Goblin Library - Chapter 105

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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 105.

As I continued reading the book, I found an entry describing Lim Sung-un’s departure to meet me.
And just as I finished reading that part, I heard the voice of Bamboo Sword Goblin.
[Go to the Bookstore.]
Yu Tae-poong didn’t hesitate and followed Bamboo Sword Goblin’s instruction to the Bookstore.
Of course, going to the Bookstore simply meant opening the door, stepping outside, and coming back in.
“This is my first time visiting this Bookstore.”
At the words of Dung Carrier Goblin, who had followed behind me, I turned to look at him.
“You’ve never been inside even though it’s in the same building?”
“I come here because I have business at the Goblin Library, not because I have business at the Bookstore.”
With that reply, Dung Carrier Goblin scanned the books displayed at the Bookstore entrance. Then, spotting the manga section packed along one wall, he spoke with evident delight.
“There are manga here too.”
“We have most of the recent releases. Feel free to look around.”
“Manga… I used to read a lot of manga back in the day.”
As Dung Carrier Goblin pulled out a manga and tore open the plastic wrap, I asked him a question.
“But Lim Sung-un will be arriving soon. Will you meet him together with me?”
“I want to see Lim Sung-un too.”
“Understood.”
Even without my warning, Dung Carrier Goblin had plenty of experience meeting characters from novels, so he wouldn’t make any verbal blunders.
“But he’s coming to gather information. How much are you planning to tell him?”
“Hmm… I’m not sure.”
“If we tell him too much, the novel loses its appeal…”
“But if we tell him nothing at all, Lim Sung-un will be completely lost.”
As I spoke, looking at the books on the shelf, I continued.
“And I’m also curious about how this whole ‘Tachycardia Prosecutor’ thing will play out.”
At my words, Dung Carrier Goblin replied.
“If you want to see that, we’ll need to tell him an appropriate amount.”
“Right.”
“But even if we give him information like this, won’t Bamboo Sword Goblin say something?”
“Well…”
I laughed and told him about the time I gave information to save Lim Sung-un.
“I saw that part too. Ah… so Bamboo Sword Goblin approved of it.”
“It wasn’t so much approval as it was an instruction from him. The author can’t directly interfere with the novel, but since I’m a person, I can be entangled with the characters as much as I want, right?”
“That’s a loophole.”
“You could say that.”
I laughed as I spoke.
“The Company President really likes the Lim Sung-un character. He didn’t want him to die in the middle. So he hinted at it subtly.”
Yu Tae-poong smiled and shook his head.
“What can a subordinate do? You just watch your boss’s mood and act accordingly.”
At Yu Tae-poong’s jest, the Dung Carrier Goblin nodded and spoke.
“True enough.”
At that, Yu Tae-poong glanced subtly toward the entrance. And just as the Dung Carrier Goblin had said, the bookstore door opened and Lim Sung-un walked in.
Ding!
Upon entering through the door, Lim Sung-un saw Yu Tae-poong and the Dung Carrier Goblin, then silently surveyed the bookshelves.
Yu Tae-poong watched him in silence before beginning to organize the books. There wasn’t much to it, really.
Aside from the part-time workers who came in on weekends, no one managed the bookstore, yet magazines and books were delivered on schedule.
Sometimes, glancing out the window, I’d see a delivery truck pull up, and the driver would toss the books inside before leaving.
So I’d unwrap the boxes and bands around those books and organize them. Watching Yu Tae-poong do this, Lim Sung-un spoke.
“Would you have a moment to talk?”
At Lim Sung-un’s words, Yu Tae-poong looked up and nodded.
“What’s this about?”
Lim Sung-un responded with a composed expression.
“Don’t you know?”
“Know what?”
Lim Sung-un glanced at the Dung Carrier Goblin, then shifted his gaze back to Yu Tae-poong and spoke.
“If you hadn’t known why I came, you would have shown some reaction when I entered.”
“You could have assumed I was just a customer, couldn’t you?”
“Let’s say that’s the case then.”
At Lim Sung-un’s words, Yu Tae-poong looked at him and spoke.
“But you’re being formal with me today.”
Lim Sung-un answered.
“I don’t usually speak formally to suspicious people. Suspicious people always seem to be doing something illegal.”
“You didn’t find me suspicious?”
“I do find you suspicious. And I still think you’re quite suspicious.”
“Yet you’re speaking formally?”
