Amy sat at the edge of a leather couch in the quiet lounge of the Guardians Angels' regional base. She was extremely nervous, playing with her fingers, and her eyes flickered to the nearby door every two seconds.
Across from her, a man in his late twenties wearing a black suit, and a silver pin with the guild logo on top left shoulder sipped a latte without urgency.
"You are nervous Amy," He said with a half smile," That's pretty rare."
"I'm not nervous," she quickly replied, and her voice softened as she continued." Just...please, Noah. This means a lot to me. Just hear me out. Give him ten minutes only."
Noah raised a brow over her words and body language," I've never seen you this serious over a player before. Is he that good?"
She hesitated as she answered." He...he will be."
"What is his name again?"
"Yone, but I don't know his in-game name, you will have to ask him about that one."
Noah blinked." So you don't even know his in-game name, and you're coming here to ask me to give him a chance?"
Amy gave a tiny nod, her lips pressed together. She didn't know what else she could do. She had truly never felt this way about something, she needed to make Yone join this guild no matter what.
"Huh. This is not how you do things, Amy, what's got into you, If your father finds out you're doing this behind his back, it won't end well, Amy.
She shrugged and replied as casually as possible," Let's just say...I trust him, so just give him a fair shot. I'll owe you one Noah."
"He should be arriving soon."
***
Yone arrived at the building with a black hoodie and sportswear carrying the GAIA contract on a flash,' Same building and decorations if I'm not mistaken, details are intact.'
He didn't waste any time and quickly navigated his way through the office of Guardians Angels as he was greatly familiar with it. He also knew that this place was merely rented and the current funds of the guild do not exceed 10k dollars right now, with only a few dozen members that joined the guild.
Even then, he didn't consider his next actions a waste as he knew the future of this guild and considered it a gold mine that was yet to be mined.
Amy intercepted him halfway through as she was about to go to the building's entrance but found him inside already, she didn't care and led him toward the interviewer. Her red eyes lit up as she approached the room.
"Glad that you came, your parents will be so happy when they hear about this," She said.
"Of course I did," Yone replied calmly," You went through a lot of effort to get me this job and I won't mess it up for you."
Amy's face blushed for a moment but she hid it perfectly well.
He followed her into the building as his eyes scanned the place he once worked in for years trying to elevate it to be the best in the country, only to be kicked without a shred of mercy or consideration.
The floors were polished, with modern wood paneling and even glowing blue holograms of player rankings on the wall, whether it be of End World final rankings or Eclipse Online's new Rankings in terms of leveling and potential best players.
Even Yone couldn't help but be impressed by this even after seeing it the second time,' For an up-and-coming guild to do such a thing, no wonder it rose through the rankings extremely fast. They truly were tryharding.
They finally reached the meeting room and Amy gestured toward the door," He's waiting for you. Good luck Piggy."
Yone nodded and stepped inside.
Noah looked up from a sleek tablet as Yone entered. He then gestured toward the chair across from him. "Yone, right?"
"Yes, and you are?" Yone replied with a slight smirk.
"It's Noah," He paused for a moment before continuing, "Amy spoke highly of you. Said you were determined and... raw talent."
"Hahaha, is that what she said?" Yone couldn't help but burst out laughing, startling even Noah.
Noah nodded but didn't reply, he was confused about the reason for this guy's laughter and found it even a bit amusing not minding it in the slightest.
"So. She tells me you're looking to join Guardians Angels. What do you bring to the table?"
There was a beat of silence.
"Sorry, sorry...I couldn't control myself after hearing Amy's remark about me," He apologized with a wave of his hand." It's just that I didn't come here to get recruited into the guild. I came to buy shares."
Noah was stunned for a moment before he asked Yone to elaborate.
Then Yone reached into his bag and slid a slim black flash drive across the table. "Actually," he said slowly, Actually," he said slowly, "I'm not here to join the guild. I'm here to invest $400, which should be worth about 4% of your shares if I'm not mistaken.. I'll also provide some information as a bonus in order for you to trust me."
"I know $400 doesn't sound like much, but right now, your guild's active capital is under $10k, and your share division isn't even formalized. I'm offering early trust, and I'm backing it with influence that will double your funding in days."
Noah blinked. "Excuse me?"
He couldn't help but look at Yone in a different light, the initial thought of this guy needing help from Amy completely vanished as he leaned forward and stated with an indifferent tone," Not enough, do you think it's easy to buy shares in our guild? If anyone could do it as easy as this then it wouldn't be that important ain't it?"
Yone was bothered by his reaction and replied," You are completely right, which is why I'll give you my in-game name. It's Requiem."
He then leaned back in the chair. "Instead of recruiting the top-level assassin in Eclipse. I'm offering something better: an investment. Backed by my identity, validated by GAIA, and protected by legal contract."
He opened his phone and tapped the screen. The digital contract projected into the air above them:
[GAIA Smart Contract: Proposal]
Party A (Yone): Will prove identity as the in-game character "Requiem."
Party B (Guardians Angels - Representative): Will consider equity offer post-verification.
Clause 1: If Party A lies, they pay $4,000 in damages.
Clause 2: If Party B backs out after verification, they incur both in-game and real-world penalties under GAIA enforcement.
Noah's mouth was wide open as he darted his eyes between the contract and Yone's face," You're...really him?"
"Are you truly that Requiem?" Noah felt his heart beating faster with each moment as he was bombarded with one bomb after another, his mind racing with different thoughts as he calculated the best course of action to take here.
"That's indeed me."