If a dying human comes in contact with an object touched by a human and its blood, they will become a Goblin in their next life.

~~~

Goryeo Dynasty, Year 981, Goryeo-Joseon War

"Your Majesty, seeking help from that Goblin shaman is too dangerous! It is too much of a risk to rely on the power of the Goblins!"

'His Majesty' bore a cynical glare at the meaningless plea directed towards him. "Are you defying my words, Advisor Kim Namjoon?"

"I, Kim Namjoon would not dare, Your Majesty. However, your safety is foremost," the Advisor cautiously replied back with his head bowed to the Emperor.

The Emperor continued to let his glare pierce through the poor Advisor as a dead silence began to spread throughout the vast throne room.

"I believe what Advisor Kim Namjoon actually meant is that he assumes Your Majesty cannot handle the power of the Goblins," a man from the opposite side of Advisor Kim Namjoon sneered.

An intense glare continued to linger on the Emperor's face, "What do you mean by that, Minister Jung Hojong?"

The Minister continued with a mocking smirk at the Advisor, "I believe that there is nothing to be afraid of, unlike how Advisor Kim Namjoon assumes the opposite. The Goblin shaman is currently residing in Woljeongsa Temple, which is a part of His Majesty's territory. This shaman would know better than to not anger His Majesty and instead show his gratitude for the protection he has received by lending His Majesty the power of the Goblins."

There was a long pause as the Advisor warily looked at the Emperor. However, that was soon replaced by a look of fear, as he realized that his warning was pointless and coldly ignored by the Emperor, "It has been decided then. Tomorrow, we will make our way to Woljeongsa Temple and seek help from the Goblin shaman. Those who defy and object this final decision should expect themselves to resign from their positions, whether or not they are willing to."

Nobody dared to argue with the Emperor knowing that their position would be on the line. With their heads bowed in honor and respect for the Emperor, the men in the throne room ended the discussion with a solemn reply, "Yes, Your Majesty!"

+++

"I am afraid I cannot lend you the power of the Goblins, Your Majesty."

"What do you mean by that?!" His Majesty roared with anger. He had not expected the Goblin shaman to be so daring, yet alone refused his immediate order.

However, the shaman's face remained expressionless, as if he wasn't afraid of what the Emperor was capable of doing if things didn't go his way, "The power of the Goblins is not something that any human can handle. It will surely not benefit anyone at all."

"I am the Emperor! I am the Son of Heaven! Are you saying that I cannot handle the power of the Goblins?!"

The shaman cocked a discreet glare at the fuming Emperor, "As a matter of fact, yes. I would not dare to disturb the Goblins if I were in your position, Your Majesty."

At a loss of words, the Emperor clenched his fists in anger and turned to look at his subjects; most of them in return had shamelessly avoided eye contact with him as they knew that they would be forced to convince the Goblin shaman to follow the Emperor's orders.

"It is quite a shame that despite His Majesty's benevolence of gifting you a sufficient land that tends to your needs, a simple request regarding the power of the Goblins cannot be fulfilled," Minister Jung Hojong slyly commented, immediately garnering everyone's attention.

The Minister, satisfied with the immediate attention he received, nonchalantly looked at the Emperor with a thin smile, "What will you do, Your Majesty?"

The Emperor's face had not relaxed one bit, yet the moment he made eye contact with Minister Jung Hojong, he knew that attempting to convince the Goblin shaman any further would be futile, "General Park Pil-woo."

A man dressed in solid silver and red armor lifted up his face in response to his name, but quickly lowered it upon meeting with the Emperor's arrogantly cold eyes, "Yes, Your Majesty?"

"I, Kim Seokjin, Emperor and Son of Heaven, order you to carry out the immediate execution of this traitor for refusing to follow orders as well as for treason."

Little gasps and audible murmurs quickly filled the atmosphere, yet the Goblin shaman remained calm and didn't falter by the given order. The General hesitantly complied, "As you wish, Your Majesty."

As the General drew out his sword and slowly approached the supposed traitor, the shaman stared at the Emperor disappointedly, "Seven people will greatly suffer the consequences of your own foolishness, Your Majesty. You are one of them. You will be betrayed and in the process of losing this war, your kingdom will ultimately perish. You will pay for all of this with your next life as a merely weak and lonely Goblin."

The Emperor made no effort responding back to the Goblin shaman's words and instead shot a hostile glance at the General, "Execute him."

The General looked dubious, but he slowly lifted up his sword and positioned himself as he proceeded to swiftly bring his sword down.

"If you follow his orders, you will suffer the same as well."

