When Edward arrived at the castle he had purchased, the entire estate had already undergone a round of preliminary renovation and touch-ups according to his specifications. Now, the castle carried a stronger sense of historical depth, appearing even more unique than before. Beneath its simplicity, it possessed a peculiar charm—a faint vibe of a magical academy.
Edward was quite satisfied. He had to admit, these construction companies charged high prices, but the results were genuinely impressive. At least they didn't take a mountain of money and leave behind a pile of nothing.
"This setting is pretty good. If things continue like this, I'll definitely be able to build what I need."
Edward looked around with contentment, his eyes filled with satisfaction. He was quite pleased with everything he saw. Once the castle was fully ready, he could finally begin filming the Harry Potter series.
However, when it came to filming Harry Potter, Edward couldn't help feeling conflicted. After all, Harry Potter was a unique kind of movie. What really troubled him was whether he should include Pokémon elements in it.
After all, this is the Pokémon world. A crossover between Harry Potter and Pokémon didn't sound strange at all.
But Edward also understood that this idea came with several delicate problems—small but troublesome ones. Thinking about it made his expression turn thoughtful. He hesitated over how exactly he should handle this matter, since it was complicated and difficult to execute properly.
He scratched his head. If he wanted to solve this problem, he needed a clear answer about the relationship between Harry Potter and Pokémon. If he followed the rules of this world, he would definitely need special worldbuilding adjustments so he wouldn't end up with messy, contradictory settings.
Thinking along those lines only made Edward rub his head again.
This really was a troublesome issue. After all, most Pokémon looked just like magical beasts—if anything, many Pokémon were far stronger than the magical creatures from Harry Potter. In fact, Pokémon were such a unique category of magical beings that if he threw them into the Harry Potter world and called them "Fantastic Beasts," no one would protest.
"Young Master Edward, the castle is still under renovation. If you want the interior to look exactly like the design you described, it will take some time," the butler Robert reminded him with a polite smile.
Edward nodded. That was within his expectations.
Although the castle was huge, transforming it into the style of the wizarding world seen in Harry Potter would obviously take a while. Edward had originally wanted to deal with this matter in one go today, but since the renovations weren't finished, he would have to wait a little longer.
Not that he was in a hurry. He had other matters to think about—this was a good opportunity to spend some time planning how to solve the script issue.
"Boss, a screenwriter submitted a new script. They want us to review it."
Zoroark walked over quickly and handed him a script. Edward raised his eyebrows. This didn't look like work from a novice. It was clearly written by someone within the company—someone whose work was recognized by many, though also rejected by some. This kind of mixed reaction was the only reason the script had been delivered to him personally.
Edward sighed. He was already used to this, and it wasn't necessarily bad—he could use these opportunities to gauge what direction the company's films were heading in. And he genuinely looked forward to that. After all, Ghost Films no longer relied solely on him. They now had capable actors, directors, and even scripts.
[The Haunted Office]
The title on the cover caught Edward's eye immediately, and his expression turned strange.
This title reminded him of a classic old Hong Kong horror film, Ghost Office —a movie with quite some history.
He started reading patiently.
It began with a woman working overtime late into the night. When she finally planned to leave, she seemed to encounter something terrifying. She fled in panic but couldn't escape, no matter where she ran. In the end, she let out a tragic scream—as though she died—and the scene immediately cut to the following morning.
On her first day at an advertising agency, newcomer Pat encounters something strange: inside the elevator, a woman in white and another woman with white hair repeatedly apologized to her with the words "I'm sorry." But Pat was the only person physically present in the elevator. This left her puzzled.
At this point, Edward's expression grew even more peculiar.
This plot was exactly the same as the old Hong Kong horror film Ghost Office.
After returning to the company, Pat later discovered that a female employee from the floor above had mysteriously hanged herself inside a bathroom stall. Her corpse wore a strange smile. The police labeled it a suicide, but Pat found no signs that the woman had intended to take her own life. The script even explicitly noted that this hanged woman was the same one who had tried to escape the previous night.
Pat soon learned gossip about the company from another woman, and the two gradually became friends. One day, in the restroom, Pat noticed a woman standing on tiptoe, smiling eerily toward the innermost stall. The sound of her laughter was unsettling. Pat didn't interfere, but shortly afterward, that woman also died.
Again, it was ruled a suicide.
Someone also warned Pat to stay away from a particular restroom; it was dangerous.
One evening, while working overtime, Pat encountered a series of supernatural events. Terrified, she fled, only to run into her friend Shiliu. But Shiliu was suddenly dragged into the bathroom by an unseen force.
Pat's fear turned to adrenaline. She shattered a window, grabbed a fire axe, and rushed in to save her friend.
But what she saw inside were Shiliu and the others smiling and waving at her from the last stall. The fire axe slipped from Pat's trembling hands.
The next day, a girl saw Pat in the restroom, smiling toward the last stall, tiptoeing, jangling her keys in that same strange motion—then suddenly crashing through the glass window and falling to her death.
When the girl investigated the last stall, she found only miscellaneous items inside. It contained nothing.
