Welcome to the Goblin Hotel - Chapter 22

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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 22
A day filled with Song-i’s laughter had come to an end.
Once again, the sun descended quietly beyond the mountains.
Just as the lights strung across the Garden began to flicker on one by one.
I heard footsteps from the staircase.
I glanced up, thinking it might be Mi-ho, but it was Choi Il-ju.
His waking time had been growing earlier with each passing day.
Today, the moment the sun set, he stepped out of his room.
“Choi Il-ju! Come here. I’ve just brewed some tea.”
I gestured toward an empty space on the Lobby sofa.
Choi Il-ju studied my face before asking.
“I heard your daughter was ill. Is she all right?”
“Fortunately, she’s perfectly fine after resting for just one night.”
That was when it happened.
Song-i suddenly burst out from the Dining Hall.
She placed both hands above her navel and bowed politely to Choi Il-ju.
“Hello, mister! I’m Song-i.”
Choi Il-ju’s expression softened instantly.
“So you’re the boss’s daughter, Song-i.”
“Yes, mister! The tomato has grown this tall, and it’s even bloomed!”
Song-i bounced on her toes, raising her hands high.
“Already?”
“Yes! It’s growing so fast, holding onto the stake you set up for it!”
Then Song-i grabbed Choi Il-ju’s hand and tugged at it.
“Come look at it with me. Right now!”
“Now?”
“Yes! Hurry!”
I tried to hold Song-i back.
“Song-i, the mister was just about to have his tea.”
My intervention proved futile as Choi Il-ju rose to his feet with a smile.
“It’s fine. I’ll have the tea after we visit the Vegetable Patch.”
Song-i bounded ahead toward the tomato seedlings.
“Here! Look here. There are even baby tomatoes!”
Choi Il-ju bent down to examine them closely.
“Well, well… it’s true indeed.”
Song-i puffed out her chest with pride.
“I watered it every single day!”
“So you did. How impressive.”
A warm smile spread across Choi Il-ju’s face.
I gazed at the tomato flowers and asked him.
“Does it normally grow this fast?”
Choi Il-ju surveyed the sections where tomatoes, peppers, and lettuce had been planted.
“These are indeed crops that grow quickly by nature.”
“I see…”
“However…”
He trailed off and shifted his gaze toward the buckwheat planted along the wall foundation.
“It does seem to be growing unusually fast.”
He moved closer to where the buckwheat was planted.
The buckwheat had already grown to the height of a calf.
The stems were straight, and the leaves spread out generously.
The deep green leaves glinted beneath the yellow bulb.
“It’s a shame to leave before seeing it bloom.”
Looking closely, I could see tiny flower buds forming between the leaves.
Song-i came scampering over.
“Mister! When will the buckwheat flowers bloom?”
“About two weeks from now, I’d say it should start blooming.”
“Wooow!”
With Song-i’s cry of delight, another mysterious dance began.
“Bloom, flowers! Bloom, flowers! Beautiful flowers, please bloom!”
Choi Il-ju laughed aloud as he watched Song-i.
“Haha, thanks to Song-i, the flowers will bloom even faster.”
‘He’s recovering.’
【 Guest Details
】
*Room 205:
Choi Il-ju
Wandering
D-9
Those two characters—Wandering—seemed to fade a little more today.
Song-i danced for a while, then suddenly her eyes went wide.
“Oh!”
“Song-i, what is it?”
Song-i tapped her forehead as if just remembering something. “Min-ju told me to bring Dad, and I totally forgot…!”
“Min-ju told me to bring Dad, and I totally forgot…!”
“Heh… I forgot.”
I laughed—a hollow sound—and asked her.
“You’re only remembering that now?”
I took Song-i’s hand, awkward as she was laughing, and looked at Choi Il-ju.
“Why don’t you join us for dinner, Choi Il-ju?”
“I’m not hungry.”
“You don’t drink tea just because you’re thirsty, do you? Food is the same.”
Freshly cooked rice carries the power to soothe the heart.
I wanted him to understand that too.
Song-i reached out and took Choi Il-ju’s hand.
“Come eat with us.”
He stared at the hand grasping his, then nodded slowly.
“All right. Let’s go.”
The three of us walked into the Dining Hall hand in hand.
Min-ju poked her head out from the kitchen, ladle in hand. “Oh! You came too, Choi Il-ju? Welcome.”
Min-ju poked her head out from the kitchen, ladle in hand. “Oh! You came too, Choi Il-ju? Welcome.”
Min-jae quietly set down another set of utensils.
