I Became a Black Market Tycoon with an Inventory - Chapter 41

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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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041-Candy Tour
41.
Bohol, Philippines.
I was at the Bahala Na office.
“Here’s the bag you asked me to find.”
Sandro handed over four bags.
“Thanks. This is great.”
I pulled out ten thousand dollars from my pocket and handed it to Sandro.
“No, why do you keep giving me stuff like this? It’s nothing special, but every time… I appreciate it. I’ll use it well.”
“By the way, Sandro.”
“Yeah?”
“How’s the tourism business here?”
The inspection I’d undergone at Incheon Airport continued to weigh on my mind.
Without establishing a proper countermeasure, they would continue to scrutinize me closely.
If I couldn’t justify my purpose for leaving the country and the source of my funds, I could face inspections at any time and even be banned from leaving.
I needed to devise a solution.
I needed a way to come and go without arousing suspicion.
During the inspection, in my haste,
I’d mentioned I was thinking of starting a travel agency.
I remembered a solo travel agency I’d seen on YouTube once.
They said it was difficult, always running at a loss.
It was a YouTube video warning that even if you love traveling, you should never start a travel agency.
I’m not sure why that came to mind,
but during the inspection, a travel agency seemed like the best excuse.
A profession that allowed me to move freely across borders without suspicion.
A profession where I could justify trips to remote areas as product development.
I could have become a travel YouTuber instead,
but then they might ask to see the channel or footage.
So I said I was thinking of starting a travel agency.
But on the plane coming here, I’d thought it over carefully, and a travel agency didn’t seem like a bad idea at all.
The Philippines was already a country where tourism thrived.
There really were plenty of attractions.
Labor was cheap, and the infrastructure wasn’t bad.
If I packaged this well, it could become a decent travel product.
So now I was seriously considering starting a travel agency.
I needed to look for good products.
“Tourism? Tourism’s great, right? The number of people visiting Bohol every year keeps increasing. Resorts and hotels will definitely do well, and restaurants, cafes, bars, and clubs are all good. No matter what you do, it’s bound to succeed.”
“What about travel routes?”
“Routes? Nothing special. They’re all set. It’s the same no matter who goes. The difference is just which few places you skip and which ones you visit.”
“Are there any other decent places besides those?”
“Why wouldn’t there be? There are plenty of them.”
“Then why haven’t those places been developed?”
“There’s always a reason. They’re inconvenient to access. Either vehicles can’t get through easily, they’re too far away, or the effort required doesn’t match what you’d find there.”
“Then Sandro, find those kinds of places and document them with photos and videos. If they can be purchased, find out the price.”
“But you can just go in for free. Why would you want to buy it?”
“If we find a truly worthwhile place, we buy it and keep it exclusive to us. Having somewhere only we can go makes our tour packages far more attractive, doesn’t it? Or we could even rent it out to other travel agencies for a fee.”
“That’s true.”
“So send your people out to scout for places like that. Find out how long it takes from here, whether you can drive there, what there is to see, and send me photos.”
I handed over another stack of bills.
“Get the guys some fuel too, and feed them. You know?”
“Got it. Ever since I met you, things have been going smoothly. Ha ha ha.”
Sandro laughed with a knowing grin.
“If this works out, things will probably go even better, right?”
“Really? But will this actually make money? Seems like it’ll just be small change. Are you planning to get into the tourism business?”
“We’ll find out by trying. Think long-term. Long-term.”
“I’ll start looking into it.”
“Don’t spread any strange rumors about this.”
“Understood.”
“See you next time then.”
I gathered four bags and headed straight to the airport.
This time, I used a forged passport—a Philippine passport—instead of my own.
The name written in the passport was Alex.
Thump, thump.
My heart raced as I approached the departure inspection.
I was terrified of being caught.
My palms grew sweaty as I gripped the passport.
Passport forgery meant immediate imprisonment if discovered.
Automatic arrest. Criminal prosecution.
Prison time followed by deportation to South Korea.
After that, blacklisted from entry into numerous countries.
International travel becomes nearly impossible.
But I couldn’t keep using my real passport either.
South Korea was already scrutinizing my entry and exit records closely.
I’d said I was going to the Philippines, but not to Hong Kong or Macau.
Yet I couldn’t avoid returning to Hong Kong and Macau.
Sandro had assured me the passport was well-made and not to worry,
but anxiety was unavoidable.
