Welcome to Dungeon Hotel

Chapter 223



 Former Hotel Owner What do you mean by scam? If you’re self-employed, you need to recruit employees periodically. Demon King Are you ignoring me because I’ve never been self-employed? Former Hotel Owner Yeah. Demon King  I’m really going to try running a chicken shop myself. Former Hotel Owner Yeah. Demon King Don’t send me ‘yeah’ anymore Former Hotel Owner Yeah. Demon King Yeah. The conversation of these reptiles. Somehow, it’s becoming more familiar.

 Anyway, this isn’t the important part.

 Hashimoto Megumi, who was passing by us, was visible through the large glass window of the udon shop. I sent Megumi a DM.

 ✉me-my23 —Look to the left. Right after the DM was sent, the woman with her nose buried in her phone turned to the side and noticed me and the manager.

 The manager, who had been eating udon, stopped using her chopsticks, and I smiled and waved my hand.

 “Who is it?”

 “She is a candidate for the head of the HR department at our dungeon hotel?”

 The manager put down her chopsticks with a hollow cough at my words, wiped her mouth with a napkin, and said.

 “The head of…the HR department?”

 The manager looked at me with a puzzled look.

 “Are we getting the head of the HR department at our hotel?” 

 I hesitated and tilted my head as I watched Megumi, who started walking toward me.

 “Probably…?”

 It was a week ago that I confirmed that it was possible to sign a staff contract with her, who was the president of the mansion’s residents’ association, and that she had potential. 

 * * *

 A week ago.

 To be exact, when I sneaked out of the ryokan to look around the inside of Dungeon International.

 As soon as I entered Dungeon International, the bellboy took the small bag I was holding.

 “Welcome, bosss!”

 Yeah. There’s a bellboy here too.

 I once treated him like a monster and fought him, but now he’s my employee, so I’ll start by saying hello.

 “Hello. I came to check the interior before the hotel opens. Is that alright?” 

 “Of course, it’s okay! Can I help you with the tour?” 

 “Thank you. But you….”

 Hmm, is it rude to ask something like that?

 But let’s check.

 “You’re a retriever…right? I’m curious about your breed. If you don’t feel comfortable answering, it’s okay.”

 At my words, the bellboy’s expression became subtle. His lips twitched, and his nose wrinkled.

 Was that a rude question? As expected. It’s rude to ask people about their race. 

 While I was thinking that, the bellboy dramatically grabbed my hand.

 “I’m, I’m a Bernese Mountain Dog, bosss! It’s been so long since someone asked about my breed. Sniffle… tears…! May I show you my tail as well?”

 Moved with emotion, he transformed into a puppy before I had a chance to stop him.

 The tricolored dog was definitely larger than Geumdong, whom I was familiar with. 

 However, the sight of him wearing a red hotel uniform on that large body reminded me of Geumdong. 

 Especially that voice.

 “Bossss~! Please come this way~!” 

 He excitedly ran off into the distance but then turned around, showing off his charming back, and called out to me. 

 He even pressed the elevator button with his mouth.

 ‘There is an elevator.’

 I was a bit anxious because I remembered there were no elevators during the hunt, but it was a relief.

 ‘But if my memory is right, the number of rooms in this mansion will be over a hundred.…?’

 I was worried and went to the elevator with Bernese Bellboy.

 

 And as I checked the number of rooms on each floor. 

 Fortunately or unfortunately, the number of rooms in the third branch had slightly decreased compared to when I was hunting.

 There were a total of 72 rooms. 

 Room Number: 201 Hygiene: Very good. Effect: The recovery speed of guests in the rooms increases by 150%. And each room had a recovery speed buff that looked very familiar.

 It was the same as the heal buff of the Yeongchun Hotel room.

 So—

 “That’s strange… This place was definitely a fallen five-star hotel. But why does it have the same healing buff as Yeongchun Hotel?”

 “Oh, that’s because it got debuffed to a 4-star rating during the purification process. When the previous owner was here, it was a 5-star hotel… But since the boss is a 4-star owner, I think that’s why.”

 At that moment, the bellboy pointed out the truth with a bright face. 

 I looked at the bellboy, feeling a severe scratch on my pride.

 Damn it.

 I’m going to become a 5-star hotel owner, no matter what.

 I looked around the banquet hall, executive lounge, and rooftop, making up my mind.

 The banquet hall and executive lounge weren’t much different from when I saw them as part of the fallen five-star hotel. On the rooftop, there was a penthouse executive room and a rooftop garden, and there, I found something like this. 

 Healing Tree (S) —It has strong healing powers, and when certain conditions are met, it produces healing flowers and fruits. —Transmits healing power throughout the entire hotel. Specific conditions…?

 I recalled Watanabe saying that it wouldn’t be difficult to cultivate healing sprouts using healing flowers in a Japanese laboratory.

 Then, if this tree is well-managed, it can also produce healing flowers and fruits, and cultivate healing sprouts? 

 I became greedy after hearing that one healing flower is worth about 2 billion won.

 “What are those conditions?”

 When I was about to ask the bellboy about the conditions, the tree shook violently.

 

Rather than a sensation of the tree swaying in the wind, it felt as if the tree itself had a will and was shivering.

