67 - Edited with Post-Yama-Meltdown summary

Ugh glad that was distracting bc I just finished the chapter and (╯°Д °)╯╧╧ crying forever, hbu?

Honestly unnie I come here every time a new chapter drops to find your comment, you’re an angel and I’m enormously thankful to you

Doing Gods work

ahh, tysm!!! ^edited with summary now that i can think straight. i love this story so much i don't mind screaming into the void about it but also really glad to know that i'm not haha.

٩(๑❛ᴗ❛๑)۶

I’m obsessed with it too, especially the love hate relationship that geunsum and 704 have going on, plus Yama is a hot mess...again thank you for the summary beautiful (づ￣ ³￣)づ

Thanks so much for the summary. now this chapter makes me sad. ┗( T﹏T )┛
i don`t want that plan to happen .i don`t want San and Eunjae to break like that. also San will disappear from this world and Eunjae memories of San will be gone if San is gone. ┗( T﹏T )┛ i hope that there`ll be will another plan either than this. i always felt that there`s a storm that gonna happened （/TДT)/

ikr? SO sad! i genuinely don't think everything will go according to plan though. there's a lot of factors already set up ready to foil said plan. The most important being: 1) 704 being AWOL right now 2) Hwan already knows of San's involvement with Geumsun by looking into Eunjae's memories and 3) Yama's promise with his throne on the line (thank god for San) bc I think they'll have to rely on that promise to get out of this entire mess in the end otherwise San wouldn't have forced it.

I can't make any guesses on what 704's and Geumsun's ending will be as we still don't know their beginning. I can't tell if they'll be an ambiguous tragic couple all the way through or not but I would wager that San and Eunjae will get a happy ending. Although happy may be subjective. Worst case scenario probably reincarnated with no previous memories but still reunited. Although a fresh start may be better for them bc with the exception of finding each other in this life everything else sucked?

Assumptions relying heavily on symbolisms in the artwork and plot points of common tropes and how the story has been set up thus far. I could be completely wrong though. Let's be sad and nervous together. ヾ(❀ T﹏T )ﾉ~

I think the same thought. but if we think about it. Hwan can`t remember San even if he knew his involvement with Geumsun. GS has to make his plan to let Hwan enter san as it means that he has to remove his goblin marks and his power from san, so Then San will be a human as he was before?if that`s happened then San will be dead or i get this wrong?
I think the same about the reincarnation part too. but if Eunjae forget San , i thinks it`ll be very sad, cuz san already was forgotten once, as he chose to be forgotten again to protect his loved one is making his character more pitiful.but i think we`ll be stopped in a big cliffhanger as the author said S2 will be about 70chs.

Thank you so much for being able to read all the new chapters and thank you very much once again

      Thank u so much! U are a savior since Google translate doesn't always make much sense to me, and I really love ur perspective on the story. In the wake of how the events unravel in this chapter, I came up with a theory about how 704 became a reaper. As the author said that all the characters are linked together and share the same key words, it stands to reason to believe there must be a lot of overlapping in terms of their fates. San is willing to sacrifice himself even if he ceases to exist and EJ forgets him, but  EJ's life will be no longer threatened by Hwan and he will get a chance to lead a normal life. What if 704 found himself in the same position? At this point I have no doubt he was the victim of Hwan. How exactly he died is still unclear of course. And we know GM was severely wounded and would have died if Yama hadn't saved his life. Maybe 704 made a deal with Yama: he saves GM's life, 704 becomes a reaper but forgets GM. Probably Yama himself proposed this to 704 since he knew only too well that GM would throw himself under a bus for the sake of 704 and he could use 704 to control GM and make him catch Hwan.
        I know each of the characters symbolizes one of the four noble plants that's why I find it hard to believe that 704, who symbolizes perseverance, hope, beauty and purity, committed some kind of heinous atrocities since only this way one becomes a reaper. At this point it is still unknown whether it applies to committing a suicide, but it could still be a possible cause.
      Also, I am really buffled with Yama's strange obsession with 704. He never misses the chance to harass him and taunt GM that 704 is his reaper. Maybe this way he is trying to get some insight into what made 704 so precious for GM, who used to hate humans and sex with them... And from chapter 60 I got the vibes as though he finally got what he had always wanted when he calls 704 "my reaper" in a rather creepy way. Like now 704 is in his power and at his mercy thus, he can do whatever he wants to him...
     

