I Became a Black Market Tycoon with an Inventory - Chapter 152

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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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152 – Townhouse
152.
National Intelligence Service.
“What’s wrong with this report?”
Park Do-jin, the Team Leader, was taken aback as he reviewed the report Hwang On-yu had brought.
The contents were far too sparse.
Movement records were documented, but there was no substance.
Who he met, what they discussed—that’s what mattered, and it was missing.
Without that, how could I piece anything together?
I couldn’t simply arrest someone and fabricate espionage charges out of thin air anymore.
These days, evidence matters.
To even bring someone in for questioning, I need at least a plausible pretext,
and that’s absent here.
Truthfully, the lack of evidence doesn’t actually prevent an investigation.
I could always grab my close associate Seo Dae-hun, rough him up, and bring in Gong In-bae as an accomplice.
Someone like Seo Dae-hun would spill everything under pressure.
I could present their shared meals and drinks as evidence of conspiracy.
No problem there.
The issue is that Seo Dae-hun is too big a fish to haul in over something like this.
If I brought him in, the old-timers would probably get wind of it and start making calls.
Pressure would come down on me.
I don’t want to go through all that trouble just to humiliate Gong In-bae.
I can’t afford to have this blow back on Park Do-jin.
I just want to harass him moderately.
I want to make Gong In-bae’s life difficult without much effort.
I want to humiliate him, to make him lose face.
That would suffice.
I wanted to make Gong In-bae feel pestered and inconvenienced.
Even better if he got scared.
That’s why I ordered surveillance on him.
Hoping something would turn up.
As the saying goes, you become black from proximity to ink.
Those who associate closely with gangsters always reveal something if you tail them long enough.
I could use that to intimidate him, threaten an investigation.
If I actually caught him at a crime scene, that would be ideal.
But the results are disappointing.
If Hwang On-yu were incompetent, I’d understand,
but he’s one of the National Intelligence Service’s top operatives.
Yet he lost Gong In-bae.
I had just one person under surveillance, and he couldn’t even manage that properly.
“I apologize.”
“Hwang On-yu. This isn’t like you at all. Why did you handle things this way?”
“That’s true. Whenever I get close to the area, I get caught up in incidents and accidents, so I couldn’t gather proper intelligence.”
“Incidents and accidents?”
“While I’m chasing him, they say there’s construction and divert the car, or if I stop for a moment, a cargo truck blocks the way ahead. That’s how I keep missing by just one beat.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. In that gap, Gong In-bae disappears.”
Hearing Hwang On-yu’s words, Team Leader Park Do-jin sensed something was off.
Once is coincidence, but when it repeats, it’s not coincidence.
There was something suspicious about dismissing it as mere chance.
Park Do-jin didn’t think this was coincidence.
Was someone helping from the sidelines?
No. There wasn’t anyone.
Park Do-jin had investigated Gong In-bae for quite some time.
As far as he knew, there was no one in South Korea who could help him.
If there was one person, it would only be Seo Dae-hun.
Seo Dae-hun wasn’t with him at that time.
“Something feels off. Was there anyone else?”
“There was one Filipino with him.”
Hmm…
After thinking for a moment, Park Do-jin spoke to Hwang On-yu.
“Let’s dig into the person who came with this bastard.”
“We haven’t been able to identify their personal information yet.”
“We can figure it out from the immigration records. They must have entered together with Gong In-bae, right?”
“Ah. I’ll check right away.”
Hwang On-yu manipulated the computer while Team Leader Park Do-jin stood behind him.
“Huh?? Huh??”
Assistant Hwang On-yu made an odd sound.
“What is it?”
“Gong In-bae has no record of leaving the country for the past three years.”
“What?”
Team Leader Park Do-jin asked in surprise.
That made no sense.
I met him directly in the Philippines.
That was a year ago.
Met him in the Philippines, but there’s no immigration record?
His passport was in South Korea? His body was in the Philippines?
How could that be possible?
After organizing his thoughts for a moment, Team Leader Park Do-jin let out a slight laugh.
The situation became immediately clear.
A forged passport.
That’s all.
And he entered with a forged passport?
There’s definitely something off about this.
There’s no reason to enter with a forged passport otherwise.
There’s something we don’t know.
He’s trying to do it together with the Dae-hoon Faction.
We’ve caught him red-handed.
This is a dead end.
There’s no escape.
First, we need to identify the accomplice.
And we need to verify Gong In-bae’s forged identity as well.
That’s simple. We just need to run facial recognition software on the airport CCTV.
Park Do-jin seemed to have newfound energy coursing through him.
The thought of catching Gong In-bae and crushing him made his blood pump with excitement.
“These bastards are about to have a rough time.”
Park Do-jin spoke with absolute conviction, as if he’d finally secured his victory.
