Welcome to Dungeon Hotel – Chapter 301

Author: rolypoly

Sweet

I placed a fork in the hand of the flustered Owen Black.

“You just now clearly said to me…”

Judging from his informal speech, he must be flustered.

‘Did you figure out who I am?’

I knew that what Louisa Villani—or rather, the Demon King in Louisa Villani’s form—wanted to say to me was just that, but instead of replying, I simply set down the plate with the cake.

‘Didn’t you know?’

I have the skill of a hotelier’s eye.

‘A dungeon hotel in Paris… I’ll think about it.’

If it had been the real Louisa Villani, her satisfaction level should have skyrocketed upon hearing those words—but instead, the other’s satisfaction level suddenly dropped.

Why on earth?

My doubts started from there.

The more I kept saying throughout the conversation that I would give up the hotel, the more her satisfaction steadily declined.

But the moment I asked if he wanted some cake, his satisfaction shot up.

I used Shim Jiyoon to buy information.

The information that the real Louisa Villani had already returned to France.

‘So that means, for now at least, this Louisa here isn’t the real one—’

Up until that point, my imagination remained in a simple place.

You again.

Administrator

Alex. You haven’t closed this chat window yet, have you?

Are you at the hotel now?

Answer quickly. I really…

Take a deep breath.

Administrator

I want to let you stay in the executive room.

Why do people… no, why do dragons keep disguising themselves like that?

Now, there’s no one left who would say anything even if you showed up openly.

Come out while I’m still saying this nicely…

That’s when I was thinking that.

System

Mhm…?

Why?

You’re making a reservation for me?

Yeah, you reptile.

Instead of answering, I planned to quickly use the Manager’s Forced Reservation skill to drag her out.

System

(Photo)

Oh, this is it.

A five-star hotel is nice~

Until Alex sent me a photo of the Goblin’s End Village Experience Package.

System

How is it?

The specialty here is gold chocolate.

Should I buy it?

Alex doesn’t really have a reason to deny it this hard, does he?

I sat still, just staring at the chat window with that thought in mind.

Then who is Louisa Villani?

Administrator

If there’s a dragon that covets our hotel the most, who do you think it is?

Well. It’s pretty strange that someone who went as far as transforming into Louisa just to get their hands on our hotel would lose satisfaction the moment I said I’d open a hotel in Paris.

It didn’t take long for a reply to come.

System

Me?

That’s true, but you’re in the Goblin Village, aren’t you?

Pass.

System

My…Dad?

Yeah. Merlin.

That’s possible.

But Louisa and Merlin were in the same space.

Administrator

Do dragons use cloning or illusions…?

System

Maybe it’s possible if you make a contract with a spirit?

Why?

That’s good information.

Let’s check.

‘The contract terms are supposed to be incredible. I only found out from the article, and I couldn’t keep my mouth shut. Not that you’re actually going to go, boss—’

…Hmm.

I confirmed it as I saw Merlin walking toward me during my conversation with the manager.

‘Don’t worry. I’ll make sure the hotel runs smoothly even without me. There might even be a better owner than me.’

Is Merlin really after this hotel?

I was curious.

Merlin looked at me at my words. I turned on the mind communication window that I had turned off only for the employees.

The ‘Former Hotel Owner (and Current Manager)’ is surprised.

He listened to me as expected.

I told you that you have good ears.

But where exactly are a dragon’s ears located?

The ‘Former Hotel Owner (and Current Manager)’ is annoyed by the question about where his ears are.

Ah.

At that moment, I looked into Merlin’s eyes and realized.

That guy. No, no, that reptile.

He can see the mind communication skill window that I’m looking at.

The ‘Former Hotel Owner (and Current Manager)’ reacts with disbelief, saying it’s an obvious thing to ask.

The ‘Former Hotel Owner (and Current Manager)’ scolds, saying, ‘You have no intention of giving up the hotel anyway, so why are you testing the poor manager?’

…At this rate, it’s no different from the chat window.

I sent him a mind communication window that said just that.

The ‘Hotel Owner’ suggests that they both agree to shut up.

Yeah.

Merlin’s fingers curled into a circle.

Anyway, that’s not it. I concluded lightly—

The ‘Former Hotel Owner (and Current Manager)’ thinks the Hotel Owner is seriously pissing him off.

We ended the last window with a truce.

Hotel Owner.

The message he left subtly lingered in my mind.

