Goblin Library - Chapter 155

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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 155

Yu Tae-poong sipped on warm milk to soothe his aching stomach.
“If your stomach’s bothering you, want to try a sweet potato cake?”
“Sweet potato cake?”
“It’s soft and savory—shouldn’t it be good for your stomach?”
The logic seemed dubious at best.
“But wouldn’t eating something greasy when my stomach’s upset make it worse?”
“What are you talking about? Why would cake be greasy? It’s soft and sweet—paired with milk, your stomach should feel better, right?”
“You think so?”
“Of course.”
At the Dung Carrier Goblin’s words, Yu Tae-poong paused to consider, then nodded.
The Dung Carrier Goblin retrieved a sweet potato cake from the refrigerator.
“You really do love cake, don’t you?”
“It’s delicious.”
The Dung Carrier Goblin laughed, opened the cake box, and handed over a spoon.
Thunk!
Watching the Dung Carrier Goblin plunge the spoon into the cake and take a large bite, Yu Tae-poong’s mouth watered, and he too began devouring the cake.
Normally one would slice cake properly, but given the Goblin’s nature to eat endlessly when something tastes good, not a single piece ever made it back into the refrigerator.
Once removed, a Goblin would devour an entire cake on the spot—or two if it was particularly delicious.
That’s why they simply ate it straight from the box.
As Yu Tae-poong ate the sweet potato cake, he suddenly looked at the Dung Carrier Goblin.
“Are there any Goblins among you who are knowledgeable about medicine?”
“There are.”
The Dung Carrier Goblin answered without hesitation.
“Needle Goblins and herbal remedy Goblins born from tools used by traditional medicine practitioners know plenty about human ailments. Why, is the pain unbearable?”
“It’s not painful, just uncomfortable.”
And… the human body was different from a Goblin’s; cake wasn’t good for an upset stomach.
“Then just endure it. A reasonable amount of pain makes you stronger.”
“You don’t know this kind of suffering, do you?”
At Yu Tae-poong’s words, the Dung Carrier Goblin laughed.
“We Goblins don’t get sick from eating spicy things. Goblins are born healthy by nature.”
At the Dung Carrier Goblin’s words, Yu Tae-poong shook his head and set down his spoon.
“Why, aren’t you eating anymore?”
“My stomach’s upset, and eating something rich just makes it feel heavier.”
At Yu Tae-poong’s words, the Dung Carrier Goblin looked at him, let out a soft chuckle, and pulled out a cloth to drape over his head.
“What are you… huh?”
Yu Tae-poong’s words trailed off as he suddenly felt his uncomfortable condition improving.
A gentle warmth flowed from the fabric, enveloping my body in comfort. The sensation felt so pleasant that I found myself humming contentedly.
“Ah… this feels wonderful.”
The Dung Carrier Goblin chuckled and tucked the fabric against his side before speaking.
“Next time, I won’t do it.”
I gently stroked my stomach with my hand. The discomfort that had plagued me moments ago had completely vanished, replaced by a soothing ease.
“From now on, I’ll eat in moderation and not overindulge.”
“Good. Moderation is always best. After living this long, I’ve learned that moderation applies to everything—wealth, fame, power, all of it.”
The Dung Carrier Goblin extended the spoon again, and I accepted it, resuming my cake.
Eating while ill versus eating now… there was definitely a difference….
“When I wasn’t feeling well, food just made my stomach feel heavier and my mood worse. But now it tastes so good. It really seems like good health is the greatest treasure.”
When I was sick, everything tasted bland and heavy. But now, in perfect condition, the cake was sweet, tender, and rich.
“The finest things in the world only taste good when you’re in a good mood. When your mood is poor, even good things feel bad.”
As we conversed and ate cake, the Goblin Library door swung open.
Click!
“I’m back.”
I turned my head to see the Shoe Goblin pulling a large silver suitcase.
“Oh? When did you arrive in Korea?”
