Welcome to the Goblin Hotel - Chapter 10

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 10
I shook my head, but the unease wouldn’t shake loose.
That Soul Insight had lasted longer than usual, and it felt like I’d been standing at the scene itself.
My clenched fist tingled.
“Phew…”
I exhaled slowly and unclenched my hand.
Stay calm.
This guest’s lingering attachment isn’t something I can resolve in one go.
I need to find some method.
In my current state of mind, a good solution wouldn’t come.
“Let me show you to your room.”
“Of course.”
The guest stood with vacant eyes and walked.
As we passed through the Lobby together.
【 A messenger from the Underworld has arrived. 】
The notification appeared simultaneously as a man in a black suit and a gat on his head stepped through the hotel entrance.
Anyone could see he was a messenger from the Underworld.
‘Did he come to fetch our guest?’
The sound of his footsteps echoed through the Lobby.
The messenger drew near and spoke.
“Are you the new owner of this hotel?”
“Yes. I’m the proprietor of this hotel.”
“A pleasure to meet you. I’m Ganglim, a messenger of the Underworld.”
I stepped in front of the guest and asked.
“What brings you to this place, Messenger?”
Ganglim brandished the paper he held, rustling it.
“I’ve come to conclude a Soul Guidance Contract with the hotel’s new owner.”
“A Soul Guidance Contract…?”
In that instant, Ganglim’s eyes glowed a piercing blue.
Then he spoke to the guest behind my shoulder.
“Jung Yuri. You cannot leave this hotel. Remember that.”
“Yes.”
The guest gave a brief reply and slowly walked toward the rooms.
Ganglim smiled faintly at me.
“By chance, do you have any leftover food?”
‘What kind of question is that? Asking for leftovers out of nowhere.’
Still, I couldn’t neglect a messenger from the Underworld.
I led Ganglim to the Dining hall and served him a meal.
After finishing, Ganglim laughed with an air of embarrassment.
“Ha ha ha! These days, you can’t find anywhere that feeds messengers like me. Thank you for the kindness.”
I’d been waiting long enough.
‘Now he’s finally getting to the real point, right?’
I wanted to grab him by the collar.
But I held back, afraid he’d say my name three times in a row like this: ‘Kim Woojin. Kim Woojin. Kim Woojin.’
Suddenly, my forearm prickled with goosebumps.
I didn’t want to hear my name coming from his lips—not ever.
I addressed Ganglim with formal courtesy.
“What exactly is this Soul Guidance Contract?”
“Ah! Right. My apologies. It’s been so long since I visited a hotel that I got carried away…”
Ganglim straightened his posture and lowered his voice.
“Jung Yuri.”
That was how the messenger had addressed our guest earlier.
“May I take her with me now?”
Ganglim looked directly into my eyes and spoke.
Could a messenger from the Underworld use Soul Insight too?
The thought flashed briefly, but the Insight didn’t activate.
I tilted my head.
The fact that he was asking like this meant—
‘The outcome depends on my decision, doesn’t it?’
I turned to Ganglim and asked.
“May I ask if it’s possible for her to stay at the hotel a little longer?”
I recalled the scene I’d glimpsed through Soul Insight.
A flower that should have bloomed had been plucked far too soon.
I wanted to soothe her a while longer.
Ganglim nodded.
“Of course it’s possible. Jung Yuri can remain at this hotel for a maximum of fourteen days.”
“Fourteen days.”
“It’s not a date I set arbitrarily. Forty-nine days from death—she must cross the threshold to the Underworld within that span.”
So that D-14 that appeared in the notification earlier meant exactly that.
Only fourteen days left.
It seemed she’d wandered outside for quite some time before this.
“Ah, I understand what you mean now.”
“Spirits who enter this hotel cannot leave freely without the owner’s permission.”
As Ganglim spoke, he held out the document he’d brought.
“If you would simply sign to confirm that you will not release Jung Yuri carelessly, I will withdraw as is.”
A reaper simply backing off?
With no conditions at all?
I looked at Ganglim and asked.
