Goblin: The Lonely and the Great God - Chapter 1

The Romantic Curse

    The depressing, clear sky looked miserable and sinister. War wasn’t a place where luck followed, it was a place where people moaned and lost blood. Laughing was the last thing people did, but even then, soldiers laughed with blood all over. 

    How many people had he killed?

    Shin Kim counted silently. The winner of this war was the god of war; people called him 'God.' He was Goryeo’s greatest god of war.  

    Unconsciously, his sword took the lives of his enemies. Blood splattered over the blade, another layer of blood covering another. He looked around and saw men dying., enemies and allies. Innocent citizens were crying as their flesh was ripped apart. Creatures that were mute; the shrieking of horses that were becoming 3-legged. The crows flew onto the corpses on the other side of the land; eating it.

    Was he being eaten alive too? There were days when he regretted it, regretted all of it. But all this wasn’t for him. It was for his country, Goryeo. And that country’s god, the Monarch. 

    Shin Kim shouted and ran towards his enemies once again. There was nothing to think about. Just killing, killing, and killing. After all, he was only a god made of blood. Lightning thundered in the clear sky. Under the light of thunder, Khitan’s flag burned, and Goryeo’s flag fluttered. 

    “It’s Shin Kim!” 

    “Hurray for Shin Kim!” 

    The general had returned back to the Monarch’s land. The hooves of the horses that had come home from the war sounded tired, but in some way, it sounded free and light. There had been some who had not managed to come back, but Shin Kim did. 

    The people shouted Shin’s name happily. Their saviour sat straight on his horse, his long hair swishing behind him. 

    Palace guards were protecting the castle doors, and the soldiers came off their horses. Not a single person was unharmed. They had fought with the enemy and won; there was no doubt that the castle doors would be open widely for them. 

    “Open the gates! It is the triumphed warrior Shin Kim!”  

    “Shin Kim will take off his armour and follow the King’s orders.”

    The people stood in shock as a weak, little palace guard stood before the greatest general of Goryeo. A subordinate standing next to Shin shouted.

    “You ignorant man! Do you know who you are blocking?”

    The subordinate lifted his arm to take out his blade, but Shin stopped him. He had noticed the difference in the atmosphere.

    “General Kim Shin! You are guilty of treason! Take up your sword, get on your knees, and follow the King’s orders.”

    Guilty of treason. This weak, little palace guard had just accused the greatest general of Goryeo guilty of treason. Shin’s eyes wavered. 

    “You ignorant man! Surely you have gone insane!”

    Shin’s subordinate started to raise his voice. 

    The King’s order. It could not be a King’s order. That order had made him go to war. Shin took a step towards the gate and suddenly the archers tightened their strings. 

    “General Kim Shin! You are guilty of treason!” 

    How could it be? Those arrows that were pointed at him. Could the monarch’s choice really be this?

    “I will meet His Majesty. Open the gates.”

    He took a step forward, but the palace guards did not move. The people that had been shouting his name were now on the ground, scared. Something hot seeped up his body. 

    “If you block me now, you will die. Open the gates!”

    The moment he took out his sword, whoosh! Hundreds of arrows came flying through the air. Shin’s subordinates fell to the ground. Some arrows missed and hit the ground. They were bleeding, dying, and those who tried to stay alive vomited blood. 

    There had been no sleep for 4 monstrous days; the long fight. Not even their enemies could kill them. But now they died without even raising their swords. It was a vain death. Shin’s arm shook with anger, he had to save those who were still alive. The gates opened. While watching the gates open slowly, Shin took another lonely step towards the palace.

 

    Shin stopped in front of the palace grounds. In front of the gates leading to the palace, Her Majesty stood there, blocking the way. The elegant and beautiful queen was Shin Kim’s one and only sister. Her Majesty’s small hands clenched her skirt tightly. Tears filled her eyes. Shin stopped and saw what was going on. His blood family and his servants were all tied up with thick rope and were on their knees. The sallow face showed the torture they had been through. 

    He realised something he hadn’t before. The king had abandoned him. The man sitting on the throne; the young king; his monarch. 

    “The king controls the people, and the gods control the king. They say that Shin Kim is the god,” the deceitful servant whispered with his cunning tongue in His Majesty’s ear. The monarch looked down at Shin with burning eyes. Eyes filled with mixed feelings. Shin was one of his most faithful servants, but Shin was also one of the biggest threats to the throne. Shin’s eyes were sharp and strong. They were eyes that the king could trust, but they were also the eyes that the people trusted too. 

    "That man's endless victories have taken the hearts of the people and now the people are mocking the palace. Punish this man by the law, your majesty.”

    Shin slowly shook his head at the king, but the king had already made up his mind. The king's fists were clenched with fury. 

    “Your Majesty. Does it have to end like this?” 

    His voice shook horribly. Even all the terrifying screams he heard at war were nothing compared to his trembling voice.

    “So don’t come any further. Whatever it is, stop. Stop at that place and die as a traitor. Then everyone else will live.”