The Shoe Goblin—who had accompanied the protagonist of the novel I was writing on a foreign business trip—walked in with a smile.
“I arrived in Korea early this morning. I just took the airport bus and got here.”
“The airport bus? Why didn’t you use the door?”
“I was planning to, but the bus attendants were quite beautiful. So I decided to ride the airport bus for a bit.”
“Bus attendants? Do goblins appreciate beautiful women too?”
“Even Spirit Servants can recognize beauty.”
“Then do goblins date humans?”
The Dung Carrier Goblin laughed at my question.
“You’ve been watching too many dramas.”
“True. Goblins like and love humans, but we don’t date them.”
“But if you like and love someone, shouldn’t dating be possible?”
The Shoe Goblin shook his head at my question.
“There was once a goblin who loved a human woman and lived with her. But it didn’t end well.”
“Why?”
“We goblins are immortal as long as we find life entertaining. But humans aren’t.”
“That’s true.”
It was an obvious truth. And soon enough, I understood the reason.
“The woman died, so the goblin must have been heartbroken. And… sadness doesn’t suit a goblin.”
“It’s worse than just unsuitable… it’s like poison.”
The Shoe Goblin sighed as he spoke.
“When the person he loved died, that goblin could no longer find joy or entertainment in anything. For a goblin, a life without amusement is….”
The Shoe Goblin shook his head, and I asked.
“So… did he fade away?”
I don’t know exactly what it means for Goblins to return, but I understand that for humans, it would be death.
“He didn’t return. He simply shattered.”
“Shattered?”
“He couldn’t endure it and destroyed his own essence. When that happens, it’s not a return—it’s just destruction.”
‘So for Goblins, it’s like suicide.’
As I muttered this to myself, Dung Carrier Goblin shook his head irritably.
“Let’s not talk about such depressing things. It makes me sad thinking about that Goblin.”
“Did you know him?”
“We weren’t close, but I knew of him. His love story is quite famous among Goblins.”
At Dung Carrier Goblin’s words, Shoe Goblin nodded in agreement.
“Right, let’s not talk about such things.”
Shoe Goblin hoisted the suitcase he’d brought onto the table with a thud.
“Let’s open up these gifts instead.”
“Gifts? You brought us gifts?”
“I went abroad for research, so I had to bring back something.”
Shoe Goblin answered with a smile and opened the suitcase. Inside was….
“There are no clothes?”
The suitcase contained only exotic envelopes and boxes.
“Clothes? I can just create whatever I want to wear.”
Shoe Goblin pulled out what appeared to be several confections from the suitcase and handed them over.
“Here, these are for you two.”
“You only brought sweets?”
“Since it’s still a developing country, most goods are better quality here in Korea. But sweets and things like these have exotic flavors, so I thought they’d make good gifts and brought plenty.”
Shoe Goblin pointed to the chocolate among the items he’d just handed over.
“This one has jujubes inside.”
“Jujubes inside chocolate?”
“It’s delicious.”
I’d seen chocolate with nuts inside many times before, but never with jujubes, so I examined the chocolate with curious eyes before opening the package.
Inside were small individually wrapped dark chocolates shaped like jujubes.
I tore open the wrapper and popped one into my mouth. The cool weather made the chocolate shell firm, and the inside was….
“It doesn’t taste like jujubes—it’s crispy. It tastes like sweet nuts. Hmm… it’s delicious.”
“From what I heard, this is a carefully researched product.”
“Researched?”
“Originally, it’s made with fresh jujubes, but if you make a product with fresh jujubes, the shelf life is short. Even wrapped in chocolate, moisture remains inside, so it spoils within days and needs to be eaten quickly.”
“That makes sense.”
“So they dry the jujubes and roast them before adding them. That makes them crispy while increasing the sweetness. And these are pretty good too.”
As Shoe Goblin spoke and handed over several other confections, I asked him a question.
“But you really did bring back a lot, didn’t you?”
“Not all of it is for you two. I have to distribute some to the employees at my Shoe Shop as well.”
