Goblin Library - Chapter 5

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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 5

“Have you read any books?”
Yu Tae-poong, who had been dusting the shelves, lowered his hands and replied.
“I read a book about someone named Cha Im-beom, written by Pot Goblin.”
“Did you find it entertaining?”
“It was quite enjoyable.”
The Goblin’s eyes narrowed as if something displeased him, and without another word, he turned away.
Seeing this, Yu Tae-poong hastily spoke up.
“Pot Goblin told me about the books here in this collection.”
At Yu Tae-poong’s words, the Goblin turned back to face him.
“….”
Yu Tae-poong spoke to the Goblin, who regarded him silently.
“She said they’re stories about people.”
The Goblin detected an undercurrent of discomfort in Yu Tae-poong’s voice. After holding his gaze for a moment, he nodded.
“That’s right. We goblins love entertaining things, and above all else, we love stories about people.”
With that, the Goblin plopped himself down on the table beside the shelves.
The Goblin looked at Yu Tae-poong and asked.
“You’ve heard gossip before, haven’t you?”
“Gossip?”
“Yeah. Like how someone’s dating someone else, or how two people got into a fight, or what happened at someone’s house. That kind of gossip.”
Of course he had. Yu Tae-poong nodded, and the Goblin continued.
“What do you think of such stories? Are they entertaining? Or boring?”
Yu Tae-poong tilted his head uncertainly.
“Is that sort of thing entertaining?”
The Goblin laughed at Yu Tae-poong’s response.
“If there were no entertainment value, would people spread gossip so readily?”
“That’s because… people who like to talk about others….”
The Goblin shook his head.
“That’s not it. You need two hands clapping to make a sound. Even unpleasant stories spread because those who hear them find them captivating.”
The Goblin continued, looking at Yu Tae-poong.
“Tragic tales, infuriating ones, stories that exhaust you just by listening—human stories all possess a certain charm. That’s why we goblins collect them.”
“You enjoy collecting such stories?”
Yu Tae-poong asked, wondering what pleasure could possibly come from gathering such tales. The Goblin nodded firmly.
“Absolutely. Just watch morning dramas—they’re full of infidelity and best friends stabbing each other in the back. People complain and rage, yet the ratings soar. Sad stories are no different. I’m sure you’ve watched a drama or two that had you weeping.”
Yu Tae-poong hesitated before nodding. The Goblin was right.
Though he lacked the time to watch morning dramas himself, he knew that people his parents’ age cursed at them while faithfully watching every episode.
As for sad dramas… Yu Tae-poong had certainly watched several that left him in tears.
Though people don’t necessarily find joy watching these two genres, they consume them in abundance.
They derive entertainment from them in a way that’s different from finding something amusing or enjoyable.
The Goblin noticed Cha Im-beom’s book resting on the table.
“Recording the deeds of real people and turning them into books might feel uncomfortable to you, being human yourself. It’s like peeking into someone else’s life, after all.”
“Yes… that’s true.”
The Goblin shook his head at my response.
“Enjoying the act of peeking into others’ lives isn’t something only we goblins do. You humans are the same way.”
“Us humans?”
The Goblin nodded at my question. Then he pulled out his smartphone, tapped the screen a few times, and placed it beside Cha Im-beom’s book.
The Goblin hopped down from the table with a soft thud.
“I’m getting ready. Let me change clothes and we’ll grab a meal together.”
The Goblin turned and walked toward one end of the Goblin Library. Watching him go, I quietly shifted my gaze to the smartphone he’d left behind.
As if he wanted me to see, the phone’s screen displayed an internet search portal.
Without needing to search, the site’s main page displayed numerous news article headlines.
The fields covered varied—entertainment, politics, economics, and more. Reading through the headlines one by one, I murmured to myself.
“Peeking into others’ lives isn’t something only goblins do….”
Recalling the Goblin’s words, I let out a small sigh.
When I thought about it, the Goblin’s book and the news were no different in that they both dealt with people’s stories. Of course, the Goblin’s book was far more detailed.
As I was comparing the Goblin’s book and the news, I heard a voice.
“Let’s go.”
I turned toward the direction of the voice. The Goblin was wearing a baseball cap and athletic wear.
And the cap and athletic wear had enormous luxury brand logos plastered across them.
‘How tacky.’
I couldn’t understand why one would put such large designer logos on clothing.
Indifferent to my gaze, the Goblin grabbed his smartphone and pointed at the book.
