I Became a Black Market Tycoon with an Inventory - Chapter 103

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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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103 – Counterfeit
103
A nightclub in Beijing Sanlitun.
A man in a designer suit enters a private room and quietly asks the manager a question.
“You have Assand?”
“Of course we do. How many would you like?”
“Oh, really? I’ve heard it’s been incredibly hard to find lately.”
“We made some effort for our VIP clients.”
“Oh, I like you. Good. How many can you provide?”
“Up to twenty.”
“Twenty? You can actually get twenty? That’s incredible. Bring them to the room later.”
“Yes, sir.”
Pleased with himself, the designer-clad man pulled out his wallet and generously tipped the manager.
A short while later,
the manager entered the room carrying Assand along with drinks.
After setting up the drinks and snacks on the table, he discreetly handed the Assand to the man.
The man accepted the candy with a satisfied expression.
Shortly after, the designer man shared one Assand with his friends.
The packaging seemed slightly different from what he’d consumed before, but such variations happen during production. He tore open the wrapper with that thought.
He popped it directly into his mouth.
Along with the sweetness came a tingling sensation… except it didn’t.
Something felt wrong.
It was overwhelmingly sweet, but instead of that familiar tingle, an unpleasant sensation emerged.
The voices of people around him grew distant.
The world fell silent, sensations faded, and consciousness grew hazy.
My body felt like it was melting, transforming into slime.
Everything became opaque and muffled, as if submerged underwater.
Here, there seemed to be no sorrow, no anxiety, no fear.
I existed, yet simultaneously felt myself dissolving.
This wasn’t Assand.
It was completely different.
Not the sensation I had experienced before.
I wanted to spit it out.
But I couldn’t.
It pulled at me in a strange way.
This too possessed its own addictive quality.
I was mysteriously drawn to it.
If Assand was refreshing, invigorating, crisp, clear, and pleasantly clean,
then this was alluring, decadent, sensual, and intoxicating.
This was Assand’s dark side—its bitter taste, its potent edge, its lethal quality, the taste of corruption itself.
If Assand had the energetic feel of a twenty-year-old college student,
then this was the taste of a damp, corrupted back alley.
If Assand was light, then this was darkness.
Both light and darkness held their own allure.
The luxury man’s body went limp.
He sat on the sofa as if dead.
Only by the occasional breath he exhaled could I confirm he hadn’t actually died.
.
.
.
The Heishi Bang—Beijing’s massive Criminal Organization.
I had wanted to distribute Assand, but since I couldn’t obtain it, I manufactured it myself.
The result.
“Boss!!! Boss!!!! This is incredible!!!!!”
“What? What’s so incredible???”
“Yes. In just one day, we sold over three million units.”
“What? What did you sell?”
“The counterfeit Assand candy we made last time. We sold three million of them.”
“W-what? Three million? Is that even possible to sell?”
“It is. The market is completely dry of Assand right now, so when we released it, people absorbed it like rain in a drought. We shouldn’t have to worry about sales for a while. We’re actually running short on inventory and can’t keep up with demand.”
“Really? That’s fantastic! You did well.”
“The timing was perfect.”
“Fortune itself is helping us. So how much did we make?”
“We sold each unit at wholesale for twenty yuan. With three million sold, we earned sixty million yuan—that’s 1.2 billion.”
“Sixty million yuan? Really??? You’ve worked incredibly hard. From now on, we’ll walk only on flower-strewn paths.”
“Yes. Our hardships are finally over.”
“Good. I’m in an excellent mood. Today we’ll distribute bonuses to all our members and have a celebration dinner.”
“Yes. I’ll arrange it immediately.”
“Excellent. My mood is wonderful right now. But how exactly did we manufacture Assand? Did we have the technology?”
“That’s a long story, but to summarize…”
“Go ahead. Tell me.”
“Well… we brought in experts and asked them to make it identical to Assand, but they said it was impossible. They couldn’t figure out how Assand was made. They said they didn’t know.”
