Welcome to Dungeon Hotel - Chapter 9

Bang! Bang bang!

Shim Myunghan, secretary of Kim Junsu, president of the Hunter Association, was standing in front of an old door called the Yeongchun Inn.

He arrived near midnight yesterday.

Byeolcheon-ri, Yeongchun-myeon, this narrow Ganju-gun.

The sea was beautiful, but the village was very remote, so finding a common convenience store was hard.

After wandering through such a quiet alley for a long time, he finally found a place called Yeongchun Inn.

Yeongchun Inn was written on the three-story building in faded navy blue paint, so it was easy to miss.

Myunghan knocked on the door over and over again.

But no one came out.

Rather, it was the women association’s chief of the building across the street.

“Should I report that there is a man hanging around in front of the house of a single woman…?”

Seeing the women association’s chief terrifying eyes, Myunghan had no choice but to step back.

The next day.

Myunghan was knocking on the door of the Yeongchun Inn again.

He took advantage of the time when the women association’s chief was away for a while.

Bang! Bang!

But no matter how much he knocked on the door, Junghyo didn’t come out.

Myunghan became impatient.

What if he really gets reported to the police?

Maybe Myunghan should call the police before that.

There’s nothing he can do now.

The only way to check the safety of Miss Junghyo, who can’t be contacted, is to open this door.

Actually, he doesn’t think Junghyo will be in this old inn, but he never knows.

It might have been a problem with sleeping in this decrepit inn building or something—.

‘My mouth will get twisted. Ah.’ (t/n: 입 돌아간다 means something like when you sleep in a cold place without a proper item for insulation, you might die.)

Myunghan lightly put mana on his fingertips.

Myunghan was a B-Class Hunter.

It has been four years since he joined the Hunter Association, rejecting all offers from Korea’s leading guilds, with Kim Junsoo, who was active as an S-Class Hunter.

It was good to be a personal secretary to the president of the association, but for four years, he couldn’t do anything like a secretary and was acting as a stalker for Junghyo.

Ha… The president of our association is really…

At this rate, this wooden door would probably— break rather than open.

It was then.

Myunghan’s body was rather thrown out by some force.

‘….?’

“Hoaam! Why are you knocking on the door so early!”

At the same time, the wooden door, which had been firmly closed, burst open.

Did you sleep here?

“M, Miss Junghyo…!”

“What do you mean Miss Junghyo? How old am I to still be called Miss Junghyo?”

Junghyo opened the door and came out with messy hair, as if she had slept until this time when the sun was in the middle of the sky.

Myunghan glanced across the inside.

Hygienic condition with clean wallpaper.

Myunghan was a little surprised to see how the condition inside.

It’s cleaner than it looks from the outside.

Would he be able to sleep here?

But it was then.

“Woof! Woof!”

A retriever standing right in front of the door saw Myunghan and started barking.

It was a cute retriever with clean golden fur and green eyes.

* * *

As soon as I left the hotel through the master key, I ran into Uncle Junsu’s secretary.

At that moment, I remembered the existence of the bellboy next to me.

How do you describe the bellboy?

What can I say about the bellboy?

By the time I panicked, Bellboy had already become a cute retriever.

“Woof! Woof woof!” (Boss! He’s a scary-looking old man!).”

And what’s amazing is that he was talking in a retriever state.

‘Were you a real retriever?’

But the secretary, who doesn’t like dogs, ran far away from the retriever and didn’t hear the bellboy’s voice.

As I thought so, the retriever spoke again.

“Hng…(You can think of it as spiritual communication. You can hear everything even if I don’t make a sound.).”

I was a little surprised and turned to the secretary.

Secretary Myunghan said with a troubled face.

“Since when have you had a dog?”

“Ugh… Since coming down to the countryside. After all, if I live in a country house, there are thieves and I have to raise a dog.”

“W, woof woof! (Right! Raise me, boss!).”

…?

After turning into a dog, did he even talk like a dog?

Or not? Was it like this originally?

The secretary responded to my answer with an expression of wanting to stay away from the dog.

“I see. By the way, if you don’t mind, can I take a look inside? It would be better if we could have a video call with the association’s president. The association’s president has been looking for you for ten hours now….”

Myunghan’s face twisted as if he could hear the president’s nagging voice.

As expected, I also felt like I could hear Uncle Junsu’s nagging voice.

Uncle Junsu was the opposite of Uncle Minhyuk, who was a bit cold-hearted and had a knife-like side because he wasn’t cool.

When I was young, even if I complained a little, he immediately showed tears, and he often came to school out of concern for me.

Now that I’m older, he’s on the lesser side.

Fortunately or unfortunately, Uncle Junsu’s family had similar personalities, so they all worried about me just like him.

So rather burdensome, when I was 13, I chose Minhyuk’s house instead of Junsu’s house as a place to stay.

Uncle was very disappointed, but I thought I would be too weak with Uncle Junsu.

Uncle Junsu said it was okay for me to lean on others a bit more, but—.

—That narrow Yeongchun…si? Yeongchun-myeon…? What kind of star… Ah, I don’t know! If you’re going to be there, let’s get the car out right away. I’ll talk to Secretary Park tomorrow…!

