Chapter 18

“You don’t enjoy meeting people, so how do you have such a good conversation with new guests?”

“Huh? Because it’s a guest?” 

I don’t care if it’s a business. 

“What’s the difference between that…?” 

The bellboy tilted his head and dragged out a cart the size of his body.

Anyway, with this, I got two appointments this month alone.

But what has already happened can’t be helped.

If I tell them they can’t get a reservation right now, my favorite fans might be suspicious, and Uncle Junsu might send someone else or come check out the site himself(!). 

And what would happen if I were in business then? 

What about the class reunion—.

Actually, I’m not that worried. 

All I have to do is go that week and say that I won’t be able to go up because there are too many reservations.

If anything, I can go to Seoul and participate in the reunion.

It’s not a big deal.

I just need to drink quietly among my friends.

I thought so and soon started the business.

But—.

“Why…there is no guest coming…?”

The bellboy gave me some abalone risotto, which I ate with a murmur.

The risotto, which was boiled down with basil and a little cream in the springy seasonal abalone, was fantastic. 

It was definitely a good dish that would cost about 20,000 won per plate if sold in Seoul.

However, I couldn’t erase my grim expression even in the face of such a dish.

I also bought this abalone at a fairly expensive price to offer it for free for breakfast and sell it for a certain amount for lunch and dinner.

This bouncy feeling of abalone will disappear after a day.

I wished I could serve this delicious food to my guests when it was at its freshest—.

“Why aren’t there any guests….”

It’s been 6 hours since we opened.

However, the revolving door leading to the dungeon has yet to move.

Surely up until now, guests came in the first 10 minutes after the business opened, right?

So, of course, I thought it was a mechanism for guests to come right away when the business opened. 

‘Was the opening of the business and the visit of the guests different?’

I had a chilly feeling.

That meant that there could be days when sales could easily exceed 3 million won per business day and days when it was empty.

Why didn’t I expect this?

Isn’t that the hardship that every business goes through?

When compared to days when sales are good, sales on days when sales are not good can drop. 

Now, I’m no longer an office worker.

No matter how well the company runs, the amount of money recorded in the monthly bank account is different from the days when it was constant.

When I thought about it, I suddenly lost my appetite.

The bellboy, who had a happy expression just while he was cooking the hot risotto, said sullenly when I put down the spoon with which I was eating.

“D, do you not like the food? You barely ate….”

Then I looked down at my plate.

It’s been a while since I started eating, but it hasn’t decreased by half.

The bellboy took a bite of his portion and muttered something while tilting his head. 

“Is the seasoning not that good? Wait. I’ll throw this away and make a new one…!”

Throw it away?

What do you mean by throwing it away?

This expensive abalone?

“Uh, no. It’s okay. It’s delicious. If you’re going to throw it away, give it to me!” 

I hurriedly grabbed the plate the bellboy was about to take.

The bellboy brightened up again at my words.

I quickly stuck my nose in the plate and started eating abalone risotto.

The food was absolutely delicious.

Only then did I start to really enjoy the taste of the basil abalone risotto that melted in my mouth.

The taste of basil, abalone, and cream blended well with each grain of rice bursting in my mouth.

Yeah. As long as it’s delicious.

I wanted to live in a quiet cafe at first, right?

‘Hmm… But how much balance do I have left in my bank account?’

I tried to turn on my cellphone under the table, feeling secretly concerned with reality.

However, the hotel has already opened, so the cell phone is dead.

I stuffed my cell phone back into my pocket.

I’m sure it’ll be okay. Well.

I’ve earned much more money than I expected in the past few days.

If I receive only one or two teams a month like this, it won’t be a problem for me to make a living, right?

I tried to ignore the existence of the abalone in the refrigerator and comforted myself.

* * *

Four days passed just like that.

“Hmm. As expected, it can’t be like this.”

I murmured as I tasted the Haesintang the bellboy cooked. 

Over the past four days, Bellboy has made a lot of tasty food with the things I bought at the grocery.

Abalone risotto, vongole pasta, seafood soup, butter-grilled abalone, abalone pot rice, and Haesintang today. 

Everything was delicious, but this Haesintang was so good that I almost passed out when I ate it! 

But there was a big problem.

This all! Everything! It was something that I would put on the table for guests! 

At this point, no matter how much I dreamed of YOLO, I was a little worried. 

I waited four days without even getting off work, but the revolving door didn’t move. 

I can’t just trust the system as it is.

So, I couldn’t leave work for four days and ate a lot of food made by the bellboy while thinking about different things. 

One of them was putting flyers in front of the revolving door.

I wondered if there were hunters who were too scared to enter even when they saw the revolving door.

Isn’t it okay to put up these kinds of flyers?

Stay at the lowest price.

—Yeongchun Hotel—

…I don’t think so.

Top-notch chef resides.

Superb view.

Super special price.

…I don’t think this is right either.

If you see a purple light in the dungeon, jump in. 

Hunters who are tired of dungeons. This place will be your resting place.

*Welcome to the door!

…I wonder if this is any good.

When the bellboy saw me seriously writing on paper, he told me it wasn’t right.

“Boss! I don’t think you have a talent for promoting! A born hotelier! Hotel manager!” 

“I think so, too.”

