I accompanied the receptionist to the office of the manager, and she stood at the door, beckoning me to enter without following me in.
I nodded and walked in, taking a seat in front of the manager. I noticed the gang who the bully always rolled with were already in the office but paid no attention to them.
"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't call the cops," the manager said, with a pronounced frown on his face.
"I think that's my line; an altercation was undergoing in your gym, and your officials thought it feasible to stand by and watch while I could've possibly been assaulted," I snapped back.
"That's some bullshit!" shouted one of the guys, and the other guys raised their voices in agreement. The manager stared at them in annoyance as they quieted down.
"Why don't you fellas take your leave, eh? I'll handle this," said the manager. The men were reluctant at first but eventually obeyed.
It seems they'd been working out at this gym for a long while and had caused situations like this in the past, as such they had some level of familiarity with the manager.
"I'll ask again, give me one good reason why I should throw your ass in jail right now!" he shouted.
"Well, I don't think I like your tone; I'd advise you to choose your words carefully as I ought to sue both the gym and the man who assaulted me to court, and it would very much be my word against yours, the security cameras have all the evidence I'd need. So I'll ask the question now, anything else? I'd like to leave," I said with a cold pale expression.
The manager simply stared at me dumbfounded and shook his head in agreement, shocked by my assertiveness. "I look forward to my future workouts in your gym," I said, standing up to take my leave.
Getting to the door, I looked behind me once more and said, "Oh and he's fine, by the way; he's just unconscious, but I can assure you that he won't be causing any more trouble in your gym. Have a lovely day." I said as I exited the office, slamming the door behind me.
The receptionist gave me a look of shock and when she saw me leave the room confident and unscathed.
I ignored her, and she rushed in to see the manager. "What happened, sir?" she said, genuine concern written on her face. "N-nothing," he replied, stammering a bit.
"Let's just forget that all this ever happened, as for the injured man, offer him some compensation, let's say two months free, and if he refuses to take it, kick him out," he said finally regaining his composure.
"Alright, sir," said the receptionist as she exited the office.
While I stood outside the office, listening in on the conversation, I moved out of sight as I heard the receptionist leave, returning to get my gym bag and leave.
This went down easier than I expected, and my foresight cooldown had recharged, meaning I once again had access to the skill.
My stamina had gone down by 40 and was already starting to recharge, though I could feel the effect of its depletion on my body, I was very tired.
'I'd have to be more careful with how I consume my stamina from now on,' I thought as I approached my gym bag.
The unconscious man was awake now and was sitting on a bench, clutching the ice pack tightly to his head.
I walked past him and noticed that the guys who I recognized to be his gang were gathered around where I dropped my bag.
This would be tricky; how am I going to get past them without a fight? There were 4 guys; even if I used foresight, I wouldn't get out unscathed as it was limited in usage and uptime. I guess I'd just grab my bag and make a break for it.
As I approached, one of them beckoned the rest, and they all turned their attention to me.
I stopped about two steps away and spoke, "how can I help you gentlemen?" I said confidently, a smile creeping up my face in attempts to mock them. I didn't get a response, and they all just stared back at me coldly.
"Well then, I'll just grab this," I said, slipping through them and lifting my bag over my shoulder, sharing glances with each of them. "Alright then, have a good one." I said.
I tried to leave, but one of the guys blocked my path while the others encircled me.
I sighed, "Is this really how this is going to go?" I said, letting my frustration get the better of me.
"You picked the wrong guys to mess with," said the guy facing me directly.
*Notice!* *Notice!* Notice!*
~Ding!~
*New quest unlocked*
Reward: 50 SP
*Activate self defense protocol?*
[Yes] [No]
{The use of the self-defense protocol is strongly advised by the system.}
'Guess there's no avoiding this, ye-' my thoughts were interrupted when suddenly the bully got up and walked toward us.
He stopped right when he got to the guy standing in front of me. "That's enough," He said firmly placing his hand on his shoulder.
"It's alright dude we got this," said one of the guys.
"I said that's enough!" He shouted shaking his head beckoning the guys to leave.
Reluctantly again, they did so slightly bumping me as they left.
I smiled as the scales had tipped in my favor, "Alright big fella what's it gonna be?" I asked.
I was confident as one could be. If push came to shove I could still use foresight, and worst-case scenario I would rely on the system's self-defense protocol. Either way, I was the victor of this battle.
The big man walked toward me and stood for a few seconds before speaking. He apologized with so much difficulty but eventually did and offered me a handshake to call a truce.
Just in case, I used foresight before shaking his hand to ensure that he didn't have any evil intentions, and when I confirmed it, I shook his hand back, and we essentially called a truce.
~Ding!~
*Quest complete*
<50 SP has been received and added to status.>
And this closed the chapter of my gym confrontation as I headed to the boxing ring for my martial arts classes.