Goblin Library - Chapter 95

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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 95.

*This fire department scene is one hundred percent fiction. It is written using only the author’s imagination. I apologize for the insufficient research.

“Have some ramen.”
With a pot of ramen prepared as a late-night meal placed in the center, the firefighters began gathering around it cozily.
“Come on, let’s eat quickly.”
At the middle-aged firefighter’s words, Cha Im-beom and his colleagues hurriedly thrust their chopsticks into the pot.
The firefighters quickly portioned ramen into their individual bowls. Normally, when ramen was prepared this way as a group late-night meal, the youngest would grab the chopsticks and distribute it by age order, but there was none of that here.
No one could predict when an emergency call would drop. There had been times when an alarm sounded while the ramen was still cooking and they had to leave without eating, and other times when they had to abandon their meal mid-bite.
That was why eating quickly was essential when food was available.
Slurp! Slurp!
Cha Im-beom, eating the ramen rapidly, spoke with a smile.
“The kimchi tastes great.”
“The restaurant staff brought a whole container of kimchi today.”
“That explains the flavor.”
Cha Im-beom answered his junior’s remark, then poured the broth into his bowl and slurped it down.
“The seasoning is perfect today too.”
“Im-beom, your hands need to be quick when eating. If you keep talking like that, the call will—”
Beep! Beep!
The moment a sharp alarm sounded, Cha Im-beom watched his senior, who had been mid-sentence.
“That mouth of his has terrible timing.”
“Ugh!”
The senior, who had been about to say that they wouldn’t even get to eat ramen when a call came in, quickly shoveled the remaining ramen from his bowl into his mouth in one gulp and rushed to his feet.
[** *** *** Motel fire reported. Fire in progress.]
Hearing the fire location, Cha Im-beom squinted his eyes.
“This is serious. This is serious.”
When a fire broke out in a lodging facility, the probability of casualties was high.
In a lodging facility, multiple people gathered in an enclosed space, and there would be those who were asleep and slow to respond.
Cha Im-beom quickly donned his firefighting suit and climbed onto the fire truck.
Wee-woo! Wee-woo!
As the siren wailed loudly, his senior’s voice came through the radio.
[You know motel fires have narrow corridors and many rooms, making rescue and evacuation difficult. And we won’t know until we get there, but the toxic gases will vary depending on what insulation material was used. So check your oxygen mask equipment one more time… and you must absolutely confirm whether there are people in each room.]
Anticipating the situation would be complicated, the senior’s voice was filled with tension.
And the fire truck entered into the Busy Street Alley.
Wee-woo! Wee-woo!
At the loud siren, the people crowded in the alley opened a path.
“There’s a fire over there!”
『Fire! There’s a fire!』
The shouts of people echoed loudly. At the sound, the faces of the firefighters grew even more grave.
They still had some distance to cover before reaching the fire’s origin, yet seeing people already crying out about it suggested the blaze had spread far beyond initial expectations.
『Look—smoke over there.』
When my junior beside me pointed to one side, my face hardened.
Thick, dark smoke billowed upward with tremendous force.
『The smoke…』
At that density, the interior of the building would be completely engulfed. The smoke would obscure visibility, making it difficult to locate survivors, and more critically—survivors couldn’t endure such conditions for long.
Just hold on a little longer until I arrive.
I gripped my oxygen mask tightly in my hand, silently praying to those waiting for rescue.

Wee-woo! Wee-woo!
The fire truck arrived at the Motel, and the crew quickly disembarked, each moving according to their assigned duties.
A firefighter unrolled the coiled fire hose and hurled it forward.
Whoosh!
The hose stretched out in a straight line, unfurling instantly. The firefighter who deployed it rapidly connected the end to the fire hydrant.
Meanwhile, the fire department commander was receiving a situation briefing from police who had arrived moments earlier.
『According to eyewitnesses, smoke began rising from the third floor.』
The officer nodded and surveyed the Motel. Flames originating from the third floor were now visible extending up to the sixth.
‘The flames reach the sixth floor, but smoke must be filling the entire building.’
As I observed the inferno with a grave expression, Kang Dong-min—our captain—issued orders.
『Cha Im-beom, take some men and enter through the first floor to assess the situation. Chul-su, start extinguishing with your team. Ho-nam, find the Motel owner.』
At Kang Dong-min’s rapid commands, the crew members hurried to their assigned tasks.
I prepared for entry, standing with two crew members before the Motel entrance, which was belching black smoke.
Chul-su and the others seized the fire hose and entered first.
Shhhhh! Shhhhh!
As water sprayed violently, flames parted and a path opened.
『Entering.』
Feeling my heart pound, I grasped the fire hose and stepped into the Motel.
Roar!
Entering the crimson inferno, I squinted. The flames were less intense than I’d anticipated.
Of course, ordinary people couldn’t withstand such heat.
Roar!
Pushing through the flames, my vision filled entirely with red fire and black smoke.
‘Damn it—what kind of insulation did they use?’
『Huff! Huff!』
Breathing heavily in and out, I sprayed water toward the most intense flames.
Shhhhh! Shhhhh!
Spraying water as I advanced deeper, I adjusted the nozzle.
Roar!
The water that had been spraying forward fiercely now dispersed like mist in all directions.
Through the subsiding flames and smoke, a human silhouette became visible.
『Survivor found!』
Cha Im-beom, spraying water around the person, rushed toward the collapsed figure.
Fortunately, they were still alive. Cha Im-beom fitted an oxygen mask over the unconscious person’s face and glanced back at the firefighter following behind him.
『Get them out of here.』
『Understood.』
Cha Im-beom watched briefly as the firefighter helped the collapsed person outside, then turned back into the building.

