MTLNOVEL Welcome to Dungeon Hotel
Chapter 226
“‘Then, we’ll decide that this person will be the final candidate for the interview.’”
HR Manager Megumi, with a refreshed expression, lifted the stack of applications that had been on the desk. Ten days after she became HR Manager, she hired a manager for Dungeon International. She said that a total of five people had responded to the recruitment notice. “‘When I used the skill, the recruitment notice was sent out immediately?! This is amazing! I don’t need to access JobNet…! I don’t need to send contact emails…!’” She said, seeming touched. At her previous job, she had to diligently search career sites and constantly check emails to send contact emails. However, after using the skill she acquired upon awakening, the recruitment notice was neatly sent to five candidates who could speak Japanese and English and seemed diligent enough to work as hotel managers. “This is the power of the Dungeon Hotel…!” She was so happy that she got the job. “‘In fact, I received responses from all five candidates. It seems that when using the skill, candidates interested in working at a dungeon hotel are gathered. Among the five candidates, the one I feel most drawn to, although they are somewhat lacking in experience—’” “But aren’t you going to eat? It seems like you’ve been working non-stop since earlier.” “Hoho. I’m so satisfied with how well the recruitment went that I don’t even need to eat.” No, you really should eat something. ‘Why on earth do our hotel employees like working so much?’ In addition to the udon on the breakfast menu, other local restaurant menus would soon be added as well. They were also planning to run a program that could connect with nearby stores for lunch and dinner. HR Manager Megumi was personally visiting and persuading the local business owners to help with this. I took her to the Dungeon International banquet hall and asked the udon shop owner, who was there to provide a recipe, to serve her some udon. “Don’t just work too much, eat well, Megumi!” The owner of the udon restaurant waved his hand at Megumi, shouting loudly from the kitchen. Slurp! Megumi smiled happily after finishing all the udon. “The udon made by Uncle feels satisfying and fills you up from the inside. Isn’t it amazing?” Congratulations! You have completed the surprise quest ‘Ultimate Recipe – Tempura Udon’ and received 100G Market Gold. It’s amazing. The owners of the ultimate recipe are everywhere. And even if I don’t learn the recipe myself, I can complete the quest just by creating a foundation that can serve guests. I nodded with a proud smile. “Yes. That’s amazing.” “By the way, are you really happy with the final interview candidate? I actually had a lot of doubts while discussing it with boss. After all, he has the shortest experience as a hotelier.” She asked me carefully. Out of the five people she had sent the recruitment notice to, there were three people who were finally selected and interviewed. Two of the three shortlisted candidates were interviewed via video call, while the remaining candidate, who was willing to travel to Japan, was interviewed in person. I had offered to cover the interview expenses and flight tickets, but I hadn’t expected that the candidate would actually fly to Japan immediately. I think his name was Andrea. I thought of the brown-haired man with a dark complexion. “He was very handsome.” Megumi muttered, as if she had similarly thought of Andrea’s face. I nodded without realizing it. He must have been interested in fashion, because he was wearing a slightly oversized jumper, so at first I thought he was a movie star. “I’m sorry…! Due to time constraints, I had to come straight from the airport and didn’t have a chance to change my clothes.” Andrea’s English skills were quite outstanding. However, as Megumi mentioned, his qualifications weren’t particularly impressive from an objective standpoint. He had entered a so-called ‘7-star hotel’ in Italy immediately after graduating from a hotel academy in Europe, but— “You were allowed to include a recommendation letter, but you didn’t bring one?” “Yes? Ah… Yes. The thing is—” He trailed off with a slightly troubled expression. “You don’t have to answer difficult questions.” I tried to move on to the next question. In fact, I had already heard something from Megumi. I checked with his previous hotel just in case, and it seems he left due to issues with the general manager. If it were another company, they might not trust someone who had trouble with their boss, but I didn’t care about that. ‘I was like that too.’ Conflicts between people are unavoidable. The fact that the result was disastrous may not solely be his fault. However, avoiding the answer doesn’t seem like a good thing. While I was thinking that to myself, he spoke as if he had made up his mind. “I think it’s something you’ll find out eventually if you end up working with us, so I’ll be upfront about it. The reason I left my previous job was because my values regarding the hotel industry didn’t align with those of the general manager.” “Values?” “Yes.” “What are Andrea’s values?” Andrea answered my question with a slightly nervous expression. “I don’t want to say that the values of my previous general manager were wrong, but he only focused on providing the best service to guests.” Is that focus wrong? For a moment, I had that thought. Providing the best service to guests at every moment is actually the essence of the hotel industry. After all, a hotel is responsible for the guests’ food, clothing, and shelter. That’s why it’s the most difficult service industry. “But I believe that while the hotel industry is about providing the best possible service to guests, it’s also about conveying the best possible care. When guests are happy and comfortable during their stay, it brings me happiness and comfort as well. This way, guests will feel more at ease calling us whenever they need.” However, the moment I heard the following words, I let out a sigh. That’s right. Providing the best service to guests—that’s the essence of hotel management. But if you say that’s all there is, then one crucial element is missing. That crucial element is the heart of the person providing