I stood in line waiting for my turn at the departure inspection.
I handed the crisp passport to the inspection officer along with my ticket.
The officer glanced at me once, then examined the passport.
That brief moment of the immigration officer checking my passport felt like an eternity.
This is why they say not to live a life of crime.
I tried to appear unbothered.
I forced my expression to remain as calm as possible,
but I could hear my own heartbeat.
Thump, thump, thump.
But soon enough, the immigration officer smiled and handed my passport back to me.
I accepted it lightly and offered my thanks.
“Thank you.”
.
.
.
I was back in the Philippines.
My passport had no issues.
Why didn’t it have any issues?
Looking at my face, it wasn’t easy to mistake me for a Filipino.
It was strange.
I stayed in Hong Kong for two days.
The package was delivered as soon as I arrived, so there was nothing to do.
I walked down Star Street,
rode the tour bus, and explored Hong Kong.
And then back to the Philippines.
Sandro had made quite a bit of preparation during that short time.
“I asked the locals here about good places, and so many recommendations came up.”
Sandro showed me several photographs.
Just looking at them was enough to make me marvel—they were truly magnificent.
Even though the photos were taken poorly, they were still impressive enough to astound me.
How spectacular would they be in person?
That’s what I thought.
“Sandro. No matter how much I think about it, I think I need to establish a company. Once I set up a company, do you know anyone who’s good with laws and paperwork?”
“Of course. I can find someone quickly if I look.”
“Then find someone like that for me.”
“Got it.”
“Then I’ll go back to South Korea, make some preparations, and come back.”
“Sounds good.”
******
I went around searching for an office.
I was going to open a travel agency.
An office is essential for travel agency licensing requirements.
A lease agreement is absolutely necessary.
Even if I run a one-person travel agency, I still need an Office.
And I have no intention of running a one-person travel agency.
I’ll hire employees.
The reason for starting a travel agency
is to cover up the fact that I frequently visit foreign countries,
but even so, I won’t just set up a travel agency and do nothing, sitting idle.
That would be far more suspicious and strange.
There must be products, and there must be customers.
I need to operate normally.
So what if I take a loss?
I can earn money through deliveries.
I’ll operate the Office normally,
create tour programs, and recruit clients.
I’ll run a travel agency.
I’ll become a boss.
.
.
.
I found an Office.
Near the goshiwon district.
I rented the second floor of a three-story building.
About thirty pyeong in size.
The price was 2 million won with 1 million won deposit.
The real estate agent said prices had dropped a bit because there were many vacant spaces these days.
When the real estate agent and I first visited the Office, I was shocked.
Unlike its shabby exterior, the interior was decorated beautifully and elegantly.
It turned out it had been an interior design Office.
Though it’s closed now.
Since interior design offices often had clients visiting for meetings,
high-end interior design would have been essential.
How could they tell clients they’d do quality work when their own Office looked like a mess?
And that magnificent interior became mine for just 5 million won.
Including desks and chairs.
Interior design costs a lot when you’re installing it, but it’s worthless when you’re selling it.
You can’t even take it with you.
In fact, removing it costs money.
With restaurants or cafes of the same type,
you might transfer facilities and equipment as-is and receive a goodwill payment.
But with offices, that’s rare.
If the landlord demands restoration, you’re forced to spend your own money removing the interior design you paid for,
I’d have to spend more money to remove everything and restore it to its original state before leaving.
The interior design office owner gave me a bitter smile and told me to just use it as is,
but I couldn’t bring myself to do that.
I told him I’d give him around 500, though it wasn’t much.
Instead, I asked for the desk and chair.
He said the desk and chair were items he’d planned to sell secondhand anyway,
and that he’d bought them in good quality, but was frustrated when the used goods dealer lowballed him.
He said he was actually relieved to be able to sell them this way, and he squeezed my hand warmly.
The Office had an upscale wood-tone interior,
and it was perfectly furnished with an executive office, conference room, break room, and restroom.
The space layout was excellent.
Now I just needed to hire staff.
.
.
.
“Jang Yun-mi?”
“Yes.”
“Thank you for participating in the interview.”
“Not at all. The Office is really beautiful.”
Jang Yun-mi glanced around and spoke.
“Mm, thank you. You have quite a lot of experience working at travel agencies.”
“Yes. I worked at travel agencies for 14 years.”
“That’s a long time.”
