Goblin Library - Chapter 67

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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 67

After finishing my cleaning of the Goblin Library and completing my morning exercise, I was preparing coffee and tea.
Pitter-patter…
I inhaled the rich aroma of ground coffee slowly dripping through the filter into my cup, while steeping the dew tea that the Dung Carrier Goblin loved.
With cups of coffee and dew tea in hand, I made my way toward the library entrance.
The Dung Carrier Goblin was waiting for me there, seated in a chair.
“Here’s your tea.”
“Thanks.”
I set the cups on a small tea table—something I’d long wished for and finally found on an online shopping site before purchasing and bringing here.
After placing the coffee and tea on the table, I turned on some gentle music through my phone and gazed out the window.
There weren’t many people passing by. The Goblin Library was tucked away in an alley, and it was just past ten in the morning—not even rush hour yet.
Still, as I sipped my coffee while watching the occasional passerby, I suddenly grew curious and glanced at the Dung Carrier Goblin.
“By the way, how do goblins find their source material?”
“Source material?”
“Do you just pick someone at random from the people walking by?”
The Dung Carrier Goblin paused thoughtfully before responding.
“I don’t just pick anyone at random. I observe people carefully. When you observe long enough, you start to feel drawn to certain individuals.”
“Feel drawn?”
“From a writer’s perspective, you might call it a writer’s intuition. But for us goblins, it’s simply our instinct. When someone resonates with us on a fundamental level, there’s something we sense about them.”
The Dung Carrier Goblin took a sip of tea before continuing.
“Once I spot someone like that, I follow them around for a few days to understand what kind of material they are. If they seem promising, that’s when I start writing their novel.”
I nodded in understanding and took a sip of my coffee.
After observing the Dung Carrier Goblin for a moment, I ventured a question.
“By the way, why aren’t you wearing your hanbok today?”
The Dung Carrier Goblin was dressed in a striped tracksuit, and the shoes were matching striped sneakers.
The Dung Carrier Goblin glanced down at their outfit and asked.
“Does it look strange?”
“Not at all. It suits you very well.”
“That’s a relief. But why are you asking about it now?”
The Dung Carrier Goblin found it odd that I’d seen them since arriving this morning—through cleaning and exercise—yet only now asked about the change in clothes.
I spoke with some embarrassment.
“It seemed like there might be some significance to you changing your outfit. I felt hesitant to ask so casually.”
“What do you mean hesitant? Just ask.”
At my cautious words, the Dung Carrier Goblin chuckled, shook their head, and stood up. Then they struck a pose like a model.
“Does it really suit me?”
“It suits you very well indeed.”
As I watched the Dung Carrier Goblin tap the ground a few times with their shoe while smiling, I asked a question.
“But why did you really change your clothes?”
Yu Tae-poong was genuinely curious about this. The hanbok was the Dung Carrier Goblin’s pride.
And the Dung Carrier Goblin had a fierce sense of pride. The kind of personality that said: if you dislike me, then I’ll dislike you too!
The Dung Carrier Goblin answered.
“Something the Pot Goblin said while we were eating meat the other day has been bothering me.”
“The Pot Goblin?”
“Yeah.”
The Dung Carrier Goblin looked at Yu Tae-poong.
“I don’t have any friends.”
“But you and the Pot Goblin are friends.”
At Yu Tae-poong’s words, the Dung Carrier Goblin shook his head.
“The Pot Goblin just has a good personality, so she talks with me. But we’re not quite friends.”
Then he added in a careful voice.
“You’re the one who feels like a friend to me.”
Yu Tae-poong smiled and spoke.
“There’s quite an age gap between us, but if you don’t mind, we’re friends.”
“Right! We’re friends!”
Yu Tae-poong nodded at the Dung Carrier Goblin, who was smiling brightly.
“And I don’t know what things were like before, but now you and the Pot Goblin are friends too.”
“Really?”
“Of course. When you play together and eat together, you’re friends. We’ve been doing that constantly lately. So you’re friends.”
The Dung Carrier Goblin nodded, recalling recent events.
“I suppose we do seem like friends.”
At the Dung Carrier Goblin’s murmur, Yu Tae-poong smiled and spoke.
