"Boss."
The moment Edward returned to his office and began his usual daily work routine, he saw Zoroark rushing in, arms full of documents.
Just looking at that mountain of papers made Edward's head ache.
"Alright, just leave them here. I'll take care of it." Edward rubbed his temples, then released Fortune from his Poké Ball, letting the Pokémon stay by his side to observe how he handled documents. It was a good opportunity for Fortune to gain some real-world experience with paperwork.
As for Fortune's side job—his work on Stone Comics—Edward hadn't let him continue it for the time being. His plan was for Fortune to study and learn here first, and once he got the hang of it, he could return to the magazine company to continue practicing his craft.
After placing the documents down, Zoroark poured a glass of water for Edward before standing quietly at his side. Edward gave him a sidelong glance, curious—did Zoroark have something else to report?
But after thinking about it, Edward couldn't recall anything that might have come up. After all, before going on his recent trip, he had already handled every task that needed doing.
That seven-day "Grudge" trip had been quite satisfying overall. The only real regret was that he couldn't bring anything back. Otherwise, Edward would have liked to grab one of the game consoles he saw there and hand it to his company's research team to use as a reference. Who knew? Maybe they could've introduced new kinds of gaming systems to this world.
The Pokémon world, of course, had game consoles of its own—but likely due to the Pokémon-specific designs, the most popular console here was the traditional Nintendo Switch. It had evolved naturally from the old GBA era to the modern NS system, a clear sign of technological iteration.
Originally, Edward had wanted to bring back a certain "brand's" console. Though that company's reputation had become rather infamous—especially after releasing a so-called "Game of the Year" during his trip—Edward still thought the PlayStation series had its own devoted fanbase. The graphics quality, after all, was indeed better than the Switch's.
Unfortunately, none of those things could be taken home. That was a pity.
"Boss, you actually bought a game console while you were traveling?" Zoroark looked at the Switch sitting on Edward's desk with surprise in his eyes. It was the first time he'd seen Edward playing games—before this, Edward had never touched them, not even mobile ones.
"Picked it up on a whim," Edward replied casually while flipping through documents. He had only wanted to test the console's performance for himself. It turned out to be much the same as before, though it did have quite a few new games on it. Still, it's hardware limitations meant that some games just couldn't run.
Zoroark picked up the console, scrolled through the game list, and quickly lost interest.
She had already played all of them. Whenever new titles came out, Zoroark was always one of the first to dive in and finish them. But ever since becoming Edward's secretary, her gaming time had shrunk drastically. Most of her hours were spent on work—but in what little free time she had left, she still gamed.
After all, she didn't need sleep. Pulling a few hours from her nonexistent "sleep schedule" was enough to keep playing.
"Boss, what do you think is the most important part of a game console?" Zoroark asked thoughtfully.
Edward was in the middle of explaining a few document-handling tricks to Fortune when he heard that, and he gave Zoroark a puzzled look. What was with this sudden interest?
"Obviously, the games," Edward replied offhandedly—but he meant it.
After all, it's called a game console for a reason. If it isn't about the games, what else would it be about?
Back in his previous life, Edward had owned both consoles and PCs—a so-called "triple holder." After some time experiencing all of them, he came to the conclusion that game consoles really did have huge limitations compared to PCs. Sometimes those limitations were so glaring that they were almost shocking.
That was why, eventually, he sold his PlayStation and only kept his computer and Switch. The reason he held onto the Switch was simple: its exclusive titles. Certain games could only be played on that platform—and that exclusivity was the only thing that made it worth keeping. Otherwise, he probably would have sold it too.
In his view, the biggest issue with PlayStation was its lack of true exclusives. Even when it had them, they were often timed exclusives, which killed their appeal.
"I knew it! And yet that guy online kept insisting it was all about performance!" Zoroark said indignantly. Edward twitched his lips. He remembered he'd given Zoroark a few days off recently. And this guy definitely wasn't hurting for money either—Edward always included him when handing out bonuses.
"So, what have you been doing these past few days?" Edward asked, unable to resist his curiosity.
"Stayed home gaming, messing around on my PC, and having passionate debates with people online!" Zoroark said with a straight face.
Edward's mouth twitched again. This guy really was something—truly hopelessly bored. But that was just who Zoroark was: a total homebody through and through.
"And that's how you ended up debating about what makes a console great?" Edward asked, half amused, half exasperated.
"You bet! Let me tell you—" Zoroark launched into a long rant, and by the time Edward finished listening, he was at a loss for words. He never would have imagined that the entire debate had started just because Zoroark's online group had been chatting about a newly released game.
Shaking his head in disbelief, Edward went back to work, continuing to go through the week's backlog of paperwork with Fortune's help. Even though Ghost Films Pictures had been on break, there was still plenty for Edward to handle—and Devon Corporation had also sent over several documents that required his review.
[Ghost Amusement Park Financial Report]
Edward picked up a report and skimmed it.
The amusement park was still performing spectacularly well. It had been generating steady profits for quite some time now. Edward hadn't donated all of that income away—instead, he kept a portion of it to fund park expansion projects and new attractions.
"Miss Tomie… since when did things get this crazy?" Edward muttered, frowning slightly as he read through the report.
To be fair, he had always known Tomie's popularity was high. Even back when the amusement park was first founded, she already had her own dedicated fan club. But he hadn't expected her fanbase to grow this… outlandish.
