I Became a Black Market Tycoon with an Inventory - Chapter 213

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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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213 – Ice Chocolate
213.
Gavin couldn’t hide his sense of helplessness.
He didn’t even know where things had gone wrong.
No matter how much he racked his brain, there were no mistakes.
The intelligence was accurate.
The deployment was flawless.
The judgment was logical.
Simply.
Dennis was simply superior to Gavin.
Just as an ant could never run faster than a human no matter how hard it tried,
Gavin had done his best, but he remained in the palm of Dennis’s hand.
If there was one miscalculation,
it was being deceived by that smooth demeanor.
Failing to recognize him as someone special,
thinking he was no different from other smugglers.
Classifying him as just another merchant among many.
But he wasn’t a merchant at all—
he was the architect who designed the game and conducted it.
The consequences of that misjudgment were catastrophic.
The retrieval team vanished in Zamboanga,
and the Singapore team was annihilated.
Only Gavin survived.
Or rather, he was ‘still’ alive.
Dennis would not let Gavin live.
Dennis saw through everything.
He even knew that personnel would be dispatched to steal Phantom Grid.
He had calculated the exact timing of Gavin’s move.
Excuses were meaningless.
This profession was one where you risked your life from the start.
He had no intention of begging for his life.
“I was completely outplayed.”
“It wasn’t quite that bad,
“but finish this cleanly.”
Gavin closed his eyes in resignation.
A moment of silence passed.
“Are you drunk? Did the expensive liquor hit you that fast?”
At Dennis’s smooth voice, Gavin opened his eyes.
Dennis looked at Gavin with curiosity brimming in his gaze.
“You don’t actually think I’m going to kill you, do you?”
“Is that not so?”
“Don’t do that. Go tell the Chairman of Parallax. Tell him we have something good and ask him to buy it at a premium price.”
It was complete contempt.
A message saying: I’ll let you live, so go report back as you are.
A message saying: Return bearing defeat.
Gavin slowly clenched his fists.
His fingernails dug into his palms.
It was humiliating.
“Why let me live?”
I swallowed the humiliation and asked.
“If I kill you, it’s over. Besides… Parallax is still a good buyer. You’re more convenient than a new purchasing director anyway.”
“···..”
“Next time you come, bring only money. Leave your emotions behind, and your weapons too.”
Gavin said nothing.
He simply walked quietly toward the door.
Dennis’s voice reached the back of his head.
“The Phantom Grid effect. We confirmed it this time. With that, we can design the board. Tell the Chairman that much.”
Dennis’s voice remained as bright as before.
Gavin opened the door quietly as if he couldn’t hear Dennis’s voice and stepped outside.
Creak.
As the door closed, an empty corridor came into view.
It was a corridor where agents should have been waiting in abundance.
But there was no one.
My heart sank.
Self-loathing washed over me.
I felt acutely what I had done.
I had driven them to their deaths.
My hands trembled violently.
That was when it happened.
Crackle.
Static crackled through the earpiece in my ear.
“··· Director?”
“Director, sir?”
It was Victor’s voice.
“Victor?”
“Why haven’t you been responding? The signal cut out… I was about to break down the door.”
Victor’s voice was a welcome sound.
Strength drained from my legs.
A hollow laugh escaped me.
‘A signal jammer.’
He probably installed a small communication jamming device in the room.
I had rushed over in an excited state after hearing about the retrieval team’s accident,
so I failed to notice that as well.
I was outmaneuvered until the very end.
Truly, I was played with thoroughly.
Yet strangely, my mood wasn’t bad.
I thought anger would boil over, but instead I remained calm.
Even the thought of resisting or confronting him had vanished.
In the past, I would have immediately smashed through that flimsy hotel door and put a bullet in Dennis without hesitation.
But I realized he would certainly be prepared for that.
It would only result in greater damage.
The Singapore team could very well be completely annihilated.
The message was clear.
If Dennis wanted Phantom Grid, he should bring money befitting its value.
It was a warning not to try anything else.
No demonstration was necessary.
I had experienced firsthand how terrifying Phantom Grid was.
It fed information to the enemy’s radar.
In a way that was all too easy to misunderstand.
That was enough.
Once he obtained that, he could control the entire game.
