I Became a Black Market Tycoon with an Inventory - Chapter 95

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

095 – Side Effects
95.
“Welcome.”
I had come to the Factory in Dalapaanan to inspect the production status of Ascend.
Click. Click. Click. Click. Click. Click.
As I entered the Factory, the sound of Ascend being manufactured by the machinery rang out clearly.
Ascend seemed to be producing without any hitches.
The Factory’s condition was good, and Edward’s condition looked even better.
Edward had been holed up in a Mountain making medicine.
Now that he had come out to the Commercial District to make medicine, he seemed to love the situation itself.
At first, he trembled with anxiety, wondering if he was really allowed to make medicine here.
He was wary of everyone passing by, suspicious of them all.
But it wasn’t long before Edward had completely adapted to this environment.
He conversed with people, ate delicious food, and in the evenings he watched TV and browsed the internet.
In such an environment, making medicine itself was heaven, he said.
With good research facilities to boot, his job satisfaction was high—he gave a thumbs up.
Well, he must have made medicine relying on lamplight in a Mountain, so this environment would feel strange to him.
I smiled watching the Ascend pile up steadily and followed Edward toward the Office.
Now I could even smile looking at Ascend.
Normally, just seeing Ascend would have made me nauseous.
Ascend = Airplane
Carrying that on me? I would have cried watching Ascend, remembering the process of boarding an airplane and hiding it in a Warehouse in Mainland China.
But now I had no such worries.
It was thanks to the New People’s Army (NPA).
Thanks to the New People’s Army (NPA), I could now smuggle goods into China.
I’m grateful. I will never forget this kindness for the rest of my life.
I’ll make sure to credit all the points to your name.
Well.
To be honest, I couldn’t trust the newly established New People’s Army (NPA) route 100%.
It was still in the testing phase.
They boasted confidently that nothing they’d sent had ever been caught even once.
But you never know.
I might be unlucky and get caught when I send goods.
And the New People’s Army (NPA) had never sent medicine before.
China might overlook other things, but they’re sensitive about medicine.
This could be a different story entirely.
From China’s perspective, the New People’s Army (NPA) is a distant relative, so they overlook most things, but medicine might be treated differently.
“Huh? Where is this bastard selling medicine? Medicine is a no-go. Get lost.”
They could object like this.
So I decided to send just one container first to test it out.
And only half-filled at that.
One might think a single container isn’t much, but it’s absolutely not a small quantity.
When I fill my inventory to the brim, it holds slightly more than a 1-ton truck.
But a container itself has roughly five times the capacity of a 1-ton truck.
In other words, what would require five round trips for me, a single container can handle.
It’s truly astounding.
I wish my inventory could hold containers too.
But the more critical fact is that containers can be sent in multiples—two, three, four, infinitely.
As long as I can produce Ascend, I can send as much Ascend to China as I want.
Of course, assuming it doesn’t get caught in China.
Anyway, since this is still the testing phase, I sent only half.
If that gets intercepted, the Ascend simply vanishes.
That would sting terribly.
It’s not about the money.
It’s the loss of the smuggling route that bothers me.
If the smuggling route disappears, it means I have to carry everything myself again.
Of course, I won’t be completely idle either,
I’ll still deliver via my inventory, but the volume is different, you see—the volume.
When I entered the Office, Edward offered me coffee.
“Would you like some coffee?”
“Sure. I’ll take a cup.”
Edward handed me the coffee.
I accepted it and asked, “There are no problems with Ascend production, right?”
“Of course not. Production is fine, but…”
“But?”
“I keep hearing that Ascend has side effects.”
“Side effects? Didn’t I say there were no side effects?”
“When did I ever say there were no side effects? I said there was no nervous system damage.”
“Ah. Right. I got confused.”
“There does seem to be psychological damage. I mentioned we’d need to observe the drug more to know exactly what it is.”
“So what side effects are there?”
“There are about three side effects. The first is the short duration. I thought it would last 4 to 5 hours when I made it, but the effects wear off in about 3 hours.”
“3 hours?”
“Yes. Depending on the condition, it can be shorter or last a bit longer, but basically around 3 hours.”
“Why is that a disadvantage? That’s an advantage.”
“Pardon? Well, the results came out differently than calculated…”
“Doesn’t that mean more drug consumption?”
“I suppose so, but…”
“That’s an advantage. A definite advantage. Next drawback.”
“That’s an advantage. A definite advantage. Next, the disadvantage.”
