Goblin Library - Chapter 51

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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 51

Park Young-il squinted at Lee Gang-hun’s words.
“Explain it so I can understand.”
“It’s a company in Europe that makes cutting boards. For every board they produce, they plant ten trees.”
“So they plant new trees to match the wood they use? That’s environmentally friendly. You’re going to build a story around that?”
“We’ll need to adapt it somewhat, but people generally love stories like this.”
“Hmm… To spread the story, we’d need to advertise, but we don’t have a marketing budget.”
Lee Gang-hun nodded at Park Young-il’s concerned remark.
“Don’t worry about that. I know a chef who can help.”
“A chef?”
“He’s the chef at a restaurant I used to frequent when entertaining buyers. He knew I traveled abroad often and had many business contacts, so he asked me for various favors.”
The chef had learned that Lee Gang-hun traveled internationally frequently and had numerous business connections, so he’d made several requests over time.
Among them were requests to purchase kitchen items like cutting boards and kitchen knives, as well as spices that were difficult to buy in small quantities.
Since these were relatively simple tasks requiring only a few phone calls, Lee Gang-hun had readily fulfilled his requests. The cutting board he’d now thought of as a business venture was actually one of the items he’d purchased for the chef back then.
“How are you planning to promote it through a chef?”
“He’s recently become a food YouTuber.”
“You’re going to promote it through YouTube videos?”
“I’ve already asked him. He’ll broadcast it tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow? We haven’t even placed an order for the products yet.”
“I’ve already pre-ordered twenty units and sent them to him.”
“Already?”
“If you don’t approve, I’ll handle these twenty units as my own personal business venture.”
After hearing Lee Gang-hun’s words, Park Young-il looked at him and spoke.
“Since you came in with investment capital anyway… it’s not really a problem, but… alright. Let’s see if those twenty units sell, then we’ll push the business forward.”
“And I have several other business ideas prepared.”
“There are more?”
“We can’t keep chasing a twenty million won profit target. When I was at the company, there were items with guaranteed profit margins, but I abandoned them because the scale was too small.”
“If the profit margins are guaranteed, wouldn’t other companies already be doing it?”
“I’ve already verified that.”
Park Young-il smiled at Lee Gang-hun’s answer.
“With you here, we’re guaranteed work for several months.”
“That’s one of the perks of experienced hires.”
“Okay. Let’s discuss the detailed business plans in a meeting and decide then.”
Park Young-il then turned to leave for the office but stopped and looked back at Lee Gang-hun.
“Oh! And be careful about people.”
“Pardon?”
Park Young-il explained to Lee Gang-hun, who looked at him with confusion.
“People who matter already know you’ve left the Company. You’ll be hearing from someone soon enough—they’ll say they have a good opportunity for you.”
“There will be people who want to work with me, I suppose.”
Lee Gang-hun’s competence was common knowledge among anyone who’d dealt with him.
“That’s true, but… how do I put this…”
Park Young-il paused to find the right words, then nodded.
“They’ll try to squeeze you.”
“Me?”
“Whether it’s margins or capital, there will be people coming at you trying to skim something off the top. Watch out for those types.”
“Why do you think that?”
“Because I’ve dealt with them myself. When you leave a company, you’re desperate for work, anxious… and there are people who exploit that. They offer you a small margin and pile on the labor—work that exhausts you but doesn’t pay. Plain and simple.”
Lee Gang-hun looked at Park Young-il and spoke.
“You’ve been through a lot.”
“It was rough. And what frustrated me most was that I had to accept even those kinds of jobs just to keep the Company running.”
“Is that so?”
“You need work to give your employees something to do.”
Park Young-il smacked his lips as he spoke.
“At least I haven’t been outright scammed—that’s how I’ve managed to survive. Oh, but you have to watch out for fraud too.”
Park Young-il resumed walking, and Lee Gang-hun followed him toward the Office.
Inside the Office, Lee Gang-hun noticed a modular desk had been set up beside his own.
Oh Myeong-seok was setting up a laptop on it.
“Alright, let’s get to work.”
Lee Gang-hun began unpacking items from the box containing his belongings and organizing his desk.

