Goblin Library - Chapter 200

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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 200.

『If we resort to private means instead of legal ones… we—no, the boss and Choi Tae-sik will die for certain.』
At the word “die,” everyone’s faces hardened. Even Choi Tae-sik, who would normally have interjected, nodded gravely.
『So?』
At Lim Sung-un’s question, Lee Hye-eun spoke.
『The decision rests with the boss. Everything I’ve said so far was meant to reassess our current situation once more.』
Lee Hye-eun started to sit but rose again, walking toward the refrigerator.
She gathered an assortment of beverages and slid one in front of each person.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
After distributing drinks according to everyone’s preferences, Lee Hye-eun popped the lid off an iced Americano and took a sip.
『For now, think things over while you drink. We can take our time with the decision.』
At Lee Hye-eun’s words, Lim Sung-un pondered briefly before speaking.
『Will you follow my decision?』
『Since I haven’t been with you long, I seem to lack credibility… so wait.』
Lee Hye-eun stood and entered her room. Moments later, she emerged wearing a hat, her head bowed, and carefully took her seat.
『By the way, if Tae-sik laughs, I’ll kill him.』
『What are you talking about?』
『I’m serious. I’ll kill him.』
As Choi Tae-sik squinted at her incomprehensible words, Lee Hye-eun removed her hat and lifted her head.
A face of delicate, innocent beauty came into view. Yet there was something peculiar about it….
Her eyebrows were only half there.
『I washed off my makeup. This is my bare face—the real Lee Hye-eun.』
『Where did your eyebrows go?』
At Choi Tae-sik’s words, Lee Hye-eun squinted and pressed the hat back onto her head.
『What do you mean “where”? There are plenty of people without any at all.』
Lee Hye-eun muttered quietly.
『I’ve shown you the maximum sincerity I can offer.』
At Lee Hye-eun’s words, bewilderment flickered across Lim Sung-un and Choi Tae-sik’s faces. Showing her bare face was a sign of sincerity?
But Jang Ma-ru let out an exclamation.
『Sister showing her bare face… that’s truly a momentous decision.』
『See, Maru understands.』
『Of course. A woman doesn’t show her bare face even to close friends. Especially not someone like you, sister.』
『Exactly, exactly.』
Lee Hye-eun nodded and spoke.
『There. That’s how much I care.』
Lim Sung-un nodded. The method was bewildering, but Lee Hye-eun had, as she said, demonstrated maximum sincerity.
A declaration that I am this committed to you all….
“Let me think about it for now.”
“Understood.”
“Send Choi Tae-sik and the two of them to An-ga in Gyeonggi Province.”
Jang Ma-ru shook his head.
“I don’t want to go.”
At Jang Ma-ru’s words, Lee Hye-eun looked at him.
“Maru.”
“Yes?”
“I’m not staying away just so my body stays safe.”
“You’re not?”
Lee Hye-eun squinted her eyes as she watched Jang Ma-ru ask in confusion, then nodded.
“Of course! It would be a lie to say I don’t have that concern at all. But if we stay here, the boss and Tae-sik won’t be able to focus on their work because they’ll be worried about us.”
“That’s right. Only if you two are safe can we work with peace of mind.”
Choi Tae-sik tapped his own ear with his hand as if backing up Lim Sung-un’s words.
“And even when we’re apart, we’re always together like this.”
Jang Ma-ru looked at them with concern.
“Don’t worry. For now… they won’t make a move until we’ve made our decision.”
“You trust what they say?”
“If they were planning to strike, you would’ve been kidnapped somewhere by the time you left work.”
Choi Tae-sik nodded at Lim Sung-un’s words.
“That makes sense.”
“All right, let’s move.”
As Choi Tae-sik stood up, Jang Ma-ru spoke.
“Just pack your things, Hye-eun.”
“What about your things?”
“This is all I need.”
Jang Ma-ru tapped his laptop with his hand, then typed on the keyboard and pulled out a rectangular case from one side.
