Rei Takeda found the buzz of crowds unbearable.
For this very reason, he always settled for this ramen joint. Tucked away in a tranquil alley, shadowed by Shinjuku's neon cityscape, here the only noises he knew were the simmering broth and the odd clinking of chopsticks. It served as his hideaway, a place where he could blend into the background.
But today he was not in solitude.
An unanticipated guest, a woman, had claimed the seat across from him. She sat there with an air of dominance, idly tapping her nails on the table, her gaze piercing yet inscrutable.
Rei paid her minimal attention. From experience, he knew that eye contact was a gateway to unwanted exchanges and consequently, troubles. Instead, he concentrated on his ramen, stirring the strands of noodles.
"Aren't you curious why I'm here?" Her voice finally broke the silence as she inclined her head.
In response, Rei heaved a sigh, "If you were a headhunter, you would have buttered me up already. If you were a reporter, a voice recorder would be out by now. And if you hailed from AetherTech…" He locked eyes with her momentarily, "...You wouldn't be looking this pleased."
A grin played on her lips. "Clever."
"I don't entertain interviews nor do I accept jobs."
"Works for me," she brushed his stand-offish behavior aside, "Because I am here to offer you neither."
Rei expelled a nasal breath devoid of words. He had spent half the year avoiding people coloring the same streak as her. Those who hailed his name as if he was a legend, those who aimed to leverage the wreckage of his career.
Go back six months, Rei had held the title of a rising star in Japan's tech sector—a bright mind straight from university had landed a position at AetherTech, the country's renowned AI production firm. His algorithms could outfox stockbrokers, outclass hackers, and foresee changes in markets with spine-chilling precision.
That was until his superior swindled his code, framed him for an act of corporate treason and left him to face the storm.
AetherTech walked away without a scratch. All that was left of Rei was a stain on his reputation.
Far from composing groundbreaking AI programs, his days were whiled away in internet cafes, peddling fragments of his skill to an underground market to make ends meet. Everyone else had moved on; a falling star no longer commanded attention.
Except for this lady.
He took the time to analyze her this instance. Barely in her mid-twenties, she conducted herself with the self-assuredness of an older woman. Her black hair swept back into a casual ponytail, and the tailored jacket indicated money - not the kind seen in the corporate world, however. This was the wealth born out of timely, calculated risks.
"And why are you here?" Rei inquired.
Her grin widened, "I have an offer," she said.
Rei snorted. "Don't tell me - I'm the AI prodigy your ambitious start-up needs or maybe a hacker to shatter some security system? I'm not interested, irrespective of the case."
Nonplussed by his cynical retort, she confessed her goal, "I intend to rack up a billion dollars."
Her reply caught Rei off-guard. "Beg your pardon?"
"You heard me right," she asserted, leaning in. "I'm not here to construct a 'successful enterprise.' I'm thinking bigger. Outmatching corporations, manipulating the system, and clinching it all."
A dry chuckle escaped Rei. "Oh, really? And how do you intend to accomplish that?"
"With your brilliance and my stratagem," she offered nonchalantly. "We can manipulate the financial world. Invent algorithms no one can predict. Found businesses that defy conventions. Take the financial world by a storm that the corporate chickens wouldn't dare to. And once the big shots decode our play?" Her smirk returned. "We'll have already clinched the title."
Rei turned his gaze on her, with a blend of amusement and fatigue. He had crossed paths with fraudsters, business opportunists, desperate start-up folks. But this woman? She was out of the ordinary.
"What makes you think I'd jump on board?" he asked.
She dismissed the question with a shrug. "Because ever since AetherTech ruined you, you've settled for less. Because you're fed up of being a shadow while people like Kaoru Shinohara grow richer off your brainchild. Because I know who you truly are, Rei."
His jaw visibly tightened hearing Kaoru Shinohara, the CEO of AetherTech, the one responsible for his downfall.
Spotting his reaction, Hana seized the moment to drive her point home. "You don't need to play by their rules, Rei. We can game our way. And in our playbook, there are no rules."
After this tirade, Rei fell into a thoughtful silence. His rational mind told him the proposition was absurd, dangerous - a disaster in the making.
Still—
For the first time in a long time, he felt a small flame rekindle within.
"What's your name?" he finally asked.
Her grin reappeared. "Hana Kisaragi."
With that, she slid across a black business card. It was unmarked, save for a phone number and two words:
Billion Dare.
Rei absorbed the words on the card and the gravity of his impending decision.
Hana rose to her feet. "Meet me tomorrow," she instructed. "If you're in, we hit the ground running. If not? Well," she tossed him a playful wink, "don't come crying when I earn my first billion without you."
With those last words, she walked away, leaving behind a card, a now-cold bowl of ramen and a decision to make.
Rei felt something he hadn't in a long time - a sense of being truly alive.
And he found that profoundly unnerving.
End of Chapter 1