Goblin Library - Chapter 50

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Chapter 50

The Dung Carrier Goblin’s expression grew serious, worry etched across his face that his originality as a writer might fade. Observing him, Yu Tae-poong paused to gather his thoughts before speaking.
“People… well, Goblins each have their own tastes, don’t they?”
“True. We Goblins tend to have quite definite preferences.”
“And your taste is for people who live earnestly for those they cherish and love, without worrying about others’ judgment, right?”
“That’s right.”
“And you hope readers won’t just look at the outward appearance of such people, but see the purity and goodness within them. You want them to find enjoyment in that aspect.”
“That’s also true.”
Yu Tae-poong nodded at the Dung Carrier Goblin’s words.
“I understand you’re worried your nature as a writer might change, but you’re still you—the Dung Carrier Goblin. You’re still the one who likes people who appear crude and disrespectful on the surface, yet harbor warmth within.”
“You’re saying I haven’t changed?”
“You still like people like Oh Jang-hyuk, don’t you?”
“That’s true.”
“So you haven’t changed.”
“Then why does it bother me what Oh Jang-hyuk does to Go Gyeong-ha?”
Yu Tae-poong smiled and replied to the Dung Carrier Goblin’s question.
“Isn’t it natural that you’re not a twisted person… well, Goblin?”
“Natural?”
“Do you feel good when you see someone littering?”
“Of course not.”
“What about someone cursing at the elderly or infirm?”
“That doesn’t feel good either.”
“It’s the same way—even if someone is young, they’re still an adult. When they tap you on the shoulder and speak to you in casual speech, it makes you uncomfortable. That’s only natural.”
“Is… is that so?”
Watching the Dung Carrier Goblin tilt his head in confusion, Yu Tae-poong continued.
“Have you ever had this kind of conversation with anyone besides me?”
“Hmm… no.”
The Dung Carrier Goblin is a loner. He has no close Goblin friends, no Goblins he associates with closely.
There are Goblins who once suggested they share books and read them together, but they dislike each other and have no real connection.
They’re simply lonely Goblins without close friends, so they created something like a book club just to read together.
But it’s all talk—they don’t actually read each other’s books.
Because of this, he’d never had such conversations with other Goblins.
“That’s why you probably didn’t understand these things until now.”
“Is that so?”
“Of course. And if someone saw Oh Jang-hyuk and thought he was rude, you would have responded the way you did to me before—’Look at this book I wrote!’—wouldn’t you?”
“Ah… that’s right, I did do that.”
As the Dung Carrier Goblin nodded, recalling that time, Yu Tae-poong spoke.
“I like what I like, but I also think inconvenient things are inconvenient. Don’t you feel the same way, hyung?”
“Ah… I see.”
The Dung Carrier Goblin nodded with a knowing smile and let out a sigh.
“That’s a relief.”
“Were you worried about losing your individuality as a writer?”
At Yu Tae-poong’s words, the Dung Carrier Goblin smiled back and nodded.
“I’m the Dung Carrier Goblin, after all. I need to have an individuality that suits me. I was wondering if something about me was wrong.”
Yu Tae-poong took a sip of chrysanthemum tea and spoke.
“What I like is seeing you work hard for the people you love and your family, even if you’re rough around the edges. I don’t like rudeness itself, you know.”
“Exactly!”
Watching the Dung Carrier Goblin nod repeatedly, clearly pleased with the explanation, Yu Tae-poong continued.
“Anyway, I really liked this episode. Even though Oh Jang-hyuk’s treatment of Go Gyeong-ha bothers me a bit, you can see he’s thinking of him. Who spends this much time and money on someone else’s problems these days?”
“Right, right. Usually people just nag about getting a certificate, but they don’t actually move to help like this.”
“Exactly. They just say things like ‘What are you doing living like this?’ but they don’t actually provide any real help.”
Pleased by Yu Tae-poong’s words, the Dung Carrier Goblin picked up the Oh Jang-hyuk book and began reading.
Watching the Dung Carrier Goblin’s face fill with a satisfied smile, Yu Tae-poong smiled and began preparing to leave work.