After unplugging the cables attached to the case, Jang Ma-ru glanced at the computers and spoke.
“I’m done.”
At Jang Ma-ru’s words, Lee Hye-eun was packing clothes into her bag when she spoke.
“You know, in movies and stuff, when hackers move their hideouts, they always do something like this, making the computers buzz and all. Or sometimes they put the hard drive in a microwave and run it.”
“That’s for when you need to escape in a hurry. Right now we have time to get away safely…”
Jang Ma-ru held up the rectangular case.
“This is all I need to take.”
Jang Ma-ru carefully placed the case in his bag. Lee Hye-eun watched him sling the bag over his shoulder and followed behind him.
Standing at the entrance, Jang Ma-ru glanced around the hideout, then grabbed the light switch by the door and pulled it.
Pop!
The button came out, revealing a new button inside.
When Jang Ma-ru pressed that button, white smoke suddenly began pouring down from the ceiling like rain.
At that, Jang Ma-ru immediately closed the door.
Click!
Jang Ma-ru closed the door and pushed the handle upward.
Click!
At the sound of the door closing once more, Lee Hye-eun asked.
“What was that just now?”
“We’re eliminating any remaining DNA while we’re here. Fingerprints, hair—they all dissolve and disappear if they touch that smoke.”
“Hearing that… it sounds incredibly harmful to the human body, doesn’t it?”
“It is harmful. That’s why we’re leaving.”
As he spoke, Jang Ma-ru hurried toward the exit.
Lee Hye-eun hesitated to follow, staring at the closed door before asking.
“But if that escapes outside, wouldn’t it be dangerous for the people working in the factory?”
“We’ve made sure it doesn’t leak out. And this door is a double door—when locked from above, it creates a vacuum seal so no air escapes.”
As they spoke, the group exited and boarded the vehicle parked at Jang Ma-ru’s Hideout.
Once the team members were in the car, Lim Sung-un glanced at them and spoke.
“Then go.”
“Take care of yourself, hyung.”
“Don’t worry.”
As Lim Sung-un closed the door, the vehicle departed.
Watching it leave, Lim Sung-un exhaled deeply and began to think for a moment.
And then…
Lim Sung-un got into his own car.

Lim Sung-un parked his car on a quiet street in Seoul. After getting out, he stopped by the Convenience Store, purchased soju, squid, and fish cake soup, paid, and left.
He sat at an outdoor table, poured soju into a glass, took a sip, and began tearing into squid legs with his teeth.
By the time he’d finished an entire bottle of soju, someone sat down across from him.
“Meeting like this outside feels different.”
At the voice from across the table, Lim Sung-un lifted his head.
Before him stood Lee Gang-hyuk. Once seated, Lee Gang-hyuk glanced at the snacks on the table, smiled, and placed what he’d brought onto it.
“I had a feeling you’d be doing something like this, so I prepared something.”
As he spoke, Lee Gang-hyuk set a portable burner and pot on the table.
“What are you doing?”
“After spending so long in Prison, I’ve lost interest in most things, but I’ve developed quite an appetite. So no matter what I eat, I want it to taste good.”
With that explanation, Lee Gang-hyuk lit the burner, asked him to wait a moment, and headed into the Convenience Store.
Lee Gang-hyuk returned from inside, having selected quite a few items and completed his purchase.
He poured bottled water into the pot and arranged his purchases on the table.
What he’d bought were ham, ramen, and kimchi.
“At least this much is necessary to properly enjoy soju.”
Lee Gang-hyuk smiled lightly and picked up the empty glass in front of Lim Sung-un, who then poured soju into it.
“But won’t the convenience store staff dislike us cooking ramen here?”
“I gave them 200,000 won for the purchase, so they won’t mind.”
After speaking, Lee Gang-hyuk looked at Lim Sung-un.
“But I didn’t expect you to call me so directly like this.”
“When ambitions run deep, sleep becomes restless.”
“That’s true enough.”
Lee Gang-hyuk nodded and tore open a ramen packet, then looked at Lim Sung-un.