***

Yu Tae-poong glanced up as he watched Lee Gang-hun beginning anew.
Reading a single brief line about Oh Myeong-seok setting up his laptop, Yu Tae-poong murmured to himself.
“It’ll be tough, but Lee Gang-hun won’t let the paychecks fall behind. Work hard.”
Having wished his friend well for the future, Yu Tae-poong closed the book.
“Ugh!”
Twisting his body as he shelved the book, Yu Tae-poong retrieved Cha Dol’s book and opened it.
As Yu Tae-poong slowly practiced the martial techniques while reading intermittently, characters appeared just as he was about to close the book.
「Wait a moment.」
Following that, the illustration of Cha Dol performing the martial techniques began to move.
「The view count has accumulated quite a bit now.」
“Already?”
「You’ve been reading it three times a day consistently. That’s more than enough.」
The illustration then moved its body back and forth as if stretching, then spoke.
「I’ve been watching you train all this time, and you can follow the basic movements reasonably well.」
“Reasonably? I thought I was doing pretty well? These days I don’t get stuck, and I can follow along perfectly on the first try.”
Yu Tae-poong was deliberately reading the book to generate view counts, but he was confident he could perform the martial techniques in sequence with his eyes closed.
「If you’re only mimicking the form, then yes. But while moving, you also need to control the intensity of your strength—and that’s where you still have much to improve.」
“Well… I suppose that’s true.”
Since the illustration didn’t indicate how much force to apply or release depending on posture, Yu Tae-poong had no way of knowing.
「So this time, I’ll mark on the illustration how much strength each movement requires. Long lines indicate movements where you should apply strong force, and short thick lines mean you should apply force sharply—like ‘pa’—then cut it off. Thin lines mean to move lightly. I’ll add both my movements and the lines as I go, so watch carefully.」
As he spoke, Cha Dol moved. And as he moved, lines appeared on his body.
「Ha!」
「Hup!」
「Haaaa.」
Yu Tae-poong watched as even the strong exhalations and inhalations of breath were recorded this way.
「Most of the movements I’m showing you, you can already do. The difference is just in breathing and the intensity of your strength.」
“I…”
As Yu Tae-poong tried to say something, Cha Dol quickly wrote.
「Questions later… the view count is being consumed now.」
At that, Yu Tae-poong quickly closed his mouth. But instead of continuing his explanation, Cha Dol seemed to ponder something for a moment, then looked at Yu Tae-poong and asked.
「So what were you going to say?」
Though he’d told him to ask later, Cha Dol apparently couldn’t wait until then and was curious what Yu Tae-poong wanted to ask.
“Just with the training method I’m doing now, my health will be maintained, right? There won’t be any side effects like you mentioned before?”
「As long as you don’t deliberately do it wrong or reverse your breathing from what I’ve shown you, there’s no problem. And if you ever go down the wrong path during your training, even if the view count runs low, I can write a few characters to correct you immediately. You don’t need to worry about that.」
“Thank you.”
Then Yu Tae-poong asked hesitantly.
“But when you were alive, Cha Dol…”
「Call me hyung. If I were still alive, there wouldn’t be much age difference between us.」
“Then how strong were you when you were alive, hyung?”
「Strong, you say… Among the martial artists I’ve fought, I could handle all but two.」
“Two people? Who were they?”
「One was the commander of the subjugation force sent to capture me back then, and the other was a monk I met at Geumgang Mountain.」
“Either way, you must have been incredibly strong.”
「At the very least, I lived up to my name. Solid through and through.」
Cha Dol paused for a moment before continuing.
「But is it alright to ask about such things instead of training? Aren’t you wasting view count?」
“I’m learning your martial arts for health purposes, so this is more than enough. Besides, I’m curious about many things regarding you.”
At Yu Tae-poong’s response, Cha Dol spoke.
「For health purposes, then… Well, even just this much would make you healthier than necessary. Let’s end our conversation here.」
“You’re leaving?”
「I need to conserve view count. If you run into problems during your training later, feel free to ask then. Or if you truly wish to have a conversation with me, you can reach out first. Then.」
With that message, the figure in the book stopped moving. Having concluded his conversation with Cha Dol, Yu Tae-poong adjusted his posture as he studied the newly drawn illustrations and lines in the book.
As he moved according to the breathing techniques and force patterns depicted in the illustration, warmth gradually began spreading through his body.
While slowly moving his body in this manner, Yu Tae-poong’s eyes caught the door opening.
Click!
The one who entered through the opened door was the Dung Carrier Goblin.
“Welcome.”
Stopping his movements and offering a greeting, the Dung Carrier Goblin waved his hand.
“If you’re training, finish what you were doing.”
At the Dung Carrier Goblin’s words, Yu Tae-poong nodded. He needed to concentrate anyway since he was still learning something new.
Watching Yu Tae-poong train, the Dung Carrier Goblin retrieved a can of orange juice from the beverage refrigerator.
He then brought over a chair, placed it near Yu Tae-poong, and sat down while speaking.
“Looks like Cha Dol talked to you.”
“How did you know?”
As Yu Tae-poong asked while moving his body, the Dung Carrier Goblin spoke.
“Don’t answer—just focus on your movements.”
He then opened the can, took a sip, and answered the question Yu Tae-poong had asked.
“I could see your energy stirring bit by bit, so I figured Cha Dol was teaching you something new.”
At the Dung Carrier Goblin’s words, Yu Tae-poong stopped his movements and looked at him.
“Energy?”
“Don’t stop training. Keep going.”
“I just heard the word energy, but how am I supposed to continue? Do I even have energy?”
At Yu Tae-poong’s surprised question, the Dung Carrier Goblin laughed and spoke.
“Is there any existence without energy? Humans have it, animals have it, plants have it, and even things like minerals have it.”
The Dung Carrier Goblin snapped his fingers.
Snap!
“We Spirit Servants, like goblins, could be said to be collections of energy, in a sense.”
“Wow… So I was moving energy just now?”
“Your energy was moving naturally during your training. But it’s such a small amount that it won’t be particularly useful.”
“It’s small?”
At Yu Tae-poong’s question, the Dung Carrier Goblin laughed and drew a large circle with both hands.
“If this is my qi…”
The Dung Carrier Goblin poked the empty air once with his finger.
“You’re about this much.”
Yu Tae-poong laughed at the Dung Carrier Goblin’s words.
“I’m still in the beginning stages anyway. But it’s fascinating that qi actually moves through my body.”
I couldn’t quite feel this qi myself, but the Dung Carrier Goblin wasn’t the type to lie, so it seemed I truly did possess it.
With goblins existing, there was nothing strange about qi being real.
“Work hard at it. Stronger qi is good for your health.”
“Understood.”
Yu Tae-poong answered with a smile, then resumed his stance and slowly followed the martial arts movements from the book.
“Did you have a good time meeting with your friends?”
“Friends? I just went to see some ruffians.”
“Still, they’re people you’ve known for a long time.”
The Dung Carrier Goblin nodded.
“That’s true enough.”
Today, the Dung Carrier Goblin was on his way back from the regular meeting of the Lotus, a goblin writer’s association to which he belonged.

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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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