NOVEL NEXT Chapter 0 - Preparation is always painful, and beginnings are always sudden
《One must be taller than 8 cheok.》
《One must not lie.》
《One must keep promises with one’s life.》
《One must not take life recklessly.》
《One must not remove the mask worn since birth.》
These are the rules that goblins must follow.
December 2, 2022.
An anomaly occurred worldwide where dimensional gates, named “Gates,” began to appear.
Literally, worlds of completely different dimensions were connected through these gates, and all sorts of monsters began pouring out. Naturally, with no time given to respond to this sudden calamity, the loss of human life was bound to be enormous.
However, people didn’t just stand by and take it one-sidedly.
With the power of the military, which was belatedly dispatched, people steadily, if not perfectly, repelled the monsters. Meanwhile, humans who awakened to a power called “ability” banded together in organizations to deal with the monsters that were attacking humanity.
Soon, this new ability that emerged in humans was called “awakening” by the public, and those who possessed it were called “Awakened.” They took on the new job title of “Hunter” and began to deal with the monsters coming out of the gates, starting to restore stability to each country.
And just as they began to regain stability after great chaos, people learned another new fact.
It was that not only monsters came out of the gates, but also entities with intelligence.
At first, countries seriously considered inter-dimensional war due to this fact, but fortunately, such worries could pass as groundless.
The intelligent beings from other dimensions revealed that their world had collapsed and they were connected to Earth through these things called gates. They showed their intention to surrender and hoped to receive residency in exchange for what they could offer.
And indeed, when they examined what these beings claimed they could provide, their proposal was worthy of positive consideration, so the talk of war had to be swallowed back.
Of course, there were countries that outright rejected and ostracized the intelligent beings from other dimensions, but at least the Korean government accepted them.
They called Hunters with abilities related to supernatural magic among the Awakened to put contractual shackles on these beings, and provided them with residency on the condition that government-affiliated Awakened would be constantly attached for surveillance purposes.
They provided the sea or lakes for those who lived in water, designated skies for those who lived in the air, and appropriate underground spaces for those who lived beneath the earth.
And from that day on, Korea began to develop rapidly through the technologies obtained from dealings with these intelligent beings, and based on this, they continued to easily fend off the monsters emerging from the newly appearing gates.
Thanks to the present achieved in this way, humanity finally regained what could be called peace.
In this peace, the intelligent beings who had originally lost their own worlds were living quietly in their newly given lands.
Mount Seorak in Korea.
The race called goblins living there were no exception.
What are goblins?
According to the legends that most people have heard at least once, goblins are a race that likes to play tricks on people or wrestle, is easily fooled by lies, and strongly dislikes evil.
Of course, being legends, there were exaggerated or inflated stories, but most of these tales about goblins passed down on Earth were true.
The goblins who came through the gates and now live in Mount Seorak were twice the size of average humans, naive enough to believe lies at face value, and valued the promises they made with their mouths above all else.
This is the appearance of the goblins living in Mount Seorak, Korea.
To add some more realistic descriptions, goblins were a race whose mystique grew as they consumed time, and beings who embodied the power of nature.
The goblins living in Mount Seorak freely controlled the four elements of water, fire, earth, and wind, and possessed the power to materialize their imagination more concretely according to the time they had consumed.
Living in thatched houses built in the middle of the mountain, forming a village without any contact with civilization, wouldn’t people clearly feel that this is the goblin village they’ve only heard about in words?
Probably anyone would feel that way, and everyone would realize it the moment they saw the goblin village in Mount Seorak.
However.
Whack–! Whack–!
“…To think you still haven’t grown at all! Because of you alone, our family’s reputation is in tatters!”
“……”
Born as a goblin, this place felt like nothing but a prison to me, a place I wanted to escape from.
Every minute and second of living was like a hell of despair.
That was my impression of this goblin village.
And as I was thinking this, once again, a sharply trimmed switch struck my calf hard.
Whack–!
‘It hurts…..’
My calf, struck by my mother, that is, the Great Chief of the goblin village, stings terribly.
The pain was so searing that I felt like screaming, but knowing what would happen if I made a sound here, I tried hard to keep my mouth shut and gritted my teeth.
Born as a goblin, living as the son of the Great Chief for over a decade.
The reason I was being hit by my mother was because of this, but I was quite a special existence in this goblin village.
No, to be more precise, a detestable existence.
To put it bluntly, I was called a mutant…
I was the only mutant goblin in this village.
《One must be taller than 8 cheok.》
《One must not lie.》
《One must keep promises with one’s life.》
《One must not take life recklessly.》
《One must not remove the mask worn since birth.》
These are the rules that one learns immediately upon being born in this village and learning to read as a goblin.
I too, as a goblin, and moreover as the son of the Great Chief, was educated to memorize these rules first.
But even though I had already passed my growth period, unlike others who were at least 2m tall, I was only 170cm tall, a petite figure, and I had to realize, whether I liked it or not, that I was a mutant.
