Goblin Library - Chapter 87

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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 87.

[Cha Jang-woo took him away as a police officer.]
Lim Sung-un asked upon Choi Tae-sik’s report.
『What about Lee Hye-eun?』
[She left.]
『What did she say?』
[She said not to see each other again.]
『That’s what we want anyway.』
[Well….]
Choi Tae-sik hesitated and trailed off, causing Lim Sung-un to furrow his brow.
『What’s the matter?』
[I accidentally mentioned Maru’s name up to Jang Ma-ru.]
『You stopped at “Jang Ma…”?』
[Yes. I apologize.]
Lim Sung-un replied as if it were nothing serious.
『That level of mistake is within my expectations, so it’s fine.』
[You anticipated it?]
『Lee Hye-eun is a sharp woman. I was already aware that some information might leak through your actions and tone of voice. It’s fine.』
[Understood.]
After ending the call, Lim Sung-un sat in his chair for a moment, gazing straight ahead.
Across the table sat an empty chair. The person he was scheduled to meet had not yet arrived.
And then….
Click!
With the sound of the door opening, a prison guard entered with a middle-aged man.
The guard seated him in the chair and then left.
Lim Sung-un addressed the man before him.
『Are you Lee Gang-hyuk?』
『I am.』
Lim Sung-un examined Lee Gang-hyuk carefully. He was a handsome man with sharp eyes but a dignified bearing.
After finishing his observation, Lim Sung-un rose from his seat.
Scrape!
Lee Gang-hyuk watched Lim Sung-un push back his chair and stand with an impassive gaze.
『I am Lim Sung-un, prosecutor at the Seoul District Prosecutor’s Office.』
As Lim Sung-un bowed respectfully in greeting, a flicker of bewilderment crossed Lee Gang-hyuk’s eyes.
『For a prosecutor to greet me so courteously… I’m rather nervous. What brings you here?』
In response to Lee Gang-hyuk’s question, Lim Sung-un looked at him and spoke.
『The culprit in my case is the true perpetrator in your case.』
He stopped short.
Lee Gang-hyuk looked at him with surprise for a moment before speaking.
“Who is it?”
Lim Sung-un’s eyes sharpened. In ordinary circumstances like this, people would burst into tears, rage, or become emotionally overwhelmed.
It would have been strange if someone who had spent fifteen years in prison on false charges could maintain such composure.
Yet Lee Gang-hyuk was calmly asking who the real culprit was.
“I’m afraid I cannot disclose personal information.”
“Ah, privacy protection, I see.”
Lee Gang-hyuk nodded and looked at Lim Sung-un.
“So I’m free to go now?”
“There are some procedures to go through, but you should be released soon. While I don’t represent the entire judicial system of this country, I apologize on behalf of the judicial authorities.”
“An apology… I understand.”
As Lee Gang-hyuk accepted this so readily with a nod, Lim Sung-un sensed something ominous.
However, he did not show this outwardly and continued speaking.
“And regarding compensation for the time you’ve lost, while it’s difficult to put it that way, you can file a lawsuit against the state and receive compensation. If you don’t know a lawyer or find it difficult to hire one, I can introduce you to a lawyer I know.”
“Hmm…”
At Lim Sung-un’s words, Lee Gang-hyuk let out a sigh for the first time. The emotional change that hadn’t been visible until now briefly surfaced as he spoke.
“Time is something that cannot be resolved with money…”
“Of course.”
“Never mind that. I’ll handle compensation for the time I’ve lost on my own.”
Then he stared directly at Lim Sung-un and asked.
“So that’s it then?”
“What do you mean?”
“Whether there’s anything left for me to sign or any documents like that.”
“That’s… no. Today I came to inform you directly that we’ve identified the real culprit. The release procedures will be handled separately.”
“I see. Then…”
Lee Gang-hyuk stood up from his seat. After looking at Lim Sung-un for a moment, he spoke.
“Thank you for coming to tell me.”
Then he simply turned around.
“Guard, we’re done here.”
At Lee Gang-hyuk’s words, the door opened. The guard led him out.
As Lim Sung-un watched him leave, he narrowed his eyes.
“Something feels ominous…”
Lim Sung-un muttered under his breath and pulled out his phone. As he stepped outside, he called Choi Tae-sik.
“Yes, hyung.”
“Do you know anyone who came out of ** Prison from back in the day?”
“If I look into it, there should be some.”
“Have them investigate Lee Gang-hyuk for me.”
“Lee Gang-hyuk? Isn’t that the person you went to meet today, hyung?”
“That’s right.”
“Is something the matter?”
『Something feels off about the atmosphere.』
“I understand. A few phone calls should get me someone who knows.”
After ending the call, Lim Sung-un walked forward and dialed Jang Ma-ru.
“Brother.”
『Look up some information on Lee Gang-hyuk. I met him today.』
“Lee Gang-hyuk… One moment.”
Not long after, Jang Ma-ru’s voice came through again.
“He attended K University’s Oriental Medicine program.”
『A licensed acupuncturist?』
“No, he didn’t graduate. He went to Prison in his fourth year, so he has no license. And… both his parents have passed away. Ah… after he went to Prison, his mother and father passed away in that order. What a shame—a harmonious family torn apart by a wrongful investigation.”
『Anything else?』
“That covers the basics… but it seems his time in Prison wasn’t easy. Both his arms were broken twice and one leg once. He took quite a beating.”
『He didn’t strike me as someone who’d let himself get beaten like that.』
“The hospital records are concentrated within two years of his incarceration, and there are none after that.”
『So he must have changed during that period?』
Lim Sung-un paused in thought before speaking.
『Send me a photo from before he was imprisoned.』
“Just a moment… Yes, I’ve sent it.”
As Jang Ma-ru spoke, a notification chimed on Lim Sung-un’s phone, and he examined the photograph.
A handsome young man with a kind expression was smiling brightly.
『The man has changed.』
