Welcome to the Goblin Hotel - Chapter 7

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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 7
Song-i shook me awake from a deep sleep.
“Dad, wake up.”
“Mmm… Song-i, did you sleep well?”
“I think the Dokkaebi took my letter. It’s gone.”
‘Ah, the gold…!’
I needed to check whether the Dokkaebi had left gold this time around.
I’d woken up too late.
Pitter-patter, pitter-patter.
The falling rain sounded like a lullaby.
I didn’t want to leave the bed.
But there was work to be done. I forced myself up.
“Graaaaahhh—!”
I stretched loudly, and Song-i burst out laughing at me.
“Hehehehe!”
“What? You’re laughing because dad stretched?”
I reached toward Song-i’s ribs with my fingertips.
“Hehehehe—! I’m sorry! Hehehehe!”
Kiss, kiss, kiss, kiss, kiss!
I pulled Song-i close and kissed her cheeks.
“Song-i, you know dad loves you, right?”
“Yep!”
“Good. Now, shall we go see what gift the Dokkaebi left for us?”
“I already peeked, though?”
“Shh!”
I placed my finger against Song-i’s lips.
“Shh?”
“Would you let dad wait a little longer and keep the suspense?”
“Dad, you’re feeling suspenseful right now?”
“Yeah.”
Song-i nodded.
I passed the front desk and approached the fireplace.
The buckwheat jelly and Song-i’s letter had vanished, leaving behind three gold beads and a wooden bracelet.
My greed-stained hand reached for the gold beads first.
‘Three again this time.’
I wouldn’t have minded a few more.
The moment I picked up a gold bead, a message appeared before my eyes.
【 Service Fee has been settled. 】
【 Service Fee Settlement Details: Gold Bead X 3, Bigyokmo Bracelet 】
【 Estimated Value: Gold Bead – 1,630,000 Won 】
One word in the message caught my attention.
‘Bigyokmo?’
Bigyokmo — a jujube tree struck by lightning.
It’s a wood said to possess the power of Exorcism, able to drive away spirits.
Nowadays you can easily find items made of Bigyokmo online.
But those aren’t from real natural lightning.
They’re artificial lightning created by high-voltage current.
Jujube trees don’t stretch their branches like lightning rods whenever a storm strikes.
Natural Bigyokmo couldn’t be common.
Artificial Bigyokmo had no exorcism properties.
‘How do I know?’
I’ve used them myself.
I’ve already spent hundreds on fake Bigyokmo.
But if the Dokkaebi gave me Bigyokmo…
It had to be the genuine article I’d so desperately wanted.
I picked up the Bigyokmo bracelet.
【 Estimated Value: Bigyokmo Bracelet – Cannot be appraised. Exorcism. Possession Defense 】
That was what made malicious spirits so terrifying.
Possession.
They kept appearing and chasing after me, begging to borrow my body.
It was the same on Song-i’s sixth birthday.
‘This was truly something precious.’
It was a wood more valuable than gold itself.
“Song-i, come here for a moment.”
I fastened the bracelet around Song-i’s wrist.
Song-i pouted her lips.
“Dad, this isn’t pretty.”
“But it’s a gift from Dokkaebi. When you wear the bracelet, Dokkaebi will be happy too.”
“Hmm… okay.”
Song-i reluctantly nodded her head.
“Don’t take the bracelet off—keep it on always. In return… should Dad buy you a pretty princess dress?”
“Really? Promise?”
“Promise.”
Song-i and I locked our little fingers and laughed.
Song-i now had the Bigyokmo Bracelet.
The lingering anxiety in my heart melted away softly.
The Dokkaebi Hotel, Hwang-geum-i chasing away malicious spirits, and the Bigyokmo Bracelet too.
Our defenses were growing steadily stronger.
Running this hotel, perhaps…
‘A way to become completely free from malicious spirits might emerge someday.’
A larger goal had taken shape.
***
“Boss! Time to eat.”
“Oh, Min-ju? You’re up early.”
“Pfft…!”
“What—why are you laughing?”
“Your hair, boss…! Hehe…!”
I felt my head with my hand.
My hair was standing straight up.
I still needed to maintain some dignity as the proprietor.
“Ahem, I’ll wash up after breakfast. Since it’s raining, I should check around the hotel grounds too.”
The rain that had started before dawn showed no signs of stopping, pouring down relentlessly.
