I Became a Black Market Tycoon with an Inventory - Chapter 175

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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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175 – Yakuza
175.
A luxury hotel in Tokyo.
Dae-hun and I were meeting with yakuza in a suite room.
One team at a time, one team at a time.
We kept them separated so they wouldn’t see each other’s faces, conducting individual meetings with each group.
There was nothing particularly complex about it.
We were simply formalizing the promise to pay 100 million won per day in exchange for their cooperation.
It wasn’t as if we were handing over 100 million won for nothing.
That 100 million included collecting and sharing rumors circulating in their underworld.
Politics, police, defense industry, casinos, brokers.
Any source was fine.
We didn’t need filters.
We didn’t need sources cited.
We just needed them to write down what they heard.
The yakuza laughed at my proposal.
They didn’t believe it.
“You’re really paying 100 million won a day just for spouting useless gossip?”
“You’re not going to change your story later, right?”
But when we paid 200 million won on the spot as meeting fees and daily expenses, their eyes went wide.
Of course, we paid in Candy Coin, not cash.
From the yakuza’s perspective, it must have felt like they were getting paid for doing nothing.
But the yakuza didn’t realize something.
They seemed completely unaware of how valuable and expensive the information they possessed actually was.
They were amazed that we were paying 100 million won just to share mere rumors floating around.
They said they could do this for a lifetime,
and offered handshakes to maintain a good relationship.
Strictly speaking, paying 100 million won for simply relaying rumors could be considered expensive.
But we had a system created by Tian Zihao.
A string of pearls is worthless unless they’re threaded together.
The yakuza carried pearls around without even knowing they were pearls.
They didn’t know how to analyze and process information.
But in the system Tian Zihao created, even garbage could become a jewel.
When information was input into the system, it was automatically categorized, cross-verified, and assigned priority levels.
When keywords like the Defense Equipment Agency, Ministry of Defense, radar, or specific politicians’ names were entered, tags were attached and the information entered a separate verification process.
It was literally a system optimized for analyzing intelligence.
It was created to consolidate information collected by the Triad Society, and it proved its worth in Japan as well.
Honestly, if we had tried to collect information directly ourselves, it would have required enormous time and effort.
We might not have even obtained reliable information.
By that measure, we got a bargain.
“Please let me know immediately if there’s any movement in the defense industry sector.”
“Even trivial matters are welcome.”
“Whether it comes from drinking sessions or casual encounters, it’s all fine.”
The Yakuza nodded in agreement.
They received 100 million won simply for compiling rumors once a day.
There was no reason to refuse.
And then…
One final person remained.
Geun-su came and spoke.
“The person coming in now is Kurokawa Renji of the Kurokawa-gumi.”
“The Kurokawa-gumi is the largest and most influential among Japanese Yakuza. They’re essentially the leaders of the Japanese underworld.”
I nodded in acknowledgment.
The door opened and a man entered.
It was indeed the White-haired Man who had caused the trouble.
The one who had sat in the seat of honor and interrupted my words.
For someone who had entered our lodging.
For someone who had walked into enemy territory, his composure was remarkable.
His movements were slow, yet they carried weight.
Was he truly the apex of the Yakuza world?
Earlier, he had seemed ready to bolt from that place at any moment.
Yet in the end, he had come.
So even he was desperate for money.
Even those at the pinnacle had their limits.
“Welcome.”
I greeted him with a smile.
“Hmm. I was curious what you wanted to discuss, so I came.”
He concealed his true intentions while sizing us up.
“Glad you’re here. Coffee? Alcohol? Let’s just have a drink.”
I poured a glass and offered it to him.
The White-haired Man took the glass but didn’t drink it, instead twirling it slowly.
“I’m Kurokawa of the Kurokawa-gumi.”
“I’m Seo Dae-hun from South Korea.”
Dae-hun introduced himself.
Kurokawa looked at me and asked.
“And you are?”
“I’m Alex.”
The look in Kurokawa’s eyes as he regarded me was unusual.
His expression seemed to ask: who is this punk, and why is he acting so brazenly?
“But who are you to step forward when the Boss is here? Do Korean organizations have no sense of hierarchy?”
It was natural that he’d be displeased—the organization’s Boss had arrived, yet the Boss remained silent while his subordinate handled the negotiations.
For example, if our country’s president went to another country,
and instead of the president, a minister or prime minister showed up, it’s natural to feel offended.
“Ah, I see. You might be misunderstanding. That’s not quite what I mean. Think of him as the actual operational boss.”
Dae-hun explained.
“What? The actual operational boss?”
“This guy handles a lot of work. That’s why I’m managing South Korea. But it’s fair to say he’s the real boss.”
Kurokawa Renji looked at me again.
Still wearing that expression—what the hell does this guy do?
“Don’t look at me like that. You’re starting to hurt my feelings.”
“Verifying the other party before doing business is basic protocol.”
