Goblin Library - Chapter 40

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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 40

The Dung Carrier Goblin watched Yu Tae-poong reading Lee Gang-hun’s book and asked.
“What are you doing this evening?”
“This evening?”
Yu Tae-poong set the book down and spoke.
“I’ll head home and rest after work. Why?”
“Want to come see Oh Jang-hyuk with me today?”
“Oh Jang-hyuk?”
“Yeah.”
“Understood.”
“Aren’t you going to ask why?”
When the Dung Carrier Goblin asked with a puzzled expression, Yu Tae-poong laughed.
“If you say to go, then I go.”
Pleased with Yu Tae-poong’s answer, the Dung Carrier Goblin laughed.
“Today’s going to be good.”
“What is?”
“Hehehehe.”
The Dung Carrier Goblin, chuckling in good spirits, glanced at the book Yu Tae-poong held.
“Interesting?”
Yu Tae-poong noticed the Dung Carrier Goblin changing the subject but decided to let it pass, nodding his head.
“The stories about power struggles within the company are entertaining. And there are episodes where he distinguishes fakes and scams among imported goods….”
As Yu Tae-poong spoke, he glanced at the book once and sighed.
“But it’s a bit pitiful.”
“Pitiful?”
“The Shoe Goblin would hope for the protagonist to grow, but this person faces such intense pressure from superiors that it feels less like growth and more like endurance. He has the ability, but it’s like a flower that can’t bloom, you know?”
At Yu Tae-poong’s words, the Dung Carrier Goblin looked at the book once and spoke.
“In the workplace, having ability doesn’t guarantee success.”
“Really?”
“Look at Oh Jang-hyuk—he had colleagues and subordinates with better abilities than him. But not all of those people succeeded. Oh Jang-hyuk actually succeeded despite having less ability than some of them.”
“Through flattery, you mean.”
From the novel, the Oh Jang-hyuk that Yu Tae-poong knew was quite skilled at flattering his superiors.
“Flattery isn’t necessarily bad. It’s also a skill for navigating society well.”
The Dung Carrier Goblin continued, smiling.
“No matter how capable I am, it’s my superiors who decide whether I get the chance to use that ability. There’s nothing wrong with getting along well with those superiors. In fact, you should. Even if a flower is beautiful, people only appreciate it if it’s outside. Hidden in a garden, no one knows about it.”
“True—a hidden flower would wither and disappear once the season passes.”
The Dung Carrier Goblin nodded at Yu Tae-poong’s words.
“Whether it’s flattery or not, being friendly and getting along smoothly with people without standing out is also a skill.”
The Dung Carrier Goblin, who had been speaking, looked at Yu Tae-poong.
“Does that novel’s protagonist lack interpersonal skills?”
“No, not at all. He gets along well with his team members and close friends. It’s just that there are a few superiors who dislike the protagonist.”
“That’s the worst situation in corporate life.”
“Isn’t it?”
“Even with long hours and grueling work, employees endure somehow. They have families to feed, after all. But when things go wrong with your boss, it becomes unbearable. There’s nothing harder than people—nothing.”
“You’re absolutely right. Wherever you go, difficult people are harder to bear than difficult work.”
The Dung Carrier Goblin nodded at Yu Tae-poong’s words. Soon after, the Dung Carrier Goblin checked the time and spoke.
“Well, it’s quitting time.”
Yu Tae-poong nodded and placed Lee Gang-hun’s book back on the shelf.
