episode_0083

Fish raised in farms are cheap.

Some people may question whether wild-caught fish is tastier or not, but no one can deny that it is cheaper.

“Nimi… . F*ck…”

So Ji-hoon couldn’t help but be flustered.

The prices of this sushi restaurant, where you can sit and dress up like Hong Seo-yeon, are completely out of your taste.

“What is this… so expensive…”

Even if you think it’s cheap, the cost of food for three people is roughly over ten million won.

Why is a plate of raw fish so expensive? Ji-hoon felt a cold sweat breaking out on his forehead.

“Sushi doesn’t seem that expensive..”

“Of course, honey. The sushi used in those Japanese restaurants uses artificially made fish meat. This is farmed. It’s quite expensive because it’s made from a live fish and eaten as sashimi.”

Hong Seo-yeon smiled slightly with an expression that said, “What is this?”

“It’s a form…?”

“It’s expensive because it’s a form. What are you talking about, honey.”

Hong Seo-yeon and Ji-hoon were strangely not on the same page.

‘What the hell are you talking about, why is the food so expensive?’

Ji-hoon scratched his head with his hand and clicked his tongue, then remembered the explanation he had heard from Sonagi in Incheon a long time ago and clicked his tongue.

“Ah.. Is that it, that.. In China, companies fought with the government and fired missiles, so…”

“That’s true too. The West Sea was completely ruined because of that, and the fishing industry was completely ruined.”

Hong Seo-yeon smiles and straightens her back.

She was wearing a black suit and had an office lady vibe.

Ji-hoon and she were waiting in a private room at a famous sushi restaurant to meet a ‘fixer’ that Trinity had found out through an ‘algorithm’.

“East Sea…. South Sea?”

“It’s similar. Honey, sometimes when I see you, you act like you’ve been locked up somewhere for 200 years. That’s what’s funny.”

Hong Seo-yeon laughed and shook her fingers, making a clicking sound.

“I think you don’t quite understand, so I’ll explain. These days, you can’t catch fish in the ocean. Whales and such have all died out long ago, and things like flatfish, squid, and clams have all disappeared.”

“…What, it’s not like there was a war at sea… . Why…”

Ji-hoon now openly states that he doesn’t know that fact.

Hong Seo-yeon found the fact amusing and didn’t question it, but smiled and shook her finger.

“That’s because the ocean has become acidic.”

“…Ah…what is that…the PH level is like this…and the coral is dying… .”

When Ji-hoon told a story he had heard somewhere, Hong Seo-yeon smiled and nodded, thinking that he knew the gist of the story.

“That’s right. That’s it, to be honest…”

Hong Seo-yeon smiled slightly bitterly and grabbed the glass in front of her with both hands.

“Scientists and environmental groups have been warning us for over 200 years, but no one wants to listen. Think about it, honey. Who would do something like that when no one is paying them to protect the environment? Using their own money.”

“No, that’s…”

Of course, wouldn’t the country make them pay a fine? Ji-hoon thought about it, but it was only for a moment.

The world he lived and breathed in was not the Republic of Korea of the 21st century.

Even there, humans were free to destroy the environment as long as it was not against the law.

If we are really worried about global warming and ocean acidification, all of humanity should immediately stop coal-fired power generation and use only nuclear and renewable energy. Which country is doing that?

None. Humans are animals that live for their own benefit, and the law inevitably has loopholes.

‘In this cyberpunk world where there is no such thing as proper law…’

Destroying the environment? Is there such a concept? Even if scientists talk about it, it is unlikely to be more than an interesting gossip.

“Well, how ironic.”

Hong Seo-yeon smiles slightly.

“Since fish could no longer live properly in the ocean, aquaculture technology has developed tremendously. It may not grow as naturally as wild fish, but it means that humans will never be able to eat fish.”

“…We worked hard to raise the company, so it’s natural for us to receive this much money?”

As Ji-hoon spoke in a whisper, Hong Seo-yeon smiled and grabbed the menu.

She pointed to the halibut with one finger. The price, so high that it made her gasp, caught my eye.

In 21st century Korea, no matter how expensive the food is, you can eat a meal for one person for about 20,000 won, but here, a price tag that was more than 50 times that was written in large letters.

“Do you know how much money it costs to raise this fish… no, flounder?”

“…200,000 won?”

Hong Seo-yeon giggles and makes the number 2.

” and…”

“Technology has advanced so much these days. People don’t live in the countryside at all. It wouldn’t be a problem to build a huge building and create a sea on land. How expensive would that be? But.”

Hong Seo-yeon makes a circle with her fingers and laughs.

“There’s something called an image, right? Honey, if our future company were to farm and sell fish that we might never be able to eat…you know what that feels like, right?”

“Then is artificial fish meat different from farmed fish?”

“Oh, that’s cultured meat. It’s not exactly the same technology…”

Hong Seo-yeon chuckled, as if she didn’t want to bother explaining it that much.

“Wow… . Damn, but I can’t believe that this… costs 10 million won for 3 people.”

“Because the cost is less than one-tenth of the original price. Honey, the food you eat at places like this isn’t about the taste, it’s about the atmosphere and enjoying things that people without money can’t do.”

Hong Seo-yeon slightly straightens her shoulders.

As expected, the personality of the chairman of a large corporation does not go away.

“Since you can’t eat fish anymore, people who eat it are rich, they have a lot of money… So you’re enjoying that kind of atmosphere?”