Park Do-jin was delighted at the prospect of ensnaring Gong In-bae.
Then another thought occurred to him.
“About the Shin Jung-gi case.”
“The Shin Jung-gi who fled to the Philippines?”
“Right. The person who gave orders to that Shin Jung-gi and hid him could very well be Gong In-bae. That’s what I think anyway. No matter how I look at it, that’s the only possibility.”
“But that’s…”
Park Do-jin seemed intent on pinning the crime on Gong In-bae.
Hwang On-yu broke out in a cold sweat.
“First, secure the suspect. We can ask him later. Slowly. Very slowly.”
Park Do-jin wore a sinister expression.
******
“Boss. There are people digging into your background.”
“Me? Why would they investigate me?”
Allen reported to me quietly.
But who would dig into my background?
There shouldn’t be anyone.
What could they possibly find?
All I do here is loaf around and eat.
Why would anyone investigate a jobless man?
I don’t know about the Philippines, but in South Korea, I don’t do anything wrong.
If anything, I’m going through all this trouble to stop drugs.
And they’re investigating me?
Is it the Triad Society?
“I’m not certain about that. Based on their actions, they seem like a state agency, but I couldn’t identify them precisely. I apologize.”
“Don’t apologize for that. It’s fine. So what did you do?”
“I just set up measures to prevent them from entering beyond a certain distance.”
“Good work.”
“Should I teach them a lesson so they can’t come back at all?”
“No. Leave it. They’re just doing their job too. Let them work.”
“Still… I think you should be careful.”
“I know. Don’t worry. I’ll be careful.”
“Understood.”
Even so, Allen couldn’t shake the uneasy feeling and lingered in place.
He seemed quite anxious.
But right now, there was no information to act on.
There was nothing I could do.
That’s when Scott entered.
“Boss. The sample arrives in Pyeongtaek in five days.”
“Really? How did you find out?”
“Jason told me. And he made such a big deal about sharing this information.”
“Ha. Jason would do that. Where’s it coming from?”
“One moment.”
Scott manipulated the tablet before answering.
“It departs from Cambodia, gets unloaded in Guangdong, gets reloaded, gets laundered, then moves to Yantai, and finally arrives in Pyeongtaek.”
Being contraband, it seemed to make many stops for laundering purposes.
“So the last stop before arriving in Pyeongtaek would be Yantai?”
“Correct. It arrives in Yantai tomorrow.”
“The timing is perfect. Have them prepare a private jet. Let’s go.”
“Yes.”
And so we headed to the airport.
.
.
.
“Team Leader, I think our information has been compromised.”
“What?”
“Gong In-bae is heading to the airport right now.”
“What?”
Park Do-jin was flustered.
Heading to the airport?
Was he running away?
Running away to the Philippines?
If he runs to the Philippines, there’s no way to catch him.
I have to catch him before that.
Park Do-jin paused briefly before issuing an order to Hwang On-yu.
“Arrest him.”
“Sir?”
“I said arrest him.”
“But we don’t have a warrant?”
“He’s a caught-in-the-act offender.”
“A caught-in-the-act offender?”
“Using a forged passport—caught in the act.”
“Team Leader. This isn’t even an airport, and we can’t pull over a moving vehicle and arrest someone for a forged passport.”
“Damn it. He said he’s going to the airport. Once he gets into the Philippines, we can’t touch him. We have to grab him before he takes off, no matter what.”
Park Do-jin shouted the order.
Even as he issued the command, Park Do-jin felt uneasy.
Was this right?
What if this became a problem?
I knew it was a stretch, honestly.
This wasn’t the kind of person I normally was.
I wasn’t a good person, but I wasn’t someone who’d resort to this level of coercion.
But that bastard Gong In-bae—I despised him.
The more I said I hated him, the more I hated him.
I just hated him.
I couldn’t let him slip away like this.
I had to catch him.
Besides, I’d caught him red-handed with an actual crime,
and he was definitely using a forged passport—was I supposed to just let him go?
Absolutely not.
First, I’d arrest him, interrogate him, and charge him with additional crimes to throw him in prison.
At least slap a fine on him.
There might be some procedural issues, but once I had him in custody, I could sort it out.
“Grab him. Grab him no matter what.”
“Understood, sir.”
Hwang On-yu answered in an uncertain voice.
But Hwang On-yu couldn’t keep up with Gong In-bae’s vehicle.
While waiting at a traffic light, someone rear-ended the car he was driving.
Crash!!
The violent impact jolted through Hwang On-yu.
The car rocked back and forth.
A young woman emerged from the rear vehicle, flustered and anxious.
“Oh, I’m so sorry! I’m not familiar with this area, and I wasn’t paying attention. I’m truly sorry.”