“You are suspicious, but… there’s nothing I can quite pin down.”
“So you’ve investigated my background.”
“Because you’re suspicious.”
Then Lim Sung-un tapped his chest.
“I’m a prosecutor, after all. When a crime comes to my attention, it’s only natural to investigate.”
“Did I… commit a crime?”
“That’s why I looked into it. Whether you committed a crime or not… but there was nothing. Not even tax issues.”
Lim Sung-un continued, surveying the interior of the bookstore.
“You’re reporting properly at your workplace.”
Then Lim Sung-un looked at the Dung Carrier Goblin.
“Do you work together?”
“He’s a regular customer at our bookstore.”
“A regular customer, huh….”
Lim Sung-un, whose gaze had been fixed on the Dung Carrier Goblin for a moment, turned back to Yu Tae-poong and spoke.
“Let’s step outside and talk for a moment.”
“No, let’s just do it here. I’m not really involved in this anyway.”
At the Dung Carrier Goblin’s words, Lim Sung-un looked at him.
“Are you also a suspicious person?”
“There’s no one quite as suspicious as me. Ah! But that doesn’t mean I’m doing anything illegal.”
At the Dung Carrier Goblin’s words, Yu Tae-poong laughed inwardly.
‘Well, at least he’s not human, that much is certain.’
As Yu Tae-poong muttered to himself, Lim Sung-un looked at the two of them and spoke.
“You certainly are suspicious.”
“It was the prosecutor who came looking. Why did you seek out such a suspicious person?”
“Because you’re not the kind of suspicious person who’s bad.”
Then Lim Sung-un looked at the Bookstore and spoke.
“I had this thought. If there’s a prosecutor like me… wouldn’t there also be a bookstore employee like you?”
“A bookstore employee like me?”
“Let’s say a bookstore employee who’s suspicious but not a bad person.”
Then Lim Sung-un looked at Yu Tae-poong.
“So, do you know why I’ve come?”
At Lim Sung-un’s question, Yu Tae-poong spoke.
“I’ll admit I’m a suspicious bookstore employee. But that doesn’t make me a ghost. And I’m not constantly watching you either….”
Of course, he knew why Lim Sung-un had come. But there was something uncomfortable about stating it outright.
Lim Sung-un handled no shortage of cases as a prosecutor, but if I specifically mentioned the one related to Lee Hye-eun’s tip… it would make me look even more suspicious than I already did.
‘And this is probably a test too.’
The moment I brought that up, from Lim Sung-un’s perspective, it would appear that I was the one monitoring him, going beyond mere suspicion.
“Why have you come?”
Lim Sung-un stared at Yu Tae-poong for a moment, as if trying to read his true intentions, then answered.
“Some organization is gathering about ten seductresses. I suspect they’re trying to use these women to target men for some scheme… Do you happen to know anything about this?”
Yu Tae-poong gazed at him intently before opening his mouth.
“There’s a criminal organization.”
Lim Sung-un’s eyes sharpened. Watching Lim Sung-un focus on his words, Yu Tae-poong continued.
“That organization recruits criminals and has them commit crimes.”
“Recruits them to commit crimes?”
“It’s less an organization and more of a staffing agency. The difference from a regular staffing agency is that all the personnel they dispatch are criminals.”
“So these dispatched personnel assist in committing crimes.”
“Exactly. If they need a thief, they send a skilled one. If they need a con artist, they send a con artist. That’s how it works.”
“Do you know about the organization’s members?”
At Lim Sung-un’s question, Yu Tae-poong looked at him before answering.
“I know a few, but it’s difficult for me to disclose that information.”
“Are you perhaps being threatened by them?”
“That’s not quite it.”
“Then why?”
“We have our own code of conduct, you see.”
“A code of conduct?”
“Yes, we do have one.”
In response to Yu Tae-poong’s answer, Lim Sung-un met his gaze and spoke.
“If the suspicious bookstore employee doesn’t share what he knows with me, people could become victims of crime. And those who suffer from crime will be truly sorrowful.”
At Lim Sung-un’s words, Yu Tae-poong’s eyes narrowed. He had never thought about it that way before.
He had simply treated it like an interesting story within a book….
‘Have I truly adapted to the goblin world?’
He had begun to view crimes written in books as mere tales within pages. Even though he clearly knew they were real-world occurrences.
After a moment of contemplation, Yu Tae-poong looked at Lim Sung-un. Lim Sung-un was looking back at him.
