I Became a Black Market Tycoon with an Inventory - Chapter 161

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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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161 – Du Man-sik
161.
Dae Yeon Development Chairman’s Office.
“You’ve worked hard.”
As I entered the chairman’s office, Dae-hoon greeted me with his characteristic leisurely demeanor.
I paused for a moment, admiring how perfectly he embodied the image of a proper CEO.
“Hard work? It’s been rather enjoyable, actually. I even got to experience throwing my weight around like a boss.”
“Seems like it suits you?”
Dae-hoon asked playfully.
“Apparently so. I’ve discovered a hidden talent I never knew I had. Maybe that’s why early education is so important.”
“Early education?”
“Right. You can’t know you have a talent for wielding power unless you actually try it. So it’s crucial to expose yourself to diverse experiences from a young age—whether it’s being in a position of authority or subordination.”
“Haha, that’s true. When I have kids, I’ll make sure they experience all sorts of things.”
After a brief exchange of jokes, Dae-hoon turned serious.
“So, what are you going to do with the Triad Society now?”
“I’m still thinking about it.”
“Why? Can’t you just absorb it?”
I shook my head.
“It’s too massive to swallow whole. The systems are a mess, and there are too many corrupted elements. If I absorb it as is, it’ll only cause problems.”
Dae-hoon raised his eyebrows in surprise.
“Really? That’s different from what the name suggests.”
“Yeah. I thought the Triad Society would be something impressive, but it’s not.”
“Then just abandon it. It’s not even profitable.”
Dae-hoon spoke without hesitation.
“It would be a waste to do that.”
“A waste of what?”
“Information.”
“Information?”
“The vast amounts of intelligence accumulated within the Triad Society. Funds, regional networks, underground dealings, smuggling routes, and the people who manage them. The Triad Society may be broken, but its infrastructure is still intact.”
Ever since I met with Hwang On-yu last time, I’d been contemplating this.
I’d given considerable thought to his request not to dismantle the Triad Society.
But I couldn’t operate it in its current state.
It was outdated, and the returns were pathetic compared to the investment required.
The management systems were chaotic.
Everything relied purely on personal loyalty.
What if I could preserve the Triad Society’s name and infrastructure while transforming the organization to maximize efficiency? The answer I arrived at was to convert it into an intelligence organization.
The Triad Society didn’t need to generate money.
I already had plenty of that anyway.
“Hmm…”
Dae-hoon nodded thoughtfully.
Dae-hun seemed to share that sentiment.
It was a weight only those who had run an organization could understand.
“You’ll know once you actually manage it. That you can’t run things by numbers alone. That people are the most expensive asset.”
I smiled faintly at Dae-hun’s words and made a suggestion.
“Want to give it a try?”
“Try what?”
“The Triad Society.”
Dae-hun immediately shook his head.
“Haha. No thanks. I don’t know that world well anyway. And above all, it sounds exhausting.”
“It’s not a criminal organization—it’s an intelligence network. It’ll be different from gangsters. There’ll be fewer things to worry about.”
“An intelligence network… it’s a good idea, but it doesn’t seem like something I should take on.”
“Shame.”
“So you’re just collecting information?”
He’d refused the position of Triad Society chairman, but he still seemed quite interested in what the Triad Society did.
“No, we distribute it too. We collect information from the market and release the information we want. That’s why we run the Triad Society.”
“Information distribution.”
Dae-hun showed considerable interest.
“Bars, cafes, restaurants, karaoke rooms, pubs, massage parlors, saunas, money changers, used car dealers, cell phone shops, trading companies—everywhere people come and go, we collect and distribute information. Every story that comes out of those places becomes our asset.”
“That’s definitely better than being gangsters.”
“Information beats blades.
Dae-hun thought for a moment before speaking.
“Ah. Now that you mention it, I just remembered someone.”
.
.
.
The man standing before me was someone without a single hair on his entire body.
Not on his head, not even on his eyebrows.
His expression was excessively polite, but his eyes were sharp.
“This is Du Man-sik.”
“Hello. I’m Du Man-sik.”
He bowed deeply in greeting.
His body was lean and efficient.
His piercing gaze swept over me once.
“He originally came as a Triad Society envoy, but now he’s reformed and living a new life.”
“Nice to meet you.”
I greeted him.
Dae-hun introduced me to Du Man-sik.
“This is Alex. You might have read about him—In-bae from the biography is this guy right here.”
For a moment, Du Man-sik’s eyes flickered.
A TV star?
It felt like I was facing a deity.
“Anyway, the reason I called you here is… Alex, you explain it.”
I gathered my thoughts for a moment, then informed Du Man-sik of recent developments he didn’t know about.
I told him how the branch leaders of the Triad Society had disappeared and how Zhang Tian had been captured by the Ministry of State Security.
“So I’m planning to reorganize the Triad Society.”
“I understand what you mean. I’ll strip away the unnecessary branches and consolidate only the core operations.”
