LnD | Chapter 4

In this world, just a few searches can reveal the scandalous past of a man who once lived in a far-off country across the Pacific. Asimi glanced at Si-ron up and down, shook his head disapprovingly, and went out alone to take orders.

When there weren’t many deliveries, Si-ron would take orders in the hall, but when Asian customers, especially Koreans, visited Curry King, Asimi or Iqbal would take orders instead. Trying to avoid getting involved with Koreans and living quietly, there were times when he had to rely on the help of Asimi and boss Iqbal.

“Samosa, medium butter chicken, spicy shrimp korma, two garlic and plain naan. There’s also a delivery to Linhart.”

Iqbal, who had returned from the restroom, checked the order slip and began cooking. Si-ron, standing beside him, carefully attached the thin dough to the tandoor, a pot-shaped oven, while keeping an eye on the situation outside. It was clear they were Korean tourists visiting Helsota State.

“How did they end up here?”

Iqbal frowned, deepening the wrinkles between his brows. He didn’t seem pleased to see customers during a quiet time.

“They probably found us while looking for a place with high ratings.”

“No matter what, this is a cost-effective delivery restaurant, not a place tourists would visit.”

Contrary to his dry first impression, which seemed to find life bothersome and futile, Iqbal was very interested in the circumstances of the customers who visited his restaurant.

As Iqbal said, Curry King wasn’t a restaurant that naive tourists would find while touring famous eateries. The food was slightly above average, but the location was the problem. The restaurant was in Riverland, a sub-district within Bargas City, the capital of Helsota State.

Bargas City has been in the top three cities with the highest violent crime rates nationwide for ten years. In fact, since two years ago, the number of violent crime incidents has exponentially increased, surpassing Anniston in Ellabemaju to become the most dangerous city.

Despite the governor of Helsota State declaring a war on crime, implementing special crackdowns, and recruiting police officers from other regions, officers were busy fleeing to other states. Moreover, Riverland was one of the slums in Bargas City, where robbery, rape, and violence occurred frequently, making it a place where you never knew when you might get shot.

Security bars were commonly installed in residential areas, and Summers Park in the center of Riverland was teeming with drug addicts, prostitutes, and homeless people.

There were tourists who occasionally visited this city, where even angels could fall and become devils. They were tourists visiting the Wonderland Resort Theme Park, located just 18 km from Bargas City. Additionally, there were large studios producing movies and dramas, as well as numerous independent studios in the adjacent states.

As a result, some people ended up lost in this dangerous neighborhood. The Koreans who came to this restaurant seemed to have wandered into Riverland after visiting the theme park and studios.

“The toy hanging from that woman’s bag is a Lulu’s Adventure merchandise, right? My wife likes it.”

Iqbal glanced at the hall while wiping curry off the edge of a dish with a kitchen towel. He seemed bothered by the tourists.

“I can’t let this go. I’ll deliver it myself. Ron, you go on the delivery.”

Iqbal came out of the kitchen, took the tray of food, grabbed a notebook from the corner of the counter, and headed towards the customers.

“Korean?”

The two women exchanged glances, nodded awkwardly, and smiled shyly. They seemed tense, worried that the stern-looking Aryan man might do something harmful to them.

Iqbal opened the last page of the notebook and showed it to the women.

This is a crime-prone area. After your meal, do not tour the surrounding area. It is recommended to call an Uber and move to your accommodation.

It was a guide written in Korean by Si-ron for the unfortunate Korean tourists who ended up in this miserable city. Si-ron, noticing the women’s expressions change from admiration to coldness upon seeing the familiar Korean text, quickly put on his helmet and left the restaurant.

Yoon Si-ron was once an actor. He performed a self-centered style of acting, starting and ending with himself, choosing and analyzing one of the many facets within him to technically reveal it to the world.

Some praised his narcissistic acting, which was the opposite of method acting, saying he was one of the best actors of his age group. Others criticized that watching just one movie starring Yoon Si-ron was like seeing his entire lifetime of acting due to his unique style.