Yeah, I’m unsure as well what physically (and spiritually?) happens to San with his Goblin markings removed. From what Geumsun described of the marks it stops San’s life flow so I think San will be human again with his soul still intact that he stepped into the Netherworld with but his body has stopped regenerating?

So… spiritually human again = yes? But… physically human = no? Does that make him technically dead? Human/Goblin hybrid bc he’s still running on Yang energy as his life source? It’s all very confusing.

And I think you’re right about the cliffhanger. I’m already mad about it lol.

Yes!! We’re absolutely on the same page!!! I wrote an essay about it here : https://www.mangago.zone/home/mangatopic/10433232/

Additionally, the last chapter also reminds me of 704 talking about the soul door to San in the past when Eunjae was attacked and that how, as a Goblin, San is the gatekeeper to Eunjae’s door. As long as San is standing guard Eunjae is mostly safe because Hwan would need to avoid or kill San to enter. I think Geumsun could absolutely be the Goblin gatekeeper responsible for guarding the door to a spiritually-strong-sighted-human 704 in the past. In the official acrylic stands put out by Lezhin and the author 704 is also holding a gold fan - Geumsun’s namesake!!!!

      Thank you for your reply and the link! It is great to find someone as passionate as me about this work. Btw, these acrylics are gorgeous. This tiny cup with plum blossoms, depicted on it is an ingenious way to portray the bond between GM and 704, the latter being the well of life for the former. I guess your gatekeeper theory makes a lot of sense. Given it is true, the pieces are more or less coming together. Yet, it immediately raises a helluva ton of questions lol. Surely I appreciate when the story is intriguing and keeps u at the edge of ur seat, but now my poor head is swollen with all sorts of "conspiracy" theories!
     You addressed the last confrontation between GM and Hwan, where the latter taunts him about how he lost everything, and I totally agree with you that "everything" must be the reference to 704. Hwan also says that this happened because of GM's arrogence, and this part really sparked my curiousity. Does it mean that 704's death is GM's fault at least partially?? I am dying to know! Obviously Hwan says this out of sheer spite, but there must be something else. It may have something to do with GM, being an unregistered goblin, which in turn means being considered "uncooperative". Provided he was initially registered in the Netherworld and was assigned to guard 704, and then falling in love with him, decided to cut off all the ties with the Netherworld since he no longer needed to rely on vitality capsules, legally available to only registered goblins, and probably didn't want to get 704 involved in the Netherworld affairs. Knowing Yama's ingenious ability and insatiable passion to throw each and everyone under a bus to make his own ends meet, GM must have found the perspective of him using 704 to his own advantage the least appealing. Needless to say that is a bold step for a goblin, and for whatever reason GM could not ward off Hwan on his own. That is why Yama "ever-so-subtly" brags about "his reaper", losing the opportunity to lay his hands on 704 in the past?
   Or in another possible scenario GM was an unregistered goblin from the very start and had a "by-chance encounter" (since we already know that "fate makes no mistakes") with 704, saving him from Hwan or whatever and thus being bonded with him by fate, and had no other choice but to guard him.
   But again why "arrogance"? Provided that 704 was made into a vessel at some point, was it GM who proposed this? Or simply complied when 704 decided to do this? And as you suggest, he wanted to sacrifice his life in the end, realizing there was no other way around, and GM managed to kill him, sending to the Netherworld.
     And what has really been plaguing me all this time is if one of the above-mentioned scenarios is true even in a remote way, it contradicts the whole "being a sinful reaper" part or at least for me pieces don't come together. Since GM, being quite complacent and not confronting Yama about how 704 could possibly become a reaper means that 704 actually committed some kind of crime (for fuck sake, what crime could it be??) and GM is sure of that. Another indication is that scene when he refused to have sex with 704 when the latter approached him for the first time. Like he didn't want to have anything to do with 704, considering him "lost forever". It is so hard to untangle this knot of various emotions he is going through. Like he can't reconcile with 704, being a reaper since he genuinely disdains them. But he can't bring himself to hating 704, which in a way destroys the inner integrity with himself. He can't stop loving and caring about 704 to the point of self-denial even despite that shell of a human he became. And this blindfolded sex thing. As long as he doesn't see 704's face, he can pretend 704 is just a grim reaper, who doesn't deserve affection and respect. He has to supress his feelings all the time, pretending to be a "rude and uncaring bastard", which goes against his nature, putting additional strain on him. Otherwise he will condemn 704 to Hell.
     I am obviously missing something, and it was a long rant lol.
   