“Mm, well… the second issue is that when you wake up from the drug, you suffer from extreme hunger.”
“Hunger?”
“Yes. Basically, Ascend stimulates the brain and central nervous system intensely. It consumes a lot of energy, so when the drug wears off, the body seems to crave glucose.”
“That’s not really a problem though. It’s natural to get hungry when you use your brain. Why is that an issue?”
“Because the severity is worse than expected.”
“It’s fine. If you’re hungry, you eat. China has plenty of food anyway. I like it—using your brain and then eating. That’s nice.”
“···..”
“What’s next?”
“The last one is the most serious. Sometimes users can’t remember the work they created while on the drug.”
“What do you mean?”
“Literally, they write something down, but later they can’t remember what it says.”
“What if they take Ascend again?”
“Then they remember again and can do the same things. They return to that previous state.”
I stood up and pulled Edward into a tight embrace.
“Wow—Edward, you’ve really developed something incredible.”
“Huh?”
“I don’t understand how these things you call drawbacks appeal to me so much. It all comes down to needing more of the drug, doesn’t it? That’s how you sell more.”
“But you said you weren’t greedy for money? Why do you want to sell more drugs?”
“I’m not greedy for money. But aren’t we selling drugs in China right now?”
“Well, yes?”
“We’re giving China dreams. We’re making impossible dreams come true.”
“Huh?”
“So the small profits we make along the way don’t matter. That’s just a commission.”
“A commission?”
“A commission toward dreams. While taking Ascend, people can dream, can’t they? People in China are struggling these days anyway. You’re giving 1.4 billion people in China dreams and happiness. No one else has ever accomplished something so remarkable. Be proud of yourself.”
“No, that’s not what I meant…”
“You’re doing great! But I’m curious about something too.”
“What is it?”
“They say Ascend makes you smarter? Is that true?”
“Huh? Makes you smarter? Why would you ask that?”
“I’ve heard people say that.”
“It doesn’t make you smarter—it just feels like you’re smarter. How could a foolish person actually become intelligent? There’s no ability to suddenly know things you’ve never learned. That doesn’t make sense.”
“Is that so?”
“For example, imagine someone who believes the Earth is flat. Normally it’s hard to explain that belief, but on Ascend, they feel like they can explain why it’s flat, so they write it all down in a notebook. Then when the drug wears off, they get hungry and eat some candy. Later, they look at the notebook again and understand nothing. What does this even mean? Then they take another Ascend and suddenly it all makes sense. But no matter how convincingly they wrote down the reasons why the Earth is flat, it’s still just their own speculation—the Earth doesn’t actually become flat. Their brain just thinks the way they want it to think, so it feels like the truth. That’s different from actually becoming smarter. It might help sometimes, but probably not much.”
“I see the principle now.”
“It instills confidence and conviction in the thoughts you already have? I’d say it boosts your sense of elevation.”
“Good. I like it. Either way, they’re happy. That’s enough. That’s sufficient.”
******
Even as we spoke, Ascend continued its steady work.
Faithfully and quietly, it was giving dreams and happiness to the people of China.
spreading joy far and wide.
Not just the coastal cities, but inland cities were gradually being conquered as well.
To be more precise, the coastal cities had finished distributing samples and moved into the sales phase, while inland cities were now receiving their own samples.
Xi’an, Chengdu, Chongqing, Changsha, Beijing.
Following the exact same path as the Opium Wars.
Slowly, methodically, one step at a time, devouring China piece by piece.
With the determination to leave nothing untouched.
I too was doing my part to keep pace with this momentum.
Today, I was working hard to move the product.
Though I wasn’t doing the selling myself.
I was cheering from behind those who were pushing the sales relentlessly.
Before me, Tian Zihao and others who had built the purchasing website were diligently running the buying programs.
It had become automated now—apparently, once money is deposited, the system automatically sends the location.
I’d made the right call bringing him in.
Tian Zihao contacted me through a secretly created messenger app.
“Young Boss. We’re running short on inventory in Guangzhou.”
“What?”
How could that be possible?
How much product had I stocked in Guangzhou, and it’s already running low?
Though I had converted the first batch meant for sampling into sales, I’d still left an entire truck’s worth there.
Even with extensive sampling distributed everywhere, we shouldn’t be seeing empty shelves this soon.
I’d placed over 6 million units in Guangzhou.
No matter how much we distributed as samples, running short on inventory this quickly was problematic.
“How much have we sold?”
“Approximately 700,000 units.”
What?!
Already 700,000 units?