General Park Pil-woo stopped and questionably stared at the shaman. His posture had become stiff and rigid upon hearing the latter's words, "Not only will you lose your honor subsequent to this war, but you will also lose your life in the most pathetic way. And the person who you dearly love will pay for your sins in their next life as a Goblin."

The armored man looked at the shaman with bewilderment; he was clearly frightened by the shaman's bluntness. The shaman had undoubtedly knew the General's sole weakness.

"What are you doing?! Hurry up and execute him!" the Emperor didn't have the patience to deal with a hesitant General Park Pil-woo. The General slightly winced from the booming yell of the Emperor. His grip on his sword tightened to the point where his knuckles started to turn white.

"I am sorry," the General regretfully muttered before he brought his sword down.

SLASH!

The shaman's body lifelessly collapsed on the ground with a loud thud. The Emperor, paying no attention to the death of the shaman, turned around to face his subjects, "We will win this war no matter what, even if we do not have the power of the Goblins. Let this be a lesson to anyone who dares defy me!"

The inferior group of men quickly glanced at each other before ultimately bowing to the Emperor, "Yes, Your Majesty!"

Unbeknownst to the Emperor, General Park Pil-woo sheathed his sword without sparing a bow of respect for the former. He stared at the exanimate body of the shaman and flashed back to his last words.

"Not only will you lose your honor subsequent to this war, but you will also lose your life in the most pathetic way. And the person who you dearly love will pay for your sins in their next life as a Goblin."

"Jimin..." the General helplessly mumbled the name of his one and only child. The Goblin shaman's words directed at him had convinced the man that the near future would be filled with ominous consequences.

+++

The war against Joseon was an utter disaster and a terrible loss for Goryeo. Goryeo's armies had been completely demolished by Joseon's overpowering soldiers. With almost all of his troops gone, who were either frantically escaping from the battlefield due to immense fear or having already faced the ruthless blades and arrows of the opposing army, General Park Pil-woo was forced to retreat back to report the unfortunate results to the impatient Emperor.

As he galloped his horse farther and farther away from the battlefield, the newly bad gash from the General's abdomen caused the man to wince in pain; the chaotic movements from his horse only made the pain worse as bright red blood seeped out from the wound and soaked his clothes underneath the damaged and useless armor.

Although the unpleasantly rushed journey back to the imperial palace was agonizing for the injured General, he eventually made it back to the said palace. He reined in his horse and restrained it from moving any further.

He had barely struggled to get off of his horse and slowly made his way to the entrance of the palace doors when a panicked voice called out his name, "General Park Pil-woo!"

The General turned to the source of the voice only to meet the appalled eyes of Advisor Kim Namjoon, who hurriedly rushed to his side and helped the former find his balance again, "What on earth happened on the battlefield?!"

"J-Joseon... their armies were too strong for us. The Goblin shaman was right," the General struggled as he heavily leaned against the Advisor for support.

The Advisor internally winced seeing the General's wound, "You need to get your wound treated first!"

"No, now is not a good time... I need to tell the Emperor-"

"Not with that terrible wound of yours!" the Advisor protested.

General Park Pil-woo looked at the Advisor but he struggled to keep his eyes wide open, "Advisor Kim Namjoon... I want you to take Jimin and escape from here right now. Joseon's troops will be here soon. I do not want my child to suffer... because of my foolishness."

The Advisor widened his eyes, "B-But, what about you? And His Majesty?"

"I will protect His Majesty... with all of my remaining strength. But my son cannot pay... for the sins that I have committed."

The General grabbed the Advisor's arm and looked at him pleadingly, "Please, I beg of you."

The Advisor hesitated for a moment, however he reluctantly nodded in response and slowly let go of the General before running away to find the latter's son.

The General, now struggling even more to stand straight, dragged himself to the entrance of the palace and weakly opened the doors.

In front of him was the Emperor who immediately grimaced upon seeing the injured General. The Minister was right by the Emperor's side and had not dared to make any noise, yet the injured solider noticed a faint smirk on the Minister's face. General Park Pil-woo staggered as he sluggishly came to the middle of the throne room and quietly presented himself to the Emperor, "I am deeply sorry, Your Majesty."

"You have failed me, General Park Pil-woo. I was careless to believe that you were fit to be in command on the battlefield," the Emperor scowled at the General, who made no attempt to look up to meet the Emperor's face.

The Emperor then stood up from his throne and glared at the kneeling man, "You can die here for all I care."

"You can die here with him as well."

The Emperor quickly turned around in response to the Minister's words, but as soon as he did, the Minister had quickly stabbed him near his abdomen. The Emperor winced and touched where he had been stabbed. His hands soon became covered in his own blood, "You-!"