***

After leaving the company, Lee Gang-hun headed straight to Il-un Trading Company, which was run by Manager Park and Park Young-il.
Il-un Trading Company was located on the second floor of a small building on the Seoul Outskirts.
Despite being a three-story building with no elevator, Lee Gang-hun climbed the stairs and saw Oh Myeong-seok.
‘Are you nervous?’
‘Pardon?’
‘You seem pretty nervous.’
At Lee Gang-hun’s words, Oh Myeong-seok quickly shook his head.
‘No, sir. It’s not nervousness—it’s more like anticipation.’
‘Anticipation… Hah! Once we go into the office, that anticipation will crumble, and you’ll probably be disappointed by how small it is.’
‘If it’s small, we can grow it.’
‘That’s good confidence.’
Lee Gang-hun spoke as they reached the second floor.
‘Il-un Trading Company is run by Manager Park, or rather President Park Young-il, who used to be my boss. Including the president, there are five employees, and with you and me coming in, that makes seven.’
Lee Gang-hun turned to look at Oh Myeong-seok.
‘Everyone there has more experience than you and they’re all seniors, so greet them respectfully.’
‘Understood.’
‘And though it shouldn’t happen, since it’s just the two of us coming in, you might be seen as outsiders. If you experience any hazing or territorial behavior, tell me separately. I’m not asking you to tattle—it’s just that if we’re going to work together going forward, we need to help each other, and that kind of hazing makes it hard to work. So I’ll manage it.’
‘Understood. I’ll trust and follow only you, sir.’
At Oh Myeong-seok’s response, Lee Gang-hun nodded and led him toward one side of the second floor.

