Edward was very satisfied with the ancient castle he currently owned. Although, from his perspective, the place still had a few issues, none of them were unsolvable. Since everything was manageable, he finally felt relieved. With that weight off his mind, he decided it was time to relax a little. After hesitating for a moment, he chose to unwind by going to the cinema. After all, he had heard Zoroark mention that a supposedly very good movie had recently been released.
"The Ghost of Room 404 and the Reason She Stayed Behind."
"This movie has a pretty strange title…" Edward scratched his head. He hadn't watched it before, but just from the name alone, he couldn't help wearing a slightly odd expression. Usually, movies with names like this tended to be low-budget flops. But after looking at the director's name, he felt it might not be so bad after all.
Tai Kong — a very distinctive name, and a director known for films that carried a strong Thai-style horror aesthetic. He had been famous for many years, and Edward was quite familiar with this senior filmmaker.
Of course, compared to Edward's current level of fame and achievements, the director couldn't quite match him, but Edward personally respected Tai Kong a lot. His filming techniques were indeed very interesting.
In Edward's past life, horror films were generally categorized by region. In the West, the most popular types were gore films, serial killer–themed horrors, or those centered around religious horror.
Most Western horror movies involving supernatural forces were almost always tied to exorcism, without exception. They focused heavily on shock value and often used scenes that couldn't even pass censorship. At one point, Western horror films had even become loosely associated with soft-core adult content.
But later, with the rise of new-generation directors like James Wan, horror films began shifting toward psychological horror instead.
As for Thai horror films, Edward felt they had a uniquely distinctive flavor as well. Thai horror tended to emphasize karmic retribution, cycles of cause and effect, and often included criticism of social issues. Another feature was the inclusion of comedic elements. At first they didn't lean so heavily into comedy, but after several horror-comedy hybrids became successful, Thai horror evolved in that direction.
He just wasn't sure what this particular film would be like.
When Edward arrived at the cinema, he settled into his seat, popcorn and cola in hand, and began watching the movie.
…
Naro, the protagonist, was the leader of a very small-time, utterly unsuccessful scammer group. But despite his failures, Naro had a very adorable girlfriend who had stuck with him for many years. Naro had always wanted to give her a good life.
Seeing this, Edward raised an eyebrow — the director's skill was apparent. The characters' personalities were already clearly laid out right at the beginning. It showed solid fundamentals.
To earn money and marry his girlfriend, Naro planned to pull off one big job. He set his sights on a luxurious yet abandoned hotel — shut down because it was rumored to be haunted. His plan was to renovate and stage the hotel to make it look fully functional, then sell it off at a high price for a hefty profit, enough to build a happy life with his girlfriend.
But when Naro and his group arrived at the hotel, they discovered that the supposedly abandoned building was actually home to a very vicious female ghost named Lalida. With a single appearance, Lalida scared Naro's group into a panicked retreat.
Yet she didn't immediately try to kill them. And Naro, stubborn as ever, refused to give up. He still wanted to take the hotel and make money.
So Naro hired an exorcist, a man who claimed he once killed a vampire with silver bullets. He arrived full of confidence, declaring that he would use his gun to show Lalida what exorcism really meant.
He pulled the trigger… and no bullets came out. Lalida grabbed him by the hair. Naro's group turned and fled, only to run into Lalida blocking them on the stairs — and appearing simultaneously at both ends of the hallway.
To make matters worse, one of their teammates was suddenly possessed, forcing them to knock the person out. Dragging Naro along, they ran up to the rooftop to escape, but the hotel had five floors, so this path was useless.
Then the exorcist suddenly arrived again, telling them there was a way out. He climbed onto the ledge and jumped straight off. Naro's group trembled in fear. Before they could even think of going downstairs, the exorcist, with his face smashed and bleeding from the fall, came running back up — only to leap off again. This bizarre sight terrified the group so much they bolted out of the hotel in panic. Somehow, this time, they actually escaped and took Naro to a hospital.
But even that didn't make Naro give up. He sought out another master — a blind spiritual expert. The blind master confidently claimed he had a method. Armed with ritual tools and a knife, he charged forward to kill Lalida. But while swinging the knife, he accidentally flung it away. Naro's group had to scramble around looking for it, and in the chaos, the blind master was stabbed to death by Lalida.
Luckily, a young monk managed to recover the knife and stabbed Lalida. But at that moment, the monk had the audacity to threaten Naro for two million in compensation. Lalida immediately turned and killed him. Then she picked up the knife and chased Naro's group again. They fled to the first floor, where Naro ran into his girlfriend and warned her about the ghost — but of course, she didn't believe him.
Lalida possessed the girlfriend, announcing her intention to kill her. Naro exploded with rage, grabbed Lalida by the throat, and shouted for her to release his girlfriend. His friends had to intervene before he realized she was possessed. Lalida then stood silently by the window, watching.
But then Naro's girlfriend tearfully told him she wanted to break up. Naro was stunned. She cried and told him that after following him for so many years, she had gotten nothing in return. She couldn't wait any longer. It seemed like everything was ending in tragedy. Naro didn't agree immediately, but he swallowed the bitterness in his heart — he would earn money, win her back, no matter what. So, he once again gathered his team and confronted the ghost.
It was pointless.
They were all trapped inside Room 404, brutally beaten by Lalida. When Naro tore off the wallpaper, he finally understood why Lalida refused to leave — she wanted to remain here forever. Then the group heard noises from the bathtub. Pulling open the curtain, they found a male ghost inside. Lalida burst out and attacked them again. One of the teammates realized something, grabbed the male ghost, and threatened Lalida: if she didn't drop the knife, they would kill the male ghost.
Lalida lowered the knife.
