Welcome to Dungeon Hotel Chapter 271

265. How on earth do you raise a child?

 

Han Minhyuk felt like everything that had happened over the past few days was just a dream.

 

It was natural.

 

Everything unfolding before his eyes defied the laws of everyday life. 

 

After graduating from law school, his daily life had been simple for a while. 

 

He wakes up around 5 in the morning and leaves his small goshiwon.

 

To replenish his energy for morning classes, he pushes through the crowds of people who are after ramen and finds a seat at a nearby coffee shop. 

 

Since it was morning, he would order a latte and take about 20 minutes to slowly drink it while reading a book unrelated to his studies.

 

In the morning, he would attend lectures, then take a short walk at lunchtime before filling up with a sandwich or a light salad and returning to the law academy.

 

And then, until nightfall, he would study alone in an empty lecture hall at the law academy.

 

His routine was simple and neat.

 

The exam students nearby, eating cup rice with its distinct smell, called him an oddball.

 

Whether it was at the law academy or the study room, he never got involved in group culture or competition. Sitting upright, reading the massive law books as if they were novels, he stood out wherever he went—yet, at the same time, he was almost like a ghost.  

 

Because no one wanted to talk to him.

 

Within that thorough indifference, his days flowed exactly as scheduled, without a single holiday. He liked that very much. 

 

Lying in his small room where no one disturbed him, he enjoyed a brief moment of peace. 

 

A place where neither the madam, who used to barge in and out of his home with threats, nor Kim Jinseop, who called him at all hours as if summoning a chauffeur, could interfere. 

 

‘Don’t have anything like a family. It complicates the lineage.’

 

Yeah. The lady was right. He was someone who shouldn’t create anything like a family.

 

To him, anyone who approached and intruded was nothing more than an obstacle. 

 

That quiet, island-like solitude of his daily life crumbled in an instant one morning. 

 

With the world falling apart.

 

—Kuuuuuu!

 

Before the attack of unknown monsters, humans were endlessly fragile. 

 

Human skin was no different from a sheet of paper before their claws.

 

As the monsters appeared, humans pushed each other and cried out in panic.

 

‘Move, you damn b*stards!’

 

‘Should we throw this kid as bait? That might open up a path.’

 

Of course, there were those who lost their minds.

 

It wasn’t all that surprising.

 

He simply realized once again that humans were nothing more than this.

 

Anyway, he was just one of those weak people.

 

‘Whether it’s deliveries or playing hero, with the outside world in this state, shouldn’t those of us with power stick together? We need to save people.’

 

No matter what kind of unknown power he had gained, he never once thought of rising up like Kim Junsoo to save someone.

 

Although he felt a slight sense of discomfort at the deaths of others, there was no sense of regret. 

 

There probably isn’t a person in this world who would want to give up their life because of that little bit of nausea.

 

But it was strange.

 

‘It’s because I care about Han Minhyuk-ssi so much.’

 

This woman seemed different.

 

A woman with jet-black hair and jet-black eyes.

 

A woman who, despite rarely showing any expression except when deep in thought, served him meals at that eerie Chinese restaurant, prepared his bathwater, and even made strangely invigorating coffee for dessert.

 

On the surface, she seemed kind and devoted, but as he roamed the disaster-stricken streets of Seoul with her, he became certain.

 

That guy had definitely never loved anyone madly.

 

Otherwise, she wouldn’t be able to look at the fallen city with such indifferent eyes or face the deaths of people so unemotionally. 

 

That’s why she had suggested leaving together.

 

It wasn’t so much that he was worried about her—rather, it just seemed like she was someone who could leave.

 

She seemed easier to convince than Kim Junsoo, who raged as if he had a burning heart, or Hwang Misoon, whose eyes seemed to spin—whether from her high-prescription glasses or something else.

 

However, the moment he suggested leaving, her face had already given the answer.

 

The answer, of course, was that she wouldn’t go with him.

