Goblin Library - Chapter 31

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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 31

Lim Sung-un took a sip of coffee with a weary expression, then looked at Taepung.
“Are we really the kind of people who meet like this, at dawn, in a place like this?”
Taepung answered the tired Lim Sung-un, who stifled a yawn before bringing the cup back to his lips.
“I contacted you because there’s someone I think would be good to work with you, sir.”
“Work with me? Is there someone here who works in the Prosecutor’s Office?”
At Lim Sung-un’s words, Taepung glanced toward the apartment before speaking.
“I’m talking about work other than Prosecutor’s Office business.”
At that, Lim Sung-un’s eyes narrowed.
“Other work?”
“I can’t really say, but… it’s the kind of work where I think it would be good if there was at least one person in South Korea doing it.”
At Taepung’s words, Lim Sung-un regarded him with a hardened expression before speaking.
“I’m not sure what kind of work you’re talking about.”
“I’m not entirely sure either. It’s just work that I support.”
Lim Sung-un stared at him silently for a moment, as if trying to read Taepung’s true intentions. Then he finally spoke.
“This is suspicious. Really suspicious.”
Taepung let out a quiet laugh.
“Even though you find it suspicious, you’re not conducting a separate investigation.”
At Taepung’s words, which seemed to pierce right through me, Lim Sung-un’s eyes narrowed.
“How would you know that? I could have assigned someone to investigate separately.”
“You didn’t assign anyone.”
I know because I saw it in the book. When Jang Ma-ru, the genius hacker who works with Lim Sung-un, asked if he should conduct a more thorough investigation, there was a scene in the book where Lim Sung-un told him not to.
“Wait… did you assign someone to watch me, rather than the other way around?”
“I didn’t assign anyone.”
A Goblin is attached to him, but technically that’s not a person, and it’s not someone I assigned either.
As they were talking, a delivery truck pulled up to the entrance of the apartment building. Then the Delivery Driver got out and began unloading delivery boxes at the apartment entrance.
Taepung pointed in that direction and spoke.
“That’s the Delivery Driver. Someone who will be helpful with the work you’ll be doing going forward.”
At Taepung’s words, Lim Sung-un looked at the Delivery Driver.
“Hmm… he doesn’t look that old. Is he from the fighting world?”
“How did you know that?”
“Even though it’s hidden under his clothes, you can tell at a glance. And his aura resembles a certain friend I work with. So I’m right?”
“You could say that.”
Along with Taepung’s words, Lim Sung-un’s phone vibrated with a buzz. When he pulled out his phone, there was a text message.

