Goblin Library - Chapter 104

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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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Chapter 104.

I was listening to the conversation between Choi Tae-sik and Lee Hye-eun at Jang Ma-ru’s Hideout.
I already knew the content of their discussion through the text Jang Ma-ru had sent me, but I thought there might be new clues hidden in the nuances of their spoken words—the kind of subtlety that text alone couldn’t capture.
As I listened quietly to their conversation, my fingers tapped rhythmically against the table.
It was a habit of mine when deep in thought, and Choi Tae-sik watched me silently. Jang Ma-ru, meanwhile, unwrapped a chocolate bar and popped it into his mouth, chewing thoughtfully.
Finally, after my deliberation ended, I spoke.
“Something’s definitely going to happen here.”
“You can tell just from the content alone.”
Following Jang Ma-ru’s response, Choi Tae-sik added his thoughts.
“But hyung, isn’t this different from the work we’ve been doing?”
Until now, my younger brothers and I had been investigating cases that had already occurred and been filed with the Prosecutor’s Office.
We made those who used power and money to evade responsibility for their crimes face proper punishment. That was our work.
But this case was different—even different from the exceptional case of the Convenience Store Owner. What Lee Hye-eun had reported wasn’t a crime that had already happened.
I nodded at Choi Tae-sik’s words.
“You’re right. And we’ve already discussed this before.”
“Which part?”
“The reason we don’t deliberately seek out and investigate cases like these is… because there are only three of us. The three of us can’t solve every crime that occurs in Korea. In fact, we might make things worse by trying.”
“Right. We only have six hands between us.”
Jang Ma-ru held up his hands to demonstrate, and I nodded in agreement.
“Exactly. That’s why we select the slippery eels who slip through the legal net from cases that come to the Prosecutor’s Office and Police—they become our targets. Our goal and our work is to ensure those who’ve already committed crimes receive punishment proportional to their guilt.”
I paused briefly before continuing.
“And this approach allows us to handle more cases.”
“Right. Processing people the police have already investigated and arrested takes less time and lets us handle more cases than investigating and apprehending from the beginning.”
Since our targets were those with power and money, the police often conducted their investigations half-heartedly, being cautious around such individuals.
But since these people were already in police custody, we didn’t need to go out and apprehend them.
This meant we could make criminals face proper punishment with minimal time investment while handling more cases.
And truthfully, I was a busy man. Prosecutors in South Korea handle an enormous number of cases per person.
Just processing my assigned cases consumed all my time—investigating crimes that hadn’t even happened yet and apprehending conspirators would require me to be in two places at once.
“That’s true.”
I continued, looking at both of them.
“But I’m a prosecutor. If I become aware of criminal suspicion, I have to investigate.”
“Well… that’s true, but…”
“If I didn’t know, there’s nothing I could do. But now that I’m aware, I should launch an investigation. Besides, if this is a crime that hasn’t happened yet, we might be able to prevent victims from being harmed.”
At that, Choi Tae-sik spoke with determination.
“If you’ve made your decision, hyung, we’ll follow.”
Jang Ma-ru nodded as well, pulling the keyboard closer and beginning to type.
“Then we should start by investigating this organization. The keyword is crime…”
Jang Ma-ru, who had typed “crime” on the screen, looked at Lim Sung-un.
“What should I search for?”
Lim Sung-un answered.
“Crime, business, commission, cases.”
Jang Ma-ru entered the search terms as Lim Sung-un suggested. Internet posts related to the search keywords appeared on the screen.
But there was nothing that could be called a real clue. Some posts were novel promotions.
“It doesn’t look like we’ll find what we’re searching for here.”
“I suppose not.”
“Then should I go out and gather some information? Crime information spreads faster through legwork and meeting people than through the internet.”
At Choi Tae-sik’s words, Lim Sung-un shook his head.
“You risk exposure that way.”
“I still have younger brothers close to me working in the organization. If I get their help, my information won’t be exposed.”
Lim Sung-un pondered Choi Tae-sik’s words for a moment, then suddenly looked at the monitor.
He reached out and took the mouse from Jang Ma-ru’s hand. Then he clicked on something.

“I Sell Crime.”

The post titled “I Sell Crime” was a genre novel promotion.
“It’s a novel.”
While Jang Ma-ru murmured beside him, Lim Sung-un scrolled down. The promotion post contained a brief synopsis of the novel.
Since it was posted to promote the work, it included elements designed to capture maximum interest.

“Lee Guk-jong, a law school graduate falsely imprisoned.
He learns the skills of fellow inmates to survive in prison.
Having mastered these techniques, Lee Guk-jong builds his own organization within the prison and mobilizes it in society.
For his own sense of justice, I sell crime.”

