Damian spent more time choosing what to wear for the meeting than he wanted to admit.
Not because he needed to impress anyone.
At least, that’s what he told himself.
He stood in front of his closet, holding two shirts.
One was dark blue.
The other was white.
He looked at both.
Then at himself in the mirror.
"Why does this feel like an exam?"
His phone buzzed.
~Ethan: have you left for your mystery meeting?
Damian frowned.
~Damian: How do you know about that?
The reply came almost immediately.
~Ethan: Because you told me early this morning fish brain.
Damian shook his head.
~Damian: ohhh.
~Ethan: Don’t do anything stupid.
Damian laughed.
~Damian: I’ll try.
He put the phone away.
After another minute, he chose the blue shirt.
Simple.
Clean.
Nothing flashy.
He grabbed his jacket and left.
Westbridge Solutions occupied the third floor of a modest office building downtown.
It wasn’t impressive.
There was no massive logo on the side of the building.
No marble lobby.
No private security.
Just a reception desk, a few elevators, and people coming and going with laptops tucked beneath their arms.
Damian stepped out of the elevator and looked around.
A glass door stood ahead.
WESTBRIDGE SOLUTIONS
He took a breath and walked inside.
A woman behind the reception desk looked up.
"Can I help you?"
"Hi. I’m Damian Cross. I have a meeting with Sarah Mitchell."
She checked her computer.
"You’re early."
"Is that a problem?"
She smiled.
"Not at all."
She picked up the phone.
A moment later, she looked back at him.
"She’ll be right out."
"Thank you."
Damian sat down.
He looked around the office.
It was busy.
People moved between desks, talked quietly, and worked on computers.
There was something strangely reassuring about it.
This wasn’t some giant corporation with thousands of employees.
These people were building something.
Something that might either succeed spectacularly or disappear within a few years.
A man walked past carrying a stack of papers.
He nearly dropped them.
"Sorry."
Damian stood and helped him pick them up.
"You good?."
"Thanks."
The man hurried away.
Damian sat back down.
A few minutes later, Sarah Mitchell appeared.
"Damian?"
He stood.
"Yes."
She smiled.
"Nice to finally meet you."
They shook hands.
Sarah was probably in her early thirties, dressed professionally but without the stiffness Damian had expected.
"Come with me."
She led him through the office.
As they walked, Damian noticed something.
Almost everyone seemed tired.
Not unhappy.
Just tired.
There was a difference.
They entered a conference room.
A man was already sitting inside.
Sarah introduced him.
"Damian, this is Daniel Hart, our CEO."
Daniel stood.
He was in his forties, with a calm expression and a firm handshake.
"Good to meet you."
"Likewise."
They sat.
Sarah opened a folder.
"So, Damian."
She looked at him.
"You’re a university student."
"Yes."
"And you’re interested in investing in our company."
"Potentially."
Daniel raised an eyebrow.
"Potentially?"
"I haven’t decided yet."
Sarah smiled.
Daniel leaned back.
"Fair enough."
Damian opened his notebook.
"I looked into the company after our conversation yesterday."
"Good."
"I have a few questions."
Daniel gestured toward him.
"Go ahead."
Damian spent the next twenty minutes asking about revenue.
Operating costs.
Customer retention.
Expansion plans.
Competitors.
Their current funding.
He wasn’t an expert.
He knew that.
But he’d spent most of the previous night researching.
And he’d learned enough to know what he didn’t understand.
That, apparently, impressed them more than pretending to know everything.
At one point, Daniel looked at Sarah.
"You weren’t exaggerating."
Sarah smiled.
"I rarely do."
Damian frowned.
"What?"
Daniel laughed.
"Nothing."
He folded his hands.
"Why us?"
Damian thought for a moment.
"Because your company is solving a problem that isn’t going away."
Daniel’s expression became more serious.
"Go on."
"Small businesses need software that doesn’t require a huge technical team to operate. Your product is relatively simple, and your customer base is growing."
He paused.
"But you need capital."
Daniel nodded.
"We do."
"How much?"
"About a million dollars."
Damian leaned back.
A million dollars.
He currently had around twenty-two thousand.
That was... slightly inconvenient.
"What would the money be used for?"
Daniel explained.
Hiring developers.
Expanding infrastructure.
Marketing.
Customer support.
They needed to scale.
Damian listened carefully.
Then asked:
"What happens if you don’t get it?"
Sarah answered this time.
"We’ll survive."
"But?"
She exchanged a glance with Daniel.
"We’ll have to slow down."
Damian nodded.
That made sense.
He looked down at his notebook.
Then the golden interface quietly appeared in front of him.
No sound.
No dramatic entrance.
Just there.
«[ANALYSIS AVAILABLE.]»
Damian kept his expression neutral.
He mentally selected the company.
The system displayed a few figures.
Current Valuation: $4.8M
Estimated Fair Value: $6.1M
Growth Potential: 31%
Risk: Moderate
Then another line appeared.
[RECOMMENDATION: INVESTMENT VIABLE.]