Hwang On-yu was startled by the impact but quickly regained his composure.
He checked on Gong In-bae’s vehicle.
Gong In-bae’s car was already pulling away from the intersection.
I had to follow him quickly.
“It’s fine. Just go ahead.”
Hwang On-yu was about to drive off.
But the Woman in Cheongsam wouldn’t let him leave.
“How can you just go? There’s been an accident—you can’t just drive away without getting out to check. You need to verify the damage.”
Hwang On-yu reluctantly got out of the car and went to the rear to inspect how badly it was damaged.
The bumper was cracked, but it didn’t seem like there would be any problems driving.
“This is fine. I have urgent business, so I’ll be on my way.”
“No, you can’t. You absolutely cannot leave like this.”
The Woman in Cheongsam grabbed Hwang On-yu.
Hwang On-yu shook her off and insisted it was fine, but she was relentless.
“No, I’m telling you it’s fine. I won’t ask for repair costs, and I won’t go to the hospital. Let’s just go. I’m in a hurry.”
“That’s not happening. I’ve met people like you before. You say it’s fine now, then later you report it as a hit-and-run and try to shake me down for settlement money.”
Hwang On-yu’s brow furrowed.
“What? Settlement money scam?”
“Then why are you trying to leave? You could just call the police, file an accident report, and go. Why are you trying to just leave?”
The Woman in Cheongsam stepped closer.
“I told you. I have urgent business.”
“What could be so urgent that you’d just leave after an accident? Tell me. Tell me.”
Hwang On-yu’s patience snapped.
“Why would I explain myself to you, lady?”
“What? Lady? What makes you think I look like a lady?”
The Woman in Cheongsam, genuinely angry now, began arguing with Hwang On-yu.
The accident was forgotten.
The debate over her age had become heated.
Meanwhile, Gong In-bae’s car arrived safely at the airport.
Unable to pursue Gong In-bae any further because of the Woman in Cheongsam, Hwang On-yu simply gave up and waited for the police to arrive.
He actually thought it had worked out well.
He’d been worried that apprehending him without a warrant might cause problems, so the accident felt like a blessing in disguise.
Though a fleeting thought crossed his mind—what if someone else had orchestrated this?
But he quickly shook his head.
Gong In-bae wasn’t the kind of person who could pull off something like this.
Shortly after, the police arrived and began processing the accident report.
That’s when the Woman in Cheongsam’s eyes flashed.
The moment the police officer checked Hwang On-yu’s identification.
She casually committed the details to memory.
She instantly memorized his name and resident registration number.
On the way back after the accident report was completed.
The Woman in Cheongsam made a call the moment she got in her car.
I transmitted Hwang On-yu’s name and resident registration number.
The woman in the cheongsam only then clutched the back of her neck.
It seemed I’d need to visit the hospital.
********
Yantai International Port.
Though the surroundings had darkened completely, Yantai International Port remained as bright as midday.
Floodlights illuminated the harbor brilliantly, and countless vehicles and workers moved about.
The red lights of the container cranes blinked continuously,
and the salty sea breeze carried its scent unfiltered.
Thousands of containers were stacked in the storage yard.
Their colors, numbers, and companies all differed, yet there was an order to it all.
It was both the advantage and disadvantage of a massive port.
Too vast, too busy.
A single container could disappear and no one would notice.
“Scott. Confirm position.”
I communicated with Scott via radio.
I had already entered the storage yard, while Scott provided backup from the perimeter.
“Confirmed. The cargo is in D sector.”
“Okay. Moving now.”
Scott monitored my location and Yantai International Port’s security system on his laptop.
The laptop allowed him to track everything—CCTV feeds, patrol routes, even radio communications.
I moved quietly toward D sector.
Security guards moved along their designated routes, but they posed no real threat.
They wouldn’t find me.
The noise from the cranes also helped conceal my presence.
I reached D sector without incident.
“I’m here. Where’s the cargo?”
“Row 3, position 12.”
“Okay.”
Scott’s voice came through again.
“Cargo number SHMC 249019, unit 7.”
“S… H M C… two four nine zero one nine…”
I swept my flashlight across the containers, searching.
Among countless containers, I had to find SHMC 249019.
Row 3, position 12.
One, two, three… eleven, twelve.
Found it.
The number was written on the upper right of the green container’s door.
SHMC 249019
The door had a locking mechanism.
This much is no problem.
I pulled out a cutter from my inventory and severed the lock with ease.
Before opening the door, I checked if there might be any sensors.
Could there be an open-close detection device? I reached in to verify.
Nothing.
Lucky for me, but their security is pathetically lax.
Incompetent bastards.
I steadied my breathing and carefully opened the Container door.
Creak—
The noise startled me for a moment, but it quickly subsided.
