Goblin Library - Chapter 199

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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 199.

Lim Sung-un sat before his keyboard, eyes fixed on the monitor.
Then he clicked on the hacking message Jang Ma-ru had sent.
Now he could communicate with Lee Gang-hyuk through that phone.
Lim Sung-un, still watching the monitor, spoke.
“Audio?”
“I can’t hear anything.”
“Is the microphone locked?”
“Even if it’s locked, I can unlock it. It looks like the microphone is blocked by something.”
At Jang Ma-ru’s words, Lim Sung-un paused briefly in thought before placing his hands on the keyboard.
Then he began to type.

“Were you waiting for contact?”

After Lim Sung-un typed the message and waited a moment, a reply appeared.

“Thank you for reaching out.”
“What would you like to discuss?”
“Do you happen to know who I am?”

Lim Sung-un read the other party’s message for a moment before typing his response.

“If the head of that organization is who I think it is, I know who it is.”
“Hmm, if you don’t mind, why don’t you tell me your family name?”
“I believe it’s Lee.”
“Thank you for being honest with me.”
“So what is it you want to discuss?”
“If I’m right, you all seem like vigilantes of some sort. Am I correct?”
“Vigilantes… something like that.”
“In that case, I’d like to make a peace agreement with you all.”
“A peace agreement?”
“I know it sounds ridiculous coming from someone who leads The One, but personally, I despise criminals. Those who swindle poor people, thugs who torment the powerless—I hate and despise such criminals.”
“It certainly does sound ridiculous. You’re the head of a criminal organization.”
“That’s true. But I see it this way: if crime cannot be controlled, then perhaps criminals should be punished instead. The law favors those with power and money. And major criminals possess both. That’s why I run my company—to punish criminals using criminal methods.”
“By using crime?”
“Going through the law takes too long and the results are ambiguous. But I produce fast, certain results. Looking at it that way, what you do and what I do are similar. The only difference is our methods for dealing with criminals. That’s why I proposed a peace agreement. Though our methods differ, our work is the same, and we both become a nightmare for criminals.”
“You seem to have learned quite a lot about us.”
“I had to. I needed to know who you were to decide how to respond. And from what I learned, you’ve all helped expose the crimes of many bad people.”

The text paused for a moment before continuing.

“People like that would surely use the money you took from us for good. I’m willing to give you that money. In exchange, I’d appreciate it if you didn’t interfere with our operations going forward.”

Lee Hye-eun covered her mouth at Lee Gang-hyuk’s message.
‘Wow… he’s really giving us that money?’
‘It’s already in our hands anyway, so it’s ours.’
Lee Hye-eun shook her head at Choi Tae-sik’s words.
‘But still… it’s hard to just accept it outright like that. Could you do something like that?’
‘No, I couldn’t.’
Listening to their conversation, Lim Sung-un typed out a message.

“What if you can’t do that?”
“Before that, I’ve stated what I want, so you should tell me what you want as well. That’s the only way we can reach a good agreement somewhere in the middle, don’t you think?”
“The dissolution of your company. And punishment for the crimes you’ve committed so far. Of course, the punishment will be through proper legal procedures, not private vigilantism.”
“Hmm….”

After a moment, Lee Gang-hyuk’s message came through again.

「That’s quite a difficult condition to accept. Is there no possibility of negotiation?」
「Our objective is to reduce crime.」
「It seems there’s room for negotiation in that regard.」
「What kind of room are you talking about?」
「You know as well as I do that it’s impossible to eliminate crime entirely, so negotiation is possible. You don’t believe the law is perfect either, do you?」
「It’s not perfect. But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t follow it. If we did, society would collapse.」
「Yet you yourselves don’t follow the law either, do you?」
「That’s true. But we maintain our principles.」
「Principles, you say. Then I’d like to say we maintain principles as well. If you’ve investigated our Company, you’d know that we don’t conduct business with ordinary people. Our operations target only those who’ve accumulated wealth through wrongdoing and those who’ve incurred grudges.」
「That’s not the kind of principle we recognize.」
「Then is your principle that our Company be dismantled and all of us imprisoned?」
「Because you’ve committed crimes.」
「Then shouldn’t you go to Prison as well? You assault people, steal, and do everything else too, don’t you?」

『What is this bastard saying?』
Lee Hye-eun squinted her eyes and muttered, while Lim Sung-un glanced at the screen for a moment before typing a response.

「If we get caught….」
「Then if we catch you, you’ll go to Prison.」
「Can you catch us?」
「Hahaha.」

At the laughter written in text, Choi Tae-sik squinted his eyes.
『Brother, let’s say hahaha once too. Or do you just say kekeke.』
At Choi Tae-sik’s words, Lim Sung-un shook his head and kept his eyes on the screen.

