The Salt Scale and Nine Faber’s Oaks Asked to be adapted into live-action films!

A tender love story starring goblins, the monsters of Korean folklore

written by Cho Sun-hee, who has created her unique universe of fantasy

Would you believe it if this gorgeous man here

is actually a goblin who has lived for a hundred years?

Blue Tomb in Street Number 404 tells the story of “Gong,” a handsome goblin that has lived for over a hundred years. Gong has the magical ability to steal the hearts of everyone – even the most sorrowful, or the sassiest of women cannot help but fall in love with him. Then what about men? You might ask. They are no exception – men would also marvel in awe when they meet Gong. The softness underneath the handsome looks and the romantic ambiance surrounding Gong would also work their charms on men. That’s why all men try to use Gong to win the hearts of the women they have a crush on. However, it comes with a price – there is a rule of goblins that says you must give up on something you cherish in exchange for love. After all, humans lose one thing when they win another. There are rumors that Gong is a skilled magician with tricks up his sleeve, but no one knows for sure – we can never outlive Gong.

The life of goblins who are listless as they let thousands of years pass by,

and the life of humans who live the lives they have been given to the fullest

“Gong Yun-hoo” and his friend “Hwal” are goblins who emerged as manifestations of old objects. They live on for thousands of years until the objects are destroyed. They say their time does not pass – their lives begin and end when the objects they inhabit are made and destroyed. The body of Gong the goblin lies by the grave of his dead lover, and it simply waits on and on for a new owner to share its next life with. This is what the life of a goblin is like.

On the other hand, humans live their lives to the fullest. They only have a limited amount of time, which means they are faced with making choices and decisions. They say “If you are afraid of being alone, choose to be together; and if you are afraid of being together, choose to be alone,” and most of the time humans would choose to be together. Humans call being together “love.” They might as well be dead without love since humans are afraid of being alone. Those who meet Gong sometimes devote their lives to chasing Gong or would give up everything they have to make a wish to Gong: to meet their destiny, which some believe to be a coincidence, while others believe to be something you pioneer.

Unlike humans, who interpret their fate as their circle of life and make connections, goblins spend their entire lives stuck in the objects they inhabit, silently waiting for a new owner. Then how does a goblin spend the lonely hours of their lives that have no beginning or end? What does fate mean for goblins who spend a thousand years without a single tremor or movement? Does fate also exist for goblins?

Gong Yun-hoo also falls in love with someone named “Ah-wan” after sending away the person he devoted his life to, named “Heo Ah-yo.” Ah-wan falls in love with Gong Yun-hoo from the moment she meets him, mesmerized by his good looks. She realizes that Gong Yun-hoo is a goblin through Loom-loom, the owner of a blog called “All about Gong,” but cannot stop liking him. Loom-loom tells her that stabbing Gong Yun-hoo with a needle and following the thread on the needle will lead her to the path of the goblins, which will allow her to meet Gong Yun-hoo. However, Gong Yun-hoo is heartbroken by Ah-wan’s behavior. Nevertheless, Gong Yun-hoo tries to understand Ah-wan and decides to live with what is happening.

There is one fact in the world that does not change: everything changes. Whether you are a human or a goblin, you must withstand the present as it is – the only difference is that while humans will leave this world someday, goblins will be here forever.

Cho Sun-hee won the grand prize for the second Korea Fantasy Literary Award with her full-length novel Go-ri-gol. Her other full-length novels include The Wizard and the Laundress Friga (two books in the series) The Key of Adon (seven books in the series), There, the Fox Paw Prints, Blue Tomb in Street Number 404, To Carve the Moon and Dry the Clouds (two books in the series), The Salt Scale, and To Kill a Maegu, and her collection of stories include The Modern Story of Patjwi and The Modern Story of Arang. Cho has won the 2015 Korea Story Competition with Nine Faber’s Oaks Asked. The Salt Scale and Nine Faber’s Oaks Asked have been signed for movie rights, and are in the script development phase.