Welcome to the Goblin Hotel - Chapter 29

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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 29
Two days later.
They arrived early in the morning.
“I hope we didn’t come too early? Ye Na kept pestering me to see the manager quickly, so….”
Ye Na, standing beside Ri Na, bowed deeply in greeting.
“Hello! Manager, thank you so much for saving me.”
Ye Na’s long hair swept across the floor as she bent.
Quite a formal greeting.
Is that the idol bow style?
“I’m glad you’re safe. Ri Na was very worried about you.”
I led the two of them into the hotel.
Ye Na, visiting our hotel for the first time, looked around with eyes gleaming bright as stars.
“Wow…! What are those flowers? They’re so beautiful…! A place like this hidden in the mountains…! It’s like a secret palace.”
Ye Na chattered incessantly, following close behind me.
“See? I told you so. No one gets to come here without the manager’s permission. You’re only here because of me.”
Ri Na tilted her chin up, speaking with theatrical pride.
“Of course, of course. I know. That’s why the manager just left too, right? Hehe. He looked so curious though.”
We stepped into the lobby.
Min Ju, Min Jae, and Song I stood in a line, greeting them.
“Welcome to Dokkaebi Hotel!”
< Cuteness Overload Ye Na >
< Brightest Star Ri Na Queen >
They held up signs with cheering messages.
‘When did they prepare this?’
I’d wondered about the hushed staff meeting yesterday.
So that’s what they’d been doing.
“Wow—! Thank you.”
Ye Na made a heart shape with her fingers on her cheeks.
At the sight, Min Jae’s face flushed red.
‘Was Min Jae a fan of Ye Na’s?’
Ri Na puffed out her cheeks as she spoke.
“Tch…! When I first came here, they didn’t do anything like this for me….”
Song I waved the sign reading < Brightest Star Ri Na Queen > with a laugh.
“We have one for you too, unnie!”
“Thanks, Song I.”
If I let it go on, the fan meeting would stretch on endlessly, so I stepped forward.
“Alright, everyone back to your posts. You two, this way.”
Mi Ho was already sitting on the lobby sofa.
Ri Na greeted her first upon seeing Mi Ho.
“Mi Ho, hello. I didn’t get to greet you properly last time.”
— So you’ve come. Trespasser.
“Is this the nine-tailed fox you mentioned?”
“Yes.”
“Hello! I’m Ye Na.”
Ye Na bowed toward Mi Ho in greeting.
— Hmm? You know courtesy, don’t you.
Mi Ho rose from her seat and began circling slowly around Ye Na, sniffing.
Then she tilted her head.
— That’s strange.
“What is?”
— I thought she couldn’t be ordinary, having endured that calamity. Yet I sense nothing at all about her.
Watching Mi Ho circle around her, Ye Na stood rigid, her body locked.
Unable to move even a finger, Ye Na’s eyes darted toward me as she asked.
“Manager, why is Mi Ho acting like that?”
“Oh, she’s just assessing who you are. Would you mind staying like that for a moment?”
“Ah, yes.”
I decided to use this opportunity to get a sense of Ye Na myself.
【 Soul Insight 】
My vision darkened, then quickly brightened.
# A wide avenue with heavy traffic came into view to the side.
Tree-lined sidewalk lay before us, broken up by paving stones.
‘Where could Ye Na be?’
That’s when I saw her.
An elderly woman walking down that street, holding the hand of a small girl.
“Ye Na, will you sing for me again next time?”
“Yes! Grandmother. I’ll keep singing for you.”
Ah.
This was Ye Na as a child.
About the same size as our Song I.
‘Probably around six years old.’
I was thinking how lovely they looked, walking together so peacefully down the street, when it happened.
A deafening roar—
A motorcycle suddenly shot out from an alley.
“Ye Na!”
Crash—!
It was over in an instant.
The grandmother, who had pushed the child out of the way, couldn’t dodge the motorcycle.
“Ugh—!”
The girl’s ankle opened, blood streaming down her leg.
But the grandmother took the worse of it.
Even as she lay there, unable to rise from the impact, the grandmother reached out and wrapped her hands around the child’s ankle.
“Ye Na, it’s okay…. Grandmother’s here.”
“Waaah—! Grandmother…! Don’t hurt!”
“Grandmother will protect our Ye Na. Don’t cry….”
‘So this is what happened.’
A motorcycle on the sidewalk—a disaster that came from nowhere.
The grandmother’s hands wrapping the child’s ankle began to glow white.
