Mirror, Mirror - Chapter 3.1

Chapter 3.1

“Ah, that’s right. Such a wicked person shouldn’t exist.”

The man nodded in agreement with Ara’s words.

“But what should I do? As someone once said, I’m not human.”

Then, as if he’d been waiting for it, he launched a counterattack at Ara.

If I had known this would happen, I would have chosen my words more carefully. Ara regretted it in vain and changed her strategy once again.

“Please. I’m begging you. Even just for one night, please have mercy. I won’t even ask to be let inside. I’ll sleep out there on the porch. Please?”

Ara rubbed her hands together like a fly.

But the man looked at Ara with a disdainful gaze instead.

“This is the problem with humans. Why do they think that just by begging for what they want, everything will automatically come true? Isn’t that an incredible overestimation of themselves?”

Did he get scammed in a past life by some evil human or something? Why is he so hostile toward people?

Ara grumbled to herself and dropped her pleading hands onto her lap.

It wouldn’t work this way or that way, so do I really have no choice but to give up?

As she desperately racked her brains, wondering what to do, her grandmother’s voice suddenly came to mind as if struck by lightning.

‘Ara, do you know this? Goblins love making bets more than anything. They go crazy for buckwheat jelly and sirutteok (rice cake), but they love betting the most.’

‘Why? Isn’t food better? I prefer rice cakes.’

‘Those goblins are much more mischievous than you, Ara. If someone proposes a bet, they can’t say no.’

Ara bit her dry lips and cleared her throat to steady her cracked voice.

“Excuse me, Mr. Goblin.”

The man looked down at Ara with an expression that seemed to ask what nonsense she would spout next.

Ara smiled broadly at the man. All or nothing. She had nothing to lose. “Do you want to make a bet with me?”

As soon as the word “bet” left Ara’s mouth, the man scowled even more obviously.

“What did you say?”

“I said, let’s make a bet.”

With her next words, he looked as if he’d been struck by a final, fatal blow. His beautifully shaped lips pressed tightly together, and he let out a deep sigh that seemed to come from the depths of the earth.

Could it be that he really can’t refuse a bet?

Ara seized the moment and decided to press the man further. When you had the upper hand, you had to keep it.

“Can’t you hear me? Or do you not know what a bet is? Why aren’t you answering…?”

“You.”

Ara couldn’t finish her sentence and clamped her mouth shut. The man had suddenly leaned in, his face now inches from hers.

Why does he keep shoving his handsome face in mine? He’s going to give me a heart attack.

“Be honest. What kind of person are you, really?”

The man interrogated her harshly. His voice was sharp with suspicion.

Ara almost asked how badly he’d been scammed by some wicked person in his past life but ultimately surrendered to his piercing gaze that seemed to see right through her.

“Me? I used to work at a restaurant. The owner noticed my cooking skills when I was a part-timer. Well… I had to quit three months after becoming a full-time employee because I suddenly found myself in debt.”

Ara shrugged lightly, a bitter smile following. It wasn’t exactly a pleasant story, but it was the kind that could evoke sympathy.

What did it matter if it was expensive sympathy or a momentary change of heart?

As long as she didn’t have to turn back to that dark mountain path and sleep on the ground with wild animals that could pounce her at any moment, that was enough.

“No, not that kind of job. Are you going to keep dodging the question? You know everything and are doing this intentionally, aren’t you?”

But it seemed the man had no sympathy to spare.

Is it because he’s not human?

Ara pouted.

“What do I know?”

“The Goblin rules.”

“How would I know that? I barely know human laws, and you scolded me for it.”

“Then how did you think of making a bet?”

“Well, my grandmother told me. Goblins love buckwheat jelly and sirutteok, but what they love the most is betting. She said that if a human proposes a bet, goblins can never refuse.”

The man looked at Ara with a bewildered expression. For a moment, he seemed frozen.

“Teaching a kid such things…”

He grumbled in a much softer voice.

“But just now, you mentioned rules?”

Ara, skilled at reading the room, didn’t miss that momentary softening.

“So my grandmother was right. If a human proposes a bet, goblins can’t refuse. It’s part of the goblin rules, right?”

“….”

“Right. Absolutely.”

The man couldn’t even deny it. He just let out a weary sigh with a troubled expression.

Thank you, Grandma. As always, you’re the only one on my side.