“So you changed your clothes to go around with me?”
What the Pot Goblin had said back then was that if the Dung Carrier Goblin wanted to spend time with Yu Tae-poong, he needed to be considerate of him as a human.
“You’re human, so you’d have things to enjoy among other humans. But if I went around in my original form, it would be difficult for you to do that.”
“You don’t have to do that for my sake.”
“No. It’s not for your sake—it’s for mine.”
“For yours?”
At Yu Tae-poong’s question, the Dung Carrier Goblin nodded.
“Being with you is joyful and fun. But if you end up with restrictions on where you can go because of me… then I’d be the one blocking your happiness. And I think it would be fun to visit many places with you. So I changed my clothes to have a good time with you.”
After the Dung Carrier Goblin spoke, Yu Tae-poong looked at him and asked.
“But is it okay to do that?”
“Change your clothes?”
“Isn’t that your trait? A trait is the goblin itself, isn’t it?”
At Yu Tae-poong’s words, the Dung Carrier Goblin laughed and answered.
“It is a trait, but… it was more like my stubbornness.”
“Stubbornness?”
“Do you hate the smell coming from me? Do you find my clothes ugly? I don’t care. This is who I am. If you hate this, then I hate you too. That kind of thing.”
“Ah….”
As Yu Tae-poong nodded, the Dung Carrier Goblin continued the explanation.
“No goblin ever approached me, and no human did either. So there was no need to change my clothes. Or rather, I didn’t want to. Changing would mean I wanted to look good to them.”
“That’s true.”
The Dung Carrier Goblin’s shortcomings—the acrid stench and tattered garments—were evidence of how diligently my master had labored.
I had no desire to appear favorable to those who dismissed and despised such proof of dedication.
“But you’re different, Yu Tae-poong. You want to be close to me, to spend time together. Yet my clothes and smell limit the things we can do together. So then….”
The Dung Carrier Goblin drew a deep breath, smiled, and finished speaking.
“I need to change.”
At the Dung Carrier Goblin’s words, Yu Tae-poong asked with a slightly worried expression.
“Are you really sure about this?”
“I’m sure. I’m sure. The Bamboo Sword Goblin and Pot Goblin change their clothes all the time anyway.”
“That’s true.”
“If I can have more fun with you, who likes me, then that’s enough.”
“If that’s the case….”
Yu Tae-poong smiled softly and pulled out his phone.
He then searched for something and showed it to the Dung Carrier Goblin.
“Let’s go there for lunch today.”
“What kind of place is it?”
“A Chinese restaurant.”
“A Chinese restaurant?”
The Dung Carrier Goblin checked the shop’s name and address on the phone.
“It’s nearby?”
“It’s in the neighborhood.”
“Is it a famous restaurant?”
“I’m not sure. I just picked the closest one.”
“Why not search for a famous place instead?”
For the first time, I wore clothes that wouldn’t look strange to human eyes. I’d even sprayed deodorant so there was no smell.
This was a truly historic day for the Dung Carrier Goblin, yet I wondered why we were going to a nearby Chinese restaurant instead of a famous one.
Yu Tae-poong laughed, leaned back in his chair, and spoke.
“The Goblin Library is my workplace, after all.”
“That’s right.”
“Most office workers struggle with what to eat for lunch, but I’ve only ever eaten at Jeonjujeon until now, so I’ve never had that dilemma.”
Yu Tae-poong looked at the Dung Carrier Goblin and spoke.
“So I want to experience what it’s like to deliberate over a menu like a regular office worker.”
“But why a Chinese restaurant? There are plenty of other places around.”
“The Jeonju Jeon Owner makes most dishes, including Korean food.”
At Yu Tae-poong’s words, the Dung Carrier Goblin nodded. Whenever I wanted something, the Jeonju Jeon Owner had made almost everything.
Even dishes requiring ingredients the restaurant didn’t stock could be prepared the next day at lunch if mentioned the day before.
“But jajangmyeon and jjamppong are hard to get anywhere except a Chinese restaurant.”
“Well, Chinese food is like that, I suppose.”
