Goblin Library - Chapter 192

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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 192.

Choi Tae-sik pulled a bottle of cold water from the refrigerator and held it against his face as he spoke.
“I think hyung was worried it would be dangerous if I ended up fighting that team. Even I think I could manage against two of them alone, but three… I’d die.”
Choi Tae-sik shook his head.
“I think hyung was hoping that with that money, all the team members would defect from The One. Two billion won is a lot of money, but…”
Then he looked at Jang Ma-ru and Lee Hye-eun.
“Hyung doesn’t want us to get hurt.”
At Choi Tae-sik’s words, Jang Ma-ru nodded.
“True. A team of ten men like that one… it would certainly be dangerous for us.”
“Exactly. So they need to defect.”
If ten men like the Goblin Man withdrew, the danger to Choi Tae-sik and his team would definitely decrease significantly.
“I need to be stronger…”
As Choi Tae-sik sighed and spoke, Lee Hye-eun laughed and tapped his shoulder lightly.
“If you got any stronger than this, you’d exceed human standards. This is plenty.”
At Lee Hye-eun’s words, Choi Tae-sik nodded and looked around.
“What about hyung?”
“He said he’d get at least an hour of sleep and went to rest.”
“Did he eat anything?”
“He had pumpkin porridge.”
Choi Tae-sik nodded, and then Jang Ma-ru spoke.
“There’s a call coming in.”
At those words, Choi Tae-sik looked at the monitor. And shortly after, he heard a voice.
[Squad Leader, it’s me.]
[You? How are you calling?]
[The vault has been robbed.]
[…What are you talking about?]
[Intruders came in at dawn and broke into the vault.]
[What about you?]
[I was subdued.]
[You?]
[In a one-on-one fight.]
[Are you hurt?]
[I’m fine.]
[So where are you?]
[…I’m sorry, but I think I need to hide with my family.]
[You’re with your wife and nephews?]
[Yes.]
[That’s right… that’s what we should do.]
The man spoke in response to the middle-aged voice that seemed to understand the situation.
[Since it’s still some time before 7 o’clock, the Company doesn’t know about the vault yet. That’s why I contacted you to be careful.]
[We’ll handle that ourselves. Thanks for calling.]
[I apologize.]
[No, that’s fine. So, do you have somewhere to go?]
[Actually, about that….]
The man recounted everything that had happened today—that the perpetrators appeared to be a trio, and one of them was a woman.
[One of them was monstrously strong.]
[They subdued you while wearing a mask… impressive skill. Did they seem to be military trained?]
[That didn’t appear to be the case.]
[You said they told you they’d send you to Hong Kong once the job was done—what job were they referring to?]
[I didn’t hear that part.]
[The money they gave you… it seems like they want our team to cut ties with The One….]
[I felt the same way. It seemed like they considered it dangerous to go up against ten military-trained personnel like myself.]
[The leader of that team really cares for their members. If they handed over more than 2 billion won without even seeing the results, that says it all.]
[When it becomes 7 o’clock, the Squad Leader will be contacted. Or there could be a threat to the Platoon. Be careful.]
[If they want to strike at us, they need to be prepared for the Company to suffer losses as well.]
[I’m worried about the Platoon members’ families.]
[We can recruit more members.]
[The 2 billion won is in locker 17 at the Subway Station.]
[Yes, thank you.]
[I apologize for failing to complete the mission.]
[Take care of yourself… and look after your family.]
[Yes.]
Once the call ended, Jang Ma-ru spoke.
『Does that mean he can recruit more members?』
『Since they’re military trained, he can probably recruit more from his old unit.』
At Choi Tae-sik’s response, Jang Ma-ru spoke with a note of concern in his voice.
『The older brother probably hoped they’d leave with that money… but what if they use it to recruit even more people instead?』
『I don’t know. What choice that Squad Leader will make.』
Jang Ma-ru clicked his tongue with regret.
『I should have checked the personal information of the team members. It would be easier if we knew who they were.』
『Even if you asked, they wouldn’t have told you.』
『That’s true.』
As they were talking, Lee Hye-eun arrived with food.
『You should eat too.』
It was a bowl of rice soup with warm steam rising from it, as if it had just come out of a microwave.
Choi Tae-sik picked up his spoon and began to eat.