“Really? So what?”
“So we just mixed fentanyl into the candy base.”
“What?”
“The experts said the effects were similar. There’s a slight difference, but… and since fentanyl components were detected in Assand as well, it shouldn’t be wrong.”
“Ah…”
In that instant, fear, worry, and dread flashed across the face of Marshall Ling, the organization’s boss.
It had been perfectly concealed by the colorful packaging, the convenient candy format, and the name Assand.
But the moment I heard the word fentanyl, it all came back to me.
What Heishi Bang was selling wasn’t candy—it was drugs.
Get caught, and you’re done for.
Execution, plain and simple.
Marshall Ling knew he should stop right now, but he couldn’t.
His mind was already saturated with dopamine.
The rush of earning money was intoxicating.
Could money really be made this easily?
Sixty million yuan in a single day.
He’d already spent considerable sums renting the factory, bringing in experts, and purchasing materials.
At minimum, he needed to break even, didn’t he?
It wouldn’t take long.
Sixty million yuan per day.
Ten days would yield six hundred million yuan—one hundred twenty billion won.
I couldn’t bear to abandon this honeypot.
Yet life itself was precious.
Yes, just ten more days, then I’d quit.
Actually, ten days, then I’d sell the factory and the recipe.
For an exorbitant price.
In Marshall Ling’s mind, this was the perfect exit strategy.
.
.
.
But Marshall Ling wasn’t the only one thinking this way.
As Assand gained popularity, dozens and hundreds of criminal organizations across the country scrambled to obtain it.
Unable to acquire the genuine product, they began manufacturing counterfeit versions.
People’s thinking was remarkably similar.
They replicated exactly what Heishi Bang had done.
They summoned unverified “experts,” gave them Assand, and ordered them to replicate it. When that failed, they simply brought in fentanyl and mixed it in.
Where would China get fentanyl?
Isn’t China a country that strictly controls narcotics?
True.
Yet until recently, China was the world’s largest producer of fentanyl.
They manufactured it under the guise of medical use and exported it.
We know fentanyl as a drug, but that’s beside the point.
Fentanyl was designed as a painkiller when first created, and it remains one today.
As a painkiller, it could be mass-produced through pharmaceutical companies.
Unable to fully identify Assand’s composition, they decided to add fentanyl based on speculation that it might contain fentanyl.
Unable to procure fentanyl, they brought in people who had manufactured it before.
Ideally, they would establish a pharmaceutical company for mass production, but even during official manufacturing, China’s distribution was strictly controlled.
Now that fentanyl production was prohibited, pharmaceutical companies couldn’t manufacture it.
I synthesized fentanyl in a dark basement, relying purely on guesswork.
I made the drug depending on memories from that time.
Without professional equipment, I produced fentanyl through crude, improvised methods.
I couldn’t even distinguish whether it was a completed drug or a failed one.
Naturally, I never considered clinical trials, nor did I conduct toxicity or allergy tests.
Chinese Criminal Organizations brought the imperfect fentanyl and began mixing it into candy base materials, stamping out Assand.
They started making candies with fentanyl whose origins, methods, and composition nobody knew.
Fentanyl had to be added to the candy base material, but there was no established recipe for this either.
Depending on who was preparing it, some added large amounts while others added small amounts—a disaster ensued.
Depending on who made it, which region it was made in, and which organization produced it, candies with completely different tastes, effects, and durations began flooding the market.
Rapidly.
*******
“Big brother! Why is that person acting like that?”
“Where?”
While driving through Beijing, the Woman in Cheongsam sitting in the passenger seat spotted something strange and pointed toward it with her finger.
“He’s just standing there in a weird posture. Look over there.”
In a small park, a man stood motionless with his waist bent, like a statue.
The occasional stumbling or swaying suggested he wasn’t actually a statue.
“What’s he doing?”
“I don’t know. Maybe some kind of performance?”
“I’m not sure. But there are a few more people like that behind him. Is it really a performance?”
“Huh? Really. It is, isn’t it?”
