Goblin King

Connections

• Jaeyun earned three wishes in one day rescuing a unicorn-lion's soul from The Goblin King, but lost four wishes that night playing poker with a fox spirit and had to grant a wish himself

Context

As far as I can tell, the "goblins" of Korean mythology are called dokkaebi. While most Eurpoean-based fantasy settings depict goblins as rather short, weak creatures that are usually only dangerous as a group, dokkaebi are far more fearsome and more powerful. Their exact nature and forms differ depending on the time and tale, but they can be anywhere between mischievous pranksters to terrifying monsters. But they can also be very helpful and useful to humans, helping to improve harvests or scaring off more dangerous creatures, for example. 

It is interesting that dokkaebi are frequently featured in stories collected during the Joseon period, which is the same period Jaeyun might have lived.