‘This is going to cost a fortune.’
Gavin laughed self-deprecatingly.
The best way to acquire Phantom Grid was neither theft, nor hacking, nor blackmail.
Buying it at a reasonable price.
That was the cheapest way to obtain it.
Once Gavin finished his calculations, he picked up his phone.
He called the Secretary at Parallax.
“I need to meet with the Chairman.”
*******
Shin Jung-gi was in a good mood.
The corners of his mouth kept twitching upward.
‘For the next month, iced chocolate is on the house.’
Just that thought sent a thrill through him.
Dopamine surged.
It wasn’t about the money.
Not the iced chocolate itself,
but he had enough money to buy dozens of iced chocolate shops, even factories.
It was simply fun to mess with Dennis.
This was more than enough material to tease Dennis for the next three years.
That was all that mattered.
Every time I ate ice chocolate, I’d tease Dennis about it.
Imagining Dennis’s aggrieved expression,
I found myself smiling without reason.
I was fond of Shin Jung-gi.
I liked him—cunning yet sensitive.
I liked him—playful yet serious.
Shin Jung-gi was an outsider even within the Town.
Shin Jung-gi himself made no effort to approach others, and the Town’s people were wary of him in turn.
A psychopath.
It was a condition he carried.
Back in South Korea, I obsessed over routines to conceal it.
Time, meals, exercise, sleep, patterns and designs—everything.
If I deviated from the prescribed order, I felt I’d lose my mind.
But here in the Philippines, paradoxically, I found liberation.
The routines shattered, yet it felt right.
I cared not what others saw or said.
I followed my heart’s desire rather than the gaze of others.
When I channeled that into weapon development, my talents flourished without restraint.
Yet the distance between myself and others never narrowed.
Even within the Town, I remained an island unto myself.
But there was a boat that ferried between that island and the mainland—and that was Dennis.
“I’ll handle that, so you just create whatever you want.”
Politics, negotiations, deals, money—none of it required my concern.
I only needed to create.
How reassuring that was, how empowering,
required no explanation in words.
Even now, I’m on my third day of resisting the ice chocolate.
When Dennis returns,
I plan to tease him by sucking it down right before his eyes.
With just that thought,
I resist the ice chocolate to savor that sweetness even more.
I hope Dennis returns soon.
********
Zurich, Switzerland.
A palace-like building overlooking Lake Zurich.
Gavin walked across the thick carpet that swallowed sound itself.
His footsteps, ordinarily imperceptible, felt unusually heavy and audible today.
As he stood before the Chairman’s office, the Secretary gave him a sign that he could enter.
He took a deep breath and stepped inside.
Adrian Volkov, Chairman of Parallax, sat at his desk to receive Gavin.
His face showed no expression as he looked at Gavin.
Neither welcoming nor disappointed.
It was the gaze one reserves for a mere component.
“So you failed?”
Adrian cut straight to the point without any pleasantries.
“My apologies. However, we absolutely must secure Phantom Grid.”
Gavin scrambled to make excuses.
“You need it but couldn’t bring it? I don’t quite understand. And you blew up the retrieval team in the process?”
Adrian’s gaze swept across Gavin.
That stare was bitterly cold.
Gavin felt completely stripped bare.
“I… I apologize. But Phantom Grid cannot be resolved through conventional means. Phantom Grid is a game changer. With it, one can design and control the entire board. We must acquire it, even if it costs us dearly.”
“Wasn’t the ten million dollars you had enough?”
“Apparently not.”
A brief silence fell.
“Listen, Gavin. The reason I elevated you to the position of Procurement Director wasn’t because you’re exceptional. It was simply because you could acquire technology at bargain prices. That’s your only advantage. I don’t care what methods you use. All you need to do is bring me the required technology. But now you’re asking to buy it at premium prices? Anyone can do that. So why would I keep you in that position?”
“Sir?”
“You come back from a failed mission and all you can say is you need more money?”
“There’s no other way at this point.”
“You never admit your own shortcomings, do you?”
“Sir?”
“Phantom Grid. Quite the remarkable device. All the more reason you should have acted boldly. Not hesitated like you did.”
“But I couldn’t…”
Adrian cut off Gavin’s words.
Adrian’s eyes narrowed.
