Goblin Library

Chapter 3

After a moment of silence, Tae-pung, suddenly curious, asked,

“If you pay taxes… do you by any chance have a resident registration number?”

Only those registered as residents in the Republic of Korea paid taxes.

“Of course I do. Unless you’re a mountain spirit living in the mountains, you have to register as a resident.”

“But… you’re a goblin.”

At Tae-pung’s question, the goblin shook his head slightly.

“You don’t know much about goblins, do you?”

The goblin then moved his hand.

A baton, like the one used by an orchestra conductor, appeared in his hand.

Seeing that, something suddenly came to Tae-pung’s mind.

“…A goblin club?”

“That’s right.”

The goblin readily agreed and lightly waved the baton.

Dozens of books from the shelves flew towards the counter and piled up.

Thud, thud, thud!

Tae-pung stared blankly at the books piling up effortlessly.

They were all fairy tale books. There was the story of , which was about his ancestor, and also a fairy tale book called .

“Even though they are fairy tales, they are written somewhat realistically about goblins, so read them. You need to know the basics about us goblins to avoid accidents while working here.”

He then opened the fairy tale book and showed it to him.

“As you know, the old man with the bump was a very good singer.”

The goblin said with a smile.

“It’s infuriating that the old geezer tricked me… but his singing ability was truly an all-time masterpiece.”

“All-time masterpiece…”

“It means a great singer who appears only once in a thousand years.”

The goblin closed his eyes and nodded as if reminiscing about the old man with the bump, then opened his eyes again and said,

“Goblins love fun things. Singing, wrestling, gambling, arm wrestling… We love anything fun.”

“I know that story.”

Tae-pung also knew that goblins liked fun things. He had heard many stories about goblins playing pranks on humans, including the story of a goblin who met a man in the mountains and challenged him to wrestle until dawn, only to find himself holding onto a tree when the sun came up.

“That’s why we live among humans instead of in the mountains. Because the human world is full of fun things.”

Tae-pung found it unexpected that the goblin lived among humans for fun.

The fact that a goblin, who he thought would be living in some haunted house in the mountains if they really existed, was so integrated into modern society that he even had a resident registration card…

‘And a goblin paying taxes?’

Ignoring Tae-pung’s dumbfounded gaze, the goblin pointed at the bookshelves in the library and said,

“Anyway, you can work here from now on.”

“Here? Or that bookstore from earlier?”

Tae-pung asked, recalling the bookstore he had seen at the entrance, and the goblin shook his head.

“That’s not a place for selling books, it’s a place where I buy and read books, so you don’t have to worry about it.”

Tae-pung was puzzled by the fact that the goblin read books.

“You read books?”

The goblin nodded.

“I see you’ve never heard of a goblin’s story pouch.”

“I haven’t.”

“Goblins love interesting stories. That’s why we buy books.”

The goblin paused and pointed at the bookshelves filled with books.

“And this place is like a story pouch where goblins’ stories are collected. Although it’s been made into a library to suit the times.”

He then said to Tae-pung,

“Your job is to organize and clean the books here.”

“Is that all I have to do?”

“Goblins will come to see the books. When they come, just do as they say.”

Surprised by the goblin’s words, Tae-pung asked,

“Other goblins will come here too?”

“It’s a library, of course they’ll come to read books.”

The goblin said, holding up a fairy tale book.

“Any more questions?”

“Um… what about my bump?”

As Tae-pung stroked his chin, the goblin raised his hand.

The bump was in his hand.

‘Where does that bump keep appearing from?’

Clearly, his hand was empty, but the moment he raised it, the bump appeared.

“I’ll remove the bump while you work here.”

“So that means… if I don’t work here…”

The goblin tapped his chin with his finger.

“The bump stays.”

The goblin continued,

“A grudge is a grudge, a favor is a favor. If you don’t want to work here, I’ll get you a job elsewhere. Of course, you’ll have to keep the bump.”

“The bump…”

Tae-pung imagined life with the bump, enduring the whispers of people, and sighed with a darkened face.

But only for a moment. As if remembering something, Tae-pung’s expression suddenly brightened. Seeing this, the goblin chuckled and said,

“Don’t even think about trying to remove it at a hospital. A bump attached by a goblin… cannot be removed by modern medicine.”

Tae-pung’s face hardened again. As the goblin said, he had planned to go to a hospital to remove the bump if it was attached.

“Then how long do I have to work?”

“Until you die.”

“Until I die?”

As a surprised Tae-pung widened his eyes, the goblin said,

“I’ve been searching for the old man with the bump for hundreds of years. Did you think that a grudge hundreds of years old would be written off just because you worked for a few years?”

Tae-pung flinched at the goblin’s cold voice and lowered his head.

“…”

Looking at Tae-pung, who had no answer, the goblin spoke again.

“Making you work here is both a reward I give you and a retribution instead of the bump. You can choose. Live here working for the rest of your life, or live with the bump for the rest of your life.”

Tae-pung hesitated for a moment, then came to a conclusion, sighed, and said,

“I’ll work.”

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

“If you hadn’t shown me kindness yesterday, you wouldn’t even have this choice.”

“…Yes, I understand.”

Tae-pung replied listlessly. It was better than living with a bump for the rest of his life, but it was no different from a disaster suddenly striking him.

“But working here won’t be so bad. I’ll pay you a salary at the level of a large corporation. You’ll be compensated for the work you do.”

“At the level of a large corporation?”