    The young king’s eyes wavered for a moment. His eyes caught the queen. But the queen had already turned her back on the king and was looking at her brother. 

    "But if you don't stop there, because of that one step, that one glance! Everyone will die and be placed at your feet.”

    The palace guards all tightened their strings again. Shin turned to face his sister. He had always thought that his sister was just a child, but when had she managed to get up here all alone? He thought about all those letters she had sent when he had been through those wars. He wanted to save his sister. 

    “Keep going, general. Don’t… Don’t worry about me.”

    “... My queen.”

    His bloodshot eyes filled with tears. 

    “I know, general. Truly, I do. If this is my last, that so will be my destiny. So keep going. Don’t stop until you reach the king.”

    The queen was dressed in a silk, white dress. She kept her back straight and didn’t shake at all. Shin understood what his sister was telling him. A tear dropped from her crystal eyes and so Shin took a step forward.

    One step. Shin's one step sent arrows flying from all directions. His servants fell to the ground. Their cries ripped his heart. Another step and the distance between the king and him became closer. The queen had always been on Shin’s side. Shin’s steps scared the king. 

    “It is treason! Do not leave a single person in this family alive! This is an order!”

    Arrows fell, killing all of Shin’s family. The queen had turned to look at Shin when an arrow struck her back. Blood spread on the soft silk where beautiful stitches were woven. A tear fell from Shin’s eyes and he stopped walking.

    “Kneel the sinner!” The king ordered. 

    The guard standing closest to Shin pulled out his sword and sliced Shin’s knee. The sound of Shin falling to the ground was painful. Even if the guard had not sliced his knee, he would have kneeled anytime. He had, however, now knelt completely because of another. 

    “General!” 

    One of Shin’s subordinates ran towards the fallen man. The subordinate grabbed Shin by the arm and helped him up. 

    “Your majesty! Why are you doing this? Are you not afraid of the heavens?”

 

    Heaven. That man said heaven. But when had the heavens ever been on Shin’s side? The king’s mouth became crooked. Shin saw the king’s face through his blurred vision and he seared His Majesty’s angry face in his heart. The king became angrier as he saw that Shin was still looking at him. 

    “The sinner looks at the King with murderous eyes. Execute him.”

    The guard that had sliced Shin's knee took out his sword again. But this time there was a clang of swords as Shin blocked the attack. 

    “This is not your job.” 

    This generation’s god of war. No enemy could kill him. Just a few days before, he had been a god to all the soldiers in the country. The guard took the sword back with a shaking hand. 

    “I would like to ask you for my last,” Shin asked in a low voice to his subordinate. 

    His voice shook with anger and sadness, as he handed his sword to his subordinate. The people who were watching this scene from outside the gates stopped breathing altogether. They were begging. Shin was the general that had saved them. So if there was a god out there who was listening, to save him. The subordinate who received the sword began to cry. He was also one of the men that had fought with Shin. The subordinate thrust the sword through Shin. At the same time, the guard sliced the subordinates back. 

    The sword that was placed through Shin’s chest rang. Blood spurted out of his mouth and he fell sideways. He couldn’t see his subordinate's face. He would probably be dying like this too. 

    He tried to keep conscious as his eyes found the queen. The queen had fallen to the ground, looking at him. The queen’s life had come to an end before his. She reached out her hand as if to grab Shin’s last breath, but her hand fell with a thud. Her blood-covered jade ring rolled away. 

    His young sister had passed away. Shin’s eyes were slowly closing too. The last thing he saw was the king turning his back on him. His faithful servant and the woman that he had once loved had died, but he didn’t even turn back. He was a cruel king. 

    “No one will bury the corpse of the sinner. Throw him away in a deserted place and let the creatures eat him. That is his worth. This is an order!”

    The deceitful servant’s voice searched the fallen bodies. This was their worth. This was their destiny. Gods didn’t help humans. Because gods weren’t listening.

    It was the brightest time of the day. To some people there were ‘gods.’ But that day, Shin died at the hands of the servant he protected.

 

*

 

    The corpse was thrown out somewhere on a wide grass field. It became night. Then it became day. Time passed, and weeds were growing everywhere. Some parts of the corpse were eaten by the creatures. Some parts of the corpse were washed away with the rain and snow. Some parts were disintegrated into the ground. The sword stood lonely on the grass. People forgot their gods too quickly. Time had gone so much that the sword seemed breakable with just a touch. That was when a butterfly came to visit for the last time. 

    The gods had come to find Shin’s soul that was pierced with the sword into the ground. 

    “You risked your life to save your people, but your people have forgotten you. That is what humans are like. They are selfish. So, you are forgotten.”

    Shin’s soul had been crying all this time. His corpse had already disintegrated into the ground but he was still angry. Who was he angry at? The monarch? The deceitful servant? Or the gods that fluttered around between us, humans?

    “The only thing I don’t expect anything from is the gods.”

