"Hm? You're saying that on the very first day of opening, the amusement park sold that many tickets? And it even brought in three million in profit?" Edward looked at Zoroark with some surprise. At the moment, he was tidying things up in his office. He had planned to head out today to take a look at the set arrangements and also to discuss the script with Jim.
But he hadn't expected Zoroark to suddenly bring in such an explosive piece of news.
"Yes, boss. But the analysts believe this surge might have been influenced by your brother, Steven. After all, Champion Steven even brought Wallace along with him." Zoroark spoke with a smile, and Edward immediately understood.
No wonder. His own ghost amusement park was indeed having its grand opening, and they had launched some half-price ticket promotions. Still, that alone shouldn't have drawn such a massive crowd on the first day. Originally, he had intended this campaign to run for three or even seven days, slowly building word-of-mouth through time. But unexpectedly, his older brother had shown up, and not alone—he had brought Wallace with him.
Within the Hoenn Pokémon League, the most beloved Gym Leader was Wallace. His popularity was no less than Steven's, and in the future he would even succeed Steven as Champion. Handsome, stylish, and powerful—a man who combined strength with elegance.
With the two of them showing up together, it was perfectly reasonable that the amusement park would blow up in popularity overnight. Thinking of this, a faint smile curved Edward's lips. When his brother's birthday came around, he decided he would give him a very special gift. Since his brother loved stones so much, only some rare and unusual rock might truly catch his interest.
With that in mind, Edward realized he would need to start searching for unique stones. The problem was, when it came to rock-hunting, he wasn't all that confident. It looked like he would need to keep his eyes open in the coming days, just in case he stumbled upon something interesting.
"How about the haunted house? How are the reactions there?" Edward suddenly remembered another matter. In this amusement park, all the employees were ghosts—no living staff at all—except for Kawakami Tomie. But Tomie's situation was special. She was an evil spirit, so she didn't count as a living person either. He wondered if the visitors would discover this little Easter egg.
He had asked Tomie about it before. She told him that although she had no desire to personally act inside the haunted house, if some lustful fool tried to lay hands on her, she wouldn't mind giving them a "unique experience."
As for what Tomie's "playstyle" would be, Edward hadn't asked in detail, but he could more or less guess. Tomie was a master of seduction, of sowing disKode and luring people to obsession—even to the point of committing crimes for her sake.
Most people simply couldn't escape the peculiar charm she exuded. One could say it was Tomie's most terrifying special ability.
This made Edward recall something from his previous life. Back then, Tomie had been adapted into films as well. But those movies were notoriously difficult to make well. He remembered one in particular, titled Tomie: Unlimited. His lasting impression was simply that the actress playing Tomie had indeed been stunningly beautiful.
Other than that, the movie had been difficult to understand. He only figured out the story after reading reviews and analyses afterward.
"I just hope there won't be any unlucky idiots this time." Edward yawned. Tomie might look delicate and beautiful, a fragile woman seemingly incapable of harming a chicken, but Edward knew full well how troublesome she really was. At present, there wasn't even a reliable way to permanently kill her. Perhaps cremation might have some effect.
Even so, he wasn't overly worried. As an employee of the haunted house, Tomie was bound by rules. She couldn't truly harm humans. Otherwise, Edward suspected they would've been forced to shut down on opening day.
After all, things like floating human-head balloons were already more than enough to terrify masses of visitors to death. Edward himself would barely be able to withstand it. Thankfully, the system's summoning had placed restrictions on Tomie—ensuring she couldn't actually hurt anyone. Without those safeguards, Edward would never have dared to employ her.
"How's the set preparation coming along?" Edward turned to ask Zoroark. They were about to start shooting another film, and sometimes even Edward himself was shocked by his own work ethic. As a director, to be this prolific—it was absurd. Back in the old days, directors who churned out projects at this pace were usually either being threatened by gangsters or drowning in debt.
Take the famous Hollywood actor Nicolas Cage, for example. Because of his debts, he had acted in countless films, many of them bad, and was even nicknamed the "King of B-Movies."
Although he later starred in some excellent works, the reputation from that mountain of trash films was not easy to overturn.
"All preparations are complete, boss. The cast is ready too. But this time… there are a lot of advertisers." Zoroark hesitated. It was the first time it had seen so many sponsors tied to one of Edward's films. Previously, even shows like Sherlock Holmes hadn't had that much commercial placement.
But now, The Truman Show had set a new precedent in Edward's career—breaking the reKode for the most advertisers crammed into one of his productions.
"It's fine. The sponsorship money can all be used to help more people." Edward remained calm. When he first decided to shoot The Truman Show, he had already resolved to embrace product placement aggressively. The more, the better. That way, he could gather massive sponsorship funds and funnel them into good causes.
And in practice, it really worked out. On the back of his films' reputation and success, Edward had gained enormous resources. Advertising fees alone had brought in a staggering 300 million. After taxes, Edward donated every last cent to the Prayer Wall Foundation. Kode had been so delighted that he called Edward and spoke with him for a long time.
Through that, Edward also gained deeper insight into how the foundation was doing.
After moving them into new office facilities, their work efficiency had risen dramatically. With the higher wages Edward provided, employee turnover had dropped significantly. Of course, the influx of applicants remained high, but that was largely because the foundation itself was expanding.