***

Pot Goblin stood outside the burning motel, observing the fire scene. While monitoring the protagonist’s heroic actions was important, documenting these surrounding details was equally crucial.
“Smoke’s going to kill a lot of humans.”
Pot Goblin muttered softly, gazing up at the motel. People were leaning out of the windows, screaming.
“Help us! Please help us!”
Pot Goblin’s gaze as she watched them remained indifferent.
Humans dying and living—she’d witnessed it countless times. No one escaped death, and no one avoided accidents. It was simply the natural order.
As Pot Goblin surveyed her surroundings, she suddenly sensed someone’s presence. Turning in that direction, she saw a man approaching.
“Pot Goblin, it’s been a while.”
The man approaching with a smile wore a black suit and had an impressive build.
“Kang Doo-chi, it’s been a while for you too.”
The man called Kang Doo-chi smiled and looked at the motel.
“Seeing you here, the protagonist must be a firefighter?”
“Yes.”
Pot Goblin nodded and casually offered him a suggestion.
“The book’s interesting. Want to read it?”
“Haha! I’ve been quite busy lately. I don’t have time to read.”
“You don’t read because you have time—you make time to read. For someone—or rather, a goblin—to lack such refinement is shameful.”
Pot Goblin clicked her tongue and glanced around. On one side, men in black suits were gathered, conversing.
To anyone’s eye, they seemed out of place at a fire scene.
It wasn’t because they wore black suits.
Everyone else had urgent expressions, fidgeting and saying things like “What do we do?” and “How can we help?”—but these men looked calm, and their conversation was about mundane, everyday matters.
Pot Goblin glanced at the men in black suits and spoke.
“Looks like a lot of humans are going to die.”
“That’s classified.”
“With so many JS employees here, do you really need to keep it secret?”
“We could be here for a company dinner. Even if we came for work, it might have nothing to do with the fire.”
At Kang Doo-chi’s words, Pot Goblin looked at him and suddenly asked.
“I’ve always been curious about how your people operate. You stand next to humans who clearly look like they’re about to die, yet you never tell them whether they’ll live or die?”
“You were curious about that?”
“Following my novel’s material around, your Factory Employees will have things to deal with. Every time I ask if this person dies, you don’t answer me. But they always do die. If they’re going to die in a few minutes anyway, wouldn’t it be fine to tell me?”
When a JS employee stands next to someone destined to die, they perish. These days we call them JS employees, but in the old days they were called Grim Reapers—Kang Doo-chi and those men in black suits over there.
Pot Goblin’s question drew a smile from Kang Doo-chi as he replied.
“Most people’s lifespans are determined by the karma they’ve accumulated through their lives. That’s why we dispatch according to that karma. However… very occasionally, variables arise that disrupt these calculations.”
“Variables?”
“We calculate causality to determine a client’s remaining lifespan and dispatch accordingly, but sometimes the variable of chance alters that lifespan entirely. When that happens… we have to work overtime.”
“So that’s why you won’t tell us? Because you don’t want to work overtime?”
“Because I might be the variable myself. And do you know how many documents we have to file when working overtime? We have to input new causality calculations too… it’s genuinely exhausting work.”
As they spoke, a firefighter emerged carrying someone in his arms.
“Wow… the fire gear must be heavy enough, yet he’s carrying a person like that. That guy’s got strength.”
As Kang Doo-chi murmured in admiration, Pot Goblin spoke with a pleased expression.
“My protagonist.”
“Really? He does seem strong.”
“If that were my true power, I’d be competing in the Olympics. The equipment’s weight is one thing, but do you know how hard it is to breathe with an oxygen mask on?”
“Is it?”
“Incredibly hard. And he was just moving through flames moments ago… yet he’s carrying an adult like that? That’s not something mere physical strength can accomplish.”
“No?”
“It’s willpower! Because he has the willpower to save lives, superhuman strength emerges from within him.”
Pot Goblin’s gaze, which had been fixed on Cha Im-beom with satisfaction, shifted to one side.
Kang Doo-chi and the JS employees had glanced at their wristwatches and were beginning to enter the motel one by one.
“Looks like they’re going to collect someone.”
“The people whose names are listed are in that location. When the time comes, we have to escort them.”
At Kang Doo-chi’s words, Pot Goblin looked at him.
“Aren’t you going?”
“My client still has time remaining.”
Pot Goblin nodded, then turned her gaze back to Cha Im-beom. He was removing his oxygen mask, catching his ragged breath, and drinking water.
And immediately after, he put the oxygen mask back on and rushed back into the motel.
“He must be exhausted, yet he’s going back in.”
At Kang Doo-chi’s words, Pot Goblin laughed and spoke.
“People can die even in the moments between breaths.”
Then she silently watched the motel he’d entered. Through the gaps of the open windows, people were screaming, and fire ladders were rescuing them one by one.
Honk! Honk! Honk!
Suddenly, a loud horn blared from behind the onlookers. When people turned around, they saw a truck approaching.
“Move! Get out of the way!”
As the truck driver shouted at the crowd, people stepped aside in confusion, unsure what was happening.
A police officer who had been controlling traffic in the area hurried toward the truck.
“There’s a fire right now and we have traffic control in effect. You can’t go through here.”
“I know. That’s why I brought the ladder truck.”
“What?”
The officer looked puzzled, so the Helpful Driver pointed behind him. Then the officer’s eyes caught sight of the ladder in the truck bed.

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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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