Glistening white rice, freshly cooked.
A golden-brown rolled omelet.
Ripened kimchi and a few simple vegetable side dishes.
A steaming beef seaweed soup.
Choi Il-ju picked up his spoon, scooped up a spoonful of the seaweed soup, and brought it to his lips.
In that moment, his expression twisted ever so slightly.
As if he were forcing himself to hold something back.
His eyes began to glisten slowly.
“…It’s warm.”
Song-i picked up a piece of the rolled omelet and placed it on top of his rice.
“You have to eat well to stay strong.”
Choi Il-ju looked at Song-i.
Her eyes sparkled as she waited for him to eat the omelet.
Choi Il-ju’s lips curved into a faint smile. “…Thank you.”
“…Thank you.”
He put the omelet in his mouth.
Then he chewed slowly, very slowly, savoring the taste.
Unlike the quiet Choi Il-ju, the children were loud.
“Song-i, what did you think of the short-rib soup your sister made?”
“It was the best.”
“Really? Which do you like better—the beef seaweed soup or the short-rib soup?”
“Um… can’t I like them both?”
“You like them both?”
“Uh-huh.”
“So… do you like your sister more, or the beef?”
“Hehe! I like sister more.”
A warm, joyful meal time.
Throughout it all, a gentle smile remained in the corners of Choi Il-ju’s eyes.
It was the first time.
It wasn’t until after Choi Il-ju came to our hotel that we had eaten together.
***
The next morning.
Even though it was the hour when the sun should have risen, the world outside remained dark.
“Do you think it’s going to rain?”
Mi-ho, sitting on the lobby sofa and tearing into jerky, spoke up.
— It’ll come down hard. Just like the day I arrived here.
I recalled the day Mi-ho had come to us.
A white fox, drenched by the relentless rain, trembling violently.
Stained with blood and exhaustion.
Back then, she was barely clinging to life when I saved her.
Now here she was, sprawled across the sofa, chewing jerky with shameless abandon.
A small laugh escaped me.
“I’m glad.”
— Glad about what?
“That you’re recovering so well.”
Seeing Mi-ho healthy filled me with quiet satisfaction.
Mi-ho glanced sideways at me, then scoffed.
“Pfft—!”
“What was that?”
— That means you’re nowhere near close to lowering my room rate, no matter how sweet you sound.
“Hey! I’m not asking for ginseng here!”
— Your eyes gave you away. I can see the greed written all over your face.
I was too exasperated to respond.
“You think I’m that kind of person?”
— I don’t know?
“What…? You don’t know?”
While we were bickering.
A certain tension hung in the air beside us.
Min-ju, Min-jae, and Song-i lay sprawled on the floor, setting building blocks in neat rows.
A domino chain.
“Be careful…. Careful.”
Song-i whispered, barely breathing.
Min-ju spoke as she placed each block.
“If this falls, we start over from the beginning.”
Min-jae nodded with a solemn expression.
“Got it. I’ll be careful.”
A long, winding path of colorful blocks stretched across the center of the lobby.
The children’s faces were grave as they watched that serpentine line.
Hwang-geum-i, sensing the moment, sat quietly and still, watching intently.
“Ten blocks left. This time, let’s make it.”
A peculiar tension rippled through the space.
Even Mi-ho and I, who had been quarreling moments before, fell silent and watched.
One, two, three….
With each block placed, breaths grew shallower and shallower.
When only the final block remained, everyone exhaled in relief.
“This is really the last one.”
“Don’t get nervous now!”
Just as Min-ju reached down to place the last block.
Ding-ding-ring—
Min-jae’s phone rang.
“Oh!”
Startled by the sudden noise, Min-ju’s hand jerked. The block toppled.
Click.
Tap-tap-tap-tap-tap-tap-tap-tap-tap—
The domino chain collapsed in an instant.
All the way to the end.
“Oh…!”
“Aah….”
“Whine…!”
Among the silent children, a ringtone blared loudly.
Min-ju fixed Min-jae with a sharp look.
“Whose phone is that?”
“I don’t know. There’s barely anyone who has my number…”
Min-jae pulled out his phone from his pocket with an embarrassed expression.
His face hardened as he stared at the screen.
“Aunt.”
“What? Aunt?”
Min-ju’s eyes seemed to flash with anger.
“How did she get this number…?”
While Min-jae was deliberating, the loud ringtone cut off.
Song-i, who had been on the verge of tears, watched the grave expressions of her older siblings and tried to read the situation.
Ling-ling—
The phone rang again.