It was swallowed by the ambient noise around me.
The Container’s entrance opened, and I stepped inside.
I immediately began searching for the Disand.
But…
But… it’s not here.
I can’t see the Disand.
The cargo I expected isn’t visible.
There were only well-packaged items stacked neatly on pallets.
Something’s wrong.
…
Noticing my silence, Scott’s voice crackled through the radio.
“Is something wrong?”
“I can’t see the cargo.”
“The Container number is correct, right?”
“Yeah. I confirmed that before entering.”
“That shouldn’t be possible…”
“Hold on. Let me search again.”
I calmed myself and resumed searching for the Disand.
Don’t panic.
Stay composed… stay composed…
Steadying myself with these thoughts.
I examined the surroundings once more.
Then I saw it.
All the items were stacked on pallets and wrapped in plastic film.
And within that wrapping, I could faintly make out the Disand packaging.
Found it.
I’d been mistaken.
Since I always carry it in a sports bag, I assumed these guys would bring it in one too.
I was only looking for a bag.
For international shipments, proper packaging is essential.
I knew that, yet I failed to think it through.
I only considered the packaging I had prepared.
Well, I found it, so that’s what matters.
Now I just need to load it into my inventory and leave.
But there’s a problem.
The packaging of the Disand is the issue.
These Disand units are packaged as a single bulk lot.
500,000 units in one shipment.
There are two pallets, each carrying 500,000 Disand units.
It would have been perfect if they’d packaged them in convenient batches of 100,000 units each,
but these bastards lack that kind of attention to detail.
Thoughtless bastards.
Either way, I’m equally flustered.
This is a situation I hadn’t anticipated.
I was at a loss.
A pallet loaded with 500,000 Disand units is roughly the size of a washing machine.
That size won’t fit in my inventory.
It’s far too large.
I can’t unpack them and store them individually.
If I put them in my inventory one by one, only 100 units fit.
Ten units per slot.
Ten slots total.
I considered transferring them to a bag instead.
I always keep a bag in my inventory.
I wondered if I could unwrap the packaging and transfer them into the bag.
But that would take far too long.
I’d be lucky to finish by morning.
I had no idea what to do.
Honestly, I panicked.
My mind seemed to shut down.
I considered abandoning everything and leaving.
No one would blame me if I turned back now.
We could simply accept the sample as originally planned.
It would only be humiliating for me personally.
I was torn with indecision.
That’s when Scott’s radio transmission came through.
“Security is heading your way.”
···.
I don’t know.
Let me just try loading it.
The inventory doesn’t have a fixed size anyway.
If I’m lucky, it’ll fit.
I concentrated all my focus.
I didn’t actually expect it to work.
But let me try anyway.
I placed my hand on the pallet containing the Disand and continued muttering like I was casting a spell.
Go in…go in…go in…go in…go in…
But the pallet didn’t budge.
…Damn it.
It’s not working?
Do I have to go back like this?
“Security 20 meters behind. Stand by.”
At Scott’s words, I stopped moving and held my breath.
But I didn’t remove my hand from the Disand.
“The security is heading this way.”
“Do something.”
“Just a moment.”
Scott replied nonchalantly.
If you go out there, you’re dead.
Even in that moment, I desperately—
Even more desperately—screamed internally.
I deceived myself and planted a suggestion in my own mind.
That I could do it.
That I could fit this much into my inventory.
Go in…go in…go in…go in…go in…
That instant.
Whoosh.
With the sensation of air being sucked away, the pallet in front of me vanished.
The space where the pallet had been was now empty.
Gasp.
A sound escaped me involuntarily in shock.
I immediately placed my hand on the second pallet beside it.
There was no reason to hesitate.
The second pallet slipped into my inventory far more smoothly.
Done.
I clenched my fist.
That’s when I heard something from the opposite direction.
I could hear radio static.
The security guards were close enough that I could hear their radio chatter.
Scott must have done something.
“What about security?”
“I triggered one sensor through the system. The Control Room sent a radio message to check it. There’s no one here now. They turned back.”
“Good work.”
I offered Scott a word of praise.
I exited the Container again, closed the door carefully, and matched the seal as closely as possible.
I replaced the severed lock with a different one.
Then I strolled out of the Storage Yard as if nothing had happened.
I never once looked back while leaving the Storage Yard.
But my heart was pounding like mad.
It wasn’t because I’d stolen the Disand.
That thing was nothing but useless garbage.
What amazed me was that an object the size of a washing machine had fit into my inventory.
My heart raced wildly just imagining what else I could do with this.
With my inventory, I had become a major player in the black market.
152 – Townhouse
E-book Publication
/ December 23, 2025
Author
/ Black Card
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/ Son Je-ho
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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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