Meanwhile, the Dung Carrier Goblin tucked the chair under the table and tidied up the area roughly.
“Let’s go.”
As Yu Tae-poong shouldered his bag and spoke, the Dung Carrier Goblin smiled and opened the door.
“Yes, let’s go.”
Yu Tae-poong passed through the door the Dung Carrier Goblin had opened without much thought. And then… confusion flickered across his face.
“Huh?”
The scenery before his eyes was completely different from the street in front of the Goblin Library.
No, it wasn’t a street at all—it had transformed into the interior of some factory. And as the Dung Carrier Goblin stepped outside behind him, he gently brushed Yu Tae-poong’s bowler hat with his hand.
Whoosh!
Watching the Dung Carrier Goblin stroke his own bowler hat, Yu Tae-poong suddenly asked.
“Did you make it so people can’t perceive me?”
“Yes.”
At the Dung Carrier Goblin’s response, Yu Tae-poong touched his own bowler hat and spoke.
“This is a goblin hat, isn’t it?”
“That’s right.”
“Then can I use this to make myself invisible too?”
“You could, but… hmm…”
The Dung Carrier Goblin hesitated for a moment before speaking.
“The Bamboo Sword Goblin would have to grant permission for that.”
“I see.”
“Long ago, a human took a goblin hat and caused trouble. Theft, and all sorts of other misdeeds. After that, the goblins placed a lock on the hat’s functions.”
“A lock?”
“The user’s available functions are locked. Right now, your hat only has the ability to change your clothes and hat style unlocked, while other functions remain locked. To use those functions, the goblin who gave you the hat must unlock the user restrictions.”
“Didn’t you just unlock my restrictions a moment ago?”
“That was just a temporary unlock on my part. You can’t open it on your own.”
“I understand.”
Yu Tae-poong stroked his goblin hat and spoke.
“I’ll have to ask the boss to unlock it.”
“Why, a bathhouse?”
“A… ahem!”
At the sudden mention of a women’s bathhouse, Yu Tae-poong shook his head urgently.
“You don’t like bathhouses?”
The Dung Carrier Goblin asked with genuine curiosity.
“What kind of person do you think I am?”
Yu Tae-poong cleared his throat once and spoke with a serious expression.
“That’s the kind of thing you’d only see in old magazines. The ability humans most want is invisibility, and the reason is supposedly to sneak into women’s bathhouses or something.”
Perhaps because the Dung Carrier Goblin rarely interacted directly with humans, he seemed to need an update on human nature.
“Obviously not me.”
“Then why do you want to become invisible?”
“So I won’t be discovered when I visit characters in novels like I do now.”
“Ah….”
The Dung Carrier Goblin nodded at Yu Tae-poong’s explanation.
“That makes sense—we wear headgear when writing novels too.”
As the Dung Carrier Goblin spoke, he glanced around. He seemed to have understood immediately. At that sight, Yu Tae-poong asked.
“But where is this place?”
“Oh Jang-hyuk’s Company Factory.”
“A company factory?”
“Yeah. Let’s go.”
As the Dung Carrier Goblin hurried forward, Yu Tae-poong looked around before following in his footsteps.
The factory appeared to be highly automated—not many people were visible.
And the noise was deafening. A constant whirring sound mixed with sharp screeching echoed chaotically through the air.
Because of this, all the factory workers wore the kind of earmuffs typically used in winter.
As Yu Tae-poong followed the Dung Carrier Goblin past these workers, names came into view.

