Welcome to the Goblin Hotel - Chapter 43

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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 43
“Hey! You bastard!!”
I shouted loud, but there was no way he could hear me from inside the Soul Insight,
and the Soul Insight ended right there.
My hand gripping the Red Cord trembled violently.
“Damn it.”
Was this always what it felt like to glimpse another’s soul?
‘Why is it always things like this….’
— No… I can’t. I have to find Su-chan….
I set the ghost bound in the Red Cord down and stood over the spot where it had collapsed and wept moments before.
‘Let me dig a little.’
I found a decent stone and scraped away at the earth.
The damp soil gave way more easily than I’d expected, and before long I uncovered what lay buried beneath.
A small finger.
That tiny hand, which had fought so hard to hold back its tears, was covered in soil.
“This son of a bitch… in the end…!”
— Su-chan… our Su-chan, I found you…. Ugh….
The ghost bound in the Red Cord wept, lips quivering. It laughed while tears of blood streamed down its face.
‘The mist….’
The haze blanketing the forest grew thinner and thinner, and the oppressive energy that had wrapped around everything began to fade.
‘All that woman wanted was to find her child.’
With her mind fixed only on the child, was there never room for resentment to take hold?
Thump.
I slumped to the ground and pulled out my Mobile Phone to make a call.
After several rings, Manager Jang’s voice came through.
「 How did you manage this so quickly? 」
“Manager.”
I cut him off with a heavy voice, and his own grew just as grave.
“What is it.”
“There’s… a child’s body here.”
「 ……. 」
Several seconds of silence passed.
Manager Jang’s restrained voice came through.
「 What do you need me to do. 」
“I need a skilled officer. Someone trustworthy.”
「 Understood. I’ll be there shortly. 」
***
The quiet forest erupted into chaos.
Detectives arrived first.
Soon after, Yellow Police Line encircled the area.
“Everyone fall back! While the Forensic Investigation Unit confirms the body, search the perimeter outside the line!”
Leaving only the Forensic Investigation Unit on site, the detectives peeled away and began sweeping the surrounding area.
A young detective among them approached Manager Jang and spoke.
“This could get pretty messy, sir?”
“You brat, if you see your grandfather, you should greet him first. Where the hell did you learn such manners?”
‘Grandfather? So that detective is his grandson?’
The detective who’d been scolded gave a cursory nod in greeting and replied.
“Grandfather, that’s not the main concern right now. What’s buried over there — it’s a child. A very young child.”
Manager Jang clicked his tongue as he looked toward the Yellow Police Line.
“Tch! I know that too. That’s why I called you.”
“Our old man here gets unhappy when I do dubious work, but it seems in the end there’s no one to trust but his grandson, huh?”
At the detective’s quip, Manager Jang snorted and turned to me.
“This rascal’s my grandson. As you can see, he hasn’t grown up yet. Still, he’s passable as a detective.”
“Pleased to meet you. I’m Kim Woo-jin.”
The detective pulled out a Business Card from his wallet and handed it over, sweeping me with a curious gaze.
“I’m Detective Choi Jeong-woo. How do you know our grandfather?”
I took the Business Card he offered and scanned it with my eyes.
‘Inspector? He looks young…. Is he competent?’
“I know Manager Jang through….”
Manager Jang cut me off and barked sharply at Choi Jeong-woo.
“You little fool! What are you trying to do, knowing all that?”
“I naturally need to know information about people at the crime scene.”
Detective Choi looked down at the hands covered in dirt from digging.
“You’re the one who discovered the body, aren’t you?”
“Yes. That’s correct.”
“How did you know there was a body there?”
“Intuition.”
Detective Choi’s mouth twitched as he pressed further.
“Intuition?”
“Yes. I have good instincts.”
“So… your good instincts just happened to lead you to the crime scene?”
I frowned slightly at his words before responding.
“This isn’t the crime scene.”
This was where the body was buried, not where the murder took place.