[The authorized licensing of Miss Tomie's likeness has generated a revenue of 10,510,000 pokedollars, with projections showing continued future growth.]
Tomie had even sold her portrait rights! The report included photos as well—plush dolls, figurines, mugs printed with her image—each cup selling for as much as 99 pokedollars!
And the craziest part? They were selling like hotcakes.
Edward silently thanked the system that all his employees had been registered with proper identities. Otherwise, with this level of fame, if the League ever decided to investigate, he would have had a hard time explaining where Tomie had come from.
Still, looking at Tomie's exploding popularity, he couldn't decide whether to be surprised or unsurprised. On one hand, it was natural—Tomie had always exuded that kind of allure. On the other hand, even though she had deliberately restrained her supernatural charm, she still managed to captivate an enormous crowd of fans.
Edward tapped his chin thoughtfully.
"Maybe… I should make a movie just for her?"
A Tomie movie.
Of course, there were already several films based on her—quite a few, actually. Compared to other Junji Ito works, Tomie was one of the easiest to adapt, since it didn't rely heavily on surreal effects.
After all, Tomie herself was a breathtakingly beautiful woman; most of the "horror" came from scenes involving her regeneration or body division, which could be handled with moderate special effects.
That alone would save plenty of budget.
"Hmm… a Tomie movie, huh…" Edward murmured as he read. Tomie already had countless fans, and that was just within the amusement park. If her name spread across the entire League, her fame and following would skyrocket even higher.
As for her existing film series—there were nine in total.
Tomie (1) told the story of aspiring photographer Tsukiko Izumisawa, who developed insomnia after a car accident that erased her memories. Through hypnosis therapy, she uttered a name—Tomie. Soon after, Tomie appeared and began to twist both Tsukiko and her doctor's lives. Meanwhile, a mysterious man moved into her building… carrying a living, growing severed head—Tomie's.
Tomie could replicate herself infinitely.
Tomie 2: Revenge of the Dead followed Tomie's murder and miraculous return to a school, where she seduced and drove multiple men to jealousy, madness, and death.
Tomie 3: Rebirth told of an artist named Hideo who killed his girlfriend Tomie while painting her portrait. With his friends' help, he buried the body—only for Tomie to reappear later at a party, causing Hideo to commit suicide in horror.
Then came Tomie 4: Forbidden Fruit, Tomie 5: The Demon's Resurrection, Tomie 6, Tomie 7: Ultimate Revenge, Tomie 8: Tomie vs. Tomie, and finally Tomie 9: Unlimited.
It was clear how beloved the series had become—so many adaptations, all carrying her name.
The ones Edward remembered best were the first three… and Tomie: Unlimited.
He remembered Unlimited vividly—not because of its story, but because the actress who played Tomie back then happened to perfectly match his youthful ideal of beauty. The plot itself, though… was a little strange.
"Well, then. Let's make Tomie: Unlimited her exclusive film," Edward decided after some thought. Naturally, Tomie herself would play the lead—no one else could truly embody her essence.
The plot of Tomie: Unlimited wasn't particularly complicated.
The protagonist, Tsukiko—a plain-looking girl—accidentally photographs her sister being impaled by falling steel rods at a construction site. Afterward, Tsukiko is haunted by nightmares. Beneath it all, she secretly harbors jealousy toward her beautiful sister, Tomie.
On the eighteenth anniversary of Tomie's death, she inexplicably returns home. Yet Tsukiko senses something wrong—the resurrected Tomie behaves nothing like her living sister.
From then on, the family atmosphere becomes increasingly twisted. Their father grows deranged, violent, and eventually abusive. Urged on by Tomie, he even assaults Tsukiko. One day, Tomie invites Tsukiko to bathe with her, revealing a grotesque wound on her shoulder that morphs into a monstrous, living growth, attacking Tsukiko.
Terrified, Tsukiko pleads for help—but her parents, ensnared by Tomie's charm, refuse to believe her.
Later, pretending to run away, Tomie provokes her father into a murderous rage. He kills and dismembers her—a scene that left a deep psychological scar on Edward when he first saw it.
But Tomie's horror doesn't end there. Even her severed head glares at Tsukiko with hate.
Soon after, Tomie takes over another girl's body and unleashes chaos at school. Tsukiko tries to flee, but Tomie hunts her down relentlessly. Eventually, Tomie proposes that if they "merge," everything will return to normal.
Tsukiko agrees—only to be brutally killed.
As she lies dying, bleeding out, she turns her head toward a nearby mirror—where she sees Tomie smiling back at her.
And then… Tsukiko smiles too.
The film ends there.
It was strange—almost surreal, filled with interpretive symbolism.
Some argued that Tomie was actually Tsukiko herself—a reflection of women's pathological obsession with beauty. But Edward didn't bother with such overanalysis.
To him, Tomie was simply a horror story.
A chilling one.
Tomie was a monster—terrifying, irresistible, and impossible to kill by any conventional means.
"Well, I'll still need to ask Miss Tomie for her opinion." Edward narrowed his eyes. Even if he already had the script in mind, he needed her approval. But knowing her personality, she probably wouldn't refuse.
After all, Tomie loved chaos. And if the movie showcased her beauty, she'd have no complaints.
The only real concern… was keeping her from stirring up trouble on set. The last thing Edward needed was a crew full of men fighting over her.
(End of Chapter)