I Became a Black Market Tycoon with an Inventory - Chapter 107

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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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107 – Pursuit
107
Beijing, China.
MSS Headquarters.
Tang Ze-gang of the Video Analysis Team sat vacant-eyed before his monitor, utterly drained of energy.
Honestly, I don’t even know what I’m doing anymore.
I don’t know who I’m supposed to be looking for.
They’re asking me to find someone I don’t even know.
No evidence. No leads.
Just find them, they say.
I can’t even remember when I last clocked out.
I just wash up hastily in the bathroom, grab meals from the cafeteria or order takeout,
and catch brief naps at my desk.
I haven’t set foot outside this building.
The atmosphere won’t allow it.
If I leave this building now, it feels like I’ll never be allowed back in.
Zhou Chiming, the section chief, has ordered us to uncover the Assand dealer or distribution network, no matter what.
Every MSS operative has been searching for Assand distributors.
But we haven’t found a single trace anywhere.
We’ve detained several people who sold Assand, but they knew nothing.
However, they all said the same thing.
They received a call, went to the warehouse, and the Assand was already there.
Thinking we could identify who left it in the warehouse, we reviewed the CCTV footage.
Not a single person entered or exited.
It’s maddening.
For the rental warehouses, we checked the lease ledgers.
The person who rented the warehouse didn’t exist—it was an alias.
According to the records, the goods were already placed there months before Assand began spreading.
I checked the warehouse CCTV just in case, but it had already been deleted.
Normally, CCTV footage gets completely overwritten and replaced with new recordings every month.
Still, we collected everything.
After forensic recovery, I’m reviewing all the restored footage.
Staring at corrupted, fragmented screens for eighteen hours a day made my stomach churn.
I felt like I might vomit at any moment.
Yet not a single lead emerged.
There was no way to identify who left it there.
How could I report that I don’t really know?
I have to at least look like I’m doing something.
Rather than genuinely trying to catch the culprit, I’ve been staring at monitors all day just to show I’m taking action.
In any case, to find this unknown person, the Video Analysis Team is analyzing every CCTV recording brought in from across the entire country.
It’s truly like searching for a needle on a beach, or finding a needle in a haystack in Seoul.
No evidence had surfaced.
Just when I was ready to give up, I spotted a familiar face in the airport footage.
It was immigration video—a Pakistani man, but his appearance was distinctly un-Pakistani, which caught my attention.
Yet in the current footage, he’s listed as Vietnamese.
He was definitely Sakib, a Pakistani man.
Now he’s traveling under the passport of Nguyen Minh Kang from Vietnam.
‘That’s odd.’
I decided to search for this man’s footage using AI tools.
With the AI Team’s assistance, I cross-referenced CCTV footage from the Airport and Railway, as well as images from passports and identification documents.
After three full days of searching, the results were shocking.
Same face, but he possessed twenty-one different identities.
A single person using twenty-one passports—that’s a problem even without Assand involvement.
He’s someone we need to apprehend.
And wherever that man went, Assand inevitably surfaced.
It felt like I’d found something significant.
Tang Ze-gang reported the findings to the Team Leader.
Shortly after, the MSS’s top priority became investigating the man in the footage.
All departments of the MSS were mobilized for the operation.
To uncover everything about the man in the video.
******
Edward was examining the Assand samples he’d prepared yesterday early in the morning at the Laboratory.
Disappointing.
Contrary to his expectations, none of the crystals had formed properly.
‘This one’s a failure, this one too, this one as well… failure.’
Edward was growing slightly weary from the continuous failures.
He was beginning to feel his own limitations.
The approach of creating new Assand rather than the existing formula was sound,
but creating new Assand while preserving all of the original’s medicinal properties was far from easy.
Only sighs escaped him.
It was bleak.
It felt like facing a wall.
Still… I have to try again.
I can’t afford to give up.
Even if I said I couldn’t do it here and wanted to quit, no one would blame me.
The Young Boss would understand.
Yet I didn’t want to disappoint him.
At least, I wanted to be someone he needed.
Just as I was about to prepare for another experiment.
‘What’s this?’
The reaction of the final sample was abnormal.
I made a small mistake at the end of yesterday.
While mixing the drug, I spilled far too much fentanyl.
That crazy Shin Jung-gi bastard suddenly touched me from behind…
But this turned out far more transparent and showed much cleaner crystals than I expected.
I hastily ran a component test.
What? This shouldn’t be like this…
It retained all the effects of Assand while becoming significantly more potent.
Should I call it an improved version, literally?
With this, mass production of Assand would be possible.
Not just ten times, but even a hundred times, a thousand times—this recipe allowed for mass production at any scale.
The joy was short-lived.
A hollow laugh escaped me.
When I was striving so hard, nothing worked.
The fact that I succeeded because of Shin Jung-gi filled me with self-loathing.
It infuriated me that Shin Jung-gi’s words about pouring in fentanyl seemed to be correct.
I didn’t want to use this sample because it felt like I had lost to Shin Jung-gi for nothing.