Apart from appearing somewhat younger, his face was the same, but his demeanor was worlds apart. The man in the photograph resembled a rabbit grazing peacefully in a verdant meadow, while the man he’d just met was like a wolf creeping forward with concealed body, stalking that very rabbit.
“After rotting away in Prison for fifteen years, anyone would change.”
『That’s true. For better or worse.』
“Why? Does it seem like he changed for the worse?”
『I couldn’t say for certain.』
“Should we look into it further?”
『What happens inside the Prison won’t be easy to investigate by computer. I’ve already spoken to Tae-sik, so something should come up soon.』
As they spoke, Lim Sung-un exited the Prison and got into his car. Just as he was about to start driving, Choi Tae-sik called.
『Tae-sik is calling.』
Lim Sung-un switched Tae-sik’s call to a group conference.
“Brother, I’ve found out what you asked about.”
『Maru and I are listening. Go ahead.』
“It appears Lee Gang-hyuk was beaten badly by other inmates at first. But then he learned how to fight from the thugs who were there.”
『That’s probably why there are no hospital records after that point.』
“Yes. It seems he made up his mind to protect himself. And though he has no acupuncturist license, he had knowledge from school, so he posed as a half-qualified practitioner.”
“What’s a half-qualified practitioner?”
“Since there are no needles inside Prison, he’d press acupuncture points or manage inmates’ health, earning their favor. He also learned massage separately to loosen their muscles… that’s how he became close with the thugs and learned how to fight.”
“But not all gang members are skilled fighters, right?”
[That’s right. But back then, there was Wang Chun-sik in prison—a heavyweight enforcer known throughout the country. Lee Gang-hyuk won his favor by giving him massages.]
『Is Wang Chun-sik from Jongno?』
[Yes. He’s the boss of the Jongno Wang Gang.]
『So he learned how to fight from Wang Chun-sik?』
[From what I heard, it wasn’t so much learning as having his subordinates beat him senseless.]
[They beat the person giving them massages?]
[A man who’s taken punches learns to throw them well. Once you’ve been hit, you understand where and how to strike for maximum impact. Apparently, he learned to fight by getting beaten nearly to death.]
『How skilled is he?』
[Without directly fighting him, it’s hard to say for certain, but I’ve heard that later on, he could single-handedly take on about seven gang members.]
Lim Sung-un fell into thought, muttering to himself.
『His eyes didn’t look like those of a mere brawler….』
[Fighting was just the beginning. Once he became skilled with his fists, he built his own faction inside the prison.]
『A faction?』
[Lee Gang-hyuk protected inmates like himself who were being abused, took them under his wing, and apparently lived like a king among them.]
『A king, you say… And what did he do with that power?』
If he’d built a faction and taken subordinates, he must have done something with it.
[Even he wasn’t entirely sure about that, but apparently he had quite a bit of money.]
『Money, then.』
[From what I understand, he frequently bribed the prison guards, which earned him considerable privileges. He drank alcohol and held gatherings inside the prison.]
[Alcohol and gatherings? In a prison? How is that possible?]
[In prison, if you have money, even drug dealers can procure what you need.]
『It’s true—there’s nothing money can’t accomplish in reality….』
Lim Sung-un murmured softly before speaking.
『But the question is where all that money came from in the first place… Do you have any information on that?』
[We couldn’t find out about that.]
[Since wealthy inmates came to that prison, wouldn’t he have collected protection money from them in exchange for safeguarding them? Just as he himself was protected by Wang Chun-sik.]
At Jang Ma-ru’s suggestion, Lim Sung-un spoke.
『That’s plausible. Tae-sik, what do you think?』
[I was curious about that too, so I asked, but apparently he didn’t collect protection money.]
『Then he must have generated the money from somewhere else… That’s suspicious.』
[And after Lee Gang-hyuk gained power, ordinary inmates in the prison stopped experiencing harsh treatment. In fact, Lee Gang-hyuk stabilized order within the prison better than the guards themselves did.]
At Choi Tae-sik’s words, Lim Sung-un paused to think before speaking.
『For that to happen, he would have needed substantial funds. To hold gatherings with alcohol, the bribes paid to the guards alone would have to be considerable.』
Providing alcohol and organizing gatherings for inmates wasn’t something that could be done by recruiting just a few guards.
One loose word from anyone could expose all the prison staff—they’d all lose their jobs.
Yet the fact that they took on such risk meant Lee Gang-hyuk’s side was paying them enough to justify that danger.
Jang Ma-ru suddenly offered an idea that had occurred to him.
[Since his parents passed away, wouldn’t he have received an inheritance?]
『He didn’t seem foolish enough to spend an inheritance establishing his position inside a prison.』
Lim Sung-un, who had been lost in thought, spoke.
“Investigate the flow of funds within the Prison.”
[Who should we investigate? The guards?]
“Both the guards and the inmates.”
[The guards should be relatively easy to investigate… but for the inmates, do we need to look at their deposit accounts?]
“They wouldn’t have deposited large sums into inmate accounts. Check the family accounts of the inmates instead. And Choi Tae-sik, find out if anyone who’s been released from this Prison knows about this matter.”
[Understood.]
[You seem to have a hunch about something?]
Lim Sung-un responded to Jang Ma-ru’s question.
“A Prison is a gathering place for criminals. And if money has become connected to such criminals…”
Lim Sung-un continued with absolute certainty in his voice.
“Crime is inevitable.”

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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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