“What’s the catch?”
“There is none.”
“Is it possible you’ve made this kind of contract with the Previous Owner as well?”
One corner of Ganglim’s mouth lifted slightly.
“Of course. He too was unable to simply pass by a tragic tale.”
My great-aunt had been that way as well.
“What do I need to be careful about?”
“Two things only: not letting the spirit leave the hotel, and not exceeding the forty-nine days.”
I picked up a pen and signed the document.
There was nothing difficult about it.
***
Ganglim the reaper took only the documents and left.
I checked my remaining points.
【 Spiritual Power Points: 4,320p 】
‘I should spend it.’
Once I’ve soothed the guest and sent them off properly, Spiritual Power will accumulate anyway.
I should use it now and leave the rest to future me.
There’s a reaper coming and going from the hotel anyway.
What’s the point of being stingy if it turns to waste?
I first selected the ‘Manager’ section.
【 Manager Details 】
*Kim Woojin:
Health: Good
Spiritual Sight
Soul Insight
Spiritual Power – 5p
Seeing the 5p next to my name, it seemed my current Spiritual Power was indeed 5p.
When I checked Minju and Minjae in the ‘Staff’ section, both showed 0p.
Did the Spiritual Sight open because of this 5p of Spiritual Power?
I couldn’t say for certain, but I could feel something.
‘The Spiritual Power I have now is barely a speck of dust.’
Is that why malevolent spirits looked down on me?
There was definitely something dismissive in the way those creatures looked at me.
I invested 2,000 points into my Spiritual Power.
【 Manager Details 】
*Kim Woojin:
Health: Good
Spiritual Sight
Soul Insight
Spiritual Power – 2,005p
With my Spiritual Power jumping three orders of magnitude, the world seemed to look different.
‘I don’t think there’s anything wrong with my body, at least.’
“Then I should give some to Songi as well.”
I tried to transfer points to her, but Songi wasn’t showing up in the management window.
I decided to hire Songi as an employee.
I couldn’t ask her permission while she was asleep.
But I’m her legal guardian, after all.
‘Dad’s doing all this so you’ll have a good future.’
Songi, I’ll build up this hotel and pass it on to you.
Even third-generation tycoons sometimes start from the ground up as ordinary employees.
Songi, who possessed Spiritual Sight, already had 5 Spiritual Power Points.
I added 1,000 points on top of that, bringing her total to 1,005 points.
First, I should watch and see what changes occur.
If there are no problems, I’ll increase Songi’s Spiritual Power again next time.
【 Employee Details 】
*Kim Songi:
Health – Good
Spiritual Sight
Trust – 99/100
Spiritual Power – 1,005p
So my Songi doesn’t have complete faith in Dad.
How am I supposed to raise that remaining 1 percent?
I’ll have to do better from now on.
Determination surged up from deep within.
After Songi came Minju and Minjae.
“I need to make sure employee benefits are solid.”
I distributed 500 Spiritual Power Points each to Minju and Minjae.
With malevolent spirits showing up and even Underworld messengers appearing, I couldn’t leave them defenseless.
【 Employee Details 】
*Kim Minju:
Health – Good
Trust – 92/100
Spiritual Power – 500p
*Kim Minjae:
Right eye blindness
Trust – 94/100
Spiritual Power – 500p
After raising Minjae’s Spiritual Power, the frailty designation had disappeared from his information.
So Spiritual Power actually had an effect on physical constitution too!
‘Wow! Spiritual Power was like a medicinal tonic this whole time.’
“I should have given more to Songi.”
Regretting my decision, I gave the remaining 320 points to Songi as well.
【 Employee Details 】
*Kim Songi:
Health – Good
Spiritual Sight
Trust – 99/100
Spiritual Power – 1,325p
Songi, let’s stay healthy for a long time to come.
Dad will support you steadily.
***
Morning sunlight filtered through the curtains, brightening the room.
“It’s morning.”
I’d only managed to sleep about two hours because of the late guest.
‘But why don’t I feel tired?’
Normally my body would feel heavy and my eyes would be dry.