***

Lee Gang-hyuk stared at the empty vault in the Freezer Storage Facility. When the vault stopped responding to his calls, he knew something was wrong and came immediately.
Lee Ho-yeol, his expression hardened, entered the vault and approached Lee Gang-hyuk’s side.
『Please, kill me.』
Lee Gang-hyuk shook his head and spoke.
『Lee Jin-bae was guarding this place. If I fought Lee Jin-bae, I wouldn’t last thirty seconds. And that’s only assuming Lee Jin-bae was trying not to kill me.』
『Then Lee Jin-bae… betrayed us?』
『No, that’s not it.』
Lee Gang-hyuk gestured toward the floor as he spoke.
『There’s blood. And signs of a struggle.』
『So Lee Jin-bae… lost?』
Lee Gang-hyuk answered, watching Lee Ho-yeol’s expression of disbelief.
『That must be it. The real question is what happened to Lee Jin-bae.』
As Lee Gang-hyuk muttered, Lee Ho-yeol’s phone rang. Lee Ho-yeol checked the screen and looked at Lee Gang-hyuk.
『It’s the Squad Leader.』
Lee Gang-hyuk nodded. Lee Ho-yeol pressed the speaker button and answered the call.
『Yes, hello.』
[Have you confirmed the vault?]
『You already knew?』
[Lee Jin-bae contacted me. He said they were attacked.]
『Where is Lee Jin-bae now?』
At Lee Ho-yeol’s words, Lee Gang-hyuk narrowed his eyes and looked at him. Realizing his mistake, Lee Ho-yeol lowered his head.
Lee Gang-hyuk watched him for a moment, then sighed and took the phone.
『It’s me.』
[I heard you’ve returned. My apologies for the late greeting.]
『Not at all. It’s best we don’t see each other. Is Lee Jin-bae alright?』
『Ah…』
Lee Ho-yeol now understood his mistake.
[Lee Jin-bae seems to be fine physically. However… he’s deserted.]
『Deserted?』
[The amount stolen was so substantial… he must be worried about his family.]
『He’s worried for nothing. I have no intention of holding a diligent employee responsible. This is my failure for not preparing for such circumstances.』
[I agree. The problem lies with the commander who planned the operation, not the soldier in the field. The commander bears the responsibility.]
『You’re right. But… he won’t come back, will he?』
[Probably not.]
『Understood. I won’t pursue him or anything, so don’t worry.』
At Lee Gang-hyuk’s words, Lee Ho-yeol looked at him. Lee Gang-hyuk shook his head slightly in response.
『Since things have come to this, why don’t the team members go on a family trip somewhere comfortable?』
[…What do you mean?]
『It will be difficult for you to work with us in this situation. After we catch the people who broke into our Vault, you can return to your duties.』
[….]
The other party seemed flustered by the proposal and couldn’t respond.
Lee Ho-yeol felt the same way. Sensing Lee Ho-yeol’s vacant stare, Lee Gang-hyuk spoke.
『If there’s a country you’d like to visit, let the Company know. We’ll arrange it for you. You’ve worked hard all this time, so think of this as a vacation opportunity.』
[I… understand.]
As Lee Gang-hyuk hung up, Lee Ho-yeol quickly spoke.
『Hyung, shouldn’t we handle this differently?』
『Handle it differently?』
『We should bring him in and ask if he knows anything, then find this Squad Leader, shouldn’t we?』
『Bring him in? Find the Squad Leader?』
At Lee Ho-yeol’s words, Lee Gang-hyuk looked at him, then pulled out a cigarette and placed it between his lips.
After lighting the cigarette and inhaling deeply, Lee Gang-hyuk exhaled smoke as he spoke.
『How many men do you think we’d need to suppress this Team?』
『Pardon?』
『This Team has ten members… all of them are human weapons. To capture all ten, half our Organization’s forces would end up crippled.』