“That’s right, honey. I can never buy that. How many people working at our company would come to a sushi restaurant like this and eat freshly-made sashimi on fresh perilla leaves?”

“…I don’t think there will be any unless you are an executive.”

“Hahaha, even if you’re an executive, you can’t even dream of it. Even when you go somewhere and get a good contract, you never eat at a restaurant like this.”

Hong Seo-yeon, who was holding Ji-hoon’s hand, looked at Ji-hoon with a strange smile and made eye contact.

“Honey, do you know how great it is that you marry me?”

“…I think I know…”

I feel strange.

In 21st century South Korea, watching movies was something everyone did.

Eating raw fish? There have been heated arguments over whether it is farmed or wild, but eating fish itself has never been considered ‘exclusive to the wealthy’.

Things that were so natural to Ji-hoon were, in this place, unique acts that only the wealthy could enjoy, and Hong Seo-yeon strangely boasts about it.

It was truly inevitable that I would feel a sense of alienation and strange emotions.

“But honey, buying such an expensive meal for someone else…”

“Originally, fixers never reveal who the client is or which fixer worked on the job. So-”

“He couldn’t stand it anymore so he killed him.”

“Ah…”

Harkas, the story of the fixer with that name came out naturally.

Hong Seo-yeon’s face turned pale for a moment and she moved her lips several times, not knowing what to do.

“Well, it’s in the past. It’s okay.”

Only after Ji-hoon had finally said that did Hong Seo-yeon sigh deeply with a strange expression on her face.

She briefly touched the back of her head with her hand, looked at Ji-hoon, and kissed him on the cheek.

“You know it’s a lot different now than it was then, right? Honey?”

“Of course. If that were the case, I wouldn’t have invited that guy, Pixar, to a sushi restaurant like this, but I would have killed him.”

“Well, it’s not like that. I’m not crazy about blood…”

Hong Seo-yeon smiled awkwardly and coughed a few times, then caressed Ji-hoon’s thigh for no reason.

“Anyway, I even got to eat raw fish that I couldn’t get anywhere else, but I’m the president of Mirae Enterprise and I’m going to avenge my parents… Who would ask for information and not give it to me?”

“What…”

Ji-hoon clicked his tongue for a moment.

If the fixer who was invited today ignored Ji-hoon after seeing this sincerity or tried to deceive Hong Seo-yeon, he was planning to use the cyber hypnosis app.

Ji-Hoon had no choice but to hope that the other person would be a woman, because he was determined to extract information.

“Did you say Trinity’s algorithm was perfect…”

“That’s right. I checked it several times and it was perfect. It’s unlikely that any other fixer besides the one you invited today received a request from that old lady to take care of my parents.”

“I hope it’s correct.”

It’s not Ji-hoon’s money, but it’s still ten million won.

Of course, it is ridiculous to hand over information for a mere 10 million won, but it is also ridiculous to see the chairman of a future company personally step forward to find the ‘parents’ enemy’.

Ten million won is not the problem. Even if you buy food that is more expensive or cheaper than this, just having one meal is important.

‘I know that you took on the task of killing my parents and sent a fixer to handle the matter.’

It is important to appeal to that.

I honestly have nothing to say if you think of Pixar as your parents’ enemy. I think he knows it well.

However, Hong Seo-yeon is not seeking revenge, but only wants to deal with the problem solver, so she treats him to a meal and tells him to hand over the information. Does the price matter here?

The more expensive it is, the stronger the meaning of forgiving the other person becomes, but the meaning of forgiveness does not change at all.

“Ah, it looks like he’s coming now.”

Hong Seo-yeon smiled and got up from her seat, and the door covered with hanji slid open to the side, and a woman with black hair tied back and braided naturally came inside.

‘What… Nurse?’

Anyone who entered the room could tell that it was a nurse.

Not only the pure white clothes, but also the hat with a red cross on it that looked a bit like cosplay no matter where you looked.

She was a perfect nurse.

“I didn’t know the chairman would invite me to a place like this.”

Pixar came inside, sat down across from where Ji-hoon and Hong Seo-yeon were sitting, looked around once, and smiled again.

‘Why is the nurse doing something like a fixer… No, why is the fixer doing a nurse…’

Ji-hoon’s head was a little complicated, but the nurse just smiled brightly and looked at Hong Seo-yeon.

“Before we talk, let’s have a meal first.”

“Oh, Chairman. It’s good that you’re taking care of me like this, but I don’t think you’ll take the deposit.”

The fixer made a small joke, and Hong Seo-yeon, who had been thinking of getting information rather than a request today, smiled slightly and shook her head.

“Don’t worry about that. Just eat it as is. You can eat it, right? Oh, maybe you don’t know because you’ve never tried it…”

While talking nonsense, Hong Seo-yeon clapped her hands, and people dressed up nicely came in one by one and started placing plates in front of the three people.

“Oh, really… . It looks like some kind of royal cuisine…”

Instead of a pure white plastic bowl, the pure white fish meat is served in a bowl with an elegant picture that looks expensive no matter where you look.

Even if that were the case, the sight of expensive dishes containing things like perilla leaves and soy sauce was enough to make Ji-hoon lose his senses.

‘Is this… something like buying a roll of kimbap for 20,000 won in a foreign country…?’

Anyway, it’s not Ji-Hoon’s money.

But is it really necessary to decorate a plate of raw fish so extravagantly?

Ji-hoon had a headache, but decided to pick up his chopsticks.