Kode's current plan was to set up sub-branches across every region of the League. This way, staff wouldn't constantly have to travel for work, operations could be standardized, and more people could be reached with help.
Edward fully supported the idea. But naturally, it meant greater expenses. Whether opening new branches or hiring more employees, it required enormous financial input—a troublesome but necessary investment.
Meanwhile, donations from society at large hadn't increased much yet. Most contributions still came from Hoenn. Edward guessed this was because the foundation's primary focus was still helping people in Hoenn, so outsiders weren't as eager to donate.
Once the new branches opened in other regions, though, he believed donations would follow. After all, the Prayer Wall Foundation had an excellent reputation online. They were genuinely doing good work, and their financial reports were transparent and public.
When their reach expanded, people in other regions would surely feel more inclined to contribute.
In any case, the Prayer Wall Foundation was already helping more and more people, and the internet's evaluation of them was overwhelmingly positive. This, too, was part of Edward's achievements.
"I almost feel like I've become Kode's employee now." Edward muttered as he sat in the car, gazing out the window. At one intersection, he caught sight of two people—a man and a woman—kneeling on the roadside, looking exhausted, holding signs. Behind them lay a person on the ground. But the car had already driven past, so he didn't catch the details.
Even so, he could guess what was written on those signs.
He shook his head. So be it, working for Kode or not. Even if he himself couldn't save up much money, at least more lives were being saved.
Not long after, Zoroark brought Edward to the film set.
Since The Truman Show required outdoor scenes, it was impossible to cordon off entire districts as filming sites. So, for the gathering point, Edward had chosen Truman's house itself—a property that actually belonged to him but that he had never lived in. Using it now as a film set was surprisingly convenient.
As soon as he stepped out of the car, he saw Jim Carrey. The actor was sitting inside on a chair, staring into space. But when he noticed Edward's arrival, he quickly waved, smiling happily. Edward returned the smile and waved back.
"Mr. Carrey, how come you're here so early today?" Edward asked, surprised. He hadn't even arrived at the agreed meeting time yet. He'd only come ahead of schedule because there was nothing pressing left at the office. Better to show up early and take care of paperwork on set. But apparently, Jim had beaten him to it.
"I was too excited, so I wanted to come early and get used to the atmosphere. After all, Truman has lived here for so many years. By rights, he should be intimately familiar with every detail of his home." Jim smiled. A few days without seeing him, and Edward noticed he now had a bit of stubble, which made him look more mature.
Edward fell silent. This world's Jim was exactly the same as the one from his past life—the same acting style, even the same struggle with depression. Perhaps this was a burden carried by all great comedy masters. Life, after all, was rarely as cheerful as their art.
"Mr. Carrey, I saw in one of your past interviews that you mentioned depression. Why is that?" Edward couldn't help but ask. Right now, no one else was around. Zoroark was outside on a call, handling production matters, so Edward took the chance to chat.
"Yes, I've struggled with depression. Every time I film, I'm constantly thinking about how to make the audience laugh harder. But as movies pile up, routines get reused. Coming up with fresh jokes becomes harder and harder." Jim smiled wryly. Edward nodded in understanding.
That made sense.
If Jim had been a mediocre actor with no ambition, he wouldn't have faced such pain. But because he was an actor with high standards, someone who wanted to keep bringing joy to others, he had pushed himself into depression.
"When I first read the script for The Truman Show, I felt it was speaking directly to me—or rather, to every actor." Jim sighed softly. Looking at Truman, he saw himself. Truman lived trapped in a false reality, his every day a performance. And Jim himself, though living in the real world, was always acting too—every move scrutinized, every word dissected. Fame brought constant media intrusion, even harassment of his family.
And the public demanded he be funny even off-screen, always armed with gags.
It was exhausting.
Before Edward could reply, the crew arrived. So he gave up on continuing the conversation, smiled politely to Jim, and returned to his car to finalize some script adjustments.
Jim didn't act haughty. He stood, glanced at the busy crew members who greeted him warmly, then turned toward Edward and the waiting camera equipment. For a moment, his gaze turned distant.
He was Jim. He had carried many names, many roles. But at the core, he was still himself. After a lifetime of playing others, it was finally time to play himself.
The Truman Show. He inhaled deeply. The smile on his face became more natural. His whole body relaxed. This time, he didn't need to force himself to think about how to make others laugh. He didn't need to calculate the perfect performance. He only had to be himself.
Meanwhile, on the internet, discussion around The Grudge suddenly reignited.
[Full plot breakdown of The Grudge – detailed analysis and future storyline speculation]
[I found the actual house from The Grudge! Damn, it looks terrifying just standing there]
One after another, these posts pushed the horror film back into the trending charts. Many netizens were left baffled. Sure, The Grudge was popular, but no film stayed hot forever. With so much fresh news online daily, trends usually died down quickly.
So why the sudden resurgence?
The answer came soon enough.
[Filial siblings attempt double suicide in mental hospital, leave behind bloody letter accusing Director Edward—what's the real story?]
This headline rocketed straight to the number one spot on the trending list. Attached was a lengthy letter, scrawled in blood, accusing Edward of using malicious spirits to harm people. It was written by the Ritchie-Rimi siblings. They had even sketched a crude drawing of Kayako.
The sight of it sent chills down people's spines.
(End of Chapter)