Goblin Library

Chapter 2

Tae-pung couldn’t quite understand what the man meant.

But it was clear that the man was connected to his bump.

As he thought about it, anger surged within him.

“Hey, you!”

Shouting, Tae-pung ran towards the sports car.

He glared at the man who was looking at him through the window.

“What did you do to me!”

At Tae-pung’s outburst, the man glanced at the bump on his chin.

“Is it a bit small?”

“What?”

Ignoring Tae-pung’s question, the man tilted his head and said,

“Did I attach it a little smaller than the previous one?”

“What the hell are you talking about! Did you do this to me or not!”

Finally making eye contact with Tae-pung, the man opened his mouth.

“First. I put the bump on your chin. That’s a fact.”

“You…”

“Shh!”

The man put a finger to his lips. Tae-pung instinctively closed his mouth as instructed, and the man continued.

“Second. If I can attach one, why not two or three? Should I add more?”

“….”

In his excitement, Tae-pung hadn’t thought of that. His expression crumpled.

The man sighed and said,

“Third. When speaking to someone who can attach a bump to a person’s body in a single day, shouldn’t you be a little more polite? Ah! Don’t answer right away, think about it before you speak. If you don’t like what’s attached now, I can change it to something bigger.”

Tae-pung’s lips twitched. He wanted to retort, but he had a feeling he shouldn’t open his mouth carelessly.

Looking at Tae-pung, the man said,

“Get in.”

“Huh?”

“Get in the car.”

At the man’s words, Tae-pung hesitated for a moment before approaching the passenger seat. Normally, he would never get into a stranger’s car… no, a suspicious person’s car, but this wasn’t a normal situation.

If he offended this man, who knows, he might end up with an even bigger bump as the man had said.

In the end, Tae-pung did as he was told, opened the passenger door, and carefully got into the car.

“Put on your seatbelt.”

Vroom!

The man started the car with the roar of the engine.

Perhaps because it was a top-of-the-line sports car, the interior was furnished with high-quality leather seats and trim.

But Tae-pung couldn’t focus on any of that. His attention was solely on the fist-sized bump on his chin.

“Just… who are you?”

“A goblin.”

“Goblin? Are you kidding me right now?”

As Tae-pung narrowed his eyes and glared at him, the man glanced at him.

“How much do you think this car is worth?”

“Huh?”

To Tae-pung, who asked back blankly in bewilderment, the man pointed at his clothes with his finger and said,

“Or how about these clothes? The Italian craftsman, Giorgio, only makes three suits a year, and this is one of them. Well, that means it’s quite expensive. Why would someone like me joke around with you?”

“Then… why are you doing this?”

The man replied in a matter-of-fact tone,

“Because I’m a goblin.”

Tae-pung’s brow furrowed.

He still felt like the man was playing a prank on him.

“I’ll show you the proof later… For now, just listen to what I have to say.”

At the man’s words, Tae-pung decided to keep his mouth shut for the time being. However, upon hearing the words that followed, a question immediately popped out of his mouth.

“You are a descendant of the old man with the bump.”

“Huh?”

“It’s exactly as I said. That’s why I sought you out.”

At the utterly absurd statement, Tae-pung was dumbfounded and could only stare blankly at the man.

A descendant of the old man with the bump… On top of that, he was his descendant? It was as hard to believe as the man’s claim that he was a goblin.

The man glanced at Tae-pung and said,

“You said you know the story of the old man with the bump, right?”

“Yes.”

“In that story, the old man with the bump tricks the goblin and gets rid of his bump, right?”

At the man’s question, Tae-pung nodded.

“Yes.”

“And then another old man, who heard the rumor, comes to get rid of his bump, but instead gets another one. As punishment for trying to deceive the goblin.”

The man glanced at Tae-pung.

“The goblin punished the one who tried to deceive him. So, what did he do to the old man with the bump who had already tricked him?”

“…Well, he must have found him and punished him, right?”

At Tae-pung’s words, the man sighed.

“Yes, he should have punished him. He should have…”

The man clicked his tongue as if in regret.

“But he couldn’t find him.”

“Huh?”

“He couldn’t find him. He searched and searched all over Goryeo[mfn]a Korean dynasties which existed from 918 to 1392.[/mfn]… He even summoned all the ghosts and spirits of Goryeo, but he couldn’t find him. So, he couldn’t punish him.”

“Ghosts and spirits…?”

Tae-pung muttered in puzzlement at the unfamiliar word. However, the man didn’t offer any explanation.

As the flow of the story was interrupted, Tae-pung cautiously asked,

“More importantly… can you remove this bump from my chin?”

What was important to Tae-pung now wasn’t the absurd story about goblins and the old man with the bump, but the bump currently attached to his chin.

“Of course I can remove it, since I’m the one who attached it.”

Saying this, the man casually reached out his hand.

Flinch!

Tae-pung reacted to the approaching hand and pulled his head back. But then he remembered the man’s answer that he could remove the bump and slowly brought his head back to its original position.

The man grabbed the bump on Tae-pung’s chin. And… in the man’s withdrawn hand was a fist-sized piece of flesh.

At the same time, the heavy, uncomfortable sensation from his chin disappeared.

Just in case, Tae-pung touched his chin with his hand and his eyes widened.

The dreadful bump that had been there just moments ago was gone.

While Tae-pung was touching his chin in amazement and joy, the man reached out his hand.

Thud!

And the moment the large hand touched his chin, Tae-pung’s face crumpled.

The heavy sensation of the bump was back.

“What the hell are you doing!”

The man replied with a smile to Tae-pung’s shouting,

“I said I could remove it, I didn’t say I would.”

