"Damn, talk about hitting the jackpot! If I could score a date with one of these beauties, I'd trade my left kidney for it."

Ethan leaned back in his seat, staring out the window at the endless expanse of stars. His mind wandered as the soft cabin lights reflected off the faces of the passengers around him. Among them were women dressed in sleek, fashionable space suits, their flawless features catching his eye more than once.

But he quickly looked away. He knew his place.

In this interstellar age, he was just a low-level employee at the Interstellar Trade Corporation—a nobody with no money, no power, and no connections.

Those women? The ones rated a "perfect 10" by the Interstellar Alliance? Forget it. He didn't even qualify to be a backup contact in their comms list.

"Ethan, what are you staring at? Switch seats with me. I want the window."

A familiar, commanding voice snapped him out of his thoughts. He turned to see Sophia Johnson—his boss and the sales director of the Galactic Trade Alliance.

Sophia was dressed in a silver, form-fitting smart space suit that accentuated her curves in all the right ways. Her long hair was tied back in a sleek ponytail, and her face—so flawless it looked like it had been optimized by some divine algorithm—was framed by piercing blue eyes that were impossible to ignore.

But Ethan knew better. This "princess" never had a kind word for him.

Sophia wasn't just his boss; she was also the only daughter of the Alliance's chairman. A textbook rich girl.

And him? Just a lowly grunt in the interstellar freight department.

"Hey, are you deaf? Didn't you hear me?" Sophia frowned, her tone sharp.

"Oh, yeah, I heard you." Ethan scrambled to his feet and swapped seats with her.

No sooner had he sat down than Sophia's voice rang out again. "Ethan, go get me a Galactic Latte."

"Miss Johnson, could you wait a bit? The ship's about to jump to warp," Ethan said with a wry smile.

"When I tell you to do something, you do it. Stop wasting time!" Sophia shot him a glare, her tone leaving no room for argument.

Ethan sighed, muttering a quiet "FUCK" under his breath as he got up and headed toward the service area.

The service station was located mid-cabin, where a few flight attendants in blue-and-white uniforms were busy tending to passengers.

Ethan approached one of them, a stewardess with a friendly smile. "Hi, could I get a Galactic Latte, please?"

The stewardess shook her head politely. "I'm sorry, sir, but the ship is about to enter warp mode. Per regulations, we can't serve any beverages right now."

Ethan's heart sank. He knew Sophia's temper all too well. If he went back empty-handed, he'd be in for another round of sarcastic jabs.

"Come on, just one cup. I promise I won't spill it," Ethan pleaded, trying his luck.

"I'm sorry, sir, but rules are rules. I hope you understand," the stewardess replied, still smiling but firm.

Ethan tried two more times, but the stewardess wouldn't budge. Defeated, he trudged back to his seat, empty-handed.

"Where's my coffee?" Sophia asked, her brows furrowing as soon as she saw him.

"The flight attendants said they can't serve drinks right now because we're about to jump to warp," Ethan explained, his face full of resignation.

"You can't even handle something this simple. Useless!" Sophia scoffed. She knew it was a regulation, but that didn't stop her from taking a jab at him.

Ethan said nothing, though in his head, he was cursing her out.

"This seat is awful. So uncomfortable," Sophia grumbled, shifting in her chair. Finally, she gave up and put on her headphones, closing her eyes as she started listening to music.

Ethan glanced at her, shaking his head with a sigh.

The truth was, they were sitting in the business class section of the interstellar flight. The seats were spacious and comfortable, even equipped with zero-gravity mode—light-years ahead of the cramped economy class.

But to someone like Sophia, who had grown up pampered and only ever flew first class, this was clearly beneath her.

Unfortunately, first class had been fully booked by the time they got their tickets. Otherwise, Sophia would never have "lowered herself" to sit in business class with someone like him.

Ethan, on the other hand, wasn't so picky. He leaned back in his seat, gazing out the window at the starry expanse outside. For a moment, he felt a rare sense of peace.

The infinite universe stretched out, deep and mysterious, with countless stars twinkling as if whispering untold stories.

Sophia had her eyes closed, resting, and Ethan wisely chose not to bother her. Instead, his gaze wandered to a woman seated across the aisle, casually flipping through an e-magazine.

