Goblin Library - Chapter 44

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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 44

After parting ways with Oh Myeong-seok, Yu Tae-poong returned to the Goblin Library. Standing before the entrance, I checked the time.
“10 p.m… This is the first time I’ve come to the library at this hour.”
It was indeed my first visit to the Goblin Library at such a late hour.
After saying goodbye to Oh Myeong-seok, I had intended to head home, but curiosity about Lee Gang-hun’s story had drawn my feet toward the library instead.
“I wonder if the boss is inside?”
Wondering if the Bamboo Sword Goblin might be there, I opened the door and stepped inside.
Click!
Upon entering, I froze. The Bamboo Sword Goblin sat at a laptop, typing away in the same cotton pajamas I’d seen before.
Beside the laptop lay a bag of snacks and a bottle of soju.
The Bamboo Sword Goblin watched me enter in silence.
I offered an explanation.
“I came to read some books.”
The Bamboo Sword Goblin looked at me, then lowered his head and refocused on the laptop screen.
He picked up a spicy shrimp cracker with chopsticks and ate it.
Crunch! Crunch!
After chewing the spicy snack, the Bamboo Sword Goblin placed his fingers back on the keyboard and resumed typing.
He was using chopsticks to eat, apparently to avoid getting cracker dust on his fingers and keyboard.
‘How meticulous.’
I quietly set my bag on the counter and opened the beverage refrigerator.
While I usually brewed tea and coffee myself, the Goblin Library also stocked regular beverages and snacks.
Since I’d already had alcohol, brewing coffee seemed bothersome, and warm tea didn’t appeal to me—I wanted something cold and refreshing instead.
I retrieved a can of cool honey water and found Lee Gang-hun’s book. Taking it, I settled into a seat far away from the Bamboo Sword Goblin.
Just as I was about to sit, the Bamboo Sword Goblin spoke.
“There are only two of us here. Why keep your distance?”
At his words, I looked at him, then quietly moved to sit across from him at his table.
“I didn’t want to disturb your writing.”
“Keeping distance in the same space is more uncomfortable.”
Then the Bamboo Sword Goblin glanced at the book I was holding.
“Reading the Shoe Goblin’s work, I see.”
“Yes.”
“The Shoe Goblin favors ambitious themes.”
The Bamboo Sword Goblin paused, then reached for his soju bottle. I quietly took it and poured for him instead.
Glug!
Accepting the soju I’d poured, the Bamboo Sword Goblin continued.
“In some ways, there’s a similarity between what he likes and what I prefer.”
“Between you and the boss?”
“Those with ambition generally possess courage. And those with courage are striving to accomplish something.”
“That’s true, I suppose.”
To achieve ambition, one must take risks and emerge victorious. Thus, those plagued by fear rarely realized their ambitions.
As Yu Tae-poong nodded, the Bamboo Sword Goblin spoke.
“If you’re going to drink, then drink.”
“Should I?”
“Just don’t let a single drop fall on the books. The author would hate that.”
At the Bamboo Sword Goblin’s words, Yu Tae-poong glanced furtively at the book before shaking his head. He wanted to avoid any mistake that might incur the goblin’s resentment.
“I’ve already had quite a bit to drink.”
At Yu Tae-poong’s response, the Bamboo Sword Goblin ceased his insistence and instead turned his gaze to the laptop monitor.
Watching the Bamboo Sword Goblin, Yu Tae-poong opened a can of honey water and took a sip.
Gulp.
After drinking the cool, sweet honey water, Yu Tae-poong discreetly observed the snacks the Bamboo Sword Goblin was eating.
‘Shrimp crackers, is it? Perhaps he prefers to keep things simple?’
The Bamboo Sword Goblin surely wasn’t eating shrimp crackers with soju out of poverty.
With that thought, Yu Tae-poong shifted his attention away and opened the book.
‘Let’s see where we were.’
As he turned the pages, the section he’d been reading opened right before him. Yu Tae-poong began reading the text slowly.
Lee Gang-hun’s daily routine consisted of going to the office, leaving the office, going out on business, and meeting with buyers.
No matter how ambitious a human Lee Gang-hun was, as the Shoe Goblin observed, dramatic incidents couldn’t continuously unfold in a South Korean workplace—so his daily life was no different from that of any ordinary office worker.
Then one day….
A problem arose at the company. An issue had been discovered in a transaction with another company.
His company was conducting business with Company A, but a paper company called B was wedged in between. Company A would hand over goods to B, who would then pass them to his company, pocketing a commission in the process.
An unnecessary intermediary had emerged between Company A and his company, causing the company to suffer losses.
And it was….
‘Wait? Myeong-seok discovered this?’
It was Oh Myeong-seok who had uncovered this critical issue. Of course, Oh Myeong-seok himself didn’t realize he’d discovered something so significant.
While reviewing documents his supervisor had asked him to examine and summarize as usual, he noticed something odd.
The fax number written on an old document the supervisor had slipped in to trip him up matched the fax number of the company they were currently dealing with.
The company names were different, but the fax numbers were identical—this discrepancy struck Oh Myeong-seok as strange.
He considered asking his supervisor, but fearing he’d be scolded for making a fuss over a single fax number, he asked Lee Gang-hun instead.

