Hobbyist VTuber-Chapter 237

The overarching theme that runs through God and the Goblin is life and death.

These two inseparable concepts are deeply embedded from the beginning to the end of the drama.

However, since God and the Goblin is not a thick philosophy book but a drama with a storyline,

the concepts of life and death are also presented in the form of a narrative.

That narrative is the bond between the two protagonists, Baek Jin and Baeksulhwa.

Thus, the theme of life and death is also expressed through these two characters.

Ultimately, the past arc from centuries ago represents the death aspect within the theme of life and death.

—Cough, cough.

["...You're here?"]

["How are you feeling?"]

["Please, don’t worry. It’s merely because I am weak. If I rest a little, I will be fine."]

Episode 1, which had begun with a calm, everyday atmosphere, gradually grew darker.

The audience at the premiere was met with Baeksulhwa, whose complexion was becoming paler by the moment.

And then.

["I brewed some medicine. Even if it’s difficult... please drink it."]

Baek Jin, watching with heavy eyes as Baeksulhwa’s condition worsened by the day.

"This is heartbreaking."

"I can’t be the only one thinking of the old man next door, right?"

Because the early part had been relatively quiet and wistful, the darkening mood felt even more poignant.

In stories, wishing for the characters’ happiness was almost a given.

["Tell me. Are you having trouble breathing? Does your stomach hurt?"]

["Just... if you are by my side, that is enough."]

What truly tugged at the audience’s emotions was Baeksulhwa’s attempt to act as if nothing was wrong.

Even though she knew her illness showed no signs of improvement, instead of voicing her pain, she merely offered a weak smile.

["Do not... lie to me. Do you think I do not know your condition is worsening?"]

["That is precisely why... I must smile all the more. Since you are so worried, my lord..."]

["...That smile hurts me, Sulhwa."]

A girl who, even as she sensed death approaching, smiled until the end for Baek Jin’s sake.

That frail, fragile image somehow overlapped with Kim Jung-hyun from The Sunshine.

"Why is she so good at acting, even in such painful scenes...?"

A dry cough bursting forth with every breath.

A face completely devoid of color.

Faintly trembling, slender fingers.

From start to finish, Nael found the performance to be excessively detailed.

Because it was an acting scene that relied more on subtle body language than on dialogue, it felt even more real.

Perhaps that was why.

["...You're a little late today...."]

Baeksulhwa, waiting alone for Baek Jin in a small thatched cottage, wearing a lonely expression.

A dimly lit room where even the midday sunlight barely seeped in, filled with the sound of her labored breathing.

Nael’s vision kept blurring.

Wiping with tissues did nothing to help.

And still, the heartbreaking scenes did not end.

In the silence, her small body swayed weakly, her lips trembled ever so slightly, and the occasional cough sounded unbearably painful.

"Ah, I shouldn’t be like this already."

Taking off and putting on sunglasses repeatedly to wipe away tears.

By now, the sunglasses felt almost useless.

At least, thankfully, no one in the audience seemed to have recognized Nael.

Then again, who would be paying attention to Nael’s face at the first public screening of God and the Goblin?

"Still, just in case... I should keep them on."

Nael had come fully prepared, wearing dark sunglasses and a suffocating mask to hide their identity.

The safest choice would have been not to come at all,

but how could they possibly miss Ha-eun’s new drama premiere?

How, exactly?

"Stay quiet, just stay qu—ahk...."

Nael had truly meant to remain as quiet and composed as possible, focusing solely on the screening.

But the real problem was Ha-eun on the screen.

["I might be a little late today. Don’t wait up, go to sleep first."]

["When you return... would you bring me just one wildflower?"]

["A wildflower?"]

["I have never received one before. Even the smallest one would be enough...."]

Baeksulhwa smiling softly at Baek Jin, who was heading off to war once again.

That alone was enough to pierce Nael’s heart.

After all, this conversation was a classic trope.

["...I will bring one back for you."]

A promise that was certain to remain unfulfilled.

A prelude to the inevitable tragic ending.

In all the works Nael had ever encountered, not once had such a promise been kept.

Judging by the teaser footage, the very next scene had to be that scene.

And sure enough—

—Find her! The goblin’s woman is hiding in this village!

The scene of the Jurchens, who had sworn vengeance on Baek Jin, raiding the village played out.

Then came the bloodcurdling screams of the villagers.

["........."]

As the sounds of the Jurchens approaching grew closer, Baeksulhwa realized her end had come.

