I Became a Black Market Tycoon with an Inventory - Chapter 167

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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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167 – Emergency Response Team
167.
3 PM.
Though it wasn’t quitting time, Kwon Sang-yeol prepared to leave the office.
Even sitting at his desk, he couldn’t focus on work.
Not that there was much to do anyway.
More than anything, his heart grew anxious at the thought that his daughter might return home.
His daughter hadn’t come home since their argument that day.
He’d even called the hospital, but they only said she hadn’t reported for her shift.
Her cell phone was turned off.
He couldn’t reach her.
While he was worried about his unreachable daughter,
what he truly wanted was to get her signature on the contract quickly.
If Taerim changed their mind, it would be catastrophic.
He had to resolve the situation before that happened.
If necessary,
he would have to force her to sign.
The matter was that urgent.
Kwon Ju-ah had no reason to come to the office.
So waiting at home made sense.
She might come to gather clothes like last time.
Home was their only point of contact.
He headed down to the parking lot to drive home.
As he walked toward his car, a van suddenly screeched to a halt in front of him.
Screech.
The door flew open and hands reached out.
Kwon Sang-yeol was pulled into the van before he could even react.
A mask was placed over his head the moment he got inside.
Both his hands were bound, immobilized.
His thigh stung sharply.
And then Kwon Sang-yeol lost consciousness.
.
.
.
Kwon Sang-yeol’s consciousness returned hazily.
Before he even opened his eyes, something felt wrong.
The floor swayed beneath him, salt air filled his nostrils, and the sound of waves reached his ears.
Surely not.
Kwon Sang-yeol forced his eyes open with effort.
The first thing that came into view was the horizon.
Huh?
I scanned my surroundings again.
Blue ocean stretched in every direction.
The sun was setting over one horizon, painting the water gold.
Kwon Sang-yeol was on a boat.
I had been brought here by ship to some unknown location.
“Are you coming to your senses now?”
Someone beside me spoke.
A man I had never seen before.
“You really should take better care of your health. The anesthetic was supposed to last an hour, but it took two hours for you to wake up. Thanks to that, our shift got extended too. This was supposed to wrap up perfectly and we’d clock out, but the anesthetic wore off late, so now we’re working overtime. I should be getting hazard pay, but I’ll let it slide today. Still, Father—shouldn’t you visit a hospital? If it takes this long to wake up, your liver or kidneys might not be functioning properly… Well, I suppose it doesn’t matter anymore, does it?”
The unfamiliar man said something, but his words didn’t register in Kwon Sang-yeol’s mind.
The situation itself was simply bewildering.
And typically, when someone is abducted like this, wouldn’t they be cursed at and threatened?
A kidnapper who calls you Father and worries about your health?
His voice was filled with genuine concern and anxiety.
None of this made any sense.
I had been dragged into a van in the parking lot as if kidnapped, and when I opened my eyes, I was in the middle of the ocean.
No matter how I thought about it, I was not the kind of person who deserved this treatment.
I had never done anything to warrant it.
“I think there’s been some misunderstanding. I’m not the kind of person who should be here. I’ve never borrowed money. I don’t have any money. I was wearing a mask, so I didn’t see anything. Absolutely nothing. So if you just let me go, I’ll live quietly for the rest of my life.”
Kwon Sang-yeol spoke with his eyes tightly shut.
“You don’t need to do that.”
“What?”
Kwon Sang-yeol’s eyes remained closed.
“You don’t need to go that far. The conclusion is already decided, and we’re just errand runners. We have no decision-making power. I’m sorry it had to be this way.”
“What do you mean?”
“It means you’re going to die today.”
“What?”
Kwon Sang-yeol was startled.
His closed eyes flew open.
“Could you have mistaken me for someone else? That can’t be right. I’ve lived an honest life. I’ve followed all the laws.”
Kwon Sang-yeol spoke as if he might burst into tears at any moment.
“You were trying to join forces with Taerim, weren’t you?”
“How could nobodies like us join forces with Taerim? We were just hoping to scrape together some scraps that fell from Taerim’s table… We were just trying to get some subcontracting work. That’s not a crime, is it?”
Kwon Sang-yeol spoke at length, but the man listening seemed utterly indifferent to his circumstances.
“Ha. That’s not a crime. But there are people who don’t like it.”
“People who don’t like it?”
Kwon Sang-yeol looked at the man as if hearing this for the first time.
“People who were working on Taerim. People who have been preparing to swallow Taerim whole. But because you were trying to marry your daughter into the Taerim family, their operation fell apart.”
