Welcome to Dungeon Hotel Chapter 352 - Webtoon Side Story: Welcome to Dungeon Hotel Branch 4 (23)

Webtoon Side Story: Welcome to Dungeon Hotel Branch 4 (23)

 

“Something… feels like it’s changed?”

 

Grey muttered, looking down at his own body.

 

Was it the effect of the increased Affinity? 

 

I asked Grey.

 

“Why? Do you feel like you’ve gotten stronger, or like you could cast illusions now?” 

 

Geumdong had said he got stronger as the hotel grew, and Toto had said he could conjure more elaborate illusions without depleting his mana as the hotel grew.

 

In that case, wouldn’t Grey also gain some sort of ability as his affinity level went up?

 

I watched Grey with that expectation in my eyes. 

 

Then, as if he thought he had to meet my expectant gaze, Grey grabbed the snout of a flour sack in a corner of the kitchen.

 

It was a sack he couldn’t even drag properly earlier, let alone lift.

 

But this time—

 

“….”

 

“….”

 

With a groan, I saw Grey release his grip.

 

“What are you doing? Why aren’t you lifting it?”

 

When I asked, Ilmiho turned to Grey as if he were pathetic and said,

 

“…It’s not that he’s not lifting it, it seems like he can’t.”

 

“H-hold on a second. Let me try again…! Ugh!”

 

Grey exerted force once more, but far from lifting the flour sack, he plopped down on the spot as if the flour sack had pulled him down instead.

 

Grey’s slightly protruding front teeth were revealed slightly below his lips.

 

Looking like a drooping mouse, Grey returned to his spot.

 

“It seems… I haven’t gotten stronger.”

 

“Of course not. What do you expect after eating something so vulgar?”

 

Ilmiho clicked his tongue and pointed at the cup noodle.

 

Vulgar?

 

Ilmiho used to speak like a European aristocrat.

 

He even ended up using English after getting scolded a lot for insisting on only speaking French.

 

Ilmiho picked up a few strands of noodles with a fork and smelled them.

 

Then, he grabbed his nose at the strong peppery scent of the X Ramen and retreated.

 

“Just eat it.”

 

Han Woohyun, who was quietly watching the scene, murmured in a low voice toward Ilmiho.

 

At that, Ilmiho flinched.

 

Even though he just spoke in a low voice, it seemed an intimidating aura was felt.

 

“I was going to eat it anyway. I was just about to…”

 

It was the moment Ilmiho put the cup noodles in his mouth.

 

Ilmiho’s eyes grew large.

 

“…!”

 

I saw Ilmiho’s red hair slightly rise and then fall.

 

However, unlike that foolish spirit, I’m a dignified person, so I didn’t particularly point that out and quietly observed Ilmiho’s actions.

 

Ilmiho tilted his head and muttered.

 

“This shouldn’t be possible… This… Huh?”

 

Ilmiho took a sip of water and rinsed his mouth clean, almost like when wine tasting.

 

And this time, he scooped up a much larger amount with his fork and put it in his mouth.

 

“…!”

 

Ilmiho’s brow furrowed. His nostrils flared ever so slightly.

 

I could understand.

 

Beside him, Grey had already emptied more than half of his cup noodle.

 

Without saying a word to Ilmiho, who was chewing on a larger mouthful of noodles, I tore off the lid of his cup noodle.

 

Then, I folded it into quarters, shaped it like a funnel, and offered it back to Ilmiho.

 

“…What is this vulgar thing?”

 

“Put a little broth in here, scoop an appropriate amount of noodles, and drink it with your mouth on the snout.”

 

“Drink… the noodles? That’s truly unimaginable for royalty! What is the world coming to…”

 

Without a word, I shaped my cup noodle lid into a funnel, poured a little broth in, added just enough noodles to be submerged in the broth, and slurped it up.

 

As the noodles, moistened by the ramen broth, rushed into my mouth, the rich scent of meat and mushrooms lingered at the tip of my nose.

 

As expected, cup noodles taste best when eaten off the lid.

 

“…If only we had kimchi, it would be perfect.”

 

Watching me mutter, Grey tore off his cup noodle lid.

 

“How do we get this ‘kimchi’?” 

 

“The manager will probably bring some. I’ll let you taste it in about two days.”

