Welcome to the Goblin Hotel - Chapter 24

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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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Episode 24
The moment I turned the corner of the Hospital behind Min Jae.
“AAAAHHHHH—!”
A scream that seemed to split eardrums erupted from behind me.
I reflexively turned my head to look at the woman shrieking.
Her face contorted grotesquely, flushed a violent red, as she stamped her feet and bounced up and down.
‘Like a feral boar that’s been provoked.’
She couldn’t contain her fury at circumstances spiraling beyond her control.
‘Always got her way before—no wonder she’s losing it now that she can’t.’
“Ungrateful bastard! No heart, no decency—!”
Her voice, ragged with rage, echoed off the Hospital corridor walls.
Click.
A door opened as someone inside wondered what was happening, and she snapped at them viciously.
“What are you staring at! Got nothing better to do?”
That was when.
The Ghost that had been clinging quietly to the ceiling all this time began to move.
Judging by its grotesque appearance, it had been wandering as a Spirit for quite some time.
Tick-tick-tick-tick.
The Ghost’s head swiveled left and right before its gaze fixed on the shouting woman.
—Kee-kee-kee. Tasty.
The Ghost’s lips split into a grin.
Then, hanging inverted from the ceiling.
It crawled on all fours.
Scratch-scratch-scratch. Shhhhh—
And then.
Thud.
It dropped onto the woman’s head.
—You’ve got a lot of anger in you.
The Ghost embraced the woman’s head, licking its lips as though savoring something delicious.
But.
She felt nothing and kept screaming.
‘Of course.’
That woman wouldn’t have Spiritual Sight.
I paused, watching the scene unfold, and considered my options.
‘Should I take it down, or leave it?’
When it was clinging quietly to the ceiling, I’d ignored it.
Now it had come down and attached itself to a living person.
Whisper, whisper.
I ran my fingertips over the Rope wrapped around my waist, mulling it over.
After brushing the cord about a dozen times.
I shook my head a few times and turned lightly on my heel to walk away.
“No need for me to deal with it.”
I wasn’t in the mood anyway.
“AAAAHHH! Miserable wretch!”
Even as I turned the corner, her screams didn’t fade.
Still, I didn’t pay attention and walked forward.
Min Jae must have already headed outside—he was nowhere to be seen.
‘He went on ahead. Good.’
At least I wouldn’t have to listen to any more of her venomous words.
As I stepped out of the Hospital entrance, the rain had already stopped.
It had been pouring just moments before, but now a blue sky lay exposed, as though it had all been a lie.
A cool breeze pushed through the moisture-laden air.
Min Jae stood at the entrance, gazing up blankly at the sky, his shoulders rising and falling heavily.
“Inhale—! Exhale—!”
Min Jae drew in a long breath, then released it slowly.
Once more.
“Inhale—! Exhale—!”
And again.
“Inhale—! Exhale—!”
Only after repeating this several times did Min Jae finally open his mouth.
“The air is so clean here. Wouldn’t you say so, boss?”
I watched Min Jae’s lips curl up awkwardly and let out a soft laugh before answering.
“It is.”
Then I gave his sagging shoulders a light tap and added more.
“But our hotel has the best air, don’t you think?”
“That’s true, yes. Hehe….”
Min Jae let out a deflated laugh, then turned his body toward me and bowed his head deeply.
“Boss, thank you for taking my side today.”
I shrugged.
“That’s nothing to make a fuss about. And why would it be just today?”
Min Jae looked at me.
“……?”
“I’ll take your side whenever you need me to. Just work hard.”
Min Jae’s expression twisted, and his eyes began to glisten.
“Hmmph…! Boss…!”
‘Ugh…! No. I hate tears!’
I quickly added more.
“It’s employee welfare. Welfare! Don’t you dare get all moved by sentiment like that. Got it? This is only natural.”
I picked up my pace and headed toward the Parking Lot.
Is that kid Min Jae’s tears a little too easily shed?
I should put him through some special training.
‘For now, I’ll make Min Jae handle all the onion peeling and scallion slicing.’
I nodded to myself and made my way toward my parked car.
“Shall we head out now? To our house.”
“Yes!”
‘Where did I park the car again?’
As I was turning my head, looking around.
At the far edge of the outdoor Parking Lot.
My gaze stopped on the rain-slicked asphalt.
What caught my eye wasn’t my car, but a familiar face.
A man in a black suit and a traditional hat stood holding a black Umbrella.
It was Gang Rim.
‘He certainly stands out.’
Our eyes met, and he walked over briskly to greet me first.