I don’t know if you watched the goblin(Kdrama) but in this drama, there’s grim reaper and his great sin that lead to him being reborn as reaper in his next life was committing suicide so maybe, 704 killed himself in order to protect geunsum

Oh, yes. I watched it. And in the beginning after going back and forth with this idea, I came to the conclusion that it was exactly what happened. I mean 704 committing suicide, but at that time I thought Hwan drove him to suicide. Then I had second thoughts because I wasn't and still isn't sure that a suicide is considered to be a sin in this manhwa universe. Regardless, it is an interesting theory. 704, dying to protect/save GM' s life - never thought about it from this perspective. Time to make up new theories lol! Thank you for the comment!

Oh my god you’re the sweetest person ever, keep the theories going, I enjoy reading your theories more than I enjoy reading the manhwa itself, you seem to have such w wild and big imagination, and you have interesting ideas about what you think will happen so please keep delighting us with these outstanding theories (づ￣ ³￣)づ

You are very nice here! At times I get carried away lol. At this point only the author is in the know. I am sooo impatient for the next chapter.

Oh my god. You know, I always assumed the “I hate reapers” stance Geumsun takes was bitterness for 704’s emotion-less state, general disdain for all things Yama, and a flimsy excuse for as to why he’s to dick to 704 to avoid attachment/condemning 704 to hell. I never considered that Geumsun could have hated reapers to begin with. Watching someone you love become something you hate adds a whole new level of angst I wasn’t ready for. But I do love angst so I like where your head’s at.

The word count I’ve put into this story is beyond embarrassing so I definitely don’t think anyone’s rant could ever be too long. I honestly loved all of it. More, please!

I love any and all media with subtext I can theorize about. It is so much more rewarding to be able to connect with others and see things in entirely new perspectives. Though sometimes I run the risk of the source material becoming far more disappointing than fan theories haha. Honestly a lot of times I find myself way too overwhelmed to respond to other’s A+ theories bc there’s so much I’m excited about and can get too carried away.

I’m definitely nervous as we’re coming to the end of season 2 that there won’t be enough screen time left in the final season to juggle both the climax and Geumsun and 704’s backstory to feel satisfying. BUT I’m going to reach further than normal (excuse me as I fasten my tin foil hat lol) and suggest we might be getting a Geumsun and 704 spin off? The reason: the last episode landed on Eunjae’s birthday and the author tweeted about drawing something for Eunjae’s birthday last year but missed drawing 704 and Geumsun’s birthday which will happen after season 2 concludes. In addition to the “main” story, they’re also working on other projects so I’m hoping the good news is one of those other projects being a GM and 704 spin off. And maybe that’s where their birthday drawings would be most appropriate.

I think if the acrylic stands reveal anything about the time period of the past then it would make a lot of sense to separate the projects. I think it’s obvious there’s a lot of interest for Geumsun and 704 at this point. L*zhin cut a pretty dope animated teaser video for the pairing on Twitter and IG (posted April 21). The caption is “This world and the underworld, present life and past life. A couple that burns coldly between cold and passion!” It’s pretty impressive and got so much engagement. So there’s definitely money to be made there lol. I’m already buying this story in both Korean and English and would probably do the same for a GM/704 spin-off . Fingers crossed!

RE: goblin status - I am so curious as well on what GM’s registered goblin status was in the past. If I had to guess though I think the first theory you have would be correct. San mentions that Geumsun doesn’t have to hide the meaning of his name because he’s already so well known and the way Chugin and his green haired Northern reaper friend talk about Geumsun it sounds like he’s well known in their parts as well. I think falling out with the Netherworld would make him more infamous than being unregistered all along. It would make a lot of sense if whatever went down with 704 and Hwan would cause him to break off cooperating with the Netherworld too.

