I Became a Black Market Tycoon with an Inventory - Chapter 87

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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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087-ASCEND
87.
“This is it?”
I examined the drug Edward handed me with keen interest.
It was small.
Cute, even.
That was my first impression upon seeing it.
A transparent candy no larger than a fingernail.
This was the drug Edward had offered me.
I’d asked him to make it easy to consume, so he’d apparently fashioned it into candy form.
“The effects are absolutely incredible. Once you take it, you won’t forget the experience.”
“Really?”
“I’m not joking. I created it myself, but even I’m astonished by the results.”
“To that degree? What exactly are the effects?”
“First, it tastes delicious. Then you’ll experience a surge of refreshing energy so intense that even someone on the verge of collapse will spring to their feet. It’ll revitalize even the most lethargic person. After that, your concentration skyrockets dramatically—your creativity, memory, and judgment all enhance, and your senses become extraordinarily acute. You’ll feel confident enough to accomplish anything in the world.”
“And then?”
“That’s it. The drug effects persist like that, and once the substance wears off completely, you simply return to your original self.”
“Side effects?”
“Returning to my original self?”
“Huh?”
“When you take this drug, you’ll perceive yourself as extraordinary. But what happens when the drug’s effects wear off?”
“You’d feel disappointed, wouldn’t you?”
“Exactly. You’d feel disappointed. And you’d become disillusioned with your original self. There are no physical side effects, but there could be some psychological damage instead. I won’t know the exact extent until the drug wears off.”
Should I call this good or bad?
There’s no physical harm, he says.
But mentally, it heightens sensitivity.
Like taking a drug that makes you smarter.
Once you take it, your senses sharpen, your memory revives, you become logical, and your judgment improves.
Your abilities enhance to the point where you wonder if you were ever capable of such things, and your concentration intensifies.
But once the drug’s effects fade, the brilliant, proud version of myself vanishes without a trace, and I return to my pathetic self.
What if I became Einstein, thought and reasoned with his mind, then reverted to myself?
What if I became Messi or Ronaldo, played soccer, then returned to amateur level?
What if I lived as the world’s greatest singer or composer, then became a nobody?
Could I endure it?
Wouldn’t that be more damaging than any physical harm?
“So mass production is possible?”
“Of course. Kang Jae-ho has already completed the factory, and we’re currently discussing the automation process. Since the Young Boss asked me to make it convenient to consume, I created it in candy form. But because we need to manufacture the candy as well, the production process has become somewhat more complex.”
“Still, once it’s automated, you can produce everything at once, right?”
“But Young Boss, may I name the drug?”
“A name?”
“Yes.”
“What do you want to name it?”
“ASCEND.”
“Ascend?”
“Yes. It means to rise, but beyond just going up, it carries the meaning of awakening and ascending to a higher dimension altogether.”
“Oh, that’s excellent.”
“With this drug, I’ve ascended one level myself, and everyone who takes it will undoubtedly ascend as well. Once anyone takes this drug, they can never return to who they were before. Once you’ve climbed up, you can never come back down.”
“Alright, let’s call it Ascend. Let’s mass-produce it quickly. I’m dying to see how it works.”
.
.
.
I remained in Dalapaanan, monitoring the factory’s progress.
Since I’d built the research facility and the factory simultaneously, the factory itself was nearly complete.
The placement of automated machinery was finished as well.
Soon we’d need to begin test operations.
The progress was faster than expected.
Now the real question was how to penetrate China.
The product was ready.
The question now was how to distribute it throughout China.
I was sipping coffee while contemplating how to infiltrate and dominate China when Simon approached me.
“I’m glad you’re staying here, Alex. Everything seems to be going smoothly.”
“That’s just a feeling.”
“By the way, Alex. There’s a Korean person in Mindanao.”
“Really? Isn’t this a travel-restricted zone for Koreans? How did they get in?”
“Mindanao as a whole isn’t completely restricted, so it’s not a major issue if they enter. Still, it’s rare to see a Korean person here, so I found it interesting.”
“A YouTuber maybe? YouTubers do that kind of thing all the time—going where they’re told not to go for attention.”
“Doesn’t seem like a YouTuber. No camera, and their clothes are too ordinary. More than anything, they’re making an enormous effort not to stand out.”
“Then they’re a criminal.”
“But they don’t have that criminal vibe either. They seem like a model student.”
“Then what are they?”
“I don’t know. Just found it curious.”
“If they came here to hide, they chose the wrong place.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“Think about it. If there was a white person or a black person here in Dalapaanan, what would happen?”
“They’d stand out like a sore thumb.”
