Goblin Library - Chapter 205

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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 205.

Lee Gang-hun, the protagonist of Shoe Goblin’s novel, was entering Korea.
『Gang-hun! Gang-hun!』
Park Young-il beamed with a bright smile as he emerged from the gate, waving his hand enthusiastically.
Lee Gang-hun returned the gesture with a smile, waving back as he approached him.
『What brings the Company President to pick up an employee?』
『Employee? You’re the Vice President who saved our company!』
『Vice President?』
『That’s right, Vice President. It’s an immediate promotion.』
Park Young-il grasped Lee Gang-hun’s hand and shook it, speaking with a bright voice.
『You’ve achieved in this one project what would have taken two years to accomplish.』
Lee Gang-hun smiled at Park Young-il’s words.
『This is just the beginning.』
『Yes, just the beginning.』
『Let’s talk as we go.』
Lee Gang-hun led the way forward as he spoke.
『Ah, as Vice President, does my salary increase?』
『Ha ha ha! Instead of a salary raise, I’ll give you a larger equity stake.』
At the mention of equity, Lee Gang-hun nodded. Since he intended to grow the company, equity was perhaps better than a salary increase.
『What about the construction materials I requested?』
『We’re preparing them, but… will it work out?』
Beyond the components for heavy machinery, Lee Gang-hun had placed orders for construction materials.
Lee Gang-hun nodded at Park Young-il’s words.
『I’ve already secured the sales channels.』
『Where to?』
『We’ll sell to residential construction sites.』
『Residential construction sites?』
『I plan to have wealthy individuals building their own homes use high-quality Korean materials.』
『Ah! While government-directed construction projects try to cut costs, people building their own homes will want quality,』
『Exactly. And as more money circulates and wealthy individuals emerge, more people are building exclusive homes for themselves.』
『That makes sense.』
『Targeting them, we could export premium residential materials.』
『Premium materials… won’t China make a move?』
『Fortunately, since we’re operating on a small scale, China hasn’t shown interest yet.』
『So we’re the only ones?』
Lee Gang-hun nodded at Park Young-il’s words.
『We’ll start with steel for construction, then move into interior materials afterward—that should work well.』
At Lee Gang-hun’s words, Park Young-il nodded before suddenly looking at him.
“What about prefabricated buildings?”
“Prefabricated… ah, that could work. If we send prefabricated units, we’d only need to do the foundation work before we can assemble our buildings right away.”
“Besides, prefabricated buildings are quite good these days. If we create a proper product brochure and present it well, quite a few people will be tempted.”
“That’s right. Then let’s proceed with that as well.”
At Lee Gang-hun’s words, Park Young-il pulled out his phone and called the company.
“Find companies that build prefabricated structures. Try… calling Dae-il Lumber and Yu-young Metals—they might know something. Yes, once you find the company list, go to their homepages and check what they manufacture. Also verify if they can handle prefabricated buildings suitable for countries with hot, dry climates and large temperature variations. Oh! And it needs to look high-end.”
After giving instructions to the company, Park Young-il looked at Lee Gang-hun with a smile.
“Good. You’ve worked hard, so let’s wash away the dust from our throats today. You must be missing Korean food.”
“There’s plenty of Korean food sold there too. But rather…”
Lee Gang-hun looked at Park Young-il.
“What about the pressure on us?”
“Pressure, you say…”
Park Young-il chuckled and spoke.
“Don’t worry about it. It’s all just business to make a living. They’re not even our trading partners—why should we care about complaints from other companies?”
At Park Young-il’s words, Lee Gang-hun nodded.
When Lee Gang-hun ignored the Chinese companies and continued importing and selling goods, they began pressuring Korean companies that did business with him.
They were asking those companies to prevent Lee Gang-hun from trading with their country.
But for Park Young-il, it wasn’t something to be particularly concerned about.
As he said, it was all just business to make a living—how could one conduct trade if pressured by such things?
“Ah! It seems my former company is receiving quite a bit of stress from this.”
“Your former company?”
“How long has it been since I left? You don’t even recognize the name—One Line Trading.”
At the mention of One Line Trading, Lee Gang-hun’s eyes narrowed. Since it wasn’t a company he’d left on good terms with, his expression hardened immediately upon hearing the name.
Seeing this reaction, Park Young-il smiled and spoke.
“Since there are many Chinese traders who dealt with you, it seems One Line Trading has been receiving quite a few complaints. After all, it was your former workplace.”
“One Line Trading must have had a hard time making excuses.”
Il-un Trading Company had little business with China, so closing that door caused minimal damage. But One Line Trading conducted major business with China.
Therefore, they must have found the complaints coming from China quite troublesome.
Of course, since it was a business started by a former employee who had left the company, there was no direct issue.
But China places great importance on personal relationships in trade—what they call guanxi trading.
In such circumstances, if Chinese traders became angry, it could create problems for the business.
“One Line Trading must have contacted you as well.”
“They did reach out through Director Oh.”
“Director Oh… so they made contact through someone close to the president. That was considerate.”
“If they’d contacted me through Director Kim, I would’ve given them an earful… but since it was someone I got along with reasonably well, I listened and ended the call.”
Walking along with a smile, Park Young-il added casually.
“By the way, Director Kim must be quite upset.”
“Why would Director Kim be upset?”
“Because you’re the kind of talent who can pull off a business like this—why did they let you go? If you were the type to create a business like this, we could’ve done something here too, he’s probably thinking.”
Lee Gang-hun laughed and shook his head at Park Young-il’s words.
『If I’d stayed at One Line Trading, I never could’ve pushed forward with this venture.』
『That’s true. Still… you would’ve pursued something far bigger.』
『Even with the best opportunities, I couldn’t have done anything while at One Line Trading.』
Park Young-il nodded as Lee Gang-hun spoke in a murmur.
『Director Kim was always there….』
No matter how skilled and well-connected Lee Gang-hun was, he needed approval to execute anything.
But with Director Kim pressing down from above and cutting off his connections, even the best opportunities became impossible to develop into actual business ventures.
More than that—he’d had promising projects stolen away by other teams.
As a result, Lee Gang-hun’s standing within the Company had steadily eroded.
『I told you to hold on till the end when you quit the Company… but now that I think about it, leaving was really the right call.』
『I think so too.』
Lee Gang-hun smiled and continued walking as he spoke.
『At least here, I can do as much work as I want to do.』
『That’s right, that’s right. If you want to work, you should do even more, haha!』
Lee Gang-hun, walking toward the Parking Lot with a pleased smile, squinted his eyes.
『Speak of the devil.』
『What are you talking about?』
『You know how they say if you mention a tiger, it appears.』
At Lee Gang-hun’s words, Park Young-il turned his gaze to where he was looking and squinted as well.
Director Kim from One Line Trading was standing at the Airport entrance. And noticing their gazes, Director Kim looked toward Lee Gang-hun and Park Young-il.
『Let’s go.』
At Lee Gang-hun’s words, Park Young-il also walked toward Director Kim with a hardened expression.
There was no need to go out of their way to greet him, but they had to pass where Director Kim was standing to reach the Parking Lot.
Otherwise they’d have to exit through a different gate… but there was no reason to avoid it.
Lee Gang-hun met Director Kim’s eyes as he approached, lowering his head slightly as he tried to pass by.
『You’ve been up to some interesting things lately.』
At his sudden remark, Park Young-il shot him a look. Park Young-il had also left the Company because of Director Kim, so he couldn’t view him favorably.
But Lee Gang-hun paid no mind and spoke to Park Young-il as he walked.
『I hear China lodged quite a few complaints against One Line Trading… something amusing happened, it seems.』
Speaking without even looking at Director Kim, Park Young-il understood the implication and walked with a bright smile.
『So I heard. Word is the Chairman took action… someone you know probably had a rough time of it.』
『That’s probably the case….』
『Hey!』
Director Kim burst out shouting, and Lee Gang-hun glanced at him, smiled, and turned his head away.
『You seem to watch Pororo quite often these days.』
『What?』
『I say that because you keep calling me over to play when I don’t want to.』
『You….』
Director Kim’s face hardened, and Lee Gang-hun smiled.
『As you just said, I’m quite busy these days doing something rather entertaining. So if you’re bored, find someone new to play with at the company. Don’t bother a busy man like me.』
Lee Gang-hun turned his body away.
『Let’s go. We have far too many items to work on next to waste time playing around here.』
『Right. We’re far too busy for that.』
Park Young-il turned his head toward Director Kim.
『So Director Kim, work hard too.』
『Park Young-il, where do you get off being so cheeky?』
『Cheeky?』
Park Young-il laughed as if bewildered.
『You’re a director and I’m the president—so who’s being cheeky here? I was just offering you a kind word of encouragement.』
『Running a hole-in-the-wall shop and now you dare—』
『That hole-in-the-wall shop’s revenue has grown quite a lot this time around. At this rate, it’s practically a convenience store now. Hahaha!』
As Park Young-il walked forward with laughter, Lee Gang-hun walked alongside him before pausing and turning back toward Director Kim.
『By the way, do you know what they say?』
At Lee Gang-hun’s words, Director Kim looked at him with a reddened face. Lee Gang-hun smiled at that gaze.
『Laughter brings good fortune. Hahaha!』
Without hesitation, he followed Park Young-il, and Director Kim pulled out his phone with a hardened expression.
『Where are you? Get here now!』
At Director Kim’s shout from behind, Lee Gang-hun laughed with a refreshed spirit.
『Laughter brings good fortune.』
Hearing Lee Gang-hun’s cry, Director Kim unconsciously raised his phone as if to hurl it, then exhaled sharply.
『Phew! Just you wait, you bastard.』

