I Became a Black Market Tycoon with an Inventory - Chapter 182

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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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182 – Investigation
182.
Seo Jae-hyuk, a detective from the Major Crimes Division, had been studying the case files for quite some time.
He was currently dispatched to the task force dedicated to investigating the serial disappearances.
The serial disappearance case that had recently sent shockwaves through society.
The scale was staggering.
Ten people had vanished.
Their occupations, ages, and daily routines were all different.
A Director from the Ministry of Economy and Finance,
an active judge and prosecutor.
A university professor, a webtoon artist, a journalist,
and even a Director from the National Intelligence Service.
No matter how I examined it, there were no apparent connections.
No criminal links that would bind them together.
No grudges or vendettas.
The timing of the disappearances was similar.
They vanished suddenly after a night out drinking or right after leaving work.
And there were no traces.
“What about the CCTV?”
My junior detective shook his head at my question.
“Nothing at all. They completely vanished.”
“Cell phone location tracking?”
“It was loaded onto a different truck. That’s why it took longer to find.”
I paused and fell into thought.
This was the problem.
It was too clean.
This was no coincidence.
It was meticulous to an excessive degree.
There was no evidence.
No signs of struggle, no traces of forced movement.
They simply vanished at some point.
I examined the information densely written on the whiteboard.
I checked their last known movements before disappearing.
Credit card transactions, call records, last sighting locations.
Nothing remarkable about any of it.
The usual bars they frequented, the usual routes they took, their usual routines.
They vanished from those places.
Honestly, this wasn’t a disappearance.
It was an abduction.
The perpetrator knew exactly what these people were doing.
And he knew how to abduct them as well.
“A professional.”
Seo Jae-hyuk set down the documents.
This man was a professional.
He knew how to bring people away without leaving a trace.
He knew how to hide bodies.
He knew how to evade the investigation net.
And he understood which points the police would suspect.
That’s why this is a serial case.
Not because of shared characteristics.
Because they’re disappearing in the same manner.
“But have you seen this?”
“What?”
The Junior Detective opened his laptop and showed him.
A community post appeared on the screen.
[Common points among recently missing people]
I’d already seen this post.
It had been covered in the news.
But the comment count had grown noticeably.
It was a case that drew considerable public attention.
– Honestly, it’s refreshing.
– Isn’t someone doing what the law couldn’t?
– I’ve been furious every time I saw those pro-Japanese bastards, but I’m genuinely grateful.
– Who’s next? They must be trembling.
Seo Jae-hyuk stared at the screen for a moment, then turned away.
This was troublesome.
If I don’t catch him, I become an incompetent police officer.
But catching him is also a problem.
With public opinion tilted this far, the moment I make an arrest, people will talk.
Still, it doesn’t matter.
Police don’t conduct investigations based on public opinion, nor do they abandon them.
A detective doesn’t judge whether this person is guilty or innocent.
That’s the court’s job.
A detective’s role is singular.
Catch the culprit.
The Junior Detective hesitantly asked.
“Do you think they’re still alive?”
But Seo Jae-hyuk couldn’t answer.
There was no evidence to speak from.
But there was such a thing as intuition.
That feeling wasn’t good.
“I don’t know. But the probability is probably low.”
“Why?”
“There’s no demand at all. If it were a kidnapping, there should be demands—ransom, negotiations, something. But there’s nothing like that.”
“Then?”
“Yeah. This isn’t about ransom. It seems like the perpetrator believes they’re realizing social justice on their own.”
My junior detective furrowed his brow.
Cases like this were truly difficult.
You couldn’t catch the perpetrator without understanding their thoughts and philosophy.
“Sigh… They’re completely insane, aren’t they?”
“Right?”
Seo Jae-hyuk answered that way, but immediately dissatisfied with his own response, he added more.
“To be honest… I kind of want to root for this guy too.”
“Sir?”
My junior detective asked back in surprise.
“No, never mind. Let’s go back to the disappearance site one more time.”
“We’ve already been there several times…”
“Let’s verify it once more.”
Seo Jae-hyuk grabbed my arm and pulled me toward the crime scene.
.
.
.
There was nothing at the crime scene.
It was clean.
Seo Jae-hyuk opened the case file again.
I examined who the missing person was once more.
Someone who had committed pro-Japanese acts.
Someone who had caused social upheaval through pro-Japanese statements.
Seo Jae-hyuk had been conducting the investigation as objectively as possible, deliberately excluding the term “pro-Japanese collaborator” to avoid falling into that trap, but it seemed that approach wouldn’t work.
Rather, I needed to use the pro-Japanese collaborators.
Based on the keyword of pro-Japanese collaborators, I tried to predict the next incident.
But there was a problem.
There were too many suspects.
“Are there really this many bastards in this country?”
It was realistically impossible to assign personal bodyguards to all of them.
The police lacked both manpower and justification.
Among them, one name stood out distinctly.
An exceptionally notorious bastard.
“Seo Gwang-ho”
A quintessential pro-Japanese collaborator.
Chairman of the Cheongwha Society.
A man who wielded tremendous influence through the media.
