Goblin Library - Chapter 145

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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 145.

At the Seoul Hideout, Jang Ma-ru was savoring a sausage bread that Lee Hye-eun had brought.
『It certainly lives up to all those positive reviews. The taste is really something.』
As Jang Ma-ru expressed his satisfaction with the sausage bread, Lee Hye-eun, who had brought a separate vintage vegetable salad for herself, spoke up.
『Want to know a way to make it taste even better?』
『What do you mean?』
In response to Jang Ma-ru’s question, Lee Hye-eun pulled a small packet from her bag.
When Jang Ma-ru saw the packet labeled “sugar,” he tilted his head in confusion.
『Sugar? Why do you carry sugar around in your bag?』
『It’s not regular sugar—it’s coarse sugar. You don’t think I normally walk around with sugar in my bag, do you? I picked this up on the way here to make sure our youngest enjoys his food.』
Lee Hye-eun opened the packet and showed him with her finger.
『See?』
『It really is much coarser than regular sugar.』
At Jang Ma-ru’s words, Choi Tae-sik also gazed at the sugar with curious eyes. While ordinary sugar came in powder form, this was crystalline.
『I’ve never seen sugar this coarse before.』
At Choi Tae-sik’s remark, Lee Hye-eun laughed and sprinkled the sugar tap-tap-tap onto the sausage bread Jang Ma-ru was eating.
『Wait—you’re putting sugar on this?』
『Of course. It’s the way to make sausage bread taste better. Why eat it separately? You should eat it together. Go on, try it.』
At Lee Hye-eun’s words, Jang Ma-ru looked at the sugar sitting atop the sausage bread and said.
『It seems like it would be too sweet.』
『It is sweet, but… it’s different from ordinary sweetness.』
She gestured encouragingly with her hand, and Jang Ma-ru, despite his reservations, put the sausage bread in his mouth.
His eyes sparkled.
『Wow…』
『Not overwhelmingly sweet, right?』
『No, I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t sweet, but it’s like chewing crushed candy. It’s not a sweetness that melts and lingers on your tongue—it’s a clean sweetness you feel when you bite down. How should I put it? Either way, it’s delicious.』
『Because the sugar is coarse, it doesn’t dissolve well in the sauce. So when you bite the sugar, it’s sweet and crunchy. That’s what makes it taste so uniquely good.』
Laughing, Lee Hye-eun sprinkled sugar on her salad as well and ate while speaking.
『Should I sprinkle some on yours too?』
At Lee Hye-eun’s casual tone, Choi Tae-sik licked his lips and promptly held out his sausage bread.
There was no point in questioning why she was being so informal—it wouldn’t make any difference anyway.
Seeing Choi Tae-sik’s reaction, Lee Hye-eun laughed and sprinkled the sugar tap-tap on his bread.
Click!
Lim Sung-un entered.
『Welcome.』
At Jang Ma-ru’s greeting, Lim Sung-un nodded, his gaze landing on the sausage bread sitting on the table.
『Please try one of these, Old Master.』
Choi Tae-sik’s eyes narrowed at Lee Hye-eun’s formal speech toward Lim Sung-un.
She spoke casually to him, yet used formal language with Lim Sung-un—something that inexplicably bothered him.
Lim Sung-un picked up a sausage bread and turned to look at Jang Ma-ru.
“Did you find anything?”
At Lim Sung-un’s question, Jang Ma-ru grabbed the keyboard beside him and began typing.
Tap-tap-tap!
“Lee Gang-hyuk’s assets aren’t substantial. There’s one house left by his parents, and aside from that, all he has is the compensation he received from the state upon his release. It’s a considerable sum for an ordinary person, but it’s laughably insufficient for someone running a massive criminal organization.”
“That’s only what appears on the surface.”
“True enough.”
Jang Ma-ru bit into the sausage bread and returned to the keyboard.
“And there’s one more thing….”
Jang Ma-ru pulled up a photograph of an elderly man on the monitor.
“When Lee Gang-hyuk’s parents passed away, they had considerable assets.”
“Assets?”
“Personal property, real estate, and insurance—roughly a billion won in total.”
“A billion won… So this old man took it all, and what remained was just one house?”
Jang Ma-ru nodded at Lim Sung-un’s quick understanding.
