Goblin Library - Chapter 42

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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 42

『I’ll take responsibility. Please give me the work.』

Yu Tae-poong, who had been reading, nodded his head.
“So that’s how he ended up getting the job.”
At Yu Tae-poong’s words, the Dung Carrier Goblin sipped his coffee with a satisfied expression.
“He did a good thing.”
“That’s right. Usually in these situations, people just reject them out of laziness without even giving them a chance.”
Yu Tae-poong had struggled through the job market himself, so he understood these situations well.
When there are multiple job applicants, companies choose the one with the best qualifications and no issues—they don’t pick someone with problems.
Of course, in this company’s case, they did have a shortage of applicants.
“I told you, didn’t I? Even someone like him has a human side to him.”
At the Dung Carrier Goblin’s words, Yu Tae-poong nodded.
After watching Oh Jang-hyuk look after Go Gyeong-ha yesterday, Yu Tae-poong had been reading his book today.
Based on yesterday’s situation alone, Oh Jang-hyuk seemed like just an ordinary… old-fashioned guy. He spoke carelessly to the younger Go Gyeong-ha and poked him around.
But after reading the book today… it was different. Oh Jang-hyuk had been a benefactor who gave Go Gyeong-ha the opportunity to work.
Of course, that didn’t mean he wasn’t old-fashioned. Even if Go Gyeong-ha got his job because of Oh Jang-hyuk, the fact that he poked him around and spoke carelessly remained wrong.
And as I read more of the book, Oh Jang-hyuk looked after Go Gyeong-ha even after he got the job.
Whenever he had business at the factory, he would always go and watch Go Gyeong-ha work, and they would talk.
In particular, he always gave him encouragement, saying he was doing well. It seemed he was trying to build his confidence, worried that his physical limitations might shake his self-assurance.
And in fact, Go Gyeong-ha did work well. After Go Gyeong-ha started quality inspections, the defect rate dropped significantly.
As a result, customer complaints decreased, and the Sales Department was pleased about it.
Yu Tae-poong reached for his coffee while reading the book. But when he looked at the cup, it was already empty. So Yu Tae-poong stood up to brew fresh coffee.
“Coffee?”
“I’ve finished it.”
“I’ll get it for you.”
“You will?”
“If you stop reading to make coffee, it breaks your flow. Look.”
At the Dung Carrier Goblin’s words, Yu Tae-poong laughed and shook his head.
“I’ll do it.”
“I’ll make it. It’s fine.”
At the Dung Carrier Goblin’s laughing words, Yu Tae-poong shook his head again.
“That’s because I’ve become particular about coffee taste.”
“Ah….”
The Dung Carrier Goblin nodded.
“Then give me a cup too.”
“Of course!”
Yu Tae-poong smiled as he answered, picking up his cup and walking toward the counter.
“Why did Oh Jang-hyuk help Go Gyeong-ha?”
The Oh Jang-hyuk I knew wouldn’t be someone to care about Go Gyeong-ha. In fact, he would have been the first to oppose Go Gyeong-ha entering the factory.
“I told you already. He’s changed a bit since that fire incident.”
Yu Tae-poong nodded.
“That’s wonderful. Really wonderful.”
At Yu Tae-poong’s words, the Dung Carrier Goblin smiled and spoke.
“That’s why I wanted to show you Oh Jang-hyuk. I told you—even someone like him has a good side.”
“I was wondering why you took me with you yesterday… so that was the reason.”
“Right. Oh! You haven’t read yesterday’s part yet, have you?”
“Since the timeline isn’t written precisely, I can’t be entirely sure… but seeing that there’s nothing about what I witnessed in reality yesterday, it seems I haven’t gotten that far yet.”
“Then let’s make the coffee quickly and check.”
Watching the Dung Carrier Goblin whine like a child, Yu Tae-poong chuckled softly at him and began preparing the coffee.
Crunch! Crunch!
As Yu Tae-poong ground the beans, he spoke.
“There’s a scene you want to show me?”
“There is.”
Watching the Dung Carrier Goblin grin, Yu Tae-poong began brewing the coffee from the ground beans.