Now I felt refreshed, as if I’d gotten a full night’s sleep.
‘Is it because of the Spiritual Power?’
Yes, truly Spiritual Power was like a medicinal tonic!
As my Spiritual Power increased, was my body growing younger?
Since turning thirty, I’d never felt such vitality.
I wondered how the guests were doing.
I opened the management window to check the guests’ status.
【 Guest Details 】
*Room 201:
Sammiho
Spiritual Power recovering
*Room 207:
Jung Yuri
Disorientation
Hunger
D-13
“Looks like Sammiho’s leg injury has healed completely.”
The entry about Sammiho’s leg injury had been deleted from the system.
“Jung Yuri’s countdown went down by a day.”
Now she had only thirteen days left to remain in the living world.
What I saw through Soul Insight about her final moments was bittersweet.
I began formulating a plan to comfort her spirit.
The most urgent need was restocking groceries.
All those ingredients that had been in the kitchen yesterday had been picked clean.
By the time I finished refilling the refrigerator, the day had slipped away.
Songi and Hwanggeum showed no signs of tiring—they raced around gleefully all day long.
“Hwanggeum! Catch me!”
“Woof!”
Whether it was the Spiritual Power or something else, Songi seemed unusually full of vitality.
‘I need to accumulate more Spiritual Power soon.’
I was mulling over ways to gather more Spiritual Power when
Sammiho, who had been taking a walk in the garden, entered the lobby.
“Is your body all healed now?”
Sammiho didn’t respond to my question; she simply stopped in front of Songi and tilted her head.
— Your Spiritual Power has grown. How did you manage that?
“I gave her some of my Spiritual Power.”
— You gave her Spiritual Power? Now that you mention it, your Spiritual Power has grown too.
Sammiho regarded me with narrowed eyes.
— Hmm? Does the owner of Dokkaebi Hotel have some secret technique?
“Actually, what’s the benefit of having more Spiritual Power?”
— What? You gave her Spiritual Power without even knowing that?
“I know it’s good for the body. But is there anything else? Like, can you drive away malevolent spirits?”
— With that level of Spiritual Power? Not even close.
But that meant, conversely, that if one’s Spiritual Power was high enough, it would be possible to drive them away.
“How much higher does the Spiritual Power need to be?”
— About five times what you currently have?
Though with the right technique, it might be possible before then.
Five times… that would be ten thousand Points?
I grabbed Sammiho and asked one more thing.
“Is there a way to close Spiritual Sight? Do you know?”
— How could you close Spiritual Sight once it’s already open?
I was trying to suppress my disappointment when
Sammiho continued.
— Well, if your Spiritual Power grows to around a thousand times what it is now, a way might become possible.
“Really? That would work?”
— I’m not certain, but with that much Spiritual Power accumulated, there’s nothing you couldn’t do.
“I see. Of course. Ha! So there is a way…!”
— Don’t rush into things—you’ll get indigestion. Take it slow.
“Thank you for telling me.”
As I was speaking with Sammiho,
Jung Yuri, who hadn’t left her room while the sun was up, staggered out into the lobby.
“I’m so hungry….”
“Guest, how would you like some tteokbokki for dinner this evening?”
At the mention of tteokbokki, a spark of clarity returned to Jung Yuri’s clouded eyes.
“Tteokbokki?”
“Cheese bomb tteokbokki, rosé tteokbokki, and fiery hot tteokbokki as well. All are possible.”
“Cheese bomb tteokbokki…!”
“Shall I prepare some cheese bomb tteokbokki for you?”
Jung Yuri nodded vigorously.
“Cheese bomb tteokbokki… cheese bomb tteokbokki… cheese bomb tteokbokki….”
I led Jung Yuri, who kept repeating the words, into the Dining hall.
“Minju, prepare it with the cheese bomb.”
“Yes!”
Jung Yuri had devoured an enormous quantity of food yesterday.
Yet even after eating so much, she still looked hungry.
‘Sammiho said she wasn’t possessed by hunger, after all.’
