Welcome to the Goblin Hotel - Chapter 28

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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 28
After finishing my text exchange with Lina.
I was heading toward where Song-i and Choi Il-joo were when—
I ran into Min Jae in the Lobby, just back from the Garden after catching Hwang-geum-i rolling around in the grass.
Min Jae’s face had turned crimson, his jaw clenched as he fought to suppress his laughter, but the effort crumbled and giggles spilled through his teeth.
“Keh-keh-keh-keh-keh-kh…!”
“Min Jae, did something funny happen?”
“Kh-heh-heh-heh-heh-ugh…! Kh-uh…!”
By now his laughter had devolved into sounds like he was choking for air.
Min Jae rarely laughed this loudly.
I found myself genuinely curious what could possibly be so amusing.
Min-ju, who had been scrolling through her phone on the sofa, stretched her neck out and asked.
“What’s wrong with him?”
“Beats me. I have no idea.”
Min Jae kept convulsing with laughter for a long moment, clutching at his chest as if wringing it dry.
Once he’d finally caught his breath, Min Jae managed to speak.
“Haa…. Haa…. I nearly died laughing.”
Min-ju, watching him with tears at the corners of his eyes, jutted out her lower lip and shot back.
“If that had happened, you’d have just followed Ganglim Sa-ja right along.”
I chimed in from beside her.
“And given all the time you’ve spent together, he’d probably recommend you for the gatekeeper position at the Afterlife’s gate.”
Min Jae’s expression turned incredulous as he spoke.
“No, seriously—I actually saw something hilarious.”
“Something funny?”
“What is it?”
“Choi Il-joo is dancing with Song-i. Like, this weird fluttering kind of Native American dance thing.”
“…Choi Il-joo is?”
“Yes. I’m telling you! Heh-heh-heh-heh-heh…! And his laugh was so loud….”
Flushed with excitement, Min Jae even mimicked Choi Il-joo’s laugh as he spoke.
Min-ju gasped in surprise and echoed him.
“Choi Il-joo really did that?”
“I’m telling you, he did. Right, Hwang-geum-i?”
Min Jae asked the dog he was holding.
Hwang-geum-i, caked in grass and dirt and looking bedraggled, barked in apparent agreement with Min Jae’s words.
“Woof!”
Min-ju and I locked eyes at the same moment and nodded in unison.
This was something we had to see with our own eyes.
“Let’s go.”
We left the Hotel with solemn expressions and crept forward with careful steps.
Hwang-geum-i, sensing the mood, padded along just as carefully, though bewildered.
We rounded the corner of the Hotel building and peered out just enough to see toward the Vegetable Garden.
Beneath the glimmering lights.
The shadows of the two dancers stretched long across the ground.
“Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!”
“Kyeh-reh-reh-reh-!”
The laughter of Song-i and Choi Il-joo echoed through the air.
Behind them, buckwheat buds that had yet to bloom began opening one by one—pop, pop, pop.
‘I should really save this….’
I regretted that I couldn’t capture Choi Il-joo on video.
A moment later.
We all walked together around the Hotel’s perimeter, loudly gathering the buckwheat flowers that bloomed along the wall.
Perhaps the liveliness suited him, because the corners of Choi Il-joo’s mouth curled upward in a full smile.
Then, as we were strolling.
Choi Il-joo suddenly stopped walking.
“Hm?”
Song-i, who had been chattering away while standing beside him, tilted her head in confusion.
“Why? What’s wrong?”
Choi Il-joo took a step toward the Buckwheat Field.
“Seeds.”
“Pardon?”
“The buckwheat has borne fruit.”
We gathered in the direction he indicated, craning our necks to see.
Min Jae’s eyes widened as he gazed at the buckwheat kernels nestled among the flowers.
“Wow…! Is that really buckwheat fruit?”
Watching him, I smiled and reached out to run my fingers along the stalks.
Brown buckwheat seeds tumbled into my palm with a soft patter.
‘When did these ripen so quickly?’
Both the flowers and the fruit had come faster than expected.
