I Became a Black Market Tycoon with an Inventory - Chapter 55

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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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055-Sweet Room
55.
Dae-hun called me.
– How are things in the Philippines?
“Good. It’s damn peaceful without you.”
– Lately I’ve picked up this weird habit of speaking strangely without even realizing it, and I think I learned it from you.
“You learned well. That’s Seoul University-style education. Once it’s ingrained in your body, it helps tremendously. So use it, read it, memorize it. That’s the only way.”
– Hehehehe. You crazy bastard.
“How’s Gunsan running?”
– Good. It’s running damn smoothly without you.
“Yeah? Then I can’t just sit back and watch that. I should go stir up some chaos.”
– Come on. Come and cause trouble. I’d at least like to see that.
“Bullshit. Anyway, what’s going on?”
– A progress report? I was trying to—
“Why bother with that? You just handle it yourself.”
– You’re our spiritual pillar. Both I and the guys all want to rely on you. I’m grateful too. So just accept it.
“I don’t like it… but go ahead, let me hear it.”
– Gunsan is completely under control now, and we’ve sorted out the personnel too.
“Oh, that was faster than I thought. I figured it would take more time.”
– We’ve got good funding these days, and we’re so clean about it that the guys have no hesitation switching to our side. We encouraged the old-timers from the Geumho Gang who were just draining money to retire.
“Efficient.”
– We’re expanding into Jeonju now. With money and manpower, things just keep rolling forward.
“Be careful. That’s when accidents happen. Traffic accidents don’t occur when you can’t drive—be cautious. But after driving for one or two years, you start thinking, ‘Hey, am I good at driving?’ and before you know it, you’re pressing the accelerator and just going.”
– Got it. I’ll be careful. But you know what?
“Yeah.”
– That online gambling site. Something seems off about its revenue.
“What about it?”
– The sales figures are way too high. It’s scary.
“Really?”
I’d told Dae-hun I was entrusting him with management, but in my heart, I’d completely handed it over to him.
So I hadn’t paid attention to it.
Nam Yong-woo said he’d submit a settlement report, but I just told him to report only to Dae-hun.
But the sales are too high?
It’s true that Dae-hun put in a lot of effort to promote the site.
He hung banners on various websites, advertised, and walked around PC rooms creating shortcuts to drive traffic.
He sent spam messages and advertised on sports broadcast rooms, SNS, and various online communities.
He gave points to new sign-ups,
and promoted the fact that immediate refunds were possible.
What Dae-hun was trying to say was that the site seemed to be growing too fast and he wanted me to check on it.
He thought some measures might need to be taken.
.
.
.
“Young Boss, here’s this month’s settlement report.”
Nam Yong-woo, the director who built the gambling site, brought me the settlement details.
“Hmm… Is this correct?”
“Yes, it is. I’ve verified it multiple times myself.”
According to the financial report Nam Yong-woo brought, this month’s net profit was 7 billion won.
Given the nature of an internet gambling site, after excluding the initial production costs,
there’s barely anywhere else for money to go once server fees, electricity bills, and Nam’s salary are accounted for.
So even if most of the revenue could be claimed as net profit, this was excessive.
The site had only been open for a short while.
“This is strange. Why is revenue increasing like this?”
“I’ve created several gambling sites before, but I’ve never seen anything like this.”
“Really?”
“If I had to pinpoint a reason, I’d say it’s because of the high odds.”
“Why would that be? If people win with high odds, shouldn’t they leave? They should cash out their winnings.”
“That’s exactly what gamblers can’t do. And since there’s hope that they can win here, they keep hovering around without leaving. You can see that the Dwell Time here—the average time spent on the site—is 3 hours and 40 minutes, which is significantly longer than other sites.”
“So in summary, you’re saying that because we let them win, they gamble until they lose all that money, and then they keep recharging until they’ve lost everything before leaving?”
“Exactly. The problem is that they keep winning during the process, so they can’t escape that dopamine rush, and they just keep gambling.”
This frustrated me.