“I have no use for hesitant men. Samir, dispose of him.”
“Yes, sir.”
Samir, who had been standing like a shadow in the corner, suddenly moved behind Gavin and restrained him.
Gavin tried to protest,
but Samir covered his mouth, silencing him completely.
“For the crime of annihilating the retrieval team, Procurement Director Gavin is hereby executed.”
Adrian spoke quietly.
But Gavin, who should have heard those words, was already being dragged away by Samir’s grip.
After a moment of deliberation, Adrian issued an order to Mateo, who oversaw general operations.
“Mateo.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Go immediately and capture the man named Dennis. Use whatever means necessary. Without him, there is no Phantom Grid. Bring him alive.”
“Dennis is currently in Singapore. There could be complications.”
“I’ll take responsibility. Don’t worry and proceed. I can smooth things over within a few hours.”
“Understood.”
Mateo knew exactly what those words meant.
Parallax was no mere smuggling organization.
Lobbying, pressure, coercion, money.
Any method could be employed,
and any result could be achieved.
It was the confidence that any temporary problem arising in Singapore could be easily buried.
“Think of it as sealing off the hotel. Block the harbor, the airport, the marina—all of it.”
“Yes.”
“Show him there’s nowhere to run. Cut off every escape route.”
“I’ll make it abundantly clear.”
Mateo replied.
“Mateo.”
“Yes.”
Adrian spoke to Mateo quietly.
“I only care about results.”
.
.
.
Mateo had left Switzerland and arrived in Singapore.
The tablet he held displayed a 3D blueprint of the hotel.
55th floor corner suite.
Emergency stairwell.
Elevator shaft.
Underground Parking Lot access routes.
Seven entrances.
Communications relay positions.
Machine Room electrical wiring.
All facilities had been thoroughly inspected.
“What’s the operation time?”
“Current time is 16:42. Operation commences at 22:00 sharp.”
“The target?”
“55th floor Suite Room. Solo occupant.”
“Personnel?”
“All positioned and ready.”
“Possible escape routes?”
“Elevators disabled, agents stationed at emergency stairwells. The rooftop helipad is sealed. Agents are positioned at every entrance to the hotel. We’ve taken measures at the airport and harbor as well.”
Mateo nodded with satisfaction.
His eyes reflected in the tablet gleamed with cold intensity.
“Good. Let the hunt begin.”
.
.
.
9:30 PM.
Marina Bay Sands Hotel Underground Parking Lot.
Two ordinary black vans pulled in.
Common rental vehicles with standard license plates.
But the people who emerged wore entirely different attire.
Suits, tourist clothing, hotel uniforms.
Yet their gait was identical.
Their eye contact patterns matched as well.
Mateo checked the time and issued orders through his earpiece.
“All units to position.”
9:50 PM.
Marina Bay Sands Hotel Machine Room.
An inside operative was already stationed there.
“Status on the target?”
“CCTV confirms the target hasn’t left the room today. A team matching the buyer profile visited, and dinner was handled through room service. Currently remaining in the suite.”
The operative studied the monitors.
55th floor corridor CCTV feed.
The hallway was silent—eerily peaceful.
“Good. All units report positions. Standing by.”
“A Team. Emergency stairwell A line. All clear.”
“B Team. Emergency stairwell B line secured.”
“C Team. 54th floor standing by. Upper level access blocked.”
“D Team. Lobby surveillance active.”
.
.
Team reports continued in succession.
Mateo led his elite personnel toward the 55th floor Suite Room.
9:57 PM.
“Communications blackout.”
“Communications blackout.”
A switch was thrown in the Machine Room.
Not the entire hotel—only a section of the 55th floor.
“Communications blackout complete. External signals blocked.”
9:59 PM.
“Elevators offline.”
“Elevators offline.”
Every elevator in Marina Bay Sands Hotel switched to maintenance mode.
22:00
“Cut the power and move in simultaneously.”
There was no countdown.
The moment the clock struck the hour,
the lights on the fifty-fifth floor of the Hotel extinguished in unison.
Darkness swallowed the corridor.
“Operation commence.”
At Mateo’s command, an agent pressed the master key against the door.
The door swung open with almost laughable ease.
Mateo and his team slipped into the Suite Room.

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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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