But it only felt right.
I looked at the handful of seeds in my hand and turned to Choi Il-joo. “Would you care for a cup of buckwheat tea?”
Choi Il-joo smiled gently and nodded.
“I would.”
After that, we gathered a bit more of the ripened grain.
It was only a small amount—barely enough to fill Song-i’s tiny hands—but we all focused intently on the unfamiliar task.
Without time to dry it slowly in the sun, we roasted it gently over a low flame, the way one would dry tea leaves.
“It smells so nutty!”
Song-i, sitting beside Choi Il-joo and swinging her legs, cried out.
Choi Il-joo nodded in agreement.
“It’s almost ready.”
Min-ju smiled slightly and spoke to them both. “Nearly done now. Just a little longer, please!”
I poured the roasted buckwheat into a small mortar, releasing its fragrant aroma, and ground it gently.
The husks cracked with soft pops, revealing the pale flesh within bit by bit.
About thirty minutes later.
We each held a cup of buckwheat tea in our hands, sipping it slowly.
Because the husks hadn’t been completely removed, a slight astringency rose in the taste, but it didn’t matter.
This was buckwheat we had harvested together before Choi Il-joo’s checkout.
That alone made it precious.
As I drank the tea, I found myself thinking.
‘If there is such a thing as a next life…’
Choi Il-joo, who had lived a winter-like existence.
May he someday know a warm season that lasts.
***
Before midnight arrived.
Ganglim burst through the Hotel doors.
【 An Underworld Messenger has arrived. 】
As Ganglim stepped into the Hotel, he carried a black umbrella.
It was a clear night, with stars and moon shining unusually bright.
‘No rain in the sky—why the umbrella?’
Whoosh—
Ganglim gave the umbrella a light shake, and the water droplets clinging to it fell away as the umbrella furled itself shut automatically.
That umbrella was no ordinary thing, it seemed.
Then Ganglim’s eyes widened as he noticed me.
“Did you come out to greet me?”
Surely not.
That couldn’t be it.
I had simply stepped outside to catch the breeze, feeling a little hollow.
I smoothly changed the subject. “Why the umbrella?”
“The wind and rain in the Afterlife are quite fierce.”
I looked up at the sky again and pressed further. “Rain in the Afterlife?”
“Haha! Not here—over there.”
“Over there meaning…?”
“The Underworld. For some reason, Samshin Grandmother is very angry.”
Ganglim shook his head ruefully and brushed the moisture from his collar.
‘Ah… I see.’
Samshin Grandmother is quite upset.
It was a distant matter—something I sensed but didn’t quite understand.

It seemed best to let it go and move on.
I drew in a breath, my lips pressed thin.
“I see. But why have you come so early? There’s still time before Choi Il-joo’s checkout.”
“Ha. It’s better to avoid the rain when one can, wouldn’t you say?”
Ganglim smiled and added that it would be even better to quiet his hunger in the meantime, asking for my consent.
I nodded and led him to the Dining Room.
“Then let’s head to the Dining Room.”
I brought Ganglim inside without disturbing Choi Il-joo, who was harvesting tomatoes from the Vegetable Garden behind the building.
“Please, sit here, Jeoseung Sa-ja.”
I poured tea for Ganglim as he took his seat.
Ganglim wetted his lips with the warm tea, its savory aroma rising up, and smiled as he peered into the cup.
“This is Buckwheat Tea, isn’t it?”
“Harvested fresh.”
Ganglim nodded and glanced toward the kitchen.
“The meal will be ready shortly.”
“Ha ha, thank you.”
“Actually, Jeoseung Sa-ja, there’s something I’d like to show you.”
Interest flickered across Ganglim’s face.
“What is it?”
“This.”
I handed him the Talisman paper I’d kept carefully preserved.
As Ganglim took the paper that had held the Curse, cyan flames bloomed in his eyes.
After staring intensely for a long moment, Ganglim smiled, lifting only one corner of his mouth.
“Someone’s been quite bold.”