Du Man-sik spoke as if he understood my intentions.
“No, that’s not it.”
“Sir?”
Du Man-sik looked slightly confused.
“What I want isn’t just to extract profitable ventures from the Triad Society. I’m planning to completely transform it into an intelligence organization.”
“An intelligence organization?”
“Yes. You’ll continue running your existing businesses—bars, restaurants, whatever. If you don’t have a business, I’ll set one up for you.”
Du Man-sik was taken aback by my words.
“Then what should I do?”
“Gather the information that flows out from those places. Collect it, filter it, analyze it, and report back to me. Can you do that?”
“I can, but honestly, that won’t generate much profit.”
“I’m not trying to make money. If I can see the world before others do, that’s all I need.”
“If that’s the case, I can do it. Actually, that was what the Triad Society did best. We just never used the information that way before.”
Du Man-sik spoke with confidence.
“Then I’ll trust you with this.”
“Thank you. I’ll do my best.”
Du Man-sik bowed respectfully.
“From now on, you’re the Chairman of the Triad Society.”
“Pardon?”
Du Man-sik’s eyes widened in surprise at my words.
“To do the work properly, you need the appropriate authority. You’re now the Chairman of the Triad Society. Go and take control of the organization. I’ll support you with whatever you need.”
“Thank you.”
Du Man-sik didn’t fully understand the situation, but he offered his gratitude first.
“And this.”
I pulled out a bag.
“It’s money. Use it where needed. Even if you’re the Chairman, you need some spending money.”
Du Man-sik’s expression changed.
For Du Man-sik, superiors had always been people who extracted tributes—he’d never experienced money flowing in the opposite direction.
It was astonishing.
Du Man-sik bowed deeply.
He thought to himself that following Seo Dae-hun had been the right choice.
He’d abandoned everything and followed Dae-hun, and now the position of Triad Society Chairman had fallen into his lap.
And he was being given money too.
Du Man-sik made a silent vow in his heart.
I decided to completely transform the Triad Society.
The Triad Society would become something entirely different now.
It would be reborn as a far quieter, far more dangerous organization.
******
“Around here, right? Where your house used to be?”
“Yeah. Probably?”
I had come to the place where I lived during high school, together with Kwon Ju-ah.
We were on our way home after having dinner together.
Passing through the neighborhood, I was curious about how the place where I once lived had changed, so we stopped by for a moment.
Since that last meal, whenever we had time, we would meet, eat, and have tea together.
We ate tteokbokki, cold noodles, Korean set meals, and steaks.
We exchanged trivial stories, laughed, and chatted away.
We talked about things from TV, news, and stories circulating online.
When we were apart, we left messages and called each other.
When I left work, she would wait nearby, and we would ride together in the car.
At first, these moments felt very awkward and embarrassing, but at some point, I grew accustomed to them.
Being with Kwon Ju-ah was nice because I could talk about this and that lightly.
Since she knew me from when I was like a beggar, it was comfortable because I didn’t need to deceive her, hide things, or put on a facade.
It was nice that she wouldn’t find it strange to call me In-bae instead of Alex.
Today, after eating jjolmyeon and bibim mandu together, Kwon Ju-ah said she wanted to come here on the way home, so we came together.
She said that night had been so wonderful, and she was curious if the atmosphere would be the same when she was with me, so she asked to come.
I was curious about where I used to live, but I didn’t have the confidence to come all the way here.
For some reason, my feet wouldn’t take me this way.
Should I call it a forbidden zone?
I had an inexplicable aversion to it.
Perhaps I had instinctively rejected it because coming here felt like I would have to face my dark past.
Without realizing it, I had been avoiding this place.
But contrary to my concerns, this place had transformed into something completely different.
So much so that I couldn’t even find where I used to live.
I had lived here for twenty years, yet it had changed so much that I couldn’t recognize it.
The familiar streets I used to walk were still there,
but there was no trace of where I had lived.
There used to be a dilapidated house, a wooden platform, and Seoul’s night view,
but now there were tall apartments.
That actually gave me a sense of peace.
The unfamiliarity brought me reassurance instead.
“That’s right. Here. The scenery I saw that night is still the same.”
Kwon Ju-ah spoke while gazing at the night view.
“It seems that way.”
I felt the same way.
The night view of Seoul from where I stood felt familiar.
Kwon Ju-ah spoke in a serious voice.
“In-bae. I’m so curious about what you do.”
“······”
“The clothes you wear, the car you drive. The bodyguards around you. And when I think about the people who came to the hospital… I can roughly guess what’s going on. But despite all that, there’s something about you that doesn’t feel that way, and I like it.”
“······.”
Kwon Ju-ah spoke ambiguously, but I understood exactly what she meant.
Medical school really is different.
You have to be that perceptive to get into medical school.
“So I won’t ask. Just tell me when you’re ready.”
I couldn’t bring myself to answer Kwon Ju-ah’s words.
