Welcome to Dungeon Hotel Chapter 338 - Webtoon Side Story: Welcome to Dungeon Hotel Branch 4 (9)

Webtoon Side Story: Welcome to Dungeon Hotel Branch 4 (9)

 

A lie.

 

It was the moment my mind began flashing white.

 

Click.

 

Something turned off the basement light.

 

Cuckoo.

 

Cuckoo.

 

Cuckoo.

 

The cuckoo clock outside chimed twelve times. 

 

It was midnight.

 

No—whether it was midnight or not didn’t matter.

 

If what I just saw was a hallucination, I needed to go to a hospital; if it wasn’t, I had to see for myself. 

 

I fumbled for the basement light and switched it back on.

 

The basement was revealed to be empty. 

 

Drip. Drip. Drip.

 

Red wine was falling from the cloth like diluted blood, but there was no one squeezing it—no rats, either.

 

It was as if everything that had been there was trying to insist it was just my imagination. 

 

I kept my eyes on the ground as I walked. 

 

When I reached the basement stairs, I saw several rats fleeing, tails tucked as they ran.

 

Instead of trying to snatch them, I ran up faster and slammed the basement door shut. 

 

Most of them escaped, but one didn’t make it out of the basement.

 

As the door slammed shut in its face, the creature’s face turned pale with fright. 

 

‘Wait. Can a rat’s face even turn pale?’

 

To begin with, that rat’s face had been gray.

 

At this point, I couldn’t even keep up with my own thought process.

 

The rat scrambled back down the stairs and hid somewhere in a corner of the basement. 

 

I followed the red wine footprints left by its paws and went back into the basement.

 

What am I even doing right now?

 

What would I do if I caught it, anyway?

 

I wasn’t particularly afraid of rats—but I didn’t like them either.

 

Still, I felt like I had to catch that thing.

 

The reason was simple.

 

Probably—

 

“Got you.”

 

I lifted the creature from the corner of a cabinet full of wine bottles.

 

It flailed wildly, letting out a skin-crawling sound.

 

“Screek! Screek!”

 

“What are you? What are you doing?”

 

“…Sque—”

 

The creature froze, its eyes going wide.

 

“You’re not supposed to talk after midnight!”

 

Then words spilled from its mouth.

 

“You said it yourself—after midnight, don’t talk to us!”

 

A rat was talking.

 

But that didn’t matter to me.

 

Something far more important was floating right in front of my eyes.

 

Sudden Quest: “Ultimate Recipe — Wine”

 

— You have met a Master who possesses the ‘Ultimate Recipe—Wine.’ Receive the ‘Ultimate Recipe’ from them.

 

— Completion Reward: 100G, 100% customer satisfaction when using the recipe, +10% affinity with spirits.

 

It was the same quest.

 

But this time, the wording was slightly different.

 

Not “discovered” a master—but “met” one.

 

Right.

 

I knew something was off.

 

Wine was dripping from its paws.

 

Liber wine.

 

In other words, this little guy was the owner of the ‘Ultimate Recipe.’ 

 

* * *

 

“You… are you a service-industry spirit?”

 

I stood facing the rat—or rather, the rat spirit—keeping about two meters of distance.

 

The gray-furred “rat” looked at me with a puzzled expression.

 

“Service industry? What’s that?”

 

“Then what are you…?”

 

What are you, anyway?

 

Recalling the day I first met Geumdong in Yeongchun-myeon, I searched around for something long and solid nearby.

 

“W-what are you looking for?”

 

“A way not to let you off easy if you don’t talk.”

 

“…!”

 

The rat trembled violently.

 

“I-I’m just a food-service spirit! At night, I roam the vineyards helping the grapes grow, then come here to make wine, that’s all!”

 

“Food service…?”

 

What kind of spirits are all this worldly?

 

Service industry, now food service too?

 

It was absurd, but I imagined rats running tirelessly through vineyards, tending grapes, harvesting them, then making wine here.

 

Those tiny feet must’ve worked nonstop.

 

I thought of Geumdong, who’d do anything for guests.

 

Since this one was a spirit too, it must genuinely be trying its best to make food taste good.

 

That thought made it feel… a little cute.

 

“There’s still so much work left if we’re going to meet the delivery deadline! What are we supposed to do now?!”

 

The rat stomped its tiny feet, then pointed at a sieve used for filtering grapes.