“What? I don’t understand.”
“What I’m saying is that the roadmap Yun Tae-gyeom created was quite solid. If we actually went through with the marriage and followed the roadmap, Taerim would grow and the acquisition unit price would increase. But the plan fell apart, and we ended up spending more money. So we decided to call off the marriage. We decided to call it off, but… the biggest obstacle is your Father. The person involved said no, but Father keeps insisting anyway, so Father needs to be removed. Don’t you agree?”
“No···.”
Kwon Sang-yeol was genuinely terrified.
The man before him was kind.
He didn’t draw a knife or curse.
His tone was gentle and warm.
He called me Father respectfully and spoke in formal language.
He treated me like someone he’d known well.
He addressed Kwon Sang-yeol as if he didn’t want to do this, but had no choice because of work.
Yet there was no hesitation or reluctance in his willingness to kill Kwon Sang-yeol.
That’s what made him terrifyingly frightened.
“I understand Father’s position too, but from our client’s perspective, Father is the biggest problem. I really explained it kindly because you remind me of my own father.”
In truth, there were no people working on Taerim projects.
He’d simply fabricated them on the spot to intimidate Kwon Sang-yeol.
He figured that simply saying not to marry wouldn’t work, so he invented something fictional.
He’d simply created something on the other side.
Kwon Sang-yeol, who was normally cold and analytical,
who quickly analyzed situations and devised solutions accordingly,
couldn’t think straight now that he’d been cornered like this.
More than anything, he found this situation itself incomprehensible.
Being kidnapped had frozen his entire body and mind.
“I won’t allow the marriage.”
Kwon Sang-yeol declared it.
“It’s already too late. Our client has already become displeased. I told you earlier—I’m just a messenger. I have no decision-making authority.”
“I absolutely won’t allow it. No matter what happens, I won’t allow it.”
“It’s too late. But I’m really curious about something. It didn’t have to be Taerim specifically, did it? Your daughter could live her own life just fine. So why did you go to such lengths when she hated it so much?”
“Well···.”
Kwon Sang-yeol hesitated for a moment, then began to speak.
Thinking this was the end.
Thinking of it as his final words, his last confession, he began to speak.
If I die here, there’s no one else to hear my words but this person.
It seemed I could share at least this much.
“It wasn’t my intention to do it that way. The Taerim family… there’s some talk about them, but they’re still a chaebol, aren’t they? If she went there, she’d live without hardship her whole life, right? Living this long, I’ve learned that dreams and ideals are all meaningless. Dreams require money to survive in this world. So I wanted to send my daughter somewhere she could live without struggle. But… she kept saying she hated it, and at some point, stubbornness took over. So I ended up forcing her a bit. It was truly for my daughter’s sake.”
Even in his final moment, Kwon Sang-yeol gaslighted himself.
For his own sake.
He didn’t want to become a father who died while forcing his daughter into marriage.
So he deceived himself.
“Haha. That’s interesting. It’s different from what we knew, but I’ll accept it. We were under the impression it was because of the consulting contract.”
A look of bewilderment crossed Kwon Sang-yeol’s face.
“That’s… just supplementary. That’s not the absolute reason. I just… wanted to work. I wanted to prove I wasn’t an insufficient person. I wanted to show that the Strategy Team’s problem-solver was still capable. I’m better than this, I could do more. The world seemed to not recognize me, and that made me angry. I think I… took that out on Ju-ah. Now that I think about it, I’m sorry.”
Kwon Sang-yeol began to speak, and tears started streaming down his face.
As he talked, he finally seemed to realize what he truly wanted.
It wasn’t money that Kwon Sang-yeol desired.
An opportunity to showcase his talents.
He needed a chance to actually work.
With so much pent up inside, he began to sob openly.
“Sigh. This is just going to make me leave work even later.”
The man showed no reaction to Kwon Sang-yeol’s tears.
He was simply annoyed.
“When you see Ju-ah, please tell her I’m sorry.”
Just as Kwon Sang-yeol seemed to have made some kind of decision—raising a death flag, as it were.
A loud thud echoed, and the boat shook.
Another boat had pulled up alongside theirs without warning.
The man panicked.
Several figures climbed aboard and swiftly subdued him.
Warm hands enveloped Kwon Sang-yeol.
“Are you Kwon Sang-yeol? We’ve come to rescue you.”
“Yes? Yes. Thank you.”
Kwon Sang-yeol’s tears did not stop.
.
.
.
At a Korean BBQ restaurant in Incheon.