I’d created this site as a way for Dae-hun to earn some pocket money since he was always complaining about being broke.
But I didn’t want to view everyone who visited the site as marks to be exploited.
That’s why I told them not to manipulate the odds.
I even asked them to set them slightly higher.
Those with skill win, those without lose.
It’s like the natural order of things.
Winners take their winnings and cash out,
Losers accept their losses and move on.
I’d make money from advertisements since people spend time on the site, and I’d maintain it adequately.
That was the picture I’d envisioned.
How perfect it would be.
Everyone would be happy.
But things weren’t working out as planned.
What could be the problem?
Could it be the sign-up bonus points we give to all new members?
Dae-hun said to give points to every new registrant.
For example, if we went to a Las Vegas casino,
even if we didn’t know how to play poker, baccarat, blackjack, or roulette,
we’d at least try pulling the slot machine lever.
Even if I came here on a whim, I’d have to give it a try at least once.
The same goes for this site.
Since customers visit the site, they should be able to play a simple game or two, right?
I can’t just let them walk in and leave without experiencing anything.
Giving them a free trial without pressure—that’s the new member sign-up bonus.
The problem is when they actually win money.
If they win, they should cash out and leave.
So why do they keep playing until they lose it all?
Why do they keep raising their bet amounts?
And if they lose money, they should just walk away—so why do they keep recharging their accounts?
Of course, when players lose money, we feel a bit bad, so we give them some cashback to grab a bowl of soup or something.
We call it a payback.
Then they should take that money and buy themselves a meal.
So why are they using it to play again?
It’s maddening.
That’s why both recharge amounts and dwell time keep increasing.
That said, I don’t want to lower the odds again.
Someone will eventually cash out and leave.
For now, all I can do is watch and wait.
“Understood for now. If anything else comes up, let me know, and submit weekly reports.”
“Yes, sir. And…”
“Is there something else you wanted to say?”
“The amounts people are withdrawing are increasing. If the amounts get too large, financial investigations could be triggered. I think we need to prepare for that.”
Listening to Nam Yong-woo’s words,
users do spend a lot of time on the site,
but some of them withdraw their remaining funds and leave in the middle.
For example, someone might start with 200,000 won, win up to 500,000 won, and then request a withdrawal when they’re down to 100,000 won, thinking they should at least salvage that.
He also mentioned that many people request withdrawals as a test to verify whether the site actually pays out.
The issue isn’t so much the amounts themselves, but rather the user base has grown exponentially.
Even if the percentage of mid-game withdrawals is low, at some point the frequency becomes a bit of a burden.
Especially in our country, where the financial system is so well-developed, it’s easy to get caught.
“Is there no way around this?”
“Usually, if there’s a real casino, money laundering is easier there. Otherwise, you’d need to set up several shell companies in tax havens and keep cycling the money until it’s clean.”
“Hmm… What about cryptocurrency?”
“What do you mean by cryptocurrency?”
“We create our own coin and pay out refunds in that coin instead, right? Customers get the coins, and we hide the transactions.”
“Do you think people would like that? I’m a bit worried.”
“If we fix the coin’s value at 1:1 with the dollar, wouldn’t that ease their concerns? They can cash it out anytime, after all.”
“That part will require some thought.”
“Director. While we’re at it, would it be difficult to create a cryptocurrency exchange together? It would be perfect for money laundering, even if it’s just a front, right?”
“It probably won’t be easy. Creating a coin exchange itself isn’t simple either. Regulations have become too strict these days.”
“What if we establish headquarters in a country with a tax haven? We’d only need to trade our own coin anyway.”
“I’ll look into it.”
“If it gets difficult, ask Patrick to introduce us to a lawyer.”
“Yes, understood. I’ll call and verify the coin and exchange details.”
“If the technology to build it becomes too complicated, consider purchasing an already-built one.”
“I’ll keep that in mind and investigate thoroughly.”
********
On the way home.
Sandro stops me in my tracks.
“Hey Boss. Heading home?”