Yet Edward wore a subtle smile at the corner of his lips and carefully preserved the sample.
Then he called the Young Boss.
“Young Boss. It’s complete.”
*****
“Young Boss.”
“What?”
Simon bursts into my quarters early in the morning and wakes me up.
“Simon apparently caught some strange person?”
“What are you talking about so early? Who did he catch?”
“I don’t know the details. Apparently a Korean person.”
“A Korean person in Mindanao? Ah, they could be from Dae Yeon Development. But why did he catch them?”
“I’m not sure about that. He just said he caught a Korean person.”
Scott’s face is brimming with curiosity as he speaks.
His expression shows he’s anticipating something interesting might happen.
I enjoy the uneventful life of Mindanao, but it seems Scott finds this quiet existence slightly tedious.
He makes a fuss over the smallest things.
“So?”
“He’s asking you to come.”
“That bastard Simon always catches people and then comes running to me.”
“Should I prepare?”
“Do I have to go?”
“You should go. While you’re at it, why not enjoy some kimchi stew for once? Didn’t you create that kimchi stew restaurant?”
“Hey! Did I ask you to open a kimchi stew restaurant? Simon got ahead of himself. He heard that all Korean people love kimchi stew and opened it on his own.”
“You prepared this meal for the Young Boss, didn’t you?”
“I grew up poor and never ate kimchi as a kid! Regardless of what others think, kimchi is not soul food to me.”
“But you must have Korean DNA, right? That alone should be enough to make you enjoy kimchi.”
“DNA? I’ve got DNA that’ll beat you senseless. Want to feel it?”
“I’ll have to decline such DNA.”
.
.
.
“You here?”
“Why do you keep telling people to come and go?”
I headed to Simon’s office.
“I called you because I wasn’t sure what to do with this bastard.”
“Just handle it yourself. Why call me?”
“Turns out this guy works for Dae Yeon Development.”
“What? Dae Yeon Development?”
“Yeah. So I wanted to ask you and handle it accordingly.”
“But what kind of trouble did he cause to get arrested? Dae Yeon Development—aren’t they just regular office workers? The worst they’d do is start a bar brawl, right?”
“If it was just a bar brawl, I’d let him go. But this was something that left a bad taste.”
“Something that left a bad taste?”
“These bastards went to a karaoke bar, got drunk, and were looking for children.”
“Children? How young?”
“Very.”
At those words, Manager Lee Sung-hun’s expression made it immediately clear what kind of person they’d been looking for.
“These fucking bastards have some nerve. Bring them in.”
A moment later
Two men dragged in through the door.
They looked rough,
but it seemed to be from hangovers and exhaustion rather than beatings.
Simon must have simply detained them because they worked for Dae Yeon Development.
The men didn’t seem to understand what was happening.
I asked them a question.
“Dae Yeon Development?”
When I spoke, Manager Lee Sung-hun’s face brightened.
“Korean? Ah—you came to pick us up? Good find. Let’s go. I don’t want to be here any longer.”
The moment Manager Lee Sung-hun opened his mouth, the stench of alcohol poured out.
How much had he drunk?
I turned my head away from the foul mixture of alcohol and sweat, but Manager Lee Sung-hun continued talking without concern.
“By the way, don’t you have any water? My throat is parched. It would be perfect if you brought honey water on the way here. Though I guess you Philippines guys wouldn’t have that kind of sense. Let’s go. I need to grab something to drink at a convenience store on the way out.”
The moment I heard his tone, my head throbbed.
I wasn’t there last night, but I could roughly imagine what this bastard had done.
I wondered just how much trouble he’d caused.
“What are you doing? Let’s go. And before we leave, find out what these bastards do. Thinking about what they did to me yesterday still makes my blood boil. No matter what happens, I’m going to make these bastards pay.”
“What did they do to you?”
“What do you mean what did they do? I was having a drink at a bar, and they just barged in and slapped me across the face. Then they dragged me here and locked me up. Does this make any sense? I’m going to report them to the Police, go to the embassy, tell them everything, and throw every single one of these bastards in jail.”
“Didn’t you hear me tell you not to leave the Hotel?”
“I just wanted to grab a light beer… But when did you ever see me before to talk to me like that? You disrespectful punk. If you came to pick me up, just pick me up and go. Why are you interrogating me like this?”
“You’re speaking informally too.”
“What? You little bastard, there’s nothing you won’t say. Do you want to go to jail with these bastards too? If you want to go to jail, do whatever you want.”
“Stop making these pathetic threats. Go ahead. Send me to jail.”
“What?”
“Before that, I think you should worry about whether you can even leave this place. Because I’m getting angry right now.”
“What are you going to do if you get angry?”
“Did you find a young girl at the bar yesterday?”
“You can choose whoever you want at a bar. What’s the problem with that?”
“That’s not the problem. If you pay and have fun, who’s going to say anything? There’s no problem at all.”
“Then why?”
I walked steadily toward Lee Sung-hun.
As I approached, I felt Lee Sung-hun flinch slightly, shrinking back.
A far cry from his loud shouting moments before.
Crack!
