The Number One Star in the Interstellar Era

THE ship Wulfric was on was finally nearing the planet where they would pick up the group of people who were about to be sold. Because of that, things had been pretty hectic on the ship. Even if he didn't want to move, he had to in order not to look suspicious. It was only after dinner, or at least what seemed to be the time for dinner, that he finally had free time.

As soon as he had free time, Wulfric entered his personal quarters. It was a small cabin that wasn't even half the size of his own bathroom back in Beowulf. But he didn't care much. He had lived in worse condition than this, doing missions here and there. What's important to him was that he had his own privacy.

Normally, as someone who was just commissioned by this mercenary group, he shouldn't be given a cabin of his own. But after he asked very 'nicely' with his fist, they allowed him to have one.

Although Leland told him not to stand out, again and again, giving up a personal cabin was something he couldn't do. Because if he didn't have a space of his own, then how the hell would he watch programs where Aster appeared if someone was sharing a room with him?

Yes, he could set his Terminal to private and not let anyone see what he's watching. But that's not the problem. He didn't like it when someone was looking at him while he was concentrating on watching Aster. Because how could he focus that way? When watching Aster's show, he wanted to just solely focus on it.

Watching in a cinema was different since the audience could wear VR helmets while watching and all of them were simply minding their own business.

Wulfric sat down on the bed and opened his Terminal. He knew from what Aster posted on his [Cyberspace] account that the other had a schedule today and would be appearing on a show called [Penalty Quiz].

After reading that, he searched for information about it. Only to find out that it's a live broadcast. He was so devastated by the news that he even considered abandoning this mission.

Of course, he didn't do it. No matter how much his heart was telling him to, his brain was still the one in charge. So, he knew what he should and shouldn't do when he was doing his duty as a soldier and a general of this Empire. If he was just here as Wulfric and nothing else, he wouldn't hesitate to really just leave. But since that's not the case, he could only grit his teeth in regret.

Thankfully, he quickly found out that a replay would be posted on the official streaming site of the studio that was producing the show. And so Wulfric was now trying to enter that streaming site.

After he did, it didn't take long for him to see the replay stream of the program. It was because it's on the front page of the site. With a heart full of excitement, he quickly clicked it.

The program started first with the boring introduction of the emcee. Then the other suddenly called a special emcee for today's episode. When he saw the pheromone guy appearing, his brows couldn't help but furrow.

His first reaction was wondering what that guy was doing over there. And then, he remembered that the other was also part of that show that would air next week. He remembered him since the other had a very useful ability.

Leland convinced him that they could use this guy for a special espionage mission if needed since they already have his weakness. Which was not registering his ability, even if he had no idea he had it. He agreed since the other could really be useful for their army someday.

Anyway, that pheromone guy didn't really matter right now. Aster was the most important, so he waited for him to appear. And it didn't take long before the emcee introduced the guests for today's quiz show.

After the introduction, the quiz finally started. The first question was pretty standard but also misleading. Because there's a lot of answers that could be given just by looking at the painting. The important part was to hear the question fully.

Sure enough, one of the female guests wasn't patient enough and gave the wrong answer. But luckily for her, she didn't have to be penalized. But one of the remaining three should do a request from one of the audience.

Wulfric was worried about that. Because they would definitely choose Aster. And sure enough, the chosen audience picked her. He narrowed his eyes at the girl.

[If you dare to make Aster do something weird, I swear--]

"...Can you do something cute for us?"

Wulfric stopped when he heard that. Then, he suddenly made a small thumbs-up in his heart, showing that he was very much in favor of this request.

[Good job.]—he thought.

Then the camera focused on Aster. The other showed a helpless expression at first. And then he put both hands in front of him, forming a circle with his fingers. Then, he acted like he was biting it like some kind of fruit. The circle then turned into a heart shape. After that, he showed the brightest smile in the universe.

Wulfric blinked a couple of times. Then, he heard a 'thump', 'thump' noise inside his chest. Like some kind of loud drum. It was only after a few seconds that he realized that it was actually his heart.

"Crazy... how cute was that?"

Before he could even think, he immediately cut out that part and saved it in his Terminal. He did that a couple more times during the episode.

He felt all proud because of how smart Aster was. He not only answered a lot of questions, he also avoided getting penalized.

Wulfric was very much enjoying the program. That was, until Aster had to do his first penalty.