Welcome to the Goblin Hotel - Chapter 23

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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 23
The office of the attending professor in the Department of Hepatobiliary Pancreatic Surgery at Korea University Hospital.
The attending physician looked at the couple seated across from him and asked.
“What will you do?”
Before him sat the parents of a patient waiting for a liver transplant, side by side.
The unusually bright fluorescent lighting of the clinic cast their faces in sharp relief, laying their expressions bare.
Relief. Then confusion.
And denial.
A cascade of emotions flickered across the couple’s faces and vanished.
Abruptly, the woman who had been gnawing at her lip snatched the paper from her husband’s hands.
“Let me see that!”
The other complex terminology didn’t register with her at all.
Only the word “Compatible” held her gaze.
After staring at the test results for a long moment, the woman suddenly looked up.
She turned toward the doctor seated across from her and asked.
“Is this for certain?”
“Yes. The numbers look good, and the size is suitable for transplantation. Since it’s a parent-child relationship, the risk of rejection should be minimal.”
The doctor answered calmly.
The woman, her fist clenching the paper until it crumpled, asked again.
“The transplant… it’s not urgent right now, is it?”
“O Hyung Jun’s liver function is declining rapidly. We’re managing it with medication for now, but if it becomes acute—”
The woman leaned toward the doctor intently.
“Cousins can donate livers too, right? Cousins?”
The doctor adjusted his glasses and replied.
“Yes. Cousins are legally eligible donors. While it’s not quite as good as direct lineage, the risk of rejection is lower than with complete strangers.”
“I’ll bring our cousins. Can you wait until then?”
The doctor frowned slightly as he answered.
“It’s not I who waits. The patient does.”
This happened often enough.
Families dragging in every relative they could find to locate a donor.
Organ transplant screening wasn’t particularly difficult for relatives up to the fourth degree.
Whether those cousins actually agreed to the transplant was another matter entirely.
The doctor spoke to the man sitting silently beside his wife.
“Whether you make a decision or find another donor, you’ll need to do it as soon as possible.”
The couple left the office and stood dazed in the hallway for a long moment.
Among the murmur of passing staff, the woman’s resolute voice cut through.
“You can’t do it.”
Her husband hesitated briefly before speaking.
“But Hyung Jun is in this state—I have to step up.”
“And what becomes of me if something happens to you?”
……
“I’ve already contacted Min Jae. Let’s wait and see.”
“But you said you couldn’t reach him?”
She spoke with irritation in her voice.
“I’ve spent a fortune just to get his number. Why didn’t you get his address? Tsk…!”
The man asked with quiet hope in his expression.
“So the kids agreed to take the test?”
“After all we’ve done for them over the years, you think they can’t do even that much?”
Her husband looked away as he spoke.
“I don’t know… Will Min Ju really just go along with it?”
Her eyes narrowed.
“Min Ju’s such a cold one, you could stab her and not get a drop of blood. But Min Jae—he’s not the type to pretend he doesn’t know. We just have to wait.”
Her lips curved slightly into a smile as she added.
“Min Jae’s always listened to me since he was little. A little push, and he’ll come around.”
***
Sitting in the Hotel Lobby, the sound of rain seemed unusually loud.
Patter, patter, pitter-patter.
Raindrops struck the glass window incessantly.
Min Jae cradled the cup in both hands, silent for a long time.
Each time the tea grew cold, Min Ju wordlessly refilled it with something warm.
Clink.
Min Jae set his cup down on the table and opened his mouth.
“I want to get tested.”
Min Ju reacted immediately.
“What? You’re really going to do it?”
Min Jae nodded, his gaze resolute.
“Yeah. I’m going to. But you don’t. I’ll go alone.”
“Min Jae, I said don’t do this. Why do you have to go by yourself—”
“I don’t want to run away.”
“Run away? It’s just that they do their thing and we do ours. How is that running away?”
Min Jae lifted his head and looked at Min Ju.
“This is my choice. It’s not something our aunt is forcing me to do.”
At those words, Min Ju fell silent for a long moment, then pursed her lips and spoke.
“Then let’s go together. I can’t let you go alone.”
I glanced between the two of them before speaking quietly.
“No. Min Ju, you stay here. I’ll go with him.”
“Excuse me? Boss?”
“I told you—I said I’d be there for whatever choice you both made.”
Min Jae looked at me and smiled faintly.
I looked back at him and let out a short laugh.
“This kid…! Worrying your sister like this.”
“I’m sorry for worrying you. But still—”
“I don’t care. I’ll only allow the testing. No transplant.”
Min Jae laughed at his sister, his shoulders shaking with suppressed mirth.
Min Ju pushed his forehead with her finger as she spoke.
“You better make an offering of buckwheat jelly to the Goblin and pray—pray that you get an incompatible result.”
Mi Ho, sitting on the rug in front of the fireplace and swishing her tail, laughed.