One who had driven many to their deaths without breaking a single law.
I held an unwavering conviction that retribution would come for Seo Gwang-ho—perhaps not immediately, but it would come.
If the perpetrator had the pretext of purging pro-Japanese collaborators, then Seo Gwang-ho would certainly be targeted.
Fortunately, Seo Gwang-ho had recently gone into seclusion.
He had cancelled all external engagements and confined himself to his home.
It was fortunate, but
out of an abundance of caution, I had stationed police officers there.
However, the scene was so saturated with bodyguards that police presence seemed almost unnecessary.
Security personnel stood at every checkpoint, walkie-talkies in hand.
‘At this level, he won’t be kidnapped.’
Even as I deployed the police, my mouth tasted bitter.
To protect a traitor,
I had to wield state authority—a fact that deeply displeased me.
On my way back after inspecting the scene,
I encountered a Young Man.
His gaze was anything but ordinary.
My instincts, honed by decades as a detective, spoke clearly.
This was no ordinary person.
Dangerous.
Seo Jae-hyuk called out to him.
“Excuse me, just a moment.”
“Yes? What is it?”
The man answered courteously.
Despite being called by Seo Jae-hyuk, he showed no surprise or tension.
“Would you have a moment to talk?”
“Who are you?”
“Police.”
“What’s the purpose of this conversation? I’d appreciate clarity on that.”
“What?”
“If this is a stop-and-search with legal authority, I refuse. If it’s just a casual conversation, I’ll cooperate.”
Seo Jae-hyuk paused briefly before nodding.
“Let’s keep it casual.”
“Then that works. Detective Seo Jae-hyuk.”
Seo Jae-hyuk’s eyes widened.
My name had come from the man’s lips.
The man already knew who I was.
Startled, I reached for my hand instinctively.
This was a dangerous man.
Perhaps this man could be the culprit.
I had to apprehend him first.
I needed to grab him by the collar and demand answers about what was happening.
But my outstretched hand was seized by the man instead.
My arm was wrenched backward.
I was subdued instead.
I tried to call for help from those around me, but a van had already blocked the area.
The two of us were invisible from the street.
I thought there was only one, but was it a team?
There’s no way someone could pull off something like this alone.
The man holding Seo Jae-hyuk showed no tension or excitement.
He was far too composed.
That made it even more chilling.
“Detective. Are you going to scream? If so, I’ll apply more pressure, or I can let you go. I don’t harbor any ill feelings toward you, Detective.”
“Okay, I understand. I won’t scream.”
“Then let’s sit down and talk.”
In an instant, a folding chair emerged from the van, along with coffee.
The situation was bewildering, but I simply sat down in the chair.
The two of us sat in camping chairs and began our conversation.
“Detective. I’m well aware that you’re currently investigating a missing persons case. It’s natural for you to investigate—it’s your job. But do you really need to work so hard on something like this?”
“What?”
“Sometimes it wouldn’t be so bad to pretend to investigate and let certain cases slip through.”
Seo Jae-hyuk bristled at the man’s words.
“Do you realize how incredibly insulting that is to a detective?”
“I do. But we can’t give our best effort to everything, can we? You catch the truly bad people, Detective.”
“You’re the bad one here.”
“I know. I’ll face my punishment later. So you focus on catching those who torment innocent citizens. You can’t catch people like Seo Gwang-ho anyway, Detective.”
This man was worse than I’d thought.
He struck with painful truths.
It was fact.
Seo Gwang-ho had no legal problems whatsoever.
He was selling out the nation, yet legal punishment was impossible.
Even now, rather than arresting him,
hadn’t the police been deployed to protect him?
“So you’re saying you’ll do it instead?”
The man nodded.
“Shouldn’t someone do it?”
Seo Jae-hyuk couldn’t respond.
In my heart, I was rooting for him too.
I wished someone would sweep away all these bastards.
But a detective shouldn’t operate that way.
You must arrest criminals without discrimination.
If this man is a Kidnapper, he’s a criminal.
I felt I should arrest him, but my hand wouldn’t move.
As a Police Officer, I should catch the culprit, but I was conflicted.
Honestly, I didn’t want to catch him.
But the crime had to stop.
“That doesn’t mean you get to stand above the law.”
“Those bastards already play with the law as they please, so we can’t stand above it either.”
“······”
“They exploit the law however they want, but we have to follow every single clause, no matter how minor. We have to grovel according to standards that change every time.”
It felt like I’d been hit again.
Seo Jae-hyuk thought that no matter how much he considered it, this man really was excellent at striking with facts.
“So you’re saying you’ll be the standard? That you’ll punish people as you see fit?”
“No. Nothing that grandiose. I’m just sweeping away the filthy ones.”
“There will be innocent victims.”
“Detective, have there been any innocent victims from what you’ve seen?”
“···..”
“I’m not asking for your cooperation, Detective. I’m informing you. Seo Gwang-ho will be the last. I’ll finish with Seo Gwang-ho, so until then, go wander around somewhere else.”
“What if I arrest you right now?”
