Welcome to Dungeon Hotel Chapter 325 - Side Story 1. An Ordinary Romance (20)

Side Story 1. An Ordinary Romance (20) 

 

In the end, the game got set up anyway.

 

We cleared a table and spread a blanket over the floor mat.

 

‘At least it’s a relief that Han Woohyun’s aunt went in first…’

 

Earlier, I had briefly met his aunt in the parking lot as she was going in and said hello, but she didn’t look well.

 

I had no intention of comforting her, so we exchanged just a few words and that was it.

 

On top of the blanket, Uncle Junsoo began spreading out the red hwatu cards he had taken from his coat. 

 

“Why do you carry this around?”

 

“Ah, don’t ask. You’ll get hurt.”

 

“What do you mean, get hurt? Obviously he bought it right up front—for this.”

 

Aunt Misoon pressed firmly on Uncle Junsoo’s temple, as if in disbelief.

 

“Ah, ah! It hurts!” 

 

“Do you have any sense at all? You bought something like this on the way here?”

 

Yeah. No matter what, playing hwatu in a situation like this is just… too much.

 

I was hoping the game would fizzle out, but then, an unexpected player stepped in.

 

“Yeah. Let’s do it. I was starting to lose focus.”

 

It was Uncle Minhyuk.

 

“You… know how to play?”

 

I asked cautiously, and Uncle Minhyuk smiled, ruffling my hair before tapping his own head and answering.

 

“I’ll learn just by playing one round. Because I’m smart. After all, it’s just a card game.” 

 

Cards… game…

 

Well. Yeah. That’s not wrong.

 

“Okay, okay. Let’s start with a team. We’ll play Go-Stop, so there will be three players. Three teams. One player will sell the cards.”

 

“One person will be the kkakdugi? Hmm… then I guess it’s best for Junghyo to be the kkakdugi.” 

 

Aunt Heeyoung smiled brightly and pointed at me.

 

‘What a trick…’

 

I think I was starting to get a rough idea of what my aunt’s smile meant.

 

Dad seemed to feel the same way, as he immediately stopped Aunt Heeyoung.

 

“Ohoi. This one has the lie-detection skill. I don’t know what tricks you might try, so stay out of it.” 

 

“What do you mean by ‘tricks’?”

 

Aunt Heeyoung blinked, pretending to look innocent.

 

Uncle Junsoo stepped in.

 

“I’d bet my arm that the moment you’re cornered, you’ll use your skill. What are you going to put on the line?”

 

“I’m a woman who went to law school.”

 

“Bring the sledgehammer!”

 

“…Do we really have to go this far?”

 

Han Woohyun’s protest didn’t carry much weight.

 

In the end, Aunt Heeyoung became the kkakdugi, forming three teams: one with me and Aunt Misoon, another with Uncle Junsoo and Uncle Minhyuk, and the last with Han Woohyun and Dad.

 

The teams were set up to utterly crush Uncle Min-hyuk and Han Woohyun, who didn’t know how to play Go-Stop.

 

Naturally, the early rounds went in favor of me and Aunt Misoon.

 

Aunt Misoon once got so hooked on mobile matgo that she earned up to a trillion in game money, and I had trained my skills for a while through games with the ladies at the Yeongchun-myeon beauty salon.

 

‘That’s a place where you can blow your entire fortune with just ten cents per point.’

 

Of course, no real money was exchanged.

 

It was really just about the fun of emptying out the piggy bank at the salon and passing coins back and forth.

 

Still, like with games of this kind, you end up getting overly invested, and your competitive spirit kicks in by the end.

 

Thanks to that, my skills improved by leaps and bounds.

 

“Our Junghyo… was a Tazza?” 

 

After just three rounds, Uncle Junsoo was in the red and had a *pi-bak*, and he looked at me with a bewildered expression.

 

This window popped up right in front of my eyes.

 

‘Hyosun’s Team’ wins.

 

Calculating the game money…

 

You win! 20,000p in game money has been credited! Congratulations!

 

This came up because Dad told me to ask Merlin, so I used him to launch the window. 

 

‘What a waste of talent.’

 

Even though it was a needless drain of mana, Merlin agreed to do it, saying he was already bored.

 

‘I’ve been testing a few things lately anyway. Think it’ll work?

 

This really works. 

 

It’s probably the same principle as the Demon King talking to me through a weird chat window.

 

And thanks to this status window, everyone’s faces were turning bright red.

 

It’s no wonder, since this is the kind of window that appeared in the others’ eyes. 

 

You lose!

 

10,000p in game money has been deducted…

 

ㅠㅠ Better luck next time!

 

Even I’d be pissed.

 

What do you mean by “better luck next time”?

 

I wonder what kind of game Merlin has been playing these days.

 

‘I should probably start talking about opening the hotel with the new revolving door soon…’

 

Lately, it seems like he’s gotten hooked on some new game again.

 

“Now I’m starting to get the hang of it.”

 

At that moment, Uncle Minhyuk spoke in a serious voice.

 

It seemed he was genuinely getting absorbed as well.

 

‘This is a little scary.’

 

“I’m starting to get the hang of it too.”

 

Han Woohyun nodded as well.

 

The two of them barely managed to memorize the numbers during the three rounds.