— If there’s a liver to spare for that rotten cousin, shouldn’t you give me a piece too?
I yelped at Mi Ho in surprise.
“Hey! You said you don’t like the texture of liver!”
— Well, if it’s a liver infused with Spiritual Energy, wouldn’t it be worth trying?
At those words, both Min Ju and Min Jae’s faces went pale.
Seeing their expressions, Mi Ho struck the floor with her tail and laughed.
— Ehehehe…! Oh, this is hilarious.
You two really believe that?
I spoke curtly to Mi Ho.
“Stop teasing the kids. Why are you messing with good-hearted children?”
“Nyeeeng, kekekekeng.”
— Because they’re good-hearted children, that’s why.
If they’d been wicked, whoosh—! I’d have gobbled them up long ago.
Mi Ho laughed as she rattled off words that couldn’t tell whether they were jokes or truth, completely draining the siblings’ composure.
Thanks to her, the heavy air that had settled over the Hotel Lobby moments before grew a little lighter.
***
On the way to the hospital.
Swish—swish—
The wipers swept steadily across the windshield.
Min Jae sat in the passenger seat, gazing quietly out the window.
After a long stretch of that, I broke the silence.
“Min Jae, are you having second thoughts?”
Min Jae turned his head.
Looking at his hardened face, I spoke.
“If you want to go back, I’ll turn the car around.”
“…No. I’m fine.”
“Okay.”
……
“I’m right behind you. So do what you need to do.”
We entered Korea University Hospital, where Min Jae’s cousin lay admitted.
Min Jae, who’d been looking out the window, spoke with surprise in his voice.
“Boss, this place….”
“Yeah. There are plenty of ghosts here too.”
A place that separated life from death was naturally swarming with ghosts.
Still, none of them seemed to cause the kind of violent disturbance he’d witnessed on the new moon night.
“It’s annoying, so let’s just pretend we don’t see them.”
Min Jae swallowed hard and nodded.
“Understood.”
Thanks to the rogue spirits, the heavy dread of meeting his aunt seemed to recede into the background.
‘Is that… a relief?’
As they entered the hospital ward, a strikingly elegant woman caught his eye, pacing the corridor.
A glittering necklace.
A designer handbag with a prominent logo.
Crimson lipstick to match.
The people passing by couldn’t help but glance back twice.
It was her.
The woman Min Jae had seen in Soul Insight—Min Jae and Min Ju’s aunt.
She caught sight of Min Jae and approached with a broad smile.
“Min Jae, you came?”
“Hello.”
“The trip must have been tiring. But where’s Min Ju…?”
“My sister isn’t coming.”
“Ah, is that so?”
Far from looking disappointed that Min Jae had come alone, the corner of her mouth actually twitched upward with satisfaction.
“Well, that’s fine. As long as you’re here.”
She reached out to take Min Jae’s hand.
Without a word, Min Jae stepped back naturally.
“Where do I need to go for the tests?”
The woman hesitated for a moment, then looked his body over.
“Just follow me. But how’s your health? You’re not in pain anywhere…?”
Her gaze reminded him of a cattle trader’s eye, appraising livestock for sale.
“One of my eyes doesn’t work. Will that affect the test results?”
At those words, Min Jae’s aunt flinched.
“You were supposed to have eye surgery back then. You didn’t? What was your sister doing, leaving you like this?”
‘Leaving me? Who?’
Standing beside them, listening quietly, my blood was boiling.
I wanted to shout something back, but I held it in.
Because Min Jae was still holding back.
I could see his fists clenched tight.
What was he thinking, holding back like this?
‘Is he holding back because he has some kind of plan?’
I stepped closer to Min Jae’s side and greeted the woman.
“Hello.”
A flicker of wariness crossed the woman’s eyes.
“Who are you?”
“I’m Min Jae’s boss.”
“His boss?”
She looked me up and down.
Then she smirked.
“It must be quite a place you work at, wherever it is. Following an employee all the way here.”
“Min Jae is family to me now.”
Min Jae’s aunt laughed as if the notion were absurd.
“Ha… family, what nonsense—”
Go ahead and laugh all you want.
I’m about to see right through you.
What scheme did you have in mind when you called Min Jae?
I activated Soul Insight toward the woman.
【 Soul Insight 】
The view flickered and blinked before the scene shifted.
# A man in a white coat sat before my eyes.
He appeared to be the attending physician.
“The numbers look good, and the size is suitable for transplantation. Since you’re in a direct parent-child relationship, there should be minimal rejection response.”
‘What? Suitable, he says?’
A parent-child relationship, no less.
So her claim that there was no compatible donor in the family was a bare-faced lie.
The paper the woman held caught my eye.
At the bottom of the Test Results, scattered with English and numbers.
The word “Compatible” was written there.
……
“Cousins can donate a liver too, right?”
# Hospital Corridor
The woman spoke to the man standing in front of her.
“You can’t do it.”
