Following Edward's instructions, Kayako went out for a stroll around the area. But before long, she returned—dragging along several other "Kayakos."
These Kayakos all wore the same venomous expressions, their faces twisted in resentment. Yet, even as the original Kayako grabbed them by the hair and pulled them along, they didn't resist or react at all.
Under Edward's watchful gaze, those other Kayakos were all absorbed one after another into the body of the one before him, until everything fell silent.
Edward was momentarily dumbfounded.
What in the world was that supposed to mean?
Weren't those Kayakos just manifestations—illusions? Why did it look as though they'd become real all of a sudden?
"What's going on here?" Edward couldn't help but ask. Kayako didn't reply. She simply merged back into Fuji Takako's body without a word.
Edward scratched his head in confusion. Had the horror film he was shooting somehow become real?
Were these Kayakos actually lingering around now?
That didn't make sense… Besides, the system hadn't given any notifications about anything unusual either.
Just then, a system prompt appeared in front of his eyes:
[Residual curse grudge detected. Emergency purification in progress. Confirmation: lingering echo of the curse identified and has now been completely eliminated.]
Edward blinked at the message in surprise. "Well, damn. So there really was some residual grudge energy?" he muttered.
But what was going on? Fortunately, it hadn't caused any casualties—otherwise, the Pokémon League would have dug up the entire incident from top to bottom. If someone had actually died, things would've escalated to a completely different level.
Then another notification followed:
[Special Compensation Granted: The Worker's Resentment]
[The Worker's Resentment: A form of extremely strong negative energy. Its intensity was powerful enough to trigger an echo of the curse, leaving behind a lingering shadow of grudge. Upon equipping, user gains "Power of the Worker": doubles stamina, halves fatigue, and allows one-time summoning of a ghostly 'office employee' for additional workplace bonuses.]
"Good lord, I… I don't even know what to say." Edward stared at the text, dumbfounded.
"These days, the resentment of office workers is actually strong enough to cause echoes of a curse?!" He couldn't help but chuckle dryly. "Good thing it was only an echo—if it had been the real deal, this world might've been done for."
He examined the item that had materialized in his hand—a small black badge depicting a haggard office worker hammering away at a computer, his face full of despair and resentment.
It seemed that no matter what world one was in, the plight of the overworked employee remained the same. Still, for the resentment of a mere "worker" to reach such an intensity that it could resonate with a curse… that was beyond anything Edward could've imagined.
Just how miserable must their lives have been?
Probably living the dreaded "7-7 schedule"—no rest, no days off. Truly, the great contradiction of this world was still—
Edward cleared his throat and quickly stopped himself. Better not to say it aloud. Who knew if speaking about such truths might attract some new kind of horror entity? The last thing he wanted was to die halfway through his career.
"Anyway, this thing can do a draw? Ghostly office employees?" Edward scratched his head. He was eating dinner as he thought—since the Officer Jennys had stopped by earlier, filming was definitely canceled for the rest of the day. He'd start again tomorrow.
There were a few horror films with office settings that came to mind, but Edward couldn't recall any particularly impressive ghost employees. Still, since this was a free gift, he figured there was no harm in giving it a try. So, he selected "draw."
[Congratulations! You have obtained: 'Little Gao, the Master of Slacking Off!']
"...What?" Edward was speechless. "Slacking off?"
[Little Gao, the Master of Slacking Off: This ghostly employee will wander freely within your company's premises, bestowing the 'Eureka!' state upon any employees currently slacking off. While under this state, they may randomly gain creative ideas or insights that benefit the company.]
As the draw concluded, a yawning girl appeared before Edward, gave him a lazy nod, and then drifted right through the wall, vanishing from sight. Edward stared silently at where she'd been. This ghost employee seemed… a little odd. Still, as long as she wasn't encouraging everyone to slack off, it should be fine.
Back when Edward himself had been a mere office worker, he always thought from the worker's perspective—taking every chance to slack off, "draining the boss's wallet" whenever possible.
But now that he had become the boss, a full-fledged capitalist, his mindset had changed. The difference in position brought a difference in thinking. These days, he felt that employees were supposed to create profit for him—slacking off was, naturally, unacceptable.
He suddenly recalled a social experiment from his previous life: a university once divided students into groups and assigned some to play the role of "capitalists."
Within days, those "capitalists" were demanding longer hours—9 to 7, 10 hours workload, all sorts of "productivity systems." Truly, the youth who once swore to slay dragons had become dragons themselves.
Still, Edward prided himself on being a relatively benevolent capitalist. His company offered generous benefits, practically no overtime; and even if there was overtime, it was always properly compensated.
Team-building events were held during workdays, never on days off. Because of that, the employees of Ghost Films all rated the company highly. Edward couldn't help feeling a little proud.
"Well, I guess that wraps it up." He yawned. "With the echoes of the curse gone, the rumors will naturally die down too."
Still, Edward couldn't help thinking about that cursed doll he'd heard of earlier—the one that had been imitating Kayako to scare people. He just hoped that poor fool had learned his lesson after getting a taste of Edward's wrath. If the idiot tried pulling another stunt, the League would surely make an example out of him.
Meanwhile, in the city of Rustboro, two Officer Jenny squads were quietly assembling outside a single detached house.
"Captain, it's here," one Jenny said, checking her detection device. The squad leader nodded, releasing several Poké Balls. A handful of Dark-type Pokémon emerged, fanning out to encircle the property.
Their instruments had detected the presence of ghost-type energy—specifically, from a Banette. While the device wasn't particularly advanced, it was still highly practical in situations like this—perfect for hunting down cursed Pokémon.