How can I lean on you when you’re like this!

As soon as the video call started, I sighed as I saw Uncle Junsu start talking about cars.

The two twins of Uncle Junsu, who responded by saying, ‘Yes, yes!’, were a bonus.

Kim Taeseok, Kim Taeyoon.

Those who were still in middle school treated me too much like my uncle.

While they are more childish.

“Uncle, calm down. I don’t even commute anymore, what kind of car do I need, a cafe… No, I’m going to do an inn.”

– Motel? Didn’t you say you had a cafe yesterday?

That’s right.

Yesterday, I said that I was going to run a cafe.

Even after the Yeongchun Hotel became the Yeongchun Inn, when I looked inside with Uncle Junsu through the screen, everything was the same except for the revolving door.

Both the cafeteria and the changed interior.

That means that this place will change in a way that is similar to how the Yeongchun Hotel in the dungeon will change as it becomes more like a hotel.

But if I kept saying that I was running a cafe, Uncle Junsu had no choice but to doubt it.

“No. I’ve changed my mind. When I came here, the scenery was so pretty and there seemed to be an increasing number of tourists, so I thought about starting a guest house. There was no accommodation where people who came to play could rest comfortably. It’s like a blue ocean.”

— What do you mean an inn…?! If it’s because your company is having a hard time, I’ll…!

“Don’t tell me you’re looking for a place in the association. Because there is a possibility that you may be robbed during a state audit due to the suspicion of preferential treatment for parachuting.”

I clicked my tongue and patted the retriever bellboy’s head.

The retriever was happy and turned his stomach.

“It’s because I really want to be an innkeeper. Come to think of it, it would be nice if there was a space for tired people like me to relax while looking at this scenery.”

— But…!

There’s nothing I can do now.

The only way is to target the point that makes the man the weakest.

“I also remember what Dad said. He said that living by the sea with me was his dream after retirement. But he never retired.”

Suddenly, Uncle Junsu’s face changed beyond the video call.

His nose turned red, and so did his eyes.

I could already hear the twins sniffing from the side.

Uncle’s weakness has always been about my Dad.

* * *

The secretary greatly admired me, who defeated Uncle Junsu at once.

“As expected, Miss Junghyo resembled Hunter Lee Semyung. Especially the determination part.”

“Ah, Dad was a strong person who couldn’t be compared to anyone else. It’s different from me.”

I’m Hidden Class Awakener with a non-combat type.

And the stat is F-Class.

Ah, wait.

If the hotel level goes up, will my level go up, too, by any chance?

In fact, hunters don’t have the concept of ‘level’.

All the system tells you is your stats and rank.

But my rank is hidden and only my level is shown, so isn’t this level linked to my rank?

I wanted to check my status window right away.

But I couldn’t check it now.

Just look at Uncle Junsu. As soon as I told him I was staying here, he sent someone right away.

If I say that I have awakened, he will use that as an excuse to get me somehow back to Seoul.

When I turned on my phone, Uncle Minhyuk also sent me a message.

Uncle Minhyuk

Get some fresh air and come back. Don’t stay too long.

This kind of response from the Uncle was an angry opposition to me.

Seeing that, I was convinced.

Uncle Minhyuk would want to get me to Seoul just as much as Uncle Junsu, or maybe even more than Uncle Junsu.

He told me not to do such a dangerous hotel because money is not a problem.

Ugh… No!

I finally escaped from the terrible company life where they couldn’t even pay the minimum wage, and I’m trying to play YOLO on my own!

The plan to ask Uncle Junsu to see if there is a class called hotel management is also canceled.

It wasn’t just about money.

When I was at the company, I used to feel like I couldn’t prove my usefulness at all.

Just like Kang Sojin.

Working overtime every day, I posted plans that are all strange at the top, the company looks like it will fail in a few years, and the pay was low.

It was a day without financial or mental rewards.

But what was it like in the hotel?

The moment I saw Kang Sojin’s face recovering from fatigue in the room I had cleaned up, I definitely felt a surge of pride.

A room that speeds up recovery.

Wouldn’t it be a great help if a terribly injured customer jumped into our hotel?

‘Good. I’m going to open my business faithfully from tomorrow.’

I made a promise.

“Ah, come to think of it, there is a person who definitely resembles Hunter Lee Semyung. Professionally.”

At that time, Myunghan said.

For your information, the secretary and I were sitting on the beach for a while and talking.

I wanted to serve something at the hotel, but there were only cup noodles at the hotel, and when I asked to eat at the raw fish restaurant run by the woman association’s chief, the secretary refused.

I have to go up quickly.

“Hunter Han Woohyun. The record was updated a few days ago. 14th in the world rankings. He seems to be on a roll after the transfer.”

At the words of the secretary, I burst into a groan of ‘Ah’.

Han Woohyun.

6 people in South Korea— no, now there are only 5 S-class Hunters and the No. 1 ranker in Korea.

He might not remember my face or my name, but I certainly remembered him.

I didn’t just remember him as an S-class hunter or as a friend from high school.

There was a much more personal memory.

It was a year ago.