What Jung Yuri needed wasn’t simply a large amount of food.
Then what could it be?
That’s when it struck me—she needed to eat food she actually enjoyed.
A hunger that couldn’t be filled by a single salad and five hundred milliliters of bottled water.
What dish had I remembered at that moment?
I thought of the kinds of food teenage girls liked.
No matter what anyone said, tteokbokki was always number one.
“Cheese bomb tteokbokki….”
Jung Yuri, with a plate of tteokbokki before her, wiggled her fingers as she gazed at it.
It was a far cry from yesterday, when she devoured food like someone possessed.
“Please, go ahead.”
The moment I gave her permission, she moved her hand carefully and took a bite of the tteokbokki.
Slowly. Savoring every taste.
‘Yes, I was right.’
I could tell by the way she was acting differently from yesterday.
This was the answer.
***
D-12, fried chicken.
D-11, fresh cream cake.
Day after day, I served Jung Yuri delicious meals.
D-10.
Jung Yuri, who had dipped gorgonzola pizza in honeycomb, smiled faintly.
Her expression was gradually brightening.
‘Thank goodness.’
After finishing her meal, Jung Yuri went out to the Bench in front of hotel.
There was nothing to worry about—she couldn’t leave the hotel without my permission.
Sitting on the bench and gazing at the stars, Jung Yuri began to hum a song.
‘I’ve never heard this song before.’
I approached Jung Yuri and asked.
“What is the title of that song?”
“Ah… it’s just a song I made myself.”
“You composed it as well?”
“Just a little, for practice….”
To compose something of this caliber just as practice.
She must be quite talented.
“The song is beautiful. Would you sing more for me?”
Jung Yuri nodded slightly and began to sing.
Her clear voice wrapped around the area surrounding the hotel.
Could I become a star~
Even if I’m a shooting star that will soon fall~
If I can just sparkle for a moment~
The area around the hotel fell silent.
Even the noisy night birds leaned in to listen to her song.
When the song ended.
Clap clap clap clap clap—!
“Wow…! That song was really great!”
“Amazing.”
“Unnie, you’re really cool!”
“Woof! Woof!”
Minju and Minjae, Songi and Hwanggeum all erupted in enthusiastic applause and cheers.
Minju approached and spoke.
“It’s a shame that others can’t hear this song.”
Minjae began tapping his feet.
“Ah, but the song is really so good…!”
Jung Yuri laughed with a wry expression.
Then Minjae cried out.
“What if we recorded this song ourselves?”
When I tilted my head, not understanding what Minjae meant, he elaborated.
“YouTube. The view count might not be very high. But we could still preserve the song.”
A faint glimmer of interest appeared on Jung Yuri’s face.
She didn’t seem opposed to it.
I asked Jung Yuri.
“Would you like to give it a try?”
Jung Yuri nodded.
“Yes. I’d like to.”
Minju, holding up her phone to check, spoke in a disappointed voice.
“It won’t work. Nothing shows up on the video. We can’t hear the voice either….”
Jung Yuri maintained her form only within the hotel—she was not substantial.
Minjae sighed with regret.
“Haa… the song is really so good. What a shame.”
Then Songi raised her hand eagerly.
“Me! I’ll sing that song with you!”
“You, Songi?”
“Yes! I sing that song well. I was the best singer at my kindergarten.”
I addressed the guest.
“The choice is yours, of course. Your voice won’t remain on the recording… but would you still like to preserve the song?”
Inherited the Dokkaebi Hotel
Author
: Whygrahnola
Production Date
: August 25, 2026
Publisher
: ACES Media Co., Ltd.
Editor
: ACES Media Editorial Team
Address
: 10F Urban Bench Building, 325 Teheran-ro, Gangnam-gu, Seoul
Email
: [email protected]
※ This work is published by ACES Media Co., Ltd. in accordance with a contract with the copyright holder,
and the contents may not be used in any form or by any means without permission from the company and the author.
This e-book is protected by copyright law, and unauthorized reproduction or copying may result in legal liability.
UCI
: G720:N+A129-20260730113

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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