“There’s quite a lot of rain. We won’t have a landslide or anything, will we?”
“Don’t say such terrible things.”
This hotel sits at the mountain’s peak.
If a landslide swept us down…?
‘We’d become a hotel halfway down the mountain, or one at the foot of it.’
I banished the absurd image from my mind.
Just then, Min-jae came out of his room carrying Hwang-geum-i.
“Hwang-geum-i was in your room?”
“Looks like she was wandering outside in the rain. She got dirty, so I washed her.”
I scratched the fluffy Hwang-geum-i’s chin affectionately.
“You rascal. No going outside today with this rain.”
“Woof!”
Hwang-geum-i barked in clear displeasure at her confinement order.
Song-i looked Hwang-geum-i in the eye and spoke in a crisp, decisive voice.
“You’ll get a cold if you go out. No way. I’ll play with you instead.”
“Woof-woof!”
I spoke to Min-jae and Min-ju.
“Dokkaebi must have visited early this morning.”
“Dokkaebi?”
“He took the buckwheat jelly and a letter Song-i wrote, but left gifts behind.”
“Ah, there was a gold bead and a bracelet on that plate this morning. Were those gifts from Dokkaebi?”
“Yes. Looks like he enjoyed the buckwheat jelly.”
Min-ju’s face flushed deeply, and Min-jae’s jaw hung open.
“Wow…!”
“That’s… incredible…!”
“Come on. We should try some of that buckwheat jelly ourselves.”
The buckwheat jelly was delicious.
As I tasted it, I spoke to Min-ju.
“We should make the buckwheat jelly every day.”
“Every day?”
“Yes. Make it in the morning and it’ll be set by evening.”
I couldn’t very well shut down the vending machine that dispensed gold.
Min-ju nodded in agreement.
“Boss, what if we tried making other things with buckwheat?”
“Other things?”
“Buckwheat tea, buckwheat noodles, buckwheat pancakes… things like that.”
“The Dokkaebi would probably enjoy those too?”
Imagining the Gold Bead multiplying day after day, my lips curved upward of their own accord.
‘Come forth, gold, just like that!’
Raising a Dokkaebi had its own particular charm.
***
The rain fell ceaselessly until dusk.
I was sitting on the Lobby sofa, listening to the patter of it while I drank my coffee.
Song-i and Hwang-geum-i were playing tag.
“Hwang-geum-i—come catch your older sister!”
Song-i ran with her hair bouncing in two braids.
Hwang-geum-i bounded after her, the two of them hopping about together.
Then something went wrong.
“Woof! Woof woof!”
Hwang-geum-i suddenly bolted straight out into the downpour.
“Hwang-geum-i! Where are you going!”
I’d let my guard down, thinking she was having such a good time.
She’d dashed out through the open door.
“Whimper…!”
Song-i stood by the entrance, stamping her feet.
I went to her and spoke.
“Dad will go fetch her.”
“Whimper… scold Hwang-geum-i when she comes back, okay?”
“That’s right. It’s raining like this and it’s so dark. She deserves to be scolded.”
I grabbed an umbrella and stepped outside.
Tap-tap. Tap. Tap-tap-tap.
The rain drummed hard against the umbrella.
The hem of my pants was soaked through in seconds.
I called out loudly for Hwang-geum-i.
“Hwang-geum-i—!”
“Woof! Woof!”
I heard her barking cutting through the roar of the rain.
Hwang-geum-i stood in front of the hotel’s steel gate.
“Woof! Woof! Woof! Woof!”
“What are you doing out here? Come on, let’s go back inside.”
She stayed where she was and clawed at the metal gate.
“What’s out there?”
“Whine…!”
Hwang-geum-i looked at me once, then scratched at the gate again.
“Alright, alright. I’ll check. Wait here.”
I cracked the gate open just enough to peer outside, keeping Hwang-geum-i from rushing out.
【 A Guest in need of rescue. 】
【 Status: Bleeding (hind legs), Exhaustion 】
【 Lodging Fee: Fox Bead 】
【 Do you accept this Guest? 】
‘That’s a Guest…?’
“Whimper….”
An animal lay collapsed in front of the gate, soaked by the rain.
When I opened the door, it lifted its head and looked at me.
It was a fox.
Its white fur, drenched by the downpour, was matted with mud and blood.