“Put the book away.”
“Understood.”
After I quickly returned the book to its proper place, the Goblin spoke.
“We’re having a meal together—what kind of food do you like?”
I looked at him with confusion.
“You’re really going to have a meal with me?”
Though the Goblin had said so earlier, I’d assumed it was merely a polite gesture. I never expected he’d actually want to dine with me.
“When new people join a workplace, humans always have a meal together, don’t they? This is your workplace too, so we should do what’s proper.”
Then the Goblin asked me again.
“So what do you like?”
I looked at him with bewildered eyes for a moment before answering hastily.
“I’m fine with anything.”
“Anything, huh? Then let’s go.”
The Goblin took the lead, and I followed behind him.
Then something suddenly occurred to me, and I spoke up.
“I heard your name from Pot Goblin.”
The Goblin turned to look at me upon hearing my words, then nodded.
“I suppose I never introduced myself.”
The Goblin extended his hand.
“I am Bamboo Sword Goblin. My name comes from the very bamboo sword where I was born.”
“As you may know, I’m Yu Tae-poong.”
I grasped his hand and shook it lightly before asking somewhat hesitantly.
“Do you have company dinners often?”
Bamboo Sword Goblin shook his head at my question.
“Not particularly often… but whenever a human employee joins, we do.”
“Has there been someone else working here besides me?”
Bamboo Sword Goblin nodded when I asked with evident curiosity.
“There was one.”
“What mistake did she make to end up working here?”
Bamboo Sword Goblin fell silent for a moment. His gaze fixed upon the bowler hat I wore, his eyes growing distant and contemplative.
After a pause, Bamboo Sword Goblin shook his head.
“She made no mistake. She was simply too kind, too conscientious… and that is why she came to work here.”
There was something poignant in his words, and I regarded him silently.
After a brief silence, Bamboo Sword Goblin spoke again.
“She was a gambling debt.”
“A gambling debt?”
“Her father wagered his daughter against me in a game. That is how I came to own her.”
“He gambled with a person as collateral?”
I looked at him in shock, and Bamboo Sword Goblin nodded before moving forward.
“That father was a wretched man. To him, I was misfortune; to her siblings, I was salvation.”
I tilted my head at his words. It was easy enough to understand how a goblin would bring misfortune to a gambling man.
Entangled with a goblin through gambling, he would have known nothing but ruin.
But salvation to her siblings? That part eluded me.
As I pondered this, Bamboo Sword Goblin opened the library door and stepped outside, continuing his tale.
“Despite being sold as a gambling debt, she remained bright and diligent. Her father, however, continued gambling and even wagered her siblings as collateral.”
“How could a father do such a thing…?”
It was incomprehensible—not satisfied with losing one child, he gambled away the others as well.
Burning with indignation, I followed Bamboo Sword Goblin out of the library, and the door closed of its own accord.
“Sometimes family causes more suffering than strangers ever could.”
Bamboo Sword Goblin continued as we walked.
“He called it collateral, but it was no different from selling his children. Even when he earned money, he never thought to reclaim them—he simply gambled again…”
I grimaced in agreement, and Bamboo Sword Goblin went on.
“She asked me to save her siblings, and I granted her wish.”
“That’s a relief.”
I exhaled in relief, grateful that the family scattered as collateral for the Gambling Father’s debts had been reunited.
Tae-poong watched Bamboo Sword Goblin.
“Then what became of that father?”
“A man who gambles away even his own children cannot expect a good end. And… he shouldn’t expect one either.”
Tae-poong nodded at Bamboo Sword Goblin’s cold words.
“That’s right. It shouldn’t be good.”
As Tae-poong spoke, curiosity suddenly seized him and he asked.
“Do you write books too, boss?”
“I write them as well.”
Bamboo Sword Goblin answered as if it were nothing, then glanced at Tae-poong.
“They’re rather entertaining, so if you’d like to see them, you can pull out the books from the first visible shelf at the counter, around this height.”
Tae-poong nodded as Bamboo Sword Goblin pointed to a spot at eye level.
‘So he’s displayed his own books in the most visible spot from the entrance.’
Now that I thought about it, Bamboo Sword Goblin had also told me to look at books from the nearby shelves earlier.
‘Does he want me to read his books?’
I was chuckling to myself at the thought of what Bamboo Sword Goblin had said about going to work, when he opened a shabby-looking shop door.
It was very close—just about a minute’s walk from the Goblin Library.
Tae-poong looked up and read the shop’s sign.

