I Became a Black Market Tycoon with an Inventory - Chapter 7

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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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007-Third Year
7. Third Year
The first day of the new school year.
Damn it, I ended up in the same class as Yang Jung-won again.
I had no particular hopes for school, but if there was one thing I wished for, it was to avoid Yang Jung-won—yet here we are, same class again.
Still, I felt oddly reassured.
If it were someone new, it would take time to adjust to them, but not having that adjustment period was actually quite convenient.
After all, being a shuttle for someone at school is already decided,
so it’s better to do it with someone whose temperament matches mine.
Besides, Yang Jung-won cares about me quite a lot.
Thinking that way, my mind eased once more.
With that in mind, I looked at Yang Jung-won.
Yang Jung-won made a subtle expression as he looked at me.
Why is he doing that?
After casting the “come here” command and throwing money on the ground, I should be saying “buy me bread”—but I’m not.
Why wouldn’t I?
Has he finally heard the delicate, sensitive voice of his own heart?
Did he decide to abandon his delinquent lifestyle that doesn’t suit him and return to being an ordinary punk?
I was curious, but I didn’t ask.
Asking wouldn’t be proper conduct for a shuttle.
“What are you staring at, you bastard?”
“Huh?”
Without realizing it, I’d been staring at Yang Jung-won for quite a while.
Having spent a break different from usual, I’m exhibiting behavior different from usual.
This too is not the proper attitude for a shuttle.
I was about to apologize immediately.
“Why do you think I look easy just because you’ve grown a bit taller, you bastard?”
Yang Jung-won responded roughly.
Now that I think about it, are our heights pretty similar now?
When I was measured at the boxing academy last time, I was 180 centimeters.
Was Yang Jung-won 182?
It’s not just his height—he’s been exercising a lot and built up considerable muscle.
There’s even a faint outline of abs on his stomach, though not sharply defined.
But I’m still a shuttle, after all.
I went to Yang Jung-won to apologize.
Ah—
Yang Jung-won is 180, not 182.
Our eyes are at exactly the same level.
“Hey, you want to die?”
Yang Jung-won swung his fist at me as usual.
When you open your shoulders that wide before throwing a punch, it’s way too obvious where your fist is going.
Without thinking, I slipped the punch.
I should have taken it, really.
Then everything would’ve ended simply—take a few hits and be done.
But my body, trained through repetition, reacts without my consent.
The moment his fist came at me, I instinctively shifted my stance, weaved away from the punch, and threw a jab.
Thwack.
Yang Jung-won, excited after my left jab grazed his face, threw another wild punch.
There it is again—shoulders wide open, fist completely visible.
I slipped it easily and countered with a one-two.
Ugh, I’m not actually trying to hit him.
This “muscle memory” thing is terrifying.
It’s basically just reflexes, nothing more.
Punch comes in, I dodge, one-two goes out automatically.
I trained this for three hours a day, six months straight.
When a punch comes, my body dodges and counters with a one-two without me deciding to.
It’s not my will.
Pure reflex. Pure reflex.
I’m doing my best to fulfill my role as a shuttle, but I can’t help it if my body moves first.
I said I’d quit being a shuttle, but that’s only until I graduate high school.
Right after school starts is way too soon.
This wasn’t part of the plan.
But… this actually feels pretty exhilarating?
It’s so different from hitting a heavy bag or mitts.
There’s a real feel to it.
The impact is satisfying.
And watching Yang Jung-won get frustrated is actually fun.
So I’ve been taking hits from this pathetic punch all this time?
I was trembling in fear of this?
I went to school getting beaten by a punch that I could naturally dodge after just three months of boxing?
I should teach Yang Jung-won about this.
Learning boxing or something like that wouldn’t be bad for him to properly function as a delinquent.
Then I should make sure he understands what boxing really is, right?
I’m still a beginner and lack a lot, but I think I have enough to teach Yang Jung-won boxing.
He’d learn faster from direct experience than just hearing about it anyway, right?