「Il-un Trading Company」

Lee Gang-hun knocked lightly on the door bearing the Il-un Trading Company nameplate, then pushed it open.
『Good afternoon, everyone.』
At Lee Gang-hun’s greeting, the people in the office rose one by one and bowed their heads.
『Welcome.』
Along with their greetings, Manager Park and Park Young-il approached with outstretched hands.
『Congratulations on your official start of work… or should I say that?』
As Park Young-il trailed off uncertainly, Lee Gang-hun grasped his hand and shook it.
『Of course we should congratulate him. It’s a fresh beginning.』
『Right, let’s congratulate him. But who’s this fellow?』
When Park Young-il asked while looking at Oh Myeong-seok, Lee Gang-hun smiled and replied.
『He submitted his resignation to follow me here.』
『Hmm, he doesn’t seem to be one of those three friends you mentioned.』
Park Young-il already knew that all three people Lee Gang-hun had said he’d bring had declined.
『He’s a different friend.』
『I see… Looking at his age, he’s a newcomer?』
『Yes, that’s right. Still, he’s learned the basics at a company, so with a bit more training, he should be able to contribute fully.』
At Lee Gang-hun’s words, Park Young-il shook his head.
『No, actually this works out well. When someone leaves after spending a long time at a large corporation, it’s not easy to adapt to a small company like this. A newcomer is better—he can learn everything from scratch here, which will actually make adaptation easier.』
Then Park Young-il extended his hand to Oh Myeong-seok.
『Nice to meet you. I’m Park Young-il, representative of Il-un Trading Company.』
『Hello. I’m Oh Myeong-seok. I’ll do my best and work hard.』
As Oh Myeong-seok bowed deeply in greeting, Park Young-il laughed.
『Just from the way you greet, you seem sharp. You brought a good one.』
At Park Young-il’s words and laughter, Lee Gang-hun nodded in agreement.
『I think I did bring a good one.』
Lee Gang-hun hadn’t brought Oh Myeong-seok thoughtlessly. If he had judged Oh Myeong-seok to be useless, even after the resignation was submitted, Lee Gang-hun would have knelt and apologized to convince him to return to the company and come alone instead.
But from what Lee Gang-hun could see, Oh Myeong-seok seemed fully capable of pulling his own weight, which is why he came along.
After all, Oh Myeong-seok was quite intelligent—sharp enough to discover that the paper company’s fax number overlapped with another.
Park Young-il held out the shopping bag in his hand.
『First, these are your business cards.』
Lee Gang-hun took out the box of business cards from inside the shopping bag and opened it.
Seeing his new business cards, Lee Gang-hun smiled.
『General Director… I see.』
『Just “Director” seemed insufficient, so I added “General” to it.』
Lee Gang-hun nodded at Park Young-il’s explanation and took out several business cards to distribute to Oh Myeong-seok and the other employees.
『Then should we start Myeong-seok as a Deputy Manager?』
『What? Deputy Manager?』
As Oh Myeong-seok looked surprised at the word “Deputy Manager,” Lee Gang-hun spoke.
“When meeting with buyers, a business card with a title carries more weight than one from a regular employee. That’s why we’re adding a position.”
Lee Gang-hun then looked at Oh Myeong-seok.
“Once you’re a bit older, I’ll give you a manager’s card, but you still look young, so we’ll go with deputy manager for now.”
“Is there no additional benefit then?”
“Your parents will be thrilled when you bring home a deputy manager’s card.”
Lee Gang-hun then looked at Park Young-il.
“Will there be a desk for him?”
“We can make space if needed. Kang Woo, assemble another desk.”
At Park Young-il’s words, a man stood up and brought a box from the side.
He then opened the box and asked Park Young-il a question.
“Where should I set it up?”
“Install it next to the chief here.”
Park Young-il, who abbreviated “Chief Executive Director” as “chief,” looked at Oh Myeong-seok.
“Do you have a laptop? Ah, and feel free to speak casually—we’ll be working together from now on.”
“That’s fine. And yes, I have a laptop.”
“Then once the desk is ready, you can work there. Chief, let’s talk for a moment.”
Park Young-il opened the door and stepped out, with Lee Gang-hun following behind him.
Once Lee Gang-hun emerged, Park Young-il walked with him toward the end of the corridor and spoke.
“Is the guy who came with you reliable?”
Since Oh Myeong-seok was present, he couldn’t ask there, so he asked separately outside.
“He’s reliable.”
“Will he pull his weight right away?”
“That will be difficult.”
Lee Gang-hun continued with a smile.
“What we learned at the company was ultimately how things work at large corporations, so we’ll need to relearn the rules here first. And that applies to me as well.”
“He seems sharp enough, though.”
“He’s overqualified for this company.”
With credentials strong enough to land a job at a large corporation, he was indeed overqualified for a small operation like this.
“Well… I suppose that’s fair to admit.”
Park Young-il then asked.
“So what’s the first item you’re thinking of?”
“I’ve given it some thought… I’m considering cutting boards.”
“Cutting boards?”
“You know the term ‘equipment fever,’ right?”
“Equipment fever?”
“Abroad, whether people go hiking or jogging, they start light. But Korea is different. When people think about starting a hobby like hiking, jogging, or soccer, they first buy equipment—and they buy the very best kind.”
Park Young-il nodded. There were many such people in his circle.
“There’s even a story about a famous foreign mountaineer who came to Korea and went hiking on a mountain, only to be amazed that the equipment the hikers had was good enough to climb Mount Everest.”
“I’ve heard that story.”
Seeing that Park Young-il understood, Lee Gang-hun continued.
“Koreans these days are quite captivated by mukbang and cooking shows. And as a result, they’ve started cooking more frequently themselves.”
“So that’s why cutting boards? You want to import quality cutting boards and sell them to people who are passionate about kitchen equipment?”
Park Young-il grasped the item immediately upon hearing Lee Gang-hun’s explanation, and Lee Gang-hun nodded in response.
“Exactly.”
“If you’re selling to equipment enthusiasts, the product needs to be high quality, which means the price will be steep…”
“Forty.”
“Forty for a single cutting board?”
Lee Gang-hun spoke as he watched Park Young-il’s eyes widen in surprise.
“They’re handcrafted one by one by master woodworkers in Europe, so the price is premium.”
“Isn’t that overreaching? You can buy a plastic one for five thousand won at any supermarket. Isn’t that price too steep? And… well… do you even have the capital to purchase that much inventory?”
As Park Young-il trailed off, Lee Gang-hun nodded.
“Please allocate fifty million won from my investment for inventory. I guarantee a minimum profit of twenty million won.”
“Twenty million won, you say…”
A fifty million won investment yielding twenty million won in profit wasn’t bad. A large corporation wouldn’t pursue such ventures, but for Park Young-il’s company, this was an excellent opportunity.
“Will a high-end product like that actually sell?”
“If the product is excellent and has a compelling story, it’s entirely possible.”
“A story?”
Park Young-il looked at him with a puzzled expression, and Lee Gang-hun nodded.
“With the right narrative attached, it’s absolutely feasible.”

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————