I Became a Goblin Ancestor

All of my kinsmen had been exterminated.

That statement, which I wished was a joke, was unfortunately something I had to acknowledge as truth after hearing the goblin club’s words.

『Originally, the consciousness of all goblins is connected to me, but now the only one connected to me is you, Shin-yeon… I suppose this too must be accepted as fate.』

Because her existence as the goblin club was essentially the same as the goblin race itself.

The fact revealed as truth by her cruelly tells me that my long-cherished wish, my revenge, can no longer be fulfilled.

The fact that the single goal that had allowed me to endure and live through the pain until now had disappeared just before it was within my grasp pierced my insides achingly.

However, if asked whether I felt satisfied, that wasn’t the case.

The fact that they were all dead was certainly a result I liked.

Although I couldn’t kill them with my own hands, the fact that their end was death was the same, so it’s true that I felt refreshed.

“If only I could have at least seen their dying faces…”

I would have been more satisfied than I am now if I had at least seen their despairing faces as they were dying.

The reason I feel such a sense of futility is not only because I couldn’t carry out my revenge with my own hands, but also because of the dissatisfaction within the refreshment that they died silently in a place beyond my sight.

Because I didn’t see it, I worry that they might have died comfortably.

It’s unlikely, but even the slightest possibility made my teeth grind and felt disgusting.

However, that anger was only momentary.

“Haah…”

In the emotions that cooled down as quickly as they had boiled up, I quietly acknowledged.

No matter how hard I try, I can’t change the past, so my life starts from now on.

It’s very regrettable that the wish I had held for so long couldn’t be fulfilled, and it was undoubtedly the purpose of my life, but now that they’re all dead, I had to move on to the next path.

Whether they died by my hand or by something else, it was still the same that I alone would survive and live in this world.

“Just… a small, small difference.”

There’s just a slight difference in my sense of futility between those two cases.

And once I accepted reality, my mind cleared quickly.

I barely managed to put together my mind that had almost distorted for a moment, brushed away the cooled emotions, and let out a self-deprecating smile on my previously expressionless lips.

Then, I slowly raised the goblin club that would have to live with me from now on, matched her eye level, and parted my closed lips.

“You know… I originally planned to kill all my kinsmen when I became the Great Chief. But now that you tell me they’re all already dead, it feels incredibly futile.”

A confession of truth that could be called sudden.

Someone might ask if this was an impulsive decision, but if we’re going to live together for hundreds of years, it was better to say it as early as possible since it would be discovered someday.

Moreover, as expected, she, who seemed to have been subtly aware, answered me with a voice tinged with regret.

『Yes, I already knew. As I said, the consciousness of all goblins is connected to me… You trusted me and told me.』

“What, so you already knew?”

『You seem to have been aware of it too.』

“I just had a vague feeling.”

At my words, she chuckles softly, saying “Not bad.”

But that was only for a moment, and soon, as if chewing over my words from just now, she exhaled a small resonant sound and said.

『I too have heard and felt how hard you’ve lived, so I have no intention of blaming you for wanting to kill your kinsmen. Of course, it’s a wrong mindset for a Great Chief leading a group, and it’s a goal that can’t be achieved now, but even if you had actually killed them, I wouldn’t have been able to stop you.』

“Why? From your perspective, shouldn’t you have stopped me from trying to kill my kinsmen?”

『Protecting and guarding kinsmen is only the role of a Great Chief leading a group in general. There are always exceptions, and in the end, it’s the Great Chief who decides the future of the goblin race. So if you wanted to kill everyone, that would be the path of the goblin race. It’s fate.』

“…That’s a really deflating thing to say.”

If I had killed my kinsmen with my own hands, I was prepared for a conflict with her that might be too huge to bridge, but seeing her dismiss everything with the word ‘fate’, I let out a dejected sigh.

With someone like this as the goblin club, how on earth had no tyrants appeared among the Great Chiefs of the goblin race until now?

Her attitude was such that it wouldn’t have been strange for tyrants to appear, so I momentarily had such a doubt, but soon I was able to realize the answer by recalling a fact I had forgotten for a moment.

“It’s because I’m a mutant, isn’t it.”

From birth, everything about me was different from them except for the race, so this doubt must be my own peculiar one.

Thinking so, I nodded involuntarily at the resolved doubt.

And after resolving the immediate issues here, I finally realized the need to move and looked down at her in my hand.

“Well, although I still have complicated feelings in many ways, shall we get out of here first?”

『Hmm, that’s a good idea.』

Now that I’ve decided to live alone in this world, there were many things I needed to prepare.