Shoe Goblin smiled as he spoke, then suddenly looked at me.
“By the way, did you ever go to the Shoe Shop?”
Yu Tae-poong recalled how he had given him a gift card for the Shoe Shop to have a pair of custom shoes made, and answered with a sheepish expression.
“I was planning to go, but something came up, so I haven’t been able to yet.”
“When did I give you that card….”
Then the Shoe Goblin spoke up.
“Want to go together today?”
“After work, then… yes, I’d like that.”
“Okay!”
The Shoe Goblin said this as he settled into his seat and pulled out a laptop from somewhere.
Noticing he was about to write something, Yu Tae-poong asked.
“So did Lee Gang-hun’s overseas business go well?”
The Shoe Goblin nodded with a smile.
“There were a few moments where I nearly died, but fortunately the business went smoothly.”
At the Shoe Goblin’s words, Yu Tae-poong looked at him with a puzzled expression.
“Nearly died while doing business?”
Lee Gang-hyuk had gone to a country with Chinese capital funding national development projects to sell Korean products.
It seemed strange that someone like that would face a life-threatening situation. The Shoe Goblin explained to the bewildered Yu Tae-poong.
“When I got there, I found that vested interests were tangled up in layers upon layers. For example, five people were all taking cuts from a thousand-won item—one person taking a hundred won, another two hundred won, another three hundred won, and so on.”
“From selling just one item?”
“Well, it wasn’t really one item—it was more of a business project.”
The Shoe Goblin said this with a wry smile.
“Oh, you know that story, right?”
“What story?”
“You know how the Ministry of Defense once bought USB drives for a million won each, calling them ‘encrypted USBs’?”
“I’m not familiar with it.”
“Well, the military procured USB drives at a million won each, but it turned out they were no different from standard USBs you could buy on the market for ten thousand won.”
“Why… would they do something like that? Were they scammed?”
At Yu Tae-poong’s words, the Shoe Goblin laughed and shook his head.
“Military officers aren’t stupid. In fact, they’re more educated than most people. You know how hard it is to get into the Military Academy or Naval Academy? Would all the graduates be incompetent?”
“That’s true.”
Military academies required excellent grades for admission.
“Would people like that fall for such an obvious scheme on a massive project? They knew exactly what they were doing.”
The Shoe Goblin continued, looking at Yu Tae-poong.
“The high-ranking officers who arranged to purchase ten-thousand-won items for a million won each would have known the actual value. They’re not stupid. So if they bought something worth ten thousand won for a million won, that leaves 990,000 won. They divide that 990,000 won among themselves.”
“Doesn’t that get caught?”
“It might or might not get caught. If it doesn’t, it just slides by. Even if it does, they just say they’ll investigate and that’s the end of it.”
“It just gets swept under the rug like that?”
“The investigators and the investigated are all senior-junior relationships with each other—how could it be handled properly?”
The Shoe Goblin shook his head.
“It’s amusing for a goblin to worry about humans, but that’s how national projects work. Someone definitely pocketed the money, but there’s never anyone to hold accountable.”
The Shoe Goblin tapped the table with his finger and spoke.
“Corruption in state projects like this is especially rampant in developing nations.”
The Shoe Goblin looked at Yu Tae-poong.
“In any case, Lee Gang-hyuk’s project had plenty of people trying to grab their share of the profits.”
“It sounds like there were quite a few dangerous people threatening his life.”
“Local power brokers, Chinese gangs… it was absolute chaos.”
At the Shoe Goblin’s words, the Dung Carrier Goblin asked with a puzzled expression.
“Chinese gangs? Those guys think nothing of killing one or two people… how did Lee Gang-hyuk even survive?”
At the Dung Carrier Goblin’s words, the Shoe Goblin laughed.
“Even in a corrupt nation, there are good civil servants. Read about it later. It’s practically like he filmed a spy action movie.”
At the Shoe Goblin’s words, Yu Tae-poong watched him with curious eyes before turning his gaze toward the bookshelf.

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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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