Goblin Library - Chapter 37
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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 37
Yu Tae-poong paused for a moment after hearing that quite a few protagonists died despite only a few episodes having progressed, then spoke.
“Were they all written by the same author?”
“No, they weren’t.”
“Hmm….”
Yu Tae-poong took a spoonful of rice and spoke.
“Could it have been a shelf specifically organized with just those kinds of books?”
“Those kinds of books?”
“Usually when you go to a library, similar books are grouped together on the same shelf, right? What if the section you saw was where books by those kinds of authors were collected?”
“Ah… that could be it.”
At the Dung Carrier Goblin’s words, Yu Tae-poong nodded and resumed eating his rice.
After finishing his meal and resting in the Goblin Library while sipping tea, Yu Tae-poong began mimicking Cha Dol’s martial techniques.
He’d developed a habit of practicing martial arts after meals since it aided digestion, and by now his body had grown so accustomed to the movements that he could perform them smoothly without frequently consulting the book. Of course, when he wanted to increase view counts, he’d keep the book nearby and refer to it while practicing.
Of course, when he wanted to increase view counts, he’d keep the book nearby and refer to it while practicing.
As Yu Tae-poong wiped the sweat from his face with a towel after finishing his workout, the Dung Carrier Goblin spoke.
“Exercise is good for you.”
“Would you like to try it too?”
“Goblins don’t exercise.”
The Dung Carrier Goblin smiled faintly and sipped his coffee. Yu Tae-poong approached him and asked.
“Where is that shelf?”
“It’s over there.”
The Dung Carrier Goblin picked up his coffee cup and walked toward the shelves, with Yu Tae-poong following behind him.
A look of confusion crossed Yu Tae-poong’s face.
“You went in that deep?”
Typically, people would choose books from the front shelves, but the Dung Carrier Goblin was walking far back into the shelving area.
At Yu Tae-poong’s words, the Dung Carrier Goblin stopped and scratched his head.
“The front is a bit… uncomfortable.”
“Uncomfortable?”
“Well… it’s too exposed. I prefer secluded spots where people’s eyes don’t reach.”
Yu Tae-poong looked at the Dung Carrier Goblin. It seemed his nature made him more comfortable in those secluded places.
After all, someone carrying dung would naturally prefer hidden paths where few people traveled rather than main roads.
“Since it’s just you and me here, feel free to go wherever you’re comfortable.”
“This is comfortable for me, so it’s fine. Here it is.”
Yu Tae-poong examined the shelf the Dung Carrier Goblin indicated. The shelf was quite deep within the library.
“Even goblins who come to read books probably don’t visit this section much.”
It wasn’t at the very end, nor in the middle, nor at the front—it was truly a secluded shelf.
Of course, all the bookshelves in this area are tucked away in corners.
“That’s why I came over here.”
As Yu Tae-poong watched, the Dung Carrier Goblin pulled a book from the shelf and spoke.
“Books exist to be read, but stuck away in corners like this… no one reads them. I felt sorry for them, so I thought I’d read at least a little.”
“Ah….”
At the Dung Carrier Goblin’s words, Yu Tae-poong looked at him and smiled.
“So you were trying to give life to the books.”
At the word “life,” the Dung Carrier Goblin laughed and shook his head.
“It’s not something so grand. It’s just that it seemed similar to my situation….”
The Dung Carrier Goblin spoke while looking at the books on the shelf.
“Being here but having no one pay attention to you… that kind of thing.”
As Yu Tae-poong watched the Dung Carrier Goblin shake his head slightly, his eyes fell upon the book he was holding.
【Lee San】
Author: Binge Eating Goblin.
“Binge Eating Goblin?”
Upon seeing the Goblin’s name “Binge Eating,” Yu Tae-poong murmured.
“Binge Eating?”
The Dung Carrier Goblin looked at Yu Tae-poong, whose expression clearly showed confusion.
“What about Binge Eating?”
“Binge Eating means eating a lot of food… but a Goblin is born from that?”
“Ah….”
The Dung Carrier Goblin spoke as if understanding what he meant.
“Goblins born from objects are created with the heart and feelings of the owner who uses them. They’re often born from things that were used with care or objects with a story. And that means human emotions have a great influence on a Goblin’s birth.”
“Ah… So desires like binge eating can also become Goblins.”
“That’s right.”
At the Dung Carrier Goblin’s answer, Yu Tae-poong nodded and opened the book.
True to the author’s name, the Binge Eating Goblin, the novel’s protagonist was a person who ate large quantities of food at once.
Moreover, when drinking in the evening, he ate continuously without stopping. The episodes were about eating at company dinners and ordering late-night snacks to eat at night.
After several episodes of binge eating like this, the protagonist suddenly died in a traffic accident.
Yu Tae-poong turned the final page and placed the book back on the shelf with a sense of emptiness.
There were only a few episodes about eating food and how much he ate, so it didn’t leave much of an impression. Of course, since it was the story of a real person, he should feel sympathy for the traffic accident that caused his death, but even that was difficult.
All he knew about him was the story of eating.
Having placed the book on the shelf, Yu Tae-poong pulled out another one.
【Hwang Jeong-gun】
Author: Weed Goblin.
【Lim Soo-young】
Author: Rice Bowl Goblin.
Many goblins had written books. Some were born from objects created by humans, while others emerged naturally from nature itself.
And the protagonists of all the books shelved here didn’t have particularly extensive stories.
They all had only a few episodes—some not even a complete one—before dying young from illness or accident.
As Yu Tae-poong pulled out the books one by one, he noticed the Dung Carrier Goblin watching him.
“It seems all the books here are ones where the protagonists couldn’t tell long stories. I suppose the main characters all died suddenly.”