The actual killing ground was probably….
‘The home.’
Detective Choi raised the corner of his mouth in a subtle smile as he asked.
“How can you be so certain of that?”
“That’s intuition too.”
He stared at me, then let out a deflated sound.
A soft huff.
“Any other hunches you’re having?”
I answered seriously with a hard expression.
“There’s another body here.”
“……?”
“The Child’s Mother’s body should be buried nearby.”
“You! Don’t go spouting such unlucky nonsense—!”
Before the police arrived.
I’d asked the Child’s Mother’s ghost where her body was buried, but I couldn’t hear an answer.
Her attention was entirely fixed on the child; her own corpse was the last thing on her mind.
‘Her spiritual state is in terrible condition.’
She kept calling the child’s name, alternating between weeping and laughing.
Because of that, she was still bound up in the Red Cord, and I hadn’t been able to release her.
What I was saying made no sense to a detective, but to solve this case quickly, I had to share what I knew.
‘Manager Jang introduced me to this person, so I have to trust him.’
I forced a bitter smile and continued.
“The child’s name is Su-chan. There’s a high chance no missing person report has been filed.”
“Now hold on, what kind of nonsense is—!”
Detective Choi was shouting in disbelief when one of the officers outside the Yellow Police Line cried out.
“Team Leader! There’s another body here!”
“What?”
“Another one?”
The detectives rushed toward that location.
Curses spilled from the officers’ mouths.
“Damn it!”
“Hell. What is this?”
“Hey, Forensics!”
The commotion intensified.
“Team Leader Choi!”
One detective shouted toward him, and he snapped back irritably.
“Hold on!”
Detective Choi raked his hand roughly through his hair and swore.
His eyes, which moments before had been filled with suspicion, now wavered with confusion.
“Damn it.”
“That should be the Child’s Mother’s body.”
“Did you sense that with intuition too?”
“Something like that.”
Manager Jang, who had been standing beside me watching us both, spoke to Detective Choi in a grave tone.
“Jeong-woo, this person has excellent instincts. Trust him.”

At Manager Jang’s words, he bit his lip firmly and nodded slowly.
‘Does he trust Manager Jang’s judgment?’
Well, it made sense that the grandson wouldn’t be ignorant of his grandfather’s discerning eye.
Detective Choi pulled a notebook from his jacket and asked.
“What’s the child’s name again?”
“Su-chan.”
He wrote the child’s name in his notebook and opened his mouth toward Secretary Kim, who was standing beside Manager Jang.
“Secretary Kim, please take the Manager home. It’ll be chaotic here for a while.”
“Yes, understood.”
Then he spoke to Min-jae and me as well.
“We’ll likely need witness statements tomorrow. Let’s arrange a time to visit each other then.”
“Understood. Please contact us.”
“All right, then. Head home for today.”
Detective Choi walked quickly toward the second body that had been discovered and drew out his Mobile Phone, speaking into it.
“Director, we’ve found two bodies here. We need additional search personnel.”
Manager Jang watched his grandson retreat into the distance, shaking his head slowly, then let fall a remark.
“We’ll head down. I’m rather tired.”
I grasped the end of the Red Cord that bound the Child’s Mother’s ghost and nodded.
“Of course.”
The ghost continued to weep tears of blood, murmuring.
— I should be with my child. My Su-chan is lonely…. This can’t be….
As she was drawn away from the child’s body, she twisted and thrashed, trying to break free.
But instead, I tightened the Red Cord further.
Whether she wanted this or not.
‘I have to take her to the hotel.’
I couldn’t simply let her go — not when she might become a Resentful Ghost at any moment.
I couldn’t burn her away either.
That would be too cruel for her.
‘First, I need to find out her name.’
If I take her to the hotel and accept her as a guest, I can learn her name.
The Police would do their work, but I wanted to use my own ability to catch that bastard as quickly as possible and bring him to justice.
As we descended the mountain, I muttered to myself the whole way.
