I Became a Black Market Tycoon with an Inventory - Chapter 65
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————
065-Camping Tour
65.
【Celebration. Emerald Resort Grand Opening】
The Emerald Resort, which Kang Jae-ho was overseeing, had finally completed construction.
Initially, we’d anticipated it would take over ten months,
but through Kang Jae-ho’s effective and systematic planning, we cut it down to six months.
His experience grinding through construction work,
the owner’s mindset he’d developed running his own office,
and the theory he’d learned through night school—
combined with the authority to oversee everything, it all created a perfect synergy.
Kang Jae-ho understood better than anyone how much profit accelerating the timeline could bring.
Of course, he hadn’t compromised on quality either.
“Wow, this is incredible!”
It was Sandro who spoke first.
The entire structure was predominantly white, with an emerald-hued river of light flowing through the building.
Just looking at it evoked a sense of cool refreshment.
Blending seamlessly with the surrounding landscape, it created the illusion of passing through the actual Emerald Canyon.
The guest rooms were designed with Lumina Lake as the motif.
When the lights were off, it felt as though the lake’s mysterious glow was seeping through.
Of course, it couldn’t compare to the real Lumina Lake,
but the design intent was well-executed.
“Does business start today?”
I asked Patrick.
“No, sir.”
“Then what? Are there still permits we need to obtain? When can we start operations?”
“We’ve been operating for several days now. The construction is complete—we couldn’t just sit idle waiting for a grand opening ceremony, could we?”
“Ah… right, of course.”
It seems the tourism business is running smoothly enough without my direct involvement anymore.
Everyone handles their responsibilities well.
In any case, the opening of Emerald Resort has given us breathing room in room operations.
Vicente Palace had been severely short on guest rooms, and Emerald Resort filled that gap perfectly.
Especially the increase in large rooms that could accommodate four or more guests—that was ideal.
This area sees a lot of family travel, so we really needed those larger rooms. I’m genuinely relieved.
.
.
.
After the grand opening ceremony ended, I returned to the office, and Sandro brought up a topic.
“Oh, I talked with Jang Yun-mi the other day, and she asked what I thought about creating a camping tour.”
“A camping tour?”
“Apparently, people who visited Lumina Lake had such wonderful memories of camping in the Philippines that they kept asking if we could arrange camping trips. We discussed it at the funeral gathering, and it seemed like a solid idea to me, so I looked into whether it was feasible—and there are no issues.”
“Is that so?”
“We can rent out camper vans and camping gear, let people go camping. They drive around, find a place they like, pitch a tent and rest—wouldn’t that be wonderful? Bohol doesn’t have any camping-restricted zones anyway.”
“There’s the safety issue, though.”
“Of course, I’ll assign one guide and security personnel to accompany them. Someone who can drive, plan routes, provide guidance. And most importantly—touching a Candy Tour vehicle in Bohol? That’s suicide.”
Sandro’s confident voice was pleasant to hear.
Even thinking it over casually, it didn’t sound bad.
“So what do we need?”
“We can hire guides from our staff, and camper vans and camping equipment—that’s easy enough to procure.”
“Then let’s establish some basic routes first. Some people might know this area, but most won’t, so let’s set several key points and map out the routes. Since preferences vary—some want to sleep by the sea, others in the mountains—we should prepare routes in advance so people can choose ahead of time.”
“Okay. Should we start right away then?”
“Yes. Once we’re ready, let’s launch it.”
“Understood.”
.
.
.
“Young Boss. Too many submissions are coming in for the contest.”
Lim Yu-na’s whining voice reached me morning and night.
Lim Yu-na’s appearance had already become a mess.
The price of selling ten paintings to us.
She’d been semi-forcibly employed and was now stuck here because she’d created merchandise for the first time.
She was personally reviewing every single work submitted to the Bohol Tourism Contest.
Even though the organizers would select the award-winning pieces, Lim Yu-na had to choose which works would become merchandise.
But there were far too many pieces she liked.
Too many to choose from.
Diverse colors, unique perspectives, distinctive designs.
Everything was varied.
Even after selecting and filtering, more appealing works kept arriving.
Her eyes were bloodshot from viewing submissions,
yet there were still so many pieces she hadn’t seen.
Why were there so many submissions in this contest anyway?
She complained to no one in particular.
Eventually, Lim Yu-na sought out Alex.
“Young Boss. There are too many submissions for the contest. I can’t filter through them.”
“What’s the problem?”
“I can’t make a choice. There are too many I like.”
“Then why not just make merchandise from all of them?”
“I considered that, but it doesn’t feel right.”
“Why not?”
“It just feels like there’d be no identity, and increasing the number of products makes management harder, production harder.”
“Hmm… what about doing an exhibition instead?”
“An exhibition?”
“Yeah. Once the competition judging wraps up, we should coordinate with the Bohol provincial government and actually hold an exhibition. We can produce whatever gets a good response there.”
“Oh~ that sounds like an amazing idea. Young Boss, you’re a genius?”
“Coordinate with CCAD to make it happen. If the provincial government says they don’t have an appropriate venue, talk it over with Kang Jae-ho and check whether we can use the basement of Emerald Resort.”
“There’s a basement there too?”
“There’s a massive space in the basement. Right now it’s being used as a warehouse, but it’ll be more than sufficient for an exhibition. Still, to hold an exhibition we’ll need to install new lighting and set up temporary walls, so discuss it with Kang Jae-ho.”
“Yes.”
“And take it easy for a while. Your face is pretty bruised up.”
“Y-yes… yes, yes.”
Lim Yu-na’s face flushed red again as she fled the room.
******
“Young Boss, here’s the GoGo Casino report.”
Nam Yong-woo brought in the settlement report.