As a shuttle, I did my best to teach Yang Jung-won boxing.
Slip the punch, one-two.
Back step.
Slip again, one-two, hook.
Back step.
Again with my fists… Why am I lying down?
Get up. Get up. This isn’t the time to be knocked down.
.
.
.
Damn it.
The first word that escaped my lips when I regained consciousness was a curse.
Yang Jung-won, having lost consciousness and come to.
The pain was excruciating, but my mood was even worse.
I was humiliated.
I had no idea how to face the classroom.
To get beaten down by Gong In-bae in the classroom, of all places.
And on the very first day of the new semester.
The kids seeing me for the first time would surely think I was nothing but a pushover.
Since Gong In-bae had grown considerably,
I’d planned to rough him up first before anything else.
That way, I could establish classroom order without any major conflict—it was easier and cleaner that way.
But instead, I got my ass handed to me.
Not just beaten—I was completely laid out flat.
I was furious.
It was utterly shameful.
What infuriated me even more was that I couldn’t figure out how to beat that bastard Gong In-bae.
None of my punches were landing.
My fist is a nuclear weapon,
one hit and it’s instant K.O.,
yet I couldn’t land a single punch.
Unable to bring myself to enter the classroom, I lingered nearby, pacing back and forth.
********
‘Why is he so tall?’
Kwon Ju-ah had ended up in the same class as well.
Sitting in the front row, she was glancing around to see who else had been placed in her class when Gong In-bae walked in.
Had he always been this tall?
His physique had changed, and the fit of his school uniform was different too.
He’d become somewhat more attractive, perhaps?

Even his gaze seemed to have changed.
After that day, I visited Gong In-bae’s home several times.
Wherever he’d gone, the house was always empty whenever I arrived.
Kwon Ju-ah would enter that vacant home.
She’d sit on the wooden platform where we’d eaten ramen, lingering for a while before leaving.
Sitting there gazing down at Seoul, my heart felt at ease.
All my current worries seemed insignificant.
Though the burden would return the moment I descended, at least I could forget during those precious moments.
It would’ve been even better if I could’ve eaten ramen and coffee there.
Out of guilt, I’d bought ramen and left it on the platform.
Gong In-bae, whom I hadn’t seen once throughout the entire break, returned noticeably taller.
And immediately got into a fight with Yang Jung-won.
I thought he’d get beaten down one-sidedly,
but the Gong In-bae I saw today was a different person.
He’d weave left and right, then strike—thwack, thwack.
Weaving again, then striking—thwack, thwack.
After doing that a couple of times, Yang Jung-won collapsed.
No, he was completely knocked out.
Yang Jung-won, after visiting the School Nurse’s Office, hung his head in shame.
******
I was tearing at my own hair.
I should’ve held back, but I couldn’t.
Damn this unconditional reflex.
Yang Jung-won went down.
The next step is painfully predictable.
In dramas, movies, web novels—everywhere tells the same story from here.
Yang Jung-won, defeated by me, brings the year’s top fighter.
If I beat him, he brings the school’s top fighter.
If I beat him too, he brings the leader of a nearby gang alliance.
If that still doesn’t work, he’ll probably bring some gangster-looking guy claiming to be an uncle I know.
If I’m lucky enough to beat him too, I’ll end up meeting someone called “hyung”—an older brother.
In some cozy underground bar.
In a quiet bar that doesn’t operate, hyung will pour me a glass of whiskey and speak.
“I hear you’ve got some fists on you? Come work under me. I’ll overlook all the trouble you’ve caused so far.”
“What if I refuse?”
“Then you leave a leg or an arm behind.”
“No, sir. I’ll be taking your right Achilles tendon instead.”
With those words, I’d flick the whiskey glass in front toward hyung, then rise while the muscleman standing behind me takes the hit on his head to subdue him… weaving past the gangsters’ attention as they burst through the door, then a one-two, a hook.
But…
Why hasn’t anyone come?
