I Became a Black Market Tycoon with an Inventory - Chapter 44

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

044-Jang Yun-mi
44. Jang Yun-mi
“Director Jang Yun-mi”
– Yes, CEO.
“Things must be tough lately with all the reservations and inquiries pouring in.”
– No, it’s fine.
“I wish I could go help you out, but I’m unable to leave my post right now. I’m sorry.”
“It’s my job. And while it’s busy, it’s manageable.”
“Don’t try to handle everything alone. Hire some staff. If that doesn’t work, at least get part-timers.”
– No, I’d rather not. Hiring the wrong person just creates more work. I had a rough experience with that before. It’s easier doing it myself. Even if it’s exhausting, I can work through things methodically. But if I hire the wrong person, I end up doing the work twice over. So I’d really prefer to skip that option.
“I’m just worried you’ll overwork yourself, Director.”
– I’ll manage things here one way or another. If needed, I’ll hire part-timers, recruit staff, or ask people I know for help. I’ll figure it out myself, so please just focus on taking care of the local guides.
“Understood. Once the reservations settle down, come visit again. Bring your husband and child.”
– I really want to. I can’t forget that night sky I saw back then. Where did you find such a place, CEO? I was so amazed when I saw Emerald Canyon and Lumina Lake. That’s part of why I’m working so hard now. I really want to recommend it to people. There’s nothing embarrassing about that place. I just want to tell everyone about it. It’s a shame to turn away reservations. I want to send the people I know there, but the bookings fill up so fast. Hahahaha.
“Hahahaha. Well, I’m glad to hear that.”
– Don’t worry about this place. Just take care of yourself, CEO.
.
.
.
After hanging up, Jang Yun-mi couldn’t help but smile.
Whenever I think of the young CEO, I smile.
He’s not even that funny, but he’s endearing.
I remember the day he came for the interview.
He was more awkward than me, who was visiting the office for the first time.
He was more nervous than I was, the one being interviewed.
Yet he tried hard not to show it—that was the young CEO.
With all my years of work experience, I could see right through it.
But it didn’t look bad to me.
Rather, it seemed like he was genuinely trying hard, and I liked that.
So I readily agreed to work for him.
Originally, my previous employer had asked me to come back, and I was considering it.
The reason I couldn’t decide right away was the commute—it was just too far and time-consuming.
It took over an hour by subway.
Since my child had been sick,
being away from my baby felt burdensome.
That distance and commute time weighed on me.
If my child got sick, I needed to be able to come home anytime.
Going back to my previous job would make that difficult.
So while I was deliberating, I saw the job posting for Candy Tour.
This place is within walking distance from home.
There was even a daycare center in between.
Perfect.
As long as nothing seemed too strange, I thought it would be good to work there, so I went for an interview.
I was genuinely confident about the work itself.
Once I arrived, I was impressed by the Young Boss, of course.
He said I should be the one to run the Seoul Office, and he gave me full authority.
As long as the work gets done, he said it didn’t matter whether I came in at set times or worked from home.
And with that, he said I’d need a laptop, so I should buy one I liked.
Our Young Boss is really strange.
He’s young.
He still shows a lot of signs of inexperience.
There’s much he lacks to run a travel agency.
Actually, he doesn’t know anything at all.
Once I started working, I figured it out quickly.
So I gave him realistic advice.
Running a travel agency isn’t easy.
Even people who’ve worked in the travel industry for twenty years end up failing when they try to start their own agency—that’s just how this business is.
So reconsider it even now.
I’m telling you this as someone with life experience.
Then he just smiled and laughed.
“Don’t worry. I’ll never miss your salary. I’ll give you bonuses too. So don’t worry.”
He said he was going to the Philippines, and then one day he told me to come over to the Philippines.
He sent me a ticket. Business class.
I went.
“Still, you should see it once, right? What we’re selling.”
That’s when he showed me Emerald Canyon and Lumina Lake.
I nearly collapsed.
It was so breathtaking.
Working in the travel industry, I’ve been all over Southeast Asia.
I’ve visited many famous places, but there was nothing like this, hands down.
‘Ah!! This is it. This will definitely work.’
So what if he lacks experience?
It would be strange if someone that young had experience.
I’m here to fill in that experience.
I can just handle that instead.
That’s why the Young Boss hired me.
Thinking that way, I felt more motivated to work harder.
I returned to South Korea and created tour programs.
And I was planning to recruit travel YouTubers, send them on trips, and promote by giving them some advertising fees.
I’d already prepared the scripts and all the key points.
Inquiries about booking tours never ceased, following whatever I’d done in the Philippines.
The tour program sold out the moment I posted it.
And the inquiries and demands kept coming.
“Aren’t you working? Why is it always sold out?”
