"I'm Choi Eun-seok, the attorney you spoke with a little while ago."
The young attorney handed me his business card.
"I don't remember my great-aunt at all."
"Yes. I was told that my client had cut ties with the rest of the family for many years. She specifically wanted you, Mr. Kim Woo-jin, to inherit this."
The attorney took a document envelope out of his bag.
Inside were a certified copy of the property register and several photographs.
"Ah...."
"The property she left you is this small hotel in the mountains."
The building in the photographs looked more like a mountain lodge than a hotel.
It was a three-story building standing atop a low mountain.
I read the words on the hotel's old sign in the photograph.
"Goblin Hotel...."
I remembered what the shaman had said a few days ago.
'You'll soon have a reason to enter Goblin Land. Pack your things in advance.'
'You'll be contacted within three days. Don't refuse. Accept it.'
BZZZT—
A tingling sensation ran through my body as if electricity were flowing through me.
'This is it...!'
So this hotel was the Goblin Land the shaman had spoken of.
She was telling the truth.
Now that I'd confirmed it, there was nothing to think about.
For Song-i's sake, I had to go there.
"...What do I need to do to inherit it?"
"Ms. Kim Mal-sook already paid all the necessary expenses in advance. If you simply state your intention to accept the inheritance, I'll proceed with everything as arranged."
"I'll accept the inheritance."
The attorney held out the documents.
"You just need to sign here."
Once I finished signing, the attorney handed me a ring of keys.
"These are the keys to the hotel. I'll send you the property deed as soon as the paperwork is complete."
"Can I go there today?"
"You may enter whenever you wish, but it's been vacant for a long time, so it'll probably need some cleaning."
***
As much as I wanted to go check out the Goblin Hotel that very day, I couldn't.
I had to take Song-i with me, so there was a lot to prepare.
The next day.
I loaded the trunk of the car with luggage and headed toward the Goblin Hotel.
"Dad, where are we going?"
"Hm? Ah, Dad found a place you might like."
"A place I'd like?"
"Yeah."
I stroked Song-i's head as she tilted it curiously, then glanced at the navigation screen.
Finding the place wasn't easy, almost as if it were testing whether I was worthy of inheriting it.
[You have left the route.]
[Make a U-turn.]
[Recalculating route.]
[You have left the route.]
[Make a U-turn.]
[Recalculating route.]
Even though I was clearly following the navigation, I somehow strayed from the route several times.
After making several U-turns, I arrived at a place where a small mountain rose beside a river.
"Looks like that's it."
It was in northern Gyeonggi Province, in an isolated area with no houses nearby.
I followed the winding road up to the summit.
[You are approaching your destination.]
I saw an old sign and an iron gate secured with a padlock.
"We finally made it."
Song-i had fallen fast asleep on the way.
I quietly got out and stood before the locked iron gate.
<Goblin Hotel>
The faded words on the wooden sign were barely visible.
I took out the key the attorney had given me and inserted it into the padlock.
'Goblin Land.'
I recalled what the shaman had said.
Land that lesser spirits couldn't set foot on.
Please.
Please let this really be Goblin Land.
Praying desperately in my heart, I turned the key.
CLICK—
I unlocked the padlock and swung the gate wide open.
Inside was a fairly large clearing.
I parked the car inside the gate and gently shook Song-i awake.
"Song-i, want to wake up?"
Song-i rubbed her eyes with her hands, looked around, and asked,
"Dad, are we here?"
"Yeah. We're here."
The sun would set in about two hours.
'Can this really become our new home?'
I had a good feeling about it.
After all, this was the Goblin Hotel inherited from the great-aunt who had given me the Goblin Pouch.
I hoped this would turn out to be a special secret method meant for Song-i and me.
The three-story building was surrounded by forest.
Its appearance was an odd mixture of a hotel and a mountain lodge.
The air was cool, and the birdsong was clear.
'It'd be a nice place to rest quietly.'
As long as there were no lesser spirits.
I held out the red rain boots I'd brought for Song-i.
"Song-i, let's change into these before you get out."
After putting on the boots and climbing out of the car, Song-i tilted her head.
"Dad, why am I wearing rain boots when it isn't raining?"
"There's so much grass. I don't want my pretty Song-i's feet getting hurt."
"I seeee-!"
I pointed toward the hotel building.
"Song-i, shall we go inside now?"
"Yes!"
She only nodded, her lips pressed tightly together.
She looked nervous.
"Are you scared?"
"No. My heart's pounding. It feels like we're looking for treasure."
What a relief.
Song-i wasn't afraid of the unfamiliar place.
