Filming Harry Potter was, on the whole, proceeding fairly smoothly. Although a few problems had cropped up along the way, it was nothing Edward couldn't accept. After all, the overall workflow of this project belonged to the simpler type of productions, and the difficulty wasn't particularly high—at least, not for Edward.
And while they were in the middle of filming, the heat surrounding The Grudge 3 gradually began to fade. Everyone had been busy, so interest naturally cooled down. But right on its heels, an entirely new wave of attention suddenly appeared.
That new wave was centered around The Grudge 3. Because of Kayako's reincarnation within the movie, she had directly become a little girl who returned to the world as a human child.
Edward had filmed only a brief shot—just a tiny silhouette of little Kayako blending into a crowd on the street before disappearing into obscurity. That was the entire scene; Edward hadn't shot any other footage related to her.
This was, of course, meant to leave the audience room for imagination. But for some unknown reason, recently the internet had been flooded with secondary fan-works—stories describing Kayako's life after turning human.
Everyone in the League was discussing it heatedly. After all, the idea of "What kind of life would Kayako have as a human?" was undeniably intriguing—if admittedly on the bizarre side.
Curious, Edward looked into it, and soon discovered that the root of this sudden surge of interest came from one particular fanfiction floating around online. Its original author had written a whole story centered around Kayako, based on Edward's plot direction in The Grudge 3.
Excerpt from the Fanfiction
In a cold, damp apartment, a six-year-old girl still named as Kayako curled up alone in a corner.
She was the reincarnation of Kayako, carrying the twisted memories and curses of her previous life. But for her, this was also a blessing—at the very least, she had escaped the curse that once bound her, no longer controlled by the grudge.
Little Kayako had ruthlessly killed the birth mother of her new body. After all, as far as she was concerned, she did not need such things.
Neighbors who lived near Little Kayako's apartment often heard scratching sounds from the ceiling, as if something were crawling above them. They investigated, even hired pest control, but nothing worked. And no one believed those noises could come from such a frail child.
Little Kayako had no friends. Whenever other children approached her, they would suddenly flee in inexplicable terror.
They saw, behind her, the faint figure of a black-haired woman in white. The parents, however, could not see this at all. They simply felt sorry for Kayako, pitying a child who was orphaned so young.
A kind elderly couple eventually adopted Little Kayako. But soon after, they died in a bizarre accident—their bodies twisted at impossible angles as though broken by invisible hands. When their adult children returned home to pay respects, they too vanished without a trace.
The police investigating the case were reminded of the tragic house incident years earlier, when the entire Saeki family had perished—Saeki Takeo having killed his wife Kayako Saeki, his son, Toshio disappearing, and Takeo dying afterward. This disturbing parallel left investigators troubled, wondering if the curse had begun spreading again.
The horrifying house still stood unchanged, continuing to devour the fools who dared enter. The authorities could do nothing but seal it off.
At school, teachers discovered Little Kayako's sketchbook filled entirely with drawings of black cats and a lone child. Rotten cat corpses inexplicably kept appearing in her desk drawer. Terrified, the teachers set up cameras and even assigned someone to watch over her, yet the corpses still appeared from nowhere. Fear grew—many teachers began to believe she was the reincarnation of an evil spirit.
But none of them knew that nighttime belonged to Little Kayako.
In the mirror, her reflection slowly transformed into the pale, ghostly Kayako. Little Kayako's pupils turned lifeless gray as she hummed a childish tune, and the entire building's electronics shorted out. In the hallway, something like a plastic bag—fell to the floor, followed by the sound of crawling.
One day, a boy at school who bullied Little Kayako vanished. The security footage only showed him being pulled into the girls' bathroom stall by an invisible force, with black liquid seeping through the cracks.
People suspected supernatural causes. Only Little Kayako knew the truth—her younger sister, who had transformed into another manifestation of the grudge, far more brutal than her, had acted at her command to kill the boy who bullied her.
Some social workers attempted to intervene. But in Little Kayako's records, they found a chilling pattern—every person who had interacted with her had died in "accidents." This discovery made everyone afraid to approach her.
A exorcist was eventually invited. Trembling, she declared that something even darker slumbered within Little Kayako's body.
Inside the room, Little Kayako simply tilted her head and smiled.
She stared up at the ceiling.
A familiar "gurgle" sounded above her, then whispered directly into the exorcist's ear.
But in the end—everything changed completely.
Little Kayako fell in love with a boy named Oono. He had an appealing personality and resembled Kobayashi Shunsuke.
Kayako eventually married him, lived peacefully, raised children, and enjoyed a long, happy life.
…
Edward stared at this for a long time in silence.
First of all, this author calling himself "Oono" clearly had seen The Grudge—at the very least, he understood the reason behind Kayako's reincarnation, and he even deduced the logic behind the lingering curse in the house, not to mention adding an extra "sister" manifestation. All of that proved he was deeply familiar with the lore.
But the problem was…
This guy had obviously turned it into a romance novel.
Because after writing this piece, this bastard even wrote a sequel titled "My Married Life Living Together With Kayako."
Edward had to admit—the title was indeed very eye-catching. He himself was tempted to click and read it.
However, the moment he clicked, he realized the damn thing required payment.
