Goblin Library - Chapter 52

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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 52.

“But where did you all gather?”
“There’s a house run by the Playing Cards Goblin in Gangwon Province.”
“A house?”
Was the Goblin running some kind of vinyl greenhouse?
Seeing Yu Tae-poong’s puzzled expression, the Dung Carrier Goblin chuckled and explained.
“A house run by the Playing Cards Goblin—what else would it be? Obviously a gambling den.”
“Ah… a gambling den….”
Noticing Yu Tae-poong’s discomfort at the mention of a gambling den, the Dung Carrier Goblin continued.
“It’s illegal in the human world, sure… but it’s still the safest place for human gamblers.”
“How is a gambling den safe?”
“Because it’s run by a Goblin. That’s why anyone trying to cheat gets caught immediately.”
“Ah….”
Understanding the Dung Carrier Goblin’s point, Yu Tae-poong let out a sound of realization.
“So people who know about it gamble there a lot. Since there’s no cheating.”
“So you all gathered there?”
The Dung Carrier Goblin nodded.
“I find it inconvenient to eat around people, you know. So when the house closes, we gather together, eat meat, drink, and talk about our writing. That sort of thing.”
The Dung Carrier Goblin looked at Yu Tae-poong.
“The place sits high up on a mountain with beautiful scenery, and it’s incredibly cool in summer. Maybe later we could go there, dip our feet in the valley stream, and have some meat?”
“I’m not really comfortable with gambling places….”
Seeing Yu Tae-poong’s hesitation, the Dung Carrier Goblin laughed.
“Who said anything about gambling? I’m just talking about eating nearby.”
Then the Dung Carrier Goblin looked at Yu Tae-poong.
“And if you ever try to gamble, your older brother here will be watching. I’ll stop you right away.”
“That’s reassuring.”
At Yu Tae-poong’s words, the Dung Carrier Goblin answered with pride.
“If my younger brother goes down a bad path, his older brother has to stop him.”
Yu Tae-poong smiled and nodded at the Dung Carrier Goblin. Then he opened the book again, steadied his breathing, and began practicing martial arts.
After watching him for a moment, the Dung Carrier Goblin spoke.
“Your breathing seems a bit off.”
“Pardon?”
“Your energy wavered just now. You probably got your breathing wrong.”
Yu Tae-poong nodded at the Dung Carrier Goblin’s words and looked at the book. After thinking for a moment, he suddenly pulled a yellow key from his pocket.
“Come to think of it… this macro function isn’t limited to just cleaning, is it?”
Yu Tae-poong posed the question to himself as he looked at the book.
Then Yu Tae-poong asked the Dung Carrier Goblin.
“Would it be possible for me to receive martial arts training through a boon, Dung Carrier?”
“Martial arts?”
“Watching my energy waver whenever I get the breathing slightly wrong, it seems breathing is incredibly important in this martial art.”
“That’s right.”
“So if it’s possible, I’d like to receive Cha Dol’s martial arts talent through a boon and try practicing it myself. And if I save that to a macro, I could use it the same way later, couldn’t I?”
“Hmm… that could work. But this book doesn’t have a writer goblin, does it? It would be difficult for Cha Dol alone to generate enough views to receive a boon.”
“It would require a lot of views, wouldn’t it?”
“A lot indeed. Boons aren’t easy to come by.”
The Dung Carrier Goblin nodded and spoke.
“You can only receive a boon if you deeply empathize with the book’s content and earn affection from the protagonist or the writer. Otherwise, you gather views like we goblins do and pay for it.”
Yu Tae-poong gazed at the book with regret.
“If I had views, I could trade them for one. That’s unfortunate.”
“It’s unfortunate, but there’s nothing to be done. Views only accumulate when someone reads the book you’ve written.”
“When someone reads the book…”
Yu Tae-poong pondered for a moment, then suddenly looked around the library and spoke.
“Since my reading increases the view count, wouldn’t other people’s reading also increase it?”
“That would be true.”
The Dung Carrier Goblin laughed and swept his gaze across the library.