“Yes. I enjoyed working at travel agencies.”
“But why did you decide to resign?”
“I took parental leave, but when it was time to return, my child kept getting sick and had to keep going to the Hospital, so I couldn’t return and just resigned.”
“Is your child doing well now?”
“Yes. My child is healthy and doing well now.”
“That’s a relief. What kind of work did you mainly do when you worked at travel agencies?”
“Working at three different travel agencies for 14 years, I’ve experienced almost every type of work. From product planning, marketing, customer acquisition, operations and management, to customer service. I can handle any task you give me.”
“To be honest, I don’t have any travel agency experience. I’m planning to start by looking at just one good travel product. Can you help me?”
“I think I can be of great help.”
“For the time being, you may have to work alone. Is that okay?”
“That’s even more convenient and better.”
“Right now I need to get a travel business license first. Is that possible?”
“Of course. It’s definitely possible.”
.
.
.
[Tourism Business Registration Certificate]
Company Name: Candy Tour.
Representative: Gong In-bae
Address: Seoul
Business Type: Comprehensive Travel Agency.
This certifies that the above business has been registered in accordance with Article 4, Paragraph 1 of the Tourism Promotion Act.
The tourism business registration certificate had arrived.
I’d made a good choice hiring staff.
Jang Yun-mi had done absolutely everything herself.
Her claim that she’d experienced every aspect of running a travel agency wasn’t an exaggeration.
With nothing but the rough plan I’d given her, she’d prepared all the documents and obtained the tourism business registration certificate in a flash.
I’d heard it wasn’t easy, but Jang Yun-mi succeeded on her first attempt.
Not only that.
Though the Office was empty,
Jang Yun-mi had built a system.
Now all I had to do was go to the Philippines and create products,
and then register them immediately and recruit customers, she’d said.
Everything was ready.
.
.
.
Bohol, Philippines.
“Look at this. We’ve photographed so many places in the meantime.”
Sandro held out a tablet.
These weren’t just photographs.
He’d compiled them into a PowerPoint presentation file.
Sandro had done this? I couldn’t believe it.
“Wow, how did you manage this?”
“Well… I hired someone new. You told me to find someone good with documents. I found someone suitable, and he made this.”
“Really? Bring him here.”
A short, lean man who appeared to be around thirty entered.
“Hello. I’m Patrick.”
“Nice to meet you, Patrick. You made this.”
“Yes. I made it easy to view.”
“Thank you. It looks great. But Patrick, are there any good spots among these in your opinion?”
“Yes. There were several.”
“Would you tell me?”
“Two waterfalls are quite nice, and this canyon is fairly spacious and appealing. The access road is good too.”
“Anything else?”
“This area requires some climbing, but there are many fireflies. It would be spectacular at night.”
“…”
I was listening to Patrick’s opinion.
It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t particularly distinctive either.
Most of the tours here follow this same pattern.
There’s nothing that stands out.
It was a characteristic shared by many tourist attractions throughout Bohol, Philippines.
It felt like we needed to differentiate ourselves somehow.
“Are there any other places?”
“There are, but they’re too far from Alona Beach here. I excluded them because it would be too exhausting to return from that distance.”
“What’s over there?”
“There’s more to see. There are caves, Emerald Canyon where water flows between the canyon walls, and Lumina Lake—a lake that glows at night.”
That’s good.
Good, but it’s difficult to visit all of it in a single day.
Bohol is larger than I initially thought.
Then a thought flashed through my mind.
“Is it possible to camp here?”
“Camp?”
“Setting up tents, cooking food, sleeping there.”
“I’m not sure why you’d want to go through the inconvenience of camping, but there’s no reason it couldn’t work.”
“Then let’s arrange the itinerary that way.”
“With camping?”
“Yes. If we keep thinking about departing from Alona Beach here and returning the same day, we can’t venture further even though there are wonderful places to visit. But if we camp, that problem is solved all at once. Camping beside Lumina Lake—that sounds amazing.”
“Does it sound amazing?”
“Of course it does. Let’s go. Let’s go purchase it. That land.”
.
.
.
Of course, I couldn’t purchase it immediately.
I wanted to buy it under the company’s name rather than my own.
But I didn’t have a company yet.
Establishing a company had to come first.
With Patrick’s assistance, I established the company.
I named it Candy Tour.
Now that preparations were complete, let’s go buy the land.

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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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