 I was momentarily overwhelmed by the sight of the massive tree, with a trunk so large that it would take two grown men to hug it, and its long branches creating a shade area that seemed to span at least 20 pyeong, stretching as if the tree itself were stretching.

 But that was only for a moment, and I frowned at the words floating above the tree.

 Healing Tree “The sun is too hot today. UV rays are bad for your skin.” Huh…?

 No, wait.

 Why would a healing tree worry about my skin?

 And why am I seeing that?

 I pointed to the window and asked the bellboy.

 “That thing. Could it be that only I can see that?” 

 

“Huh? What?”

 The bellboy sniffed and looked at me.

 It seems that only I can see it.

 I stared at the healing tree that seemed so magical.

 Then the healing tree shivered again.

 It looked elegant and dignified earlier, but now it looks like it’s shivering in the sunlight.

 It’s a bit… concerning.

 “Uh… No, um… Is there no way to set up an awning or something on the rooftop here?”

 “We can! Why? Is the sun hot?”

 The bellboy pointed to the awning folded on one side of the rooftop.

 “No, I think it would be hotter for it than for me.”

 I pointed at the healing tree with my finger.

 Then the bellboy tilted his head.

 “Don’t regular trees like sunlight…?”

 Mhm. But this one seems a little special.

 I swallowed my words and asked the bellboy to set up an awning. We quickly set it up, covering half of the rooftop.

 It took quite a while because the rooftop was so wide and big, but once half of the rooftop was covered with the shade, the healing tree shivered again.

 ‘Is it going to say thank you?’ 

 I was slightly expecting it.

 There are things like that.

 In animations and similar stories, when you fulfill a tree’s request, it often rewards you with valuable fruits or flowers in return…

 Healing Tree (S)
 “Oh my. When did I ask you to do this? Seriously. This guy is so unpopular. Hmph!” The Healing Tree twisted its body.

 It was like a child turning its head away.

 It would be hard to expect anything in return from this tree.

 While I was thinking that, something flew towards me from the Healing Tree.

 Satisfaction +1 Healing Tree (S) Satisfaction —When satisfaction reaches 100, it can bloom healing flowers. —When satisfaction reaches 500, it can grow healing sprouts. So that’s what the specific conditions were.

 Oh, right.

 I tilted my head as I watched the tree shudder again after giving me satisfaction.

 “So this tree transmits healing power to the hotel?”

 “That’s right. Previously, the former owner would also give the sprouts from this tree to a friend who runs a hospital. The healing power activates wherever this tree is planted.” 

 “So does the healing power of this hotel’s guest rooms come from here?”

 “Yes. It seems that it’s difficult for a four-star hotel owner to evenly distribute the healing power across 72 rooms.”

 Oh my.

 It’s tough being a four-star hotel owner, where can you live? 

 While thinking that, I realized that the healing power of this hotel came from this tree to some extent, and I felt a little grateful to this sapling tree.

 I put my hand on the tree trunk and muttered softly.

 “Thank you.”

 At the same time as I said that, another window appeared on the healing tree.

 Healing Tree (S) “Where are you touching!” But contrary to what I said, this came flying out of the healing tree.

 Satisfaction +1 So you’re a tsundere too.

 After the brief encounter with the tsundere tree, when I came back down to the lobby, I found a woman peering in from outside through the glass window. 

 “H, Hunter-nim!”

 That was Megumi.

 The woman’s eyes widened as soon as she saw me, and she waved her hands wildly at me and spoke to me in Japanese.

 “What are you doing here…”

 I naturally looked at the shopping bag she was holding.

 “Oh, I heard from Yuto. He mentioned that you’re staying nearby. So I thought maybe if I hung around the hotel, I might get a chance to see you.”

 Ah.

 Now that I think about it, Megumi said she was staying in the same temporary shelter as Yuto.

 Judging from the news she heard from that blunt teenager, it seemed like the neighborhood association president was indeed a capable person. 

 Well, it was quite unusual that she had memorized the names of all the residents in the mansion. 

 Before I could even look inside the shopping bag Megumi had handed me, the moment my hand touched Megumi’s—

 That window popped up.

 Congratulations! You’ve unleashed the potential of the hotel guests and are now able to make a ‘contract’ with them. Would you like to recruit ‘Hashimoto Megumi (Non-Awakened)’ as an employee?  Y / N Hashimoto Megumi (Non-Awakened) !Noted! The <System>’s blessing allows you to check the potential of candidates for recruitment. A notification that I can recruit employees. 

 Since I had just seen all 72 rooms, I naturally checked her potential.

 Hashimoto Megumi —Lv?? —Talent upon contract Through ‘Human Resource Skills,’ you can recruit the necessary talents. It is recommended to position her as the team leader of the HR department. …!

 Human Resource Skills.

 Could there be someone else who is as needed for our hotel, which constantly suffers from a talent shortage?

 Even now, with the opening of a third branch, we had to hire a new manager.

 I barely suppressed my pounding heart and checked the gift in the shopping bag she handed me.

  It looked like wooden tableware, but I’m not sure—

 “Thank you… so much…” 

 Trying to hide any ulterior motives as much as possible, I said to her.

 “I’m so grateful, but can you tell me your SNS ID or something?”

 Despite all my effort, Megumi later said this to me.

 ‘At that time, I thought lasers were coming out of your eyes, boss.’

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