Welcome to Dungeon Hotel Chapter 361 - Webtoon Side Story: Welcome to Dungeon Hotel Branch 4 (32)

Webtoon Side Story: Welcome to Dungeon Hotel Branch 4 (32)

 

A review left by Georges about the accommodation.

 

Liber is an accommodation where the traces of time remain. It is old, and as many people have mentioned, mice do appear.

 

…?

 

The manager’s face stiffened as she looked at the newly posted review.

 

For reference, this review was the manager’s doing.

 

‘A review event?’

 

‘Yes. They usually do that a lot at restaurants and such, right? Of course, our hotel’s satisfaction rate is so high that I thought reviews would naturally pile up, but…’

 

The manager spoke in a suddenly serious voice.

 

‘Have you ever been to a place like a department store food court?’

 

‘Uh… Yes.’

 

‘Imagine you went to a department store food court in a neighborhood you’re visiting for the first time. What criteria do you think you’d use to choose a place to eat?’

 

‘I’d probably go to a place that sells the food I want to eat, or a place where the prices are cheap, right?’

 

‘Right. But what if there’s no particular food you want to eat, or the prices are all similar?’

 

‘…W-well, I’m not sure.’

 

‘No, you don’t even have to go that far. You want to eat samgyetang, but there’s not a single person in the samgyetang restaurant, and the ssambap restaurant next door is packed with people. What would you do?’

 

Hearing those words, I seriously imagined it.

 

A suspiciously empty samgyetang restaurant and a packed ssambap restaurant.

 

Even if it was Boknal and I absolutely wanted to eat samgyetang, it wouldn’t be easy to walk into the samgyetang restaurant. (T/N: Boknal means one of the three hottest days of summer when it’s customary to eat samgyetang)

 

‘I’d go to the ssambap restaurant.’

 

‘Exactly. That’s the basics of word-of-mouth marketing. Before the type of food or the price posted by the restaurant, you make them check whether it’s a place other guests like or not.’

 

The manager held up the review event note and added.

 

‘Of course, the best word-of-mouth marketing starts when guests voluntarily post reviews, but our hotel is currently full of bad reviews, so we’re taking a self-rescue measure.’

 

How reliable.

 

My savior who came from Korea.

 

‘Let’s work… together… for a long time…’

 

When I looked at the manager with earnest eyes, the manager smiled softly and replied.

 

‘Of course. Always.’

 

‘If there’s anything you want to buy at the duty-free shop, just tell me.’

 

‘Haha, what are you saying? I won’t decline.’

 

Contrary to the manager’s confident attitude back then, the start of the review was disastrous.

 

I remember being taken aback because it wasn’t properly prepared for opening even though I checked in at an hour that wasn’t too late.

 

‘It’s not wrong, though.’

 

Because it’s too factual, it almost hurts my heart more.

 

This review event thing was more painful than I thought.

 

Because these were reviews written by actual visitors, they couldn’t help but cut deeper. 

 

It feels different from when my stories float around on the internet.

 

When people who haven’t even seen me talk about me, there’s no big impact, but a review written by someone who actually visited our hotel is completely different in nature.

 

If other people read my review, I think they should keep this fact in mind, as the Liber Hotel is still undergoing renewal. However—

 

It was then.

 

The review began to take a slightly different direction from its initial harsh critique.

 

If I am given the opportunity to share the Liber Hotel’s humble beginnings again, I can definitively say that I absolutely want to share the Liber Hotel’s most humble moments again.

 

The sight of the cute mouse employees who panicked and didn’t know what to do as soon as I checked in, and how they carried a bucket up to the second floor with their tiny bodies, saying they hadn’t properly set up the water supply system yet, is still vivid in my mind.

 

Reading up to here, the eyes of Grey and the other mouse spirits, who were reading with their noses practically buried in it next to me, widened.

 

They muttered.

 

“…C-cute, my foot.”

 

“We are not cute!”

 

“Arrogant human.”

 

Even as they said that, their affinity levels above their heads all went up one by one.

 

‘…How transparent.’

 

The boss, who apologetically made ramen for me saying they had run out of proper ingredients due to my sudden check-in. She was truly exactly the image of a Holy Knight I had in mind. She was like an angel descended from heaven. The sincere conversation we shared is truly memorable. If I had checked into the glamorous Dungeon Hotel Branch 1 instead, I absolutely wouldn’t have had the time for such a conversation.

 

Therefore, I dare to recommend this to all Hunters wandering inside a dungeon: if you come across a strange sign in a dungeon that says it’s open 24 hours, don’t hesitate and jump inside. Oh, and the manager who handed me wine through the review event. I remember your beautiful smile. Thank you!

 

“A beautiful smile…?”

 

Upon reading to the end, a chilling voice came from somewhere.

 

It was Lim Sehwan.

 

Hearing his voice, everyone turned to look at him.

 

‘Ah, Master Craftsman Lim Sehwan was here.’