And as if reading the hesitation reflected in his pupils, I felt something subtle emanating from Lim Sung-un—a peculiar aura.
It felt as though I were being interrogated by a prosecutor.
After a brief standoff, Yu Tae-poong opened his mouth.
“Please wait a moment.”
“Understood.”
As Yu Tae-poong stepped outside the bookstore, the Dung Carrier Goblin followed him out, then turned back to look at Lim Sung-un.
Then he hurled the manga book he had unwrapped with a sharp flick.
Thwack!
As Lim Sung-un caught the manga book, the Dung Carrier Goblin spoke.
“Read that.”
Lim Sung-un accepted the manga book with bewilderment and examined it.
The manga was a webtoon that had been published as a physical book.
Outside, Yu Tae-poong glanced around and spoke.
“What should I do?”
Soon after, the voice of the Bamboo Sword Goblin reached his ears.
[You can choose.]
Yu Tae-poong nodded. Since the Bamboo Sword Goblin was observing Lim Sung-un, I thought that if I spoke from a place close to him, he would hear it… and that assumption was correct.
“Me?”
[If you want to give more information, you can.]
“But that would affect the Company President’s novel.”
[You’re already a character appearing in this novel.]
“Me too?”
[Lim Sung-un mentioned you. As a suspicious but not entirely bad bookstore employee. Any goblin reading this book would think of you as an informant. A very suspicious one at that.]
At the Bamboo Sword Goblin’s words, Yu Tae-poong thought for a moment, then nodded.
“I’ll speak in a way that doesn’t greatly affect the Company President’s novel.”
[You can decide that yourself. Just make sure the Dung Carrier Goblin stays out of it as much as possible.]
“I have no intention of stepping forward anyway. I just wanted to see what Lim Sung-un would do.”
[Good, just do that.]
And the Bamboo Sword Goblin spoke to Yu Tae-poong once more.
[From now on, handle whatever happens with the characters in the novel on your own.]
“Will that be alright?”
[You are also merely a character appearing in 【Lim Sung-un】 to me. Of course… you are a rather fantastical character.]
“Fantastical?”
[Because you’re a goblin-related character. You’re not the type of character that would appear in a modern novel where supernatural powers are never mentioned.]
“That’s true enough.”
[Go on in.]
With his conversation with the Bamboo Sword Goblin finished, Yu Tae-poong entered the bookstore. He spotted Lim Sung-un reading a manga and asked him a question.
“Are you enjoying the manga?”
“I can’t tell since I don’t know what came before… but I do like the art style.”
“Do you like manga?”
“When I was younger… I read it often.”
Then Lim Sung-un, with the manga still hooked on his finger, looked at Yu Tae-poong.
“It didn’t seem like you were on a phone call?”
Lim Sung-un glanced at the Dung Carrier Goblin.
“Did the conversation go well?”
At Lim Sung-un’s words, the Dung Carrier Goblin pointed at Yu Tae-poong with his finger. It meant the conversation was to be had with Yu Tae-poong.
As Lim Sung-un shifted his gaze toward Yu Tae-poong, he met his eyes in return.
And Yu Tae-poong relayed the information in a calm voice.
“That organization was formed in prison.”
“In prison?”
“Prison is where the most criminals are gathered. So for a criminal staffing agency, prison is essentially a criminal university. They investigate long-term inmates and recruit the talented ones among those released to dispatch them as personnel.”
“An organization like that was formed in prison?”
“Investigate the long-term prisoners. Since the organization was formed in prison, if there are those who’ve been there a long time… they’ll know something.”
Then Yu Tae-poong opened the door. It was a signal for him to leave. At that, Lim Sung-un glanced at the manga once more, placed a ten-thousand-won bill on the counter, and walked out.
As Yu Tae-poong pocketed the ten thousand won, the Dung Carrier Goblin spoke.
“Is that information enough?”
“If they need more, they’ll come again.”
Yu Tae-poong continued, watching Lim Sung-un walk past the window.
“But they should be able to handle this much on their own. The Lim Sung-un Team is capable, after all.”
And I couldn’t openly tell them Lee Gang-hyuk’s name either. Lee Gang-hyuk is someone who needs to punish those corrupt police officers and prosecutors.
The seductresses were also a method for Lee Gang-hyuk to punish such people. So Yu Tae-poong believed Lee Gang-hyuk needed time.

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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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