I wrote “Welcome to the Dungeon Hotel!” in yellow letters on a blue background and drew a cute star next to it. Then I put the pen down.

However, it is difficult to do viral marketing like a normal guest house. 

If I write on social media, “Come to the Dungeon Hotel,” won’t my ID be stolen right away and the hotel’s identity be revealed first?

Anyway, whatever happened. 

It was a problem that there were no guests in the hotel right now.

I just finished digging and eating from the refrigerator today, and it was somehow empty.

Now, the only thing left is ramen, and I’m worried about whether I need to go to the market more.

No guests mean no hunters are in danger in the dungeon, so I should be happy, right?

Still, I should be sad as a person who owns a business, right? 

I looked up the Hunter bulletin board of the system in case the number of dungeon raids has decreased a lot these days.

Many posts have been posted on the Korean hunter bulletin board, which is said to be the most exciting in the world.

Among the many articles, one article sparkled as a popular one.

Popular! ㅅㅂ, I will tell the story of going to the hotel where an S-Class barrier magician was staying. Everyone, come in.

This post, which was written by someone with the nickname “Aclass,” was clearly written by Kang Sangchil.

About half of the text was full of lies, but the description of our hotel was quite detailed.

What if the Hunter Association investigates because of this? 

I clicked on the post anxiously. 

However, my brief concerns were overshadowed by all of the cursing comments.

Aclss this b*stard is like this again. 

Someone, please ban his ID.

Don’t do this here, write a web novel, etc.

In addition, the part that described me as an S-Class barrier magician, which didn’t exist in Korea, destroyed trust. 

What do you mean by S-Class barrier magician? 

I’m in the ‘Hotel manager’ Class. 

Kang Sojin knows me as an S-Class healer, Kang Sangchil knows me as an S-Class barrier magician, and Shim Jiyoon knows me as an S-Cass producer. 

It’s a route like ‘Everyone misunderstands me as a strong person!’, which often appears in web novels, but it’s a misunderstanding that doesn’t hurt me.

Thanks to that, my true identity will remain hidden for longer than I expected.

I looked at other posts, ignoring the one by Kang Sangchil that got attacked because of the many hateful comments it received. 

No matter how much I looked at the bulletin board, there wasn’t much to show that the number of attacks had decreased recently.

Rather, there was an article about an S-Class dungeon discovered at the foot of Mt. Sobaek a few months ago that the risk level increased, so the Hanwoon Guild made a large-scale raid and sent it out two days ago.

Han Woohyun, the first S-Class dungeon attack in Hanwoon. What has changed since the Baekho Guild?

The article was the reporter’s personal opinion. It said that Han Woohyun, who often went through dangerous dungeons alone in the Baekho Guild, sacrificed himself with a large-scale raid in the Hanwoon Guild—.

So was the publisher who clipped the article, and most of the comments were swearing at the reporter.

-JYS: It’s strange because B**kho grabbed Han Wooh***’s weakness and turned it around.ㅅㅂ  Such a coward who writes articles with world rankers. 

-FD34: Is it really true that his uncle owed him hundreds of millions of dollars and signed a slave contract with Baekho?

-JYS: True. That uncle is probably in jail right now.

Public opinion was formed because Han Woohyun had been on too many dangerous raids in the Baekho Guild.

I, too, was thinking similarly.

But what do you mean by S-Class Dungeon? 

I thought for a moment about ‘someone’.

Another S-Class hunter who entered the S-Class Dungeon and didn’t come back. 

But that was only for a moment.

Han Woohyun is not my Dad.

“…He will be back, right?” 

I murmured briefly.

Then the bellboy asked.

“Who is it?”

“Oh? No. It’s just. I was just thinking about it, but let’s not do it here. Instead, let’s go get groceries and come back. We might have guests tomorrow. Shall we buy oysters and eat oyster rice this time?” 

At my words, the bellboy got excited and jumped up from his seat.

“You told me not to go grocery shopping because it was a waste of money!”

“D, did I? I changed my mind. We should treat each guest well.”

“As expected, my Boss!” 

The bellboy looked at me with a moved face.

I turned my head with a guilty feeling.

It’s true that we have to treat each and every guest well, but there is a small trick I keep hidden.

After capturing the guests’ hearts by providing high-class service, I will try to persuade them to purchase a VIP ticket.

The quest is also a quest, but didn’t it say that our hotel will appear more often if I designate someone as a VIP guest? 

Then there will be fewer empty days like now. 

The ‘regular customer’ also maintains a certain amount of sales in business. 

“Okay, then I will change my clothes and come out….” 

It was the moment I said so.

Wing wing—.

The revolving door began to turn.

It’s a guest!

I hurriedly walked to the revolving door.

The guest has finally arrived!

My heart pounded wildly.

The revolving door turned like that, and someone stopped in front of the revolving door.

Before I could confirm who it was, I hurriedly bowed my head to say hello.

“Welcome, welcome to Yeongchun Hotel!”

It was the moment when I raised my head with a bright smile.

As usual, my gaze met the guest’s puzzled expression.

The guest was a man.

He stood tall near the revolving door and looked at me.

I recognized who he was and froze.

He was someone who shouldn’t be here.

Han Woohyun.

I looked up at the man staring at me, making a puddle of dark red blood on the floor. 

Why are you—.

Why are you here?