The General looked up and stared in utter shock, "Your Majesty!"

He forced his legs to stand up to scramble over to the Emperor, but he was losing strength and only fell to the ground the more he tried to force himself to rush to the Emperor's side. The Minister had a smirk on his face and sinisterly laughed at the two men, "I cannot believe how gullible you were, Your Majesty. Not only was manipulating you a very easy thing to do, but your playtime as the Emperor was quite entertaining for me to witness as well."

The Emperor snarled at the Minister, "You traitor! I gave you an important title and you dare pay me back with your unfaithfulness?!"

The Minister stopped laughing and slowly bent down. He kept a straight face as he ridiculed the Emperor, "Everything up to this moment was all an act. A foolish ruler like you does not deserve to sit on the throne. My army will soon arrive here to invade your precious kingdom and the throne that you have been sitting on will be mine from now on."

He then stood up and pulled out a white lily from the arm sleeve of his hanbok, dropping it in front of the lying Emperor with a mocking smirk, "Here is the flower you adore so much, Your Majesty. You should live your last moment with elegance. After all, you do treasure beauty above everything else but power."

The Emperor clenched his teeth in anger as he slammed his bloody hand on the flower, "Curse you, Jung Hojong!"

The Minister, seemingly satisfied with the Emperor's aggressive reaction, turned to look at the General, "I was hoping to spare your life, General Park Pil-woo. But after hearing your interesting conversation with the shaman, I thought a little game of hide and seek would be quite entertaining."

The General looked at the Minister in disbelief, "You would not dare-"

"Oh, you think too lightly of me, General Park Pil-woo. It was quite obvious that you would entrust Advisor Kim Namjoon with protecting your son before you were to be shamed for your unsatisfactory defeat. I already have a troop coming after Advisor Kim Namjoon and your son. It looks like someone will have to face the blades of my men soon," the Minister commented as he cackled.

The Minister then pulled a mask out from the other arm sleeve of his hanbok and covered his face with it before staring down at the two injured men, "Now if you will excuse me, I must get going to make my entrance as the new Emperor."

As the masked ex-minister left the throne room, the General had now lost all of his strength and feared for both his son and the Advisor's safety.

"Jimin..." the General mumbled and noticed a swirl of glowing light hovering above the Emperor's head. However, he had already given in and soon let his whole body collapse on the ground.

+++

The Advisor was physically tired from the endless running he had done while he carried a five-year-old boy in his arms. The poor infant was clueless with what was going on and had asked the man several times where his father was, only to be met with a pitiful look from the Advisor, "Your father might have to go somewhere far away from here."

"Will he come back?" the boy asked. His innocence made the Advisor feel guilty for what was going to happen next, "I do not know."

Seeing that there was nobody around, the Advisor decided to stop for a moment to quickly catch his breath. He gently placed the child on the ground and patted his head, "Jimin, I want you to be a good boy and listen to me. Do I make myself clear?"

"My father has gone to heaven, am I right?" the child's sudden blunt question surprised the Advisor for a moment. On second thought, Jimin was unexpectedly somewhat aware of the situation.

"I do not know. I can only hope that it does not come to that," the Advisor softly replied back. "But for now, we must get to safety as soon as possible. Your father does not want you to be dragged into this at all."

Jimin nodded back in response. The Advisor looked around, wary that Joseon's troops might come out at any time to attack him and the young boy. There was a quiet silence until a small cough was heard. Alert by the sudden noise, the Advisor pulled Jimin closer to his side, "Who is there? Show yourself!"

Silence took over for another quick moment, however the Advisor's assumption that a Joseon solider had followed them was soon replaced by a man carrying a baby with him. The man raised up his free hand with widened eyes, "Please, I do not mean to hurt you at all. I am only asking for your kindness to help me and my daughter escape from here."

The Advisor relaxed a bit, however he had not moved from his spot and pulled Jimin closer towards him, "Who are you and what do you seek from me?"

The man widened his eyes and slightly bowed, "My apologies! My name is Choi Dae-jung and this is my daughter, Choi Yoojung. The village that I come from had been attacked by Joseon. My daughter and I had barely managed to escape, but my wife..." the man's voice trailed away as he embraced his child with a painful look on his face.

The Advisor's stiff and alert posture slowly became less tense, "What is it that you wish for me to do?"

Dae-jung's eyes lit up as he pulled out a hand mirror from the inside of his loose hanbok, "I only want to know the quickest way to get to safety. I do not have much on myself right now, however I offer you this hand mirror as a payment."

Eyeing the hand mirror for a moment, the Advisor reluctantly took the hand mirror from the man and quietly inspected it. He had taken a closer look at the mirror and proceeded to hand it back to the man when something faintly appeared in the mirror.