And the first thing I needed to do for those was to see this world 70 years later with my own eyes, and find a new goal for the life I’m going to live from now on.

For those still shimmering and blurry things.

I took a step from where I was standing, together with the goblin club who seemed to be in good harmony with me.

Rumble—!

The ground vibrates once, and I carefully emerge from the hole created by piercing the ground.

Although I came to a place where I couldn’t feel any human presence as much as possible since I didn’t know anything about the current world yet, I checked once more if there were any people around just in case, and only after confirming that there were no people did I step onto the road.

“Whew, just getting out was a struggle.”

『Hmm, I thought we could get out easily seeing something called an elevator, but it seems that after 70 years, many things from the past have changed. I’m sorry…』

“It’s fine, you’ve already apologized.”

As I step onto the road and dust off the dirt, an apology comes from her.

At that, I wave my hand and rub my foot once to cover the surface of the hole I came out from.

When I first tried to get out of the silver-gray space, the goblin club saw something called an elevator and said with excitement that we should escape from there by riding it.

Perhaps because she had experience wandering around human villages near the mountain, she seemed to know what this elevator I was seeing for the first time was, so I naturally followed her words.

However, even though I tried pressing buttons or knocking on the door following her words, the elevator showed no sign of moving, and as a result, we had no choice but to melt the metal floor and dig a tunnel to escape from there to the ground.

“I almost threw up because of the foul smell while digging the hole, though…”

『I can’t help but agree with that. It seems that the soil condition in this current world is not very good…』

However, during the digging, the soil we encountered was filled with the smell of artificial filth rather than the scent of grass or natural decay, so it felt like that scent was still lingering in my nose.

The scene inside the hole just moments ago, which makes me nauseous just thinking about it.

The place I came up to now was fine because it was blocked by something like gray stone, but that was also the reason why I immediately filled the hole I crawled out from.

“By the way…”

『Hmm?』

And in the situation where I was smelling the outside air after coming out of the underground hole.

In the alley between buildings where I dug out the hole, a place full of trash cans and old paper flyers, after dusting off most of the dirt from my clothes, I suddenly spoke up.

“Since I can’t keep calling you ‘you’, it might be good to think of some kind of title or name.”

『Ah, that’s certainly… It’s a serious matter that you, Shin-yeon, don’t have a name to refer to me. For your reference, your mother, the previous Great Chief, called me ‘Mr. Club’.』

“I have no intention of following my mother, and I don’t want to call you by such a thoughtless name, so that’s not it.”

『Is that so?』

The reason I opened my mouth was none other than to sort out a title to call her, the goblin club.

Although it’s not a relationship that necessarily needs a name, it still felt awkward to keep calling her ‘you’ or ‘goblin club’, so I wanted to decide on this before properly starting our exploration.

And while the goblin club agreed with my words and told me the name my mother used, I immediately rejected it and fell into deep thought.

She was someone who thought within her own ideology and had dignity, so wouldn’t it be a bit off to give her a hastily made-up name?

Therefore, I completely erased the name my mother used from my mind and deeply pondered a name worthy of her, and after about 3 minutes had passed.

“…I’ve got it.”

I suddenly raised my head at a name that flashed through my mind like a spark.

“How about Gwi-jae-su-yeon-hwa-gon (귀재수연화곤), as the treasure (財) of the goblin (鬼) race, a club (棍) that must harmonize (和) by weaving fate (緣) with the Great Chief (首)? But since it’s a bit long to call like this, shall we take a few characters and call you Hwa-gon?”

『Oho… That’s quite a nice name. Hwa-gon, it’s a name that suits my taste.』

Gwi-jae-su-yeon-hwa-gon. When I came up with such a name in the way of giving an epithet to a precious person, it seemed to please her as well, and she immediately accepted the name I created.

A new title to refer to her and the name I gave her.

Hwa-gon, looking at her satisfied with that name, I repeated her name over and over in my mind.

And only when the name Hwa-gon had become familiar in my mouth did I slowly raise my head, twirl the club in my hand once, and smile brightly.

“Alright then, Hwa-gon. Shall we really look around the outside scenery now?”

『I’m ready anytime.』

Although her appearance isn’t visible, I hear Hwa-gon’s reply, which makes me feel like she’s smiling just like me.

At that elevated voice, I grasp my chest, which is also starting to boil, and step towards the outside of the alley.

My footsteps advancing from the shade towards the sunlight.

Immediately after, bright sunlight enveloped our bodies.