Merlin sees me as the hotel owner—even though it’s technically his own hotel.

What’s the reason?

‘Earnest Waiting.’

Has my earnest waiting truly become my talent?

Because I’ve been waiting desperately for someone?

‘It’s a bit ridiculous.’

To confirm the truth, I have no choice but to uncover Louisa Villani’s true identity.

And the easiest way to do that was this.

‘Have some cake.’

Confirming their identity by handing them a fork.

In my opinion, the dragon who coveted this hotel the most wasn’t Merlin or Alex.

It was the Demon King.

Accessing the guest list of the Corrupted World’s Guardian Deity (Regular Guest)…

“…That’s right.”

“When on earth did you know?”

“Just now.”

“….?”

The Demon King’s, no, Luisa Villani’s face distorted.

Now then, as heartbreaking as it is, the satisfaction level will slightly drop…

And increased?

What? Did you want to get caught?

‘There’s something a bit perverted about it, you know.’

I was flustered, but instead of showing it, I picked up the tray that had held the cake plate and said.

“Let’s talk later. Right now, I’m in the middle of persuading the hotel pâtissier.”

I glanced at Kim Euihae near the kitchen counter.

Then the Demon King shook his head as if he was dumbfounded and said.

“You said you were quitting the hotel, so why are you trying to persuade the pâtissier?”

“By that logic, we’re all going to die someday—so why bother breathing and living?”

“You… you’ve gotten really… firm, haven’t you? I, I’m a guest here too, you know?”

“I think this is pretty gentle, considering you’re a reptile who once drove humanity to the brink of extinction. I was originally planning to either kick you out or lock you up in a room so you couldn’t leave.”

“But why didn’t you do that?”

“That’s….”

I stared into the Demon King’s eyes.

Did those eyes originally have that golden glow?

Anyway,

I had planned to use a skill to either kick the Demon King out or completely restrain them the moment I lured them into the hotel—

I quietly looked at the Demon King wearing Louisa Villani’s face.

‘Guest in Room 802’ reminisces about the past.

‘Guest in Room 802’ longs for those who have left.

And then, the window that absurdly popped up the moment he saw the cake.

‘Guest in Room 802’ thinks the cake looks delicious.

The moment I saw that window, I realized.

The obvious fact that, in here, both the Demon King and Merlin Gray are ultimately just my guests.

“You’re a guest.”

“What?”

“The hotel is a place to rest.”

The Demon King’s eyes widened. Then I saw it more clearly.

Something like a golden ring surrounding his pupils.

“…Why don’t you take the day off today? You can plan humanity’s destruction step by step.”

Oh my, this is ridiculous.

I’m talking about that window that appears above that reptile’s head the moment I finish speaking.

It went up again, satisfaction.

Does the Demon King who dreams of the destruction of humanity also need rest?

* * *

“Humans, you see—if they focus too much on breathing, they can’t do anything else. They forget how to breathe without thinking about it.”

The Demon King thought it was pathetic as he listened to those words.

Humans are weak after all.

He loved humans, but he thought that humans were creatures with great innate weaknesses. That weakness.

“So when you consciously focus on breathing, you can’t think about anything else. That’s what a hotel is for—sleeping, eating, resting. A place to focus only on those things. And when you do, you start to see the present more than the past or the future. And that makes things a little better. Not that anything gets solved—just better. Breathing gets easier. Sleeping, eating.”

But the moment those pitch-black eyes said that to him—

For some reason, the Demon King felt that being “weak” didn’t seem so bad after all.

Was it because he had transformed into a much weaker and more delicate human body than his original body?

The daily life of a human—so fragile that even breathing, sleeping, eating, and resting must be treated as tasks to accomplish.

“So for today, let’s just have some cake. After that… you might find that plans like the destruction of humanity feel more troublesome than you thought.”

He watched Junghyo rise with a calm expression and thought as he looked at the cake that was left there.

Yeah, maybe…

‘Taking a little moment of rest like this before destroying humanity wouldn’t be so bad, after all.’

That’s what she said.

The moment he took a big bite and put it in his mouth.

Take a bite—sweet cake (D).

—It’s sweet.

With the cake as delicious as its texture in his mouth, he thought.

‘It’s sweet.’

Take a bite—sweet cake (D).

—It’s sweet.

—While eating the cake, an old and sweet memory came to mind.

Well, of course, it wasn’t a completely incompetent cake.

Author's Thoughts

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