「You’re disrespecting me and my organization far too much.」
「I’m not disrespecting you.」
「No. You are disrespecting us. Lim Sung-un.」

At the text appearing on the screen, the team members looked up in surprise.
『Brother, what’s this?』
『What the hell, this guy.』
At his team members’ startled voices, Lim Sung-un typed a response.

“What are you talking about?”
“It doesn’t matter if you deny it. I’m fairly certain the person I’m speaking with right now is Prosecutor Lim Sung-un.”
“What makes you think that?”
“There are several reasons. We’ve done our own investigation, and the cases involving your muscle man all turned out to be Prosecutor Lim Sung-un’s cases. That tells us everything. Either the boss over there is Prosecutor Lim Sung-un, or you’re working together with him. Either way, it doesn’t matter to us. Whichever it is, we’ll just take you down.”
“Are you threatening me?”
“It’s not a threat. I’m simply explaining what will happen if things go wrong between us and you.”

After a brief pause, another message appeared.

“Do you watch crime movies?”
“What are you getting at?”
“You know those thriller films? The ones where serial murders happen at a Winter Mountain Lodge or a resort.”
“What’s your point?”
“In those movies, the reason serial killers are so terrifying is because no one knows who the culprit is. Once their identity is revealed, they’re just an ordinary person. Someone without superpowers or extraordinary physical abilities—just an average individual.”
“The same applies to you. With the evidence we have, we could dismantle your entire company.”
“But there’s a reason you won’t do that, isn’t there? Probably because you have no legal way to connect me to The One? Even if you tried to implicate me, within the legal framework you’ve mentioned, it wouldn’t matter whether I’m in prison or out in society. Here’s what I propose: when you’ve had time to think things over, contact me whenever you’re ready. In the meantime, we won’t be launching any new operations.”
“New operations? So you’re saying you’ll continue with your existing business?”
“We have to continue the projects we’ve already started, don’t we? We’re a company too. If we break our promises to clients, it becomes difficult to run the business. Next time we talk, I hope we can have a more constructive conversation. Oh, and don’t think of us as the bad guys. Our company donates quite generously.”

When no more messages came, Choi Tae-sik looked at Lim Sung-un.
‘What do you think?’
Lim Sung-un thought for a moment before speaking.
‘We pause for now.’
‘Here?’
‘We wait.’
Then he gave instructions to Jang Ma-ru.
‘Check the surveillance cameras in the area.’
‘I’m already looking into it… but there’s nothing unusual so far.’
At Jang Ma-ru’s words, the team members nodded. Dozens of surveillance cameras were installed around the safe house.
Lim Sung-un then spoke to Choi Tae-sik.
‘Tae-sik, you should also keep a low profile.’
‘Have I been tracked too?’
‘Probably. Most likely…’
Lim Sung-un looked at Jang Ma-ru and Lee Hye-eun as he spoke.
‘Everyone except these two has probably been tracked.’
‘Just you and me, hyung?’
‘That’s right.’
Lim Sung-un nodded.
‘You two move to a different safe house, and Tae-sik, you come stay at my place.’
‘Me?’
“Either way, they know you and I are in this together. In that case, it’s safer if we stay together. Both of us.”
Jang Ma-ru asked in response to Lim Sung-un’s words.
“What about the two of us?”
“Until this matter is resolved, you two stay apart from us.”
“Hyung! That won’t work!”
“That sounds good! I think that’s the right choice.”
Faced with the completely opposite reactions from Jang Ma-ru and Lee Hye-eun, Choi Tae-sik glanced at her once before speaking.
“This time, Lee Hye-eun is right. It’s safer if you stay apart.”
“I told you not to use my last name.”
“You’re saying that even in a situation like this…”
“What situation.”
Lee Hye-eun made a fist and pretended to punch, then slapped the table with her palm.
Smack!
As everyone’s eyes turned toward her, Lee Hye-eun addressed the group.
“First, let’s assess our situation.”
“Assess our situation?”
Lim Sung-un looked at her.
“Do you have a separate thought on this?”
“No, I don’t. It’s just that… I think we need to make an accurate judgment about our current situation.”
“Go ahead.”
“First, both sides are in a dead end. We have leverage over them, and they know our identities. If they expose our information, our leader will be in serious trouble.”
“That’s… true.”
Jang Ma-ru nodded. A sitting prosecutor running an organization and fighting a criminal group?
Of course, many people would be thrilled.
It had the feel of a dark hero fighting crime as a sitting prosecutor, so if he ran for office, his chances of winning would be high.
But before that, he’d be stripped of his prosecutor’s badge and sent to Prison with absolute certainty.
“And if we expose the criminal evidence we have and all the proof we’ve secured, The One would collapse too. But the problem is, The One can just change its name. On top of that, there’s no evidence directly linking Lee Gang-hyuk to any crimes.”
Lee Hye-eun continued, looking at the group.
“And if they resort to extrajudicial measures… we—no, our leader and Tae-sik—will definitely die.”

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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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