“Exactly. By the same logic, since there are no Koreans in Mindanao, a Korean stands out tremendously. No matter how carefully they act, they can’t help but stand out. If they stay locked in their hotel room, suspicion only grows. If they wanted to hide, they should’ve gone to tourist destinations like Cebu or Bohol and blended in with other Koreans.”
“Oh, that’s useful to know.”
“Do you really have to learn something like that? Isn’t it something you naturally pick up?”
“There’s nothing you naturally know. You have to learn everything.”
“Just to be safe, look into that Korean person. Given that they made it all the way here, it doesn’t seem like tourism. Something else is going on, and I’m curious about it.”
“Okay. Understood, Boss. I’ll monitor his every move.”
Simon spoke playfully.
“Not to that extent. Just whether he’s alive or dead.”
“Heh. Got it.
********
The Factory had begun preparations for mass production.
Raw materials were being loaded into the material containers and prepared,
and the mixing tank contained the Essence we’d prepared.
All we needed to do was add a small amount—a very small amount—of Essence to the raw materials for making delicious candy.
Those who consumed it would advance one stage in growth.
I also needed to prepare.
With the item ready, I had to prepare to occupy China.
My method was simple.
Just distribute it.
Distribute it indiscriminately.
Spread that drug across all of China in massive quantities.
Fortunately, the production cost of Essence was pathetically low.
In fact, electricity costs exceeded the material costs.
So there was no burden in mass-producing and extracting large quantities.
By implementing an automated system, I’d eliminated any issues with quality or labor.
I planned to win through sheer volume.
To do that, I needed several more forged passports.
No matter how much the title of travel agency representative helped, too frequent entries and exits could raise suspicion.
I’d need to rotate through multiple identities.
“Sandro, make me some forged passports.”
“Simon, can you create false identities?”
“Dennis, could you possibly make forged passports?”
I asked everyone in sight to make passports for me.
The forged passports I obtained that way.
In particular, I had many Pakistan and Cambodia passports.
Since Pakistan and Cambodia had unusually good relations with China, I thought they’d attract less suspicion, so I specifically requested those.
Besides, those were relatively easier to forge.
Now it begins.
********
National Intelligence Service Overseas Division 2.
“Have we located Shin Jung-gi?”
“We’ve confirmed he illegally entered and went to the Philippines, but the trail went cold there.”
“What about the local Philippine police?”
“We’ve requested their cooperation, and they say they’re searching, but they don’t seem very reliable.”
“There’s no way those guys would put in real effort.”
The Overseas Team Leader wiped his gaunt face with the palm of his hand.
This was a disaster.
A researcher working at the ADD had secretly absconded with blueprints for a next-generation radar design, and vanished without a trace.
We tracked him as far as the Philippines, where he’d smuggled himself in, but all traces of him disappeared once he landed there.
“Why did that lunatic Shin Jung-gi take the new radar blueprints and go dark, creating this mess? What about surveillance on people around Shin Jung-gi?”
“He’s an orphan, sir. There’s no one who could be called an acquaintance. No family, never married, and apparently no friends to speak of.”
“No one he was close to at the company?”
“Nothing like that either. He was the type to work quietly without socializing. When the incident broke, the ADD was apparently the most shocked.”
“Still, dig deeper into the people around him. You never know what might surface.”
“Understood.”
“And what about human intelligence assets in the Philippines?”
“As you know, the black operative roster was leaked, and the entire human intelligence network collapsed.”
“I know. That’s why I’m frustrated. I’m just wondering if there’s anyone left, anyone still embedded there.”
“I’ve looked into it, but there’s nothing. It’s completely destroyed.”
“What about the Korean community? Let’s try to get cooperation from the Korean Association.”
“We’ve already put out feelers there. But the Korean community’s reach is limited—it’s either Koreatown or a complete dead end, isn’t it?”
“Since we don’t know where Shin Jung-gi went, he might have slipped into Koreatown since he’s familiar with it.”
“That’s what uneducated gangsters do when they can’t speak English. But Shin Jung-gi speaks English, Japanese, and Chinese fluently, doesn’t he? Why would he need to go to Koreatown?”
“That’s a fair point.”
“Fugitives typically head for remote, unpopulated areas—they don’t even realize they stand out more there. Isn’t that the pattern?”
“True enough.”
“What if we asked Gong In-bae about this?”
“Gong In-bae? The Gong In-bae from the Philippines?”
“Yes. Among the intelligence we’ve gathered, isn’t he the most prominent figure in the Philippines? Or at least connected to the major players there?”
“That information isn’t reliable enough. And even if it were, there’s a problem. To ask for his cooperation, we’d have to reveal that we’ve been monitoring him all this time. How could we possibly do that?”
“That’s true.”
Gong In-bae had once appeared on the National Intelligence Service’s surveillance list.