……
“If something goes wrong with you too, what am I supposed to do?”
……
“Min Jae—that boy doesn’t have it in him to look the other way, so let’s wait and see.”
The woman crumpled the Test Results she’d been holding.
‘What am I supposed to do?’ she said.
Selfish to the bitter end.
A bad person from start to finish.
The Soul Insight faded, and I returned to reality.
I needed time to collect my thoughts.
Time—just a breath of it—to decide when I should tell Min Jae what I’d just witnessed.
Outside the Examination Room
Min Jae sat in a chair clutching his Number Ticket and spoke first.
“Boss.”
“What is it.”
“I… I’m hoping the results come back compatible.”
I looked at Min Jae.
‘Your aunt came back compatible,’ I thought.
The words climbed to my throat, but I decided to hear what Min Jae had to say first.
“Then your aunt will at least apologize, even if reluctantly, right?”
Min Jae, who’d been pressing the edge of his Number Ticket with his fingernail, added something more.
“Actually, I… I don’t want to donate. Is that okay?”
“That, Min Jae—”
I was about to tell him what I’d seen through Soul Insight.
“Kim Min Jae, please come in.”
The examination room called for Min Jae.
Min Jae glanced back and forth between me and the examination room.
“Boss, is there something you wanted to say?”
“No, I’ll tell you later. Go on.”
“I’ll be back.”
I nodded.
“Yes. I’ll wait. Go on.”
Min Jae gave a short nod, rose, and entered the examination room.
Min Jae’s Aunt, who’d stepped away for a moment, approached the examination room entrance.
“Has Min Jae come out yet?”
“He just went in.”
The woman paced the corridor with an anxious expression.
Some time passed.
Min Jae emerged from the examination room.
“The results will take a few days, they said.”
The woman smiled toward Min Jae and spoke.
“Good. Hyung Jun is in his hospital room, so go see his face for a bit. Hyung Jun—”
Min Jae cut her off.
“No, I’m not going. I didn’t come here to visit the sick.”
Min Jae’s Aunt’s expression froze for a moment.
Then she forced her lips up into an awkward smile.
“Ah, well. It’s good to get home early and rest. So, while we’re waiting for the results, don’t drink any alcohol—”
Min Jae spoke with a hardened face.
“Me.”
“Mm? Yes, what is it?”
“I came here to take the test, not to agree to donate.”
Min Jae’s Aunt’s pupils trembled faintly.
“What? What are you saying? If that’s the case, why did you take the test?”
Min Jae had made his decision.
“You only told me to come and take the test.”
“N-no, wait. That’s the same as saying take the test and donate!”
“Either way, I’ve done what I came to do. Don’t contact me again.”
The woman’s face flushed crimson.
‘So that’s it. That’s what Min Jae was holding back for all this time.’
My chest felt utterly clear.
Now it was my turn to provide cover fire.
I stepped up beside Min Jae and spoke.
“Find a donor among your own family. Leave the kid alone—he’s only just gotten his health back.”
“There’s no one compatible in the family—”
“None? What about your husband? He’s already been deemed compatible, hasn’t he?”
Min Jae’s Aunt’s body went rigid.
“What nonsense are you talking?”
I looked her straight in the eye.
“Good numbers, decent size, and as a direct lineage match, minimal rejection response expected—or so I heard. So why drag Min Jae into this?”
“H-how could you possibly—”
After hearing my words, Min Jae stared at me blankly for a moment, then turned his gaze toward his aunt.
Understanding the situation from her expression, Min Jae’s voice turned ice-cold.
“How perfect. Your husband can donate instead.”
The woman’s lips quivered as she shrieked at Min Jae.
“How many years have I fed you two? And you won’t do this one thing for me? I held your parents’ funerals, sent you to school! Do you understand?”
Her shrill voice scattered through the hospital corridor.
Passersby glanced sideways at them.
Min Jae’s flushed face let the words tumble out.
“Is holding your siblings’ funeral such a grand accomplishment in your eyes?”
“How dare you be so ungrateful, forgetting all I’ve given you—”
“The house that was in our father’s name.”
“…?!”
Min Jae’s Aunt flinched.
“You said it was too much trouble to manage, so you sold it. And you say you spent every penny raising us? Should we settle this in court?”
“C-court? Don’t be ridiculous—”
‘She didn’t just take the insurance money. She took the house too.’
Not a relative. An enemy.
That much was clear from this brief encounter alone.
I could only imagine how she’d been gaslighting these kids all this time.
Min Jae turned away and spoke.
“Don’t contact us again. I came today out of respect for what you did at our parents’ funerals. There won’t be a next time.”
Min Jae walked away without hesitation.
I followed behind him, then glanced back.
Seeing the woman’s face drain of color, that suffocating knot in my chest finally came loose.
Inherited the Goblin Hotel
Author
: WhyAreYouSurprised
Date of Production
: 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. under 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 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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