Chapter 164
“Look at me. You just arrived, right? Then you haven’t even filled your stomach yet. It’d be better to talk while eating something.”
Saying that, she dragged me to the dining hall even though I said I was fine; she was completely forceful.
“A gentle man like you, Mr. Bartender, surely knows the etiquette of escorting a lady, right?” she said, demurely forcing me to hold her hand, leaving me no chance to escape.
No matter how I looked at it, I was the one in a position to receive an escort instead.
Once again, there was no knight in shining armor to save me.
Sey, who had disappeared somewhere since I was talking with Alexandra Schneider, was nowhere to be found, and of course, the Shaolin Monk was nowhere to be seen either - talk about never being around when you need them.
Perhaps due to the aura emitted by this eccentric named Kimberly Louise Lutes, the lobby, which had definitely been full of sharply dressed figures, was suddenly empty.
It was obvious that everyone had fled, offering me up as a sacrificial lamb.
My mom told me not to go to unfamiliar places, and if I ever got lost, to stay put and not follow strangers…
“A stranger? That’s hurtful. Besides, saying it like that makes it sound like I’m harassing you, Mr. Bartender. What could a fragile woman like me possibly do to a sturdy man like you, Mr. Bartender?”
“I mean, you’re forcibly dragging me right now.”
One thing was for sure: this wasn’t the grip strength of a normal woman. If I subtly applied force to pull my hand away, a pain like being squeezed by a compactor was inflicted.
Why on earth was she doing this to me?
The concept of the dining area we arrived at was a tropical style.
Beyond the transparent walls, in the aquarium, various colorful tropical fish swam in schools, dancing through the vibrant Coral Rainforest.
Watching a turtle with its neck stretched out try suddenly to bite a tropical fish was a delicacy in its own right.
“It looks like there are plenty of empty seats. Shall we sit over there? How about a drink? Dragons Lair is good too, but the cocktails here are really delicious, you know.”
“No, I’m fine with that…”
Would I be crazy enough to drink here? I was in danger of getting robbed blind.
As I awkwardly sat down at a two-person table next to the Y-shaped dining bar, the seashells scattered across the ceiling cast a blue light, accompanied by a rustling sound.
If it weren’t for this situation, I might have admired it as a romantic presentation.
“I’m not the host, but the food here is quite good. You can tell Schneider put a lot of effort into preparing it. They must have found a skilled chef from somewhere.”
Oh, there are four courses. Island, Grass, Crustacean, and Fish. What will you choose? I’m buying, so don’t worry about the price and pick whatever you like, Mr. Bartender.”
What kind of menu description is this?
If I had run things like this back when I worked at the restaurant, I would have been dragged off by the chairman immediately.
Feeling somewhat ominous, I searched through the Table Display a few times, but nothing came up other than the information that I could choose a course from those four simply named menus. How very unkind.
“…I’ll go with Fish.”
Fish seemed the safest bet. After all, I eat fish well. At least it would be better than the Grass course.
A place like The Consortium Club wouldn’t serve something like a mutant anglerfish caught in the radioactive waters on a plate.
After a short wait, the food came out at a surprising speed. I had the Fish, and Ms. Kim had the Island course.
Each of us was served three types of amuse-bouche, bite-sized appetizers presented in a bamboo case lined with white pebbles.
Salmon and seaweed wrapped in white, thread-like batter, perhaps wrapped in rice paper like the Vietnamese Dumpling Cha Gio; an unknown type of sashimi sliced as thin as paper and arranged like a flower; and a small, blackened grilled octopus tentacle that looked just okay visually.
As one looked at the other side, there were cute tarts, a divine skill fluorescent jelly, and bite-sized meatballs.
I hesitated slightly, but made up my mind after seeing Ms. Kim pick up and eat a tart.
As they say, “a well-fed ghost is a happy ghost”; if I couldn’t leave the seat anyway, it would be better to at least fill my stomach.
It had been so long since I encountered such a high-end seafood dish that my mouth was watering a bit, too.
You shouldn’t eat food bought by a stranger, but I couldn’t just throw it away either. The food was innocent.
Especially if it was food that looked this appetizing, I naturally picked it up with my chopsticks and popped the fried salmon dumpling into my mouth first.
As I chewed carefully, the fatty, bright red flesh wrapped around my tongue. Then, a popping saltiness washed away the remaining taste, and before I knew it, the flesh melted and disappeared from my mouth.
The thought that crossed my mind in that moment was, “Ah, I’m in big trouble.'
I could feel every single taste bud on my tongue waking up.
Now that I had eaten such high-level cuisine, it was obvious that the disgustingly tasteless soy meat, crap meat, and insect meat foods that were the average in Dusk City would only ruin my appetite. Would I even be able to go about my daily life?
“Well, how is it? Delicious, right?”
When I came to my senses, Ms. Kim was looking at me with a sly gaze. I didn’t know if there was some hidden ulterior motive, but it was true that it was delicious.
“Yes. The salmon is fresh, and above all, it has sea grapes and salmon roe inside, so the texture is unique. And also… I think they put just a tiny bit of dill and cucumber in as filling. In a way, you could call it classic to combine or assemble them, but eating it like this makes it novel. It’s delicious.”
I babbled on excitedly, but felt a bit of an oops moment at the questioning gaze looking back at me.
Call it the instinct of a chef and a gourmet. Dining at such a high-end restaurant, I unknowingly ate and chattered away as if analyzing it.
“In my previous world, I was somewhat of a gourmet.”
The reason I started learning to cook in the first place was because I couldn’t afford to go to famous restaurants or good eateries every day, so I wanted to make and eat delicious things myself.