Could I be honest?
Could I tell her who I really am?
I’ve done too many terrible things to be honest.
.
.
.
“I’m home.”
After parting with In-bae, Kwon Ju-ah entered her home.
As she stepped inside, she greeted in a small voice, hoping no one would hear.
Fortunately, no one answered her greeting.
The lights in the house were on, but there was no warmth.
It wasn’t cold, but there was a chill in the air.
It was always like this.
There were only three of them in the family, but she had no memory of the three doing anything together.
Her father, who had been an executive at a major corporation, quit and started his own business.
He was just as busy.
The more days his work didn’t go well, the more irritation and anger grew.
Her mother, a university professor, was often away from home with academic conferences and social organization activities.
They were family, but there was no family-like intimacy.
They were simply in the same space.
In that space, there was no conversation, no physical affection.
They simply remained in the same space.
As Kwon Ju-ah entered her home and headed to her room, she encountered her father coming out of the study.
She gave him a subtle nod and tried to enter her room, but her father spoke.
“Come home a bit earlier from now on.”
“Yes.”
Kwon Ju-ah answered briefly and opened her door, but her father called out to her urgently.
“Ju-ah.”
“Yes?”
“Would you like to meet someone for a potential match?”
“Pardon?”
Kwon Ju-ah was startled by Father’s words.
A potential match, no less.
“A good opportunity has come up. I think it would be beneficial if you married them. It could also help my business a bit.”
For something to casually toss at a daughter coming home late at night, the words were far too heavy and grave.
“No, thank you. I haven’t given it any thought.”
Kwon Ju-ah deflected those weighty words.
“That’s the problem—you haven’t thought about it. How old are you now? It’s time to start preparing.”
“I haven’t even finished my residency yet. I’ll think about it slowly.”
“I’m saying this for your sake. For women, timing is everything.”
“That’s not how things work these days.”
“No, it’s still that way. Life is the same whether then or now. Good opportunities have always been scarce, and competition for those positions has always been fierce.”
Kwon Ju-ah said nothing more.
There seemed no point in continuing.
No matter how much she objected or protested, the conclusion was always the same.
If she spoke further, he would simply repeat the same words like a broken record.
“For your sake.”
“Because I care about you.”
“You don’t understand yet.”
“I’m not saying this for no reason.”
Though spoken gently, those words ensnared Kwon Ju-ah like a net.
As a subtle silence fell between Father and Kwon Ju-ah, the door opened and Mother emerged.
“You’re home, Ju-ah?”
“Yes.”
“You’re late these days.”
“I met up with a friend.”
Mother nodded.
Her expression suggested understanding, but her next words were the same.
“Come home early. You still need to be careful.”
“I understand.”
Kwon Ju-ah answered out of habit.
“Ju-ah, you need to do well. Do you know how carefully we raised you?”
“I know.”
“If you know, then do better. The fact that you can attend medical school and live like this is only because we’ve taken care of you. Your success is what makes our sacrifice worthwhile.”
Kwon Ju-ah hated those words most of all.
The implication that her life had been shaped entirely by her parents’ hands.
She despised the notion that she had done nothing herself, that her parents had created everything and she merely moved like a puppet above it.
It felt as though all her accomplishments, all her efforts, were being negated.
“But who is this friend you met with at this hour?”
“Just.. a friend.”
Kwon Ju-ah’s mother laughed at her response.
Her expression suggested she knew everything in the world.
“Sort things out quickly. Don’t go around giving false hope.”
“I’ve never done that.”
Kwon Ju-ah instinctively defended herself.
“Men think differently than you do.”
Kwon Ju-ah tried to explain that wasn’t the case, but her parents’ minds seemed unchanged.
Their thoughts mattered more than her words.
It had always been this way.
No matter what Kwon Ju-ah said, her parents didn’t listen.
They never tried to understand her.
They dismissed her sincere confessions, poured out with all her effort, as mere tantrums and childish whining.
Her parents had carved out a path, and Kwon Ju-ah was forced to walk it.
The moment she deviated even slightly from that path, criticism erupted.
It’s dangerous. It’s wrong. You don’t understand.
Kwon Ju-ah had no choice but to obey her parents’ demands.
That situation had arrived again.
Kwon Ju-ah wanted to escape this atmosphere.
“I’ll go in first.”
“Alright.”
Closing the door behind her, Kwon Ju-ah entered her room and sat on the bed, remaining still for a long moment.
I wanted to leave this suffocating home.
I couldn’t breathe.
I kept thinking of the time I spent with In-bae.
I could smile in front of In-bae.
Here, even breathing felt burdensome.
I picked up my phone and sent a message to In-bae.
“Made it home safely. Be careful on your way in.”
The message was simple,
but the meaning it carried was profound and significant.
Through the Inventory, I had become a magnate of the black market.
161 – Du Man-sik
E-book Publication
/ January 2, 2026
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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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