Goblin Library - Chapter 20

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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 20

‘Could it be?’
I looked up from the book with startled eyes and picked it up.
“Da-hyang Goblin. Da-hyang Goblin.”
I called out to Da-hyang Goblin, but she didn’t respond.
After trying a few more times moments later, the result was the same.
Finding it strange, I pulled out my phone while staring at the book.
“Come to think of it, there is a Goblin brother who can contact me directly.”
Then I made a call to someone.
[Typhoon.]
At the weighty voice of Dung Carrier Goblin, I greeted him with a laugh.
“How have you been?”
[Hmph! I’m doing well. Ah! And my book got updated… but you didn’t read it.]
“I didn’t know. I’ll read it now.”
[I’m not saying you have to read it… but if you want to, go ahead.]
I laughed at Dung Carrier Goblin’s words. In fact, there were only two Goblins whose phone numbers I knew.
Pot Goblin and Dung Carrier Goblin.
Pot Goblin also had a kind nature, so she would answer well if I asked. But why did I call Dung Carrier Goblin instead?
Dung Carrier Goblin is a lonely Goblin. So if I asked one thing, it seemed like he wouldn’t just answer that one thing but would share several other things as well.
The type who enjoys conversing with me, you could say? That’s why I called Dung Carrier Goblin.
“There’s something I’m curious about.”
[Are you curious about my novel?]
“There’s a lot. But right now I’m curious about something else. I…”
As I told Dung Carrier Goblin about what happened with Da-hyang Goblin, he laughed and spoke.
[You received a book’s amusement.]
“A book’s amusement?”
[You receive one characteristic of the protagonist in a book that a reader can use.]
At Dung Carrier Goblin’s casual response, I asked, seeming a bit flustered.
“You can use the characteristics of a book’s protagonist?”
[As you know, we Goblins love fun things.]
“That’s true.”
[When you read books, there are times I think ‘I want to do that too.’ Then I pay a price to the author Goblin and receive the protagonist’s characteristic from the book to use. We call that an amusement. Because we’re playing with the protagonist’s characteristic from the book.]
“An amusement…”
As I thought about the amusement, Dung Carrier Goblin spoke.
[You must have received the characteristic of improved sense of smell.]
At Dung Carrier Goblin’s words, I wiped my nose lightly and glanced toward where the coffee cup was.
Despite the distance between us, the aroma of coffee was distinctly noticeable—it truly seemed my sense of smell had improved.
“Ah! But I didn’t pay any compensation for this, did I?”
[That’s because the Author Goblin liked you and paid the price to the book’s protagonist on your behalf instead. The human staff member who worked here before used to receive traits that way fairly often.]
“Uh….”
Typhoon paused, feeling something odd about what he’d just heard, then asked.
“You paid compensation to the protagonist? What do you mean by that?”
The protagonist inside the book was just a protagonist inside a book—he couldn’t fathom what compensation had to do with anything.
[Hmm….]
Dung Carrier Goblin fell silent as if thinking, then finally answered.
[First of all, you can only receive traits from books whose protagonists are dead in reality. You can’t receive traits from someone who’s still alive in the real world. Taking a trait from a living person would be stealing that person’s trait.]
“Only from the dead….”
[You might not know this, but a protagonist inside a book comes alive when readers read them.]
“Da-hyang Goblin told me that.”
[And that’s literally the truth.]
“The truth? The protagonist is alive?”
[They’re not always alive, but they live inside the book when readers read them. And they feel the readers who are reading them. That’s why Da-hyang Goblin paid the price to that book’s protagonist on your behalf and gave them the trait. So they could enjoy the aroma of tea even better.]
Typhoon asked in response to Dung Carrier Goblin’s explanation.
“But you said receiving a trait from a novel’s protagonist is called amusement—do goblins really need human traits?”
From what Typhoon had seen, goblins possessed all sorts of miraculous abilities that humans could never achieve. He couldn’t understand why they would need human traits at all.
[Not all goblins are good at everything. Each goblin has things they’re good at and things they’re not. So if we find a novel’s protagonist interesting and envy their trait, we pay the price and enjoy the amusement.]
“Then what’s the compensation? What is it?”
[View counts.]
At Dung Carrier Goblin’s words, Typhoon tilted his head in confusion.
“View counts?”
[When someone reads my book, the view count literally goes up. We use those view counts as currency to pay compensation.]
“Ah…. But there are long novels and short novels. Doesn’t that put the long novels at a disadvantage?”
If reading a long novel once counted as one view and reading a short novel once also counted as one view, then short novels would have an advantage since you could read several of them in the time it took to read one long novel.
[The standard for view counts isn’t based on the number of books but on the amount of text. One view count goes up for every five thousand characters read.]
Then Dung Carrier Goblin sighed.
[That’s why I don’t have many view counts and can’t enjoy much amusement. Not many people read my work.]
“I… I see.”
As an unpopular protagonist writing novels, Dung Carrier Goblin would naturally have difficulty accumulating view counts.
[Anyway, giving you the amusement means the book’s protagonist is grateful because you found their book entertaining and empathized with it. Use it well.]
“Grateful, you say….”
[If you don’t find the book entertaining, the protagonist won’t give the trait even if we offer view counts. No matter how much the Author Goblin wants to give it, if the protagonist refuses, they can’t. As a reader, you have to earn the protagonist’s recognition to use it.]
“Did I earn Kim Hyang-i’s recognition?”
[That’s how it is. Ah! Since your sense of smell improved, go eat something delicious.]
“Something delicious? Doesn’t that require a good sense of taste?”
[What are you talking about? If you ate delicacies in a bathroom, would they taste good?]
“…No, they wouldn’t.”
[Exactly. Food is eaten not just with taste, but with smell, sight, and texture too. Well, your mood on any given day affects it as well, but…. Anyway, with an improved sense of smell, you’ll experience food differently.]
Typhoon answered as if he understood what was being said.
“Understood.”
[The trait lasts about a day, so use it well.]
“A day? Just one day?”
When Typhoon asked with a disappointed tone at how short the trait’s duration was, Dung Carrier Goblin laughed.
[It’s amusement, after all. If it lasted too long, it would stop being play and become routine.]
“That’s a fair point.”
[So amusement with a trait lasts a day. Any other questions?]
“But what do you do with all those view counts you collect?”
[What do I do with collected view counts, you ask….]
Dung Carrier Goblin, who had fallen silent for a moment, soon smiled and spoke.
[That’s also a form of amusement.]
“Amusement?”
[We Goblins can collect anything if we set our minds to it—money, treasures, whatever. But we don’t collect them that way. Gathering wealth isn’t particularly entertaining, and I only need enough for my own use anyway. But view counts are different. No matter how much of a Goblin I am, I can’t collect them arbitrarily. There has to be another Goblin willing to read what I’ve written. Ah!]
Dung Carrier Goblin let out an exclamation as a good analogy came to mind, then continued.
[You know those cardboard game pieces we used to play with as children?]
“I do.”
[Collecting view counts is similar to that. You can buy them with money at a store, but getting ones that are crumpled and worn from other kids feels better than the ones you bought, doesn’t it? Even though having lots of them doesn’t really serve any purpose.]
I understood what he meant. Goblins were a race that pursued amusement, so they found joy in things like this.
Typhoon nodded as if he grasped the meaning.
“Thank you so much. This has been incredibly helpful. Let’s share a meal together next time.”
[A meal? You want to eat with me?]
“Oh… Do you not eat with humans?”
[How could that be…. It’s just that no Goblin has ever asked me to eat with them, so when you—a human—suggest it…. Alright. Should we eat today?]
“Today?”
[Are you… busy?]
At the disappointment evident in Dung Carrier Goblin’s voice, Typhoon licked his lips.
“No, I’m not. Let’s do it.”
[Good, I’ve got it. I’ll head over when you get off work.]
After ending the call, Typhoon paused for a moment, then sniffed the air.
The aroma of coffee and the scent of books wafted to him.
‘The protagonist’s trait and amusement….’
After thinking for a moment, Typhoon chuckled softly and brought the Jukro tea he’d brewed earlier to his nose, inhaling its fragrance.
A delicate green tea aroma that seemed to clear the mind filled his senses. Even though it was Jukro tea, it was a type of green tea, so the base scent was that of green tea.
Yet mingled with that green tea aroma was the scent of bamboo.
‘But does bamboo even have a scent?’
The moment he smelled it, the image of a Bamboo Forest with fresh morning dew glistening came to mind, which is why he thought of it as bamboo’s scent… but reflecting on it now, he wasn’t entirely sure if that was truly bamboo’s fragrance.
While inhaling the aroma, Typhoon took a sip of the tea. A pleasant tea fragrance bloomed across his palate.
‘So that’s what they mean by tasting aroma, not just smelling it.’
Typhoon smiled, took a chair from the counter along with Kim Hyang-i’s book, and sat it in front of the glass window.
Typhoon carefully sipped the hot tea while gazing out the window, and a sense of peace washed over him.
Even though the view beyond the glass showed only passersby on the street, it was enough.
“So this is what they mean by the leisure of a single cup of tea?”
Typhoon murmured to himself and opened Kim Hyang-i’s book, then slowly examined the illustration depicting a cup of tea.

