Acquiring the Murim with Money - Chapter 9

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 9. The One Who Leads Fashion

“Sell it. By the time they figure out the formula and copy it, we’ll already be gone.”
So-ryang frothed at the mouth in protest, but in the end he couldn’t break Baek Un-hui’s stubbornness, and he released the remaining Green Jade Candy onto the market.
The trading companies of Luoyang, who had been obsessed with uncovering the secret of the crispy two-layer confection, rushed to buy up Green Jade Candy despite the outrageous markups.
Two days later.
Just as competing companies unveiled their crude imitations made from expensive materials, a completely new sign appeared above the gates of Baek Un Trading Company.

‘Green Jade Candy Sales Permanently Ended.’
‘The craze for Green Jade Candy is over. Welcome to the age of the Golden Butter Cake.’

It was the debut of butter cake in its purest form—sweet and salty in equal measure—baked from glutinous rice dough mixed with butter from the Western Regions, brown sugar syrup, and bamboo salt in perfectly calibrated proportions.
“This time, it’s the legendary Golden Cake passed down through generations by the nomadic royal families of the Tianshan plateau.”
“You absolute madman! There has to be some limit to driving trends!”
The absurd, modern premium limited-edition buzz-marketing strategy hit its mark once again, and the Golden Butter Cake generated even more impact than the Green Jade Candy.
The exterior crisp and golden-brown, the interior tender and moist, with the aroma of butter flooding the mouth in overwhelming richness.
The reaction from those tasting the Golden Butter Cake for the first time was extraordinary.
First, they closed their eyes and said nothing.
Then, slowly, they opened their eyes and cried out in rapturous wonder.
“Delicious! Is this truly the taste of paradise?”
Though it was genuinely delicious, the psychological effect of it being a limited edition that not everyone could taste was potent.
Even Baek Yeon-hwa, who normally disliked sweets, found herself quietly stealing pieces whenever a defective batch appeared.
The magnates of Luoyang’s merchant circles now paid premium prices to acquire them as gifts, and Seo-seo ran tirelessly day and night managing orders from batches shipped to other regions.
So-ryang spent his days cackling alone as he tallied the enormous profits, while the workers at Cheong Su-Jae received generous night-shift bonuses and stoked the kilns ceaselessly through the nights.
Meanwhile, the competing companies that had purchased expensive Green Jade Candy to make counterfeits found themselves saddled with outdated inventory after the trend vanished overnight, weeping tears of blood.
Baek Un Trading Company, by contrast, was vacuuming up Luoyang’s wealth once again through the Golden Butter Cake—perfectly proving that whoever controls the trend controls the market.