***

Oh Jang-hyuk, returning from an outside meeting at a client’s office, pulled his car to the side of the road at the sound of a text notification.
In the past, he would have checked it with one hand while continuing to drive. But since the fire incident, he’d become more careful while driving.
When a car tried to cut in front of him urgently, he would yield, thinking they must have something pressing to attend to.
Oh Jang-hyuk, having stopped the car, checked the text on his phone.
Then he tilted his head in confusion. His phone contained a remarkably long message.

「I apologize for texting you so suddenly.
I am Go Gyeong-ha’s mother. I wanted to reach out to you, Manager Oh Jang-hyuk, to express my gratitude.
My child is truly a good person. After graduating from high school, he helped me carry goods and work at my market stall.
Later, my health deteriorated and I had to stop working at the market.
While he had worked with me at the market before, he decided he would work alone now and looked into various job opportunities.
But it was difficult for my child to find employment. Each time he failed to get a job, he became discouraged and apologized to me.
He believed his failure wasn’t his fault, but rather that he was born with the same disability as his inadequate mother.
However, I learned that my child was able to find employment with your help, Manager Oh Jang-hyuk.
As a mother, I wanted to express my gratitude in person, but since I share the same disability as my child, I cannot call, so I’m sending this message of thanks instead.
Thank you so much for giving my son the opportunity to work. I am truly grateful.」

Oh Jang-hyuk’s expression went blank as he read the text message from Go Gyeong-ha’s Mother.
The reason Oh Jang-hyuk had given Go Gyeong-ha an opportunity to work wasn’t anything particularly special.
It was simply that the company wasn’t large and the position wasn’t prestigious, so he’d struck up a conversation rather than just send away someone who’d come for an interview.
Besides, there were fewer applicants than positions to fill, and when Go Gyeong-ha unexpectedly proved skilled at identifying defective products, Oh Jang-hyuk had suggested putting him to work.
But to think she would be so grateful for it… Moreover, judging from the content of the message, it seemed Go Gyeong-ha’s Mother couldn’t hear either.
Imagining how much she must have deliberated before contacting him stirred something peculiar in his chest.
Feeling somewhat awkward and embarrassed, Oh Jang-hyuk waited a moment before typing a reply on his phone.

「This is Oh Jang-hyuk.」

He’d written that much when he reconsidered, deleted everything, and started over. He’d never dealt with a situation like this before and had no sense of what the right response should be.
‘Still, I should send something. That way she’ll know the message went through and that I’ve read it.’
After a moment of deliberation, Oh Jang-hyuk began typing the message again.

「This is Oh Jang-hyuk.
Go Gyeong-ha is doing well. He’s not weak enough to warrant concern—he’s a sturdy young man.
So please don’t worry…」

“So please don’t worry…”

Pausing mid-sentence, Oh Jang-hyuk smiled and added one final line.

「When he gets off work, I think he’d be happy if you told him he did a good job today.」
Oh Jang-hyuk, who sent the text, placed his cell phone next to him and started the car.
It was somewhat corny, but Oh Jang-hyuk believed she would understand what he was trying to convey.