With a minimum purchase of 10 units, that meant at least 70,000 people had made purchases.
The speed was extraordinary.
At 10,000 won per unit, that was over 7 billion won in sales.
This was truly impressive.
Now I understood why people got into the drug trade.
But still—we’ve only sold 700,000 units and we’re already out of stock?
That doesn’t add up.
We sold just over 10% of 6 million units and the inventory is gone?
Even if half went to sampling, even accounting for losses, it’s hard to justify.
Something was wrong somewhere.
If this was a structural problem beyond our control, we’d need to restructure. If it was human error, we’d need to take action.
I was someone who expected betrayal.
No one can overcome their instincts, and betrayal is instinct.
I don’t complain about past betrayals.
But when you betray someone, don’t you come prepared to face the consequences?
Aren’t you prepared to forfeit your life if you’re caught?
Don’t you shoulder the risk and take the challenge?
Because every challenge comes with risk.
I need to go see what’s happened.
I’ll stock the warehouse and take a look at those Yingjie Xian bastards’ faces.
******
Yingjie Xian’s temporary headquarters in Shanghai.
Tian Wei, the boss of Yingjie Xian, and Hanlin, who handled operations, were having a conversation.
They were childhood friends who had founded Yingjie Xian together.
Their opinions aligned on one point: money was all that mattered, nothing else was necessary.
With that mindset, they had created Yingjie Xian.
There was no trouble with Tian Wei taking the position of boss.
Outwardly, Tian Wei played the role of boss, but Hanlin handled all the actual operations.
Hanlin managed the organization and handled all external communications.
Tian Wei was happy being the boss, and Hanlin was happy because he could control and manipulate the organization.
They didn’t engage in violent conflicts.
They primarily conducted phishing operations, ran online casinos, and handled money laundering.
In truth, they did whatever made money.
For work Yingjie Xian couldn’t handle, they outsourced and collaborated.
That’s how they expanded their influence.
Recently, their scale had grown even larger by distributing Ascends.
They were handling quite substantial sums of money.
“This office is nice too, isn’t it? Should we move the headquarters here entirely?”
“Should we? This place isn’t bad either. And the women in Guangzhou are beautiful.”
Tian Wei smiled sinisterly.
The beginning with the Philippines had been somewhat bewildering.
They received contact from the men they’d sent to the Philippines to build illegal websites.
They said they’d been caught, and that they had a good proposal to discuss.
It was strange.
Unknown people sent money first.
They just said to rent a warehouse.
It was quite a lot of money for simply renting a warehouse.
Even after renting the warehouse, there was plenty of money left over.
There was no reason to refuse.
After renting the warehouse, one day they said there was candy inside and to distribute it for free.
Then suddenly they asked to package it in groups of ten, hide it, take photos, and send them.
They even sent a helpful manual on how to do it.
That was all they had to do.
Yingjie Xian’s role was limited to taking photos and sending them.
He received substantial compensation for doing so.
Everything after that—the sales and photo distribution—those guys handled themselves.
I had no idea how much was being sold, but that wasn’t what mattered.
The smell of money here was overwhelmingly thick.
Upon investigation, it turned out to be a drug that was moving quickly these days.
People were searching for Ascends everywhere, and Hanlin knew the warehouse password.
Hanlin couldn’t understand why these Philippine guys made things so complicated.
Why go through all the trouble of hiding, concealing, taking photos, and selling in secret?
Why not just sell it directly?
Public Security? Enforcement raids?
No problem.
Just sell wholesale.
It’s the retail dealers who get caught.
With enough money, you could do far worse than drugs without consequence.
Slip enough cash to the right people, and you could walk out of an execution ground alive.
That was Hanlin’s philosophy.
Money was what you needed to overcome death itself.
I sold the Ascends I’d received for free at 40 yuan each—8,000 won.
They started flying off the shelves.
For orders of 10,000 or more, I sold them at 35 yuan each—7,000 won.
What a sweet deal this was.
Selling candy I received for nothing and getting paid for it.
Sure, they were given to me to manage, but once they were in my hands, they were mine.
I just went through the motions of selling while quietly skimming product to sell separately.
No one was watching. No one was checking.
How perfect could this setup be?
I only hoped these days would continue forever.
With that in mind, I even placed additional orders in advance.
The future required preparation.
That’s when it happened.
The door swung open, and a man in a Hawaiian shirt appeared.
“Who are you?”
“Hey there. Are you Yingjie Xian?”
“W-who…?”
“Scott. Nice to meet you.”

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————