After being away in South Korea for a few days, the reports just kept coming.
Looking over the documents, GoGo Casino was growing by leaps and bounds every single day.
I was starting to think it would be nice if it would just stop growing.
“How are Candy Coin and the exchange doing?”
“Allowing users to purchase coins with points turned out to be a masterstroke. Sales have increased dramatically.”
“Will it be okay if it keeps growing at this rate?”
“It might be fine for now, but we’ll need to implement some measures fairly soon.”
“For example?”
“Something like separating the casino from the sports betting that’s currently attached to one side.”
“Oh~ get started on that as soon as possible.”
“Yes. I’ll proceed right away. Should we keep Candy Coin attached?”
“Yes. Keep that integrated so it can continue operating.”
“Understood. And…”
“You have something else to report?”
“This isn’t confirmed yet, but recently there’s been a massive influx of users coming through VPN from China.”
“What? From China?”
“Due to the VPN, we can’t pinpoint the exact region, but there’s over a 90% probability it’s coming from China.”
“Why would China be doing that? Do you have any idea?”
“I suspect that Chinese users who were enjoying GoGo Casino domestically continued accessing it even after returning to China, and then it spread within China itself. You know how crazy China gets about gambling.”
Is that so?
China goes crazy for gambling?
I didn’t know that.
So they were just decent people who enjoyed gambling?
I guess I had a bad impression for no reason.
This is why prejudice is so dangerous.
Well, I should help them then.
“GoGo Casino can be switched to Chinese, right?”
“Of course. I can arrange that immediately.”
“People go through the trouble of using a VPN just to gamble here—the least we can do is provide that service. Set up Chinese language support, and while you’re at it, add English and Spanish as well.”
“Yes. I’ll get started right away.”
“And have Ana come to my office.”
“Ana, sir?”
“Yes. There’s something I need to discuss with her privately.”
“I can relay the message for you, sir.”
“I appreciate the offer, but I’d prefer to speak with her directly. Please send Ana in.”
“Understood, sir.”
.
.
.
A few moments later, Ana entered the office.
“Ana, where is GoGo Casino currently registered?”
“It’s registered here in the Philippines.”
“You’ve noticed GoGo Casino’s revenue is climbing, haven’t you?”
“Yes. It’s growing at an alarming rate.”
“Do you think we should keep it registered in the Philippines, or would it be better to relocate?”
“If you’re asking for my honest opinion, relocation is definitely the better choice.”
“Why?”
“The Philippines is an unstable country. Even if things seem fine now, enforcement crackdowns can happen at any moment. When that happens, laws and lawyers become meaningless. We should move to somewhere without regulations on these matters before that occurs. Since we already have cryptocurrency and exchanges set up in the Cayman Islands, moving everything there wouldn’t be a bad idea. It would make money laundering much easier too.”
“Okay. I understand. Go ahead and handle that relocation.”
“Yes. I’ll proceed immediately and report back to you.”
.
.
.
Damaya Headquarters in Mindanao.
“Without stamina, you can’t accomplish anything. You must always run harder and move more than your enemy.”
“Keep your posture straight.”
“Don’t flinch when firing. You barely moved an inch, but your target was off by over ten meters.”
“Use cover properly. The moment your head shows, it could get blown off. A sniper is waiting.”
“Situational awareness is paramount. Constantly check where you are and where your teammates are positioned.”
I was training the Damaya Rebel Group.
I’d pulled out the training manual I used back when I was an instructor in the Congo.
I had no choice.
To keep them alive.
I couldn’t simply send them off to their deaths.
It’s strange to call it a hobby,
but I was pouring my affection, time, money, and energy into them.
Just as I had with Allen.
As I spent time with them, I didn’t want to see them slaughtered.
I didn’t want to watch them charge into battle unprepared, unable to fire a single shot before dying.
Simple things.
I planned to teach them the fundamentals.
With that much, they could at least protect their own lives.
But when I tried to teach them, the conditions were abysmal.
The weapons were terrible, there were no uniforms, no food.
I don’t sponsor people.
But this wasn’t sponsorship.
It was more like… helping the underprivileged.
Without food, they couldn’t exert themselves.
They couldn’t fight in bright, colorful clothes that stood out.
Even if not modern weapons, they needed guns that fired reliably according to my will.
They needed walkie-talkies to communicate with each other, at least.
I provided those things.
Then I drilled basic tactical movements into them.
Read, write, memorize, repeat.
Was it because they had no expectations?
Or was it because they were blank slates, moving exactly as I wanted?
In a short time, they showed remarkably decent results.
And Allen.
“Allen. Do you know what a sniper is?”
“A sniper? You mean someone who shoots from far away?”
“Yeah, that’s right.”
“Why are you asking?”
“I want to recommend that you become a sniper.”
When I trained Allen, the kid was exceptional.
Not just athleticism—he had intelligence, quick learning ability, and adaptability.
Most of all, he had a killer instinct, driven by his thirst for revenge.
Kids like this should become snipers.
Kids like this can stay motionless for days, focusing on a single target.
“A sniper? Why?”
I answered Allen’s question kindly.
“Allen, remember the bet we made last time? No complaints, no grumbling, no whining, no protests, no sighing, no lamenting, no grievances, no giving up. Don’t talk back—just do what I say. It’ll be hard.”
…
“It’s one of the hardest positions. You’ll need to stake out a single location for days just to fire one shot. You have to calculate wind direction and speed, air pressure, temperature, humidity, even the Earth’s rotation before you shoot. It’s a position that requires a lot of study and training.”
“What’s the benefit of doing that?”
“Damaya’s chances of victory would increase exponentially.”
“Then I’ll do it.”
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————