Welcome to Dungeon Hotel Chapter 348 - Webtoon Side Story: Welcome to Dungeon Hotel Branch 4 (19)

Webtoon Side Story: Welcome to Dungeon Hotel Branch 4 (19)

 

“What on earth… what do you think you’re doing…?” 

 

“What do you mean what? I’m just showering our cute little spirits with affection.”

 

A man with bright yellow eyes shining lifted the rat spirits in front of me one by one, raising them up and putting them down again.

 

The rat spirits flustered in front of the man, trying to run away only to be caught, then trying to run away again only to be caught once more.

 

‘What a twisted hobby…’ 

 

I frowned as I watched the man.

 

Pale skin, bright yellow eyes, and reddish hair that fell in a medium-length cut.

 

Every single element about him gave off nothing resembling a human impression.

 

Above all, even Manager Kang Miyeon—who had firmly declared that she judged purely by faces—had said he was “handsome,” and that captivating appearance made it even more so.

 

And his identity truly was not human.

 

Sudden Quest ‘Running Through Time (1) — Let’s Befriend the Spirit of Time’

 

—You have awakened a thousand-year-old fox spirit. Befriend the spirit and restore the power of the Spirit of Time.

 

—Current Affinity: -99/100

 

The Spirit of Time I had awakened from the ‘tapestry.’

 

I could manage to wrap my head around the concept of spirits for the food industry, having been trained by Geumdong and Toto. 

 

But the Spirit of Time existed outside any range I could comprehend.

 

And I hadn’t even done anything, yet the affinity…

 

-99

 

Seeing the bright red indicator above the spirit’s head, I furrowed my brow.

 

Even the rats had started from zero, hadn’t they?

 

I let out a deep sigh and first snatched the rats away from him.

 

“Stop. That’s not affection. You’re bullying them.”

 

As I gathered the rats into my arms, they finally scurried behind my arm to hide.

 

“That’s right!”

 

“You show up after a hundred years just to bully us!”

 

“Bad fox! Fire fox!”

 

Fox…?

 

Ah, right. Come to think of it, the quest window had also described that Spirit of Time as a ‘fox.’

 

Only then did I take another careful look at the man’s face.

 

Bright yellow eyes. Reddish hair.

 

And even those strangely long, thin lips.

 

Something like a nine-tailed fox?

 

It was while I was thinking that.

 

“Cute lady? Don’t stare at me so intently. Of course, I know I’m handsome, but…”

 

As if he felt my gaze, the man turned toward me and smiled.

 

The way his lips split into a long smile was alluring yet somewhat grotesque.

 

‘Is it because I’m looking at him knowing he isn’t human?’ 

 

All the other spirits had felt cute, but this one felt particularly frightening.

 

Resting his chin on his hand, the fox spirit grabbed my chin and tilted my head from side to side.

 

“You’re pretty cute too. For a human. Ah, I know a spirit who looks like you, though that one’s a bit fluffier than you…”

 

“I’m not a cat.”

 

Just as I slapped his hand away, Han Woohyun rose from his seat. 

 

As if he were about to drag the fox spirit away at any second.

 

“Gaaah…! Cute lady? Don’t let that guy come near me. His eyes are weird.”

 

The moment Han Woohyun stood up, the fox spirit clung to me and muttered.

 

It was largely because the moment this strange creature had popped out, Han Woohyun had snapped back to his senses and slammed the fox spirit straight into the marble floor.

 

Fortunately, Matthew—who had been beside him—had fainted and collapsed.

 

If that hadn’t happened, I would have had to stop Han Woohyun while also taking care of Matthew, and it would have been complete chaos.

 

For the safety of the guests, we had sent everyone, including Matthew, back to their rooms and were currently confronting the fox spirit in the lobby. 

 

“Your eyes are just as weird. No—they are weird! Why on earth did you wait a thousand years to pop out now of all times? Thanks to you…”

 

I pointed toward the door that had appeared behind the dining hall, my face twisted in a scowl.

 

Whirrr.

Whirrr.

Whirrr.

 

That right there was the special revolving door. 

 

Pressing my temples, I muttered.

 

“…we ended up opening Dungeon Hotel Branch No. 4 in a weird place.”

 

“A weird place? You don’t know Liber Monastery? This place is pretty good. Do you know how many people died here…!”

 

The fox spirit spoke to me in a voice of pure, untainted cheerfulness

 

The fact that his face held absolutely no malice made it even more chilling.