“Don’t hurt. Our granddaughter, don’t hurt…. Don’t hurt…”
Ye Na’s grandmother kept murmuring that way, over and over, until people gathered and the ambulance arrived.
Neither the child nor anyone around her seemed to see that light.
‘Is that also a spiritual force?’
My vision darkened and brightened again, and I returned to reality.
Mi Ho, who had been sniffing around Ye Na, tilted her head and looked at me.
— You saw something, didn’t you?
I nodded slightly and asked Ye Na carefully.
“That scar on your ankle. Why did you keep it?”
There was a distinct scar on Ye Na’s ankle.
It could have been easily removed with dermatological treatment, but she’d left it as it was.
“This is…a gift from my grandmother.”
She hadn’t seen it, but she’d felt it in her heart.
The way she’d kept the scar made that clear.
A scar that had no place on an idol’s body.
But that scar had protected Ye Na.
“I think my grandmother’s final prayer remained in that scar. I believe that was the power that protected me.”
Mi Ho blinked and spoke.
— Guardian Aura, no less. You were truly cherished, weren’t you?
Ye Na’s eyes glistened with unshed tears, and she couldn’t continue.
“Grandmother kept on….”
“…protecting me.”
A life so carefully guarded.
Now came the time to find out who had cursed her.
“Where did that doll come from?”
The doll that held the curse.
Ye Na’s body trembled at the memory.
“U-um…. I received it at a fan sign event.”
“A fan gave it to you?”
“Yes.”
Ye Na’s eyes visibly drooped at the corners.
She seemed deeply hurt to have received such a gift from a fan she had trusted.
“Are you certain?”
“Yes. I’ve seen this person a few times before. Three or four times, maybe…?”
“Three or four times…?”
Ye Na nodded.
“Yes. I remember him because of his distinctive hair color. He’s a man with pink hair.”
Ri Na, listening from beside me, let out a soft gasp.
“Oh, that…! Pink hair?”
“Yeah.”
Ri Na seemed to have seen the man before as well.
Pink hair, of all things.
Not exactly forgettable.
Ri Na muttered darkly, her eyes narrowing.
“So that’s… that bastard planted the curse. Pink-headed son of a bitch. When I catch him, I’ll… I’ll….”
Something very crude seemed to have slipped out.
‘I must have misheard that.’
I rubbed my earlobe with my finger and asked Ri Na carefully.
“Do you think we could find this person? We need to apprehend him before he does anything reckless again.”
“Hmm… I’m not sure.”
Ri Na closed her eyes in thought, tapping her thigh with her index finger.
Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap.
Then, suddenly—
Her eyes snapped open.
‘Has she thought of something?’
Ri Na opened her mouth slowly.
“…What if we held an Encore Fan Sign Event?”
“An Encore Fan Sign Event…?”
“The Entertainment Company has a list.”
“A list…?”
“A roster of everyone who won entry to this year’s Fan Sign Event. Though we can’t tell who has pink hair just from that.”
If we had the list, we could narrow things down considerably.
“Ah, I see. So you’re saying we’d hold another Fan Sign Event just for the fans who attended the previous one. That’s why it’s an Encore Fan Sign Event…?”
“Exactly.”
“But wouldn’t that be risky? If it got out that you’ve been keeping the Fan Sign Event roster all this time—that’s personal information. It might cause trouble….”
Ri Na smiled gently.
“That’s fine. The fans already know. We told them we’d use that list for a raffle to send concert tickets.”
“Ah. I see.”
Ri Na’s voice took on a wistful tone as she continued.
“It’s not easy to win entry to a Fan Sign Event. They probably bought hundreds of albums. So I wanted to give them something back, even if it’s small….”
Her words trailing off, Ri Na suddenly slapped both her cheeks with her palms.
Smack—!
Ri Na’s cheeks flushed red.
Speaking as though nothing had happened, she raised her voice a notch.
“Anyway…! I think it’s best to repay the fans and hold the Fan Sign Event at the same time.”
“But would someone who sent a Cursed Doll really show up to a Fan Sign Event?”
“You’d think someone who quit fandom wouldn’t come back, right? But they will.”
I tilted my head.
“…?”
“They’ll still have fandom memorabilia they haven’t sorted through yet. If they want to organize those things, they’ll show up. …Though I’m not entirely certain.”
It was a reason I hadn’t considered.
Organizing fandom merchandise.
‘Why not just throw it away?’
“You’re saying they’d go all the way there just to organize those things?”