And yet, she still struggled to lift the sword resting in the corner of the room.

Because she had made a promise.

—Creak—!

["...So it is you."]

That today, as always, he would return.

That today, he would bring back a wildflower just for her.

—Whoosh—!

—Thunk!

["...Ah...."]

The benefactor who had taken in an orphaned girl and given her the name Baeksulhwa.

The man she had secretly harbored feelings for.

—Thud.

He had promised he would return.

Just as he always had.

And so, she endured.

Just until Baek Jin came back.

It didn’t matter what happened, as long as she could see him once more.

["...General...."]

She clung desperately to her fading breath.

Simply because she longed to see him.

And then, after what felt like an eternity—

—Bang!

A scarred hand slammed open the door of the small cottage.

A flood of sunlight burst through in an instant.

And beyond that golden light—

["...You have... returned...."]

The face she had longed to see.

Slowly, she lifted her gaze.

Beyond her already blurred vision, there he was.

["...Sulhwa...."]

Gasping faintly for breath, she opened her lips to respond to his call.

But her fading consciousness allowed her no time.

["No... this cannot be.... This cannot... be...."]

Baek Jin, his eyes red with grief.

Only at the very end did a frail hand struggle forward, grasping weakly at the hem of his robe.

Snowflakes clung to his clothes, cold as death.

["You... kept your promise...."]

As Baek Jin brought the pure white flowers from the field, just as she had asked, Baeksulhwa faintly smiled.

But before she could finish her words— thud.

Her delicate arm slipped from his grasp, falling to the floor, losing even the last trace of warmth.

Her faint smile, too, gradually faded into stillness.

All that remained was a single tear, slipping down unnoticed from her closed eyes.

Nothing else remained.

Nael’s tear ducts finally burst as they watched Baek Jin holding Baeksulhwa’s lifeless body in disbelief.

Their lips trembled, letting out a sound that was somewhere between a sob and a stifled breath.

If there was any solace, it was the fact that Nael wasn’t the only one sniffling.

Several others in the audience were also wiping away their tears, making it a little less obvious.

The screen gradually darkened.

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

And then, in the pitch-black silence, the voice of a young narrator echoed through the speakers.

"Once upon a time, a goblin lived."

"With every step he took, blood splattered."

"With every swing of his sword, screams rang out."

"A yaksha who lost his child roamed the land, his hands stained with blood."

"On nights of the red moon, he sought out the descendants of those who took his child away...."

As the narration faded, the screen slowly brightened once more.

—Step.

—Step.

Baek Jin appeared alone, staggering through the vast snowy field, his body battered and broken.

Several arrows were still lodged in his back.

Not long after, thud.

His body, having reached its limit, collapsed onto the ground.

And then—another set of footsteps approached.

["...Yaksha, answer the call of the reaper."]

A black robe.

A black gat.

The one commonly referred to as a grim reaper appeared, looking down at Baek Jin as he lay sprawled in the snow.

The audience murmured as Ha Yunseong, another lead actor in the drama, made his entrance.

And almost simultaneously, a faint whisper—

["Did it truly have to be this way?"]

Baek Jin’s hollow muttering.

["She was a pitiful child. One who never had the chance to fully bloom...."]

As if questioning the gods themselves, he demanded an answer.

What reason was there to make that child suffer so cruelly?

If they intended to steal away even the last of her frail breaths, why had she been born into this world at all?

But the only response was silence.

Exhaling a hollow breath at the heavens’ refusal to answer, Baek Jin no longer cared to listen to the grim reaper’s words.

["A person dies when their ties to this world have ended. You cannot die because you have severed too many ties."]

["You will exist, immortal, to witness all. Only when your story truly ends will you find peace."]

Having spoken his final decree, the grim reaper’s lips curved into a subtle smile.

Baek Jin, now neither living nor dead, would go on alone for centuries.

Scenes flashed by in rapid succession, time rushing forward.

From the Goryeo era to the modern day, the long years passed, changing Baek Jin countless times.

And then—at last, the moment he had waited for.

The moment Baeksulhwa’s reincarnation appeared before him.

—Step.

—Step.

The same back view shown in the teaser, now heading toward the café where Baeksulhwa was working.

Nael’s eyes grew red again.

["...Sir. Do I know you?"]

["I once did. Once, I held you close. And in the end... I could not forget. That is why I stand before you now."]

["Ah, I see. Well then, hold on a moment. I should call the police."]