The corner of his mouth twitched.
But after checking, he saw the entire novel was 320,000 words long and cost only ten pokedollars.
Not expensive at all.
So Edward shrugged and bought it.
The purchase page even stated:
"This novel's adaptation rights have been officially authorized by Ghost Films."
Edward didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
No wonder it was paid content.
But that only made him more curious—
Just what on earth had this Oono written?
He opened the novel.
The first word he saw was "I."
Edward blinked, then quickly calmed down.
In this world, many authors liked writing in first person.
It was fairly common, and somewhat interesting, since Edward rarely read first-person stories these days.
Excerpt from the Paid Novel
The motion-sensor light went out with a soft crackle, drowned beneath the rustle of a plastic bag.
My fingertips brushed the keyhole—cold and sharp—when a chill wrapped around me. Kayako slipped into the darkness behind me, her body glimmering faintly in the moonlight. The breath against my ear smelled lightly of pickled plums. Her ice-cold finger slid beneath my arm, and she embraced me from behind.
"Welcome home, dear~" Kayako's voice was as soft as ever.
I turned and gently pushed aside her bangs. She tilted her head adorably, like a timid mouse, petals from the garden still caught in her hair.
"You worked hard too. Thank you for preparing dinner."
I kissed my wife lightly. A faint blush spread across Kayako's cheeks. Even though we had been married seven or eight years, she still wasn't used to living with me.
When had it started?
Was it the neatly pressed shirts in the wardrobe that always flipped themselves over at midnight?
Or the electric kettle that beeped precisely at 23:50 every night?
These inhuman touches were like the origami she hid in her kimono sleeves—awkwardly folded, yet unmistakably hers. Moonlight filtered through her translucent fingers, scattering phosphorescent specks across the floor.
I knew very well—my wife Kayako was not a normal human being.
Maybe because one night, I saw her take on another form—terrifying, ghostly.
But instead of fear, my heart only ached for her.
For the pain she hid—pain carved deep into her bones.
Still, I pretended, as I always did. It was a quiet understanding between spouses.
I waited, hoping that one day, she would tell me the stories she carried inside her. Only then could she trust me completely.
Sometimes during dinner, Kayako would show a cute expression. But whenever the topic of having children came up, she always became evasive.
I never pushed her. If she didn't want children, that was fine.
It just meant more time alone with her—more of our quiet world together.
"Darling… did you see me that night?"
After dinner, Kayako suddenly asked while cleaning the dishes.
I froze for a moment, then nodded.
The world changed instantly.
I saw a movie—a strange, vivid movie. The story of a girl who grew up isolated and traumatized, got married, was suspected of infidelity, and was abused to death. I remembered how Kayako always avoided TV programs about haunted houses.
The next moment, the terrifying Kayako fell before me—her blood-red eyes staring directly into mine.
I rushed forward and held her tight.
"It's okay. I'm here."
Hearing my words, Kayako trembled, deeply moved. She leaned close, her form softening back into her original gentle self, beautiful eyes shimmering like ripples of water.
"Bro, seriously?!"
Edward nearly burst out laughing.
This guy was absolutely insane—he had figured out that Kobayashi once had a way out, yet went the full Mark Ruffalo route anyway! (Falling in love with a ghost, essentially.)
Still, Edward had to admit—the man could write.
His descriptions were vivid and detailed.
Edward's mouth twitched, but he didn't comment further.
Fine.
After finishing The Grudge 3, he hadn't planned to continue the series anyway.
Unless… maybe shoot Sadako vs. Kayako someday and grab another pile of money.
"Boss, I checked the authorization. It's real," Zoroark said beside him.
Edward nodded.
Of course he knew.
This kind of thing wasn't complicated, and he understood the whole situation perfectly.
Once that matter was settled, Edward stopped bothering with it.
He still had Harry Potter to film.
But just because Edward didn't care didn't mean someone else didn't.
For example—
Kayako herself.
…
Kayako stared at the computer screen, her expression pitch black.
Beside her, Toshio had already shifted into spirit form, waiting for his mother's command.
One word, and he'd travel through the internet cable and kill this audacious author.
But Kayako hesitated.
Her past no longer mattered.
Her resentment lingered only in that house, now nothing more than a mindless curse.
In a sense, that was a good thing—she didn't want to live trapped in pain forever.
No matter how many people she killed, it wouldn't change anything.
She sighed deeply and chose not to act.
In this world, she couldn't actually harm anyone anyway—she could scare people, but had no true power.
Of course, if she was willing to risk being forcibly sent back, she could kill the man.
But the trouble wasn't worth it.
Not in her eyes.
She looked at Toshio.
Just seeing him dampened her desire to do anything vicious.
She only wanted her child to live a peaceful, happy life.
But there was one thing Kayako had forgotten:
Toshio was not an innocent child.
A child's love and hatred burned far hotter and far less controllably than an adult's.
Toshio glared at the computer screen.
He was furious.
He would not allow anyone to speak of his mother that way.
So, when Kayako left the room to do something else, Toshio quietly picked up his black cat, stepped out of the house, and headed somewhere.
He was going to do something.
Something to vent the anger boiling inside him.
And he would not harm the author.
End of Chapter.