Edward stood in his room, holding his suitcase with a faint sense of anticipation.
The Grudge 2 had finally finished filming. After all, the story of The Grudge 2 wasn't that complicated to begin with, and the biggest challenge in horror films usually lay in the post-production stage. But with the help of Pokémon, that issue had become much easier to handle. As a result, Edward could now officially say that The Grudge 2 was complete.
After wrapping up, Edward gave his entire staff a half-month vacation—with full pay.
The official reason? "You've all worked hard filming The Grudge 2, take some time to relax."
This decision immediately earned him everyone's praise.
After all, during the filming of The Grudge 2, the actors playing Fuji Kayako and Saeki Toshio had genuinely terrified quite a few people. Especially the actress playing Kayako—once she entered her acting state, the look in her eyes, her movements, her aura... they were downright horrifying.
Many of the actors had been scared stiff by her performance.
So now, giving everyone a break was only natural—it was what everyone wanted.
Besides, there were still a few months left before the meteor would enter Rayquaza's attack range, so Edward decided to take this chance to visit the The Grudge world himself.
After all, aside from that terrifying Kayako, the The Grudge world was relatively safe. He also wanted to see what that world had become. Given how powerful Kayako's curse was, by all logic, the place should've been teeming with corpses long ago.
With a mixture of excitement and unease, Edward used the Movie World Travel Voucher. The next second, he and his Pokémon companions—Q and the others—vanished from his world and appeared in another.
"Hmm... this air—cough, cough—yep, definitely not the Pokémon world anymore."
The moment he landed, Edward covered his nose, frowning slightly in disgust as he waved his hand to clear the air. A quick glance at the nearby map told him where he was—Tokyo's Nerima Ward, the very location of the infamous The Grudge haunted house.
He turned around—and sure enough, the cursed house stood right behind him.
It looked incredibly old, so dilapidated it was almost falling apart. But that was to be expected. After all, movies were movies. In real life, if there really were a house where everyone who entered died, then aside from a few thrill-seeking young punks and reckless internet daredevils, most people would wisely stay far, far away.
The Saeki family's old house had rusted iron gates at the entrance, an overgrown garden thick with weeds, and an air of deathly stillness. By the front gate stood a wooden sign listing the names and death ages of those who had perished there—a grim monument to the cursed family of Kayako.
"How strange. If this place is so cursed, why hasn't anyone just bombed it to solve the problem?" Edward muttered.
But then he quickly reasoned it out—sure, they could destroy the house, but if they did, would the curse spread throughout Tokyo? That was a risk no one dared take.
"Kyu!"
Q hopped excitedly beside him—it had already sensed Kayako and Toshio's presence. The two spirits were watching from the second floor.
Edward followed Q's gaze and saw them through the window—Kayako and Saeki Toshio, smiling faintly and waving at him. Edward smiled and waved back, then carried his suitcase inside. Inside the case were some berries—Kayako and Toshio's favorite flavors.
Meanwhile, across the street, in another house, two people in suits sighed deeply.
"Another idiot walking in to die... and he even brought luggage." The man leading the pair shook his head.
"Whatever, it's not our problem," said the woman beside him indifferently. "At least this saves us a few sacrificial slots for the year. Normally, we have to send twelve people in annually. Now that one's gone in on his own, we just need five more idiots, and we're done for this year."
In truth, that haunted house had long drawn official attention. At the very least, Tokyo authorities were monitoring it. They had even consulted an exorcist master who said that as long as twelve people were offered to the house each year, the curse would remain stable. As long as no one went inside on their own, it would be fine.
But why maintain the curse's stability in the first place? Well... that was another question entirely.
Still, for the average person, none of that mattered. Most people had simply accepted the haunted house's existence. Of course, that didn't stop the occasional hot-blooded youth shouting "Yoroshiku!" from barging in to prove their courage—only to die horribly.
So, the two observers concluded that this unlucky newcomer wouldn't last three days.
Kayako hadn't "eaten" in over a month. Her hunger would make her especially dangerous.
"This place is a mess," Edward said helplessly, glancing around.
It was clear that no one had been here for a long time; dust covered everything.
Kayako pouted, then waved her hand—and instantly, the entire room transformed into various interior designs, each resembling the homes of victims from different versions of The Grudge.
Edward blinked in surprise. Apparently, she wanted him to choose one.
After a brief look, he picked the Murakami family's style.
"By the way, did the Murakamis ever appear here in your world?" Edward asked curiously, setting down his luggage and handing Toshio a Mago Berry.
Kayako said nothing, but several venomously glaring spirits emerged from her body—among them, the Murakami family, including the jawless Kana.
However, these spirits were no longer conscious individuals. They were just filled with thick, unending resentment.
"So even after death, they can't become ghosts and fight back, huh?" Edward scratched his head. "Guess that solves one mystery I always had."
There had always been the question: why didn't those killed by Kayako turn into ghosts to fight her?
Now he understood—they became part of her curse upon death, their spirits absorbed into her. Naturally, they could no longer oppose her.
Dying at Kayako's hands was truly pitiful—death of body and soul alike.