Thus, when Baek Jin and Baeksulhwa finally reunited—there were tears, but also laughter.

Baeksulhwa’s wary reaction toward Baek Jin was understandable, sad, and yet... a little funny.

"...Haah...."

As episode one ended with Baek Jin’s final promise to meet again, Nael let out a deep breath.

They had cried far more than expected, but at least there would be no more sad scenes.

Yes, in episode two, surely it would focus on how Baek Jin and Baeksulhwa’s connection first began.

How Baek Jin would approach Baeksulhwa, who was living a poor and difficult life.

And yet—

["...Mister. Would you... want me to live...?"]

Why.

["Live. Live, and see the flowers bloom in spring."]

Why again.

["...Baek (white), Jin (to advance). That is... my name."]

["Call it aloud. So that I may hear. So that I may always find you."]

"Hic, hhic...!!"

Why did it have to shatter their tear ducts again.

["I will not leave ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) your story buried in misfortune and sorrow. I swear it."]

The strangely drawn-out ending of episode two.

As Baeksulhwa wept bitterly, worn down by the weight of reality, Baek Jin spoke his quiet vow.

And Nael... once again sobbed uncontrollably.

This premiere had been utterly devastating to Nael from beginning to end.

There was no other way to describe it.

"If I’d known, hhic, I was gonna be like this, hhic, I wouldn’t have come to the premiereeee...."

The moment the screening ended, Nael dashed to the restroom and wailed.

They picked up their phone, which had been ringing for some time, only to immediately set it back down.

[ Ji-hye, where are you— ]

"I don’t knoooow... hhic...."

[ ...I knew this would happen. ] freewebnσvel.cѳm

***

[ Be honest. Ji-hye, did you go or not? ]

"I, I did go.... But... I was wrapped up in sunglasses and a mask, so I didn’t get recognized at first."

[ Unbelievable... but at least you tried to be discreet. ]

"Tried...? Tried to stay barefaced?"

[ No, well... there’s just... something like that, Ha-eun. Anyway, I’ll talk to Ji-hye myself. ]

And with that, click.

Ji Hye-min’s voice, sounding oddly suspicious today, was cut off.

It would have been a blatant lie to say Ha-eun wasn’t at all curious.

But at the moment, she was at the afterparty dinner for God and the Goblin's premiere.

"Ha-eun, come on, cheers with us."

"Ah, yes."

Instead of calling Ji Hye-min again, she simply raised her glass of cold water.

The crisp clinking of glasses rang through the air.

"The sirloin is cooked perfectly, Ha-eun. Eat before it burns."

"Yes, yes."

From then on, she was too busy moving her chopsticks.

Whether it was because she was the youngest or simply old habits lingering,

both Kang Sun-woo and Ha Yunseong kept looking after her.

It was only after the atmosphere had mellowed that Ha-eun asked Kang Sun-woo about his thoughts on the premiere.

"Aren’t you glad you came?"

"...Yeah."

The conversation naturally revolved around the screening.

How Kang Sun-woo’s expression had looked genuinely happy.

How, even though it had been a long time since he appeared publicly, the cheers remained unchanged.

"Sunbae, you’re still as popular as ever~."

"You’re one to talk. Nearly half the audience seemed like they were your fans."

"My fans are your fans, mister."

What mattered was that even after all this time, Kang Sun-woo’s fans had welcomed him warmly.

Just as Ha-eun had said a few days ago, the scene had unfolded just as expected.

Seeing the audience’s reaction had reassured Ha-eun.

Though her case was slightly different from Kang Sun-woo’s, she, too, was about to make her return.

"They won’t necessarily... welcome me. But still, at the very least, they’ll say it’s nice to see me again. Right?"

And so, about three hours after the afterparty ended—

—Click click click.

[Oren10000☆]

With slight anticipation, Ha-eun started her stream, bringing an end to Diah’s roughly two-week-long ice age.

"Hello, hello~. I missed you~."

—Finally, Diah has crawled back

—Nice to meet you for the first time

—Do it

—Excuse me, but who are you?

—It

—Come here right now ㅅㅅㅅㅅㅅㅅ

—Crybaby Season #138424 Returns

—Do it

—Wow, she’s from the third gen now lololol

—Is it true Diah was the only one who missed the flight?

—It

—I heard she swam here alone, is that true??

"...Why am I getting flamed the moment I arrive."

The reactions were far too different from the God and the Goblin premiere.

She had expected a much warmer, more heartfelt reunion.

But reality was cruel.