the service. We are ‘people’ who provide service, so we can’t help but have a heart. There are times when we judge guests based on our individual values, when we hear unpleasant words, we frown, and when we are tired and depressed due to personal reasons, it shows in even the slightest tone of voice. If we insist on providing only the best service without considering these factors, the quality of service might be somewhat maintained, but it could lack genuine warmth and personal touch. However, it’s difficult to consistently provide uniform service. If you can deliver 100% service on regular days, there will be times when it might drop to 80% due to various factors. But what if you are someone who is happy to see customers happy and joyful even on a personally gloomy and difficult day? What if you have experienced a moment when you can truly consider the customer’s happiness as your own? If the quality of service someone can provide is typically 100%, then even in difficult circumstances, they can maintain it at 90%. That is the advantage of someone who knows the ‘joy of work.’ Even more impressively, this person managed to turn the discussion about the ‘problematic situation’ at their previous job into an opportunity to showcase his own values. He didn’t bother to argue about who was right or wrong about the problem situation, nor did he arouse the other person’s suspicion by insisting on his innocence. He also seemed good at leading conversations. He seemed like someone who would be suitable for a management position. I wrote down those things on his application and finished the interview with him. And on the way to see him off, we had a brief small talk, and Andrea answered quite a bit in Korean at that time. I was surprised and asked, “But when did you start learning Korean?” You didn’t even mention your Korean skills on your resume? Andrea said shyly. “Oh… Um… I saw a post about Dungeon Hotel on social media last year.” “Yes?” “That’s why I became interested in Korean.” I also avoided eye contact as the handsome man bowed his head in embarrassment. “C, could I possibly get an autograph?” And the phone case he handed over was a piece of merchandise from HolyHolic. I felt strange, so I quickly signed and returned his phone. He said with a happy expression. “Even if I don’t get to work here, I will consider it a great honor! I will definitely come back as a guest someday, boss!” Contrary to his somewhat strong and masculine appearance, he seemed simple. I recalled that memory and said. “Dungeon International is still in its early stages. I thought it would be good to have someone sincere who could grow together. His values are also similar to ours. Above all, the general manager of the hotel we worked at before gave him negative feedback, but his coworkers said his evaluation was good.” “Ah, yes. It seems that the staff who worked at the desk with me and those at the restaurant right next to the desk gave positive evaluations. For the female colleagues, most of the compliments were about his appearance, though—” Megumi gave a good-natured laugh and said, “Maybe it would help with a little promotion? If it’s a hotel with a handsome manager.” I nodded seriously, recalling Andrea’s shyly smiling face. “It might be possible.” At that time, I was secretly thinking about how to frequently feature his face in promotional photos and videos. Tak, a bowl of bindaetteok was placed in front of me. It was Han Woohyun, wearing an apron. “When did you come?” When on earth do you start work? Han Woohyun seemed to have no intention of leaving Kyoto, perhaps because I was often in Japan preparing for the opening of Dungeon International. He must be getting a lot of salary from the Hanwoon Guild, but is this okay? “We agreed to visit the hotel today. While we’re at it, I took some time off until next week to take care of your condition as well.” Does taking care of that condition mean preparing Korean food like bindaetteok, vegetables, and cheonggukjang with ingredients that are hard to find in Japan and serving them to me every day? Despite feeling an overwhelming sense of debt to the Hanwoon Guild, I couldn’t resist the delicious smell of the bindaetteok and picked up a piece with my chopsticks. At that moment— “The hotel… together…” Megumi, with a face showing clear misunderstanding, glanced between me and Han Woohyun, then picked up the empty udon bowl and got up from her seat. Why are you leaving at this time? No, it’s not the hotel, it’s the goblin tavern. The tavern! I tried to stop Megumi from leaving, but Han Woohyun caught me. “The new manager must be handsome.” Han Woohyun blurted out this, and I missed the timing to clear up Megumi’s misunderstanding. Since the opening is just around the corner, Megumi will be busy too. Besides, tomorrow I have to go to the hotel—no, the goblin tavern. I gave up and said to Han Woohyun. “He’s handsome. Should I show you the picture?” I had a photo attached to the resume that I saved with his permission, wondering if it could be used for promotion, and it was on my phone. I took out my phone to show him the picture, clicked on the gallery, and held the phone screen up to Han Woohyun. Han Woohyun took the phone and let out a small sigh. “Is this… you showing me?” “….?” What are you talking about? The moment I gave him a puzzled look, Han Woohyun looked at the picture on the screen and flinched. “…This…” He probably thought it was an actor’s photo. I did too. Han Woohyun seemed surprised too, clenching his jaw tightly. The tendons in his jaw became visible. I said with a smile. “He’s handsome, right?” This time, he sighed with a slightly different feeling and blushed. “…Is…that so…?” Is he blushing? He must be really good-looking if even a man can see it. Then maybe I can use it for promotion… I snatched my phone back while thinking that. And the moment the screen turned towards me. I saw it. The picture of Han Woohyun that I had saved. Hello! You can also buy the advanced chapter in Ko-fi now, just click the ko-fi button and look for the title of the novel in shop. Thank you for your support! Next chapter will be updated first on this website. Come back and
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