“Fans set up makeshift stalls near the event venue. That pink-headed…no, that person with the hair. They’ll probably think it’s a waste of all the money they spent, so they might set up a stall to make back even a little of it.”
‘…That actually makes sense.’
I don’t understand this culture at all.
Ri Na must be right.
“That’s a fair point.”
“It’s worth a try, right? We won’t lose anything even if he doesn’t show.”
“Then I’ll keep watch around the venue during the Fan Sign Event and find him.”
“I’ll ask the Manager to dig up photos from the last Fan Sign Event. If he looks hard enough, he might find one.”
“Good. Once you’ve decided on the venue and date for the Fan Sign Event, let me know. We need to nail down the date as soon as possible.”
“Yes. I understand.”
I continued the back-and-forth conversation with Ri Na.
As the tedious exchange dragged on,
Mi Ho, who’d been sitting beside me, quietly slipped away.
Ye Na, meanwhile, tracked the conversation like a cat following a fishing line, her head turning this way and that.
Gradually, her mouth fell open wider and wider.
Ri Na gave her a gentle flick on the lips.
“Your mouth—!”
“Ah—!”
Ye Na snapped it shut at once.
“Ye Na, I told you not to make that vacant expression. You need to be mindful of your face all the time. People keep calling you childish because you do that.”
“Hehe. I don’t mind being called childish.”
“What’s good about that—!”
“Isn’t it cute?”
“Not at all.”
“Tsk—!”
“In any case, watch your expression.”
“Got it. I guess I feel comfortable here. It feels like I’m actually resting for once.”
Ye Na linked her arm through Ri Na’s and grinned widely.
Ri Na’s face softened.
She narrowed her eyes slightly as she spoke.
“That’s right… You’ve worked hard enough lately. But not outside the hotel, understand? We never know when someone might take a photo, so we have to be careful.”
Ri Na continued, tidying Ye Na’s hair.
“If a strange photo gets taken and you regret it later, it’s too late.”
I caught a glimpse of the exhausting life idols had to live—always on guard.
‘Even after becoming an idol, it’s not easy.’
I remembered Jung Yu Ri training relentlessly back when she was an idol trainee.
In that moment,
I felt the urge to give these two some rest.
This was a hotel that gave rest to spirits.
There was no need to treat living people coldly here.
Besides, these two already knew our hotel wasn’t ordinary.
‘They won’t be shocked by much else.’
“Both of you—how about staying here for a day to rest, if you have the time?”
Ri Na’s and Ye Na’s eyes went wide.
“Really? Truly?”
“Oh my! Yes, I’d love that.”
Ye Na bounced up and down like Song I at six years old.
“Ri Na, why are you so surprised? You stayed here once before.”
“That was different from now.”
Ri Na turned her head, surveying the hotel as she continued.
“Back then, I wasn’t in my right mind. I couldn’t really enjoy it.”
I laughed softly and spoke.
“Then make up for what you missed last time. Enjoy it twice as much. And Ye Na, you rest easy too.”
“Thank you. Boss.”
I smiled at them both and spoke.
“Of course, I’ll still be charging for the room.”
“Of course!”
I laughed and called for Min Jae.
“Min Jae, these two will be staying tonight. Show them to their room, will you? Room 305, please.”
It was a room far enough from prickly Mi Ho, yet equipped with two double beds.
Ri Na and Ye Na followed Min Jae, chattering excitedly.
‘They look thrilled.’
Min Ju approached and asked quietly.
“…Boss, is this all right?”
“Hmm? What do you mean?”
“Mi Ho. She’ll be upset if Ri Na stays another night…”
I lowered my voice.
“Min Ju, I’m the boss here. If I want a guest, I take them. That’s how it works, isn’t it?”
“That’s true.”
‘That’s right.’
This is what power felt like.
I smiled, tasting the faint intoxication of small authority.
Mi Ho seemed pleased with Ye Na, judging by her expression.
All things considered, it might work out well enough.
And besides.
People always grow closer through conflict.
Dokkaebi Hotel Inherited
Author
: Why That Startled
Production Date
: September 3, 2026
Publisher
: ACESMEDIA Co., Ltd.
Editor
: ACESMEDIA Editorial Team
Address
: 10F, Urban Bench Building, 325 Teheran-ro, Gangnam-gu, Seoul
Email
: [email protected]
※ This work is published by ACESMEDIA Co., Ltd. in accordance with the copyright holder’s contract,
and its contents may not be used in any form or by any means without the permission of the publisher and author.
This e-book is protected by copyright law and unauthorized reprinting or reproduction 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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