“Haha! Boss, what a pleasant surprise to meet you like this outside the Hotel.”
Min Jae looked at Gang Rim with startled eyes.
“Reaper, what brings you here?”
“Ah, so the Hotel doorkeeper is here too. I came here on business myself.”
“Business?”
Gang Rim pointed toward a building attached to the Hospital with a jerk of his chin.
“My real job, that is.”
“Ah, I see….”
Looking at the building Gang Rim had indicated, I spoke.
“That’s a Funeral Hall.”
“Indeed. I give the honored dead a brief moment to settle their affairs. Then, once the Funeral Procession concludes, I escort them.”
“Honored dead, you say….”
“Spirits who have accumulated much good karma. Souls deserving of such respect.”
“I see.”
I nodded, and a good thought suddenly came to mind. I asked Gang Rim.
“By the way, Reaper—have you eaten?”
“Unfortunately not. I’m still on an empty stomach. They don’t even feed the reapers at places like that. These are dark times indeed. Dark times…!”
Gang Rim clicked his tongue and muttered.
“Tsk. To treat the reapers so poorly.”
Gang Rim is ever consistent.
I nodded and asked him.
“When will your business here be finished?”
“I’ll need to wait here for about another hour or so.”
“Then you should have time by sunset.”
At this point, a faint note of anticipation appeared on Gang Rim’s face.
“That would be the case, but…?”
“Do you enjoy grilled meat over charcoal, Reaper? I was thinking we might have a barbecue in the Hotel Courtyard this evening.”
“Ha ha ha! I enjoy it very much. I’m absolutely mad for it!”
Gang Rim’s face lit up.
Seeing him like that, I couldn’t help but smile.
“I thought you might.”
“Ha ha ha! Then I’ll make sure to come by later.”
After setting the plan with Gang Rim, I climbed into the car with Min Jae.
“Boss, barbecue all of a sudden?”
“I mentioned it before. Grilling pork belly over charcoal.”
“Ah… I’m looking forward to it.”
A faint smile crossed Min Jae’s face.
On a day when my mind is this unsettled, a little noise and bustle feels welcome.
In that regard, Gang Rim was the perfect guest.
There aren’t many people quite so animated around food.
Gang Rim stood at a distance, waving toward us.
Watching him, I suddenly thought of something I needed to ask him.
“Min Jae, can you wait a moment? There’s something I need to tell the Reaper.”
Min Jae fastened his seatbelt as he answered.
“Of course. Take your time.”
I got out of the car and ran toward Gang Rim.
“Reaper, I have a question for you.”
“Of course. Ask me anything. Ha ha ha!”
“What happens to a person when a spirit becomes attached to them? It looked rather grotesque….”
I felt I needed to know what would become of the spirit that had latched onto Min Jae’s aunt.
‘Not knowing bothers me more.’
At my words, a flicker of interest crossed Gang Rim’s eyes.
“Most of those are spirits destined to become malevolent soon. Though it seems you haven’t yet removed the spirit from the person it’s attached to?”
“Well… there are circumstances.”
“Ah, I’m not blaming you for that, Boss. You have no obligation to oversee all the souls wandering outside the Hotel.”
…….
Having said that, Gang Rim looked around as if searching for something, his penetrating gaze turning toward the direction of the Hospital before meeting my eyes again.
“A malevolent spirit attached to a person feeds on that person’s wicked emotions. For them, that is the finest sustenance.”
Gang Rim continued.
“Once there are no more dark emotions left to feed on, the spirit will naturally fall away. Otherwise… well, that’s simply the price of their own karma.”
“Their own karma?”
“Indeed. It is the fault of that human for continuing to generate such wicked emotions. So don’t burden yourself with worry.”
‘That’s right. It’s not my fault.’
With that thought, I nodded.
“Thank you. Then I’ll see you later.”
“Ha ha ha! Do prepare plenty of meat.”
“I’m planning to clean out the butcher shop.”
“A most admirable intention.”
***
A short while later.
Gang Rim the Reaper entered the Hospital.
Thud-thud.
As the grim messenger with the black umbrella held like a staff passed by, the spirits scrambled away and hid in panic.
The spirit clinging to the woman’s shoulder was no exception.
At the sound of footsteps, it peeked out its head before its eyes met Gang Rim’s.
—Shrieeeek…!
The spirit immediately pressed itself tight against the woman’s back, trembling violently.
Yet the woman, unaware of the Reaper right before her, continued to grumble without knowing anything.
“Ugh…! Really. My anger still won’t settle. Do you know how much trouble I went through raising those ingrates? How could they do this to me? Huh?”