“Yeah. I need to get home. I’m exhausted.”
“You still live in that place? The house you got when you first came to the Philippines?”
“Yeah. That’s right.”
“How can you, the CEO of the largest tour company in Bohol, still be living in such a shabby place? Why don’t you move?”
“Move? I haven’t thought about it at all. I’m satisfied with where I am now.”
“Goodness, Boss. You can’t live so selfishly, hoarding everything like that.”
“What? What are you talking about?”
“What do you mean ‘what’? You’re being selfish. You’ve earned money—you should spend it. If you don’t spend it and keep it all hidden away, how are the people of Bohol supposed to live? All the money flows to you, and if you don’t circulate it, how do others survive? Don’t you know about trickle-down economics?”
What outdated trickle-down economics nonsense.
It’s already been proven that trickle-down economics doesn’t work.
“So you’re saying I need to spend more money?”
“Yes. Of course, I acknowledge that you’re already paying your employees’ salaries, running tours, doing a lot of accommodations, and playing a major role. But you still eat cup ramen. You sleep in a tiny one-room place. Because of that, your employees below can’t even eat decent meals outside.”
“Why?”
“Because the boss of the organization eats cup ramen every day—how can the employees enjoy a proper dinner?”
I couldn’t believe the nonsense he was spouting.
Sandro was telling me to enjoy life a bit more.
I lived that way simply because it was most comfortable for me.
I’d never thought of it as being frugal.
Now that I think about it, I’ve never really consumed anything.
I’d always worked in places where people gathered like the military or security details,
where everything had to be resolved within that structure. That’s what I was used to.
Here too, I eat meals from the tour company and eat cup ramen at home before sleeping. That’s it.
Occasionally I drink a can of beer or two.
When there’s a company dinner, I leave it to Sandro and slip out early.
Sandro seemed to feel a bit sorry for my lifestyle.
“Alright. I’ll move. Let me look for a place first.”
“No need to move. I’ve kept the Vicente Palace suite room vacant. Move in there.”
“I don’t like that. If I move in, it’ll be inconvenient for the employees. And we need those guest rooms for customers.”
“The suite rooms are usually empty anyway. You use it.”
“Why don’t you just use it yourself?”
“I have my own place. Much better than a suite room.”
“Haha, that’s true.”
“Then I’ll take the suite room.”
“Got it.”
“Alex. I don’t know what you want, but wouldn’t it be better to share things with the people around you? Whether it’s sorrow or joy.”
********
Three days after leaving Zamboanga.
Dennis received an email with the armory inventory list.
It seemed he’d decided not to betray me after all.
But I didn’t trust it.
That could change anytime.
The weapons list was impressive.
I’d expected as much, but it was even more impressive than I thought.
Wait, even after I stuffed so many guns into my inventory, there were still that many left?
I don’t usually say things like this, but—
Jerico, I’m grateful. Truly.
I’ll set up a memorial offering for you next year.
Dennis changed the master password for the warehouse.
Of course, it was at my instruction.
543987 was a lucky number, but it didn’t sit right with me.
And he hired the ten employees I’d mentioned.
He said they were people with exceptional reputation and outstanding abilities within the organization.
I wasn’t sure if they truly possessed such capabilities,
but I decided to have some faith in Dennis for selecting them.
According to Dennis,
he handled all orders and shipments for the organization,
and the late Jerico had managed everything related to money.
He said we could continue operating that way,
and that even with the distance between us, there would be no problems if we proceeded like this,
and he sent me guidelines.
This bastard’s logical, I’ll give him that.
In return for their goodwill, I gave them the Candy Tour Zamboanga branch.
Of course, I also sent them the uniforms everyone envies.
And I gave them homework as well.
“Still, we’re a tour company, so we need products, right? Scout out places in Zamboanga with good scenery, decent spots, things worth seeing, and report back.”
“Yes.”
A few days after the Zamboanga branch opened.
Jerico’s messenger app chimed.
“I’d like to purchase some weapons. Is that possible?”

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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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