In the end, Edward finalized the casting for the two lead roles—both male and female leads were actors with excellent skills and a temperament that suited the horror genre well. The only real trouble he faced was finding a suitable young actor to portray Mizuno Mimiko.
After all, Mizuno Mimiko was the antagonist in the story, and Edward had quite high standards for the role. He required someone who could convincingly portray that two-faced nature—innocent on the surface, yet hiding something darker behind closed doors.
Ultimately, Edward managed to find a solution.
"You want to play Mizuno Mimiko?" Edward looked at Zoroark with wide-eyed surprise.
Yes, Edward's solution was to have Zoroark play the role of Mizuno Mimiko. Or more accurately, it was Zoroark who had volunteered for the part.
"H-help... Help me... Mommy..." Zoroark instantly transformed into a black-haired little girl, staring at Edward with a desperate, fear-filled expression. Her pale face trembled, and she stretched out a quivering hand as if she were on the verge of death.
Then, the next second, she abruptly sat up from the ground and cast a jealous, resentful gaze to the side, as if she were looking at a sister she hated.
"Boss~ how's my performance?" Zoroark transformed back into her secretary form, grinning smugly with clear pride in her eyes.
"Very good," Edward nodded approvingly. This performance was truly impeccable. Without even needing any makeup, Zoroark had managed to convey that suffocating, eerie aura that perfectly embodied Mizuno Mimiko.
"So… about the actor's pay, maybe we can~" Zoroark rubbed her fingers together, a shamelessly greedy look on her face.
Edward decisively offered her a standard market-rate salary for a supporting role. Zoroark's eyes curved into crescent moons with delight, clearly thrilled.
Edward could instantly tell—this mischievous Zoroark was once again planning to blow all her money on in-game purchases. She was a total gaming otaku, obsessed with all kinds of games. Aside from working hours, she spent the rest of her time glued to her console.
Even in the middle of the night, Edward had seen her pulling off pentakill in Pokémon Unite.
With the cast now finalized, it was finally time to officially begin shooting the film.
"Zoroark, has there been any call from the Pokémon Center?" Edward sat in the director's chair and suddenly remembered the Gimmighoul he had sent to the Pokémon Center the day before. He quickly asked for an update.
"Not yet, boss. If there's any news, I'll let you know immediately," Zoroark shook her head.
Edward pinched the bridge of his nose.
Hopefully, nothing serious had happened after being beaten up by Q. Then again… that possibility couldn't be ruled out. After all, Q had been consuming Fear Candies every day lately, and his strength had been improving steadily. Combined with his full-force attack and type advantage, it was entirely reasonable that Gimmighoul had ended up seriously injured.
Alright. Once today's filming was over, he'd stop by the Pokémon Center to check on Gimmighoul.
"Well then—first scene of One Missed Call, action!" Edward raised the microphone and called out loudly.
Immediately, the camera focused on the bustling city exterior, then zoomed in on a shop window and the mobile phones displayed inside. The scene then cut to the female lead dining with her friends. At that moment, Yumi was trying to light a cigarette.
Edward sat behind the monitors, watching attentively. This scene was unfolding nicely. The actors' performances were solid, and everything was going smoothly. Still, for the sake of post-production editing, Edward had the actors run one more take as a backup.
The story progressed.
Yumi was lighting a cigarette, but she couldn't bring herself to look directly at the small flame from the lighter. A man sitting nearby chuckled and speculated that Yumi must have some kind of psychological trauma involving fire, which explained her apparent fear.
Edward picked up a pen and made a note on paper—during post-production, he wanted to insert a rapid flashback here to validate the man's words. It would also serve as the first foreshadowing of the film.
The plot continued to advance. As the man continued telling a ghost story, the camera focused on Yumi. At that moment, a small hand appeared on her shoulder, and the next second, it was gone. Yumi turned her head and saw her friend, Yoko.
The man kept talking, finishing his story, and Edward finally called out, "Cut!"
"Alright, let's move on to the second scene," Edward waved to the actors.
The crew and cast quickly followed him to the next shooting location—the restroom.
The bathroom, a classic setting that appears in nearly every horror film, seemed naturally suited for eerie events. But Edward had his own understanding of why.
A restroom, especially an empty one at night, easily evokes unease from deep within a person's heart. Choosing this location for the second scene helped subtly set the stage for future horror elements.
"Have the sound effects been updated?" Edward asked the props team. They quickly nodded in confirmation, assuring him the changes had been made. Edward was satisfied and gave the order to continue shooting.
In the restroom, Yumi and Yoko were chatting about a funeral Yoko had recently attended. Yoko was using the stall, while Yumi stood at the sink, washing her hands. During their conversation, Yumi asked how the person had died. The dimly lit bathroom carried a subtle sense of dread.
Then, a strange ringtone echoed through the quiet restroom. Yumi turned to look and saw Yoko's phone ringing. She called out, thinking it was Yoko's phone. But Yoko replied that it wasn't her ringtone.
The eerie music continued to echo through the empty space as Yoko emerged from the stall. She picked up the phone and saw that it was an incoming call—from her own number.
After listening to the voicemail, she heard her own voice… a message from the future, not the present.
Edward watched this scene with growing excitement.
In One Missed Call, this part wasn't meant to be jump-scare-heavy. Rather, it was a suspense-building sequence. But it served an important purpose—it laid the groundwork for the film's unique concept: a vengeful spirit that kills through mobile phones.
What made it truly chilling was the way it pre-announced its kills. Victims would receive a voicemail in their own voice, timestamped in the future, predicting their exact moment of death. This was a cleverly constructed and eerie mechanism for murder, even by today's standards—especially in the Pokémon world, where horror films had always been a niche genre.
"Alright, let's shoot a backup take," Edward said after reviewing the restroom scene, feeling pleased overall but wanting to play it safe.
"Boss, will there be a sequel to this?" Zoroark walked over, looking excited as she asked the question.
"Not anytime soon," Edward shook his head.
The plot of the first One Missed Call was genuinely well-designed, with clever suspense and original horror elements. The second installment shifted to a different setting and didn't manage to maintain the same level of fear. The third, on the other hand, leaned heavily into Western-style gore with mass casualties—which didn't really appeal to Edward's taste.
(End of Chapter)