 

“…Yes!”

 

“These guys, leaving me out…”

 

Ilmiho looked down at the cup noodle lid with a resentful face.

 

Among the fingers holding the cup noodle lid, only his pinky finger was haughtily raised.

 

He poured a little broth onto the lid and dipped the ramen noodles into it.

 

His face scrunched up slightly when a bit of ramen broth splashed midway.

 

Anyway, he ‘vulgarly’ put the ramen broth and noodles into his mouth together, and for a moment, his eyes seemed to cloud over at the warm texture…

 

-90

 

Naturally, his affinity level went up.

 

With a quite moved expression, he looked once at the funnel made from the lid in his hand, and then once at me.

 

“To think of something so vulgar… How could you…”

 

He scooped up broth and noodles once again and his eyes widened.

 

It was a face that even seemed to feel a sense of betrayal.

 

“I haven’t eaten anything like this even once in a thousand years… It’s a vulgar taste…”

 

“It’s the taste of a large corporation.”

 

Saying that, I looked up above his head.

 

-88

 

-86

 

-84

 

So a thousand years of accumulated anger unravels like this, huh.

 

It was when I smirked.

 

Something new popped up before my eyes.

 

You have achieved the achievement ‘Show Them the Power of K-Food!’ and a reward has arrived.

 

The reward item ‘K-Signboard’ has been activated.

 

K-Signboard…?

 

I sprang up from my seat.

 

I left the dining room and went out past the fiercely spinning revolving door.

 

‘Don’t tell me…’

 

Feeling a chill down my spine, I looked at the pure white snowfield outside the revolving door.

 

It was a random dungeon.

 

Since monsters couldn’t come right next to the revolving door, I moved to the safe zone.

 

And then I saw it.

 

‘K-Signboard’ (C)

 

—Aesthetic sense drops by 150%.

 

—Draws guests’ attention with a 200% higher probability.

 

—Upgrades when the hotel levels up.

 

Hotel

 

Open 24 Hours

 

Purple lights flashing against a pure white background.

 

I instinctively covered my mouth at the sight of the sign, which looked exactly like a Korean gamjatang restaurant. 

 

It draws guests’ attention with a 200% higher probability?

 

Are you kidding me?

 

‘…Even to me, this is a signboard you can’t take your eyes off of.’

 

It’s too weird.

 

It’s too tacky!

 

I bit down hard on the lips I had covered with my hand.

 

I must absolutely level up.

 

It was a reward that fueled my determination.

 

Grey, Ilmiho, and Han Woohyun, who had followed me out at some point, were also looking up at the signboard as if they were having similar thoughts.

 

Ilmiho muttered.

 

“It truly is matchlessly vulgar.”

 

But somehow, his golden eyes were burning brightly.

 

Was it because of the glowing signboard?

 

Or was I imagining it?

 

His affinity level also went up ever so slightly.

 

-83

 

* * *

 

Hotel Owner

 

Are you sure it’s not you?

 

Former Hotel Owner

 

I’m really sure…! Who do you take me for?

 

Because of the weird achievement, I contacted Merlin once again. But Merlin flatly denied it, saying absolutely not.

 

‘If it were up to me, I’d go over right now and shake the truth out of him…’

 

For that to happen, the manager needs to arrive.

 

I can’t leave Dungeon Hotel Branch 4 to guys like that.

 

“Boil two bowls of X Ramen. Make it spicy. If you don’t, I’ll eat you guys first.”

 

“Why are you being like this to the mice, really!”

 

I watched Ilmiho gently threatening the mice, and Grey fidgeting behind him.

 

If my level were at least high enough, I could summon employees and leave Branch 4 to them, but even that’s impossible.

 

No matter how much I want to level up…

 

‘First of all, no guest are coming.’

 

I sat at the front desk, staring endlessly at the revolving door.

 

What’s the point of sweeping and wiping the lobby every day.

 

When no one comes.

 

‘This is all because of that K-Signboard or whatever…’

 

I felt anger rising from deep within my chest.

 

But the bigger problem was that not only Hunter guests, but even regular guests weren’t coming.

 

‘I think it’s because of this.’

 

—D0nt ev3r g0. It’s dirty and th3re are s0 many m1ce. Be car3ful. W0rst ev3r.