Suddenly, Tae-pung’s eyes lit up. The goblin nodded and replied,

“Goblins always repay favors. I can’t call it repaying a favor if I make you work for low wages.”

“Then, if I weren’t a descendant of the old man with the bump, what kind of job would you have given me?”

Tae-pung asked out of curiosity, and the goblin said,

“I would have put you in the large corporation you wanted to join.”

“Just for a can of coffee and a sandwich… you would have put me in a large corporation?”

“Whether it’s good or a lot doesn’t matter. What matters to us goblins is goodwill. Even if you had given me a glass of water, I would have repaid you the same.”

With his hands clasped behind his back, the goblin continued, looking at the bookshelves,

“That’s why we sometimes appear to humans as good fortune, and other times as misfortune.”

Tae-pung looked at the goblin and nodded slightly. If he could fulfill his wish of getting a job at a large company just for receiving a can of coffee and a piece of sandwich, then the goblin’s repayment was indeed fortunate.

But on the other hand, if he made a slip of the tongue or committed even a small mistake towards the goblin… it would turn into a tremendous misfortune.

Remembering how he had yelled at the goblin earlier, Tae-pung felt a shiver run down his spine. The goblin, watching Tae-pung, took out a wooden box from under the counter.

After looking at the antique-looking box for a moment, the goblin opened the lid.

Click! Creak…

It opened with a sharp sound, as if the hinges were rusty. The goblin took out an object from inside the box.

Swish.

What emerged from the box was a fedora. It was a similar design to the one the goblin was wearing, but it was white.

“Wear this when you work at the store.”

Saying this, the goblin placed the fedora on Tae-pung’s head.

Then…

Whoosh!

Tae-pung’s clothes changed. It was the same suit the goblin was wearing.

No, not only his clothes changed, but shoes and even a watch appeared.

“Huh?”

As Tae-pung looked at himself in surprise, the goblin said,

“What you’re wearing is a goblin headband.”

“Goblin headband? Isn’t a goblin headband supposed to make you invisible?”

The goblin’s expression softened a little, as if impressed.

“You know a bit about goblins.”

“I remember reading about it in fairy tales.”

At Tae-pung’s reply, the goblin said,

“It does have the function of making you invisible to humans, as you said, but its main purpose is transformation.”

“Transformation?”

“When a goblin transforms their appearance to look like a human or changes into another object, they use a goblin headband.”

As he spoke, the goblin swiped his finger across the brim of his fedora.

The color and appearance of the suit the goblin was wearing changed.

Tae-pung gasped in amazement.

“Wow…”

The goblin changed back into his original clothes and said to Tae-pung,

“Well, it’s something like this.”

Looking at the goblin’s fedora in wonder, Tae-pung suddenly had a curious thought and asked,

“But isn’t a headband supposed to look different?”

The goblin headband Tae-pung had seen in fairy tale books was, as the name suggested, a headband, or a kind of hat. It certainly wasn’t a fedora like this.

“A goblin can’t just walk around wearing only underwear forever, can he?”

The goblin slightly raised both hands, indicating his clothes.

“We have to keep up with the times.”

“I see.”

Tae-pung nodded in understanding.

The goblin shifted the topic back to work.

“There are three things you need to be careful of while working. Keep the place clean, dress appropriately for the dignity of the Goblin Library…”

Tae-pung pondered the goblin’s words and then asked, puzzled,

“Um, you said three things.”

The goblin looked at Tae-pung silently for a moment, then said in a low voice,

“Don’t get too close to the goblins.”

“Close?”

“If you get close, you’ll be very troubled.”

While Tae-pung was thinking about what he meant, the goblin looked at his wristwatch and nodded.

“I have to go to work, so you…”

The goblin tilted his head in the direction of the bookshelves.

“Clean up or something.”

As the goblin headed for the door, Tae-pung quickly asked,

“Excuse me, where are the cleaning tools?”

Without stopping, the goblin pointed to a door behind the counter.

Click!

The goblin, who had opened the door, paused for a moment and then said,

“If you’re bored, try reading a book from the nearest shelf.”

With those words, the goblin closed the door and left.

Click!

As the door closed, Tae-pung was left alone in the vast Goblin Library.

With the goblin out of sight, he felt a little less tense. Tae-pung walked over to a small chair next to the counter and sat down.

“Sigh!”

Sitting on the chair, he let out a sigh and looked around the library.

“Goblins… Goblin Library…”

Muttering softly to himself, Tae-pung took off the fedora, which he had been told was a goblin headband.

“Goblin headband… What in the world is going on?”

Just yesterday, he had thought that everything would be fine if he could just get a job.

But now… he found himself in a situation like a character from a fairy tale.

. It seemed like a perfect title for a book.

Tae-pung sighed once again and got up. He was going to start cleaning as the goblin had instructed.

When he opened the door the goblin had pointed to, there were various cleaning tools inside.

Taking out the cleaning tools, Tae-pung looked at the vast library with a blank stare. Judging from the size of the library, it seemed like it would be lunchtime before he finished cleaning, even if he started now.

Shaking his head slightly, Tae-pung took out a long mop, went to one end of the library, and started slowly pushing it towards the other end.

As he moved along the aisle between the bookshelves, mopping the floor, Tae-pung suddenly noticed the books on the shelves.

“Stories collected by goblins… What kind of books are they?”

Muttering softly to himself, Tae-pung stopped cleaning for a moment and examined the books on the shelves. They were all antique-looking hardcover books.

“He said I could read the books.”

Tae-pung took out one of the books.

Author: Cauldron Goblin

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