“There’s no evidence. And this conversation can’t be used as evidence. It would be meaningless to take me in.”
He doesn’t concede a single word until the very end.
This bastard’s got some nerve.
“So Seo Gwang-ho is the end?”
“Unless someone worse comes along, for now.”
“When does Seo Gwang-ho end?”
“He’ll go missing tonight.”
Seo Jae-hyuk gazed into the distance for a moment, then let out a long sigh.
“The Manager is going to chew me out badly.”
Yet as Seo Jae-hyuk spoke, his expression seemed noticeably brighter.
******
Seo Gwang-ho, Chairman of the Cheongwha Society, hadn’t slept properly in days.
On the news, on the internet, at drinking establishments.
Everyone he met spoke of the same thing.
Disappearances.
Pro-Japanese collaborators.
Justice?
Vigilante justice?
The world was in an uproar over this story.
But for Seo Gwang-ho, this case felt different.
The disappeared people.
All of them were familiar faces.
People I had summoned and employed directly.
People who twisted the law at my command, fabricated verdicts, and manufactured public opinion.
Those people had vanished.
Friends? No.
Subordinates? More like business associates.
I gave them work, and they delivered.
I compensated them accordingly.
That was all there was to it.
I needed to instill conviction in them.
They needed the comfort of believing their actions served to build a better nation.
They needed an organization to protect them.
They needed a sense of belonging.
That’s why I created the Cheongwha Society.
Outwardly, an academic association, a volunteer organization, a private network for Korea-Japan exchange.
But the reality was different.
Funds flowed in from Japan,
and that money circulated through academic societies, media outlets, and foundations.
The Cheongwha Society members who received that money performed their roles in their respective positions.
They never acknowledged they were selling out their nation.
They simply chose the path that brought money and convenience.
They had no standards for right and wrong.
They merely followed whoever enriched them.
Seo Gwang-ho was no different.
A conservative media proprietor.
A name everyone recognized.
But his influence was no longer what it once was.
Circulation had declined, and his power had waned.
The younger generation mocked his newspaper.
They dug up ancient articles and ridiculed his publication.
It didn’t matter.
It was merely a means to survive.
Even now, I continued writing articles that fomented conflict.
Conflict generates profit.
That’s all there is to it.
I wrote for those who aligned with the conflict and lived in fear.
The content was irrelevant.
As long as money flowed in, whether the nation collapsed or thrived was no concern of mine.
But this atmosphere had developed a problem.
The members of the Cheongwha Society had begun to disobey orders.
The plan that Seo Gwang-ho had devised started to fall apart.
“I apologize. The situation isn’t favorable right now.”
“I’m not feeling well, so I’ll do it next time.”
“I need to be overseas.”
“Family matters make it difficult for me at the moment.”
“It’s inconvenient for me now.”
The Cheongwha Society issued orders, but they all refused.
Before, they had all said they would do it.
Now they were declining.
This was all because of the disappearance case.
Fear from the disappearance case made no one willing to work.
They had gone into hiding, terrified they might end up on the missing persons list themselves.
They were feeling the weight of the surging public opinion and were keeping their heads down.
Seo Gwang-ho himself lacked the ability to reverse this tide of opinion.
When the fire burns fiercely, let it consume everything.
Then only ashes will remain, and new seeds can be sown in that place.
So Seo Gwang-ho entered recluse mode as well.
He increased his security detail and reduced his external schedule.
Actually, he canceled everything.
Unless it was something urgent, he didn’t leave his home.
His house was fortified like a fortress.
No one could enter without permission.
I was confident.
Confident that I wouldn’t be kidnapped.
Recently, I had more than doubled my security personnel.
They were all foreigners.
I wasn’t thrilled that they were from the Philippines,
but they were said to be former special forces operatives from overseas.
I verified their capabilities, and they were impressive.
It’s difficult to find security personnel these days.
Everyone is increasing their security details.
So I hired them.
Background checks were replaced with profiles provided by the agency.
They were foreigners anyway.
They wouldn’t know the domestic situation.
They simply focused on protecting me.
The security facilities were also top-tier.
No one could come here and kidnap me.
Still, I remained cautious, and then cautious again.
It was how Seo Gwang-ho had survived.
The disappeared people?
He had no interest in them.
They’d already outlived their usefulness.
Their growing ambitions had been a headache, but this worked out better.
They’d gotten too bold.
One must know restraint.
Their disappearance didn’t concern him, but pro-Japanese collaborators and the Cheongwha Society becoming issues—that was inconvenient.
There was nothing good about such keywords becoming public knowledge.
The Cheongwha Society needed to remain silent.
There was nothing to gain from stirring public opinion.
Build their own world quietly, profit without anyone knowing—that was all that mattered.
And so he retired to bed.
He settled his body comfortably into a custom-made bed worth over 100 million won.
Moments later, the door clicked open and security personnel entered.
What’s this about? his security chief wondered.
Before Seo Gwang-ho could even form the question, consciousness slipped away.
Through the Inventory, he had become a magnate of the black market.
182 – Investigation
E-book Publication
/ January 27, 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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