I Became a Black Market Tycoon with an Inventory - Chapter 203

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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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203 – Letter
203.
The Planning Director’s eyes opened in an extremely cramped room.
Not a single window.
It resembled a solitary cell.
“Sleep well?”
An unfamiliar voice reached my ears.
Turning my head, I found a Young Man staring at me.
The room was so confined that the man seemed to be right in front of my face.
I couldn’t breathe.
Whether it was the man before my eyes
or the cramped space, I felt suffocated.
But I was a veteran who had worked in the information division for many years.
I began to act.
“Why are you doing this? I’m just an ordinary office worker.”
My voice trembled, and my eyes wavered.
I wore an expression of fear.
To anyone’s eye, I was unmistakably an innocent citizen caught up in crime.
But the man didn’t blink once.
“I’m not in a good mood. If I were in a good mood, I’d keep you around for days, peel off your skin, cut off your fingers, and have fun with it. But right now, I don’t feel like it. I don’t have much interest in you, and I don’t care. You were just doing your job anyway. I understand that perfectly. There’s only one thing I’m curious about. Who told you to send Kagero? That’s all I want to know.”
“What?”
The moment the Planning Director heard the name Kagero, my expression cracked.
“Kagero. Who gave the order? That’s all I’m curious about. Just tell me that, and I’ll let you go. I’m telling you, I don’t care about you.”
“I don’t even know what Kagero is…”
I continued to act, maintaining a servile expression.
The man looked at me and spoke with annoyance.
“Scott. Take this bastard to the Waste Disposal Factory and burn him. And go to Arata and bring me a few more.”
“Yes.”
“If I keep burning them, eventually one of them will talk.”
The man muttered to himself.
“Understood.”
“When you burn this bastard, make sure he’s fully conscious. Don’t be considerate and kill him first before burning him.”
“Yes. Killing is too much trouble anyway. I’ll just throw him in as is.”
Scott replied.
My expression shifted slightly.
I was flustered by the situation unfolding in a completely different direction than I had anticipated.
I had hoped my act would work.
Best case scenario—I escape unscathed.
But if this man isn’t fooled?
If he knows my true identity?
I’ll hold out for now.
I can endure torture.
While enduring, I’ll try to sway my interrogator.
By leaking a few trivial details,
I was planning to appeal for them to believe this was everything.
But burning people alive?
They said if they burn enough people, they’ll get answers.
This isn’t a normal interrogation process.
I should be making threats.
I should be terrifying them, saying they’ll die if they don’t talk.
But all of those steps were completely skipped.
I was bewildered.
I’d never once imagined a situation where they’d ask a single question and immediately dispose of me.
They wouldn’t have kidnapped me just to dispose of me this easily.
Could there be something else?
I thought about it, but nothing came to mind.
My head grew muddled.
Regardless of the Planning Director’s turbulent thoughts, the man called Scott entered to collect him.
With three people in such a cramped space, it felt even more suffocating.
Once I stepped through that small door, it felt like I’d never return.
It felt like I’d plummet straight into a pit of fire.
“Kuroda! Kuroda. The Finance Ministry Vice Minister ordered it.”
The words spilled out before the Planning Director could stop himself.
But the man didn’t even turn his head.
He simply said one thing.
“Continue.”
Emboldened, the Planning Director kept talking.
“He told me to eliminate Ana in South Korea.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know the reason. He only said that for Japan to survive, Ana had to disappear.”
“Was sending Kagero your decision?”
“No… it wasn’t. I reviewed the file—she had no security detail and was just one woman, so I was going to send Team B. But Kuroda kept insisting on Kagero. So I sent her.”
“Okay. Disposal is cancelled for now. Scott.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Keep this bastard somewhere safe. If needed, we can send him to South Korea later for a meeting with Han Seung-hyun.”
“Understood.”
Scott answered with a brazen smile.
So now I just need to go catch Kuroda?
But first, I should give Japan a gift, shouldn’t I?
I smiled faintly, thinking of the bombs in my inventory.
******
I placed containers filled with explosives at Kobe Port and Osaka Port.
But this time, it was far from easy.
The explosions in Tokyo, Nagoya, and Yokohama had awakened Japan’s security systems.
The security infrastructure had transformed entirely.
Checkpoints were erected at every approach to the ports, and high-performance thermal imaging cameras were installed atop the barbed wire fences.