RE: Yama possessiveness about “his reaper” - Honestly, this had me so puzzled for the longest time. I couldn’t figure out if Yama was into 704 or into Geumsun because my mind applied yaoi logic that any 3 hotties in a room together must be a love triangle lol. At this point though, I truly think Yama’s entire relationship with and interest in 704 is a calculated act put on to appeal to/control Geumsun.

Yama is SO conniving. He doesn’t hesitate to get physically violent with 704 alone when 704 upsets him but repeatedly voices his concern for 704’s health in front of Geumsun. I think this is an entirely calculated act done to reassure Geumsun that 704 is in good hands so Geumsun can stop worrying about 704 and worry instead about Hwan.

I would not be surprised if Yama made some deal with Geumsun to release 704 if Hwan was killed and any possessive mentions of 704 is reminding Geumsun of the work to be done. When Geumsun calls Yama to pick up 704 he says “Keep him safe. Until I go get him again.” almost like it’s agreed that’s what will happen if Geumsun succeeds. Yama makes no mention of 704 being “his reaper” here or denies him. Yama simply says “…fine. Good luck”.

I think if Yama had real genuine interest in 704 or if his possessiveness stems from lingering regret for not having laid his hands on 704 in the past he would say no or be more difficult and remind Geumsun again who 704 belongs to. The easy agreement makes me feel like that is exactly what Yama wants. 704 is simply Yama’s possession to make Geumsun fall in line. I think he may be a bit fucked now that 704 is MIA though and I’m both excited and terrified to see how Yama reacts lol.

RE: Hwan’s “arrogance” accusation/who’s fault is it for whatever happened to 704- If 704 was made a vessel at some point I would guess that it would not have been Geumsun who would suggest it.

1. ) Geumsun says that the person with the strong spiritual sight also told him how to kill Hwan. If 704 was smart enough to figure that out I don’t think he’s the type of person to wait for someone else to ask him to execute his own idea. I remember that the author labels both Geumsun and 704 as alphas in one of the extras. 704 would definitely take it upon himself to get shit done.

2. ) I can’t imagine Geumsun or 704 putting each other in danger on purpose. I think it would undercut the type of relationship I’m led to believe they had in the past. I have like a half developed theory that the “arrogance” is thinking 704 wouldn’t act on his own or that Geumsun wouldn’t ever lose him. I have no real reason for this theory besides wondering what would be the most heartbreaking thing for Geumsun since that seems to be the through line for the story.

RE: 704’s sin status - I think @Haneul is right and the sin is suicide. Perhaps whether a suicide mission is considered martyrdom or a sin depends on whether it’s a success or a failure and seeing as how Hwan is still alive it looks like 704 is paying for that sin and maybe that’s why Geumsun hates sinners bc arrogantly thought 704 wouldn’t chose to leave him. I’m also remembering here that Geumsun is technically an immortal sacred being with a different moral standard so perhaps he does see such acts as selfish and sinful.

RE: blindfolds. I think you’re right that it would be easier to treat 704 as another reaper Geumsun can have have emotionless sex with and avoid condemning to hell if he can’t see 704’s face but I’d like to suggest alternatively that Geumsun is just a mess and there’s no way for him to have emotionless sex with 704 in the first place lol. so maybe it’s to stop 704 from seeing his face and figuring him out. I mean, from their very first time Geumsun has shown zero self control lol. He slips up over and over again to the point that it weirds 704 out. even though Geumsun was hesitant to have sex with him to begin with and seemingly (devastatingly) accepting that 704 is now nothing more than a reaper who doesn’t even know his own name I think the way he actually treats 704 during that first time shows there’s just still SO much love there he needs a flimsy excuse to hide.

Oh, god dammit. I take back what I said about it not being possible to rant too long. I believe I may have and I’m truly sorry lol.

I wanted to watch this but was scared I'd be wishing the whole time it was Fate Makes No Mistakes instead or drawing comparisons lol. Is it worth watching?