Cruch
"?!!!"
I didn't have too much time to react. Before I could even fully turn around, a hand grabbed my collar with immense force and lifted me up. The hand had dark skin and was unbelievably muscular and veiny. As soon as the hand grabbed my collar, I started having trouble breathing. I could barely open my eyes to see Jerome, holding me up with bloodshot eyes. He was bleeding profusely from his mouth. I could even see many of his teeth missing. That sight could send chills down to anyone's spine.
'T-this maniac...he actually broke the chains with his teeth. I am dead.'
"...delete them from cloud."
"I refuse." I made sure to keep my face impassive.
Before I could even think about my next move, I felt the wind whistle by my ears and followed by me crashing into the fucking wall. Jerome threw me against the wall with a single hand. The wall visibly cracked. The impact was so strong that I felt an insane urge to vomit out my guts. But all that came out was blood. I knew couple of my ribs were broken. Then I felt pain. Immeasurable pain. But I didn't scream out. For me, this was nothing compared to the torture I went through after coming back from the army. So, I laughed. Jerome walked up to my mangled body and lifted me up once again by my neck. Even then, I couldn't help but laugh. After being continuously subjected to a fate as miserable as mine, one had to learn how to laugh even at the face of death. That was the only way of survival for wretches like me.
[Insanity has been activated]
'Ah I think I finally understand the essence of insanity. Hahaha I can't believe it took me this long to understand this.'
"DELETE THEM NOW!!"
"Bahahahaha. I won't delete them no matter what you say. You want to torture me? Go fucking ahead. I will keep laughing while I watch you torturing me."
"Torture you? No, I am going to kill you."
"Haahhahah. Go ahead."
"You think I am joking?"
He tightened his grip around my neck. I inhaled sharply through my teeth. I tried to laugh again but my voice was mostly blocked. All I could do was wheeze and mumble.
"...i don't mind death. for me, failing and dying is perfectly fine. as long as what i am dying for is worth it, I will die with utter satisfaction. i can already imagine you and that niece of yours in jail. you will be in jail for life for killing me. my parents will have your crew and niece killed after they get out of jail. just thinking about that gives me enough satisfaction. hehehe I can now die happily."
'I really don't care about dying anymore. I died once and my dreams shattered already. My ambition will always be the same. If I live, I will try my best to get to a level similar to those monsters and if I die then that's the end. But as long as I lived following the code I came up with back when I was younger, I can die gladly knowing I never abandoned myself.'
Jerome dropped me on the ground. As my mangled body hit the cold concrete, I couldn't help but wince. I was not immune to pain. I was still human. I felt as if my conscience was being sucked into an abyss.
"..you are a fucking maniac. An insane fucking bastard if I have ever seen one, Kez. Fine, I lost. If you want to kill me then do it but please...don't do anything to Sarah. It's her dream to attend TROP. Please. If you want, I'll get down on my knees and beg."
Jerome got down his knees and started crying.
"..."
I couldn't help but inwardly sigh in relief. I also felt immense disgust at the man. Her dream? Hahaha what a joke. But I suddenly felt the urge to stab myself with the knife in my pocket and watch all of Jerome's hopes wither away. Wait. What kind of insanity am I thinking about? Damn this insanity skill. It can actually interfere with your thoughts in a such a way. Previously, I kind of understood the essence of insanity. The essence of insanity was consisted of three things. Unpredictability, immense power and well, insanity. Although I could somewhat understand the skill, I still completely underestimated it.
[Insanity has been deactivated]
'I guess it deactivates when I regain my sanity.'
"...Too late. I don't feel like compromising."
"Please. I'll do anything. What do you want me to do?"
"Hehe Can I get a million AP? Huh? If you can do that then I won't release those pictures."
"YOU! WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?"
I took out the knife from my pocket and held it against my own throat. Jerome was flabbergasted by that sight.
"In that case, I'll be honest. I can't walk out of here and if you aren't willing to compromise then I don't feel like getting tortured anymore. I'll just take the easy way out. Heheheh."
I put a little more force on the knife. The knife was no ordinary knife. It was way sharper than I assumed. It instantly penetrated my skin and drew blood. The knife went in a little further than I assumed. I shockingly discovered that I was fucking poisoned.
"STOP STOP. I get your point. I-I will listen what you want but If I had that much money I wouldn't have had to hold you for ranson. But you are a real maniac, you know? To think you will actually try to kill yourself with a poison enchanted knife. Fuck, why did I even try to kidnap this maniac."
'...'
Jerome got up and walked into a room in the hallway. I heard him opening some kind of cabinet. Then he walked back into the room and stabbed me with some kind of needle.
"Here's my sign of goodwill. I gave you the antidote. Now, tell me what is it that you want from me?"
I stopped inwardly cursing myself for this fatal blunder. I almost fucking died once again and this time it was purely because of my own stupidity. I should try to remember that this world is different than my previous one. I slowly sat up, winching and looked at Jerome.
"...Do you guys have any other warehouses?"
"No"
"Then who is your backer? Who supplies you with real creatine?"
"That-...We don't have a backer."
"Sigh"
I point the blade towards my throat once again. But this time thankfully, I didn't have to draw any blood.
"Wait Wait!!! We don't have any more antidotes. If you draw blood with that knife once again then you will die for sure."
My hand trembled a little. Fortunately, it went unnoticed. I impassively looked at him and said,
"So?"
"..you...I get it. It's a family friend of mine. He is really close to our family and he just wanted to help Sarah anyway he could."
'Family friend huh? I don't believe him fully but I needed to ask some meaningless questions before getting to the actual point.'
"Then...I want to take over this business."
"What?"
"You heard me. I want to take over this business and I want you to work for me. As long as you keep working for me and I won't reveal anything. Besides, none of you have any idea of what it means to run a business. Why are you selling them online? You have to take a risk and sell them in-person. Don't sell to adults. Your customers should mainly be middle class family's kids who can't afford to buy actual creatine. If I take over then I will promise at least this...you won't take a single loss."
"...th-that umm...bu-but"
"Stop. Police will be here anytime. I will give you my first order. Take all the creatine cases and store them somewhere inconspicuous for now. Do not store them at your house."
"H-How am i supposed to move all of this in time?"
"That's up to you. Take what you can and leave what you can't. Take your incompetent lackeys with you too."
Jerome understood the severity of the situation immediately. He didn't want to listen to me but he had no choice but neither did I. I couldn't simply let this opportunity go. If my parents refused to give me money then I'll just turn towards crime. Hehehaha.
I laughed at my ingeniousness. I heard Jerome open the door to Clinton's room, followed by two more voices. They were arguing about something till Jerome started yelling at them. I couldn't make anything out of what they were saying. It didn't take them long to pack up most of what they could. They finished loading the creatines they could take and Clinton (still unconscious) into the car outside the warehouse. Both of the NPCs walked by me but didn't say anything to me. They looked at me with hatred but because of Jerome, they didn't attempt to touch me. I on the other hand simply smiled at them. At the end, one of them couldn't help but say,
"...can I at least have my fruit peeling knife back?"
My smile vanished. Fruit peeling knife?...Oh fuck what kind of insane people did I just employ?