“Lee Gang-hyuk’s assets were transferred to his Uncle here at that time. Looking at the circumstances, it was probably done under the pretense of ‘You’re in prison, so how will you manage your money? I’ll handle it for you.'”
The picture was clear enough without detailed investigation. And indeed, that’s exactly how it had unfolded.
“This old man appears to be the Uncle, so after his release, those funds were never returned?”
The money wasn’t returned, which is why Jang Ma-ru had dug up and displayed this photograph.
“The Uncle’s assets have never flowed back to Lee Gang-hyuk. And looking at the visitation records, he came to see Lee Gang-hyuk several times before the assets were transferred, but never once after. However, there are traces of the Younger Uncle frequently visiting and depositing money. From this, it appears Lee Gang-hyuk assumed he’d never get out, accepted the money, and severed ties.”
“So the Uncle who received the money washed his hands clean, while the Younger Uncle looked after his nephew.”
“After Lee Gang-hyuk’s release, a small commercial building appeared under the Younger Uncle’s name. It seems he was repaying a debt of gratitude.”
“Did you verify the source of funds?”
If a building was purchased, criminal organization money would have flowed through it. Even with laundering, traces would remain.
“He bought it with a loan, but looking at the tenant transaction records, the monthly rent is nearly double compared to other properties.”
“Deliberately placed tenants to generate income through rent.”
“Exactly. It looks like the loan could be paid off in a few years with the rental income.”
“He repaid the favor with careful consideration.”
The building was purchased with a loan, and money was earned through rental income from the tenants—a clever arrangement.
Since rent is determined between tenant and landlord, there was no apparent issue with fund transfers on the surface.
Choi Tae-sik offered his opinion.
“If Lee Gang-hyuk is the head of a criminal organization, he must have enemies targeting him. Usually, such people attack those they perceive as weaknesses first.”
“Is the Younger Uncle a weakness for Lee Gang-hyuk?”
“Unlike the Uncle, the Younger Uncle at least supported him while he was imprisoned, so Lee Gang-hyuk would feel gratitude. That’s likely why he’s repaying the favor. If enemies learn of this, they’ll naturally target him.”
At Choi Tae-sik’s words, Lim Sung-un nodded and gazed at the elderly man on the monitor.
An old man with white hair and a kind-looking face. Of course, despite his benevolent appearance, he was a despicable person who had seized his deceased brother’s inheritance….
Lim Sung-un, still looking at the old man, spoke.
“If I were in his position, I think I’d seek revenge on the Uncle….”
『Me too.』
『Same here.』
When Jang Ma-ru and Choi Tae-sik agreed, Lim Sung-un looked at Lee Hye-eun.
『What do you think?』
Lee Hye-eun nodded.
『I agree too. But… I was just thinking about what level of revenge we’re talking about.』
Choi Tae-sik smiled and nodded subtly at the sight of Lee Hye-eun speaking casually to Lim Sung-un.
He felt good knowing she wasn’t speaking informally only to him.
However, Lim Sung-un paid no attention to Lee Hye-eun’s tone of voice.
『Level?』
『If the reason for anger was simply a matter of money, we’d just take the cash. But an inheritance is something your parents left for Lee Gang-hyuk. To seize that means…』
Lim Sung-un, whose eyes met Lee Hye-eun’s, spoke in a contemplative voice.
『Seizing an inheritance like that means Uncle betrayed his own brother, your father. From that perspective, it seems like the revenge would go beyond just taking money—it would be far more severe.』
Lee Hye-eun nodded at Lim Sung-un’s words.
『When you think about it… Lee Gang-hyuk must have trusted Uncle. That’s why he entrusted him with the inheritance and bank accounts. But he just took it and wiped his hands clean.』
Lee Hye-eun squinted her eyes as she spoke.
『This… he’s going to take serious revenge.』
At Lee Hye-eun’s words, Jang Ma-ru tapped on the keyboard.
Then CCTV footage appeared on the monitor. As Jang Ma-ru quickly scrolled through the screens, he spoke.
『He left work and everyone’s home now. It doesn’t look like he’s made any moves yet.』
Choi Tae-sik asked at Jang Ma-ru’s words.
『Today?』
『Yes. Today.』
『It’s been quite some time since Lee Gang-hyuk was released. The fact that he hasn’t touched anything yet makes me wonder if he has no intention of taking revenge at all.』
At Choi Tae-sik’s words, Lim Sung-un thought for a moment before speaking.