It was no longer possible to simply scale walls or cut through fencing as before.
Internal security had also become impenetrable.
But high walls don’t mean there’s no way through.
While they obsessed over land routes, I chose the sea instead.
In the depths of night.
I cut through the cold waters and approached Osaka Port in absolute secrecy.
As my head broke the surface, I saw towering cranes and containers stacked like mountains.
I slipped past the CCTV cameras and guards, making my way into the heart of the storage yard.
I retrieved three containers from my inventory and arranged them with meticulous care.
Right in the center of the storage yard, surrounded by countless other containers.
I placed containers that could level everything around them in the middle of the yard.
Three of them.
When these detonated, the surrounding containers would inevitably be destroyed as well.
They would be caught in the blast.
That’s how devastating the explosive force was.
I wanted to demonstrate my resolve.
I wanted to show how furious I was.
To make clear why they shouldn’t have taken my grandfather.
Kobe Port was rigged in the same manner.
Once the installation was complete, I returned to the hotel.
I washed my wet body and ordered room service.
This had become my sacred ritual.
Drinking soju while savoring the carefully prepared meal.
Breaking news flashed across the television.
Now was the moment to honor that ritual.
Click.
I pressed the detonator.
Osaka and Kobe.
Explosions erupted simultaneously at both locations.
Massive flames erupted skyward.
This explosion was on an entirely different scale from the previous ones.
This wasn’t a show like before.
It was to demonstrate the problems at the ports,
to expose the goods that couldn’t pass customs,
It wasn’t an explosion meant to draw attention.
It was purely to demonstrate that I was furious.
The explosion was that powerful, that destructive.
It was a blast strong enough to shake the entire port.
This was my answer to them taking the Yakuza.
Now it’s their turn to answer.
I’m ready to hear their response.
But they’d better answer well.
I still have plenty of containers stored in my inventory.
.
.
.
Japanese Port Explosion Investigation Headquarters.
Inside the investigation center, screams and shouts filled the air,
punctuated by the relentless ringing of telephones—a scene from hell itself.
The walls lined with monitors displayed photographs of massive flames rising from Osaka and Kobe ports.
Even in photographs, the explosion was so catastrophic that its impact was viscerally felt.
The Investigation Chief stared at the breaking news in stunned silence.
He could say nothing, only gaze blankly at the reports.
It had been just two days ago.
He’d held a press conference announcing that the perpetrators had been apprehended and the case was closed.
He’d declared the incident resolved, that society could return to normalcy.
He’d proclaimed loudly that crime would not be tolerated in Japan.
The investigation headquarters was on the verge of being disbanded,
when another explosion occurred.
And it was catastrophic.
This time, the blast was so massive it actually shut down port operations.
The Investigation Chief’s temper exploded along with it.
“What the hell is this? We locked up all the Yakuza in detention! So who set off that explosion?!”
Everyone in the room hung their heads at his outburst.
With this explosion, the Japanese Port Explosion Investigation Headquarters had become liars.
They’d claimed to have apprehended all the perpetrators, yet another explosion had occurred.
If they failed to respond properly now,
the investigation headquarters would be branded as not only incompetent, but also dishonest.
They had to resolve this quickly.
If they couldn’t resolve it, they’d have to fabricate an explanation.
Failure to handle this would mean the end of the career and promotions they’d built so far.
“Has anyone been sent to the scene? What’s the situation?”
the Investigation Chief demanded.
“According to the field team, this explosion has far greater destructive force than the previous one. They’re saying hundreds of containers in the storage yard were detonated.”
“That doesn’t make sense. We reinforced the security system. There’s no way anyone could get in, so how did they manage it? What about the CCTV?”
“Nothing. It’s as if a ghost placed it there. There was nothing in that location before, and there are no vehicle entry records for D-zone yesterday or today. The security guards didn’t hear any sounds of vehicle movement either.”
The Investigation Chief’s office fell silent like cold water had been poured over it.
This wasn’t a simple act of terrorism.
Someone had mocked the nation’s security network,
and planted a bomb in the process.
The Investigation Chief was beginning to sense it.
Arresting the Yakuza had only provoked the real culprit’s anger.
The real culprit was asking a question.
What are you going to do now that I’m the actual perpetrator?
The Investigation Chief had to provide an answer.
But no suitable answer came to mind.