 

“The wine we promised the Orleans pizzeria isn’t finished yet—this is bad, really bad!”

 

It tapped its front ankle as if pointing to a wristwatch, then clutched its head.

 

Looking closely, the redness around its small eyes didn’t seem like typical rat eyes—it looked bloodshot instead.

 

‘Why is a spirit worried about deadlines in the first place?’

 

While I was thinking that, the rat suddenly dropped its earlier timid attitude and snapped at me.

 

“Ever since you humans came here, nothing’s gone right!”

 

“Humans…?”

 

Was it talking about me and Han Woohyun?

 

“Normally, those guests outside would wander the creepy castle, get scared when we squeak a bit, and hide in their rooms! But what is this?! It’s past midnight and they’re all roaming around the first floor!”

 

Ah. So that’s how it was.

 

These nocturnal “food-service spirits” worked hard in the basement after midnight to meet deadlines—and to keep people from discovering them, they scared guests away.

 

‘That’s why the stories about ghosts in this castle started.’

 

“Wait a second.”

 

I pointed at the rat.

 

“You don’t transform too, do you?”

 

“Transform into what?”

 

“Like Geumdong—no, like that service spirit—turn into a human or something.”

 

“How would we turn into humans? We’re rats.”

 

“…”

 

So that wasn’t possible.

 

I abandoned the hope of changing this tiny creature’s form.

 

Instead, I filled that space with another thought.

 

‘Let’s finish the quest first.’

 

I didn’t know who issued this quest, or what “affinity with spirits” even meant.

 

But according to the quest, I was currently “meeting a master of wine.”

 

“I think I know why you’re always struggling with deadlines.”

 

“…That’s because humans like you keep poking around the castle. Persistent humans, honestly…” 

 

The disdain for humans in its voice was almost ridiculous. Geumdong loved humans more than anything.

 

Missing Yeongchun Hotel, I said,

 

“You guys are too small. You need help from someone stronger and bigger than you.”

 

“Don’t tell me… that means…?”

 

“I’ll help you. So you help me too. What do you say?”

 

The rat’s eyes widened.

 

“Absolutely not!”

 

It shouted and grabbed a small rod used for stirring grapes.

 

It looked custom-made for a rat’s height—using that to stir all that wine would take ages.

 

Exactly.

 

Since they couldn’t transform into humans, they couldn’t use strength like Geumdong.

 

And that wasn’t all.

 

“How much do you even earn selling that wine?”

 

“…?”

 

Seeing its eyes go wide, I realized.

 

“How much does your boss pay you?”

 

“How dare you talk about money to spirits! We are not beings that can be bought and sold!”

 

“So you don’t get paid.”

 

“…!”

 

Crash!

 

Thunder boomed overhead.

 

Listening to the thunder, the rat rubbed its face with a dazed expression. Red wine smeared onto its nose. 

 

So then—who exactly was their “boss”?

 

I thought of the winery owner hospitalized earlier.

 

Whoever it was didn’t matter.

 

What mattered was that the boss was exploiting them.

 

I stepped closer to the rat, who eyed me warily.

 

“Working hard every night. No pay.”

 

“…W-well, that’s…”

 

I understand spirits.

 

I’ve worked with them before.

 

How they think.

 

What drives them?

 

I decided to target that.

 

“Despised by humans.”

 

“…”

 

“And most of all—you want to see it, don’t you?”

 

“S-see what…?”

 

Crash!

 

Thunder roared again.

 

Above us, I heard people murmuring.

 

They were starting to look for me.

 

As the rat cautiously stepped back, I let out a small laugh.

 

“How happily people drink the wine you made.”

 

I crouched in front of it.

 

“You said you’re a food-service spirit, right…?”

 

Thinking of how Geumdong grew stronger and happier every time guests were satisfied, it was simple.

 

A food-service spirit would surely grow stronger and happier whenever someone enjoyed what they ate.

 

But if it had never been able to see people satisfied—

 

‘Then it could never grow strong. Or happy.’

 

I extended my hand toward the frightened rat.

 

“Teach me your wine. I’ll show you how much happiness it brings people.”

 

“…!”

 

At that moment, the rat’s face crumpled.

 

Something strange appeared.

 

Intimacy: 1%

 

No—more precisely, it appeared above the rat’s head.