“So, shall we chat over a glass of soju first before getting to the main point? Or should we jump straight to business?”
At Lee Gang-hyuk’s question, Lim Sung-un watched the water in the pot beginning to steam.
“Water takes time to boil, and even after it boils, ramen needs four minutes to cook.”
“Conversation then. I’d like that. I’ve wanted to talk with someone like you, Prosecutor Lim. After all…”
Lee Gang-hyuk laughed.
“We’re doing similar work, aren’t we?”
At the mention of similar work, Lim Sung-un’s eyebrows twitched. Seeing his reaction, Lee Gang-hyuk shook his head slightly.
“I know the word ‘similar’ seems to make you uncomfortable, but I can’t honestly say we’re different. I’ve looked into your case files over time, Prosecutor Lim, and I noticed that in many of the cases you’ve resolved, substantial slush funds have disappeared. For example, when you handled the Group A chairman, his slush fund was around 200 billion won, wasn’t it? Of that, roughly 180 billion was recovered to the national treasury. So what happened to the remaining 20 billion?”
“It went toward helping the victims.”
“Can you swear you didn’t use any of it for personal reasons?”
“If you knew how I actually live, you wouldn’t say that.”
At Lim Sung-un’s words, Lee Gang-hyuk nodded.
“That’s right. I looked into it—you live only on your prosecutor’s salary. You don’t have any separate assets, and with that meager salary, you even donate regularly. Impressive.”
Then Lee Gang-hyuk smiled and spoke.
“But since you’ve dropped the formality, you seem more comfortable now. So I’ll drop it too.”
“Suit yourself.”
“Then I will.”
Lee Gang-hyuk nodded and spoke.
『Well then, let me tell you what’s different between you and me. I’d wager that what you earn in a year doing Dark Hero work and donate, compared to what our Company donates to society in total—our Company probably gives far more.』
『You don’t funnel money back into the national treasury, though.』
『I don’t trust the state. Rather than that, we recover the funds ourselves, deduct operational costs, and distribute what’s needed to those who need it.』
『From what I can see, your Company’s finances look quite healthy.』
『I already said it. We distribute the amount after deducting operational costs.』
『Those operational costs must be quite substantial.』
『It’s specialized professional work, after all.』
Lee Gang-hyuk answered with a smile, watching the water roil vigorously. He tore open a packet of ramen and added it to the pot.
『Well then, it seems we’ve settled the money question. So what should we discuss now?』
Lee Gang-hyuk tore open a soup packet and looked at Lim Sung-un.
『I suspect you’re interested in our contract assault and contract murder operations?』
『That’s right.』
『Have you reviewed our proposals?』
『I have.』
『Good. Then among the targets in our proposals—is there anyone who deserves a beating? Or anyone who deserves to die?』
Lee Gang-hyuk stirred his ramen with chopsticks and spoke casually, but Lim Sung-un had nothing to say.
Child sex offenders… yes, they deserve to die without question.
Indiscriminate serial killers… they too deserve to die without question.
Seeing Lim Sung-un’s silence, Lee Gang-hyuk made an expression of realization and pulled out his phone.
Then he showed a video on the screen.
It was a scene of a middle-aged man drinking with women at a bar.
『This is someone we recently took on. Currently in progress—47 years old, name A. Last year he disappeared after a hundred-billion-won jeonse deposit fraud scheme. It took quite some time to track him down.』
『Who’s the client?』
『The National Petition Board.』
『The National Petition Board?』
『Among our operations, some allow us to identify specific clients, but we’ve also found many lucrative cases from the Petition Board and news reports. We picked this one from a case posted on the Board. A hundred billion is substantial money.』
『So you’re trying to pocket the hundred billion?』
『Not all of it… we identify the victims of the jeonse fraud and return everything to the righteous ones.』
『And if they’re not righteous?』
『We have no reason to help a criminal bastard who got scammed. And we need to keep something for ourselves to pay the staff.』

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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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