“Here, have a drink.”
Kang Pal-chun, a former Triad Society branch chief.
He was sitting across from me.
“Our Kang Pal-chun’s quite the actor, isn’t he?”
Kang Pal-chun laughed at my words.
After attending the training center, Kang Pal-chun had become an entirely different person.
Having evaded both the Dae-hoon Faction and the Triad Society, he simply came to find Dae-hun.
He explained the situation.
Dae-hun told him to go to the training center,
and after graduating, Kang Pal-chun pledged his loyalty and entered Dae-hun’s fold.
“Thank you. Intimidating some low-level punk is nothing—I could do it while sitting down eating tangerines.”
“You did well. I’m counting on you going forward.”
“Leave it to me. I’ll see it through even if I have to grind my bones to dust.”
“Don’t worry. I don’t ask people to do things like that. Our workload is pretty light, actually.”
Everything from Kwon Sang-yeol’s kidnapping to his rescue had been a carefully orchestrated masterpiece.
I wondered if this would be enough to change Kwon Sang-yeol.
A father who imposed his own thoughts on his daughter.
From a father who views his daughter as a bargaining chip to a father who worries about and cares for his daughter’s life.
Whether he can truly become a father who genuinely wishes for his daughter’s happiness remains uncertain.
I wish it could be that way, but if it isn’t, there’s nothing I can do about it.
We’re thugs—this is all we’re capable of.
And no matter how strained things have become between Kwon Ju-ah and him, he’s still her father.
I couldn’t bring myself to harm him.
If Kwon Sang-yeol were injured, Kwon Ju-ah would suffer as well.
At least this way, he won’t try to force her into marriage.
This much is enough.
********
********
The moment the conference room door closed, the already heavy atmosphere grew suffocating.
Chairman Yun Jae-hong opened his mouth with visible strain.
“So what happened?”
“… All the Southeast Asian funds have been withdrawn.”
The head of strategic planning spoke cautiously.
“Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, China—all our major partnerships have requested redemptions. And the Chinese side has notified us they’ll be conducting an investigation into our fund operations.”
Silence fell over the conference room.
Chairman Yun Jae-hong closed his eyes briefly, then opened them and asked.
“Why?”
“Unfounded rumors have taken over the market. Initially, it was just inquiries, but the moment the Chinese side announced they’d investigate, those rumors became fact.”
“What rumors?”
“Various ones. ‘Taerim is facing a liquidity crisis,’ ‘exposed to political risk,’ ’embezzlement has occurred,’ ‘an investigation by the Financial Supervisory Service is scheduled’—baseless rumors like these.”
“How did risk management fail so badly that such absurd rumors spread? Did you not manage it at all?”
Chairman Yun Jae-hong’s voice erupted in fury.
Everyone bowed their heads in silence, unable to speak under the weight of his rage.
That’s when it happened.
“This isn’t a failure of risk management—you created the risk yourselves.”
Yun Tae-jun, Yun Tae-gyeom’s older brother and a formidable contender in the succession race, spoke up.
All eyes turned toward him.
“If I’m not mistaken, there was a massive investment proposal, and you rejected it, didn’t you? Because of a woman.”
“You turned down a 100 trillion won investment to marry a woman you’ve only seen once?”
At the mention of 100 trillion won, the conference room stirred.
It was an astronomical figure that couldn’t be ignored.
Whispers of “Is that really true?” rippled through the room.
“How admirable, our little brother. I didn’t know you were a romantic. Gave up 100 trillion won for a woman. You’d be quite popular on morning talk shows.”
Yun Tae-jun’s sarcasm struck Yun Tae-gyeom hard in the conference room.
Chairman Yun Jae-hong, who had been listening, lowered his glasses slightly and looked at Yun Tae-gyeom.
Yun Tae-jun’s sarcastic remark hit Yun Tae-gyeom hard in the conference room.
Upon hearing the story, Chairman Yun Jae-hong lowered his glasses slightly and looked at Yun Tae-gyeom.
Caught in that gaze, I became like prey ensnared by a serpent—utterly paralyzed.
“Is that true?”
“······ There are some complicated circumstances involved.”
I barely mustered the strength to offer an excuse.
“I’m not asking about the circumstances. I’m asking whether such a thing happened at all.”
“The conditions were complex, and I thought it would actually have a negative impact on our Taerim, so I declined.”
Yun Tae-gyeom scrambled to fabricate an explanation.
“That’s not what I heard. It was 100 trillion won with absolutely no conditions attached. And no loss compensation either.”
“Hic.”
