I Became a Black Market Tycoon with an Inventory - Chapter 79
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————
079-Yingjie Xian
79.
After O Eul-tteum, the manager of GoGo Casino, left, I spent a long time thinking.
What should I do?
Should I really provide the system when my employee wants it so badly?
But how am I supposed to get the system?
I pondered the dilemma.
In truth, the site I’d asked O Eul-tteum to investigate was operated by the very organization that had approached Manager Nam—
the organization that had tried to steal GoGo Casino’s source code.
After extensive investigation, we managed to uncover the backing force behind the group that had attempted to take over GoGo Casino.
To be precise, it wasn’t me—it was Sandro.
I wasn’t curious about how Sandro found out.
What mattered was that he had found out.
It took longer than expected.
When we beat the information out of those who had contacted Manager Nam, they turned out to be small fry.
We kept beating and beating, and eventually an organization surfaced.
The site O Eul-tteum saw was operated by that organization.
“They’re Chinese. They run online casinos too, but since they’re not making profits, they tried to steal our source code. This is their site.”
Once I received the link, I instructed O Eul-tteum to analyze the site and bring back the information.
But then O Eul-tteum said he needed the system from that site.
His eyes gleaming with excitement.
The fortunate part was that the server wasn’t in China but here in the Philippines.
Thinking about it here wouldn’t lead anywhere.
I had to go check it out myself.
“Scott. Get ready to move out.”
“Yes.”
.
.
.
“Good grief, this is exhausting.”
“W-who are you?”
“If you’re going to work in a building without an elevator, you should set up on the first floor. This is killing me.”
“W-who the hell are you?!”
“This is rough. Scott, take them down.”
“Yes.”
Scott burst forward at my command, and the organization members following him rushed in his wake.
They began indiscriminately beating the people sitting defenseless at their computers.
There was no mercy in their fists.
They didn’t use weapons, but their bare knuckles were more than sufficient.
I didn’t use a weapon, but my two fists were enough.
“Scott. If those bastards are holding their heads high later, you’re dead.”
“That won’t happen. Don’t worry.”
“Yeah? Alright.”
“Yes.”
Scott was composed enough to converse with me even while beating the men down.
How much time had passed?
I’d barely finished a glass of juice sitting on the sofa when roughly a dozen men, battered and bruised, were kneeling obediently before me.
I looked at them and posed a question.
“Alright! Who knows why they got beaten? Raise your hand!”
But no one raised their hand.
“Look here, Scott. They’re not answering right away. What’s going on?”
“My apologies. Give me five minutes and I’ll make sure they explain every detail of how they’ve been living up until now.”
As Scott moved to act on his words, one of the kneeling men frantically waved his hand and spoke.
“No… no, that’s not it. I really didn’t know, so I couldn’t raise my hand. I have no intention of deceiving or hiding anything. I’m serious.”
“Really? Can I trust you?”
“Absolutely.”
“Then tell me.”
“Tell you wh—”
“Everything.”
From that point on, the man began explaining in detail.
“I was born in 2002…”
“Skip.”
“My school was…”
“Skip. Tell me what you did here.”
“We were providing online services…”
“Isn’t this an online casino?”
“Huh? Well…”
“Scott. That bastard’s eyes are rolling back. He’s thinking of an excuse, isn’t he?”
“My apologies. I’ll handle it immediately.”
Five minutes later.
His already ruined face became even more ruined.
“What did you say before? Online services?”
“No. We’re developing an online casino.”
“You know GoGo Casino, right?”
“Who doesn’t know that? Everyone does.”
“Why did you need GoGo Casino’s source code?”
“Huh?”
“Scott!”
“No. No, sir! I really didn’t know. It’s just fascinating how well GoGo Casino is doing. Looking at the source alone, there’s nothing particularly special about it, but it seems like there’s something we don’t know. I’ve never tried to steal GoGo Casino’s source code.”
“But one of you tried to recruit our manager, didn’t you?”
“We’re only developing the program here. We don’t involve ourselves in the organization’s operations. The ones actually carrying out the work are separate from us.”
“Oh~ good. Explain it to me in detail.”
The battered man began to speak.
His explanation was lengthy and tedious, but the summary was simple.
They were members of Yingjie Xian, a Chinese criminal organization.
But this organization was rather unusual.
Just as Korea has the “MZ” generation, China has the “Ling Ling Hou” generation.
This criminal organization was formed by the Ling Ling Hou generation.
The Ling Ling Hou born after 2000 had several distinct characteristics.
Growing up from birth surrounded by smartphones, the internet, and social media, they were digitally proficient,
and while they cared more about practical profit than ideology, they were obsessed with national pride.
They were highly individualistic and pragmatic.
They had strong purchasing power, spending lavishly on national pride and trendy items.
But they carried their own shadows as well.
They had survived fierce entrance exam competition and graduated from university, yet lacked proper employment, becoming a social problem.
They believed they couldn’t earn money through legitimate means and formed an organization.