『Couldn’t we suppress them when they’re alone? Even if they’re human weapons, there’s no defense against overwhelming numbers.』
At Lee Ho-yeol’s words, Lee Gang-hyuk smacked his lips and spoke.
『Why do you think the Squad Leader called?』
『To report, of course….』
『It was a warning.』
『A warning?』
『If they didn’t know the Vault was broken into, they would’ve either come to work or moved around alone as you said. Then we could suppress them one by one while they were careless. As you said, there’s no defense against overwhelming numbers. But if they know, they won’t move alone—they’ll gather and prepare. Because they don’t know how we’ll move.』
Lee Gang-hyuk walked over to a refrigerator in the corner, pulled out bottled water, and drank as he spoke.
『They know, so they warned us not to touch them.』
Lee Gang-hyuk looked at Lee Ho-yeol.
『Of course, if you were stupid enough not to understand that warning and sent the men anyway, they’d be crippled immediately.』
『Surely it wouldn’t go that far.』
At Lee Ho-yeol’s words, Lee Gang-hyuk looked at him for a moment before speaking.
『It would go that far. Or they might even come for our executives’ heads.』
At Lee Gang-hyuk’s words, Lee Ho-yeol’s mouth twitched in disbelief. Seeing that, Lee Gang-hyuk sighed.
『Tell the Support Team that if the Squad Leader contacts them, grant his requests as much as possible.』
『…Understood.』
Watching Lee Ho-yeol hesitate before answering, Lee Gang-hyuk blew out cigarette smoke and beckoned him closer with a finger.
Lee Ho-yeol approached and bowed his head slightly.
And then….
Crack!
Lee Gang-hyuk’s palm struck Lee Ho-yeol’s cheek directly.
『….』
Crack! Crack! Crack!
Lee Gang-hyuk struck Lee Ho-yeol’s face repeatedly, then grabbed him by the nape of the neck and yanked him forward.
“Ho-yeol.”
“Yes, hyung.”
“Ho-yeol.”
“Yes, hyung.”
“Damn it, Ho-yeol. Please… when I tell you to do something, don’t question it. Just do as I say. Have I ever let you down before?”
“No, hyung.”
“Then trust me and follow. No, don’t trust me—believe in the successes we’ve achieved by following my words and come with me.”
“I apologize, hyung.”
At Lee Ho-yeol’s response, Lee Gang-hyuk sighed and spoke.
“First, let’s clean this up.”
Lee Gang-hyuk flicked a cigarette onto the spot where the cash had been stacked and said.
“There are no coincidences in this world. The hacker disappears, and our vault gets robbed. It’s the same group’s doing.”
“But the hacker didn’t know about our vault.”
“That’s exactly why it’s more dangerous. They cracked our organization’s vault without the hacker’s help.”
“Who could these people possibly be?”
Rather than answering Lee Ho-yeol’s question immediately, Lee Gang-hyuk stared at the spot where the money had been for a moment, then shifted his gaze to the area bearing signs of struggle.
“This doesn’t make sense.”
At his sudden remark, Lee Ho-yeol looked at him.
“What do you mean, sir?”
“They took the hacker. The reason would be to learn our business plans. But this isn’t how the police and prosecutors operate. So we must be dealing with some organization targeting us.”
“That’s right. That’s why we’re investigating everyone who knows about us.”
“Right… we assumed these bastards were a criminal organization after our interests. But if that were truly the case… this sergeant should be lying here as a corpse.”
Lee Gang-hyuk looked at Lee Ho-yeol.
“Yet… they let him go? And even let him contact the platoon?”
Lee Gang-hyuk narrowed his eyes.
“What the hell are these people?”

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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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