「Secured facial features from CCTV. Currently identifying.」

Lim Sung-un glanced around after receiving a text from Jang Ma-ru. These days, CCTVs were installed abundantly throughout apartment complexes.
“I have fists too.”
“I know. You have truly powerful fists. But I believe every fist has its proper place to be used.”
Then Taepung spoke while looking at the Delivery Driver.
“You’ve handled school violence cases before, haven’t you?”
“School violence….”
At Taepung’s words, Lim Sung-un studied him for a moment before responding.
“I’ve never handled it at the Prosecutor’s Office, but I have dealt with it through other channels. Is that what you’re referring to?”
When Taepung nodded, Lim Sung-un let out a hollow laugh.
“You know an awful lot about me.”
“I know what I need to know.”
“Then let me ask you one thing. Is what you know about me good for me and my colleagues, or bad?”
“I support you.”
At Taepung’s answer—not that he liked him, but that he supported him—Lim Sung-un pointed to the Delivery Driver.
“So you’re saying I should use that guy to solve school violence?”
At Lim Sung-un’s words, Taepung recalled something Kang Woong had once said.
“Adults fear the police. They know that if you commit a crime, you must pay the price for it. But children don’t think that way. Even if they commit crimes, it’s not they who pay the price—it’s their parents. And even if they become juvenile delinquents, they don’t know what consequences will come back to haunt them. They don’t understand society.”
Lim Sung-un nodded as if encouraging him to continue.
“And children don’t realize how terrible and cruel the things they do are. That’s why they torment other children even more viciously.”
Taepung paused for a moment before speaking.
“I want to save the children who suffer at the hands of these School Gang members.”
“It’s not easy. Even if we investigate, children don’t trust the police or teachers. And they’re afraid that if the perpetrators return, they’ll face even worse retaliation, so they stay silent.”
Lim Sung-un shook his head.
“And when violence occurs at school, teachers are afraid of being disciplined, so they hush it up and try to resolve it within the school. In the end, the perpetrators get suspended for a few days, come back, and the cycle of tormenting children repeats. That’s why it’s difficult to investigate unless it becomes a truly major incident.”
“Because the victimized children keep silent.”
“Exactly. While society has laws, for those children, the perpetrators’ fists are the only law they know.”
Lim Sung-un looked at the Delivery Driver.
“So you’re saying that guy is a fist capable of solving that?”
“You’ll know if you verify it yourself.”
“But one guy alone can’t eliminate school violence.”
“I understand. Still, for the students who receive his help, it will be a stroke of good fortune. I believe that alone is worth doing.”
“A stroke of good fortune….”
Lim Sung-un murmured to himself for a moment, then looked at Taepung.
“Taepung, you seem to really like the word ‘fortune.'”
Taepung answered Lim Sung-un’s remark.
“Who doesn’t like fortune?”
Then he smiled and looked at Lim Sung-un.
“After all, you’ve lived thanks to fortune.”
Lim Sung-un let out a small laugh in return.
“That’s true enough.”
Then Lim Sung-un turned his head to look at the Delivery Driver. The Delivery Driver was conversing with a student who had come down from the Apartment, accepting a beverage from them.
“I think it would be good to make the first school Cheongseong High School, where that student attends.”
“Cheongseong High School?”
“There’s a School Gang led by a kid named Lee Jong-hyuk there, and they’re vicious.”
At Typhoon’s words, Lim Sung-un looked at the Delivery Driver and nodded.
“Let me look into what kind of person he is, and if he’s worth using, we’ll work together.”
Typhoon nodded and spoke.
“I should mention beforehand—I’ve done some gang work in the past.”
He was saying this preemptively in case Lim Sung-un discovered his gang background during an investigation and viewed him unfavorably.
Of course, Lim Sung-un already had the nation’s finest former gang fighter directly under him and worked with other gang members as well, but one could never be too careful.
“A gang member… That’s useful.”
“You find it useful even though I was in a gang?”
“It’s not the past that matters—it’s the present.”
Lim Sung-un spoke while looking at the Delivery Driver.
“A guy who used to do gang work but now drives for a delivery service means he’s cleaned up his act and is working honestly with his own two hands. That’s useful.”
“You understand quickly.”
“I’ve locked up countless gang members and seen plenty of them released from prison.”
Then Lim Sung-un looked at Typhoon.
“From here on, I’ll take over.”
At Lim Sung-un’s words, Typhoon nodded and turned to leave, but suddenly stopped and looked back at him.
“Um, may I ask just one thing?”
“What is it?”
“How do you handle operational expenses?”
“Operational expenses?”
When Lim Sung-un asked in return, Typhoon nodded.
Based on the novel’s content, Lim Sung-un’s organization spent a lot of money.
Hacker Jang Ma-ru had his own separate office with plenty of equipment. Moreover, Choi Tae-sik owned multiple cars and motorcycles for surveillance work.
On top of that, they even paid operational expenses to the fighters they managed, yet the book never explained where that money came from.
Typhoon had been curious about this and wanted to get an answer while he had the chance.
“Looks like you couldn’t figure that out.”
When Typhoon didn’t answer, Lim Sung-un chuckled and spoke.
“We have someone on our side with a lucrative skill.”
“A lucrative skill?”
“Yeah. Money that copies itself while you sleep and wake up.”
“How is that even….”
Lim Sung-un laughed softly and spoke.
“Well, let’s go now. It’ll take me a while to get to work from here too.”
As Lim Sung-un moved to leave while speaking, Typhoon asked.
“Aren’t you going to meet him?”
“I can’t bring someone in based solely on your word, no matter how much I support what you do otherwise. I’ll look into this friend of yours and confirm whether he’s worth using. Then we’ll meet.”
As Lim Sung-un turned to leave, he caught sight of Typhoon.
“I’ll look into the Cheongseong High School matter instead.”
Typhoon watched him for a moment, then followed along.
“Still, from here to the Prosecutor’s Office during rush hour will take quite a while. Won’t you be late?”
At Typhoon’s question, Lim Sung-un chuckled and replied.
“Normally, yes.”
Before Lim Sung-un could finish speaking, a black motorcycle rapidly pulled up in front of them.
Vroom!
Screech!
A man in a black helmet atop the motorcycle that had come to a stop gave Typhoon a quick once-over from head to toe, then extended a helmet toward Lim Sung-un.
Lim Sung-un accepted the helmet, climbed onto the back of the motorcycle, and glanced at Typhoon.
“See you next time, lucky young man. Let’s go.”
At Lim Sung-un’s words, the motorcycle shot forward at high speed.
Vrooom!
Watching the motorcycle disappear into the distance, Typhoon let out a soft chuckle.
“Lucky young man, huh….”
Muttering quietly, Typhoon looked around and spoke.
“So I’m introduced in the book as the lucky young man?”
At Typhoon’s murmur, the Bamboo Sword Goblin suddenly materialized.
“If that’s what the protagonist called you, then that’s what we should use.”
“Lucky young man—that’s better than ‘suspicious man,’ at least.”
After Typhoon spoke, the Bamboo Sword Goblin paused before responding.
“I didn’t expect Lim Sung-un to pass the torch like that.”
“Since the seeker has changed, we need to change who we’re chasing too.”
Then Typhoon turned his head toward the Bamboo Sword Goblin and squinted.
The Bamboo Sword Goblin had already vanished without a trace.
Typhoon shook his head slightly and sighed.
“Take me to the Goblin Library.”
After all, the Goblins could reach wherever they wanted simply by opening and closing a door.
There was no point in worrying about Lim Sung-un being late. Typhoon hurried toward the subway station.

***

Taepung was eating red bean cake with the Dung Carrier Goblin at the Goblin Library.
“This is my younger sibling’s first paycheck, but I’m not sure if I should be eating cake like this.”
Yesterday had been Taepung’s payday. It had already been a month since I started working at the Goblin Library.
So I sent some spending money to my parents. Usually people say they’ll buy underwear, but these days cash is king.
On top of that, I ordered red bean cake to share with everyone around me, and specially invited the Dung Carrier Goblin like this.
The Dung Carrier Goblin spoke, and Taepung laughed in response.
“Since it’s my first paycheck, I should repay those I’m grateful to.”
“Aw, what do I have to be grateful for?”
“No, you really are someone I’m grateful to. If it weren’t for you, I’d probably still feel distant from goblins and be afraid of them.”
The Dung Carrier Goblin chuckled and asked.
“Are you saying I’m easy to push around?”
“Not at all. I mean you’re friendly and good to me.”
At Taepung’s words, the Dung Carrier Goblin broke into a bright smile. It was a pleasant thing to hear.
No goblin had ever approached him so warmly before, so for Taepung to say he was friendly and good to him—it meant everything.

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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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