Shouldn’t the grade leader come?
That’s the order, isn’t it?
Or shouldn’t the school leader come at least?
Why are you just leaving me alone?
Yang Jung-won?
Shouldn’t you at least pick a fight with me?
Why are you glaring at me?
Why are you doing this?
Don’t do this. It makes me more anxious.
********
Fortunately, after I beat down Yang Jung-won, no one came looking for me.
It happened just once.
After I beat down Yang Jung-won, my life changed completely.
No one treated me like a lackey anymore.
They didn’t treat me well either, but I was no longer someone they could push around carelessly whenever they pleased.
My goal of escaping the lackey role by graduation was achieved ahead of schedule.
Simply by escaping that role, my school life transformed entirely.
Since I’d been a lackey since elementary school, I never imagined school life could be like this.
I no longer had to flinch at palms flying toward the back of my head at any moment,
nor did I need to be hurt by the endless barrage of insults.
Moreover, I could use my break time fully.
There were no kids casually poking and prodding me as they passed.
Rather, there were kids who actually spoke to me.
Before, they’d looked at me like I was some kind of insect.
Thanks to this, I was enjoying a comfortable school life.
That such a school life could unfold for me.
There’s no heaven quite like it.
After school ended, I headed to the Mart.
This was my daily routine.
I’d go to school in the morning, and when it ended,
I’d stop by the Mart and shopping malls to check if anything new had come in or if there were items worth selling on Carrot, and I’d add decent finds to my inventory.
After that, I’d go to the Gym, and when I came home, my day was done.
Simple but highly efficient pattern.
Speaking of efficiency, there had been a change regarding my inventory.
It wasn’t an upgrade like last time; I just changed how I used my inventory slightly.
After the last upgrade, my inventory did expand,
but since it changed to a quantity-based system, some items took up far less space than when I checked by volume before.
For example, Yang Jung-won’s necklace is still in my inventory, and it takes up one slot.
I can fit up to ten similar items, but I don’t have any other jewelry.
So that single small necklace is taking up one slot in my inventory.
I couldn’t take it out because I was anxious about it being stolen.
It felt wasteful for something like that to occupy an entire slot, so I thought of another method.
The answer came easier than expected.
It was to create packages.
I realized this while putting beef into my inventory—
both a 300g beef pack and a 1kg pack were recognized as a single item, and I focused on this point.
For example, if I put one beef pack in, it shows beef X1. If I add another beef pack, it displays beef X2.
Regardless of the beef’s weight or packaging, one pack is recognized as one item.
So what would happen if I put two packs into a single bag and then placed it in my inventory?
I tested it right away.
The bag vanished, and beef X1 appeared.
When placed in a bag, regardless of its contents or quantity, it’s recognized as a single item.
In other words, it counts as one beef bundle, no matter how many pieces are inside.
Yes!
This is insanely convenient.
This meant I had to change how I used my inventory.
I needed to pack and store things strategically.
Before, I’d put beef into my inventory exactly as it was sold at the Mart, but now I’d combine beef with salt, dipping sauce, lettuce, and cold noodles into one package before storing it.
This way, it becomes food X1.
Once this worked, my food options became far more diverse.
I no longer had to eat beef constantly.
Sashimi, pork belly, chicken—as long as they were in their original packaging, I could store them in the same slot as beef.
That slot was no longer just for beef.
It became food X1.
I didn’t stop there.
I started dividing items into different containers.
I needed many bags.
This method brought innovation.
I no longer had to organize things by category.
I could store all sorts of items freely.
I prepared various bags suited for different purposes—a suitcase, a hiking backpack, pouches, and so on.
Easy-to-eat foods went into plastic bags,
and items I brought to sell were organized and stored separately.
One hiking backpack held valuables in case of emergency.
Just for contingencies.
It contained money and a necklace.
Without those, there’s nothing important in my life.
I’d go to the Mart, steal items,
organize my inventory and store everything properly, then study English.
That’s how I spent my third year of high school.

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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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