Kurokawa Renji spoke as if making an excuse.
“Yes, you do plenty of verification on your own. Let’s talk business first.”
“What? I can’t work with someone unverified.”
I leaned back against the sofa as I listened to Kurokawa Renji’s words.
My body sank into the cushions.
“Heh. Anyone hearing this would think I was brought here. It was the old man who came looking for me, not the other way around.”
“You came looking first, though.”
The old ginger root was sharp—he wouldn’t let that slide.
“Understood. I’ll verify myself. I’m Alex.”
“I already heard that name earlier.”
The old man’s memory was sharp too.
“Alex from the Philippines.”
“What??”
Kurokawa Renji’s hand, which had been swirling his drink, froze.
The glass stopped moving.
“Why do you seem doubtful?”
“You’re really Alex from the Philippines?”
“If you don’t believe me, just leave.”
······
In truth, Kurokawa Renji had already sensed something to a degree.
That this wasn’t an ordinary person.
An ordinary person wouldn’t have acted so brazenly surrounded by yakuza.
But Alex from the Philippines?
He’d never even considered that possibility.
Alex from the Philippines was like an urban legend.
Someone who seemed to exist, yet no one had ever confirmed their actual identity.
The kind of person who existed only through hearsay.
I mean, who would believe that a gangster unified the Philippine underworld and then unified politics and business there too?
They say he receives VIP treatment even in China—such a person doesn’t exist in this world.
It was just an inflated urban legend.
Yet Kurokawa Renji did not deny it.
The man before him—while not exceptional—struck him as quite capable.
The bearing he’d displayed among the yakuza.
And those sharp eyes, at odds with his casual tone.
I’d lived as a yakuza for forty years.
Without a keen eye for people, I would have already taken a blade to the belly multiple times or been dumped in Tokyo Bay long ago.
The Alex I saw was quite impressive.
I thought we could work together for a while without issue.
“So what do you need me to do?”
We explained the situation to Kurokawa Renji thoroughly.
What information we needed, and that he could input it directly as it came in.
Kurokawa Renji nodded in understanding and left.
His departure was not sluggish.
He moved with the agility of any yakuza.
But his actions were exceedingly cautious.
Very different from before.
******
The yakuza’s effectiveness was remarkable.
No—the money’s effectiveness was remarkable.
Enormous volumes of information were uploaded to the system daily.
Who met with whom.
Which bar, what time, which table they sat at.
Where someone’s mistress lived in Tokyo.
Whether she lived alone or with someone.
What she ate for lunch.
Which restaurant she visited for dinner.
Who took her there.
What car they drove.
What changed when leaving the bar.
Whether anything was carried out in hand.
Rumors, gossip, drunken confessions. CCTV footage. Photographs accumulated.
Individually, they were meaningless fragments.
We didn’t know what was important and what was trivial.
Information that could easily slip away,
but in the system Tian Zihao created, it was different.
When the same names repeated across multiple organizations, the same locations overlapped, and dates aligned, the story changed.
The fragments automatically wove together, overlapping sections were highlighted, and meaningless information was filtered out—then the picture emerged.
‘Ah, so that’s what it was.’
‘So it was to back the defense industry companies?’
‘To buy time until the defense industry companies could export their radar—just issue warnings to South Korea and sell off the radar in the meantime?’
These bastards picked the wrong opponent.
Fighting is what I do best,
but what I do best among those is street brawling.
My specialty is causing chaos and stirring up trouble in the middle of a street fight.
They’ve made a mistake.
I’ll give them a proper show.
I called Hwang On-yu.
******
“Are you insane? Do you think this makes any sense?”
The Overseas Information Bureau Director cut off Hwang On-yu mid-sentence without hearing him out.
He seemed to think there was no need to listen further.
“Why can’t we do this, sir?”
“Don’t you have a brain? What have you learned all this time? Has anything ever ended well when we’ve clashed with Japan? We just need to wrap this up quietly. Why are you trying to make a fuss? If we can end this quietly, that’s the best approach.”
The Overseas Information Bureau Director raised his voice at Hwang On-yu.
He told him not to make the situation bigger.
It was a subtle threat.
Watching the Director cut him off without even properly listening, Hwang On-yu realized something.
This man wouldn’t handle it properly.
This man wouldn’t even try anything.
No matter what evidence Hwang On-yu brought him,
this man would suppress everything at his level.
For the Director, the conclusion to this matter was already predetermined.
Still, he tried to push back once more.
“It’s not about confrontation. We’re trying to clarify the suspicions directed at us.”
“We’re simply refuting the allegations Japan has raised against us, aren’t we?”
“What’s the problem with that?”
The Overseas Information Bureau Director looked at Hwang On-yu as if he couldn’t believe his ignorance.
“Japan raised these objections informally out of consideration for us, didn’t they? But if we publicly respond to that, what happens to Japan’s reputation?”