Lee Gang-hun kept his phone camera on, framing Director Kim in the screen.
Not that he was recording—he simply wanted to see what Director Kim was doing.
“You look absolutely furious. I’m delighted.”
“So am I.”
Park Young-il chuckled at his own words.
“Anyway, Director Kim, spending all your time doing paperwork in the office has completely dulled your field instincts.”
“Exactly. A trader expressing emotions so openly… isn’t that just foolish?”
“Tell me about it.”
Park Young-il continued with a grin.
“Director Kim was actually a sharp trader back when he was just a manager.”
“When you stop working the field, your instincts wither away.”
If I were Director Kim, I would never lose my temper like that. Showing anger in a situation like this wouldn’t inspire fear in my opponent—it would only give them joy.
The satisfaction of victory. The pleasure of getting one over on someone.
Lee Gang-hun, walking with a satisfied expression, glanced at Park Young-il.
“Director Oh, would you mind asking where Director Kim went earlier?”
“Sure thing!”
Park Young-il pulled out his phone and immediately called Director Oh.
“Yes, sir. Haha! Why are you still whining about that? With One Line’s strength, everything will be resolved without any issues soon. Come on! The Chinese aren’t stupid either—they know they’ll lose money if they cut ties with One Line. Why would they do that? Oh, that’s separate—I saw Director Kim at the airport today picking up a client. Where did he go? China? Ah! So that’s why Director Kim was in a bad mood. Haha! Still… Director Oh, you seem pretty pleased that Director Kim got burned.”
At Park Young-il’s words, Lee Gang-hun suddenly looked at him.
Come to think of it, Director Oh and Director Kim had a poor relationship too.
Lee Gang-hun began scheming ways to make Director Kim suffer even more.

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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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