At his brother’s words, Yun Tae-gyeom hiccupped in shock.
“Our brother who spurned 100 trillion won for love. What should I even call this? Admirable? Insane? Either way, it’s utterly unique.”
Chairman Yun Jae-hong cut off Yun Tae-jun’s continued sarcasm.
“Enough. Stop it. Now is not the time to dwell on that. First, we need to resolve this problem. How large is Director Kim’s exit?”
“300 billion won today alone. We need to settle another 200 billion by tomorrow.”
“That’s manageable. Process all the exits. The priority is showing that we’re still standing.”
“That’s impossible.”
The Finance Director directly contradicted the Chairman.
“Why?”
“Because of inter-subsidiary fund operations.”
Chairman Yun Jae-hong’s eyes narrowed.
“Explain in detail.”
“The funds being managed at Taelim Asset Management have flowed through Taelim Capital and are currently tied up in Taelim Construction’s projects.”
The moment those words were spoken, everyone in the conference room realized the gravity of the situation.
It was a circular structure.
“Officially, it was a bridge loan and short-term liquidity adjustment, but in reality, it’s a circular arrangement.”
Yun Tae-jun asked.
“Can’t we just process the exits? Are we not capable of that?”
“If we do, Taelim Capital will collapse first. And if Construction falters, all the projects we have in Southeast Asia will be halted.”
“PF covenant breach.”
Someone whispered.
“Yes. The banks won’t sit idle.”
“So if we process the exits, the other subsidiaries will collapse in succession, and if we hold on, we’re admitting the rumors surrounding us. Our credit rating plummets either way.”
“I apologize.”
The Finance Director bowed his head.
Chairman Yun Jae-hong’s gaze turned toward Yun Tae-gyeom.
“How will you resolve this?”
“···..”
Even meeting his father Chairman Yun Jae-hong’s gaze felt overwhelming.
In truth, I was at a loss as well.
This wasn’t simply a matter of failing to secure 100 trillion won in investment.
I understood Taerim’s structure precisely and was in the process of dismantling it.
There was no escape route in sight.
Why had I let this happen?
Regret consumed me.
That man had awakened a peculiar competitive spirit within me.
In my refusal to simply accept defeat, I had made a catastrophic mistake.
I had convinced myself that emotions were unnecessary,
yet at the most critical moment, those very emotions had shackled me.
Whether it was envy
or jealousy, I could not say.
The sum was so absurdly vast that reality had slipped away from me.
I had never truly believed he possessed such wealth.
If by some miracle he actually did command such resources,
then his influence would have been far greater than I imagined.
He would wield tremendous power—a detail I had catastrophically overlooked.
Something clouded my vision.
“This matter will not be easily dismissed, it seems.”
Chairman Yun Jae-hong’s words struck like thunder.
“Find him. Go and beg. Beg, grovel, lick his feet if you must—restore everything to its original state. And bring back 100 trillion won.”
Chairman Yun Jae-hong left the Conference Room, his words hanging in the air.
.
.
.
After the meeting concluded, Yun Tae-gyeom returned to his Office.
The surging rage was unbearable.
Gripping a golf club, I destroyed everything in the Room.
This was not my nature.
I knew all too well that such destruction accomplished nothing.
It only resulted in losses.
It was an action I would never have taken, yet today I could not restrain myself.
It was utterly intolerable.
The shame and humiliation threatened to drive me mad.
When nothing remained intact in the Room, I collapsed onto the sofa and commanded my Secretary.
“Summon the Emergency Response Team.”
My Secretary’s face drained of color.
“That requires the Chairman’s authorization.”
A flowerpot flew past the Secretary’s side.
Crash.
The pot shattered against the wall, scattering debris in all directions.
“I said call them, you fool. Do you dare disrespect me too?”
“No. I’ll call them.”
The Emergency Response Division.
It was an organization Taerim only deployed when absolutely critical situations arose.
A blade wielded solely for matters requiring ‘cleanup’.
Killing him here wouldn’t solve the problem.
But I couldn’t kneel before him either.
Such a thing must never happen.
Then he simply had to disappear.
We couldn’t live under the same sky anyway.
If someone had to be cleaned up, it would be him.
Yun Tae-gyeom wore a grotesque expression as he smiled.
His eyes resembled not those of a human, but of a malevolent spirit.
Through the Inventory, I had become a magnate of the black market.
167 – Emergency Response Team
E-book Publication
/ January 16, 2026
Author
/ Black Card
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/ Son Je-ho
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© Black Card, 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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