To some extent, it was true. Although he referenced archetypes from thriller, drama, and fantasy films, the most important reference was always himself, and he constantly researched himself to create results.

He arrogantly believed that he could continue to shine with his abundant resources until he died because he genuinely loved acting.

However, Yoon Si-ron’s false myth ended much faster and more miserably than he expected. His phone data was leaked on an online community, and hashtags like #YoonSiRonSponsor, #YoonSiRonDrugs, #GayChastityBelt, #UrethralPlug dominated the internet and social media for a while. Subsequent reports from entertainment media and broadcasters caused Yoon Si-ron’s image to plummet into an abyss.

The leaked data revealed none of the actor Yoon Si-ron’s “shadowed genius boy” image. All his hypocrisy was exposed to the world.

“Whoa!”

Si-ron, who had unknowingly gripped the accelerator lever tightly, was startled and slowed down the motorcycle. He almost lost balance and fell backward as the front wheel lifted.

If he were to die so meaninglessly, he should have stabbed a knife into the belly of the road manager who leaked his phone data. A car honked behind him, then switched lanes to overtake him as Si-ron barely regained control of the wobbling motorcycle.

“Argh! Kim Hwangjong, you bastard!”

Si-ron yelled in frustration, almost ending his life delivering curry before he could take revenge on the road manager who exposed his secrets. He could never forgive Kim Hwangjong, who sold his privacy for a mere 300 million won.

“…Seriously. A mere 300 million.”

Unbelievably, back then, unlike the penniless Yoon Si-ron now, 300 million won wasn’t a lot of money. It was easy money he could earn by working hard on set for a few days, so he forgot that it was a fortune worth selling one’s conscience for someone else.

“I should have saved some money when I was earning well.”

Si-ron muttered to himself, feeling engulfed in a gloomy mood.

Meeting Korean people kept bringing back forgotten memories, sinking his mood into the depths. But there was a bigger problem than his mood.

As soon as he arrived at the delivery destination and opened the delivery box, Si-ron felt his face flush with heat. More than half of the contents of one of the two curries had spilled into the bag. It seemed that the disposable container had fallen sideways and opened when he wobbled on the motorcycle.

Sensitive to evaluations of not doing his job properly, Si-ron felt dizzy at the horrific sight. Just imagining Iqbal’s displeased face staring at him made him feel small.

He decided to quickly bring a new order and offer some service.

Regaining his composure, Si-ron stood in front of a tall wall. If Riverland, south of the Nathan River, was where the poor mainly lived, Linhart to the north was a wealthy area. Most residents here were affluent, and the taxes collected were substantial, allowing an independent city police force to operate, maintaining good security unlike other areas of Bargas City.

A wealthy person living in a typical luxury mansion in Linhart ordering a cost-effective curry set was definitely another case of someone being deceived by Google ratings.

Si-ron took a deep breath to calm himself and pressed the doorbell. However, there was no response. He pressed the doorbell again. After pressing it several more times, a voice finally came through the speaker.

-I’ll open the door, just leave it at the front.

The weary voice of a woman came through the speaker, as if asking why he was bothering her when she was busy, making Si-ron’s heart sink. If she found out about the spilled curry, she might explode.

“Uh, excuse me! Um, you might want to take a look at this.”

-Why?

“Well… I’m really, really sorry, but the lid opened during delivery, and the food spilled.”

-…….

“I’m really, really sorry.”

-Damn it!

The buzzer sound of the door unlocking was heard. Si-ron took off his helmet, tucked it under his arm, and held the plastic bag, which was a mess with curry, in his other hand.

There was quite a distance from the entrance to the front door. As he hurriedly ran towards the entrance, he felt strangely weak in his legs the closer he got. It felt like a heavy atmosphere was covering the house.

“Is it because I’m nervous?”

Si-ron quickly glanced around the house, worried about the different atmosphere. A woman stood at the wide-open front door.