 

At first, they probably thought it was just a pastime and didn’t take it seriously, but this round was big enough that they got genuinely fired up.

 

And the next round.

 

‘We’re Pretty Good Together’ Team wins.

 

By a narrow margin, the team with Dad and Han Woohyun won.

 

The team name was given by Uncle Junsoo.

 

Seeing that, I could tell Uncle Minhyuk tilted his head. A window like this must have popped up in front of his eyes.

 

‘Go-Stop Noob Meets Top Master’ team lost.

 

Once again, the naming was Uncle Junsoo’s job.

 

“…So this is how it’s going to be.”

 

Next up was Uncle Minhyuk’s turn.

 

Uncle Minhyuk took off his jacket and hung it over the chair next to him.

 

Wearing just a vest over his bursting shirt, Uncle Minhyuk sat down in front of the blanket.

 

“Somehow… this feels scary…”

 

“Wait! Time out! It’s too hot in here. Let’s go grab some beer.”

 

“Me too. Me too.”

 

The fired-up players each headed to the fridge to grab some beer.

 

And when everyone returned, the game began again.

 

This time, Uncle Minhyuk took the lead, steadily gaining points.

 

Finally.

 

‘Go-Stop Noob Meets Top Master’ Team wins.

 

Damn it.

 

We lost both games.

 

I grimaced as I looked at my game money, barely holding onto the positive balance.

 

“Aunt.” 

 

“Yeah, let’s go.”

 

Aunt Misoon stepped up with a determined look on her face.

 

But the result was another defeat.

 

This time, Han Woohyun’s team won. In the end, our team ended up in the negative.

 

And then, it was my turn in the next game.

 

I struggled because I kept missing the back cards, while Uncle Minhyuk surged ahead into the lead.

 

By taking exactly the right cards at the right time and putting down exactly what was needed.

 

But—

 

“…?”

 

Huh?

 

What was that weird just now?

 

I carefully watched Uncle Minhyuk, who seemed to have no cards left to play, and noticed him making a strange gesture.

 

“Wait a minute.”

 

“…?”

 

“…?”

 

“Everyone, hands on your heads. Someone’s been cheating.”

 

“…!”

 

A tense atmosphere filled all the players… or rather, all the Tazza around the table.

 

I watched Uncle Minhyuk, with a composed expression, obediently raise his hands above his head.

 

Seeing Uncle Minhyuk, looking sharp in his perfectly fitted suit, like that made it feel as if the scene had suddenly shifted into a noir film where the mafia gets raided by the FBI.

 

‘Wasn’t this clearly a family drama just a moment ago?’

 

In any case, Uncle Minhyuk’s obedient behavior seemed very suspicious to me.

 

“Who’s the one that cheated?”

 

Uncle Minhyuk looked at me with a blank expression, his hands raised.

 

As if he truly didn’t know.

 

‘So suspicious!’

 

“Can I check first?”

 

Uncle Minhyuk nodded slowly.

 

I gestured to Aunt Heeyoung, who hadn’t been involved in this round.

 

Then Aunt Heeyoung stepped forward and searched through Uncle Minhyuk’s clothes.

 

“Nothing here?”

 

But that gesture clearly happened near his body.

 

I spoke to the two players with certainty.

 

“Please stand up.”

 

“Wait a minute.”

 

At that moment, Uncle Minhyuk objected.

 

“I’d bet 100,000 points that there aren’t any hwatu cards under my body. What are you going to bet?”

 

“….!”

 

I bit my lip.

 

100,000 points?

 

That was enough to completely turn the tables on either side.

 

I swallowed hard and looked at my dad.

 

“And Dad?”

 

Part of me wanted to drag in a third party to get us out of this situation, and another part was calculating that if Dad joined this gamble too, we could completely bring down Uncle Min‑hyuk, who was charging ahead in the lead.

 

“I……”

 

At that moment, my dad spoke.

 

“I’ll bet on Junghyo.”

 

“…!”

 

Okay. I’m joining the fight.

 

I clenched and unclenched my fist, then nodded.

 

“I’ll put up 100,000 points too.”

 

Uncle Minhyuk simply nodded with an indifferent expression, unfazed by my provocation.

 

“I see.”

 

Uncle Minhyuk slowly sat up.

 

I saw the hem of the blanket exposed beneath his raised body.

 

I clenched my fists again and pulled back the hem of the blanket.

 

And—

 

“…!”

 

You lose!

 

100,000p in game money has been deducted…

 

ㅠㅠ Gambling is bad~!

 

Nothing.

 

Absolutely nothing.

 

I realized that and collapsed.

 

Uncle Minhyuk stroked my head and said gently.

 

“There are no eternal friends or eternal enemies in this game, Junghyo-ya.”

 

What, what does that mean?

 

I finally turned my head.

 

That’s right.

 

When I turned, there was Aunt Heeyoung, smiling with an inscrutable expression.

 

Exactly where Uncle Minhyuk’s eyes met.

 

That gesture.

 

It wasn’t an action meant to pick up any hidden hwatu cards.

 

“….!”

 

I realized that and felt utterly defeated.

 

But it was already too late, and my lost game money wasn’t coming back.

 

“So, is the game over then?”

 

“No way! Raise the stakes!”

 

Of course, the game didn’t end until dawn.