“Did you notice something? What is it? What clue is left here?”
As expected, he had the depth of knowledge about death that befitted an Underworld Messenger.
“This is a Curse inscribed in the ashes of a rope that a Yeok-gwi used to die by.”
“A Yeok-gwi being….”
“The character for hanging, and a ghost that died by hanging itself. Just as written on this paper.”
“I see. So that’s why Ye-na kept….”
‘…trying to hang herself.’
As I fell into thought for a moment.
Whoosh—
Ganglim summoned cyan flames at his fingertip and burned the paper away.
“Wait, that’s still—!”
“Even if the Curse fades, there’s no good in keeping such a thing around for long. It’s best to burn it.”
‘He’s right.’
I’d brought it to show Ganglim from the start.
And now there was no need for it anymore.
“Jeoseung Sa-ja, do you think you could tell who made it?”
“The clues left behind are sparse. Though I’m curious who this bold one might be.”
“I see….”
“I don’t know who it is, but this doesn’t seem to be their first attempt.”
Ganglim pulled his mouth into a sharp smile.
Then he continued, his tone calm and measured.
“They’ve added one hanging to another hanging to create a Violent Death. This is someone who knows how to play with Curses.”
How many times would the word “hanging” appear?
I let out a sigh and spoke.
“Jeoseung Sa-ja, could you explain it more simply? I know nothing of these matters.”
“Ah, I forgot you were a beginner, proprietor. You’ve been so capable. Ha ha…!”
Ganglim adjusted his posture and explained in detail.
“A Talisman with the same intention was layered over the Yeok-gwi’s obsession.”
“So the obsession to hang oneself was doubled in strength?”
“Far more than doubled. That’s how they invoked a Violent Death.”
“I see….”
Mi-ho trembled and entered the Dining Room.
— A Violent Death, no less. They’ve created something dreadful.
“You were listening?”
— My ears are sharp.
“I’ve heard the term ‘Violent Death’ before. It’s very bad, isn’t it?”
She hopped onto the table and met his eyes as she answered.
— If you hadn’t handled it, that girl would have ended up hanging herself. There’s no way she could’ve solved it alone.
“Good thinking, coming back early.”
— That girl. She might not be ordinary. It’s strange she’s lasted this long.
Ganglim nodded in agreement.
“Yes, that’s right. Any normal person should have crossed the River of Three Crossings several times by now.”
“So she’s not ordinary, meaning—”
Before I could ask further, Min-ju emerged from the kitchen with food.
“…Oh, did I miss my timing?”
“No, it’s fine.”
I’d already asked what mattered.
The rest I could work out myself.
With food before him, Ganglim’s attention had shifted entirely to the plate.
“Please, eat.”
“Haha, thank you.”
Ganglim quickly scraped the beef fried rice Min-ju had made clean and rose from his seat.
“Your cooking skills remain excellent.”
Choi Il-joo sat on a bench in the garden, eating a tomato fresh from the vegetable patch.
As I approached him, he handed me a ripe one.
“The taste is wonderful.”
“That’s thanks to you, Choi Il-joo.”
I placed the tomato he’d given me into Ganglim’s hand.
“I’m counting on you.”
I didn’t say much.
But the meaning seemed to reach him—Ganglim nodded.
Choi Il-joo stood and bowed deeply to me.
“It’s been a pleasure. I’ll rest well on my way.”
“Thank you for choosing our Hotel, sir.”
Ganglim and Choi Il-joo were heading out of the Hotel when
the staff came running.
“Sir!”
Song-i rushed to Choi Il-joo and pressed a bouquet of white buckwheat flowers into his hands.
“Safe travels. Take care!”
“You too, take good care of yourself.”
Choi Il-joo, cradling the white buckwheat bouquet, followed behind Ganglim.
It was the second checkout.
【 Room 205 has checked out. 】
【 Spirit Power Points +10,000 】
I Inherited the Goblin Hotel
Author
: WhyAreYouSoSurprised
Created
: 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 is published by ACES Media Inc. under 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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