Prologue 1-2: Zeta Zenonia

President and general director of Zenonia Channel, the galactic netvision company broadcasting throughout the entire Galactic Federation. That was Zeta Zenonia’s title.

As long as their channel passed the galactic netvision review, anyone could broadcast via the Galactic Federation Network. Some people like Zeta created their own shows as a company, while other individuals broadcasted their obscure, niche hobbies as a pastime. With the galactic net, audiences would select the channels they wanted to watch and pay the viewing fees for those choice channels, creating a direct correlation between viewership and income. A channel could only grow as its subscriber base did, naturally making the battle for viewers fierce—and Zeta Zenonia very tired.

People in creative lines of work tended to be tired all year round, but the sagging bags under Zeta’s eyes after these last few weeks could rank her in the Federation Book of Galactic Records.

“Heh heh heh, it’s done... Wait, ‘heh heh heh’? I’m not some evil villain.”

Having worked through the night, she was delirious enough to mutter to herself. But it didn’t stop her. Zeta lifted up the project proposal she’d sacrificed her beauty sleep for and scanned it with a dangerous glint in her eye.

“Heh heh heh... Aw, crap, I said it again. Whatever, it’s done. This time I have created a perfectly planned avant garde project.”

Zeta continued to snicker under her breath as she praised herself. If anyone had been watching, she would have indeed looked like a suspicious character up to something nefarious. But since she was alone in her room right now, that wasn’t a problem.

Her room was currently littered with empty energy drink cans and various snack trash. Zeta could no longer even recall exactly how long it had been since she’d started working on this. That was how bad it was this time. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say her career as a director and the fate of a dozen or so employees were relying on this project, after all.

Zenonia Channel was the netvision company Zeta had established in her teens. Now in its third year, the company was fluctuating between average and above average in terms of scale and viewership. She had originally established the company out of her love for and desire to create anime. Particularly the superhero kind. She had taken out all kinds of loans to buy her channel rights and create her debut work, which was luckily a hit. After getting sponsors, repaying the initial start-up debt, and wrapping up her debut work after a good two-year run, it was time for her next project, which had unfortunately been a flop.

What was she thinking back then? Looking back on it now, she’d probably wanted to challenge herself by making Zenonia Channel’s second work a documentary on unexplored regions. If she had stopped to think about it at the time, she would have realized that the viewers who enjoyed her first superhero anime were expecting something similar as a follow-up. And when that didn’t happen, of course they were disappointed, and her viewership plummeted accordingly.

Really, it was as simple as that. If she’d stopped to think about it, she would have realized it. But what was done was done.

“All right! There’s no way the company will go bankrupt with this!”

What she was working on now was a new project plan to save her failing company. After a quick nap, Zeta would get started on promoting it and gathering funds. Perhaps she should come up with a promotional catchphrase and a good sales pitch...

But first, I need sleep!

And so, she decided to turn in for now. Zeta set her project proposal back down on her desk and kicked a path through the empty cans and bags to her bed. Sleep was one of the few pleasures her occupation could afford, so her bed was one of the latest models in all the galaxy. It guaranteed a sleep so peaceful, not even a meteorite could disturb you. It was even sturdier than your average shelter.

Ahh! But when I wake up, I’ll probably start second-guessing my project proposal...

Objectively, she knew that her self-praise earlier was just the result of a writer’s high. But for now, all she wanted was some shut-eye. So she put her worries aside and threw herself into bed.