But the clock struck 10 p.m., and Room 404 reverted to its past appearance. Naro finally learned Lalida's story.
Lalida had loved her boyfriend deeply. With her full support, he managed to open this hotel — it had always been his dream. Everything seemed fine at first. But Lalida discovered that her boyfriend was having an affair with one of the hotel's staff members. She broke down. With a knife in hand, she confronted him, demanding to know why. The boyfriend didn't want to explain and tried to leave. Lalida, in a moment of frantic emotion, accidentally slit his throat.
The cheating man died instantly. Lalida went insane. She killed herself soon after, and using her blood, wrote the words:
"I want to stay here with you forever."
Then she became a vengeful ghost, preventing anyone from approaching the hotel and binding her boyfriend's spirit to the place. After the vision ended, Lalida and Naro's group resumed their confrontation.
Lalida insisted the male ghost wanted to stay with her forever. The male ghost cried and begged her to let him go — he didn't want to remain with her. The team member holding the male ghost tried to stab him again, but Naro stopped him.
Watching all this, Edward's expression became… complicated.
He seemed to have thought of something.
Back in the movie, Naro stared at Lalida and the male ghost, thinking of his own relationship problems. He suddenly understood — sometimes, when one person clings too tightly in a relationship, it doesn't come off as love. Instead, for the other party, it becomes pain. A burden.
So Naro gave Lalida the choice, letting her decide for herself. She understood his intentions.
The next morning, Naro stood at Room 404's door and gave a heartfelt speech, saying they would no longer try to renovate the hotel. They were giving up. And he hoped Lalida could also let go of herself. Hearing this, Lalida cried and finally released her boyfriend. She escorted his spirit out of the hotel.
Naro called his girlfriend and told her he had found closure. She cried sadly. Naro then abandoned his money-making scheme. But on the way home, he got scammed into buying the last lottery ticket… and won the jackpot.
In the ending, Lalida renovated the hotel, became the owner, and opened it for roaming spirits to visit. The two exorcists she killed also lived there now, along with some foreign ghosts. Lalida happily announced that the hotel was now welcoming all guests. The movie ended there.
"…This feels like a damn advertisement." Edward muttered. He checked online — and sure enough, the hotel actually existed. They had definitely provided the filming location and funding. But Edward didn't mind. He still felt the film The Ghost of Room 404 and the Reason She Stayed Behind was pretty good.
It had a few scary moments, but not many. Mostly it was comedy, and the ending was unexpectedly wholesome. Edward originally thought it would have a bad ending — especially when Naro's group won the jackpot while driving. If a truck had suddenly crashed into them and turned them into ghosts, that would have been extremely dark.
"Not bad at all." Edward drank a mouthful of tea. The movie was genuinely entertaining — a comedy, yes, but with surprisingly meaningful elements.
At the very least, it was a well-made horror film, far better than the usual low-quality productions. Very much in line with Director Tai Kong's style. Curious, Edward looked up its current box office numbers. It had reached 500 million. Not high by his standards, but definitely not bad.
He even felt like writing a little review on social media. So, he did — partly to help boost the film's exposure.
A good horror film shouldn't be buried in the tides of time. At the very least, Edward could help promote it a little right now.
[The Ghost of Room 404 and the Reason She Stayed Behind]
"A pretty good horror film. I personally quite liked it."
That was all he posted. He wasn't a professional reviewer, so there was no need to write much. Saying too much would even feel inappropriate.
But the moment he thought of social media, Edward's expression grew strange.
Even Edward knew that Daniel had gotten scolded countless times by his PR team because of what he posted online. In the end, Edward had to personally step in to stop the problem from escalating.
Basically, Daniel kept his pre-fame habits — posting personal photos and random updates. Back then, he was a nobody, so no one cared. But once he became famous, those posts were deemed "unprofessional" and damaging to his image.
Yet Daniel insisted on doing things his own way. He even uploaded a picture of himself shirtless while eating barbecue, captioned: "It's so cold late at night."
It immediately blew up on the League's trending lists. His agent was furious, saying the post ruined his idol image. The whole matter was escalated all the way to Edward.
Edward sided with Daniel and created a hard rule: artists were allowed to manage their own posts and share personal updates — as long as they didn't violate League laws.
Because of this, Ghost Studios became known as the most "real" company. Other idols pretended, while Edward's artists showed genuine personalities. Some companies even tried to imitate this trend, resulting in a short-lived revival of authenticity.
But naturally, many artists crashed and burned — posting things they absolutely shouldn't have. Many careers were ruined in the chaos.
Edward himself, however, never had such worries. He had no scandals to expose, and he held a Medal of Valor making him practically invincible.
So, Edward always posted whatever he wanted.
Predictably, his new post exploded instantly. Countless people said they wanted to watch the movie. Edward casually put down his phone. It was almost time to begin filming Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.
(End of Chapter)
TN: Finally finished this novel on patreon. fking finally
TN2: New chapters? Sorry it took so long I'm just too lazy to upload here. I translated like three Pokemon novels in my patreon and one of them is so fucking good I translated like 60 chapters in two days. I suggest you guys go to my patreon and read it there since its on free post stuff till chap 30 or wait till I upload maybe next week?
Pokemon: Master System - this one is the peak reading to me right now, its set in the real world but I edited it heavily that you'll think its on another world.
Legend of James - mid, not good but not bad. All chapters free right now up to chapter 24. I'll upload six more tomorrow on it.
Pokémon Legendary Trainer who Farms - the one which is translated here already to chapter 78 here I think? I'm on chapter 24 too there on my patreon which I'll add six more tomorrow.
And guys, if I didn't update here for so long go to my patreon and bug me there to upload since I always drag my feet when it comes to uploading here since I don't really chase things here anymore and I just wanna read stuff.