Chapter 114: 114: Next Time There's an Event Like This, Call Me

In the staff break room of Haunted House, Takashi wore a pained expression. "Hiss—ouch, Nanami, go easy." Nanami eased her grip on the ribbon a little but snapped back, "I thought you didn't feel pain?" By the time she arrived on the scene with backup, Takashi had already lost it. He was like the protagonist of The Shining possessed—hammering his elbow into the door again and again without the slightest regard for pain or exhaustion. Thanks to his persistence, he managed to smash a hole in the door wide enough to fit an arm through. Takashi had already reached his hand inside, about to unlock the door. Luckily, Nanami showed up just in time with the rest of the staff, and it took a full-on dogpile to finally restrain him. Thank god his mind had gone blank from the rage—he completely forgot about picking up any weapons. If he had armed himself in that state, even if the whole staff had jumped him, they might've been the ones carried out. Even so, several Haunted House employees still ended up in the hospital from being elbowed by Takashi. What could they do? The elbow joint is already hard as a rock. And on top of that, Takashi was juiced up on adrenaline. Just how powerful is adrenaline? Positive effects: full power potential unlocked, metabolism and organ efficiency doubled, +50% crit rate, +50% speed, maxed-out reflexes (decay over time), +200% rage, +90% pain immunity, +100% burst power, +100% intimidation. Put it this way: if death is scheduled at 3AM, adrenaline can hold it off until 5 AM. Once it's triggered, adrenaline gives you limitless strength, turning a civilized man into a wild beast in an instant. You're running a race, a dog starts chasing you—you immediately go turbo mode. Granted, adrenaline might not help you with math. What you don't know, you still won't know. But it's not meant to solve problems—it's meant to solve problematic people. Look at that guy in Myanmar who blitzed through Northern Myanmar in 9 hours. His stats speak for themselves. That's the kind of monster adrenaline can create. Later, when Takashi came back to his senses, even he had to admit—whoever named it "elbowing" was spot-on. You elbow someone, and they get elbowed. Thanks to Takashi's little episode, the Haunted House ended up shutting down permanently. After reviewing the situation, the owner of Haunted House gently suggested to Nanami: "Miss Aoyama, maybe... you should go enjoy your summer break?" High EQ: "Maybe go enjoy your summer break?" Low EQ: "You're fired." No matter how much Nanami pleaded afterward, the owner wouldn't keep someone with a liability like that hanging around. Today it was a few staff members getting elbowed. What if next time, in a fit of rage, Takashi yells at Nanami? What if next time, he elbows him? And even if that happened, the guy couldn't even file a complaint. He'd probably have to give Takashi a thumbs-up and say, "Nice elbow!" What else could he do? After Maki and Nagisa revealed their identities, the owner didn't dare harbor any grudges. All he wanted was to live. He knew exactly where he stood—he was just a guy running a low-rent haunted house. How many dishes does he think he is to be yelling at those two heiresses? To make sure no one came after him, he didn't even bother asking Takashi's group for medical compensation—he was going to pay everything out of his own pocket. Of course, Takashi might be a bit of a cheapskate, but at least he took full responsibility. Not only did he cover all the hospital bills, he also gave each injured staff member a big cash payout and took care of the haunted house's repair costs. Takashi really bled money this time. His wallet was already drained, and he even had to convert loyalty points into cash. He gave each person 8 million yen in compensation. That alone cost him 40 million yen! And that's not even counting the repair and medical fees. Originally, some of the staff were planning to protest and camp out in front of the government building, waiting for the state to intervene. But once they heard about the payouts, they immediately calmed down. Some even called Takashi, thanking him: "Bro, next time there's a cash giveaway like this, count me in. As long as you don't kill or cripple me, you can hit me however you like." Some even started competing to win Takashi's favor: "Bro, hit me—I'll give you a 20% discount!" Like... seriously? Are you guys turning this into a competition now? What are you even competing for? Y'all are the reason the market can't recover. Takashi was willing to take responsibility. The boss was happy. The haunted house staff were happy. The only person who wasn't happy... was Nanami. She lost her job, and didn't even get a cut of the money. I mean, come on—if she had known one elbow was worth 8 million yen, she would've volunteered herself first! If she took a few direct hits, knowing Takashi as well as she did, he'd probably compensate her even more. That'd be enough to cover all her college tuition. "I, Aoyama Nanami, didn't rely on my parents, didn't ask my family for help. I earned my entire university tuition thanks to the generosity of my #1 big bro sponsor, Kitahara Takashi. Financial freedom, achieved. Let's hear it for the applause." No wonder people always say opportunities often pass us by unnoticed. How true. Missing this chance, Nanami was practically beating her chest in regret. She made up her mind: for the next month, she was going to give Takashi the cold shoulder. But then again, even a gym bro got his ribs broken by just one of Takashi's elbows—could she really withstand a full-powered elbow strike from her furious store manager? Thinking of that, Nanami instinctively glanced at the door that had been blown off its hinges on the monitor, and at Koyasu Tsubame, who was still trembling with fear, yet to recover from the shock. Suddenly, she felt that maybe some people really did earn their pay. ... "Tsubame, are you okay?" The haunted house manager walked up to Koyasu Tsubame, whose face had gone pale with fear, and asked with concern. Honestly, an employee getting knocked down was no big deal. As long as Koyasu Tsubame wasn't hurt, it wasn't a serious issue. "I-I'm fine." Koyasu Tsubame forced a very awkward smile, but she still cast uneasy, fearful glances toward Takashi. She had always known that men were physically stronger than women. But she didn't expect the gap to be that huge. "I didn't expect someone who looked so unremarkable to have such terrifying power hidden inside him—it's scary." Koyasu Tsubame didn't even dare imagine what would've happened to her if Nanami had arrived a little later. She knew they had to sign a Liability Waiver before entering the haunted house, but she didn't expect the clause was meant to protect them—the employees? So we're just disposable tools now? ____ I can confirm about the dog-chase. You never know how much speed you have in you unless that happens. ___ 20 Advanced Chapters available on p@ tr eon (.) com/HalflingFics Also, please point out my mistakes in the comment, thank you! Don't forget to leave a review too~ Check out the other translations too ___