That was Yingjie Xian.
Those skilled in digital technology primarily relied on online casinos, phishing, ransomware, and money laundering as income sources, hiring or collaborating with technicians.
Unlike traditional gangsters who gathered under shared goals, loyalty, brotherhood, and family bonds,
these members gathered and dispersed based on profit.
They were essentially workers assembled for specific projects,
and the person who planned and executed this was someone else entirely.
“They should be arriving about now.”
The moment he finished speaking, the door opened and four Chinese men appeared.
The four Chinese men seemed startled by the office’s unusual appearance.
The workers should have been sitting at their desks working,
but instead they were kneeling in a battered state, surrounded by unfamiliar faces.
The alarmed Chinese men tried to leave, but Scott was already blocking the door.
Ah, he really is sharp.
The Chinese men’s hands moved toward their waists.
“Draw that blade and you die.”
I spoke, but the Chinese man didn’t listen.
There’s always someone stubborn enough to ignore a warning.
One of them drew a knife and rushed toward me,
but none of us moved.
Yet before the Chinese man could take three steps, he collapsed,
and a gunshot rang out a second later.
The man lay bleeding with a hole through his head.
Everyone in the room was confused about what had just happened.
The man who had charged forward with his knife bounced back as if he’d hit a wall, then fell to the ground bleeding.
Not a single person in that place had moved.
“Ah!! Didn’t I mention I have a sniper? Sorry. One life wasted for nothing. But I warned you beforehand. Draw a blade and you die. I’m not the type to bluff. And if you lie, you’ll all die too. Okay? So shall we go through this story step by step again?”
I straightened my back against the sofa and began the conversation with them.
*******
“Alright! Let’s move in.”
Geun-su, the action commander of the Dae-hoon Faction, shouted.
Dozens of men poured into the club in Gangnam.
The interior reeked of blood.
With each step, blood pooled on the floor made a wet, squelching sound.
The stench of blood hung thick in the air.
Mutilated corpses lay scattered throughout,
and those barely clinging to life pleaded for help, but no one could assist them.
“You got the photos earlier?”
“Yes.”
“Take only the organization’s leaders. Move everyone else out. Understood?”
“Yes.”
The organization members responded to Geun-su’s orders.
The members began cleaning up the club.
Just as the battle between the two large organizations was winding down, the Dae-hoon Faction stormed in.
The Dae-hoon Faction easily finished off those already exhausted and drenched in blood.
Though a major fight had erupted, not a single line appeared in the media.
This was because the police, who should have been the media’s source, remained silent.
The police did arrive at the scene, but they simply classified it as a minor dispute and closed the case.
And it wasn’t even a lie, because by the time the police actually arrived,
the Dae-hoon Faction had already finished cleaning up.
Since the police did nothing, reporters had no information about the fight.
Not a single article about the organization’s conflict appeared in newspapers or news broadcasts.
It had become entirely their own private war.
.
.
.
The fights among Seoul’s gangsters grew increasingly brutal.
It was no longer about becoming the partner of the Philippine godfather.
The five billion won had long been forgotten.
Everyone continued fighting for various reasons, unable to stop.
Fearing they’d be consumed if they stayed still, they struck first,
and fearing betrayal if they trusted, they turned traitor.
Revenge from organization members who’d lost comrades followed relentlessly.
It was a fight driven entirely by emotion and instinct, not profit.
It was a fight for survival.
Internal strife. Alliances, betrayals, attacks, traps.
As all of these tangled and intertwined, Seoul descended deeper into chaos.
There were no longer absolute powers or absolute weaklings.
The strong had weakened, and the weak had united their strength.
Yet even within the gatherings of the weak who had joined forces, betrayal, collusion, and other conspiracies ran rampant.
Seoul was now chaos within chaos.
By the time the sun rose, the Club was cleaned up as if no fight had ever occurred.
There were no fallen bodies or bloodstains to be seen.
The people who had been lying on the Club floor had vanished without a trace.
*******
Cheonggang Faction.
One of Seoul’s most powerful criminal organizations operating throughout Cheongdam-dong and Gangnam.
In fact, it was an organization boasting tremendous power and capital worthy of ranking in the top three.
When word spread of the Philippine godfather’s entry into the country, many said the Cheonggang Faction would surely be the most formidable candidate.
In terms of funding, scale, and political connections, the Cheonggang Faction was the most dominant.
Was that why?
They were attacked first.
At some point, massive assaults poured into their establishments.
The atmosphere within the Cheonggang Faction was dire.
Every single day was warfare.
Already, half of the organization’s members had vanished.
The Cheonggang Faction wanted to stop fighting.
Continuing like this would lead only to total annihilation.
They wanted to stop fighting, but
no matter how much they pleaded for the violence to cease,
the crazed attackers kept coming at them relentlessly.
With the constant assaults, they had no choice but to defend themselves.
They said they didn’t want to fight. They never said they wanted to die.