I immediately slapped Lee Sung-hun across the face.
“Then just choose from the ones who work there.”
Crack!
“Why look for a young girl?”
Crack!
“A young girl at that!!”
Crack!
“A young girl who doesn’t even work there!!”
Crack!
“Where did you hear such nonsense? Do you think you can get away with this here?”
Crack!
“You can’t. You fucking bastard.”
After several slaps, Lee Sung-hun stumbled and fell, while Cho Hyun-min behind him was startled.
Lee Sung-hun momentarily tried to rush at me in shock, but the moment our eyes met, he just tucked his tail between his legs and stayed still.
He touched his face, wincing from the pain of the blows.
“You’re misunderstanding something. I’m not the person who came to pick you up.”
“Then?”
I glared at him again.
“S-so? How did you get here?”
“I’m the one who came to decide whether to kill you or let you live.”
“A verdict?”
I pulled out my phone and called Dae-hun.
On speaker.
“Yo, bro. What’s going on so early in the morning?”
“Don’t ‘bro’ me. Your guys are causing trouble here, and you’re calling me ‘bro’?”
“Huh? Trouble?”
I could hear the shock in Dae-hun’s voice, which had been so relaxed just moments before.
I explained the situation briefly.
After hearing the story, Dae-hun was even angrier than I was.
“Fire that bastard.”
“Fire him from where? The company? That’s your job.”
“Obviously fire him from the company, but cut that off too. Without it, he’ll behave himself.”
“Even if you cut that off, the crazy bastard will still do crazy things. It won’t help at all.”
“Then cut off his hands, his ankles too, and if that doesn’t work, cut off his head.”
“Why do you keep talking about cutting things?”
“Never mind. Just package those bastards up and send them to me. I’ll butcher them here.”
“Forget it. Shipping them alive costs too much. I’ll handle it here.”
“Don’t do that. I need to do something too. I feel terrible about sending those guys. I have no face to show.”
“Then we’ll handle these bastards ourselves.”
“Got it.”
“And send me their personal information.”
“Yeah. I’ll send it now.”
Lee Sung-hun, who had been listening to our conversation, suddenly shouted.
“This violates personal information laws! You hear me? Personal information law violation!”
But he only raised his voice without taking any action.
The lingering pain in Lee Sung-hun’s cheek was building his patience.
Shortly after, their personal information arrived.
“Scott, send this to Tian Zihao and have him investigate these bastards. Find out what they’ve been doing within an hour.”
“Understood. But wouldn’t it be cleaner to just bury them?”
“I think there’s more to these guys. And we need to get paid for our labor.”
“They don’t seem to have any money. What would we get paid with?”
“If you cut them open, won’t something come out?”
Both their faces went pale at my words.
Only then did Lee Sung-hun remember the words his team members had mentioned in passing.
Dae Yeon Development was able to suddenly expand into the Philippines because a major figure in the Philippines is best friends with Dae Yeon Development’s new CEO.
That person holds absolute power in Mindanao.
The person I just finished talking to seems to be the CEO of Dae Yeon Development.
They said a gangster took over the company. It must be true.
Then.
The man standing before Lee Sung-hun.
He was definitely a major power broker with absolute authority in Mindanao.
Only then did Lee Sung-hun’s body begin to tremble uncontrollably.
The reality hit him—this wasn’t a joke. He could actually die here.
If I die here, they won’t even find my body.
I’ll just become fish food.
While Lee Sung-hun trembled with fear,
Scott sent the file to Tian Zihao and made a call.
Once this personal information reached Tian Zihao, it wouldn’t take long to uncover everything these bastards had been doing with their lives.
Tian Zihao—the one who manipulated user win rates in real-time programs.
Tian Zihao—the one who created the Assand sales website so perfectly that no one could trace it.
Tian Zihao—the one who could uncover anything with just a single photograph.
But now I had a resume too.
One where he’d faithfully written out his entire life history with his own hands.
This was like trying to swim while standing on solid ground.
A moment later, I skimmed through the file Tian Zihao had sent.
Remarkable.
Lee Sung-hun was far more of a bastard than I’d thought.
“Hey, you piece of shit Lee Sung-hun. You came to the Philippines for language studies? You dated a woman here, got her pregnant, and then just bolted back to Korea?”
The moment I brought up the language studies, Lee Sung-hun’s face went pale.
“You gave the woman a fake contact number. Then you went back to Korea, married another woman, and lived comfortably. Meanwhile, your kid is begging in the back alleys of the Philippines, and you come all the way here to drink and chase women? I think we need to cut you loose for real.”
Lee Sung-hun, trembling with fear, finally broke.
“No, that’s not it. It’s a misunderstanding. A misunderstanding.”
“What misunderstanding?”
“I didn’t know she was pregnant. I’m telling the truth.”
“Does that make any sense?”
“It’s the truth.”
“You sick bastard. The woman tracked down your contact information and called you, and you just ignored her? You’ve got lying installed as a passive skill, don’t you?”
“···..”
“And whether you knew or not doesn’t matter. First, we’re collecting the overdue child support.”

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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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