    “Humans change too quickly. Their greed is endless, someone’s sacrifice is natural, favours are easily forgotten, and faith is easily broken. Their wish is not something to listen to.”

    While listening to the gods speak, Shin remembered the people that had begged for him. Those people had given their all to a god who looked down on them. 

    “I have been mocked by the people, but truly, I have not been forgotten.”

    Shin decided to believe the people that thought of him as a god, rather than the god itself. The butterfly’s fluttering wings were light. 

    Shin Kim asked. “Do you want to bet on who's right?”

    He dared to make a bet with the gods. He was a soul that had nothing to lose. 

 

*

 

    Once again time passed. 30 years had passed, but still, no one had come to see Shin. The butterfly flew around the sword arrogantly. It was predicting its victory. But a day before the rain started, one of Shin’s subordinates came to see him.

    It was night. An old and unwell elderly came to see Shin with his grandson. Soldiers weren't guarding the corpse anymore so the elderly had been searching the body for days. 

    The body was destroyed, actually, there was no body at all. Just the sword standing lonely on the ground. The elderly wept in front of the body. He had always bent over and greeted Shin, and now he was just always bent over. His body wouldn’t move around as before, but he still bowed down before Shin. His grey hair and beard swayed in the wind. Copying the elderly, the grandson bowed down too. 

    “Sorry for coming too late, sir. I am about to die. I have come to say my last words.”

    “Is this sword a sir?” The grandson asked, wiping his dirty hands on his pants. 

    The subordinate picked up his grandson and placed him in front of the sword.

    “From now on, this child will serve you.”

    The elderly stroked his grandson's head. At that moment, the sword started to shake. 

    Shin Kim hadn’t been forgotten.

    Shin Kim had won. 

    A butterfly gently landed on the handle of the sword. Suddenly, the skies darkened as if a storm was going to come. A great light appeared and it seemed like the butterfly was controlling the winds. The sword lit up into flames. It was Goblin fire. A voice came down from the heavens. 

    “You have won, but your sword has sliced through thousands of innocent people. They might have been your enemy, but they were also my creation. You will live for eternity and watch your loved ones die.”

    The fire became bigger and Shin’s body was coming back. He was wearing the armour he had worn when he had died. Like that, the Goblin fire became Shin’s body. 

    Shin Kim became the Goblin.

    “You will forget no death. That is my reward and my punishment.”

    Air exhaled from the corpse. The pain from the sword came back and tortured Shin once more. The blue fire surrounded his body. He was burning in the flames.

    “Only the Goblin’s bride will take out the sword. When the sword is pulled out you will go back to nothing and be at peace.”

    The god’s voice was vivid to their ears. Shin Kim opened his eyes. 

    “My Lord!” The elderly called out to him in shock. 

    It was General Shin Kim. He still had the same look from when he had won all those wars. It was just a moment. The hot ball of fire became his body. But still, the fury in his heart and not cooled down. 

    “I have somewhere I need to be.”

 

    He made his way into the palace. His anger wasn’t at the people. He had to find the king. He had things to ask him. Revenge had to take place, but first, he had to ask. He had to ask the king why he hadn’t believed in him. 

    The sudden appearance of Shin made the palace havoc. Who was he? What was he doing? The people who did not know who Shin was, asked, but Shin flung them away with a flick of the hand. 

    Time had passed in the palace too. His Majesty lay on his bed, lifeless. 

    “I was… too late.”

    He looked around at the pictures surrounding the king’s bed. They were drawings of the Queen. The last thing the king had left behind was Shin’s sister. 

 

    The only thing left was emptiness. The king had left without giving him an answer, and his family had died. There was nothing left anymore. 

    At dawn, the sky was blood red, and Shin walked back to the grass field. 

    When he came to the place he had spent 30 years at, a stone grave was waiting for him. On the place where his body once lay, his subordinate’s corpse now rested. 

The young boy was stacking stones over his grandfather. His subordinate’s grave. Shin froze to the ground and he clenched his fists. You will forget no death. The gods had said just the night before. How foolish he was. What was he trying to gain from going that long way? Shin stacked the grave higher. 

    “You must be my first punishment.”

    No one would remember Shin now. 

    The first person he had sent away. Maybe he had been better off as a soul. Two hands caught him; the young boy’s hands. 

    “Take my bow, sir. Now I will serve you. It was my grandfather’s last words.”

    The boy's respectful but clumsy bow touched Shin’s heart. 

    “I was blinded by fury, I did not even ask him how he had been doing? But still, would you do that for me?” A sad voice came out from Shin. 

    The boy nodded. 

    The Goblin and his servant. Their long relationship had just started. 

 

    He took the boy overseas. To a foreign land. A place where it was natural that no one would remember him. He had felt happy and sad in that country, Goryeo. But he did not think he would go back there anymore. 

    (This is a translated version of "Goblin: The Lonely and the Great God" written by Eun Sook Kim and Soo Yeon Kim)