After prolonged conflict, the Cheonggang Faction reached out to other organizations.
To those commonly known as the top ten factions.
They had to unite among themselves to stop the fighting.
Further casualties had to be prevented.
Five billion won was tempting, but this couldn’t continue.
It was no longer about the five billion—the organization’s very survival was at stake.
.
.
.
Ten Pro, situated in the basement of a business hotel in Seoul.
Here, the leaders of all ten major criminal organizations in Seoul had gathered.
Yet there was neither alcohol nor music.
Silence alone filled the establishment.
These were people gathered for peace, not war.
I had asked them all to come as quietly as possible.
If organization members flooded this place during such a sensitive time, nobody would be happy about it.
One attendant per boss.
That was today’s rule.
“Thank you so much for attending despite the chaotic situation. Under normal circumstances, I would have served you delicious food and drinks, but I hope you understand given the circumstances.”
“Anyway, why did you call us here?”
At Cheongnam Faction Boss Seo Byung-mo’s words, Yeongdeungpo Faction Lee Gyeong-su answered with a sharp tone.
The two had never gotten along.
Despite Lee Gyeong-su’s pointed response, Seo Byung-mo held back and guided the conversation forward.
“Since you’re all busy, I’ll get straight to the point. We propose a ceasefire for the sake of peace.”
At Seo Byung-mo’s words, some nodded their heads while others seemed to be thinking.
“I agree.”
“I’m in favor too.”
“War is best avoided.”
The atmosphere seemed to flow easily toward a ceasefire.
But then Lee Gyeong-su broke the mood.
“A ceasefire? Will that even work? Who knows who might push in right now?”
Seo Byung-mo’s voice, which he had been holding back, grew louder.
“That’s exactly why we should have a ceasefire. If we at least don’t fight among ourselves, wouldn’t things stabilize a bit? We need to calm Seoul down somehow.”
“Heh heh heh. I’ve just seen too many guys who stab you in the back after that. You’re pretty good at that kind of thing yourself.”
Lee Gyeong-su dug into Seo Byung-mo’s painful past.
“Would you like me to sign an agreement and get it notarized?”
“What good is a notary after I’m dead?”
“Then the Yeongdeungpo Faction should get out. Don’t muddy the waters here. Instead, when war breaks out, I’ll attack Yeongdeungpo first.”
“What? You said ceasefire but now you want to fight?”
“I said let’s have a ceasefire. Not that I’d sit around like an idiot.”
At Seo Byung-mo’s fierce response, the other bosses urged Lee Gyeong-su to accept the ceasefire.
“Gyeong-su, take it easy and let’s have a ceasefire this time.”
“Gyeong-su. Right now, calming things down seems to be the priority.”
“Yeah, Gyeong-su. Let’s acknowledge it for now and think about what comes next.”
“Tch. I’m not thrilled about it, but since you hyungs are saying so, I’ll accept it for now. Then we’re in favor too.”
“Then I’ll take it that everyone accepts the ceasefire proposal, and we’ll proceed accordingly…”
That was when it happened.
“Hyungs, stop.”
Seo Dae-hun appeared and inserted himself into their conversation.
“How can you just agree to a ceasefire with a few words in a back room like this, when I’ve gone through all this trouble to set this up? What was all my effort for?”
“You… you’re Seo Dae-hun, right?”
“Oh my, the patriarch of Seoul remembers my face. Thank you so much.”
“I don’t know what scheme you’ve cooked up, but get your hands off this right now and head down to Jeolla Province. Then I’ll let you live.”
“Brother, that’s quite the crude threat. If I go down there, will you provide farming capital too? I’ve spent quite a bit of money this time around.”
“No wonder you’re from the provinces—you’ve got no manners.”
“Yeah, I grew up without parents, so I don’t have the best manners. Keke. Still, I make sure to call you ‘brother’ out of respect, but it seems you don’t like it?”
“Don’t like it? Don’t like it? Do you even know where you are right now? If I so much as lift a finger, someone like you could be dead in an instant.”
“What are you talking about, you idiot? You’ve lifted your finger four times already, and I’m still here. I’m not dead.”
“You bastard. Really…”
That’s when it happened.
A man attending to the Cheonggang Faction boss spoke to him.
“Boss, I’ll handle this bastard. Please give me the chance.”
Seo Byung-mo nodded, and the man drew a blade and rushed toward Seo Dae-hun.
“Die, you bastard.”
But Seo Dae-hun remained composed.
As the man rushed closer, he pulled a gun from his pocket and fired at him.
It was the gun In-bae had given him.
Bang.
The man collapsed, bleeding.
“What… what is this?”
“Was that… was that a gun just now?”
“A gun?”
The people present couldn’t believe what had just happened.
They never expected a gun to appear in Gangnam, Seoul.
Ten Pro, with its soundproofing, prevented the gunshot from reaching the outside.
The faces of the ten organization bosses were painted with shock and horror.
They were utterly bewildered.
“Do you still support the ceasefire?”
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————