Goblin Library - Chapter 8

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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 8

I examined the yellow key with curiosity after receiving it from Pot Goblin, then asked her.
“How do I use it?”
“Just think about what you want while using it. Oh, but don’t expect gold to come out of this.”
“It won’t?”
“Why, are you disappointed?”
“A little.”
I said a little, but in truth, I was deeply disappointed. After all, a goblin’s club is famous for the phrase “Gold, come forth!”
At my response, Pot Goblin chuckled and spoke.
“We goblins have rules too. We don’t do things that greatly interfere with the flow.”
“The flow…?”
“The flow of the human world, I mean. We observe humans for entertainment and sometimes play pranks, but such things don’t cause major problems in the human world.”
Pot Goblin held up a bundle of keys and continued.
“But gold is different. If we created too much of it, the human economy could collapse. That wouldn’t be good.”
Bewilderment crossed my face. I had heard that goblins even carried resident registration cards and paid taxes, but I never imagined they would be concerned about the human economy as well.
“You consider such things?”
“Of course. We goblins live as we please and pursue only what’s fun, but that’s only possible because the human world exists. If the human world collapsed, where would we play?”
Then Pot Goblin laughed and spoke.
“That’s why we don’t do anything that would upset the balance of the human world.”
“Then how do you make money? Bamboo Sword Goblin’s car is really nice.”
Bamboo Sword Goblin’s car was a luxury sports car from a famous brand. The maintenance costs alone must be substantial, so I wondered how he made money without creating gold with a goblin’s club.
“Even without a club, we have time and gambling.”
“Time?”
Gambling obviously meant winning money by participating in gambling games, but I didn’t quite understand what time meant.
“There are things that become money as time passes. Things like ceramics or artwork. Bamboo Sword Goblin collected rare books and fine calligraphy… Oh, I invested in land.”
“I’ve heard adults say that land never betrays you.”
“That’s right.”
Watching Pot Goblin nod, I gently turned the key in my hand and asked.
“Then, besides making gold, what else can I do with it? Can it grant me various kinds of magic like in fairy tales…?”
Pot Goblin shook her head.
“Of course not. No matter how thoughtless I am as a goblin, would I give such great power to a human like you?”
“Then what can it do?”
If I couldn’t use “Gold, come forth!” and there were so many other restrictions, I wondered what I could possibly do with this key.
“Cleaning.”
“Clea…ning?”
Seeing my bewildered expression, Pot Goblin laughed and spoke.
“I’m giving it to you because cleaning seems difficult.”
“So cleaning happens just by thinking about it? Does the magic club automatically clean everything on its own?”
“Tch, it’s not like a goblin club is some kind of AI club that does everything by itself.”
With that, Pot Goblin held up her key—the goblin club—and spoke.
“When you hold an object and do something with it, I mean when you do repetitive tasks, you think something like ‘start’ or ‘let’s go’….”
Pot Goblin stopped mid-explanation and smacked her lips.
“It’s hard to explain.”
She paused to gather her thoughts, then looked at me again and spoke.
“First, think ‘let’s clean’ and do the cleaning once. Then the cleaning method and movements you performed get stored here.”
“Stored? Ah, so next time I clean, if I activate that stored data, the cleaning happens automatically?”
“Exactly. But you need to set up the cleaning supplies first. Or you can save it before you start cleaning.”
“That’s similar to the macro function in games.”
At the word ‘game,’ Pot Goblin’s eyes sparkled.
“You play games?”
“I played a little in the past.”
“There’s hardly anyone who hasn’t played games. I play a game called R.”
“Ah, I see.”
As I answered, I thought that this goblin was enjoying modern civilization far more than I had expected.
“You should try it sometime later. It’s fun.”
“I will.”
As I spoke, I looked at the yellow key in my hand.
“So the only function of this club is the macro function?”
“Macro, huh? That’s a fun word. Yeah, that’s right. It’s probably too dangerous to unlock all the goblin club’s functions for a human like you.”
I nodded at Pot Goblin’s words and looked at the key.
‘A goblin club equipped with macro functionality. That’s absurd.’
As I was thinking that, a fire truck departed with its siren wailing.
Wee-woo! Wee-woo!
At the loud siren, I squinted and pressed my ears with my hands.
Pot Goblin laughed at my reaction. Perhaps because it was a goblin’s voice, it wasn’t particularly loud, yet it wasn’t drowned out by the siren.
“Hearing it like this from on top of the fire truck, the sound is really piercing.”
“It really is.”
At my words, Pot Goblin laughed and looked ahead.
The cars on the road were one by one clearing the way or speeding up to open a path for the fire truck.
Seeing that, Pot Goblin smiled.
“When you see things like this, people still seem pure and good.”
Hearing Pot Goblin’s words, I looked ahead as well. Just as she said, watching the cars move aside in every direction to avoid blocking the fire truck’s path warmed my heart.
At that moment, the fire truck accelerated a bit more. Frightened by the shaking, I quietly grabbed Pot Goblin’s arm.
Pot Goblin laughed at my reaction.