 

“Why?”

 

“Yes?” 

 

He asked the woman, who was silently stealing another car despite the possibility that monsters like the one they had just seen might appear again. She lifted her head as if wondering what he was talking about. 

 

She was a really strange woman who did something so incredible but still had a clear expression.

 

“Why…” 

 

He was about to ask why she wanted to stay but instead turned to look at the boy curled up in the passenger seat 

 

He changed the question he was about to ask.

 

It was a bit unexpected, even to him.

 

“Why am I your first love?”

 

The woman’s eyes visibly shook at his question.

 

As if she had a prickly corner.

 

“As I said… Han Minhyuk-ssi, you’re good-looking…” 

 

He knew well enough that his face was fairly handsome, but her answer wasn’t particularly convincing. 

 

“So you’re saying you risked your life to save a man just because you fell for his face?”

 

“I didn’t risk my life, though. I’m not weak enough for something like that to put me in danger.”

 

“Don’t joke around.”

 

The woman cleared her throat, her expression suggesting she was wondering if the question itself was meant as a joke.

 

“Well… just… when I saw you at the chapel. The way you were praying…”

 

“I don’t pray.”

 

The woman quickly changed the subject.

 

“Oh, so I mean the sight of you just sitting still while everyone else was praying…?” 

 

The woman hesitated as if contemplating something, then glanced at him.

 

“You looked lonely.”

 

The woman gripped the steering wheel tightly.

 

Her fingertips turned white.

 

“You saved me for that reason?”

 

He asked as if he was dumbfounded, but the woman looked up at him with a blank expression.

 

Then she gestured toward the boy placed in the passenger seat of the van and said. 

 

“Han Minhyuk-ssi, why did you save that child?” 

 

“…I’m the only one who gets to ask questions.”

 

“You’re still the same.”

 

“What?” 

 

When Han Minhyuk furrowed his brows, the woman laughed.

 

The sight of a smile spreading across the woman’s face, who had seemed almost indifferent, was quite— 

 

Precious.

 

Enough to make him want to smile along.

 

“You saved him because he looked lonely, didn’t you? Because it seemed like no one else would. Because you couldn’t leave him alone. It’s the same for me.”

 

The woman spoke as she glanced at the ruined city beyond the windshield.

 

“That’s still a kind of affection. Don’t overthink it too much. You don’t need some grand reason to care for someone. Someone taught me that… a long time ago.”  

 

What are you…

 

What are you talking about?

 

He frowned for a moment, then took his hand off the car door as he watched the woman start the car.

 

As he stepped back, the woman smiled and said,

 

“I’ll be back soon. Our staff will take care of the meal. Please eat well.” 

 

…Nonsense until the very end.

 

She’s terrible at lying, but she’s great at talking nonsense.

 

Han Minhyuk watched the woman’s car disappear and thought to himself.

 

He didn’t believe in gods. He hated being in places crowded with people. He had no dreams, no future, no wishes.

 

That’s why he had never attended chapel.

 

So everything that crazy woman said was a lie from start to finish, and that was why he couldn’t believe it.

 

A woman who saved him by giving him such a pitiful excuse that she was his first love, when there was no way she was his first love.

 

He returned to the driver’s seat of the van after the woman’s car disappeared.

 

He nudged the boy who was crouching down.

 

The boy’s head fell gently onto his arm.

 

He had fallen asleep in the meantime.

 

He felt the boy’s cheek resting against his arm, then carefully adjusted the boy’s head back into place and fastened his seatbelt.

 

You don’t have to have a great reason to save someone.

 

Those words strangely made him feel comfortable.

 

He felt as much peace as he did when he regained his peaceful daily life.

 

Of course, his peace was shattered after a while.

 

“What did you say about playing a hero~ Super hero Han Min-hyuk appears~”

 

As soon as the boy opened the door to Gyeongseong Hotel and Han Minhyuk followed in to explain the situation, Kim Junsoo immediately started teasing him. 