The fox whimpered, looking up at me with terrified eyes.
Its eyebrows trembled, then its eyes fell shut.
Lodging fee in the form of a Fox Bead?
‘Surely not a Gumiho’s Fox Bead?’
I examined the fox’s tail just to be certain.
It had only one.
Just then, Hwang-geum-i tugged at the hem of my pants.
“Are you saying I should save the fox?”
“Whimper… whimper….”
“Sigh… all right. Let’s take her with us.”
I folded up the umbrella and approached as slowly as I could so as not to startle the fox.
The moment my fingertips touched her, the fox’s eyes opened again.
“Bear with it just a little longer. I’ll treat your wounds.”
I lifted the fox into my arms and carried her into the hotel.
As I stepped into the lobby, Song-i’s eyes widened and she came running.
“Dad! What is that? Is it a puppy?”
“No, it’s a fox. Go call your siblings down.”
“Okay!”
The lobby soon came alive with activity.
I spread a blanket in front of the fireplace and laid the fox down on it.
Using the warm towel Min-ju had brought, I gently cleaned the injured hind leg first.
Blood trickled slowly from the torn wound.
“Thank goodness. The wound is deep, but it doesn’t look like the bone is damaged.”
I took disinfectant from the first aid kit Min-jae had brought and sprayed it over the wound.
The fox flinched and gave my sleeve a soft bite.
“Whimper….”
Song-i slowly stroked the fox’s back, soothing her.
“It’s okay. Good girl… just hang in there a little longer….”
The bleeding continued to seep through.
When I sprinkled a hemostatic agent on the wound, the blood gradually began to stop.
“Phew… the bleeding’s stopped now.”
I carefully applied ointment over the wound and wrapped it with a bandage.
Min-ju examined the fox and asked.
“Is the treatment all done now?”
“Not yet. Min-ju, could you bring me the Buckwheat Jelly?”
According to the status window that had appeared, the fox was suffering from blood loss and exhaustion.
I’d stopped the hemorrhage, so now it was time to address the exhaustion.
I scooped a spoonful of Buckwheat Jelly and brought it to the fox’s mouth.
The fox’s tongue flicked as she licked up the Buckwheat Jelly.
【 Status: Hunger 】
A notification window appeared before my eyes again.
The status had shifted from blood loss and exhaustion to hunger.
“What does a fox eat, anyway…?”
Min-jae answered my muttering.
“There’s chicken in the fridge. I’ll get it!”
Min-jae returned with finely diced chicken.
As I set the bowl of chicken in front of the fox’s nose, she sniffed at it.
“Eat. Take your time.”
The fox sniffed a few times, then took a single piece of chicken into her mouth.
One piece, then another.
Gradually her pace quickened.
The fox wolfed down the chicken and licked around her mouth with her tongue.
“Min-jae, take the fox to Room 201.”
“Yes? To a guest room?”
“She’s a guest too.”
Min-jae tilted his head as if he didn’t quite understand what I meant.
But he soon picked up the fox and headed upstairs to the second floor.
Min-ju let out a deep sigh.
“Sigh… quite the eventful night.”
I smiled at Min-ju with a soft chuckle.
“The night you three arrived was even more chaotic.”
At my words, Min-ju’s face flushed red.
Without another word, Min-jae grabbed Hwang-geum-i and hurried into the room.
“Hey! Hwang-geum-i, you’re soaked through. We need to get you cleaned up. Song-i, come help me bathe her.”
“Yes!”
The Lobby fell suddenly silent.
The grime coating the Lobby caught her eye.
“Good heavens, when is this Automatic Maintenance supposed to kick in?”
As if on cue, text materialized before her eyes.
【 Automatic Maintenance ON 】
【 Automatic Maintenance in progress. 】
【 Lobby Purification 51% complete… 】
【 Room Organization 92% complete… 】
【 Landscaping Management 80% complete… 】
I Inherited the Dokkaebi Hotel
Author
: Whydatgranola
Production Date
: August 25, 2026
Publisher
: ACESMEDIA Inc.
Editor
: ACESMEDIA Editorial Team
Address
: 10F, Urban Bench Building, 325 Teheran-ro, Gangnam-gu, Seoul
Email
: [email protected]
※ This work has been published by ACESMEDIA Inc. under contract with the copyright holder.
No part of this work may be reproduced or distributed 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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