Welcome to Dungeon Hotel Chapter 357 - Webtoon Side Story: Welcome to Dungeon Hotel Branch 4 (28)

Webtoon Side Story: Welcome to Dungeon Hotel Branch 4 (28)

 

Georges tilted his head as he looked at the bucket placed in front of him.

 

He came out after hearing a knock from outside, only to find a bucket of boiling hot water abruptly placed there.

 

‘Don’t tell me…’

 

Did the mice bring this?

 

Georges’ face turned pale as he recalled the plump ‘things’ with grey fur and long tails.

 

But then, Georges noticed a towel neatly folded next to the bucket.

 

It was the same towel the mice had brought him earlier.

 

“…..”

 

Georges picked up the towel using his index finger and thumb.

 

Then, he heard squeaking sounds coming from somewhere.

 

When Georges turned around, he saw the tails of mice gathered in a corner.

 

“Do we really not have to pour the water into the bathtub for him? Even though he’s a guest?”

 

“The guest hates us!”

 

“Humans all hate us!”

 

“Hmph, then we hate humans toooo!”

 

The mouse who had let out the “hmph” retreated slightly with its hands on its hips. In doing so, its eyes met Georges’s directly.

 

It was when the mouse froze, unable to do anything.

 

Georges also froze in the same way, clumsily blinking his eyes until he suddenly lowered his head deeply.

 

“…?”

 

“…?”

 

“…?”

 

Seeing Georges’ action, all three mice widened their eyes.

 

And at the same time, they looked at the number above Georges’ head.

 

2

 

‘What is that…?’

 

The mice were puzzled.

 

But before they could figure out the number above Georges’ head, Georges went back into the room holding the bucket and the towel.

 

The remaining mice looked at the closed door and then at each other.

 

“Did the human just greet us?”

 

“Was he saying thank you?”

 

Looking at the grinning mouse, another mouse slapped its shoulder.

 

“Do you think he was saying thank you? Be glad he didn’t just think we’re dirty!”

 

“Then what about the greeting just now?”

 

“…I-I don’t know.”

 

The mouse that slapped the shoulder turned its head away. Above the head of the mouse scratching its chin with a finger, a number popped up.

 

28

 

It was the affinity level with humans.

 

“H-humans are weird anyway…”

 

The mouse muttered.

 

* * *

 

Georges fell asleep as soon as he finished his bath.

 

His body had completely gone limp after emerging from the freezing ice-attribute dungeon and soaking in the warm water.

 

Taking in the warm steam in the bathtub and looking at the old castle, he felt a tranquil sensation, and strangely, a cozy feeling too.

 

Is this the feeling one gets when visiting a grandmother’s house after a long time?

 

He had never had a grandmother who warmly welcomed him, but that thought occurred to him.

 

It was truly strange.

 

The darkness, the dilapidation, and the life shared with mice were exactly what he had in Paris, yet here, he found himself thinking that such a life wasn’t so bad after all.

 

After roughly drying his hair with the towel the mice had provided, he collapsed onto the bed, which let out a sharp creak. 

 

It felt as if his body were melting into liquid.

 

‘A Dungeon Hotel really is a Dungeon Hotel… Is there some kind of recovery buff applied to this room too?’

 

Thinking that, he drifted off to sleep.

 

Gurgle.

 

And soon after, what woke him up from his sleep was none other than hunger.

 

‘I’m hungry.’

 

He got up from the bed with one side of his face flushed red from being pressed against the pillow.

 

He was so hungry that he didn’t think he could go back to sleep, but when he thought about going downstairs to find something to eat, something weighed on his mind.

 

‘It’s luxurious.’ 

 

It was because of what he had said to the hotel owner.

 

Come to think of it, she practically saved him when he was wandering inside the dungeon, and even provided him with free lodging, so he wondered if he had spoken too harshly.

 

Back then, he just did it out of envy.

 

Because he thought she must be living without any worries about the future.

 

Being born with an immense ability like the Dungeon Hotel, starting anew in such a dirty old castle must be because she had no fear.

 

Is this what they call paying to suffer?

 

The confidence that she can succeed even if she starts from the bottom.

 

Right.

 

The boss is someone who has that.

 

But on the contrary, he himself—

 

‘I’m only full of thoughts that I won’t succeed no matter what I do.’

 

Even though it had only been a year since he left home, he felt as if he were wasting every day, consumed by negative thoughts.

 

He lived believing that all sorts of negative things would happen in a future that hadn’t even arrived yet.

 

Because of that, his strength to endure the hardships of the present had weakened significantly.

