Pokemon: Lord of Fear

"But thinking about it, if the candy is that OP, it wouldn't be bad if it cost a little more," Edward said, looking at the candy in his hand. With 200,000 Fear Points, he could max out the awakening value of a Pokémon. If Steven knew, he'd probably throw money at him without hesitation.

After all, awakening value, if it's the kind Edward remembers, its value is immeasurable.

For trainers, awakening candies are absolutely no less valuable than high-quality evolution stones.

It's like the college entrance exams where everyone takes their own exam, but one person always gets 200 extra points, how can you compare? However, this candy is limited to ghost-type Pokémon, which is quite restrictive.

If it weren't for this limitation, this thing would drive every trainer crazy.

Edward placed the food-making machine in his room. Their security was tight, and honestly, anyone trying to steal something from their house wouldn't bother with a coffee machine, so Edward was pretty relaxed about it.

Then, Edward left home, carrying the exhausted Q. He planned to visit the company and hand out bonuses to everyone.

After all, the success of Dead Silence was a sure thing now, with the first day's box office already surpassing 100 million. That's not a small number.

Previously, the most successful horror movie, My Ghost Bride—Gardevoir Special Edition, had a first-day box office just over 100 million. That means Edward was making history.

Every day, he was setting new records for the horror movie subgenre.

"I've heard Dead Silence is really good, I've already bought my ticket." Walking down the street, Edward overheard a couple chatting. He couldn't help but cough awkwardly; being discussed by strangers always felt a bit weird.

"Yeah, but I heard someone in the theater fainted from the scare." The couple laughed and walked off, while Edward arrived at the company. The employees were all busy.

Even though Dead Silence was already released, the movie company still had to handle publicity, marketing, and business collaborations, so the employees hadn't rested yet.

When they saw Edward, they became even more enthusiastic, though their eyes gave away their thoughts.

Edward smiled. There's pretty much no one who turns down money, and he understood that these employees were just waiting for their paychecks.

"Mr. Hayden," Edward entered the manager's office. Hayden, the professional agent sent by his father, was inside, going through documents. Upon seeing Edward, he immediately stood up and poured him a cup of water.

"Boss, congratulations on your first movie surpassing 100 million on the first day! What can I do for you today?" Hayden said respectfully, his face showing a warm, yet not overly flattering, smile.

"It's actually the matter I promised before: distributing six months' worth of salary as a bonus to everyone," Edward said, taking a sip of water. He glanced around the office, which was filled with various files, including company accounts and personnel records.

Edward understood it all, and he even felt the impulse to go through the files.

This made him feel a bit sorry for himself.

His father had only two sons: him and Steven, and since their mother passed away early, his father focused all his attention on them. But the problem was, the huge Devon Company needed a successor, and his brother, Steven, was only interested in digging stones.

So, when Edward grew up, he began learning economic management, while his brother, with a "you handle it, I trust you" attitude, showed zero interest in inheriting the company, leaving Edward in a position that was both amusing and frustrating.

"This has already been noted in the work schedule. As soon as the profits come in, we can distribute the bonuses," Hayden said with a smile. His salary wasn't low, and a half-year salary bonus was quite a windfall for him.

Hearing Edward's words, Hayden could almost hear the sound of coins clinking into a piggy bank.

"By the way, how's the promotion going?" Edward asked, not asking why they hadn't distributed the bonuses yet. He knew that the company's accounts weren't exactly flush with cash unless he asked his father for some.

The movie's box office doesn't mean the production company gets to pocket it all. First, they have to share with the theaters, then the investors, and only what's left is theirs.

But there are a lot of tricks behind the box office numbers.

Edward didn't need to worry about those things; his job was to focus on filming his movies.

"Everything is progressing smoothly. Some companies have even invited us for commercial performances. What do you think?" Hayden handed him a document, and Edward took a look. It was an invitation from a shopping mall in the Alola region, offering quite a bit of money.

"Ask the main cast if they're willing to go. If they are, let them go. I won't," Edward said, handing the document back. He wasn't very interested in participating in commercial promotions; money wasn't a problem for him.

"Understood." Hayden didn't ask further and started handling things as Edward instructed.

After announcing to the eagerly awaiting employees that the bonuses would be distributed once the profits were in, loud cheers erupted in the office, and the employees' motivation skyrocketed.

However, Edward found himself with nothing much to do now. Dead Silence was still playing well in theaters, and the publicity work was being handled by the company's staff, so he didn't need to get involved. It seemed like his main job now was to prepare for the next movie.

"I might as well pull out the script for One Missed Call and start adapting it," Edward thought, sitting down in his office and beginning to adapt the script for One Missed Call on his computer.

The story of One Missed Call wasn't complicated, but to make it more local, some small changes were necessary.

"Speaking of which, I remember that the League has released some phones with Rotom, a ghost and electric-type Pokémon," Edward thought, an idea forming.

Rotom was a prankster Pokémon that liked to sneak into electronic devices, even entering phones.

This gave Edward an intriguing idea.

"Maybe I can give my lovely audience an even bigger scare," Edward said, smiling with excitement.

(End of Chapter)