While investigating and tracking anti-North Korean funds, the National Intelligence Service detected a pattern of large sums of money continuously flowing into South Korea from the Philippines and launched an investigation.
It began with suspicions that the money was being laundered for use as anti-North Korean funds.
As they investigated, absurdly, a casino website emerged—and the money was actually being remitted domestically by the casino site to process refunds.
Under Korean law, it was naturally illegal, but it wasn’t the National Intelligence Service’s jurisdiction to intervene.
The National Intelligence Service had no authority to investigate domestic politics or crime.
Since the National Intelligence Service couldn’t handle it, they should have reported it to the police, but that was also complicated.
The casino itself operating in the Philippines was legal.
More precisely, while the server was located in the Philippines, it was a legally licensed site registered in the Cayman Islands.
So it couldn’t be shut down through enforcement.
So even if they reported it to the police, the only people who could be arrested were—
The only people subject to legal punishment were individual users of the casino.
People who deposited fifty thousand won, a hundred thousand won, and played games.
Only those people could be arrested and prosecuted.
It’s the situation police hate most.
They can’t touch the kingpins, just endlessly throwing users into cells.
Even if they manage to catch someone, they’ll just pay a fine and walk free.
That’s why I’d given up reporting it to the Police Officer.
If I mentioned it for nothing, I’d just get cursed out for creating pointless work with no credit.
What, we just can’t do anything about it?
The National Intelligence Service said so—if we drag our feet and problems explode later, the police eat all the blame.
The National Intelligence Service warned us in advance and informed the police, but because the Police Officer neglected their duty and didn’t investigate, things spiraled into this mess.
【Police Ignored National Intelligence Service Warning··· Abandoned Illegal Gambling Site Sparked Major Incident】
【Police Received Intel but Did Nothing··· National Intelligence Service Data Suppressed Controversy】
【’Already Knew’ Police Turned Blind Eye to National Intelligence Service Tip, Resulting in Catastrophe】
【National Intelligence Service Document Existed! Why Did Police Keep Quiet?】
【Gambling Ring Grows, Investigation Begins Now··· ‘Online Casino Cultivated by Police’】
The media would rake them over the coals.
So at minimum, they had to go through the motions of investigating.
That’s why with cases like this, if you can’t completely eradicate them, it’s better not to start at all.
But what was strange was that the deeper the investigation went, the more a person named Gong In-bae kept surfacing.
Word came that Gong In-bae was the actual boss of the Dae-hoon Faction, connected to GoGo Casino, which had been the source of funds.
The domestic money flowing in was supposedly Gong In-bae’s operation to move money he’d earned in the Philippines back into the country.
In reality, the Dae-hoon Faction and the Candy Tour Seoul business under Gong In-bae’s leadership maintained close ties.
But with limited intelligence gathering capacity in Seoul, two agents were dispatched to the Philippines for operations.
Posing as tourists.
Yet at the scene, there was only Gong In-bae, working tirelessly as a guide day and night.
Wearing a Hawaiian shirt, driving earnestly from morning, greeting customers and performing his role as a guide with utmost dedication.
Was it all for show?
You could tell at a glance.
Whether that behavior was for appearance, or whether it was ingrained in his bones.
You could distinguish that much.
The stories that Gong In-bae was the owner of GoGo Casino.
That he was the owner of Emerald Resort and Vicente Palace.
That he was the leader of the Rebel Forces.
That he was the invisible hand in Philippine politics—all of it was nonsense.
The owner of GoGo Casino was Alex,
The owners of Emerald Resort and Vicente Palace were Sandro and Alex.
The leader of the Rebel Forces was Simon,
The new force in Philippine politics was a man named Patrick.
None of it was related to Gong In-bae.
Rather, this man Alex seemed like a real heavyweight.
Whenever I asked around, everyone trembled at the mention of Alex.
That Alex really seemed like a major player in the Philippines.
At least it wasn’t Gong In-bae.
More critically, the funds flowing into South Korea had stopped entirely.
Not completely stopped, but scattered in fragments—impossible to trace.
Someone professional was clearly involved. Their skill was extraordinary.
The money vanished in an instant.
Now there wasn’t even a pretext to continue the investigation.
We’d surveilled and marked a civilian without any evidence,
and now we were supposed to ask for his help?
Ridiculous.
The National Intelligence Service had a reputation for shamelessness, but this crossed every line.
No shame, no results, no certainty.
It would only prove we’d been doing everything wrong.
“If he’s connected with local brokers, this becomes a real nightmare. Any ideas?”
“How would we find a solution from here? We should just move forward for now.”
“Right. Let’s go to the Philippines. I’ll request cooperation from the Foreign Ministry, and we deploy.”

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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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