 

Mice appearing in the house, the old furniture, and even the fact that the Dungeon Hotel he visited for the first time in his life was so old and shabby—it all felt like things that only happened to him.

 

His unlucky self.

 

‘…It’s persecution complex.’

 

With that thought, he headed down the stairs. 

 

Food aside, he intended to apologize properly.

 

But it was then.

 

A pungent smell, like pepper, was spreading through the lobby.

 

He absentmindedly took a deep breath and coughed at the pungent smell.

 

“What is this…”

 

Wondering if some strange gas was floating around, he quickly headed toward the source of the smell.

 

And there, he found a face he had never seen before.

 

“Oh, the guest has come down. Boss.”

 

It was a language Georges couldn’t understand.

 

It was while he was feeling flustered.

 

The woman with the unfamiliar face opened her mouth as if she realized something.

 

“Ah, I’m sorry. You speak English, right? I am Kang Miyeon, the manager of this hotel.”

 

Manager?

 

He scanned the face of the woman who introduced herself as the manager.

 

Kang Miyeon.

 

Her name was difficult too.

 

* * *

 

It was an hour ago when the manager arrived.

 

I informed the manager of the current situation via messenger.

 

A guest has arrived.

 

I don’t know what to do…

 

Manager Kang Miyeon

 

What are you worried about?

 

There are no proper ingredients or decent furnishings in the hotel right now. So the guest’s satisfaction level isn’t really going up.

 

He’s our first guest.

 

The person who is supposed to manipulate—I mean, update—our reviews!

 

…I didn’t add that last part.

 

The manager didn’t reply for a long time after receiving the message.

 

And two hours later, the manager arrived.

 

“Master Craftsman Lim Sehwan will arrive soon too.”

 

“Excuse me? The Master Craftsman is coming too?”

 

“Yes, well… he said he was worried about the hotel…”

 

The manager ambiguously averted her gaze.

 

He’s probably worried about something other than the hotel.

 

“Well, anyway, we couldn’t get the same flight, so I think he’ll arrive a few hours later. Ah, and… I’m sorry, Boss. You said there were no proper ingredients, so I scoured the marts near the airport.”

 

“They were closed, right?”

 

“Yes. There are no convenience stores here either…”

 

The manager took out a few packs of stir-fried kimchi, chili tuna, and a few packets of instant ramen from the trunk she checked as baggage, tilting her head.

 

“This is all I managed to bring, but it’s already full of cup noodles here.”

 

“Yes. Already…”

 

The manager chuckled.

 

“Being like this reminds me of when it was Yeongchunjang!”

 

“Excuse me?”

 

“I heard that back in the Yeongchunjang days, there were only cup noodles and instant coffee mix in the hotel. It’s exactly like that now, isn’t it?”

 

“That’s true.”

 

I nodded.

 

“But how did you raise the guests’ satisfaction levels back then?”

 

Back then?

 

At those words, I recalled Hunter Kang Sojin, who was my first guest.

 

How was Kang Sojin satisfied?

 

She was quite happy after waking up from a deep sleep.

 

Then what about the second guest, or the third guest?

 

I pictured the guests I had experienced so far in my mind.

 

Of course, there were guests who were satisfied because I used amazing items.

 

But most of the guests left the hotel satisfied with their time there after eating a delicious meal, sleeping deeply, and getting some rest.

 

“I served them delicious food, provided clean bedding, and kept the hotel clean, I suppose.”

 

At my answer, the manager smiled warmly.

 

“It sounds like saying you got a perfect score by studying strictly according to the textbook.”

 

“But well, don’t you fail to get a perfect score if you don’t study according to the textbook?”

 

“…Boss.”

 

The manager gently grasped my shoulders and said.

 

“Could you please tell that to Hyeyu and Hyejin too?”

 

“….”

 

I looked into the manager’s serious eyes and eventually burst out laughing.

 

How long did we laugh? After laughing while looking at each other for a long time, we somehow felt revitalized.

 

So in the end, the answer is this.

 

Not showing the future, nor using items, but simply treating the guest as a human being.

 

“He washed up about an hour ago, so he’ll probably be hungry when he comes out?”

 

I picked up a packet of instant ramen and smiled.

 

I must serve the guest as best as I can.

 

I started cooking the ramen.

 

As always, I cooked the ramen adhering strictly to the exact amount of water and the precise time indicated on the back of the ramen packet.

 

And soon, the guest came down.

 

2

 

And surprisingly, the effect of that short bath was floating above the guest’s head.

 

I grinned and asked.

 

“Have you ever heard of something called ramen?”