Two days later, at Baek Un Trading Company.
So-ryang, who had been clicking his abacus furiously, finally spoke to Baek Un-hui.
“Listen, Baek Un-hui. Because we’re buying up all the brown sugar and glutinous rice, prices across Luoyang are trembling. And our workers have been on all-night shifts for four days straight now. Even with double overtime pay, this can’t continue—the market’s goodwill will explode, and the workers will collapse.”
Sharp warning from So-ryang, a true specialist in finance and risk management.
But Baek Un-hui, without lifting his eyes from the ledgers, smiled with ease.
“I know. My calculations end tomorrow.”
“What?”
“Squeezing supply to the extreme while demand surges to maximize margins—that’s basic capitalism. But I also know that crossing that line invites danger.”
Baek Un-hui set down his brush and smiled at So-ryang with a knowing grin.
“Exactly at noon tomorrow. We stop production then and halt all additional Golden Butter Cake manufacturing. I’ll dump the hoarded materials back onto the market at cost to prevent price inflation, give the workers generous bonuses, and then rotate them through four days of paid leave.”
“There we go. Heaven’s own Baek Un-hui wouldn’t let immediate profit cloud his judgment.”
The Golden Divine Sight revealed the numbers: [Remaining worker stamina: 20% / Approximately 36 hours until critical threshold].
Baek Un-hui’s calculations were flawless, precise to the last hair.
But in the savage ecology of the Murim, there are always variables that slip beyond calculation.
“Master! We have a catastrophe!”
Gwang-du, the section leader of the Transport Division who oversaw the production site, burst in with a pallid face.
“The workers stoking the kilns suddenly overturned the cauldrons and declared a strike! And in the Wholesale District Alley, thugs have risen up claiming we’re raising rice prices!”
Baek Un-hui’s eyes turned cold.
‘I was certain we had plenty of buffer, yet it’s collapsed all at once?’
Then Seo-seo rushed in, breathless.
“The wholesalers are suddenly cutting off transactions with us! The Western merchants who supplied our butter have turned away too! It seems the Pung Cheon Trading Company people have been pulling strings behind the scenes!”
In that instant, the puzzle pieces aligned in Baek Un-hui’s mind.
Pung Cheon Trading Company currently held the greatest dominance in Luoyang.
Though they hadn’t grasped the full scope of Baek Un-hui’s grand plan, they possessed sufficient power to intervene at the right moment and obstruct it.
They had released hired agitators at the perfect moment when Baek Un Trading Company’s bowstring was drawn tight, orchestrating riots.
The Golden Divine Sight, for all its power to quantify everything, was not infallible. This was the moment when Baek Un-hui’s otherwise perfect calculations revealed their critical blind spot.
“…I’m one step too late. Even if I distribute the bonuses now and dump the raw materials, the crowd’s already been stirred up—words won’t reach them.”
Baek Un-hui himself had been running on reduced sleep, constantly out in the field, his fatigue accumulated. His face gaunt, he pressed his fingers to his brow and grabbed a bundle of Silver Ingots.
The corporate hunter’s mind raced through rapid profit-and-loss calculations.
It was then that Baek Yeon-hwa, who had been silently observing, stepped forward.
“Hui, you don’t need to bear this alone. This time, take a step back for a moment.”
“Sister?”
“Numbers are your domain, but stirring the blood of men—that’s a warrior’s craft. You handle the coin; I’ll tend to the people.”
She turned toward the front courtyard before Baek Un-hui could answer.
The courtyard was chaos.
“So we’re just disposable tools to be cast aside?”
Hired agitators planted by Pung Cheon Trading Company were whipping the exhausted workers into a frenzy, their voices shrill and ragged. The atmosphere had turned vicious, clubs rising overhead—when the sound cut through.
Shing!
Baek Yeon-hwa’s blade drew halfway from its sheath with a sharp, crystalline ring.
In an instant, an icy Aura erupted from her, pressing down on the courtyard like a physical weight. The crowd fell silent as if doused in ice water. She stepped onto the platform, her bloodshot gaze sweeping across the workers below.
“I know you’ve all suffered greatly.”
Despite the oppressive force radiating from her, her voice held a deep, aching sincerity.
“To save our Baek Un Trading Company from collapse, you’ve all shed blood and sweat, day and night, before those kilns. We see that. How could we not?”
She planted her scabbard against the ground as she spoke.
“But overturning the pot now—that’s not your true heart. Un-hui planned to halt all work tomorrow at noon, and pay three times your monthly wage as a performance bonus.”
“How are we supposed to believe that?”
One of the hired agitators shouted.
Baek Yeon-hwa’s cold gaze pinned him like a blade.
“I stake my sword and my name on this promise.”
She spoke with absolute conviction.
“Every drop of sweat you’ve shed will be repaid in full. Just believe in Un-hui and me one more time.”
In the Murim, to stake one’s name and sword is an oath sealed in blood.
Baek Yeon-hwa had walked the Righteous path as a warrior, protecting the weak without a shred of shame.
Standing before her earnest plea—she who never shrank from hardship regardless of birth, who always led by example—the workers’ rage crumbled like spring snow.
“…How could we overturn the pot when the Young Miss speaks with such sincerity?”
“Truth be told, I always believed in Un-hui and the Young Miss!”
Baek Un-hui’s Golden Divine Sight blazed with brilliant light as he watched from the shadows.

[Target: Baek Un Trading Company Workers]
[Status: Agitation removed. Loyalty to the Company increases.]

‘Incredible.’
Baek Un-hui clicked his tongue in admiration.
He’d been calculating how to purchase their labor through compensation alone, yet Baek Yeon-hwa had bought their loyalty with her characteristic charisma and integrity.
‘No matter how much I lay out in coin, I can’t control the sensibilities of the Murim with money. But Sister fills every gap I leave perfectly. Truly the perfect partner.’
Now it was his turn. Using the keen observation and Golden Divine Sight he’d honed while watching from the back, he’d identified exactly three hired agitators.
In moments, they were subdued, and the internal solidarity of the Company had grown even stronger than before.
And So-ryang, who’d been absent all this time, entered with Gwang-du.
“I moved up the schedule and flooded the market with stock at wholesale cost. You can stop worrying about prices and public sentiment now.”
“There’s our Chief Treasurer! Thank you. Thanks to you, I might actually get some real sleep tonight. Whew… well, the internal crisis is resolved. Let’s all get some proper rest.”