Still, Edward found this "tour" quite entertaining. He could even fill in more lore for his movie universe. Maybe if he watched a few more victims die, he'd have enough material for The Grudge 3.
"Come on, let's do some cleaning. The yard's a mess."
Rolling up his sleeves, Edward headed outside with Q, Fortune, and Void following behind. Kayako nodded approvingly.
Her power was bound to the house—she couldn't leave unless someone entered and became cursed, which extended her reach.
That meant she'd never cleaned the garden before.
Across the street, the two observers gaped as Edward started sweeping the courtyard like he planned to live there. Still, they didn't dare approach—talking to him might get them cursed too.
Anyway, the guy would be dead soon enough.
But that night, they saw him shopping... and later, cooking hotpot, humming cheerfully as if on vacation.
"He's definitely dying tonight," the man declared firmly.
Yet the next morning, Edward came out doing morning exercises.
Both of them froze, eyes wide. Their gaze wasn't on Edward—but on the small boy beside him.
Saeki Toshio.
A terrifying ghost—one who occasionally possessed physical form.
But right now, Toshio was smiling happily and stretching beside Edward, mimicking his movements.
Q and the others were there too, but in a special concealed state. Only Kayako and Toshio could see them.
"Captain... am I seeing things?" the woman asked, rubbing her eyes.
"No... I see it too," the man replied grimly. This was the first time he'd seen anyone coexist peacefully with Toshio.
Could it be Toshio had chosen this man as his playmate? But that couldn't be right—Toshio had once dragged a little girl to her death simply because he "liked" her.
The way Toshio liked someone... was by killing them.
"Maybe the curse is just toying with him," the man muttered. He couldn't believe anyone could survive Kayako's wrath. Over a thousand victims had already proven one thing—no one left that house alive.
Then they saw Kayako smiling and calling Edward and Toshio inside for breakfast. The three of them sat in the living room, eating while basking in the morning sun.
The observers fell utterly silent.
By afternoon, when Edward went out shopping again, he noticed a group of wary onlookers shadowing him from afar.
He sighed, twitching his lips. "Looks like the locals aren't completely brainless."
Just as the group prepared to approach him, Toshio and Kayako appeared by his side, silently watching them. The onlookers froze instantly—none of them dared move.
They didn't know why this man was unharmed, but they sure weren't about to risk finding out.
Edward yawned. He wasn't interested in them anyway—he was just taking Toshio and Kayako out for fun. He'd noticed that as long as he was around, they regained self-awareness and acted more human, rather than mindless curses.
So, during this trip, Edward simply spent time "playing" with them.
"Well, at least these people are useful," Edward chuckled. "Free shopping, no crowds."
He and the ghosts entered a game store, only to find it completely deserted—everything inside left for him to take. Clearly, the authorities had arranged it.
So, with this bizarre escort, Edward went shopping with Toshio, visited an amusement park, and even had dinner with the two ghosts. Though they couldn't eat normal food, Edward discovered that adding a few drops of Fear Juice made it edible for them.
The whole situation left the special task force on the verge of mental collapse.
They debated furiously, but no one dared go inside. They decided to wait for the exorcist master to return from overseas. By the time he did—seven days later—Edward's "vacation" had ended, and he had already returned to his own world, leaving behind piles of gifts for Kayako and Toshio.
When the master arrived, he stood outside, expression grim.
"There's no one else left inside," he said quietly.
In truth, this "master" wasn't the real one—he was just a disciple. The previous master had confidently gone inside to exorcise the spirits and never came out. Since then, no one had dared enter, and the disciple had been promoted by default.
"But... before, there was this man—" one of the officials began, recounting everything that had happened.
Footage? Forget it.
Anyone who tried recording Kayako ended up dead. Several victims had died that way. That's why, whenever she went outside, their teams scrambled to wipe all nearby surveillance footage to prevent the curse from spreading digitally.
"I... I'm not sure what to make of this," the "master" admitted after a while. "But the curse is still here, rooted in this house. I strongly advise no one to enter."
He looked up—and saw Kayako in her vengeful form, radiating a suffocating aura of malice. She was watching him, waiting for him to step inside.
Terrified, the master backed away.
The officials didn't understand what had happened, but they did what bureaucrats do best—outsourced the problem. A few nights later, they lured three drunk, boastful delinquents into the house after they bragged they weren't afraid.
And then—
Nothing.
They never came out.
"Dead. Horribly dead," a cleanup worker whispered the next day. They'd found chunks of one man's body mashed like sludge in the sewer pipes—exactly like previous victims. Another's severed hand had flown out of the house and landed outside.
As for the third... no trace.
Thus, the seven days during which a strange young man had lived, laughed, and dined with the ghosts became an unsolved mystery.
Tokyo authorities even tried replicating the phenomenon—sending in people who looked and acted just like Edward—but every single one died.
The curse remained.
Some even speculated that Edward had been Kayako's secret lover. But investigations revealed nothing—no identity, no records, no trace of him in any database.
And so, his visit became a riddle that no one could ever unravel.
(End of Chapter)