“But who else would come here besides you?”
“That’s… true.”
The Goblin Library here was literally an exclusive library for goblins.
Yu Tae-poong was a rare exception in taking a job at the Goblin Library—humans couldn’t come here and read books.
Yu Tae-poong, lost in thought for a moment, looked at the Dung Carrier Goblin.
“What if I serialized it online… would views still accumulate?”
“Online serialization? You mean web novels?”
“Yes.”
At Yu Tae-poong’s words, the Dung Carrier Goblin fell silent in thought for a moment, then tilted his head.
“…I’m not sure.”
“You’re not sure?”
“This book is… connected to us goblins. You know that, right?”
“I do. That’s why when I hold a Goblin Library book, my thoughts and feelings go to the writer goblin like comments, and we can even have conversations.”
“Exactly.”
The Dung Carrier Goblin nodded and fell silent for a moment.
Then he stroked his chin and murmured.
“Hmm… I’m not sure. Online serialization… online serialization…”
“Wouldn’t online serialization be good? This library barely has visitors, but there would be countless unspecified users there.”
“That’s… true.”
“Then getting views would be easier…”
After listening to Yu Tae-poong and thinking for a while, the Dung Carrier Goblin grasped his goblin club.
Whoosh!
As the goblin club swung through the air, roughly ten sparks materialized in the void.
All of them glowed pale white, but suddenly one shifted color.
Whoosh!
A brilliant crimson spark burst forth, and a voice rang out.
[What’s going on?]
It was a voice Yu Tae-poong had heard before.
“Pot Goblin?”
[Huh? Yu Tae-poong is there too?]
“Yes, it’s been such a long time.”
[That’s because you never reach out.]
Pot Goblin’s amused voice echoed, and the spark flickered.
[But what’s this about? Suddenly contacting everyone like this.]
At Pot Goblin’s words, Dung Carrier Goblin glanced around. Five of the goblin flames that had initially burned white were now blazing in different colors.
Red, blue, gray, black—each one burned a distinct hue.
“Damn nuisances.”
[Suddenly?]
Pot Goblin laughed at Dung Carrier Goblin’s sudden outburst.
Dung Carrier Goblin grumbled as he spoke.
“Not you—I contacted all the goblins I know, but only five answered. These Lotus bastards, they should at least show up briefly for the same circle we’re in.”
The Lotus Writer’s Circle had seven members, but only two had come.
[Stop wasting time and say what you need to say.]
“Company President?”
The voice that came through now belonged to Bamboo Sword Goblin. When Yu Tae-poong looked toward the spark from which the voice emerged, Bamboo Sword Goblin continued.
[Still, since a goblin who frequents our library called us, we came out of courtesy. If you have something to say, spit it out.]
[Right. And nowadays, which goblin uses goblin flames to talk? You could just use a phone.]
“You can only have a conversation with one person on a phone. I needed multiple opinions, so I did it this way.”
When Dung Carrier Goblin answered, Pot Goblin spoke as if bewildered.
[What are you talking about? When did group calling become a thing?]
“Group calling?”
[It’s when you talk on the phone with multiple people at the same time.]
At Pot Goblin’s explanation, Dung Carrier Goblin smacked his lips.
“Well… I don’t really have a need to talk with multiple people…”
[Ah… right.]
Sympathy tinged Pot Goblin’s voice.
Yu Tae-poong quietly asked Dung Carrier Goblin.
“What is this exactly?”
“Goblin flames. Back before phones existed, we’d summon goblin flames like this to have conversations.”
“Really?”
“If I want to contact other goblins, I send my goblin flame to them first, and then they make contact. That’s how we end up talking like this.”
Dung Carrier Goblin glanced back at the goblin flames still burning pale white, then added in a slightly wounded tone.
“If you don’t make contact, then right now you’re just ghosting me.”
The Dung Carrier Goblin smacked his lips and continued staring at the silent white goblin flame, when the Bamboo Sword Goblin spoke.
[So what’s this about?]