For a moment, Hwang On-yu thought he’d misheard.
Japan’s reputation, he said?
Not our country’s reputation, but Japan’s?
Why would a South Korean civil servant care about Japan’s reputation?
It made no sense.
Even if he’d received scholarships sponsored by Japanese companies and studied in Japan, this was crossing a line.
Even if he had many connections in Japan, he should still distinguish between public duty and personal relationships.
He was angry, but more than that, he felt frustrated.
He had no face to show In-bae.
Had In-bae anticipated this situation?
Was that why he’d spoken so forcefully?
The current situation resembled the conversation he’d had with In-bae not long ago.
Those advocating for a strong response and those suggesting they simply let it pass.
I began to understand In-bae’s frustration with Hwang On-yu’s earlier words.
Hwang On-yu, now irritated by the Director’s stance, resembled In-bae from that moment.
The situation seemed to have reversed.
“What about our reputation? Haven’t we become thieves in an instant? Then why must we endure this?”
The Director exhaled deeply.
“On-yu. The world doesn’t flow according to logic alone. Especially not diplomacy. It’s not about right or wrong.”
“Then what does it flow by?”
“By the current. The current. In diplomacy, depending on circumstances, what was wrong becomes right, and what was right becomes wrong. So let’s quietly move past this matter.”
Further argument seemed unlikely to change anything.
The Director was entirely unwilling to listen.
It was like reading scripture to a cow.
“Understood. I’ll withdraw this matter.”
“Good. You made the right call. Don’t unnecessarily escalate things—let’s wrap this up here.”
It seemed everything was finished, yet the Director hesitated.
The Director asked carefully.
“But you’re certain that data exists?”
“I haven’t been able to confirm it myself. They said they’ll provide it once they decide how to use the data.”
The Director issued his command with measured composure.
“Obtain the data. We never know what might happen. We need to prepare a Plan B.”
Hwang On-yu felt a chill.
If he handed the data over, it seemed the data would vanish somewhere.
I was uneasy.
Even though I didn’t possess it, I thought I absolutely shouldn’t hand it over.
“They said they won’t provide the data unless the plan is certain. Besides, they said they’ll disclose the data themselves.”
The Director’s expression crumpled.
“Who is this person?”
“An informant.”
“That’s what I’m asking—who are they?”
“Even to you, Director, I cannot disclose this.”
The Director’s face contorted.
He seemed angry that something wasn’t going as planned.
But not revealing an informant was an unwritten rule of the National Intelligence Service.
Even to a direct superior, informants were never disclosed.
“Handle it yourself. But that data must never reach the public. Make absolutely certain it doesn’t get out. Understood?”
The Director spoke as if angered.
I couldn’t hide my suspicion toward the Director.
No matter how I thought about it, much of the Director’s response was difficult to comprehend.
.
.
.
Hwang On-yu emerged from the Director’s office and sat alone in front of a vending machine.
A sense of helplessness enveloped me.
Ring— ring— ring—
It was In-bae.
That uncanny bastard.
I answered the call, but could barely speak.
Only after some time passed did I muster the courage to open my mouth.
“I’m sorry. It doesn’t look like it’ll work here.”
– I knew you’d say that.
In-bae’s voice through the receiver sounded not just calm, but almost bored.
“So what are we going to do?”
– Didn’t I tell you not to ask me that? Didn’t I say that’s your job to figure out?
Hwang On-yu’s mouth snapped shut.
– For now, I’m here gathering some intel with the Yakuza. But…
In-bae explained the situation over the phone.
That it was all to benefit the defense industry companies.
I understood the situation immediately.
“So they’re trying to sell their radars, is that it?”
– Based on the information I’ve compiled so far, that seems to be the case. I’m over 90% certain.
“······”
– You lot can’t solve this anyway. I’ll have to figure out something on my end. We’ll talk later.
The call ended.
Hwang On-yu felt ashamed of myself.
Just a common thug.
Though calling him a thug hardly captured who he was,
that man was working for the country in the shadows,
yet I, a Team Leader at the National Intelligence Service, had been avoiding conflict. I found myself reflecting on this.
I was sick of this organization.
Hwang On-yu reconsidered the situation.
About this whole affair.
The National Intelligence Service.
Or at least the Overseas Information Bureau Director wants to bury this information.
There’s no need to know why.
All I need to know is that this problem cannot be solved through the National Intelligence Service.
But thinking about it, the National Intelligence Service isn’t the main player in this case.
It’s merely a subordinate entity that fetches necessary information.
The real core lies with the Ministry of National Defense and the Defense Science Research Institute.
Would they think the same way as the National Intelligence Service?
I had no idea.
First, I subtly put in a deal with them.
Through the Inventory, I became a major player in the black market.
175 – Yakuza
E-book Publication
/ January 19, 2026
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/ Black Card
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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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