***

Lee Gang-hun looked at Oh Myeong-seok with a puzzled expression as he sipped the hovenia tea the latter had brought.
『The fax number is the same?』
『Yes. The company names are different, but they share the same fax number, which seemed odd to me.』
『How did you find that out?』
『While reviewing the documents.』
As Oh Myeong-seok spoke, he showed Lee Gang-hun a photograph taken on his phone. At the sight of this, Lee Gang-hun’s eyes narrowed.
『You shouldn’t photograph company documents with your phone.』
『Ah… I apologize.』
『Don’t do it again.』
『Understood.』
After giving the warning, Lee Gang-hun examined the documents captured on the phone. Then he noticed something peculiar.
Oh Myeong-seok asked Lee Gang-hun, who had fallen into thought.
『Something seems off, doesn’t it?』
Lee Gang-hun looked at him, then shook his head.
『There’s nothing odd about it. It’s nothing.』
『Is that so?』
『Don’t go asking Manager Jung about things like this. You’ll get criticized for not knowing such basics.』
『I understand.』
As Oh Myeong-seok nodded and took back his phone, Lee Gang-hun added a remark.
『Delete the photograph.』
『Oh! Yes!』
After Oh Myeong-seok cheerfully deleted the photograph from his phone, Lee Gang-hun spoke.
『You seem to have a good memory for numbers.』
『While I don’t remember people’s names well, I’ve always had a strong memory for numbers.』
At Oh Myeong-seok’s smiling response, Lee Gang-hun nodded and spoke.
『Then take care of it.』
『Yes!』
After Oh Myeong-seok returned to his department, Lee Gang-hun took out a pen from his phone and wrote down the fax number and company name he had just seen.
‘A foreign company with numerous fax numbers… What are the odds that two different companies using the same fax number would both conduct business with our company?’
With that thought, Lee Gang-hun pulled out his phone and called a friend abroad.

***

‘Lee Gang-hun has a considerate nature.’
It was Oh Myeong-seok who discovered the irregularity, but there was nothing good about a new employee getting involved in such matters.
For office workers, the best thing is to keep the peace. If a problem surfaced, superiors could tear into everyone for not knowing about it sooner.
As a result, the person who discovered the problem could end up falling out of favor with their superiors rather than receiving credit.
So I brushed it off as nothing with Oh Myeong-seok and let it pass.
Instead, Lee Gang-hun investigated the matter separately. And he discovered that the company behind that fax number was nothing more than a shell corporation.
So he raised the issue—and then a problem arose.
The company covered it up and instead disciplined Lee Gang-hun over some trivial pretext.
Faced with this absurd situation, Lee Gang-hun wasn’t angry—he was devastated.
He had devoted his youth to this company, even if not his entire life—and what came back wasn’t a reward but an unjust disciplinary action.
And so….
‘He’s planning to leave the company.’
Lee Gang-hun was an ambitious man. But now that he realized the mountain he’d been climbing was nothing but a garbage heap, he decided to descend.
Understanding how things had unfolded, Yu Tae-poong turned the page.