Rustboro had to maintain public order. With all the panic stirred up by the "Kayako rumors," the League couldn't afford to let things escalate. Even though the League was suppressing public discussion, unless they caught the culprit, problems would keep arising. Hence, the Jennys were taking the matter very seriously. As soon as they got word from Edward, they moved in.
Two full squads—ten Jennys total—armed with forty Pokémon of Dark and Ghost types, plus five Psychic types to seal off the area and prevent teleportation or escape. The scale of the operation was enormous.
When the Jennys burst into the house, they found Banette still in its Kayako disguise, attempting to scare people to absorb their fear energy for recovery. It was promptly pinned to the ground before it could even react.
Completely stunned, Banette could only blink in confusion as the cuffs went on.
Later, it was formally charged with Endangering Public Safety and Causing Public Panic. Sentence: one hundred years of confinement in the League's special correctional facility.
With Banette's arrest, the "Kayako Incident" that had gripped Rustboro finally came to a close. The League confirmed that the culprit behind the phenomenon had indeed been Banette all along.
A satisfying resolution, all things considered.
Banette: "So… no one's going to speak up for me?"
After the incident, filming for The Grudge 2 got back on track—but not without a few small hiccups.
That night, after shooting the scene where Suzuki Tatsuya goes to find his parents, Edward sat in his room playing a mobile game.
It was one of those pay-to-win gacha games where the more you spent, the stronger you got. And Edward had to admit—they were addictive. The feedback loop of spending money and immediately growing stronger was simply too satisfying. Having already dropped a casual hundred thousand yuan, Edward was now one of the top players.
But just as he was enjoying a round of gacha pulls, he suddenly felt another presence beside him. Turning his head, he saw—Saeki Toshio.
However, this Toshio wasn't the pale, ghostly boy from the films. He looked like an ordinary child, alive and well. The Q perched on Edward's head wagged its tail and chirped a greeting at the boy.
"Toshio, you want to play?" Edward asked with a smile, ruffling his hair.
"Can I, Uncle Edward?" Toshio looked up at him hopefully.
"Of course," Edward said with a nod.
Toshio had come along with Kayako—or rather, he'd followed her here. So, Edward had allowed him to possess the actor playing his role during filming. Luckily, Toshio's scenes didn't require interacting with others much, so he could perform naturally and perfectly.
Though both Kayako and Toshio were vengeful spirits born from curse energy, they were not exactly the same. Kayako was indiscriminate—she'd kill anyone who entered her home or was connected to those cursed. Her grudge was immense, her wrath absolute, and communication with her was nearly impossible.
But that wasn't entirely true. In fact, Kayako could communicate—if only barely. She could make judgments, understand cause and effect, and even respond in limited ways. If a cursed person faced her not with fear or hatred, but with earnest questioning—asking why she held such a grudge—then Kayako would vanish temporarily, allowing Toshio to reveal her tragic past.
That moment was crucial.
Edward believed there were two possible ways to break the curse of The Grudge. The first was the most straightforward: erase it through overwhelming power—say, an extraordinary-tier being wiping it out entirely.
The second way, however, was accessible to anyone—but almost impossible to achieve.
It involved confronting Kayako, letting Toshio manifest, and then enduring hours—perhaps even days—of his torment without harboring hatred or resentment, not even seeing it as suffering. Only by maintaining such purity could one truly dissolve Kayako's grudge.
After all, her curse stemmed from her wrongful death and years of agony. In the films, those who endured Toshio's torment often broke down, thinking "I might as well die." Such despair only deepened Kayako's resentment, reinforcing her belief that no one could ever understand or endure her pain.
Toshio, however, was different. He existed somewhere between life and death, and in his "living" state, he retained reason and the ability to communicate.
"Here, have some juice." Edward poured a cup for him—but when he turned to hand it over, he froze. Sitting beside Toshio now was Kayako herself, appearing as she had in life, quietly watching her son play.
Edward's mouth twitched. "…Would you like a drink too, Miss Kayako?"
Kayako looked up at him, silent for a moment, then nodded. Edward poured her a cup as well.
The three of them sat together in eerie harmony.
Toshio was soon fully engrossed in the game, and with Edward's permission, even spent eight thousand on microtransactions. Edward didn't mind—money meant little to him now.
The scene was strangely… heartwarming.
Assuming, of course, one ignored the fact that two of the three people present weren't actually alive.
"Can't you two play games in your own world?" Edward eventually asked, half-curious.
"In that house, we only think about killing the bad people who come in," Toshio replied earnestly.
"My grudge binds me to that house," Kayako added softly. "Inside, I have almost no sanity left."
Edward couldn't help glancing at her. To be honest, Kayako was quite beautiful when not in her ghostly form. Thankfully, the set was private, and no one could see them anyway. Otherwise, there might've been scandalous rumors about him "discussing scripts with an actress late at night."
He stroked his chin thoughtfully. He still had that film-world travel voucher from the system—it allowed him to visit any cinematic universe he'd unlocked. Maybe once The Grudge 2 was finished, he'd take a trip to Kayako's world. Since he and the Saekis were on good terms now, he could even bring along a few souvenirs from the Pokémon world.
"If I went to your house," he asked suddenly, "would you attack me?"
"No," Kayako said softly, glancing at him. "I remember your scent." Then she looked back at her son, her expression warm and gentle.
Since her death, she hadn't seen Toshio smile like this—not once. This was how he was supposed to look.
Kayako felt… happy.
(End of Chapter)