* * *

The next morning.
“So what exactly did Seo-seo hear yesterday?”
“The Cheon Yi Network kids picked it up while making rounds in Wholesale District Alley. Pung Cheon’s people drew a line—if anyone sells us materials, the Merchant Alliance will blacklist them permanently. Oh, and we heard something strange too.”
Seo-seo spoke breathlessly, pressing on.
“One of our information agents overheard a drunk thug from Huk Sa Bang in the Back Alley. He was cursing Pung Cheon for using them up and then tossing them aside like they never existed—said they were like a kite with its string cut.”
Baek Un-hui said nothing for a moment.
A rising competitor gaining notoriety, drawing money from the market—and the megacorporation responding by choking off the distribution lines to starve them out. And the crucial clue that Huk Sa Bang had been backed by Pung Cheon all along.
If Baek Un Trading Company had been small-capitalized, they would’ve collapsed the moment those lines were cut.
But.
Baek Un-hui’s lips curved into a slow smile.
This reaction meant that Pung Cheon Trading Company—the master of Luoyang’s merchant world—had begun to genuinely fear Baek Un Trading Company and see them as a rival worth crushing.
He rose slowly from his seat. Whether from the deep sleep he’d finally gotten or from the Inner Strength that had surged forward these past days as he’d recklessly poured out money, his body felt lighter than ever, and the presence radiating from him grew heavier.
Baek Un-hui seized the silk robe with gold thread embroidered along the cuffs, and as he straightened its collar, a predator’s hunger gleamed in his fingertips.
He raised his voice toward the inner chambers.
“Sister! Get ready.”
The door opened and Baek Yeon-hwa leaned out, her sharp gaze fixed on him.
“Where are we going?”
“A site inspection.”
Baek Un-hui’s Golden Divine Sight flashed with cold light.
“On-site inspection? You mean going to Pung Cheon Trading Company? But will they agree to meet with us so readily? It looks like they’re trying to crush us thoroughly right now.”
Baek Yeon-hwa asked with concern, securing her sword. Baek Un-hui answered with a sly smile.
“If they won’t meet, then we’ll have to break down the door. For them to lay hands on us without regard for the Merchant Code of Ethics… the cost of making me walk over there personally will be quite dear.”
After finishing his words, Baek Un-hui approached Dang So-yu, who was lying on a bench feigning indifference while picking at his ear. Baek Un-hui was not the sort to leave such a strategically versatile asset idle.
“Sir, would you care for a stroll? It must be lonesome sitting here by yourself—why don’t you come along with us?”
But Dang So-yu was not so easily swayed by Baek Un-hui’s hidden intentions.
“Too bothersome. What’s an old man like me going to do there? I’ve no taste for mingling with those merchant dogs who reek of iron.”
There is no such thing as a free gift in this world. To move a power like him, one must pay a price befitting his stature. Baek Un-hui gazed at the small wine bottle dangling at Dang So-yu’s waist and whispered softly near his ear.
“That last jar of Baek Un Trading Company’s special Golden Wine that I quietly set aside last year—I’ll bring it out for you. You need only take a stroll and watch from behind.”
At those words, Dang So-yu’s eyes flew wide open. For one fond of drink such as himself, a rare vintage that was difficult to procure elsewhere was an irresistible temptation.
“Ahem… come to think of it, I haven’t taken a walk since eating earlier. I suppose I shall make an exception and accompany you. But I’ll truly only be watching, so don’t pester me.”
Baek Un-hui nodded.
Baek Yeon-hwa, solid as a cornerstone and reliable as foundational capital; Dang So-yu, unpredictable and high-risk yet whose very presence exerted crushing pressure on any opponent; and the vast credit asset of the Golden Guest Merchant Pass. With this much, walking straight into enemy territory was no longer a venture lacking in resources.

Conquering Murim with Money, Episode 9

Author
Song Jjeon-bol
Publisher
DaOn Creative
Planning / Editing / Production
Yoon Tae-ri
Cover Design
Shik

UCI
G720:N+A036-20260907057.0009

ⓒ2026, Song Jjeon-bol

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No part or all of this work may be reproduced or reprocessed in any form without the permission of the author and publisher.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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