***

***
“why?”
I nodded as I watched Oh Jang-hyuk head to the Factory yesterday to meet Go Gyeong-ha, then let out a quiet chuckle.
“What?”
The Dung Carrier Goblin looked at me with confusion as I suddenly laughed.
Feeling his gaze, I set down my book and spoke.
“It’s just that Oh Jang-hyuk is Oh Jang-hyuk, you know?”
“What do you mean?”
“He got a text from Go Gyeong-ha’s Mother and was so moved he went there, but his actions didn’t really show him treating her well, did they?”
At my words, the Dung Carrier Goblin glanced at the book once, then smiled.
“It’s embarrassing.”
The Dung Carrier Goblin paused for a moment, then continued with a laugh.
“Goblins like us… we’re not good at suddenly being kind to someone.”
“But you’ve been kind to me.”
At my words, the Dung Carrier Goblin hesitated, then tilted his head.
“That’s true. I don’t even know why I became so close with you.”
As the Dung Carrier Goblin made a puzzled expression, I laughed and spoke.
“It’s better to become close without knowing the reason than to become close for a specific reason.”
“You’ve got a point there.”
As I continued our conversation with a smile, I looked at the book and spoke.
“But Oh Jang-hyuk asking about certifications—that’s some kind of foreshadowing, isn’t it?”
At my words, the Dung Carrier Goblin laughed.
“You caught that?”
“I had a feeling. Are you going to make him study for certifications?”
“I tried to create foreshadowing like the Bamboo Sword Goblin does and wrote it in the book, but…”
The Dung Carrier Goblin squinted his eyes.
“Isn’t it wrong to explain the foreshadowing to the readers?”
At the word “readers,” I laughed and nodded.
“That’s right. If readers know all the foreshadowing, the book loses its fun.”
I laughed and gave a thumbs up.
“You’re truly a first-class author.”
The Dung Carrier Goblin, pleased by the praise of being a first-class author, laughed heartily. Watching the Dung Carrier Goblin, who seemed quite innocent, I stretched.
“Hnngh!”
My body felt stiff from reading in the same position for so long. I got up from my seat and pulled out Cha Dol’s book.
“Want to exercise?”
“Yes.”
“You seem to be getting better at it now—is there a reason to do it while reading the book?”
At the Dung Carrier Goblin’s words, I opened the book and spoke.
“Cha Dol needs view counts so he can talk to me and teach me martial arts better.”
At my words, the Dung Carrier Goblin glanced at the book and spoke.
“Since the author Goblin has left, the protagonist has to handle the view counts alone, so it’ll take a while.”
“It’s fine since I’m doing it as a review.”
Yu Tae-poong held the book open and settled into position as he spoke.
“Besides, I’m just doing this for exercise, so there’s no rush.”
As he spoke, Yu Tae-poong slowly moved his body according to the martial arts movements in the book. Just as the Dung Carrier Goblin had said, the martial arts techniques from the book had become quite familiar to my body now.
So now I could perform them smoothly without even looking at the book. But I wasn’t doing them quickly or with much force.
Cha Dol had said that since I was still inexperienced, practicing with speed and power could actually be harmful to my body.
And even doing it slowly, I could feel my body loosening up sufficiently.
After going through Cha Dol’s martial arts techniques a few times slowly, Yu Tae-poong stopped moving. When he extended his hand, the Dung Carrier Goblin offered the cloth from his goblin club.
Yu Tae-poong wiped away the sweat on his face and neck, then handed it back.
“Your club is really nice.”
At Yu Tae-poong’s words, the Dung Carrier Goblin laughed and shook his cloth in the air a few times before tucking it into his side.
“Refreshing, isn’t it?”
“It really is. When I wipe myself with your club, it feels just like taking a shower.”
Seeing Yu Tae-poong looking refreshed, the Dung Carrier Goblin nodded.
“My goblin club keeps things very clean.”
At the Dung Carrier Goblin’s words, Yu Tae-poong nodded and placed Cha Dol’s book back on the shelf.
Then he flipped through Oh Jang-hyuk’s book and spoke.
“There’s no more content here.”
“There aren’t any special episodes yet.”
Yu Tae-poong regretfully put Oh Jang-hyuk’s book back and retrieved Lee Gang-hun’s book from the Shoe Goblin.
“Are you going to read that?”
“I was reading this book before I went to see Oh Jang-hyuk.”
“Yeah, but you stopped halfway through.”
The Dung Carrier Goblin, who had been nodding, suddenly glanced at the clock.
“But isn’t it time to leave work now?”
At the Dung Carrier Goblin’s words, Yu Tae-poong looked at the clock and laughed.
“Time really flies these days.”
“It does. When I’m hanging out with you lately, time goes by so fast for me too.”
The Dung Carrier Goblin waved his cloth in the air, and the empty chairs slid back under the desks.
“Are you heading home?”
At the Dung Carrier Goblin’s words, Yu Tae-poong shook his head.
“I’m meeting a friend today.”
“A friend?”
The Dung Carrier Goblin hesitated for a moment, then smiled and spoke.
“Have a good time.”
Yu Tae-poong, detecting a hint of loneliness in his words, looked at him and spoke.
“Would you like to come with me?”
“I’d like to go, but you’re going to see your friend. If I come along, it won’t be good. In many ways.”
Yu Tae-poong looked at the Dung Carrier Goblin hesitantly for a moment, then nodded.
“I understand.”
“Then have fun.”
“What will you do, hyung?”

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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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