“But for a performance, it feels kind of off. Big brother, let’s go somewhere else instead.”
“Yeah. It’s kind of creepy. Let’s go somewhere else. Where do you want to go?”
“Should we go to Wudaoying Hutong today?”
“Sure? Then let’s head there right now.”
They changed their destination and headed toward Wudaoying Hutong, but
on the way to Wudaoying Hutong, they frequently witnessed people standing blankly, like statues, like zombies.
******
I received a call from Hanlin, the overall director of Yingjie Xian.
Last time he threw a tantrum asking me to see him, and since then he reports and informs me of situations whenever something happens.
Even though I told him he doesn’t need to say it’s fine, he continues.
I didn’t want to say this, but it’s more useful than I expected.
Former restaurant owners, even when they enter as restaurant staff, work better than other employees.
Their experience working in restaurants plays the largest role, but beyond that, their perspective is different.
When viewing things as an owner rather than an employee, the same restaurant reveals different tasks that need to be done.
Staff from owner backgrounds catch that perfectly.
Because they were owners themselves.
They know exactly what needs to be done without being told.
Hanlin is the same.
Someone who ran a criminal organization knows exactly what’s needed.
He understands what information is necessary right now and delivers it perfectly.
He scratches exactly where it itches.
After finishing my call with Hanlin, I headed to the laboratory where Edward was conducting his research.
“Edward, have you heard the news?”
“About the counterfeit?”
“Oh? You already know?”
“Yes. It’s quite famous. Apparently it’s causing quite a stir.”
“You must be upset.”
“Why would I be?”
“Well, your drug is flooding the market as a knockoff without your permission. Of course you’d be upset.”
“Actually, I’m in a great mood. I feel a certain sense of pride.”
“Really? Why?”
“It means the drug I created is popular enough that counterfeiters feel compelled to copy and sell it. That’s clear proof the effects are proven.”
“That’s… true, I suppose.”
“It gives me confidence that I’ve created something truly remarkable. I really did make an incredible drug.”
“Assand really is that impressive.”
“And not a single counterfeit comes close to my Assand. They look similar on the surface, but they’re completely different inside. Those are just cheap drugs. They lack the nobility of Assand.”
“You’re right. Assand is overwhelmingly superior.”
“That’s why I feel satisfied. That I’ve truly created something remarkable.”
Edward’s tone was brimming with confidence.
There really is nothing like Assand.
“Since we’re talking about Assand, how’s the automation coming along?”
At my question, Edward’s confident expression crumbled instantly.
I wasn’t trying to dampen his spirits—I genuinely wanted to know.
“Not well. It’s completely fallen apart.”
“Really? It would be good to align it with the factory completion. Isn’t Shin Jung-gi helping?”
“Shin Jung-gi? I’m just having him run errands.”
“He’s supposed to be fairly intelligent. Try to make use of him somehow.”
“Yes, actually, about that…”
“What?”
“What if we suspended Assand sales for a while?”
“Suspend sales?”
“Right now, the market can’t even distinguish between counterfeit and genuine. There’s no point flooding the market with Assand that we’ve worked so hard to create. Like avoiding a downpour, we shouldn’t get mixed up in this muddy situation. Why don’t we stockpile Assand for now, and release it later when things settle down? In the meantime, I can focus more on development. Since I have to produce Assand every day and also conduct research, I can’t concentrate properly on either.”
“That could work. Let’s do it that way.”
*******
Beijing Back Alley.
Buyers were purchasing Assand in the back alley.
“What? Ten yuan? That doesn’t make sense.”
“Doesn’t work? Then we can’t buy it at that price.”
“What? It was 20 yuan just yesterday, and you’re cutting it in half in a single day? How is that even possible?”
“I know, right? I was shocked too. The price collapsed overnight. Now it’s not just you—Assand is flooding in from everywhere.”
“Our product is different quality.”
“Everyone says that. They all claim their goods are premium.”
“Ours really is different, I’m telling you.”