 

Master Craftsman Lim Sehwan arrived at the hotel after Georges checked out.

 

Carrying a massive amount of luggage.

 

It was none other than the equipment trunk that the Master Craftsman considered as precious as his own life.

 

All sorts of things were inside it, and among those things were the strange helmet Master Craftsman Lim Se-hwan was currently wearing and—

 

Headlamp Helmet (C)

 

—A helmet with a headlamp attached.

 

—Turning on the headlamp makes the interior structure of a building look like a blueprint.

 

A mysteriously shaped screwdriver held in his hand.

 

Are You a Screwdriver or a Hammer? (B)

 

—Functions as a screwdriver, a hammer, and performs various other miscellaneous functions.

 

—Can transform into any tool the user desires.

 

Besides these, there were countless other pieces of equipment that I could read with my ‘Hotelier’s Eyes’ skill but had absolutely no idea how to use.

 

“Do you have a problem with my smile being pretty?”

 

At that moment, the manager asked Master Craftsman Lim Sehwan in a blunt voice.

 

At that, Master Craftsman Lim Sehwan, who was getting black grease stains all over the plaid shirt he was wearing, panicked and waved his hands.

 

“Excuse me? No. That’s not what I meant at all?”

 

“…Forget it.” 

 

“…No, wait…!”

 

Master Craftsman Lim Sehwan reached out his hand, but the manager had already turned away.

 

It seemed the situation was taking a turn disadvantageous for Master Craftsman Lim Se-hwan.

 

I asked Master Craftsman Lim Sehwan in an affectionate voice.

 

“Do you think you can fix the water supply system?”

 

“It seems I can’t replace the pipes, so I’m opting to install filters. In the long run, I’m thinking of creating a water supply by drawing in seawater and removing the salt.”

 

That was the case.

 

Master Craftsman Lim Sehwan was currently fixing various things, including the old castle’s water supply.

 

I didn’t expect him to come and help in person like this, but I was grateful.

 

‘Of course, it doesn’t seem like he came because of me…’

 

I thought as I looked at Master Craftsman Lim Se-hwan, who kept glancing toward the manager.

 

I’ll have to buy him something big from the duty-free shop when he goes back.

 

“Then about when can we use the water?”

 

“Probably… around this afternoon?”

 

“If it’s this afternoon, isn’t it afternoon right now?”

 

“Yes, so it should probably be possible in about 5 minutes.”

 

With those words, Master Craftsman Lim Sehwan turned on his helmet’s lantern with a click.

 

“Uwaah… The light…!”

 

The mouse employees raised their hands to cover their faces from the blinding light.

 

The Master Craftsman truly is a light.

 

I smiled as I thought that.

 

And it was then.

 

Ding.

 

An AirCnC notification arrived with a cheerful sound.

 

Is it possible to make a reservation for next Monday?

Do you have any empty rooms the week after next?

I want to visit tomorrow. For 4 people.

 

…!

 

Does word-of-mouth marketing have this much power?

 

It was while I was wondering.

 

“Uh… Excuse me… This… This video… Isn’t this our Liber Hotel?”

 

The manager, who was looking at her phone, asked in a flustered voice.

 

* * *

 

The name of the account that posted the video was very intuitive.

 

Ghost Story Club.

 

So it was clear to see who had posted it.

 

‘They posted it even before our hotel opened.’

 

And I found out later, but before posting ‘that video’, the number of subscribers to that account was reportedly abysmal.

 

However, because of ‘that video’, the account suddenly started going viral, and before they knew it, the subscriber count for the ‘Ghost Story Club’ account reached 10,000.

 

The title of ‘that video’ was also very intuitive.

 

Exploring Ghost Stories in Northern France, Seeing a Real Ghost in a Thousand-Year-Old Castle?

 

‘I feel an ominous premonition for some reason…’

 

Thinking that, I clicked on the long-form video.

 

The video was extremely… uninteresting.

 

It was about British people who looked exactly like ‘ghost story nerds’ wandering around the northern region of France, seeing a few traces of things they simply didn’t understand, and claiming they were some kind of mysterious marks.

 

The things they brought out as reference materials were even fake news circulating within ghost story communities.

 

It was true that their hide-and-seek game in Liber Castle was included for a short time.

 

However, since the scene of the club members freaking out and running away on a low-quality screen was all there was, it was difficult for viewers to judge whether a transcendent being like a ‘ghost’ or a ‘phantom’ had truly appeared in the old castle.

 

‘But why is this video a hot topic…?’

 

Thinking that, I clicked on a short-form video that was displayed as related content.

 

There, I found a bunch of short-form videos featuring brilliant editing by people with eagle eyes.

 

The start of it was this.

 

Liber Where Love Blooms: Two Members Kissing Behind Club Members Freaking Out and Running Away

 

The top comment on this video was this.

 

I heard those two are dating now. Please take the video down.

 

That was it.

 

The two blurry, out-of-focus figures in that video were Olivia and Lloyd.