Noticing Lim Sung-un’s interest, Jang Ma-ru searched for the author of the post on the screen and spoke.
“He’s done several serializations, but none have sold. He’s never completed anything either… He’s an amateur writer.”
“Just from the introduction, you can tell something about his writing ability.”
“Exactly. An introduction should be engaging, but this is just information dumped out there.”
As Jang Ma-ru and Choi Tae-sik spoke, Lim Sung-un glanced at the screen for a moment before asking.
“What do you think?”
“About what?”
When Jang Ma-ru asked in confusion, Lim Sung-un turned his head to look at Choi Tae-sik.
On this matter, Choi Tae-sik would surely know more than Jang Ma-ru.
“Building an organization inside Prison, then calling the members together after their release to reconstruct that organization in society and commit crimes.”
Choi Tae-sik thought it over carefully before answering.
“There are actually factions—organizations you could call them—that exist within Prison. Since Prison is a place where people live, there are lucrative interests that organizations would covet.”
“Like what?”
Choi Tae-sik answered Jang Ma-ru’s question.
“Things you can’t obtain inside Prison… like cigarettes or drugs. They sell those to inmates.”
“How do they get those? Inside Prison?”
“If you have money, is there anything you can’t get?”
Then Choi Tae-sik looked at Lim Sung-un.
“But even those organizations fall apart after release. Even if they were like brothers inside, once they’re out, it’s over.”
“Really?”
“Yes.”
Jang Ma-ru asked at their words.
“If they were like brothers, wouldn’t they visit each other?”
“Before release, they say they’ll visit, this and that, but I’ve never seen a single person actually come for a visit.”
“Seriously?”
“Yeah, never.”
Choi Tae-sik continued, looking at Lim Sung-un.
“Most connections made in Prison end in Prison. They’re not formed in a good place, and since they’re all criminals, most don’t trust each other.”
“So you’re saying this couldn’t happen?”
When Lim Sung-un pointed to the post on the screen, Choi Tae-sik, who had been thinking for a moment, spoke.
“It could happen.”
“It could?”
“There are cases where released people meet up. Specifically, when there’s money to be made. When there’s a profitable opportunity, they meet to gather information or find someone with the right skills.”
Lim Sung-un nodded.
“It’s pretty common for people to seek out their cellmates to do something bad.”
There were actually people who’d been caught that way. The excuse—I was trying to wash my hands clean and live an honest life, but he came looking for me and tempted me with a quick score—was one of the most common refrains I heard while working as a prosecutor.
Having made his decision, Lim Sung-un spoke.
“Fine. I’ll investigate this case.”
“You, sir?”
“Sir, it’s dangerous. That’s what Hye-eun said.”
“That’s true. It would be better if I looked into it discreetly.”
“Or I could search and hack to find out more.”
Lim Sung-un shook his head at both their suggestions.
“No, I’m going to investigate this openly.”
“Openly?”
Jang Ma-ru questioned, and Lim Sung-un nodded.
“Right now, we have too little information.”
“That’s true.”
“They say they’re gathering honeypot women, but we don’t even know who’s doing the gathering.”
Whoosh!
Lim Sung-un spoke while looking at the text on the screen.
“I only looked at this post because I thought it could be possible… but I don’t even know if it’s real or not.”
“That’s true.”
Choi Tae-sik spoke while looking at the screen.
“If an organization like this existed, I would have heard rumors about it.”
“You think it doesn’t exist?”
“According to the content here, they recruit criminals from prison and have them commit crimes to earn money after release… there’s no way something like that wouldn’t become common knowledge.”
“Wouldn’t it be possible if they maintained secrecy well?”
“That might work if they didn’t drink alcohol.”
“Alcohol?”
At Lim Sung-un’s question, Choi Tae-sik nodded.
“There’s not a single criminal who dislikes alcohol. Most of them drink as soon as they earn money from their crimes. They live with the anxiety of not knowing when the police will come for them, so they use alcohol to calm their nerves. And when people drink, their tongues loosen.”
Lim Sung-un agreed and spoke.
“Right. That’s why many criminals get caught after drinking and bragging about the crimes they’ve committed while intoxicated, which leads to their downfall.”
“Exactly. For them, the crimes they commit are medals of honor and things to boast about.”
Choi Tae-sik continued, looking at Lim Sung-un.
“But if I’ve never heard of such an organization existing… then I believe it doesn’t exist.”
Choi Tae-sik understood the nature of criminal organizations well.
Gang organizations certainly exist in abundance. But an organization like the one described in this novel—gathering criminals to commit crimes and earn money? Choi Tae-sik believed such an organization would be difficult to create.
Or more precisely, it could be created, but there’s no way rumors wouldn’t spread about it.
“What if such an organization exists but rumors haven’t spread?”
Choi Tae-sik thought for a moment before answering Lim Sung-un’s question.
“If such an organization exists, there would likely be more than one or two dead bodies on their hands. They would eliminate anyone who fails to keep the secret.”
“If the organization that approached Lee Hye-eun is like that, she might have good reason to be afraid.”
“Do you think such an organization exists, hyung?”
“We’ll find out once we investigate.”
“But it could be really dangerous.”
“Yeah. Hye-eun said there were people who died investigating that organization.”
Lim Sung-un shook his head at both their concerns.
“We have no information. All we know is that they’re gathering honeypot women. In a situation like this, it’s better to use the tactic of striking the grass to startle the snake—shake the grass and the snake will come out. Then at least we’ll know what kind of snake we’re dealing with.”
“You could get bitten by a snake doing that.”
“When that happens….”
Lim Sung-un’s gaze shifted in turn toward Jang Ma-ru and Choi Tae-sik.
“Maru needs to read when the snake will strike, and Tae-sik will have to snatch its head in one swift motion.”
Seeing worry still lingering on both their faces, Lim Sung-un continued.
“Don’t worry too much. Before we stir up the grass, there’s one place we need to go to gather information.”
“A place to gather information?”
“That’s right.”
Lim Sung-un paused before speaking.
“The Bookstore employee who saved my life.”

***

Yu Tae-poong squinted as he read his book.
“Huh? This seems to be talking about me?”
At Yu Tae-poong’s words, the Dung Carrier Goblin looked at him.
“Your story?”
Since they read at different speeds despite looking at the same book, the Dung Carrier Goblin hadn’t yet reached the part Yu Tae-poong was reading.
Yu Tae-poong showed the Dung Carrier Goblin the page he’d just finished. The Dung Carrier Goblin nodded in response.
“If it’s the Bookstore employee, that’s definitely you.”
“What? They’re coming to me for information?”
Yu Tae-poong looked at the book in bewilderment. Of course, if they wanted information, they’d come to the right place.
I knew everything from an omniscient reader’s perspective.

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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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