As someone who loved gastronomy that much, I had been struggling to make a living in Dusk City, where eating proper food was as hard as plucking a star from the sky, so the gourmet desires that had built up knowingly or unknowingly resulted in an explosion like this.
“Mr. Bartender, you seem to know a lot about food.”
The expression on Ms. Kim’s face as she asked that was meaningful. Even to me, it was a suspicious situation.
Even in the past, gastronomy was mainly a hobby for rich people, but it was even more so in this era. Unless you were part of the upper class with money and power, you could never develop an eye for fine cuisine or fresh ingredients.
What more needs to be said in a world where a single apple (artificially cultivated in a factory) cost nearly 150,000 won?
But an apprentice bartender working at a bar in a lower levels Alley had a deep knowledge of gastronomy? It couldn’t help but look like I had an unusual patron.
It was like that with Alexandra Schneider, and it was like that this time, too.
I didn’t intend it, but I frequently ended up causing misunderstandings with others like this.
Sometimes it was helpful, but right now, I am not so sure. It would be better to completely Seal Off any strange misunderstandings before they form.
“I know a little bit, since I used to work as a chef.”
“A chef? Should I say this is unexpected… or does it subtly suit you? Anyway, it’s interesting. Since you were in such a successful profession, why are you working as a bartender now?”
I got the feeling that this was the timing to spin a little tale.
“Well. Not to brag, but I had climbed up to the position of chef at a fairly successful Japanese restaurant. But I got fired a few months ago.”
It was the kind of acting where I shrugged my shoulders and spoke as if it were no big deal, but with a latent sadness in a corner of my heart.
Frowning, biting my lip slightly, I shook my head as if it were all in the past and spoke.
“The owner, the chairman… is a somewhat scary person. Once you get on his bad side, you have no choice but to quit. Transferring to another restaurant was impossible, so I had no choice but to quit cooking.”
There was nothing wrong with what I said here. I didn’t lie.
It was true that I was a chef at a Japanese restaurant; it was true that I got fired; it was true that the chairman was a very scary person; and it was true that I was in a position where I couldn’t transfer to another company.
Didn’t they say that 99 percent lies and 1 percent truth are more powerful than a 100 percent lie?
I went even further: 99 percent truth with about 1 percent lies.
“I don’t mean to doubt you, but it is hard to believe. No matter how much you got on the owner’s bad side, you had a brilliant career as a chef. Yet, you had no choice but to quit cooking? Just who is this chairman person? Is he the chairman of a Megacorp or something - “
Ms. Kim’s voice, which was about to pry further, was buried by the holo card I fumbled to bring up, a digital business card that had already faded, as if it had undergone digital weathering.
“Aaron Nakamura, executive Chef of the Special-Grade Japanese Restaurant Enkai on the 101st Floor of the Kyoku Hotel.”
This career was the kind that couldn’t be faked or forged.
If you searched the Kyoku Hotel Net Page or the Chef Union Member Database right now, the records would pop right up.
Perhaps because of that, Ms. Kim also looked convinced.
“Kyoku Hotel? Ah… I see.”
It seemed the three syllables of 'Isiho' had popped into Ms. Kim’s mind as well.
That’s right. He was indeed the chairman of a Megacorp.
Not just an ordinary Megacorp, but the 4th in Global Corporate Ranking, the worst Vicious Black Company that pioneered numerous Japanese-style cultures in the light under giant buildings, and operated electronic drugs and the yakuza in the dark - Isiho’s Iron Blood Chairman.
Do you know the phrase written on the gates of Hell?
It suits Isiho perfectly.
Abandon all hope, ye who enter here.
There was no way to resign with your body intact.
It was a company that would only let you go after sucking the productive capacity of a human being dry down to the marrow. Once they grabbed onto manpower, they never let go, no matter what.
Likewise, there was no way they would allow an affiliated chef to transfer to another restaurant.
Therefore, everything I had said so far fit together perfectly.
Isiho’s notoriety was indeed widespread, so there was no need to explain further.
She looked at me with an expression full of pity and apology, beyond just understanding without me having to say anything.
“If you had such circumstances, you should have said so…!”
I was a bit flustered.
To think that the headstrong Ms. Kim would send me such a sympathetic look. Anyone watching would think she was looking at a terminally ill patient or a child who had suffered an unfortunate accident.
“No… it’s not that bad. Still, I’ve adapted now, and I’m doing pretty well in my own way.”
I did put on an act of being slightly depressed, but wasn’t the effect a little too good?
When I spoke hesitantly, Ms. Kim’s eyes welled up with tears.
“Oh my, to think you got on the bad side of the Isiho Chairman. What should we do? Then your affiliation is still the same? You can’t even resign?”
“Well, yes.”
As I nodded, now she burst into tears outright, patting my shoulder as if looking at the most pitiful person in the world.
“Oh my, to think you had such a story… I’m sorry. I made you recall a painful past.”
No, is it really to that extent? Since when was she so full of sensitivity to act like this?
What was even more absurd was that it wasn’t just Ms. Kim, but the people at other tables nearby.
“Oh dear, that young man has met a pitiful fate.”
“Even so, to be with that Isiho… Tsk.”
“It’s not for nothing that Lutes is showing interest.”
They had been eavesdropping on my story while pretending not to, and as their pitying gazes pierced me and they each threw in a word like that, I was left speechless.
Even among them, there were people wiping their eyes with handkerchiefs like Ms. Kim, or coming over to pat my shoulder.
No, at this point, isn’t this group colluding?
Is the Isiho image really in the gutter to this extent?
For a moment, I was confused.
…Maybe I really am pitiful?