 

—Traffic is NAVER but humans are also NAVER. No one is here NAVER. Only only r@t b@stards~!

 

—S0 m@ny r@ts f*ck.

 

I refreshed the reviews posted on AirCnC.

 

I refreshed and refreshed, but the reviews didn’t disappear.

 

An evil desire to message Lloyd and Olivia to plaster AirCnC with new reviews welled up, but I held it in.

 

I looked up at Han Woohyun while picking at my fingernails.

 

“We were guests too, right?”

 

“Huh?”

 

Han Woohyun tilted his head while looking at the guest ledger.

 

“I mean. Couldn’t we… um… write a review on AirCnC too?”

 

“…Don’t tell me…”

 

Han Woohyun’s expression turned subtle.

 

I muttered in a shrunken voice.

 

“…Even in class president elections, you can nominate yourself.” 

 

It was when I hung my head low.

 

Something swiftly approached me, and with a ‘peck’ sound, something warm brushed against my cheek.

 

“…?”

 

“…?”

 

“…?”

 

Seeing Han Woohyun’s surprise kiss, Ilmiho, Grey, and the mice all turned their heads to look at me.

 

‘Why do these things only watch at times like this….’

 

Seeing their contorted expressions, I felt my face flush.

 

“W-what are you doing…”

 

“There’s no need to solve it quickly.”

 

“…?”

 

Han Woohyun’s brown eyes looked at me as if sweeping over every corner.

 

It was warm.

 

“This situation. It’s a shame you couldn’t put the hotel where you wanted, but I believe you’ll do well anywhere. And as long as it becomes a place for exhausted people to rest, that’s what matters, right?” 

 

Hearing those words, my thoughts became clear, as if a light had turned on in my dark mind.

 

Ah, right.

 

That’s why I started this job. 

 

To be a resting place for exhausted people.

 

To wait for people who had lost their way.

 

Hoping that anyone would come to my hotel to rest when they were lonely and tired alone.

 

Realizing that fact, my anxious heart calmed down a bit.

 

I muttered, gently touching my cheek.

 

“Thanks for cheering me on.”

 

“What I just did… wasn’t exactly cheering you on, though.”

 

“Then?”

 

“You don’t do something like that… to someone you like, with the intention of cheering them on.”

 

Han Woohyun clenched and unclenched his fist.

 

His brown eyes slightly looked away from me.

 

I smiled slightly watching him.

 

“Ah, I see. It wasn’t… cheering me on.”

 

I almost misunderstood.

 

It was the moment I thought that.

 

My phone buzzed.

 

I hastily picked up my phone.

 

Is it the manager? Or…

 

Host: CalmAirOfTheNorthernFrenchCoast…

 

Whoa, why are there so many messages piled up?

Liber is running well, right?

Ah, managing our hotel reviews? They’re all good things, right? Even though the Korean reviews are hard to understand.

If it’s really urgent, just run a review event and it’ll all clear up.

The winery owner has a fracture. A herniated disc. So I think I’ll have to stay a bit longer~~?

 

Clear up, my foot.

 

This person has no idea because they can’t use a translator.

 

Checking the consecutive messages, I tried to send a message so as not to miss the opportunity.

 

But the castle owner was faster.

 

Host: Ah, you can manage the AirCnC for a while too, Lee Junghyo. I’m sending the ID and password…. 

 

Don’t send it.

 

I mean, send yourself instead of that.

 

Before I could even type those words, a familiar noise reached my ears.

 

Whirrrr.

Whirrrr.

 

“Junghyo.”

 

“Boss…?”

 

“Hey, cute lady, over there…”

 

I lifted my head at the calls of Woohyun and the spirits.

 

Then, the fiercely spinning revolving door came into view.

 

“…?”

 

The rapidly spinning revolving door spat out a person in an instant before slowing down.

 

And the person who came out from it was…

 

“Boss! Two bowls of spicy X Ramen~!”

 

Seeing the mouse who came out after boiling Ilmiho’s share of X Ramen, their face covered in frost, the person’s face scrunched up entirely.

 

“Uwaaah, a mouse! I want to go back!”

 

Ah, ah, wait a minute.

 

You’re Dungeon Hotel Branch 4’s official first guest!