Min-ju reached out and grabbed Min-jae’s wrist.
“Don’t answer.”
“Come on, you know how Aunt is. She’ll just keep calling until I pick up.”
“Then turn it off.”
“For how long?”
……
Min-jae slowly pushed away the hand that was gripping his wrist.
“It’s okay, sister. Really.”
Min-jae answered the phone.
“Hello?”
A sharp voice poured through the receiver.
“Where on earth are you kids? Why did you change your number!?”
“What’s wrong?”
“When did you move out of the room? How could you do this without even a word?”
The woman’s strident voice echoed loudly through the Lobby.
Startled, Song-i opened her eyes wide and looked up at Min-jae.
“This has nothing to do with you, Aunt.”
“What? Nothing to do? I’ve been feeding you kids all this time. Is that how you talk to me?”
Min-jae exhaled sharply.
“You took our parents’ insurance money. All of it.”
“I spent all of that! That was for raising you kids!”
I glanced at Min-ju.
Her face had flushed red, and she was grinding her teeth.
“We’ll handle our own affairs. Please don’t interfere.”
Min-jae’s aunt fell silent for a moment.
“If you have nothing else to say, I’m hanging up.”
An urgent voice shot through the receiver.
“Wait!”
“…What is it?”
After a brief silence, a measured voice spoke.
“Hyung-jun is very ill.”
Min-jae’s hand, which had been moving to end the call, froze.
“He needs a liver transplant.”
Min-jae’s pupils shook.
“There’s no one in our family who’s a match.
Min-ju is there with you, right? Come together and get tested.”
Min-jae’s voice came out forced and cracked.
“I won’t.”
“You share the same blood. You should step up and help at a time like this!”
Patter. Tap-tap. Tap-tap-tap-tap—!
Outside, rain began to pour down.
Rumble—
Thunder rolled in the distance.
Buried beneath the sound of the rain, Aunt’s voice could no longer be heard.
‘She’s got some nerve.’
Casting aside the nephews and nieces who’d lost their parents, and now suddenly invoking blood ties?
Min-jae’s breathing had grown ragged.
I stepped closer and placed a gentle hand on his shoulder.
Min-jae closed his eyes for a moment, steadied his breath, and spoke.
“…I’ll think about it.”
He stood there in that posture for a long while before his phone slipped from his grip and fell.
Then his voice trembled as he looked at Min-ju.
“Haa…! What am I supposed to do, sister?”
“What do you mean what? I won’t. Not even if I die. You won’t either.”
“But still….”
Min-ju’s eyes had flushed crimson.
Her lashes glistened with tears that threatened to spill at any moment.
“So you’re saying you will do it?”
Min-jae’s lips quivered a few times before he spoke.
“If there’s even a chance I’m a match….”
“A match? You’re saying you’d give up your liver if you are?”
“We’re cousins.”
At those words, Min-ju let out a bitter laugh.
“What did that Hyung-jun do when you had your eye surgery?”
…….
“Those people had money for luxury goods but not for your hospital bills. They were the ones who cut ties with us first!”
Min-jae had no answer.
His head bowed lower and lower.
“Min-jae, come to your senses. Those people are strangers now.”
A rift had opened between the siblings who had once been so close.
It was all because of that woman.
I stepped between them.
“Wait a moment, both of you.”
Both their eyes turned toward me at once.
“You don’t need to fight over something like this.”
Min-ju exhaled deeply and replied.
“We’re not fighting. I’m just angry….”
“I know.”
I turned my gaze to Min-jae.
His shoulders were still trembling.
“Min-jae, no matter what anyone says, you have to decide what happens to your own body. Blood relation or not, it’s not something that can be forced. You understand that, don’t you?”
Min-jae nodded, his voice subdued as he answered.
“Yes.”
“Whatever you choose, I’ll be here to help you. So—”
Tap. Tap.
I patted Min-jae’s shoulder as I continued.
“Shoulders back.”
Rumble—!
The sky wept loudly, as if voicing the turbulent feelings that stirred within them both.
I Inherited the Dokkaebi Hotel
Author
: Whygraenoller
Production Date
: September 3, 2026
Publisher
: ACES Media Inc.
Editor
: ACES Media Editorial Team
Address
: 10F, Urban Bench Building, 325 Teheran-ro, Gangnam-gu, Seoul
Email
: [email protected]
※ This work has been published by ACES Media Inc. in accordance with a contract with the copyright holder,
and its contents may not be used in any form or by any means without permission from the publisher and 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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