as an employee, Takako's performance could be considered practically "playing herself." At times, Edward even felt that if he wished, he could have her directly reenact certain movements that only the dead could perform.
But ever since Fuji Takako had been possessed by Kayako last time, there were moments during filming when Edward would find her gaze truly chilling. That kind of almost primal performance put the other actors under immense pressure as well.
That had been one of the main reasons why The Grudge had required so many retakes.
The other actors simply couldn't keep up with Fuji Takako's performance.
In the end, Edward had decided to simply incorporate the actors' genuine unease and breakdowns into the film itself, which sped up production. Otherwise, who knew how long The Grudge would have dragged on.
This time, however, filming would not be any easier. While Kayako remained the protagonist, another role would be added—Junko Nami. But this would not require much, since her scenes could be represented by reused footage from the first film. The real challenge lay with Suzuki Kyoko's role.
She needed to embody a chillingly unhinged state of madness, which was exactly what Edward wanted. Junko Nami's deepest obsession was the unborn child that Saeki Takeo had cruelly ripped from her body before birth.
Thus, after Suzuki Kyoko became possessed by Nami, she would constantly carry a doll in her arms, treating it as if it were her child.
And it was here that the inescapable curse of The Grudge revealed itself. The Suzuki siblings' parents had never even set foot in the cursed house, yet because of their children's involvement, they too became infected by the curse and perished.
Every time Edward thought about it, he couldn't help but complain. If the curse of The Grudge was truly so overwhelming, how could there still be any living people left in the entire country? After all, the curse would even kill off random security guards who had only had the slightest contact with the victims.
By that logic, just being around those doomed people would mean death. Considering how some were students and others were from the police force, constantly interacting with countless others, the curse's spread should have wiped out half of Tokyo already.
"Zoroark, let's go take a look at the Grudge house," Edward finally decided.
Zoroark stiffened from head to toe, but forced a strained smile as he followed Edward to the infamous house.
The house looked quite normal. Edward had been paying people to clean it regularly, keeping both the interior and the surrounding area tidy. After all, it was his property. Even if it was mainly used for shooting The Grudge, it still had to be maintained properly.
Many people online wanted to visit the real-life filming location of The Grudge, but Edward had never disclosed where it was. And since houses like this detached one were extremely common in the Pokémon world, even those who speculated about the general filming area could not pinpoint the exact house.
"Looks like it's been kept in good condition," Edward said with satisfaction as he gazed at it.
The house had not been broken into, nor had anyone come to take photos. It was simply because no one lived there that it felt a little eerie.
"Yes…" Zoroark swallowed nervously.
She had watched The Grudge before. After that, she had never again been able to look at similar houses without fear. Now, standing in front of this cursed home, she felt nothing but dread.
She knew that Edward had deliberately arranged for Kayako to have scenes where she tore apart Pokémon with her bare hands, just to emphasize the curse's inevitability.
Inside, Edward ran his hand along the banister—no dust. Clearly, the cleaning staff had done their jobs well. But that wasn't his main concern today.
The real reason he had come was because the cleaners had previously reported signs that someone might be living in the house. They had searched but found no one. Worried, they informed Edward, who then decided to check it out in person.
In the Pokémon League, there were indeed homeless people. Some vagrants, or people unwilling to pay rent, would sneak into empty houses to live. Fortunately, unlike in some places, the League did not have laws saying an unoccupied house became yours if you lived there long enough. Such cases were rare—but not unheard of.
"Zoroark, do you sense anyone here?" Edward asked as he looked around. He had already walked through every room, and there were no obvious signs of anyone. The facilities looked like they hadn't been used in quite some time.
Still, it was possible that someone had been using it just as a place to sleep.
"I don't sense anyone alive," Zoroark replied with a shake of her head.
That was when Edward remembered something.
For the filming of The Grudge, the second floor had been specially modified. The closet connected directly to the crawl space above the ceiling. Which meant…
"Zoroark, go check the ceiling. See if anyone's hiding up there," Edward said. In his opinion, the only possible hiding place left in the entire house was the ceiling.
At those words, Zoroark's face went pale. The ceiling? Did his boss want her to risk coming face-to-face with Kayako herself?!
(End of this chapter)