『What’s the family situation of Uncle like?』
『He has a wife and one son. The son is three years older than Lee Gang-hyuk.』
『A son, huh….』
Lee Hye-eun, listening to the conversation between Lim Sung-un and Jang Ma-ru from the side, laughed. She understood what Lim Sung-un was thinking.
『Taking revenge on his child might actually be more painful for Uncle than taking revenge on him directly.』
Choi Tae-sik looked at her at Lee Hye-eun’s words.
『You mean taking revenge on that son?』
『For parents, nothing is more difficult than their children’s troubles. Lee Gang-hyuk’s parents also passed away while searching for evidence of his innocence.』
Lee Hye-eun looked at Jang Ma-ru.
『Do you have a photo of the son too?』
『One moment.』
Jang Ma-ru tapped on the keyboard. Images flashed rapidly across the monitor.
Then a family photo of Uncle appeared on the screen.
『The man in the back right is the son. His name is Lee Gang-soon. He’s 40 years old. His occupation is running a mart.』
『A mart?』
Tap-tap-tap!
As I struck the keys, a Neighborhood Mart appeared on the screen.
『It’s not a particularly large Neighborhood Mart. Ah… the building belongs to his father.』
Lee Hye-eun spoke in response to Jang Ma-ru’s words.
『The family has quite a bit of money then.』
『Might he have purchased it with Lee Gang-hyuk’s inheritance?』
While a billion won wouldn’t be enough to buy a building outright, combined with the money he already possessed and a loan, it was certainly feasible.
『Is he married?』
『Yes, he is. He has two sons.』
『It would be difficult to uncover his private life at this point, wouldn’t it?』
Jang Ma-ru nodded at Lee Hye-eun’s question.
『It will take some time.』
Even as I spoke, my fingers moved swiftly across the keyboard.
『Ho! So Maru wants to surprise his sister, does he?』
『Huh? How did you know?』
『Your hands are moving too fast. You’re already digging into his private life, aren’t you?』
『Aw! I was planning to say it takes time, then surprise you with the reveal.』
Lee Hye-eun watched as I typed rapidly on the keyboard and asked.
『But how do you find out someone’s private life?』
『In the old days, we’d go around asking people near the target… ah!』
I spoke while looking at Choi Tae-sik.
『Of course, I acknowledge that’s still necessary work.』
It was a considerate addition, recognizing that unlike me working at a computer, Choi Tae-sik did the legwork of asking questions and gathering information directly.
『Never mind.』
At Choi Tae-sik’s response, I laughed and continued typing.
『These days, everyone uses SNS.』
『Even older people?』
『Nowadays, people in their forties and fifties use SNS too.』
I spoke while looking at Lee Gang-soon’s photo on the monitor.
『The internet began developing when they were young, after all.』
Lee Hye-eun asked.
『So how do you scrape SNS?』
『It’s simple. I take the SNS of people who visited Lee Gang-soon’s SNS and search for keywords like Gang-soon, drinks, let’s hang out, what are you doing, travel, women, Go-Stop, Sut-da, Baduk—then I examine what comes up accordingly.』
『But wouldn’t that produce way too many results?』
『If I tried to look at everything, yes. But using the AI I created to filter only posts related to hanging out with friends….』
Tap-tap-tap! Tap-tap!
I entered the command and pressed Enter. Moments later, SNS posts began appearing on the monitor.
『This way, only things related to Lee Gang-soon appear.』
I spoke after scrolling through the contents.
『He really loves women. Despite having two children, he still… never misses an opportunity when women are involved.』
Jang Ma-ru, mid-conversation, navigated into someone’s social media profile.
『This person spends a lot of time with them.』
The social media feed was filled with photographs taken at the Fishing Spot and the Mountain.
And there, among them, was Lee Gang-soon. As Jang Ma-ru scrolled through the images, Lee Hye-eun suddenly spoke up.
『Stop.』
Jang Ma-ru ceased scrolling and turned to look at her.
『What is it?』
『A femme fatale has attached herself to Lee Gang-soon.』
『A femme fatale? Who?』
In the photograph Lee Hye-eun was viewing, a group of people stood holding a hiking banner.
There were both men and women present, but Jang Ma-ru found no woman bearing the telltale marks of a femme fatale, so he tilted his head in confusion.

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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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