The Number One Star in the Interstellar Era

THE man playing the mummy was startled by this smile. This was probably one of the few times that someone wasn't surprised because of his sudden appearance. The other didn't even gasp, much less flinch. Was he losing his touch? 

All of the employees involved in scaring guests were humans. Because AI robots simply didn't have the emotional capacity for such a task. That's why their income was much higher compared to other people doing menial jobs in this theme park that could easily be done by other AI robots. 

That's why every time they managed to scare off a guest, they would have an additional pay. The mummy felt a bit of a heartache. It seemed like he wouldn't get that bonus pay for today.

"Good work," Astrid said to the mummy who seemed to be frozen in shock because of his own lack of reaction.

The mummy seemed to come back to his senses. Then the other suddenly took out a parchment from somewhere and gave it to him.

"For me?" Astrid asked. 

When the mummy nodded, he accepted the parchment. He opened it and saw that it was actually the map of the whole castle. He was just actually wondering how he would go to the throne room and this mummy just gave him the answer to that. So, was this his reward for not being scared away?

"Thank you, Mr. Mummy," he said to the other with a smile.

The Mummy was disarmed by this smile and he just stood there, staring. Until Astrid walked off, the other's smile still lingered in his mind.

He shook his head and then slapped his face. What the heck was that? Being tempted by a guess like that. Where's his professionalism? But really, who could blame him? That kid was just way too attractive.

Right now, the overly attractive Astrid, was walking to another corridor. He was already at the middle when a purple flame suddenly appeared in front of him. A face like that of the painting 'The Scream' could be seen inside the flame. 

It's definitely a jump scare. Too bad Astrid had never been the type to be startled easily. Especially when it's something that's done on purpose like this. 

He ignored the 'flame' and stepped forward. But just as he did, another flame appeared in front of him. He took another step and another flame appeared. He raised one of his brows. It seemed that this flame would appear every time he took a step. And the moment the first flame appeared was when one reached the middle section of the corridor.

If the one here was someone who's easily scared, they would probably have run at the first sight of the flame. And the moment they did, it would seem like the flames were following them. Thus, adding to their fear.

Thankfully, the one here was Astrid and not someone else. Instead of running, he was walking straight ahead, bypassing the flames. It's not as if it would hurt him. So, why bother avoiding it?

Looking at the map, he next needed to climb the stairs up to the next floor. Turning around the corner, he saw the spiral staircase up ahead. He jogged towards the stairs. But before he could reach it, he felt a hand touching his ankle. It was slimy and had a cold feel to it. Making him jump a bit.

Astrid looked down and saw a ghost like girl with her hair covering the entirety of her face. Very similar to that famous ghost from his past life – Sadako. Only the upper half of her body could be seen. The lower half was most likely hidden in some kind of mechanism under the floor. 

"Hi, can you let go now?" he said towards the other. "Your hand is a bit cold."

The ghost girl subconsciously let go of the other's ankle. Probably because she was too surprised by this teenager's reaction or the lack thereof. Before she could react to what happened, the other was already climbing up the stairs. 

She groaned. Now, there went her bonus income for today.

-----

As Astrid was busy making his way to the throne room, Wulfric was sitting comfortably on a settee. A table was in front of him filled with snacks and fruits. But these things didn't attract his attention one bit. All his focus was on the virtual screen in front. 

It showed the real-time situation of Aster. The other had already climbed the stairs and was about to enter a room.

Wulfric had long felt very dissatisfied while watching this. Not because of Aster, of course. But because of the incompetence of the personnel working in this castle. Just look at that mummy guy. He stared at Aster's face for approximately 15 seconds. Did he know how rude that was? Then, there was that ghost girl. Holding Aster's ankle like that, didn't she just want to take advantage of him?

Hmp! How unprofessional!

If Wulfric was a cartoon character, there would probably be smoke coming out of his nose because of indignation. And if Astrid was here, he would definitely smell the strong scent of vinegar in the air. Who else was the source but the big vinegar jar complaining about the 'unprofessionalism' of the people in the castle?

He shook his head and just turned his attention back to the virtual screen. 

Aster had already entered the room and it was filled with dolls of all sizes. He must admit that with all of them huddled together like that with their deadpan expression, it's really quite freaky. 

But Aster only glanced around, obviously looking for the door. There was no fear in his eyes, only curiosity.

"Your boyfriend is really quite fearless," said a voice in the throne room.

It was the one playing the role of 'queen'. If she didn't speak, Wulfric would have already forgotten her existence. When he heard what the other said, he felt his heart skip a beat.

Boyfriend…

Heat suddenly crept up his whole face. Somehow, he really liked the sound of that.