“Unless a goblin is special, we can’t know about human life and death either… We pick them as subjects, but sometimes they die suddenly.”
“A special goblin?”
The Dung Carrier Goblin spoke as Yu Tae-poong looked at him.
“Goblins born in places related to death.”
“What do you mean by places related to death?”
“There are many kinds, but for example, there are Mourning House Goblins.”
At the mention of Mourning House Goblins, Yu Tae-poong nodded. It made sense—if a goblin was born in a house where someone had died, it would be inseparable from death, so knowing such things wouldn’t be strange.
“Then do they know the day someone will die?”
“Wouldn’t they?”
“Have you ever met a Mourning House Goblin?”
“I’ve never met one, only heard that such goblins exist.”
The Dung Carrier Goblin didn’t seem to know much, as he wasn’t particularly close with other goblins.
Yu Tae-poong looked at the book by the Weed Goblin he’d just picked up.
Hwang Jeong-gun, the protagonist, was a diligent young man who lived up to his name as a weed.
Born as the eldest son in a poor family, he worked multiple part-time jobs while supporting his siblings’ education.
Yet one night, while working a part-time job, he suddenly died of a heart attack.
‘Someone who lived so diligently should have lived well… What a waste of a person.’
Yu Tae-poong shook his head bitterly at the reality that hard work doesn’t guarantee a good life. He pulled out a few more books and then examined one of them closely.
“You’re looking at it for a long time? Is the story interesting?”
At the Dung Carrier Goblin’s words as he continued pulling books in and out, Yu Tae-poong nodded.
“It’s written by the Shoe Goblin… The character is….”
Yu Tae-poong paused mid-sentence and looked at the bookshelf. He’d been about to say the character was interesting, but looking at what was shelved here, the protagonist was deceased.
Yu Tae-poong quickly chose his words carefully.
“…They’re someone who strives earnestly. They study hard and engage in self-improvement while pursuing success.”
“Is that kind of content interesting?”
“It’s somewhat similar to what the Weed Goblin wrote, but that person lived diligently. However, I realized that living diligently doesn’t mean living well.”
“That’s true. My master was someone who went out when the sun rose and came home when it set to rest, yet his life never improved.”
At the Dung Carrier Goblin’s words, Yu Tae-poong nodded and pointed to the book written by the Shoe Goblin.
“But this person truly lives so earnestly….”
Yu Tae-poong paused briefly, searching for the right word, then continued.
“They have ambition for social advancement. The desire to live better, to go to better places… It’s interesting how various things happen because of that ambition.”
“Ambition, you say. Do you have such ambitions too, Yu Tae-poong?”
Yu Tae-poong paused briefly at the Dung Carrier Goblin’s question before laughing.
“I think my ambition used to be ‘I hope I get a job at a good company.'”
“What kind of ambition is that?”
“Is ambition something special? It’s just thinking about what you want to become. And getting into a good company was what I wanted back then.”
Yu Tae-poong smiled as he spoke, looking at the Dung Carrier Goblin.
“People might laugh if they hear that wanting a good job is an ambition… but for kids my age, there’s no bigger ambition than that.”
At Yu Tae-poong’s words, the Dung Carrier Goblin looked at him and spoke.
“I hear employment is difficult these days.”
“It’s not just now—employment has always been difficult for adults’ generation, for my older brothers’ generation, and for my generation too. Employment seems to be an eternally difficult problem.”
“My younger brother says something quite profound and points out social issues.”
At the Dung Carrier Goblin’s words, Yu Tae-poong chuckled lightly, looking at the book before speaking.
“Anyway, this person’s books are really good. They kind of inspire a desire for growth in me too.”
“Social climbing?”
“More than that—it’s the way they live hard for a better future and strive to achieve it.”
Yu Tae-poong paused for a moment before continuing.
“Everyone thinks ‘I want to live well,’ ‘I want to be rich,’ ‘I want to become this or that,’ but most people just end there, right? It’s not easy to cut back on sleep, exercise, study, and do all that. I like seeing someone achieve through effort.”
Yu Tae-poong smiled as he spoke.
“And the person is kind.”
“Kind?”
“They volunteer often and donate…”
Yu Tae-poong, who had been smiling while reading the book, shook his head slightly. Still, being stuck here meant they ultimately failed and died.
Feeling hollow at that thought, Yu Tae-poong secretly hoped to move to a different bookshelf as he asked the Dung Carrier Goblin.
“Are you going to keep reading here?”
“The content is short, so I need to go somewhere else.”
“Then I’ll look for some books by the Shoe Goblin. Their work is fun.”
With that, Yu Tae-poong held his glasses frame with his hand and focused his eyes as he thought.
‘Shoe Goblin. The longest volume.’
Since the Shoe Goblin had written more than one novel, he wanted to try reading one with a longer volume.
Soon an arrow appeared before Yu Tae-poong’s eyes. As he followed the arrow, the Dung Carrier Goblin trailed along behind him.
Yu Tae-poong moved his feet and spoke.
“There’s a search function for books here—would you like to try searching?”
As Yu Tae-poong pointed to his tiger-like eyebrows, the Dung Carrier Goblin shook his head.
“No. I’ll read and look at whatever my hand reaches for.”
At the Dung Carrier Goblin’s words, Yu Tae-poong didn’t press further and followed the arrow into the bookshelf section.
And there, Yu Tae-poong could see an arrow pointing to a book on the shelf.
Yu Tae-poong pulled out the book the arrow indicated.
【Oh Ja-myeong】
Author: Shoe Goblin.
“Oh Ja-myeong….”
Yu Tae-poong murmured the protagonist’s name, which was also the book’s title, as he opened the volume.
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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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