 

“What’s this? So you went out just to bring this little kid back? If Kim Junsoo’s a delivery guy, then what are you, a shelter worker? Wow. Hey, little kid~ Wanna see a robot, kid?” 

 

It was thanks to Hwang Misoon, who lifted the frightened boy onto her head and looked at him as if he were pathetic.

 

These b*stard, really. 

 

He finally swore.

 

* * *

 

Just before arriving at the Gangwon-do circuit, a window popped up before my eyes.

 

Gyeongseong Hotel: ★★★☆☆

 

Satisfaction points remaining until a 4-star hotel: 1,700.

 

Why did my satisfaction level go up?

 

Administrator

 

Is it because of Han Woohyun?

 

 

I asked Alex just in case, but she only gave me an ambiguous answer.

 

System

 

Strange guys… 

 

What are you talking about?

 

Who is saying something strange?

 

I couldn’t hear any more answers and the car arrived at the Gangwon-do Circuit.

 

Having trouble finding the circuit entrance, I activated ‘Location Search (S). 

 

I tried both Moon Heeyoung and Lee Semyung, but nothing showed up in the location search.  

 

Just in case, I went into the audience entrance and looked inside, and I saw a few ogres wandering around the circuit. 

 

Where they were gathered, there was a gate similar to the one I saw in front of the National Museum.

 

And I saw two broken cars.

 

I approached there without caring about the ogres’ attention. 

 

I was in a hurry, and the circuit was too vast, so I had no choice but to run.

 

One of the broken cars was covered in blood, and the other car was empty.

 

Aside from a helmet left in front of the gate, there were no traces of people to be found.

 

I stared at the gaping hole in the air, the gate.

 

‘Should I go in here?’

 

In the original past, Aunt Heeyoung awakened after entering and exiting the gate.

 

So if it’s still in here, I have no choice but to take it out.

 

What did Dad do?

 

In this place where I am, Dad was definitely there too.

 

Dad didn’t enter this gate to save Aunt Heeyoung. He just waited for Moon Heeyoung.

 

The fact that Dad knew the circuit’s address, wrote it down in his notebook, and specifically targeted Moon Heeyoung’s return date was proof of that.  

 

An ‘Ogre (D)’ has appeared in front of you!

 

I continued my thoughts without paying much attention to the aggro being pulled from behind.

 

There were two reasons why Dad made that choice.

 

I knew Aunt Heeyoung would come out anyway, and she could only awaken through the experience inside the gate.

 

In other words, Dad needed the power of the Aunt.

 

However, I don’t need the power of the Aunt. Then, isn’t the method simple?

 

I’ll ‘forcefully book’ Aunt at the hotel. Since the manager is at the hotel, it’s definitely possible. 

 

The moment Aunt’s location is confirmed in this world through the location search. 

 

“Grrrr….!” 

 

At that moment, I heard the sound of an ogre scratching its neck above my head. 

 

I looked up at its huge body and took out the master key.

 

‘To the Gyeongseong Hotel.’

 

As soon as I returned to the hotel, it was Kim Junsoo’s desperate hand that grabbed me.

 

“…How on earth do you handle parenting?! The kid went into the room and won’t come out!”

 

Could it be that ‘kid’ is Han Woohyun?

 

“I was playing with him so hard!! This is all your fault, Han Minhyuk!” 

 

I could also hear Hwang Misoon shouting from behind. 

 

Hwang Misoon was inside the massive robot standing in the lounge, and perhaps due to the sound system inside, her voice was transformed into strange mechanical sounds as it flowed out. 

 

“I just read a book to him. Kids like fairy tales, don’t they?” 

 

Han Minhyuk placed the law book on the desk.

 

I looked at this mess and said, touching my forehead.

 

“That’s why he won’t come out.”

 

Did these three just raise the satisfaction level of the hotel?