“So today I was thinking we’d go to a Chinese restaurant. Do you happen to dislike Chinese food, brother?”
“How could I? Then I’ll have to get myself some spicy seafood noodle soup.”
At the Dung Carrier Goblin’s words, Yu Tae-poong nodded.
“Then let’s order two spicy seafood noodle soups and one black bean noodles.”
“Huh? You said Pot Goblin was coming?”
“She didn’t mention anything separately.”
“Then why are you ordering three bowls?”
“Because I want to eat spicy seafood noodle soup too. But it would be a waste to give up black bean noodles, so let’s order one more bowl of black bean noodles separately and we can each have a bite more.”
“You eat that much?”
“You eat a lot too, brother.”
Goblins fundamentally eat a great deal. Especially with delicious food, they eat endlessly.
After all, eating delicious food brings joy.
“And for an adult man, one bowl of black bean noodles or spicy seafood noodle soup is a bit insufficient.”
“Right, let’s do it that way then.”
At the Dung Carrier Goblin’s words, Yu Tae-poong nodded and called Jeonjujeon on his phone.
When he mentioned that they wouldn’t need lunch prepared for the next several days, the Jeonju Jeon Owner didn’t ask questions like “Why, don’t you like our food?” or “Is there something else you’d rather eat?”
The owner simply told him to enjoy himself and hung up. Yu Tae-poong, who had worried the entire call about how to explain without hurting his feelings, let out a relieved sigh.
“So we’re eating lunch at a Chinese restaurant today, but what about dinner?”
“It’s morning and you’re already thinking about dinner?”
“Of course. Whether human or goblin, everyone works to eat, so we might as well eat something delicious.”
At the Dung Carrier Goblin’s words, Yu Tae-poong nodded and, after thinking for a moment, made a suggestion.
“There’s a grilled pork belly restaurant nearby. Should we go there?”
“Grilled pork belly. Excellent. They’ll have the skin too, won’t they?”
“All grilled pork belly restaurants have the skin.”
“Okay then. So we’ll eat dinner there… Let me check how much the view count has gone up.”
The Dung Carrier Goblin took out his phone and logged into Munsin.
Then he alternately checked his own novel’s view count and Pot Goblin’s novel view count.
The view count was overwhelmingly in Pot Goblin’s favor. Ever since a popular author had recommended her novel, the number of incoming readers had continued to grow, and now even publishing companies were contacting her.
Disheartened by the gap, the Dung Carrier Goblin sighed and set down his phone.
“It’ll do well.”
At Yu Tae-poong’s consolation, the Dung Carrier Goblin shook his head.
“If I write just about ten more chapters, it’ll be complete… but it doesn’t seem like it’ll happen.”
“Has it already serialized that much?”
“Given the timeframe, yes.”
The Dung Carrier Goblin muttered in a voice full of regret.
“I feel sorry toward Lim Ok-beom.”
“Toward Lim Ok-beom?”
“His life shouldn’t be evaluated by view counts like this.”
Yu Tae-poong nodded.
“That’s true enough.”
Seeing the Dung Carrier Goblin’s visibly disappointed expression weighed on my heart, so Yu Tae-poong offered encouragement.
“Still, you’ve already started the serialization, so you should see it through to the end. There are readers who’ve been following Lim Ok-beom’s work and enjoying it all this time.”
“You’re right.”
Fortunately, the Dung Carrier Goblin seemed to regain some spirit at those words. Picking up the phone again, a smile crossed their face.
“The comments from people who’ve been following my work so far have been so encouraging. It really lifts my mood.”
The Dung Carrier Goblin raised a hand.
Whoosh…
Lim Ok-beom’s book came flying through the air and landed in their grasp.
“I read the comments aloud to him. Then Ok-beom likes it too.”
“You read the comments to him?”
“Of course. Ok-beom enjoys hearing what his descendants think about his deeds. Oh, and all the comments I’ve been writing are transcriptions of what Ok-beom himself has said.”
Learning that the Dung Carrier Goblin had been writing Lim Ok-beom’s own words as comments sparked Yu Tae-poong’s curiosity.
He immediately accessed Munsin on his phone and navigated to the Dung Carrier Goblin’s message board.

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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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