At that, the Dung Carrier Goblin tore his gaze from the white goblin flame, nodded, and spoke.
“What do you think about web serialization?”
At the Dung Carrier Goblin’s words, the goblin flames flickered slightly. Yu Tae-poong observed this and thought they all seemed somewhat flustered.
[Web serialization?]
“Yeah. We want many people to read our works, right? But as you all know, the Goblin Library doesn’t get visitors.”
[There are too many things more entertaining than books in this day and age.]
“Right, the library gets so few visitors. That’s a problem.”
At the Dung Carrier Goblin’s words, the Bamboo Sword Goblin let out a scoff and delivered a jab.
[You’re one to talk—you didn’t visit once in nearly thirty years before Yu Tae-poong showed up.]
“That’s… well, fair enough. Anyway, what do you think about web serialization?”
In response to the Dung Carrier Goblin’s question, the Pot Goblin spoke.
[Whether it’s the internet or anywhere else, it would be fun if many people read my novels.]
“Right?”
[But why are you asking us? If you want to do it, just do it.]
Goblins don’t submit to coercion. If something seems fun, they simply do it without asking anyone.
“True. But… I’m curious whether the view count from web serialization comes to me. And I was also curious whether the protagonist of that book would also get view counts.”
No answer came from the five goblin flames.
Instead….
A new goblin flame appeared beside the Bamboo Sword Goblin’s flame.
Whoosh!
Along with it came a new voice.
[What’s going on? Huh? There are other goblins here too?]
[Curiosity Goblin?]
As the Pot Goblin murmured as if recognizing the goblin, the goblin flame called Curiosity Goblin flickered and turned in that direction.
[Oh! Pot Goblin, it’s been a while.]
[Don’t pretend you know me.]
The Pot Goblin’s flame wavered and shifted slightly to the side, creating distance between itself and the Curiosity Goblin’s flame.
[Why? You don’t like me?]
[Hmph! Who’d want to be around a troublemaker like you?]
[Oh, is it because I wrote a novel using your protagonist before?]
[You crazy goblin! Who writes a novel using a protagonist that another goblin is already writing about!]
The Pot Goblin cried out in anger, but the Curiosity Goblin answered with laughter, unintimidated.
[That’s exactly why I did it. I wanted to see what would happen if two goblins attached themselves to one protagonist and wrote novels.]
The Pot Goblin’s flame began trembling violently.
The seemingly good-natured Pot Goblin appeared to be quite angry.
The Dung Carrier Goblin also squinted slightly and asked the Bamboo Sword Goblin.
“Why did you call him?”
He had heard rumors about the Curiosity Goblin as well.
The Curiosity Goblin, true to his name, was born from curiosity itself—he possessed an insatiable hunger to learn new things. And in his relentless pursuit to satisfy that curiosity, he engaged in so many bizarre antics that he’d earned a notorious reputation among the goblins as a troublemaker.
[I thought the Curiosity Goblin might have tried it.]
“Ah….”
The Dung Carrier Goblin nodded, understanding what he meant.
Once the Bamboo Sword Goblin confirmed his understanding, he turned to the Curiosity Goblin with a question.
[Have you ever serialized a novel on the internet?]
At the Bamboo Sword Goblin’s words, the Curiosity Goblin’s flames blazed brightly.
[Yeah! I have!]
[You have? Did it do well?]
[…People didn’t really read it much. But there were a few times it made it into the daily top twenty.]
The Curiosity Goblin continued in response to the Bamboo Sword Goblin’s question.
[When you serialize, do the view counts come to us?]
[No, the view counts didn’t come to me.]
Then the Curiosity Goblin asked, puzzled.
[Are you trying to gain view counts through internet serialization?]
“That’s right.”
[Nah, that won’t work. Books and us are connected—when someone reads, the view counts flow to us accordingly. But the internet world… we’re not connected to it… huh?]
The Curiosity Goblin paused mid-sentence, his flames flickering for a moment. Then, shortly after, they blazed up fiercely.
[But if we connected it… wouldn’t it work?]

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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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