Damian dismissed the interface.
He looked at Daniel.
"What percentage of the company are you offering?"
Daniel smiled slightly.
"That depends on how much you’re willing to invest."
There it was.
The real question.
Damian had expected it.
He took a breath.
"I’m not financially capable to invest a million dollars."
Daniel nodded.
"I understand."
"But I could invest twenty thousand."
Sarah looked surprised.
Daniel didn’t react immediately.
"Twenty thousand?"
"Yes."
"You understand that’s significantly below what we’re raising."
"I do."
"Then why approach us?"
Damian considered his answer.
"Because I don’t need control over the company."
Daniel studied him.
"And what do you want?"
"A chance to grow with it."
Silence filled the room.
Daniel looked at Sarah.
She shrugged.
He turned back toward Damian.
"You’re an unusual investor."
"I’ve been told."
Daniel smiled.
"Twenty thousand won’t get you much."
"I’m aware."
"Why not put your money somewhere safer?"
Damian smiled faintly.
"Because safe isn’t always the same as worthwhile."
Daniel stared at him for several seconds.
Then leaned back.
"Interesting."
He opened the folder in front of him.
"Let me make you a counteroffer."
Damian waited.
"Twenty thousand dollars."
Daniel paused.
"For 0.5 percent of the company."
Damian’s eyebrows rose.
Half a percent.
It wasn’t much.
But it was ownership.
His first actual asset.
He didn’t answer immediately.
Instead, he asked:
"What happens if I want to invest more later?"
"Assuming we haven’t closed the funding round, we’d discuss it."
"And if the company grows?"
"Your stake grows with it."
Damian nodded.
That was what he wanted.
He wasn’t looking for a quick win.
He wanted to learn.
To build.
To have something beyond a bank balance.
"I’ll do it."
Daniel smiled.
"Just like that?"
"I’ve thought about it."
Sarah pushed the agreement across the table.
"Of course, we’ll have our lawyers review everything."
Damian nodded.
He wasn’t foolish enough to sign a major investment agreement without proper legal review.
He read through the preliminary terms anyway.
There were several clauses he didn’t fully understand.
He made notes.
Asked questions.
Then finally closed the folder.
"I’ll have my lawyer review the full agreement."
Daniel smiled.
"Good."
Sarah stood.
"Then I suppose we have a deal in principle."
Damian shook Daniel’s hand.
"Thank you."
When he stepped out of the building twenty minutes later, he felt strangely calm.
He had just committed twenty thousand dollars.
A week ago, he would have considered twenty thousand an unimaginable fortune.
Now he’d invested it in a company he’d only recently discovered.
Damian pulled out his phone.
He opened his banking app.
His balance had dropped significantly.
$1,786.32
He stared at it.
Then laughed.
"Back to being broke."
Not really.
He knew that.
But seeing the number still felt strange.
He started walking.
A few minutes later, the golden interface appeared.
«[PURCHASE DETECTED.]»
Damian frowned.
"Purchase?"
The next line appeared.
«[INVESTMENT EXPENDITURE DETECTED.]»
«[AMOUNT: $20,000.00]»
Damian stopped.
His eyes widened.
He had completely forgotten one important detail.
He had just spent twenty thousand dollars.
Which meant...
«[CASHBACK: $200,000.00]»
Damian stared at the screen.
For a moment, he didn’t move.
Then he looked at his banking app.
The balance refreshed.
$201,786.32
Damian slowly lowered his phone.
A laugh escaped him.
He had spent twenty thousand dollars.
And somehow...
He now had more than two hundred thousand.
He looked back at the golden interface.
This time, he didn’t need it to explain anything.
He understood.
His first investment hadn’t cost him twenty thousand.
Not anymore.
It had given him an asset and another two hundred thousand dollars.
Damian looked up at the buildings surrounding him.
The city suddenly seemed a little smaller.
Not because he had become powerful overnight.
But because he had finally found a way to participate in a world he’d always watched from the outside.
His phone buzzed.
~Ethan: How’d the meeting go?
Damian looked at the message.
He smiled.
~Damian: Pretty good.
Three dots appeared.
~Ethan: Did you invest?
Damian hesitated.
Then typed:
~Damian: Yeah.
~Ethan: How much?
Damian looked at his balance.
$201,786.32
He typed:
~Damian: Twenty thousand.
Ethan took longer to respond this time.
~Ethan: Bro.
Another message.
Ethan: THAT’S ALMOST YOUR ENTIRE BALANCE MAN?
Damian laughed.
He put his phone away without answering.
He’d deal with Ethan eventually.
For now, there was something else he wanted to see.
He opened the system interface.
«[CURRENT BALANCE: $201,786.32]»
Damian stared at the number.
Then at the line beneath it.
[SYSTEM LEVEL: 1]
He smiled.
Two hundred thousand dollars.
His first investment.
His first stake in a real company.
And somehow, he was still only at Level One.
Damian dismissed the interface.
He had a feeling the system was going to make his definition of "rich" change very quickly.
But he wasn’t going to rush it.