Inside a three story building, a man sat at the desk of his office.
His expressions were contoured to a frown, most likely out of frustration, as he ruffled his hair.
Staring at the documents on his desk, he heavily sighed,
"Haa... at this rate, the Deus Company will go bankrupt."
The man was none other–than Charles Deus, the CEO of Deus Company.
It seemed like the company was facing financial problems.
In the document, the financial performance was recorded one month ago.
As he slumped down on the table, he suddenly heard footsteps coming to his office.
Thud- Thud-
Slam!
The door slammed open, as his assistant abruptly entered the room.
"Boss! You've got to see this!"
Charles seemed like he was too exhausted, but he listened to his assistant anyway,
"What is it this time, Aiden?"
With an anxious look, Aiden quickly made it in front of Charles' desk.
Aiden held his phone up for Charles to see.
Charles skeptically scanned the contents of the phone, only for his eyes to shoot wide open.
As he stood up abruptly, he shifted his gaze from the phone to Aiden.
"What? Is this real?"
"Without a doubt, Boss! I've checked with the logs as well, the transaction is real!"
"Did you trace the account information?"
"Already done that, it was linked back to a 16-year-old named Brandon Locke."
At the mention of a teenager, Charles skeptically furrowed his brow,
"This must be a prank, right? How can a teenager have that much money?!"
"I'm not sure Boss. But regardless, the shares have already been transferred to him."
"What kind of madman would buy the shares of a failing company?"
Charles then narrowed his eyes, and added,
"Unless... it's a rich kid just throwing his money around."
Aiden then responded,
"Regardless, Boss, this could save our company!"
Charles nodded, slumping back down in his seat,
"You're right, go and find information about him as soon as you can, make sure you call him as well."
At his Boss' instructions, Aiden solemnly nodded, and made his exit.
Charles leaned back on his chair, pondering to himself.
"3 Platinum Coins, huh? Just what kind of man are you, Brandon Locke?"
***
"Kughh!"
Brandon jolted awake from his slumber.
Drowsily grabbing his phone, he opted to check for the time.
[9:20 AM]
"Holy shit, I'm late."
Again...
Brandon got up instantly, entered the bathroom, and rinsed his face.
After rinsing, he immediately put on his signature black sweater and black pants.
Once again, he didn't take a shower...
Arriving once again in the same A201 room, Brandon checked the time on his phone.
[9:57 AM]
His schedule usually starts at 7:30 in the morning. Basically he was late for almost 3 hours.
Late again on his second day...
"Haa..." He let out a heavy sigh.
Entering the room, once again, all eyes were on him.
Vaness turned to glance at Brandon, furrowing her brows,
"Good morning, Brandon Locke. Do you have any idea what time it is?"
Brandon straightened his posture, trying to be nonchalant about the whole thing,
"Time for a second chance?"
"Haa... just find a seat," Vanessa seemed like she had enough of Brandon's witty remarks.
At her instructions, Brandon did just that.
But it seemed like the seat next to Raven was taken.
Roaming around, there was an empty seat just near the back of the class.
As Brandon took a seat, his gaze landed on Rachel Asami, who sat next to the empty seat.
Brandon flashed her a smile, greeting her warmly,
"Hello, it seems like we're neighbors today."
Rachel met his gaze, her expressions were nonchalant,
"Good morning, Brandon Locke."
Brandon was surprised at the fact that someone like Rachel remembered his name.
"Oh, you know my name?"
"Yes, you've been quite popular lately, I'm Rachel Asami."
Now, Brandon already knew who she was, but she didn't need to know that.
At the mention of 'popular', Brandon was quite curious,
"Popular? Me?"
He couldn't believe it, he'd never gotten that kind of attention in his past life.
So what made it so different in this life?
'Maybe it's because I'm hands–'
Before he could finish his thoughts, Rachel spoke up,
"It's because people have been calling you a fake, I think?"
Rachel tilted her head, her expressions remained cold.
"..."
During Combat Class, there were several male students who thought Brandon was just lucky.
Most likely, it was further proven during Physical Training, when Brandon got a mediocre grade.
Since he was considerably popular with the girls, it seemed like the guys had a grudge against him.
Brandon just shrugged it off.
He was used to being a target of bullying.
'Even in this life, some things never change...'
No, he now had power, he didn't want to stay a pushover forever.
With a determined gaze, Brandon turned to look at Rachel,
As he was about to speak, his phone buzzed.
Brrt... Brrt...
But of course, he didn't take the call. He was in the middle of a lecture after all.
He was already late, he didn't want to anger Vanessa even more.
As he dropped the call, his phone buzzed once more, it seemed like whoever the caller was really wanted to get in contact with him.
Brandon then retrieved his phone, checking for whoever the caller was.
When he saw the phone number, Brandon's eyes shot wide open.
He knew who the number belonged to. After all, before he made an investment, he did his research on the company.
It was none other than–Deus Company.
Brandon raised his hand, trying to get Vanessa's attention.
"What is it, Brandon?"
"I'd like to go to the bathroom."
It seemed like Vanessa didn't mind, as she gave him the go signal.
As he left the classroom, Brandon retrieved his phone and dialed the number back.
Instantly, the call was picked up on the other end.
Click-
Suddenly, a man's voice reached Brandon's ears.
[Hello? Is this Brandon Locke?]
Brandon then composed himself, trying to sound professional, making his voice sound deeper.
"Yes, speaking."
[This is Deus Company, our CEO would like to meet you, Mr Locke. Could you let us know when you're free?]
"Of course, I'd be honored to meet the CEO, I'll be free after 4:00 PM."
[Okay, could we schedule a meeting at 6:00 PM?"]
"That sounds about alright, I'll be there."
[Great, we'll text you the location. We'll be expecting you, Mr Locke.]
Beep-
Brandon's lips curled up to a grin as the call ended.
He had already expected for Deus Company to call him soon.
After all, he was the major shareholder, giving him significant influence over the company.
Just like that, Brandon solved his financial problems.
[AN]
Apologies for no action yet.
But I promise, this is the foundation for the first arc. :)