“Y…”

Tae-pung, about to yell again in frustration, suddenly found himself at a loss. His mouth wouldn’t open, as if it had been sewn shut with thread.

“Mmm! Mmm mmm!”

To Tae-pung, who was fumbling with his mouth with both hands and groaning, the man said,

“Having shown you this much, you should believe that I am a goblin and that you shouldn’t talk recklessly, right?”

The man then raised his hand.

Swish!

In his hand was the same fist-sized lump of flesh he had seen earlier.

“Or do you want to experience the proverb ‘Going to remove a bump but ending up with another’ firsthand?”

At the man’s threat to attach another bump, Tae-pung closed his mouth. No, his mouth was already closed, so to be precise, he stopped groaning.

Looking at Tae-pung, the man lightly flicked his finger.

Snap!

“…Phew!”

Instantly, Tae-pung’s mouth, which had been blocked until now, opened easily.

“Now, can we continue our conversation?”

“…Yes.”

Tae-pung nodded obediently. He didn’t know if the man was really a goblin, but it was clear that he was a very strange and dangerous being.

Turning the steering wheel, the man continued the story that had been interrupted earlier.

“Anyway, the search for the old man with the bump, which started in the Goryeo Dynasty, has continued until now.”

“So, for hundreds of years?”

“Almost 800 years. And then I found you. The descendant of the old man with the bump.”

“There must be many other descendants of the old man with the bump besides me. Why me?”

He had his family and relatives. Why was he the one chosen among so many people?

“You have the strongest aura of the old man with the bump. That’s why I targeted you. Or… should I fairly attach a bump to each of your family members?”

“Oh, no!”

Tae-pung, terrified, hurriedly replied. Then, after a moment of hesitation, he asked,

“…But did you really search for 800 years?”

“Goblins never forget grudges or favors. Even after a thousand years, not just 800, I would have kept searching.”

Saying this, the man glanced at Tae-pung. His brow was slightly furrowed as if he had a headache.

“But after meeting you, a problem arose.”

“A problem…?”

“I told you earlier, goblins never forget grudges or favors. Just as we must find and punish those who bear grudges against us, we must also repay those who have shown us kindness.”

The man sighed.

“You gave me coffee and a sandwich by the Han River yesterday.”

“Yes.”

Tae-pung, who had answered unconsciously, asked in surprise,

“Was that a favor?”

“That’s right.”

The man nodded slightly.

“I just gave you the coffee and sandwich without thinking much of it.”

“That’s why it becomes a favor. If you had given it to me with expectations, it wouldn’t be a favor. It’s a favor because you offered kindness without any ulterior motive. If I had known this would happen, I should have just attached the bump and left…”

At the man’s words, Tae-pung said in disbelief,

“Then why did you attach the bump to me? Instead of repaying the favor?”

“We repay favors with what the person desires most. We grant their wishes.”

“Wishes? Then please remove my bump. That’s what I want most.”

To Tae-pung’s hasty words, the man shook his head.

“That’s today’s wish, yesterday your wish was to get a job, right? I will grant that wish.”

“You’re going to get me a job?”

“Yes.”

“But I’m currently…”

As Tae-pung stroked the bump on his chin, the man reached out his hand.

Thud!

He plucked off the bump as if removing the cookie crumble from the top of a streusel bread.

“Done, right?”

“Huh?”

As Tae-pung stroked his chin, which felt light again, the car stopped.

“Get out.”

What caught Tae-pung’s eye as he got out of the car was a small two-story building.

And…

「Goblin Library」

On the first floor was a bookstore with a sign that read “Goblin Library.”

Passing by Tae-pung, who was staring at the small bookstore that didn’t quite match its name “library,” the man opened the bookstore door.

“Come in.”

At the man’s words, Tae-pung cautiously tried to follow him inside but stopped in his tracks.

Then, with a bewildered look, he looked inside the door.

The Goblin Library, which he had just seen through the window, was just a small bookstore. But… the scene he saw through this door was truly… an enormous library, unbelievably spacious, with countless bookshelves lined up in rows.

Tae-pung hurriedly took a step back and looked inside again through the window.

Then it was back to the interior of the small bookstore as he had seen before.

Confused, Tae-pung looked alternately at the door and the window.

‘What is this?’

The interior seen through the door and the interior seen through the window were completely different?

The man urged Tae-pung,

“I said, come in.”

Tae-pung hesitated for a moment, then stepped inside.

As soon as he entered, the door closed automatically.

Tae-pung looked around with curious eyes. The interior was even more spacious than it appeared from the doorway.

It seemed wider and had a higher ceiling than the central library of the university Tae-pung had attended.

‘He really… is a goblin.’

Although he had already accepted the fact when the goblin attached and removed the bump, being in this unrealistic space made it even more real that he was a goblin.

Glancing at Tae-pung, the goblin took off his suit jacket and hung it on the coat rack at the entrance counter.

“From now on, this is the Goblin Library where you will work.”

“Goblin Library?”

Muttering to himself, Tae-pung suddenly remembered the bookstore he had seen earlier and asked,

“Then what about the bookstore I saw at the entrance?”

“That’s my shop.”

“You run a bookstore?”

At Tae-pung’s question, the goblin nodded.

“In the Joseon Dynasty, the source of money wasn’t really a problem… but in this era, after you spend money, its origin can be an issue. So, goblins living in this day and age all have jobs. We also pay our taxes diligently.”

Shaking his head as if it was truly bothersome, the goblin looked at Tae-pung.

“Your salary will also be paid through that bookstore.”

“There’s a salary?”

“Isn’t it natural to get paid for work?”

Tae-pung licked his lips.

In this current situation, the goblin’s offer to pay him a salary felt even more surreal.