Perhaps because of this, unlike others who regarded the goblin rules as absolute, I had an opposing nature that could be described as light and shadow.
《One must not lie.》
“I lied as easily as breathing.”
Unlike other goblins who are naively fooled by lies and never lie themselves, I was sensitive to lies told by others, very suspicious, and rather easily told lies myself.
After all, I preferred to deceive rather than be fooled like an idiot.
《One must keep promises with one’s life.》
“Everyone ostracizes me, so I’ve never really made promises… But I don’t want to risk my life for a promise anyway.”
Because I was a mutant, I was always beaten whenever I walked around the village, so I had never shared promises with anyone, but like lying, I thought this could be easily broken if one set their mind to it.
After all, isn’t my life more important than a promise made with someone?
Risking one’s life for a promise that couldn’t be kept anyway seemed like the act of a fool.
《One must not take life recklessly.》
“Is killing someone recklessly… really a problem?”
Crushing insects under my foot, or someone from my own kind I fought when I snuck out of the house without my mother knowing in the past.
At the time, I was so angry from being despised as a mutant that I don’t remember clearly, but if I were to go back to that situation, and if I were told to kill them, I don’t think I would hesitate.
After all, if a fight breaks out with resolve, it’s the law of nature for the weak to die at the hands of the strong, not just for goblins but for all living beings born into this world.
《One must not remove the mask worn since birth.》
“And this mask that was placed in my hands as soon as I was born…”
Lastly, the stone mask that covers only my eyes, which I’m wearing even at this moment.
I carefully raised my hand and touched the stone mask covering my eyes.
Tak—
The contours of the mask brush against my nails, making a hard stone sound.
Feeling the coldness of the stone mask at my fingertips, I slowly lowered my hand that I had raised.
This is literally the goblin mask that I acquired at the same time I was born from my mother’s womb.
Unlike the mysterious powers that goblins use as easily as eating, this mask wasn’t particularly special, but it was something that had to be worn if one wanted to exist as a goblin.
If you’re not wearing the stone mask, you’re not recognized as a goblin, and if you take off this mask, you can’t be said to be living as a goblin.
Of course, that doesn’t mean you lose your goblin powers if you take off the mask.
As I said before, the stone mask was just a mask without any special power, so even if you took it off, you could use your goblin powers normally.
To put it simply, this last rule is an outdated rule of old geezers.
And because of that, my impression of this is.
“…If I could take it off, I’d want to take it off right now.”
Perhaps this could be considered natural.
I’ve never told even my mother about these inner thoughts, and if she heard them, she might beat me to death, saying she couldn’t forgive me as the Great Chief, but still, my impression remained the same.
I was deeply grateful for being born as a goblin and being able to wield mysterious powers that ordinary races couldn’t.
After all, the ability to freely control the four elements and materialize what one imagined was the highest level of mystery that no other race could obtain.
However, because I had lived with such looks, humiliation, and contempt from my mother, the Great Chief, and the surrounding kinsmen until now, just wearing this mask made their faces come to mind, making me want to vomit.
Now, I wear the mask and live on because the village is the only place I can be, but if I could leave this place, I would want to take off the mask right away.
“Even if I throw it away, it will probably come back since it’s no different from my body.”
Still, if I could just take it off, I wouldn’t have to always see their faces, would I?
Just imagining it made me feel so refreshed that I shuddered, feeling a chill down my spine.
But as I was recalling my past and talking to myself, suddenly a voice interrupted my muttering.
『It must have been a difficult life indeed. But you have come this far, defeating all competitors, so I offer you my sincere praise.』
“That’s very kind of you to say.”
A woman’s voice, so mysterious it could be called enchanting, resonating in my head.
And I turned towards the owner of the voice that had been listening to my story, dusting off my dirt-covered bottom.
Immediately after, the woman’s voice resonated in my head once again.
『So, you are called Shin-yeon. Yeon, you are now ready to grab me and become the Great Chief, not just a ‘Great Chief candidate’ but the ‘current Great Chief’, aren’t you?』
“You asked me to tell my story, so I did. I should be ready right away.”
『Good, then stand before me. From now on, I will conduct the ceremony to transfer the power of the Great Chief to you.』
“Alright.”
At the woman’s voice, I slowly moved my feet and walked towards the owner of the voice.
And finally, when I stopped at a distance where I could reach out and touch, my eyes fell upon ‘a club embedded in stone’.
Looking at that club, I wiped my hands that had become drenched in sweat from tension.
The end of the long, long Great Chief test.
Finally, the sweet fruit of that test was right before my eyes.
‘If I grab this club and receive the ceremony, I will become the Great Chief.’
The Great Chief refers to a goblin with overwhelming power that ordinary goblins cannot approach.
The qualification is fulfilled by grasping the goblin club that doesn’t exist for ordinary goblins.
And now, looking at the goblin club that only needed to be grasped as the final step, I felt a heat rising in my chest.
Because the time had finally come to see the light of the wish I had harbored for so long.
Today, I become the Great Chief.
And.
‘I will exterminate the goblin race.’