She was the epitome of elegance—a mature bombshell in her early thirties. Her wine-red hair cascaded over her shoulders like silk, her porcelain skin flawless, and her features so refined they could have been sculpted by the galaxy's finest artist. She wore a sleek, form-fitting interstellar evening dress, its hem stopping just above her thighs, perfectly accentuating her curves. She exuded a mature, magnetic charm that Ethan couldn't help but admire.

He swallowed hard. Compared to Sophia's haughty, spoiled-princess vibe, he found himself far more drawn to this woman's confident allure.

As he stared, the woman seemed to sense his gaze. She looked up, her eyes locking onto his with a sharp, direct intensity.

"Your girlfriend's already so pretty, and yet you're still ogling other women. You men really are something else," she said, her tone teasing but laced with a hint of disdain.

Ethan froze, flustered, and quickly waved his hands in denial. "No, no, she's not my girlfriend. She's my boss."

"Oh? Your boss?" The woman's lips curled into a sly smile, her expression playful yet mocking. "No wonder you don't even dare to breathe too loudly around her."

Her smile was breathtaking, a dazzling display of charm that seemed to dim the brilliance of the stars outside. Ethan found himself momentarily stunned, forgetting even Sophia's usual snarky remarks.

"Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. Flight A4300 to Alpha Star is about to enter warp mode. Please fasten your seatbelts and ensure all personal belongings are secured," the sweet voice of a flight attendant announced over the intercom.

The mature bombshell glanced at Ethan one last time, her expression cooling. "Pervert," she muttered coldly before returning her attention to her magazine.

Ethan felt a pang of injustice but knew better than to argue. She clearly wasn't interested in continuing the conversation. With a sigh, he turned back to his seat, adjusted it, and prepared to take a nap.

...

He wasn't sure how much time had passed when a violent jolt suddenly woke him.

"What's going on?" he blurted, turning to Sophia, who had also opened her eyes, her face showing a mix of irritation and confusion.

"How would I know?" she snapped, her tone sharp as ever.

The ship's shaking grew more intense, and the cabin lights began flickering erratically. Passengers started unbuckling their seatbelts, looking around in panic and bombarding the flight attendants with questions.

"Please remain calm, everyone," a stewardess stepped forward, her voice steady but strained. "The ship has encountered a strong gravitational wave disturbance. The system is recalibrating the warp trajectory—"

Before she could finish, a deafening explosion erupted from the right side of the ship.

BOOM!

The blast was so powerful that the entire cabin shuddered violently. A massive section of the right-side hull was torn open, exposing the interior to the cold, merciless void of space. A fierce, howling wind roared through the cabin as the pressure dropped, bringing with it a bone-chilling cold and a wave of sheer terror.

"AHHHHH!" A passenger screamed as they were sucked out of the gaping hole, disappearing instantly into the endless darkness of space.

"Help! I don't want to die!"

"Oh God, save us!"

The cabin descended into chaos, a cacophony of screams, cries, and desperate prayers filling the air.

Ethan clung to his seat's armrests with all his strength, his heart pounding like a drum. The howling wind and the panicked screams of the passengers created a nightmarish symphony around him.

"Under your seats, there are emergency escape suits! Put them on now!" the stewardess shouted, her voice barely audible over the chaos.

Ethan fumbled beneath his seat, pulling out a bulky emergency escape suit. His hands trembled as he struggled to put it on. Beside him, Sophia was already donning hers with practiced efficiency, her movements calm and precise despite the chaos.

"Ethan, hold onto me!" Sophia suddenly yelled.

Ethan hesitated, caught off guard by the uncharacteristic urgency in her voice. Before he could react, another violent jolt rocked the ship. His grip slipped, and the next thing he knew, the powerful suction of the vacuum was pulling him toward the breach.

"Shit! I'm still a virgin!" Ethan's mind screamed in despair as his body was yanked out of the ship.

The icy grip of space enveloped him instantly. His body spun uncontrollably in the weightless void, the stars around him blurring into streaks of light. The cold seeped into his bones, and his consciousness began to fade. The dazzling starlight dimmed, and the vast, endless universe swallowed him whole.

...