By this point, Edward fully understood.
This was exactly the Hong Kong classic he remembered. He even recalled the hidden lore: the traditional "finding a replacement soul" trope. The three women Pat saw were evil spirits. They had chosen Pat. And when Pat entered the stall, what she had really seen were the spirits of the hanged woman, the woman with glass embedded in her face, and Shiliu.
Two of the evil spirits had already found replacements and were ready to reincarnate. Shiliu, having captured Pat, now saw Pat become the next "replacement." Pat's soul was trapped inside the stall. To escape, she would need to find her own replacement in the following year.
Edward kept reading.
Next came the plot about spoiled rich second-generation heir Richard, who inherited his father's company and immediately started laying off employees to cut costs—even forcing a severely ill worker to sign a voluntary resignation. Employees secretly claimed the building was haunted. Richard dismissed the rumors arrogantly.
He lacked his father's business skills, was lazy, arrogant, and often harassed employees. But because his father had been kind to them, the staff tried their best to repay their former boss by working diligently.
Everything seemed normal until they took a company trip. After they returned, strange changes began to happen—though Richard didn't notice, still busy exploiting and firing employees.
Eventually, he met an exorcist master who told him his employees were already dead. The master even handed him a vial of "ox-eye tears," which would let him see the true forms of the spirits. When Richard applied it, he saw that the entire company was filled with ghosts.
Terrified, he was confronted by these spirits. But instead of harming him, they simply advised him to run the company properly—and preferably sell the building and move elsewhere, because this skyscraper had a problem.
Every year, nine people had to die for the building to remain stable. Three had already died earlier, and now with these employees, the total had reached eight. When nine died, the haunting cycle would reset.
Richard promised earnestly to run the company well. He even shed tears of sincerity. Only then did the spirits leave. And Richard truly did reform himself—he began seriously managing the business he inherited and planned to sell the cursed building.
Then came the final unlucky victim: Gary Fang.
While riding the elevator, he encountered both the white-haired woman and a red-dressed woman. He chose to follow the red-dressed one. That woman was originally portrayed by Shu Qi in the previous world, but here, in the Pokémon world, her name was changed to Sun Qi, a moderately well-known celebrity.
Edward was unfazed. He had long noticed that this world contained echoes of classic works from his previous life—almost like reflections. He didn't mind; in fact, he found it interesting.
After chatting with Sun Qi, Gary Fang learned more: she had a younger brother, and the white-haired woman was an evil spirit who threatened Sun Qi daily. Gary Fang fell head over heels in love with Sun Qi. Even when strange events happened, he never suspected his beloved.
He even planned to beat up the white-haired evil spirit to protect Sun Qi.
One night, Gary Fang rushed to meet her, only to witness Sun Qi being dragged to the rooftop by an unseen force. In desperation, he sprinted up to save her—but misjudged his step and fell instead. As he plummeted, he saw Sun Qi rising into the air with a chilling smile, her body becoming translucent.
Gary Fang crashed onto a car—but found, strangely, that he had not died.
Then he saw the white-haired woman behind him. She told him to turn around. When he did, he saw his own corpse.
Edward remembered this scene well—there had been a noticeable filming mistake. The actor lying on the ground blinked, and many viewers caught it.
The white-haired woman then revealed the skyscraper's secret: she had albinism, which explained her appearance, and every year nine people had to die there. Gary Fang was the ninth. With the quota complete, no one else would die until the following year. She also revealed that Sun Qi was the evil spirit—and was the one threatening her to keep quiet, or else she would kill her too.
The white-haired woman was terrified and didn't dare speak the truth earlier. That day in the elevator, she had seen the three evil spirits around Pat—that was why she had trembled.
She continued: everyone who died here would become a bound spirit. The only way to be freed was to kill someone in the following year—find a replacement—and only then could they reincarnate. Gary Fang could only give a bitter smile.
A year passed.
Richard brought someone to inspect the company as he prepared to move out. A young girl approached the elevator and encountered the same situation Gary Fang once did: the white-haired woman on one side, Gary Fang on the other.
This time, the girl stepped into Gary Fang's elevator. As the doors closed, Gary Fang revealed a sinister smile.
And the movie ended.
Edward was quite satisfied. The film was exactly the same as the one in his memory. He couldn't help feeling a bit emotional—he remembered being terrified when he watched it as a child. Rewatching it as an adult, however, felt much less scary.
There were also supposed metaphors in the movie; some people interpreted it as a criticism of heartless corporate overtime culture and cold-blooded capitalists who ignored workers' suffering.
Edward thought those interpretations had some merit, but weren't completely accurate.
After all, the film didn't dwell heavily on those aspects. Most of it followed a very traditional "finding a replacement soul" horror structure.
There weren't many jump scares either, making it somewhat less intense by modern standards.
But a film like this would work well in the Pokémon world; adding genuine metaphors could even earn it great reviews.
So, Edward approved the project and instructed Zoroark to allocate funding and arrange actors.
"Boss! The Grude 3 just broke nine hundred fifty million~!"
Zoroark announced excitedly.
(End of Chapter)