I took her hand and smiled.
"Then shall we see if there's really treasure here?"
"Yes!"
We opened the hotel entrance and stepped inside.
Sunlight filtered softly through the dusty hotel windows.
An old landscape painting hung on the wall, and there was a sleek-looking front desk.
"Wow...!"
Even at such an ordinary sight, Song-i stared with her mouth open in amazement.
White cloths covered the sofas to keep dust from settling on them.
Great-aunt had kept the place well prepared.
It didn't look like cleaning would be too difficult.
'Thank you.'
I silently thanked the great-aunt whose face I had never even known.
I pressed the light switch beside the front desk, and the lights came on.
"That's a relief. The electricity still works."
"Huh? Dad, look over there!"
Song-i was pointing at a fireplace.
There was a staircase to the left of the front desk, and the fireplace stood to its right.
The space behind it jutted out by about the size of a small room.
A fireplace in a hotel lobby.
It was an uncommon sight in Korea.
Seeing a fireplace for the first time, Song-i bounced up and down with a grin.
"Wow-! Santa Claus is going to come bring us presents!"
"Song-i. Our old house didn't have a chimney, but Santa still visited us, remember?"
"Hehe... but Santa likes chimneys better!"
So Santa Claus preferred traveling through chimneys rather than doors.
Thanks to Song-i, I'd learned something new.
'How can my Song-i be this cute?'
"Heh heh. Yeah. Santa's going to love it."
I gave the adorable Song-i a tight hug, then said,
"Then shall we start looking for treasure again?"
"Yes!"
To the right side of the first floor were a kitchen and dining room.
I turned on the faucet, and water came gushing out.
"The water works too."
It was strange that a place left vacant for so long still had running electricity and water, but I brushed it off, thinking,
'Great-aunt must have arranged something.'
The refrigerator, tableware, dining tables, chairs, and other furnishings were all neatly covered with white cloths.
On the left side of the lobby was an area that felt more like a private home.
<Manager's Room>
'This must be the space Great-aunt used.'
Inside were a small living room, study, bedroom, and even a bathroom.
It looked ready to use after only a little tidying.
"Dad! I really like it here!"
Song-i had been smiling brightly ever since we entered the hotel.
It felt like it had been a long time since I'd seen her smile without a care in the world like that.
'Hm...? A long time?'
Lately, what kept stealing Song-i's smile were the ghosts that appeared without warning.
But.
Now that I thought about it... there were no ghosts here.
Were those persistent bastards hiding somewhere out of my sight?
I calmed myself and asked Song-i,
"Song-i, have you maybe... seen 'those things' here?"
'Those things.'
The beings we'd taken to calling this, that, or those things because I was afraid saying "ghosts" would frighten Song-i even more.
But Song-i understood immediately.
"No. I haven't seen them here."
What a relief.
"Dad, are there no 'those things' here?"
Both of Song-i's cheeks flushed red with anticipation.
Was this really Goblin Land?
Could this truly be a place where Song-i and I could rest comfortably?
'Yeah. There aren't any of those things here.'
I wanted to assure her of it.
But I forced myself to hold back.
"Let's wait and see.... Dad wants to believe there aren't."
***
The sun set while we explored the hotel.
"Want to sleep in the tent tonight?"
"Are we camping?"
"Yeah. We're camping."
There wasn't as much dust as I'd expected, but the place still needed cleaning.
I put it off until tomorrow and set up the tent I'd brought in the hotel lobby.
It was a pop-up tent, but once I put a mat and blankets inside, it felt cozy.
Song-i rolled around inside hugging a blanket.
"Heeheehee- Camping~ We're camping~ Camping~!"
Judging by the way she even made up a tune and sang it, she seemed thrilled.
I listened to Song-i sing while preparing dinner.
I put charcoal into a camping brazier and lit it.
After placing a grill over the brazier, I set a frying pan on top.
I added chopped kimchi and Spam and stir-fried them until fragrant.
As a spicy, savory aroma rose, I crumbled a pack of instant rice into the pan.
Catching the smell, Song-i poked her head out of the tent.
"Dad, is that fried rice?"
"Yeah. Kimchi Spam fried rice, your favorite."
Song-i swallowed once and stared fixedly at the frying pan.
"It looks delicious...!"
I added sesame seeds and drizzled in sesame oil, filling the lobby with a rich, nutty aroma.
"It's ready."
Song-i scampered over and sat in a camping chair.
Her sparkling eyes made her look just like a puppy waiting for a treat.
"Let's eat."
Every time Song-i put a spoonful into her mouth, her shoulders wiggled happily.