‘I hope he gets what he deserves.’
As soon as possible.
***
In the car on the way back.
The Child’s Mother sat between Manager Jang and me, her vacant eyes streaming with tears of blood.
— Ohhh….
Min-jae glanced back several times, his expression full of concern.
But Manager Jang had no idea that a ghost was sitting right beside him.
Manager Jang gazed out the window in silence for a moment, then spoke in a slightly hoarse voice.
“Now tell me. What exactly happened?”
I glanced at the ghost sitting beside me, then let out a soft sigh.
The ghost — the person at the center of this incident — was right here next to me.
‘I need to be careful. She might have a breakdown if she hears this.’
I chose my words slowly and deliberately.
“A man pushed Su-chan’s mother to steal money for gambling. Her head was badly injured in the fall.”
“Hmm….”
I studied Manager Jang’s expression and asked, “Do you believe what I’m saying?”
“I do. That’s why I was waiting for your call so eagerly.”
Manager Jang nodded as he answered, then tilted his head slightly.
“So then, how did the child end up like this?”
“The child witnessed his mother collapse. To cover it up, I think the man buried them both.”
Manager Jang’s face flushed crimson as his jaw clenched, his cheeks trembling with suppressed fury.
The effort it took him to hold back his anger was unmistakable.
But in the end, he couldn’t contain it and shouted explosively.
“That worthless bastard! What kind of monster does something like that?!”

After cursing steadily for some time, Manager Jang cleared his throat and asked a question.

“Ahem…! But tell me, how did you make that foul miasma disappear? The body is still lying there, after all.”
“I believe the unpleasant atmosphere in that place was created by the Child’s Mother’s spirit.”
“A spirit?”
“Once we found where the child was buried, as the Child’s Mother’s spirit wished, the air changed. It seems she wanted to recover her child, who lay hidden and forgotten by everyone.”
Manager Jang let out a rueful sigh.
“Ah, so that’s how it was. Even in death, motherhood is remarkable….”
Secretary Kim, who was driving, and Min-jae, seated beside him, nodded in silence.
‘Then I must send her off properly.’
To offer solace to a pitiful death—that was the duty of the master of the Dokkaebi Hotel.
A moment later.
We hurried out of the car in front of Manager Jang’s house.
“Manager, I have something to attend to, so I’ll take my leave right away.”
“I’m grateful for today. I won’t forget to reward you properly.”
After exchanging farewells with Manager Jang, I quietly slipped the Red Cord to Min-jae.
“Manager, take care. And you too, Secretary Kim.”
Min-jae, grasping the Red Cord, bowed respectfully and then sat in the back seat alongside the spirit.
I quickly moved to the driver’s seat and turned the key in the ignition.
“Min-jae, let’s head straight to the hotel. We need to get her there quickly.”
***
【 Pickup Guest. 】
【 Status: Sorrow, Emptiness — 4 days remaining 】
【 Will you permit lodging? 】
‘A pickup guest?’
When I’d captured the restless spirit at the emergency room, no notification had appeared. But today, the system immediately registered her as a guest.
Was it because I had decided to let her stay at the hotel?
The nature of the notification was different from before.
Until checkout.
‘Only four days left.’
It was far too little time for her spirit to recover from losing both her own life and her child’s.
“Su-chan…. My Su-chan.”
She was still murmuring only the child’s name.
I stepped closer to the Child’s Mother, who had gotten out of the car with Min-jae, and unfastened the Red Cord as I spoke.
“The Police will recover the child’s body. So during the time remaining, please… pray for your child.”
I couldn’t bring myself to tell her to rest peacefully.
‘A mother who has lost her child could never find peace.’
I could only hope that those crimson tears might diminish, even slightly, as she prayed for her child.
I Inherited the Dokkaebi Hotel
Author
: Why That Laughter
Production Date
: 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.
The content may not be used in any form or by any means without permission from the publisher and author.
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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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