***

Typhoon, who had been sitting by the window reading while sipping tea, lifted his head at the sound of the door opening.
Click!
“I’m home.”
At the sight of Dung Carrier Goblin entering with a smile, Typhoon rose to his feet, returning the smile.
“Welcome—”
Typhoon’s face suddenly stiffened as he began to say the rest, but only for a moment before he quickly composed himself.
“—in.”
At Typhoon’s reaction, Dung Carrier Goblin laughed awkwardly and glanced down at himself.
Dung Carrier Goblin was wearing the white traditional garment he had seen before—not a modernized version, but an authentic hanbok like those seen in historical dramas.
“There’s… quite a smell, isn’t there.”
“Ah… no, not at all.”
In truth, perhaps because of his nature, the odor was particularly pungent, but Typhoon quickly denied it.
“No.”
Dung Carrier Goblin scratched his head and spoke.
“It’s because of my origin… the smell is inherent to me.”
Typhoon laughed awkwardly as he looked at him.
‘Well, he was born from a dung carrier, after all…’
After observing him for a moment, Typhoon’s expression brightened, and he made an offer.
“I have some fragrant tea. Would you care for a cup?”
“Tea?”
“Ah! I’m not suggesting it because of any smell, sir. I simply wanted to share a cup of pleasantly scented tea with you.”
Typhoon smiled and gently rubbed his own nose.
“I truly enjoyed the play today. It was wonderful.”
At the mention of the play, Dung Carrier Goblin’s face brightened.
“Right? The play is fun, isn’t it?”
He was pleased that Typhoon had enjoyed what he had introduced. With that, Typhoon smiled and began preparing the tea.

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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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