He had no intention of correcting what he’d already stated.
To correct it would be to admit his own mistake.
That was unthinkable.
So he chose to turn away from it.
He summoned the Prosecutor and the Cabinet Intelligence Official to the conference room.
The three men who had framed the Yakuza gathered in one place again.
“What are we going to do about this?”
The Investigation Chief pressed forward harshly.
“Release the Yakuza···”
“That’s not an option. If we do that, we’re all finished. Do you want to be fired from here?”
“Then what do we do?”
“Say the Yakuza planted it and it just detonated now.”
“That won’t work.”
The Cabinet Intelligence Official objected.
“It won’t? Why not?”
The Investigation Chief asked, clearly displeased.
“Logistics are already facing massive insurance surcharges due to port system issues. Shipment volumes have plummeted. If this explosion is presented as a failure to eliminate an existing threat rather than a new crime, it creates an even bigger problem. That’s absolutely impossible.”
“What?”
“If it becomes public that we’ve known about the Yakuza for quite some time but still haven’t identified the container with the bomb, Japan’s logistics are finished. It’s the end of Japan’s port system. There’s no coming back from that.”
“Then what do you suggest?”
The Prosecutor spoke carefully in response to the Investigation Chief’s irritated question.
“What if we expand the scope?”
The Investigation Chief looked at the Prosecutor with interest.
“We expand the scope. The Yakuza are merely one of the operatives. There’s a larger force behind them. We should assert the theory of a mastermind organization.”
“A mastermind organization?”
“Yes.”
The Investigation Chief seemed to be calculating for a moment.
Whether his career ended here, or whether he fabricated a nonexistent mastermind organization to expand the narrative.
My deliberation was brief.
After all, the Yakuza were merely perpetrators who never truly existed.
“Then who do we set up as the mastermind? Do we have anyone suitable? We need someone to arrest, don’t we?”
“Is there a need to decide that now? For now, we just need to send the message that the Yakuza are the hands and feet. We can search for the mastermind slowly. Aren’t there organizations out there like this Yakuza—ones with a name but no real power?”
“What?”
“First, we mention the possibility of a mastermind, then conduct further investigations and pin it on someone suitable.”
The Investigation Chief seemed pleased by those words, a faint smile crossing his face.
“Good. Find some suitable candidates first. Then we plant evidence. Understood?”
“Yes. I’ll proceed immediately.”
The three men in the conference room were laughing despicably beneath the dim lighting.
This wasn’t an investigation.
This was merely a desperate struggle to survive.
.
.
.
“The Japanese Port Explosion Investigation Headquarters is treating the explosions at Osaka Port and Kobe Port as the work of remnant forces and has intensified its investigation. The headquarters has identified the existence of a massive organization manipulating them from behind the scenes, and has announced that it will mobilize all national resources to eradicate this entity that threatens the very foundation of Japan.”
The Investigation Chief’s shameless face appeared on the television screen.
His expression was utterly solemn.
As if he would sacrifice his very life for Japan.
‘Look at these bastards.
The lies just keep growing.
They know it’s a lie, yet they speak of it with such seriousness?
Of course, I never expected them to confess their crimes because of one bomb.
Still, I thought they’d at least hesitate.
I thought they’d at least calculate their options, consider what to do.
What? A mastermind?
This is ridiculous.
A hollow laugh escaped me.
Yet it’s also entertaining.
I wanted to dissect their brains to understand how they reached such a conclusion.
In any case, I’ve become both the executor and the mastermind.
They call me the mastermind, so I should play the part. The mastermind.
Since they want it this way, it’s only natural to oblige.
They’ve written a scenario for me, so I should make an appearance.
.
.
.
The next day, an explosion occurred at Kitakyushu Port in Japan.
Once again, the Japanese Port Explosion Investigation Headquarters was thrown into chaos.
They continued to insist on the mastermind theory.
At that moment, a letter was delivered to the Investigation Headquarters.
[It’s me, the mastermind behind the scenes. Release my yakuza subordinates. If you don’t release them, there’s no helping what comes next.]
Along with the letter was a photograph of the airport runway.
The Investigation Chief who received it stood frozen in place.
It was both a warning and a mockery.
Through the Inventory, I had become a titan of the black market.
203 – The Letter
E-book Publication
/ February 19, 2026
Author
/ Black Card
Publisher
/ 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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