"It's not like it's actually one billion."
Although Edward pretended not to care, the upward curve at the corner of his mouth clearly revealed how good his mood was. And honestly, that was only natural—after all, for Edward, having one of his own films reach a one-billion box office milestone was definitely something worth celebrating.
Even though the current number was only at nine hundred fifty million, Edward wasn't the least bit worried about the remaining fifty million. Once it officially surpassed the one-billion mark, he would unlock yet another achievement. Still, he couldn't help feeling a little disappointed about the method used to reach it.
After all, the only reason The Grudge 3 could break one billion this time was because of the unusually special circumstances. If not for the fact that viewing The Grudge 3 was tied to a charity event, it would have been impossible for Edward to reach that milestone so quickly. The more he thought about it, the more regretful he felt. Saying it out loud to others later… he wouldn't be able to boast about it with full confidence.
If he wanted a proper, legitimate one-billion-box-office hit, it had to be a large-scale production—and one suitable for all ages. And when he thought of that, Edward naturally thought of the series he was preparing to film at the moment: Harry Potter. The influence of this series didn't even need to be explained. Besides, was it really possible that people in the Pokémon world wouldn't yearn for some form of magic-like power?
Still, Edward felt he should adjust things a little—perhaps establish an entirely independent "Harry Potter Universe." That would make everything easier to manage. With that thought, he picked up the script. He had considered it before—whether he should merge the Harry Potter world with the Pokémon world but after thinking it through, Edward gave up on the idea. Combining the two worlds could easily create problems.
The biggest issue, at the very least, was the headache-inducing challenge of balancing the power levels between Pokémon and wizards. It would be better not to mix the two at all.
"Wait… hold on. I remember there was a spell in Harry Potter that could drive away Muggles. Does that mean I could create a 'Pokémon Repelling Charm'? That way, the magical world can remain hidden?"
A possibility suddenly came to Edward's mind—one that seemed unexpectedly good. For him, this idea was very workable, and it could even make the world feel more mysterious and appealing.
As for why a 'Pokémon Repelling Charm' could prevent Pokémon from entering the wizarding world? There was no need to over-explain. The audience would fill in the gaps on their own. With that in mind, Edward decided to add this new setting. But since Hogwarts existed in its specific location, he could only use this region as the filming model.
"Although I'm not sure how the final product will turn out, I think it might actually be surprisingly good. Maybe it could even become one of my true one-billion-box-office films. That would be pretty interesting."
Edward's lips curved again. He felt quite satisfied with this idea. Even though this approach might create some issues, he didn't care much about that. What he wanted most was for this new film to break one billion legitimately. Otherwise, he wouldn't be able to carry the title of "The Billion Director" with conviction.
Even if he was about to become a director whose film broke one billion, Edward wasn't particularly interested in the title itself. After all, the success of The Grudge 3 was unrepeatable, and Edward had no intention of filming every movie in the same way. Otherwise, the entire film industry might end up rejecting him.
After all, this time he had practically lost money just to gain goodwill. For Pokémon-world film distributors and other companies, if Edward continued this strategy in future films, what were they supposed to gain from it? Even if it was charity, most of the fame and benefits still fell into Edward's hands. Eventually, people might refuse to cooperate with him or reduce his screening slots.
The only reason they supported him this time was because the film was trending and public attention was huge. If any theater dared to take The Grudge 3 off the schedule, their own reputation would suffer. Edward understood clearly that the success of The Grudge 3 was something that could never be duplicated. And to be honest, not everyone even liked horror films.
In this world, horror was a niche genre—just like in his previous life. Although there were always loyal fans, horror films could never compete with mainstream films when it came to box office. So, for Edward, getting a one-billion box office from a horror film already made him extremely satisfied. It would also certainly become the highest-grossing horror film of his career.
"But if I really want to make a Harry Potter universe, I'll need to…"
Edward thought of something and planned to slightly alter the plot of the Harry Potter world. Strictly speaking, the original storyline did have certain controversial aspects—for example, Harry Potter's childhood.
To be honest, the fact that a boy who was oppressed for so many years did not grow up to become another Voldemort but instead ended up as a hero was… very bizarre. Edward felt that to some extent, Rowling deliberately shaped Harry as a typical "shōnen protagonist"—despite all the hardships in childhood, he remained righteous and pure-hearted. A classic heroic trope.
But in Edward's eyes, this raised questions about realism. He understood that in the real world there were people who could experience immense suffering and still grow into great individuals… but there were also far more people who broke under pressure.
This was why criminal investigators often found that serial killers or psychopathic murderers tended to have tragic childhoods. After countless profiling cases, they already understood the pattern: individuals with traumatic childhoods were far more prone to psychological distortion.
If Harry Potter existed in the crime dramas of Edward's previous life, the family of Harry's aunt and uncle would probably show up on the legal news programs.
