ASTRID woke up later than usual, a clear sign of how tired he had been the day before. It was a good thing his leave from school had been extended until today, so he didn’t have to go back until tomorrow. Still, he did not stay in bed. After eating breakfast, he cleaned his apartment.

Even though he could have just let the apartment’s cleaning devices do the work and had his little AI butler cat handle the rest, which was what he usually did because of his busy schedule, sometimes cleaning the old-fashioned way felt therapeutic. At least, that’s how it worked for him.

So, he spent the entire morning cleaning. By noon, he was ready to eat. He made himself a simple turkey sandwich with fresh tomato slices, crisp lettuce, and a thin spread of mustard on toasted bread. For his drink, he poured a tall glass of freshly squeezed orange juice mixed with a bit of ginger and honey.

While he ate, he checked [Cyberspace] to see if people were talking about [The Shadow Within]. The movie had gotten little promotion because of budget constraint, so he was hoping word of mouth would spread quickly and get the public interested in watching it.

To his surprise, most of the top posts he saw were unboxing videos. When he checked the daily trending topics, #astergiftunboxing had actually been in the top twenty for about an hour that day. It seemed Wulfric’s video had some real influence after all. From the comments he read, his fans had figured out that the photos of him in his characters’ costumes were harder to get than the ones where he was just in normal clothes. That discovery made the videos from people who got the rare photos get a lot more attention.

Because of these videos, other people wondered where the boxes came from and if they could buy them somewhere. When they found out the gifts were only for Starlights who passed a quiz and watched the movie, some were disappointed at first that they could not just purchase one. But that disappointment soon turned into curiosity about the movie itself.

Astrid just hoped that curiosity would turn into genuine interest. If it did, that would mean more people watching the movie. He wanted that, not just because a successful movie was always good, but because he had put his own money into it. He was one of the main producers for [The Shadow Within], after all.

He picked up his glass and took a sip of juice. Just then, his Terminal lit up with a video call request from Ellis.

When he answered, he could tell right away that she was excited. Her expression did not change much, but he could still see it. Something good must have happened.

Then, as if just noticing that he was eating, she said, "Oh, are you having lunch? I can call you back later."

"No, it’s fine, Sister Ellis," Astrid said. Then a teasing smile spread across his face. "Are you about to share some good news with me?"

Ellis chuckled. "As a matter of fact, I do. [The Shadow Within] has made it into the top 50 on the daily box office list."

Astrid froze for a moment, not sure if he had heard her correctly. But one look at Ellis’s face told him that he had. His eyes went wide, and he nearly jumped out of his seat. "Really, Sister Ellis?"

"Yes," Ellis confirmed. "I wouldn’t joke about something like this."

Astrid nearly laughed out loud. Getting into the top 50 of the daily box office might not seem like a big deal for big budget commercial movies. But for an independent film? It was huge. He had not been expecting much. He would have been happy just to break even during the movie’s run. Hearing that it had already entered the top 50 of the daily box office list made him want to hope for more.

Maybe they would do more than just break even. Maybe he would not only get back what he had invested, but actually make a profit on top of it.

"If this upward trend continues, we can expect to break even by the third day," Ellis continued. "It seems your livestream and the gift box idea did a pretty good job of promoting the movie."

"I should thank my fans for that," Astrid said. "If they were not so dedicated, nothing I did would have made much of a difference."

"Yeah, your fans really are dedicated," Ellis said, clearly amused. "Especially that White Wolf. He’s taking dedication to a whole new level. I think he might even be more invested in you than the president of your fan club."

Thinking of Wulfric, he let out a small laugh. "Yeah, he really is."

Now he could not help but wonder how Ellis would react if she ever found out that White Wolf was actually the Empire’s one and only prince. It would be hilarious and a little unsettling at the same time.

"Oh, by the way, there is another piece of good news," Ellis said, like she had only just remembered to bring it up. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Astrid raised an eyebrow. "Wow, is this day just packed with good news or what?"

"This is the last piece of news for today," she said with a smile. "I heard from a very reliable source that you are being considered by The Beacons for Best Supporting Actor for your role as Luan Escanor in [The Great War]."

For the second time, Astrid went still. The Beacons were one of the most respected awards for television shows and online series. It was similar to the Gilded Choice Awards, where the winners were mostly decided by critics and industry professionals.

And had Ellis really just said he was being considered for Best Supporting Actor?

"Really, Sister Ellis?" was all he could manage to say.

"Really," Ellis said with a grin. "And from what I can tell, your chances of getting a nomination are pretty high."

Astrid grinned back. It looked like he would have a lot to tell Wulfric later. After he pulled his little prank, of course.