***

Lee Gang-hun was drinking soju at a small pojangmacha. As he took a sip of soju and bit into some spicy chicken feet, a middle-aged man sat down across from him.
‘Why is someone working at a large corporation acting so shabby in a place like this?’
At the middle-aged man’s words, Lee Gang-hun laughed and looked at him.
‘For an office worker, this is quite respectable.’
‘Come on! You asked to meet after so long, so I thought we’d have a nice drink at a nice place. You didn’t bring a corporate card?’
At the grumbling middle-aged man’s words, Lee Gang-hun spoke soothingly.
‘I’ll be paying with my own card instead of a corporate card, so please enjoy the quantity over quality.’
At Lee Gang-hun’s words, the middle-aged man chuckled and raised his hand to the pojangmacha owner.
‘One bowl of fish cake udon, please.’
Lee Gang-hun picked up the soju bottle and filled the man’s glass.
‘But… you’re planning to leave the company?’
Seeing that the middle-aged man knew about his situation, Lee Gang-hun laughed.
‘Manager Park, who exactly is your source?’
‘If I reveal my sources, I won’t hear any more information.’
‘Wow! That’s impressive. It’s been five years since you left the company, yet you still have all your informants.’
‘And you’re the one meeting with someone who left five years ago.’
Manager Park laughed, raised his glass, and clinked it lightly against Lee Gang-hun’s before speaking.
‘What’s going on? You were the one who said you’d stick it out even when I asked you to leave with me.’
At Manager Park’s words, Lee Gang-hun drank his soju and told him what had happened.
After hearing the story, Manager Park squinted his eyes.
‘So you touched that….’
Lee Gang-hun looked at Manager Park with confusion.
‘You knew about it?’
Manager Park chuckled and spoke.
『I’d heard the rumors, so I already knew roughly what was going on.』
『Rumors?』
Lee Gang-hun asked, and Manager Park answered.
『Even if that company seems to operate haphazardly, if you could uncover misconduct of that scale, someone else would have found it already.』
『That’s… true.』
It had required many phone calls and favors, but it wasn’t something I’d discovered through extraordinary effort.
The beginning was coincidence, but finding it was possible with diligence.
As Lee Gang-hun nodded, Manager Park continued.
『Then why hasn’t it become a problem? It was circulating as rumors even when I was there.』
『Director Kim?』
When I brought up Director Kim—the one who was making me look bad—and mentioned his name, Manager Park shook his head.
『Higher up than that.』
『Higher? You don’t mean the Company President?』
『Exactly. The management is handled by Director Kim as you’d expect, but that money isn’t his. It’s the Company President’s slush fund.』
『A slush fund.』
『Of course, Director Kim probably takes his cut along the way, but most of it goes back as the Company President’s slush fund.』
Manager Park drank his soju and laughed.
『Of course, there’s no evidence.』
『I see.』
Watching Lee Gang-hun answer in a deflated voice, Manager Park asked.
『So what are you planning to do after leaving the company?』
『I’m thinking of opening a small office like you did.』
『An office, huh….』
Lee Gang-hun poured soju into Manager Park’s empty glass and spoke.
『That’s why I wanted to meet you and get some advice.』
Manager Park, who had been staring at Lee Gang-hun intently, finally opened his mouth.
『The advice I can give you is… to hang in there a bit longer.』
『Pardon?』
At Lee Gang-hun’s gaze, Manager Park smiled bitterly and drank his soju.
『I thought I knew what would happen if I left too. I had business connections, good business ideas, foreign business friends who owed me favors….』
Manager Park shook his head and continued.
『But all those connections and ideas only worked because I had the company backing me.』
Manager Park sighed and looked at Lee Gang-hun.
『Even when they push you around, don’t give you work, and disrespect you… if you have a desk, you can endure and stay.』
And he added one more thing.
『All I do now is sigh every time payday comes around for the employees.』

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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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