This early setup felt strange, because Harry wasn't a protagonist who gained significance later—he was born a destined savior, the one who could defeat Voldemort.
So why would such a "chosen child" be placed in such an environment? Later explanations claim that the protective charm from Harry's mother had to stay near blood relatives to remain stable, so Dumbledore chose this path.
But that explanation also leads to another issue:
If Dumbledore decided this, why did he ignore the suffering Harry endured?
As the greatest white wizard, Dumbledore couldn't have been so powerless. Even if wizards shouldn't expose themselves to Muggles, couldn't he at least provide some financial support? Improve Harry's living conditions? Or simply say something? During that period—right after Voldemort's fall—Dumbledore was at the peak of his prestige.
Even the appointment of Minister Fudge had ties to Dumbledore. Given that influence, if he asked others to help take care of Harry, countless people would have volunteered.
Although various explanations exist, these issues were indeed quite severe. The second major issue was the combat power difference between Muggles and wizards, which is likely why the original work didn't go deeper into it. Fortunately, Edward didn't need to worry about that. He wouldn't involve himself in those complications.
"Fixing these issues is easy—I just need to explain them in advance. But this part…"
Edward rubbed his temples. Explaining why Dumbledore placed Harry there was easy, but explaining why he didn't help Harry was much harder to patch.
But Edward wasn't anxious. Hogwarts was still under reconstruction, and filming wouldn't begin anytime soon. He had plenty of time to polish the script.
Time passed as Edward continued typing at his computer. By the time Hogwarts' initial reconstruction was completed, The Grudge 3 had already finished its run. Its final box office figure settled at an astonishing one billion and ten million. With that number, Edward secured the title of "Highest-Grossing Horror Director," since no other horror film had ever crossed the one-billion mark.
This achievement would be incredibly difficult for anyone—including Edward himself to surpass in the future. Even if ticket prices rose and inflation kicked in, this kind of film structure was enough to make later directors despair.
Not that any of the money mattered to Edward. He donated all of it to build hospitals—four affordable hospitals in total further increasing the number of NewHope Medical Centers across the League. These hospitals quickly gained widespread praise and even put pressure on other medical institutions. If not for their limited capacity, many hospitals might have gone bankrupt.
Even so, the affordable hospitals attracted many speculations and criticisms. Edward paid them no mind. He never cared about such things. As long as the hospitals continued operating steadily according to his standards, that was more than enough.
What he cared about now was his Fear Points.
After The Grudge 3 finished screening, he checked the system—the number had reached 1.27 million. Edward was delighted. He could perform twelve draws, or two directed draws.
Directed draws were great, of course—but Edward felt he didn't really need them anymore. He wasn't lacking anything. The low-cost hospitals were running smoothly on their own. So targeted draws didn't hold much value right now.
"If I choose immortality… can I draw it?"
A bold thought came to him. He had always been curious about longevity. Compared to the spiritual realm, immortality sounded far more enjoyable. If he could live forever, he could do whatever he wanted.
[Selecting the Immortality Directed Draw requires merging ten normal draws into one]
The system prompt appeared. Edward was surprised—it was actually possible? Without hesitation, he chose to merge them. He wanted to see what kind of "immortality" this would be.
Although using ten chances hurt a little, it was still acceptable. After all, he could always earn more Fear Points by making more films. But opportunities like this were rare.
So, he casually burned through two regular draws and one directed draw in one go.
[You obtained: Light of Xerneas]
[You obtained: Movie World Travel Ticket]
[You obtained: Random Movie World Experience Ticket]
Three items appeared. Edward's mouth twitched. The first one was probably related to immortality. He was familiar with the second one. But the third…?
[Light of Xerneas: A mysterious stone. Wearing it grants the blessing of Xerneas, extending lifespan. Only effective for the wearer. Useless for others.]
Edward's expression darkened slightly. That was disappointing. He had originally wanted to give it to his father. But to be fair, immortality was a dangerous thing—if it spread, it might be even more attractive than legendary Pokémon.
Since it only worked for him, Edward ended up putting it on anyway. It would be stupid not to wear something obtained from ten merged chances.
[Random Movie World Experience Ticket: Upon use, the user will be transported to a random movie world and receive "protagonist treatment" for two and a half years. Time in the real world will be paused during the experience.]
Edward's eyes widened slightly. Good heavens—this was actually pretty impressive. "Protagonist treatment" sounded amazing. The only problem was… the world was random. If he had a choice, Edward already had several iconic movies in mind.
But random selection was risky. What if he got thrown into a disaster film like 2012? That would be a nightmare.
Still, overall, this item was pretty good for Edward. It didn't waste his time, paused reality, and seemed beneficial.
He was quite satisfied.
(End of Chapter)