“When will the tour open again? Tell me the dates.”
“Can I book just the tour separately?”
“Can’t you just squeeze me in if I bring my own tent?”
I want to open more slots too.
I’m desperate to.
But the program here differs somewhat from the Philippines operation.
In the Philippines, we recruit on-site and depart immediately.
A one-night itinerary.
No complications.
But here, it’s different.
Flights, accommodations, and tours must all align perfectly to sell the package.
The problem is I didn’t anticipate the product would sell this well, so I didn’t prepare many tickets.
Airlines are purchased in bulk blocks from carriers before the season.
For example, buying sixty seats outright—rows twenty-one through thirty on a Philippines-bound flight.
These are what we commonly call discounted clearance tickets.
When demand forecasting goes wrong and too many tickets are purchased, as departure approaches, they’re sold cheaply—that’s a clearance ticket.
Candy Tour’s situation is the opposite.
I thought, how many will actually go? So I didn’t prepare many tickets, and now we’ve exploded in demand.
I contacted airlines and other travel agencies afterward, but no tickets were available.
Whether they genuinely didn’t have them or simply wouldn’t release them, I couldn’t tell,
but no tickets could be obtained.
So I can’t sell the product.
Why not sell just the tour program separately?
Our CEO said that won’t work.
We need to control participant numbers.
I understand they manage participant numbers daily in the Philippines too.
It’s unavoidable to maintain quality and scenery.
That’s why people emerge willing to pay premiums just to participate in the tour.
Thanks to that, our program has changed slightly.
Accommodations upgraded from four-star to five-star hotels.
Transportation upgraded to luxury yachts and limousines.
It became a luxury Philippines vacation.
*********
Manila Immigration Bureau Headquarters, Philippines.
I sat across from the special visa division chief.
“Your visa is ready here.”
The special visa department chief handed me a passport stamped with an SVEG visa and an ACR I-Card.
Wait, shouldn’t I just receive these at the counter?
Isn’t that how it works—the board lights up, they call your name, and you exchange documents through the glass partition?
So why am I sitting in the department chief’s office receiving my passport?
This feels like things are getting bigger than they should be.
I don’t like this kind of attention.
I’m uneasy.
But I can’t just storm out, so I offer some diplomatic words.
“Thank you so much. I appreciate how quickly you processed this.”
“You’re making such an effort for our Philippines, so it’s only right that I help. The Department of Labor conducted an inspection, and I heard it was truly outstanding. Thank you so much.”
“Not at all. Rather, I’m grateful for this wonderful opportunity. I’ll do my best to ensure it becomes an even better opportunity for our Philippine employees.”
“Employee satisfaction is remarkably high—the Department of Labor was quite impressed. I hope we can grow together here in the Philippines.”
“Thank you for the kind words.”
“Shall we take a photo together?”
“A photo?”
“Yes. As a memento. Let’s take one.”
“Ah… yes.”
I held my visa and ACR I-Card and took a commemorative photo in the department chief’s office.
It wasn’t even a selfie—a professional photographer came and took the shot.
Click.
This is all Patrick’s doing.
Damn it. Patrick. You’re dead.
.
.
.
“Sandro, I’m going to head back to South Korea for a bit. Can you handle things here?”
“South Korea? Why?”
“I’ve been in the Philippines for over twenty days now. So I need to go back and re-enter. Visa-free stays are only thirty days.”
“Can’t you just apply for an extension?”
Sandro, that’s not how it works.
There are eyes watching me.
So I need to keep a low profile.
“Anyway, I’ll go back and return.”
“So you’re saying you’ll have to travel between South Korea and here every thirty days?”
“That’s right.”
“Isn’t that incredibly inconvenient? Plus, you make trips to Hong Kong in between.”
“Inconvenient or not, what else can I do?”
Then Patrick, who was standing nearby, spoke up.
“Young Boss, what about getting a proper visa?”
“A visa?”
“You’re at a level where you can qualify for several different visas. There’s the special investment visa, industry-specific investment visas, but I think the job creation special visa would be your best option.”
“Rather than that, I think it would be better if you obtained a special job creation visa.”
“What? A job creation visa?”
“Yes, that’s right. It’s a visa created because of the Philippines’ high unemployment rate. If you employ ten or more Filipino citizens, you can obtain the visa. You can stay indefinitely as long as you maintain that workforce. Your family can stay too.”
“Really? There’s something like that? That would work perfectly. You little bastard—how did you know about this and not mention it? What were you doing?”
Sandro bristles.
“I apologize. I didn’t realize this was an issue. I have some college friends from the University of the Philippines working at the immigration office. Should I reach out to them?”
“Of course you should. Look into it right away and submit the application. Express processing. Got it? Hurry up.”
“Yes. Right away. I’ll handle it immediately.”