"Song-i, is it good?"
"Yes. It's the best!"
While we ate, the flames died down and the charcoal turned white.
I wrapped the sweet potatoes I'd brought in foil and tucked them among the coals.
'Camping means roasted sweet potatoes.'
We didn't have any meat grilled over charcoal, but sweet roasted sweet potatoes were good enough.
Song-i alternated between spoonfuls of rice and sips of water, then set down her completely empty bowl.
"Song-i, was it spicy?"
"It was spicy, but it was good. Haa-"
Seeing her fan her face with her hand, her mouth must still have been burning.
I brought out my secret weapon.
I skewered a thick marshmallow and gently roasted it over the brazier.
After blowing on the toasted marshmallow to cool it, I handed it to Song-i.
"Song-i, try this. It's hot, so be careful."
"What's this?"
"A sweet marshmallow."
Song-i, who had never seen a marshmallow before, tilted her head, then carefully took a bite.
"Waaah- It's sweet! I want to eat this every day."
"Not every day. You only get it on special days like this."
"A special day...? Is today a special day?"
"Yeah. Because it's the first time you and Dad have gone camping together, just the two of us."
That was when it happened.
Song-i suddenly shouted while eating her marshmallow.
"Huh? A doggy!"
A small puppy walked in through the open hotel entrance.
It was a yellowish mutt of the sort you might see in a rural yard.
'A puppy? All the way up here in the mountains?'
The puppy looked at us and gently wagged its tail.
"Doggy! Come here!"
Before I could stop her, Song-i ran toward the puppy and reached out.
The puppy wagged its tail and approached her.
But there was something strange about the way it walked.
Looking closely... it wasn't putting its right front paw on the ground.
"Dad, I think the puppy's paw hurts."
Song-i looked at me with tears welling in her eyes.
Her gaze said, 'Dad, please make the puppy better!'
The puppy looked at me too, panting with its little tongue hanging out.
Seeing its tail wagging as fast as a propeller made me laugh despite myself.
"Song-i, let Dad take a look first."
I approached the puppy and held out my hand.
"Let me see your paw."
The puppy lifted its paw and placed it on my palm.
'Is it unusually perceptive...?'
Its fur was too uneven for it to seem like a pet with an owner, and it wasn't wearing a collar.
I carefully reached out and picked the puppy up.
I saw a thin twig lodged between the pads of its paw.
"Song-i, can you bring me the first-aid kit from inside the tent?"
Song-i quickly ran back and brought the first-aid kit.
"Here it is."
I took a pair of tweezers from the kit.
"Hang in there for just a second. I'll pull it out right away."
Song-i crouched beside us and stroked the puppy's head.
"Just hold on a little. Dad will make you better."
Messing with something like this bit by bit only made it hurt more.
I gripped the piece of wood protruding from the paw with the tweezers.
Then I yanked it out in one go.
"Yiiiiiip-."
Startled, the puppy squirmed free from my arms.
Still.
"Got it out."
Pulling it out in one go really had been the right choice.
The puppy walked a little more naturally than before.
"Come here. I'm not done yet."
"Whiiine... Whiiine...."
The puppy backed away, whining, but Song-i planted herself behind it.
"No. Go to Dad."
At Song-i's firm voice, the puppy's tail drooped, and it trudged back over to me.
'Smart little thing.'
I disinfected the puppy's paw and applied ointment.
"All done."
When I put the puppy down, it moved closer to the brazier and lay down.
"Song-i, let's wash our hands."
After washing our hands thoroughly, I took out the sweet potatoes I'd tucked among the coals.
When I split one in half, steam rose from its yellow flesh.
I blew on it until it cooled a little, then handed it to Song-i.
"It's hot, so be careful and eat it with a spoon."
Song-i blew on the sweet potato before taking a bite.
"Dad, can I give some sweet potato to the doggy?"
The puppy's ears perked up.
"Once it cools, Dad will give some to him. You eat that one."
A little later, I gave the puppy some sweet potato after it had cooled enough, and it wolfed it down as if it had been waiting for it.
'This is nice.'
Seeing Song-i with soot smudged on her face and the puppy beside her made me smile.
"Shall we go to sleep now?"
"Dad, what about the doggy?"
I laid down a blanket so the puppy could rest comfortably.
"Doggy, good night."
Song-i said good night to the puppy.
Soon, I heard her soft snores from inside the tent.
I cleaned up the brazier and lay down beside Song-i.
As all the tension of the past few weeks finally loosened, my eyes slowly drifted shut.
Our first night at the Goblin Hotel.
It was strangely cozy.