“Don’t worry. This rope won’t break.”
“Even if a scary dog is tied up with a leash, that doesn’t make it any less scary.”
Pot Goblin nodded as if my words made sense, then suddenly pulled out a notebook from her shirt pocket.
“That’s a good point.”
With that, he began writing down what Yu Tae-poong had just said.
Yu Tae-poong, who had subtly tilted his head to catch a glimpse of what was being written in the notebook, spoke up.
“You take notes too.”
“A writer must make note-taking a habit. Especially for sentences that are striking or carry some meaning—you have to write them down the moment you hear them. That way, you can use them later.”
Pot Goblin answered thus and tucked her notebook into her shirt pocket. Then, looking ahead, she smiled and spoke.
“Here he comes.”
At Pot Goblin’s words, Yu Tae-poong looked in the direction she was gazing.
On the car ahead, just like them, a man was perched on top of the vehicle.
At first glance, he too appeared to be a Goblin. Otherwise, there would be no reason for him to be sitting cross-legged atop a moving car, nor would it even be possible for him to remain in such a position.
Unlike Pot Goblin and Bamboo Sword Goblin, this man wore traditional Korean clothing—specifically, a white hanbok of the sort that commoners in historical dramas might wear.
“Could that be Dung Carrier Goblin?”
“That’s right.”
“But his attire is quite different.”
“Humans dress differently according to their tastes, don’t they? Goblins are the same. That’s simply Dung Carrier Goblin’s preference.”
As she spoke, Pot Goblin raised her hand.
“Dung Carrier!”
At Pot Goblin’s call, Dung Carrier Goblin turned his head. And a look of sympathy crossed Yu Tae-poong’s face.
Dung Carrier Goblin’s face bore the appearance of someone who had endured all the hardships the world had to offer, alone.
‘Well, if he was born from a dung carrier, he must have suffered quite a bit.’
As Yu Tae-poong murmured this to himself while observing Dung Carrier Goblin, the latter raised his hand.
Then, as Dung Carrier Goblin turned his gaze back forward, Pot Goblin nodded and turned to look at Yu Tae-poong.
“It’s about to begin.”
Yu Tae-poong nodded and looked ahead. With sirens wailing across the area, cars shifted slightly left and right, and the fire truck raced swiftly through the gap.
However, it was not moving at an extremely high speed. Though cars were yielding, some of the vehicles ahead were still driving without awareness of the situation.
Only when the siren grew closer did they realize what was happening and move aside to make room.
Watching this, Yu Tae-poong’s eyes narrowed.
The car that Dung Carrier Goblin was riding on suddenly veered into the lane that other cars had cleared for the fire truck to pass, and began accelerating.
Vroom.
At this, the fire truck driver was startled and hastily pressed the horn.
Honk! Honk!
Despite the loud horn, the car continued forward without changing lanes.
At this, horns blared loudly from the cars that had yielded the lane.
Honk! Honk honk!
Some of it was a signal to clear the lane, and some of it was cursing at the audacity of such a driver.
Then the light turned red and the car stopped. Naturally, for the fire truck, it was maddening.
Honk! Honk!
The horn blared, but the car did not move. Instead, the window rolled down and a hand emerged.
Swish.
The hand pointed at the red light—or more precisely, at the speed camera positioned beside the traffic signal.
If I moved now, the camera would catch me, and I’d be slapped with a fine.
The Fire Department officer, apparently furious, blared the horn loudly again. In a fire, circumstances could shift dramatically in mere seconds, so urgency was inevitable.
The driver of another vehicle waiting beside the fire truck seemed to grasp the situation and stepped out of his car.
He then rushed toward the sedan blocking the fire truck and rapped on the window.
“Move your car! Move it!”
But the sedan’s driver gave no response.
“Move your car, I said! Move it!”
Bang! Bang!
As he tried to open the car door, the sedan’s window rolled down, and a harsh voice poured out.
“Are you insane? Don’t you see the red light? You want me to get a ticket? What’s that supposed to mean!”
“Because of you, the fire truck can’t get through!”
“So what! What do you want me to do! There’s a signal to follow, and I’m following it, so what!”
As the sedan driver raised his voice, the other man responded in exasperation.
“The fire truck is in a hurry—just get out. If a photo gets taken and a ticket arrives at the police station, you can file an appeal.”
“Why should I deal with such a hassle?”
“Don’t you see the fire truck is urgent?”
“So I’m supposed to have nothing better to do than go back and forth to the police station filing appeals?”
“What kind of person are you! Move your car!”
“You little bastard!”
His voice escalated, and finally the sedan driver got out of his car.
“You look young and you’re talking big! Hey, how old are you!”
He grabbed the man by the collar, and the other man’s eyes narrowed.
“What are you doing? Let go!”
As the two men grappled, Cha Im-beom stepped out of the fire truck.
“What are you doing right now!”
As Cha Im-beom approached, shouting, Pot Goblin smiled and pulled out a key.
She shook it, and the key’s form changed.
Whoosh!
The transformed key was now a walkie-talkie. Pot Goblin held it up deliberately in her hand, flicked it once to show it off, and looked at Cha Im-beom with a smile.
The story was about to unfold.