 

“When the Black Death swept across Europe, they buried hundreds of corpses right here. Every time there was a war, the soldiers who hid here were slaughtered in droves, and during the World Wars…” 

 

“Ah, stop. Stop.”

 

I cut off the fox spirit’s words.

 

Because I had no desire to learn any more about the horrific history of the place that had unmistakably become the site of Dungeon Hotel Branch No. 4.

 

No wonder people said ghosts appeared here.

 

‘I feel like I’ve been victimized by a real estate scam.’ 

 

For the second time, following Yeongchun Inn.

 

“Now, talk. Gray, why exactly did this fox spirit wake up? And who on earth is the owner of this castle?” 

 

I pressed Gray, who had been silently observing everything, with his lips tightly sealed.

 

It seemed faster to question Gray—whose affinity with me had risen a little to 20—than the one whose affinity with me was -99.

 

Gray flinched at my words and looked toward the fox spirit.

 

The fox spirit lowered his eyes calmly as he looked down at Gray and licked his lips.

 

Like a fox that had discovered prey.

 

“Th-that’s why I told you not to go around opening just any door after midnight.”

 

Sweat trickled down Gray’s face as he spoke.

 

1. Before midnight, make sure that all guest room doors are securely locked.

 

Only then did I recall the instructions posted in the castle. The one who hadn’t followed those instructions was…

 

‘It was my mistake.’

 

I had carelessly assumed that all the warning notes in the instructions were about the rat spirits.

 

Had I known something like this would pop out, I would have followed the instructions to the letter.

 

‘Though to be fair, I didn’t really have time to go around locking doors while planning the game of tag….’

 

“So the owner of Liber knew something like this would come out? What kind of person is that owner anyway?”

 

Though it doesn’t seem like a person to begin with.

 

“You shouldn’t go calling our master just anything, lady. You are cute, of course, but our Patriarch’s identity isn’t something that can just be given away.”

 

At that moment.

 

The fox spirit—who had seemed too frightened of Han Woohyun to do anything but hide behind me—suddenly stepped forward and blocked Gray.

 

Grabbing Gray’s shoulder firmly, he smiled with an unreadable look in his eyes and said,

 

“Right?”

 

“…T-that’s true, but…”

 

Gray looked at me with a gloomy expression.

 

They were both supposedly thousand-year-old spirits, yet there was a strange sense of hierarchy between them.

 

‘That’s odd.’

 

Whatever the case, with the fox spirit interfering, there was no way left to learn about the owner of the Liber castle. 

 

I had tried sending the castle owner a message through AirCNC, but there was no reply.

 

Instead, the response that came faster was from Manager Kang Miyeon.

 

Manager Kang Miyeon

 

I spoke to the Association, and they said they could send a private jet, but I turned that down. It looks like I’ll barely make it there in about 40 hours, so please just hang in there until then, Boss!

 

Of course, the one who responded even faster was Uncle Junsoo.

 

Uncle Junsoo

 

Junghyo Junghyo~~~! ㅠㅠㅠㅠ How did you end up trapped in such a haunted house? I’ll come rescue you!!! Uncle Junsu is coming!!

 

I’m not trapped……. And it’s not a haunted house……. Uncle! Please don’t come for now.

 

If Uncle came, things would get complicated.

 

At a time when anything related to the Dungeon Hotel was already bound to draw global media attention, the president of the Korean Hunter Association flying to France?

 

It would instantly become headline news.

 

‘I also have to explain to Louisa that the site for Dungeon Hotel Branch 4 has changed.’

 

And above all, the most urgent matter was…

 

“Forget all that, Gray. Could you take over as the head chef for the Liber Hotel starting today?” 

 

“Pardon? Me?”

 

“Huh? Hotel? This monastery has long been famous as a place where if someone closes their eyes to sleep, they never open them again the next day—”

 

“Ilmiho. You’ll take the bellboy position.”

 

“Ilmiho? Who said my name is Ilmiho?”

 

Because you’re a fox with only one tail.

 

My decision.

 

Anyway, right now the urgent issue isn’t the identity of the owner of Liber Castle, nor the relationship between Gray and Ilmiho.

 

I looked at the revolving door, spinning relentlessly. 

 

That was it.

 

Soon, a hunter guest who had been wandering through the dungeon would arrive there.

 

A weary soul that had been desperately hoping for help.