The woman gulped down cold water, then poured an endless stream of curses from her lips.
“Ungrateful wretches—worse than dogs. What’s a house or two? If I did them a favor, they should be grateful and hand it over without fussing! By the law? They should’ve known to be thankful and just given it up!”
Gang Rim the Reaper stood directly before the woman.
His eyes, blazing with an icy, hellish blue flame, bore straight through her.
“A malicious wretch, indeed. The Boss of the Dokkaebi Hotel was right to turn away from you. Your life ahead will be most bitter.”
Then he turned his gaze to the spirit attached to the woman’s back.
“I grant you more time. In exchange, you must not leave that woman’s side. Do you accept?”
The Umbrella that Gang Rim held blazed with a blue light, taking on the form of a sword.
“…Or you’ll be annihilated here.”
The spirit nodded frantically.
— Y-yes…! I understand. I don’t want to be annihilated!
“Don’t even think of breaking our agreement.”
A thin Blue Thread unspooled from inside his sleeve and wound around the malevolent spirit’s neck before seeping away.
Gang Rim muttered as he straightened his sleeve.
“That should earn me my keep.”
The Reaper departed.
The malevolent spirit clinging to the woman’s back tilted its head and then broke into a wide grin, its grotesquely split mouth revealing a dark red tongue.
***
The moment Min Jae stepped into the Hotel, Song Yi and Min Joo rushed out to meet him.
“Dad!”
He lifted the bouncing Song Yi into his arms, pressing his cheek against hers in greeting.
“I’m back. I missed you so much… Did you miss me?”
“I missed you too, Dad.”
Min Jae watched Song Yi and asked.
“Song Yi, didn’t you miss your brother?”
“Tee-hee…! Of course I missed you!”
Watching Song Yi beam, Min Jae smiled back.
Min Joo, who had been standing beside them observing Min Jae’s expression, slowly opened her mouth.
“How did it go? The thing you went to take care of?”
“Oh.”
Min Jae raised his hand and scratched the back of his head.
“…It was just tests. We decided not to do the donation.”
“Really? There wasn’t anything else…? I thought your aunt wouldn’t just let it go.”
“Well, she had some things to say. But I’m trying not to let it bother me anymore.”
Min Joo’s expression brightened with relief at his words.
“Good. From now on, don’t worry about it. Let’s just think about ourselves.”
Min Jae nodded and spoke.
“I’m sorry for worrying you.”
“If you’re sorry, then please don’t do it again.”
Both Min Jae and Min Joo’s eyes grew wet with tears.
‘Stop the tears!’
I stepped forward and spoke to Min Joo.
“Tonight we’re having a barbecue party in the courtyard.”
“…What? All of a sudden?”
“I’ve invited Gang Rim too, so keep that in mind. The ingredients are all in the car, so let’s start by unloading.”
Song Yi leaped from my arms and cheered.
“Yay! A barbecue party!”
“Woof! Woof! Woof!”
Hwang Geum Yi, who had appeared from somewhere, ran circles around Song Yi, bouncing alongside her.
Min Joo opened the trunk and looked inside, then shook her head in disbelief.
“If we eat all this, we’ll die. We’re going to end up becoming Hotel guests.”
***
The wet stone floor dried, and the sun settled beyond the mountains.
When the sky turned orange with the fading light.
Whoosh—
Min Jae held a Torch and lit the charcoal.
I approached him as he struggled and sprayed the flame for a while.
“That’s not how you do it.”
Min Jae tilted his head.
“That’s not the right way?”
I picked up the Tongs and went over, gently lifting the charcoal.
“You need to leave some space underneath so oxygen can flow through.”
“Ah…! I see.”
“And don’t put the grill on yet. Once the fire dies down a bit, then we’ll put it on.”
Min Jae laughed like a child.
“Heh-heh…! This is really fun. I’ve always wanted to try it.”
And we hadn’t even started grilling the meat yet.
Min Jae was already grinning broadly, delighted.
‘What’s the big deal about grilling meat over charcoal?’
Had he really never done it once in twenty years?
“Grill to your heart’s content. The fridge is about to burst. Do the honors and finish it. Got it?”
She rubbed the bridge of her nose with her finger, feeling an unexpected tightness there.
‘At this rate I’ll end up chopping green onions too.’
Excessive emotion was dangerous.
She needed Gang Rim.
Inherited the Dokkaebi Hotel
Author
: Why So Alarmed
Publication Date
: August 25, 2026
Publisher
: Aces Media Inc.
Editor-in-Chief
: 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 the contract of 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 ebook is protected by copyright law; 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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