“Fine, I’ll give you that. But the price is different. You know as well as I do how many counterfeits are flooding the market. Prices have to reflect market conditions.”
“… Still, cutting it in half is too much. You should at least give 15 yuan.”
“Other suppliers came offering 8 yuan. I’m proposing 10 yuan because of the trust we’ve built together. I know your product is the best.”
The organization member listened to the buyer’s pitch, then paused thoughtfully.
“Ah, I don’t think I can decide this on my own. Let me check with my superior and get back to you.”
The member called his superior.
“They’re saying they can only offer 10 yuan. Should we sell at that price? Yes, understood.”
The man finished the call and returned to the buyer.
“We’ll do 10 yuan.”
“Sorry. 10 yuan is too expensive.”
“What are you talking about? You just said 10 yuan a moment ago.”
“I did. But the world has changed. It’s a different world than it was two minutes ago. I just got an offer for 5 yuan. If I buy at 10 yuan when there’s a 5 yuan offer on the table, wouldn’t that make us fools?”
“… So how much do you want?”
“6 yuan. And that’s already being generous.”
Unlike Assand’s limited production, every organization suddenly began mass-producing counterfeits.
At first, people bought blindly, thinking they were getting genuine Assand, but now they knew better—they were counterfeits.
Of course, some people still purchased the counterfeit Assand, saying it was acceptable enough.
But on the other hand, many demanded refunds due to different effects compared to genuine Assand, and reports of severe side effects multiplied.
The biggest problem was that as massive quantities flooded the market all at once, prices plummeted in real time.
Demand had dropped, yet hundreds of times more product poured in.
Sellers had no choice but to adjust their prices downward accordingly.
Still, it remained profitable.
*******
MSS Headquarters Office.
The Director of Drug Supervision sought out Zhou Chiming.
“Director. We have a serious problem. Counterfeit Assand has flooded the market.”
“I’ve heard about it.”
“What do we do about this?”
“We’re exploring various approaches. We anticipated counterfeits would emerge, but we didn’t expect them this quickly.”
“The counterfeit’s composition is far too dangerous to ignore like we did with Assand. This is essentially a drug.”
“We’ve already analyzed the composition. We’ll need to take action one way or another.”
“People behaving like zombies are already being spotted frequently in major cities. The media will likely report on this soon.”
“The media can be controlled—that’s not my main concern. I’m worried about the people’s lives and health.”
“It seems we’ll need to launch enforcement operations on our end.”
The Director of Drug Supervision spoke with an apologetic and awkward expression.
“That’s right. We’ll help too. The State Council has agreed to cooperate fully, so we should be able to get assistance from Public Security.”
The Director of Drug Supervision was startled by this unexpected response and looked at Zhou Chiming.
It wasn’t the reaction I had anticipated.
I had thought that through Assand, I’d developed some rapport with Zhou Chiming.
But I assumed that once counterfeit Assand appeared and I announced I’d crack down on it, Zhou Chiming would be disappointed.
Once the crackdown began, Assand would naturally be swept up in it as well.
Then I might not be able to identify who was selling Assand or who was producing it.
They could disappear completely into hiding.
Conversely, I could be arrested alongside the drug dealers and treated as a common criminal, facing execution.
I would have preferred to separate Assand from the rest, but the current situation didn’t allow for that.
In circumstances like these, I couldn’t distinguish the components.
Everything that came from the counterfeit would be seized first, and decisions would come later.
There were no warrants or anything like that.
Arrest first, determine charges later.
I had thought that if the Director of Drug Supervision announced a crackdown in this situation, I would see him as a traitor.
But he didn’t just say he understood—he said he’d help. Why?
I thought he’d be disappointed that after agreeing to protect Assand together, the Director of Drug Supervision would back out first. Why?
So I asked.
“What about Assand?”
“For now, it seems the crackdown comes first. We can worry about the rest afterward. Or perhaps···”
“Or perhaps···??”
“What if we use this opportunity to find a way to officially distribute Assand?”

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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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