「Kang Jin-gi」
「Oh Moon-young」
「…」

They were all familiar names. These were people who appeared in Oh Jang-hyuk’s novels.
Most of them were employees who suffered from Oh Jang-hyuk’s abuse of power, and seeing them this way made me feel sympathetic.
‘Why does he abuse his authority like that?’
Yu Tae-poong muttered this to himself as he passed the people, but when the Dung Carrier Goblin stopped, he looked at him.
The Dung Carrier Goblin was gazing at one side with a pleased expression.
There, a young man who appeared to be around Yu Tae-poong’s age was blankly watching something metallic passing by on a conveyor belt.
Then he picked up an item from the middle and placed it in a box beside him.
Yu Tae-poong, who had been silently observing the young man, turned to look at the Dung Carrier Goblin.
“Who is that?”
The Dung Carrier Goblin, who had likewise been focusing his gaze on the young man, looked at him.
“My younger brother has been reading the Shoe Goblin’s novels lately and hasn’t read mine.”
“Ah… I’m sorry, hyung.”
“No, no.”
Though he said it wasn’t so, the Dung Carrier Goblin seemed somewhat bitter. But that was only for a moment—the Dung Carrier Goblin smiled and spoke.
“It would have been better if he’d come after reading my novel. But it’s fine.”
Then the Dung Carrier Goblin suddenly looked at something and spoke urgently.
“Oh Jang-hyuk is coming over there.”
At the Dung Carrier Goblin’s words, Yu Tae-poong looked in the direction he was pointing. Just as he said, Oh Jang-hyuk was walking toward them.
Oh Jang-hyuk, who occasionally squinted and made pointed remarks to people he passed, suddenly noticed the young man and approached him.
“But your expression is still the same.”
“My expression?”
“When I saw you before, you had an irritable look on your face, and you still do now. It seems people don’t change easily even after experiencing a fire incident.”
“I did change because of the fire incident. But… the way I treat people doesn’t change easily. It’s a habit, after all.”
“A habit, I see. That does make sense.”
Though circumstances differ, if a right-handed person suddenly tries to use their left hand, it feels uncomfortable and awkward.
Facial expressions and the way one treats people seemed similarly difficult to change abruptly.
In any case, Oh Jang-hyuk approached the young man and watched him work intently.
The young man blankly watched the metal products passing by, occasionally picking one out.
Observing this, Oh Jang-hyuk picked up one of the products in the box and examined it. Then, after looking at it from various angles, he set it down and took out another one to inspect.
After examining several products this way, Oh Jang-hyuk glanced at the young man. The young man, paying no attention to his presence, continued watching only the products passing on the belt.
At this, Oh Jang-hyuk picked up the products passing in front of the young man and inspected them.
Then he nodded and looked around. Several people were seated in front of the young man, each picking out products as they passed by.
It seemed to be work for sorting out defective products from among the completed ones.
Soon after, Oh Jang-hyuk lightly tapped the young man’s shoulder.
Tap, tap, tap!
Flinch!
The young man, startled by Oh Jang-hyuk’s touch, looked at him, then quickly stood up and bowed his head.
“Good, good. You’re working hard.”
Yu Tae-poong looked at the Dung Carrier Goblin with a bewildered expression.
“The noise here is too loud—I can’t hear what he’s saying. What is he saying?”
Oh Jang-hyuk seemed to be saying something, but even though I was nearby, it was difficult to hear him.
The Dung Carrier Goblin answered with a laugh.
“He said he’s working hard.”
Thanks to the Goblin’s ability, fortunately the Dung Carrier Goblin’s voice came through clearly. Yu Tae-poong relaxed and asked further.
“But with such a loud voice, how can you understand what Mr. Oh Jang-hyuk is saying?”
He was right there beside him, yet he couldn’t hear—invisible to human eyes though he was.
The Dung Carrier Goblin laughed and looked at the two men.
Oh Jang-hyuk tapped the Young Man’s shoulder and approached another worker.
“I’m going to take him for a bit, so keep an eye on the line!”
Unlike when Oh Jang-hyuk spoke to the Young Man, he shouted loudly, and the Work Supervisor nodded in acknowledgment.
“Understood!”
At the Work Supervisor’s response, Oh Jang-hyuk made a coffee-drinking gesture to the Young Man and walked off with him somewhere.
The Dung Carrier Goblin turned to Yu Tae-poong and spoke.
“Let’s go.”
With that, Yu Tae-poong followed the Dung Carrier Goblin as they trailed after Oh Jang-hyuk and the Young Man.
The two men, unaware that Yu Tae-poong and the Dung Carrier Goblin were following, simply walked out of the Factory.
The moment they stepped outside, Oh Jang-hyuk removed his earplugs and shook out his ears.
“My ears are ringing.”
Then he led the Young Man toward the coffee vending machine.
Oh Jang-hyuk, who seemed intent on taking a break while smoking, retrieved two cups of coffee from the vending machine positioned outside and looked at the Young Man.
“How are things with the people?”
In response to Oh Jang-hyuk’s question, the Young Man pulled out his phone and quickly typed something to show him.
「I’m getting along well with everyone.」

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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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