「Jeonjujeon」

‘Jeonjujeon? A pancake shop?’
Catching the savory aroma of oil and the scent of fried food from outside the shop, Tae-poong followed Bamboo Sword Goblin inside.
“Welcome.”
Grandmother greeted Bamboo Sword Goblin warmly, bowing her head, but when she saw Tae-poong, she tilted her head in confusion.
“And who might this be…?”
“An employee who’ll be working with me from now on.”
Bamboo Sword Goblin answered thus and, as she headed inside, turned back to Grandmother and added one more thing.
“A human.”
“Oh!”
Grandmother looked at Tae-poong with surprised eyes. Then, her expression grew worried as she spoke.
“Is there any food you like?”
“I eat anything well.”
“But surely there’s something you’d like to eat?”
At Grandmother’s warm, rural voice, Tae-poong looked around the shop and said.
“I like pumpkin pancakes.”
“If you called it pumpkin pancakes at a pancake shop, then other things are fine too.”
“No. I like pumpkin pancakes. A bit crispy, please.”
Grandmother smiled at Tae-poong’s words.
“Understood.”
As Grandmother smiled and went inside, Tae-poong walked over to where Bamboo Sword Goblin was already seated and sat down.
Bamboo Sword Goblin, familiar with this place, had already brought out makgeolli and cups, setting them down.
Pop!
Bamboo Sword Goblin opened the makgeolli bottle and poured the rice wine into a brass bowl. Then, offering it to Tae-poong, he carefully accepted it with both hands and held it out in return.
After setting down the bowl filled with makgeolli, Tae-poong glanced toward Grandmother, who was quietly preparing food in the kitchen, and asked.
“Do you know anything about the boss?”
Earlier, when Bamboo Sword Goblin had called him human, Grandmother had gasped in surprise.
Seeing that reaction, it seemed Grandmother knew something about Bamboo Sword Goblin, so I wanted to confirm it.
“She’s the descendant of the woman I mentioned.”
“Ah! The one who worked at the Goblin Library?”
“That’s right.”
In that moment, an unsettling thought crossed Tae-poong’s mind.
“Don’t tell me… she’s been working as collateral for generations?”
Tae-poong asked in alarm, and Bamboo Sword Goblin shook his head.
“No. She did come as gambling collateral, but over ten years she worked and repaid the debt she had taken on entirely by herself.”
“By herself?”
Tae-poong asked, bewildered, and Bamboo Sword Goblin looked at him as if to say, what’s strange about that?
“It’s only natural that those who work receive wages. She may have come as collateral, but she worked, and therefore I naturally paid her wages.”
Tae-poong felt somewhat reassured.
At the Goblin Library, at least there would be no risk of wages being withheld.
‘If you work, you naturally get paid. That’s better than most people.’
It was far superior to employers who cheated students out of their part-time wages, or bosses who delayed paychecks indefinitely, asking employees to be patient because the company was struggling.

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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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