This is ridiculous.
“Sandro—why are you deciding my problems for me?”
“Why is this your problem alone? It’s our problem. You’re our boss, and we can’t have you constantly disappearing.”
That’s unexpected.
The word “boss” coming from Sandro’s proud lips was surprising.
Did he just acknowledge me?
I’d never thought about wanting to be a boss, but it didn’t feel bad.
.
.
.
“I’ve submitted your visa application, and the Department of Labor is sending an inspector this week.”
“Really?”
Since this was a special employment generation visa—an SVEG visa—the Department of Labor would need to conduct an on-site inspection to verify everything before issuing it.
Unlike Sandro, who seemed unbothered, I felt anxious.
Was it because of memories from my military service—inspections and formal reviews?
It felt like I needed to prepare for everything.
“Patrick, what do we need to prepare? Should we conduct training or handle paperwork?”
“Training? Where else would you find a place as clean and with employee satisfaction as high as ours?”
“Huh?”
“The people you hired as employees. The ones who used to work under me.”
“Right.”
“You hired them all as full employees and set them up with social security, health insurance, and housing benefits. They were amazed by it. They said it was the first time they felt treated like human beings. Like they were finally living as people. When we had drinks, they cried and thanked me, saying they’d be loyal forever.”
This crazy bastard—that’s just like our country’s four major insurance systems.
It’s something you’re supposed to do.
Isn’t it strange that people don’t do it?
“That’s something you’re supposed to do anyway.”
“But Filipinos and companies operating here don’t do that basic thing. Some employees even dislike it—they think their salary gets cut if they receive those benefits.”
“No, health insurance is essential.”
“Exactly. And it’s not just that. Here, we pay monthly salaries instead of daily wages, so employees get days off, and their satisfaction is incredibly high.”
I could see how that might be the case.
Most places that aren’t large hotels pay workers daily wages.
It’s not that paying daily wages is bad,
but if you pay daily wages, you don’t earn money on days you don’t work.
So there’s no choice but to work every single day without rest.
Even working like that, what ends up in their hands is between 500,000 to 700,000 won.
Having lived in the Philippines, I found it difficult to survive on 500,000 to 700,000 won.
So I’ve been paying around 1 million won, and everyone works hard because of it.
They give their best effort.
“Ah! The uniforms you provided are getting such a great response too.”
That was because the staff dressed so messily,
and I was sick of looking at it.
From a distance, you can also confirm they’re Candy Tour employees.
It boosts employee sense of belonging, promotes Candy Tour as a brand,
and customers can easily approach uniformed staff, which increases trust.
It also projects a professional image.
Considering the money invested, the effect is tremendous.
Why doesn’t everyone do this?
The staff were thrilled to have new clothes.
Wearing the uniform made them feel like they’d become important people.
They wore it constantly, at all hours,
so I had to give them guidelines to wear it only during work hours.
“And if there’s any trouble, just slip them some money. Why are you even worrying about this?”
Sandro casually suggesting bribery without hesitation.
No matter how I thought about it, the Philippines was a place very different from my values.
.
.
.
They said there would be an interview after the site inspection and I had to go to Manila directly.
I just needed to go there, do the interview, and bring back the visa.
Patrick said he’d already taken care of everything, so I just needed to go get the visa.
He said they’d only ask a few simple questions, so I didn’t need to prepare.
So I visited the Immigration Bureau.
Instead of the counter, I was escorted directly to the director’s office.
There was no interview.
They endlessly lavished praise upon me.
“We hear you’re working hard on developing Bohol.”
“We’ve heard that the tour programs you’ve created are already drawing phenomenal popularity.”
“We’ve received reports that overall tourism to Bohol has increased by over 30%.”
“The job satisfaction among your employees is remarkable. I’ve never seen such satisfaction levels anywhere else in the Philippines.”
“You’ve transformed the landscape of Bohol tourism.”
“We look forward to strengthening cultural exchange with South Korea.”
“Going forward, we hear you’ll be expanding into hotels and resorts. We’ll do everything we can to support you. Please don’t hesitate to reach out anytime.”
I couldn’t believe I was getting this kind of treatment just for hiring thirty employees.
Later, I found out that Patrick had pulled some serious strings when expediting my visa application.
He’d been spreading the word to his connections too.
Ever since I arrived, Bohol’s tourism landscape had transformed completely.
I’d become the game changer of Bohol.
The man who would dominate the tourism industry going forward.
A future magnate of the Philippines.
Everyone wanted to stay on my good side right now.
This was the lowest point—the best time to build connections.
Patrick had spread these rumors far and wide.
That’s why even the special visa department chief was trying to curry favor with me.
That’s why they were taking photos together.
How could I not curse Patrick after all this?
You’re a dead man.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————