***

Cha Im-beom hurriedly descended from the fire truck and intervened between the two quarreling men.
“Gentlemen, please stop fighting.”
As Cha Im-beom approached, the man who had been protesting about moving his car spoke urgently.
“Look at this person. He won’t move his car and keeps picking a fight like this.”
Cha Im-beom looked troubled by the man’s plea for support, but then noticed the traffic light had changed and spoke hastily.
“Please move your car first. The light has changed.”
At Cha Im-beom’s words, the man who had demanded the car be moved looked at Troublemaker Driver.
“You should consider yourself lucky. Move your car!”
As he turned to return to his own vehicle, Troublemaker Driver shouted.
“You bastard, where do you think you’re going after starting this mess!”
Seeing Troublemaker Driver block the man’s path, Cha Im-beom spoke to him urgently.
“Sir, please calm down. We’re in a hurry—could you please move your car?”
“Do I look like I have nothing to do! I’m a busy person too!”

***

“What will you do if I don’t move! What will you do!”
Watching Troublemaker Driver continue to block the fire truck, refusing to move his car and thrusting his head forward as if daring Cha Im-beom to hit him, Pot Goblin brought the radio to her lips with a smiling face.
Beep! Beep!
“Fire at Mapo Villa, beep beep!”
After announcing the location of the fire, she made beeping sounds with her mouth.

***

[Mapo Villa fire—whee-whee-whee!]
Troublemaker Driver’s eyes snapped toward the radio as he thrust his head forward, shouting at Cha Im-beom.
『Mapo Villa? Mapo Villa is on fire! My house is on fire!』
『Your house? Mapo Villa is your residence?』
『Y-yes, that’s right.』
『Then move your car quickly. We’re heading there now.』
『Ah… understood.』
As Troublemaker Driver rushed toward his vehicle in alarm, the driver in the adjacent car shouted.
『When someone else’s house was burning, you blocked the fire truck’s path, but now that it’s your own place, you’re in such a hurry, such a hurry!』
At the driver’s outburst, Troublemaker Driver shot him a sharp glare. But with his own house ablaze, he had no time for a comeback.
Troublemaker Driver hastily climbed into his car and turned the ignition. But….
Vrroom! Vrroom!
The wheels spun uselessly, and the engine wouldn’t start. Troublemaker Driver looked at Cha Im-beom with an urgent expression.
『Hey! Push the car from behind!』
『Pardon?』
『You have to push the car so I can get out!』
As Cha Im-beom stared at him in bewilderment, the Helpful Driver beside him quickly approached the cars behind them.
After obtaining their consent, he reversed his own vehicle and changed lanes directly in front of Troublemaker Driver’s car.
『Hey! What are you doing!』
Honk!
Ignoring Troublemaker Driver’s blaring horn, the man waved his hand, and several cars behind him began moving.
Once the adjacent lane opened up, the man turned to Cha Im-beom and spoke.
『The adjacent lane is clear now. Go that way.』
At the man’s words, Cha Im-beom glanced at the adjacent lane once, then quickly climbed aboard the fire truck.
Seeing this, Troublemaker Driver cried out.
『Push my car!』
But leaving his shout behind, the fire truck changed lanes and departed.
Wee-woo! Wee-woo!
Troublemaker Driver shouted something, but his voice was quickly swallowed by the siren’s wail.

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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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