The Advisor's eyes widened. He continued to observe the mirror and saw a couple in the mirror's reflection. The young man had a bizarre hair color as well as pointy ears while the young woman looked like the spitting image of Dae-jung.

The scene then shifted to another location; there was another young man sitting on the throne along with the couple from the previous scene. Looking closer at the mirror, the Advisor gasped as he now recognized the two young men in the mirror, "No, it cannot be."

Although it was barely noticeable, the Advisor knew that the young man sitting on the throne was undoubtedly the Emperor, with the exception of once again the bizarre hair color and pointy ears. The other young man kneeling before the Emperor was definitely and certainly the older self of Jimin.

Everything suddenly began to make sense for the Advisor. The mirror was reflecting everything the late Goblin shaman had said. Not only that, the young woman in the mirror was undoubtedly Dae-jung's daughter. The Advisor lowered the mirror and looked at the man, "Where did you get this mirror?"

The man raised an eyebrow but replied back to the Advisor's question, "A Goblin shaman visited my village not too long ago. He handed me this mirror before he left, saying that it was going to be important in the near future. He also said something about the Goblin's bride."

The Advisor looked at the hand mirror again, however the images had already disappeared and he was only met by his own reflection.

Just then, he could hear distant yells and shouts that slowly became more and more clearer. It was almost time.

The Advisor glanced at the baby before he looked at Dae-jung again, "Joseon's army will be here soon. There is a small village down in the south that will tend to your needs. Tell them that I have sent you there for protection. They will allow you in as long as you say that you are acquainted with me. I want you to take this boy with you as well."

Dae-jung nodded and glanced at Jimin. The Advisor then bent down to look at Jimin at eye level, "Jimin, I want you to follow this man and run away from here. No matter what happens, I do not want you to ever come back. Do I make myself clear?"

The boy didn't respond or nod to the Advisor's stern command. Seeing that Jimin didn't reply back, the Advisor gently pushed him towards Dae-jung, "Go."

Dae-jung nodded and gestured Jimin to come towards him. Jimin looked at the Advisor and tugged his sleeve; tears were beginning to form in the boy's eyes. The Advisor patted his head with a small smile, "Do not make me repeat myself again. Go and run away from here."

"There they are! Get them!" a Joseon solider yelled. They had been found. The Advisor pushed Jimin with a frightened look on his face, "Go!"

Dae-jung grabbed Jimin's hand, who was already in tears as he called the Advisor's name several times, causing Yoojung to wake up from her once peaceful sleep and join in on the crying as well.

Jimin struggled to break free from Dae-jung's grip as they ran away from the soldiers heading for Advisor Kim Namjoon. The Advisor looked at the soldiers with a glare. He held his arms out, signaling for the soldiers to attack him. Stabbed in the chest by one of the Joseon soldiers, the man let out a painful cry. The hand mirror that had been in his hand the whole time, let itself slip from his grip and fell onto the ground, slightly shattering the mirror in the process.

The Advisor placed his hand on his chest. Although a book was inside his hanbok where he had been stabbed, the book was not enough to protect the Advisor. He felt his blood slowly soaking the book as he collapsed on the dirt ground.

Hearing the painful cry from the Advisor devastated the poor little boy. He stopped struggling for a quick moment before he yanked his hand away from Dae-jung with all of his strength, finally breaking loose from Dae-jung's grip.

Running back to the Advisor in tears, Jimin continuously called out the former's name and yelled at the soldiers to stop hurting the Advisor. All was pointless when a solider heartlessly slashed at the poor little boy, shushing the latter in an instant.

Jimin stared at where he had been slashed. His hands were uncontrollably shaking as he touched his wound with widened eyes; they were soon covered in his own bright red blood.

He then slowly collapsed on the ground and slapped his hand on the shattered hand mirror, staining the mirror with his blood. Dae-jung had already ran away with his daughter. He saw that there was no use trying to save the boy while placing both himself and Yoojung in danger.

The Joseon soldiers also shortly abandoned the two to find other victims to prey on seeing that they had inflicted severe wounds to the Advisor and the little boy.

The Advisor struggled as he crawled over to Jimin. He gently touched Jimin's back with his hand, "Foolish boy. Your father tried to change your fate so that you did not have to suffer later on because of his mistakes. You should have ran away from here for your father."

He then let his own body collapse next to Jimin and noticed a swirl of glowing light hovering above the boy's head before he closed his eyes for a deep slumber. The same swirl of glowing light soon appeared above Advisor Kim Namjoon's head as well.

And the person who you dearly love will pay for your sins in their next life as a Goblin.