Chapter 3

Chapter 3

3. Now This Hotel Is Mine.

The day after enjoying a lavish celebration dinner with Sullivan, I boarded a plane right away.

It had already been a month since I flew to Hawaii.

What had I been doing all that time?

Shopping, shopping, and more shopping.

A few of the most expensive-looking outfits in the stores, watches, even a luxury sedan.

I rarely ate anywhere that cost less than several hundred dollars a meal.

But I soon got tired of it.

At first, chunky luxury watches were fascinating, and caviar and lobster I'd only ever seen on TV tasted amazing, but once they became part of everyday life, the novelty faded.

Eventually, I became a ghost haunting hotel lounges.

Just like when I'd been waiting for my winnings in Texas.

The only difference was that I'd picked up a pretty decent hobby.

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Pathological Liar Gallery

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[General] Proof my watch arrived yesterday2.jyp

HotelMan | 2026.09.14 10:06:42 | Views 147 | Likes 4

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(Photo)

They only had the display model at the store, so I told them to send me a new one when it came in. Finally arrived.

I like how colorful it is, but it's way too heavy.

Probably just gonna keep wearing the old one. ㅠㅠ

Attachment: [SuperExpensiveWatch2.jpg]

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└ Anon(211.36): Yeah, and I'm a Gangnam landlord lol

└ 2YearsOnFluoxetine(58.140): Ah, this bastard's at it again^^ Remember to take your meds

└ Anon(39.7): Guess you only collect fakes? You're sitting in a café at this hour.

└ HotelMan[OP]: I'm telling you it's real, ffs.

└ Anon(222.109): Bro, why is a guy who wears Jacob & Co. hanging around here? Lmaoooo

└ HotelMan[OP]: Nowhere else to brag about it ㅠ

└ Anon(211.36): Bullshit. If it's real, give me 100,000 won lol

└ HotelMan[OP]: All my money's in dollars, I'd have to exchange it.

└ Anon(175.223) ↑This one's actually fucking hilarious lmaoooooo

└ CutieCoco: But doesn't that Astronon look real?

└ Anon(104.28): Yeah sure~ It's AI-generated~

└ Anon(222.109): Nah, not AI. Go to Hong Kong these days and an S-grade fake is like 100,000 won.

└ 2YearsOnFluoxetine(58.140): This guy can't even afford his meds and posts this crap. How's he going to Hong Kong to buy a 100,000-won watch?

└ Anon(222.109): Fair fucking point lmaoooo

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These bastards, I'm telling them it's real and they still don't believe me.

Well, whatever.

I'd been active on the Pathological Liar Gallery for about three weeks now.

Having registered a fixed username from the start, I was steadily building some recognition around here.

It didn't mean much, really. I just used the place like a bamboo forest where I could anonymously brag about my money.

While I was busy flaunting my wealth online,

- Bzzzz.

“Yes, Kim Woo-jin speaking. ”

(Sullivan here. Escrow just finished the final title verification. You're now the owner of Hale Makani Hotel, Mr. Kim Woo-jin. No, I suppose I should call you President Kim now. )

It had been a long road.

If you gathered every major and minor administrative document I'd needed to prepare to acquire a hotel in Hawaii as a foreigner, there'd probably be enough to fill a truck with only slight exaggeration.

Not that I'd handled them myself.

The acquisition team centered around Sullivan's law firm—or more precisely, the firm headed by Sullivan's father—had wrapped up every last procedure cleanly.

While I was busy conquering the Pathological Liar Gallery from a lounge café.

(Someone from our side is already on the way to pick you up, President Kim. Why don't you go take another look around? )

“Yes, let's do that. ”

(Um, President Kim. Forgive me, but may I ask you something? Do you happen to know what I actually do for a living? )

A fundamental question.

“You're a tax attorney. ”

(That's right. Then why do you keep making me handle things like this? )

“You said you had to learn everything to make a living. ”

(That was just something I said to be polite! )

“Either way, good work. Come over here once you're finished wrapping things up. There's still plenty to do. ”

(What? What do you mean······. )

I ended the call and drained the coffee whose melted ice had left it watery.

All right, shall I go see my hotel now?

***

I'd given exactly two conditions when I said I wanted to buy a hotel.

1. The price couldn't exceed 30 billion won.

2. It had to be as close to Waikiki Beach as possible.

I'd told them I didn't care which hotel it was as long as it met those conditions, so they could go ahead with the acquisition.

If none met them, I'd been prepared to compromise a little.

But what do you know?

There was one hotel that fit those conditions almost perfectly.

The Hale Makani Hotel standing right before me.

【Hale Makani】

I'd heard the name meant ‘House of the Wind,’ and that it had once been considered one of Hawaii's finest hotels.

It had thirty guest rooms as well, which was quite respectable for the price.

There was just one minor problem at the moment······.

The notice posted on the front entrance was exactly that problem.

『Closed Until Further Notice

This facility ceased operations as of July 31.

Guests with reservations will be provided refunds or rebooking assistance.

No reopening date has been determined. 』

This hotel had gone under. Spectacularly so.

After the owner died, the surviving children and shareholders fought over ownership, only to be hit head-on by COVID.

They needed to become the majority shareholder, but who among them had money to invest in the hotel's dying finances?

Too many captains steer the ship into the mountains, and that was exactly how this hotel had shut down.

Its finances were so disastrous it couldn't even operate, so not a single competitor had shown up during the acquisition negotiations.

For me, of course, that was actually a good thing.

I'd managed to snap up a hotel at the edge of Waikiki Beach for 15 billion won, half its value, without it even going to auction.

Well then, shall we head inside?

- Clunk.

Huh?

It won't open.

- Clunk. Clunk.

The side door, and the one beside that too.

What the hell?

Looking closely, the doors weren't locked. Something like a thick steel plate was blocking them from the inside.

“The entrance is over here. ”

The voice came from quite a distance away from the main entrance.

Its owner was a middle-aged white man wearing an old but neatly pressed uniform.

His impressive Kaiser mustache stood out.

He looked to be in his fifties.

“My apologies for the late introduction. I'm Frank Delgado, general manager of Hale Makani. Please, just call me Frank. ”

Unlike his courteous greeting, the manager's expression was rather gloomy.

Well, it'd be stranger if he were smiling after the hotel where he'd worked his whole life went bankrupt.

Following his guidance, we somehow entered the hotel by climbing through a narrow window no one would ever imagine people regularly used.

“I suppose you blocked everything off because of thieves. ”

“Yes. They've gotten in a few times, but fortunately, nothing was stolen. ”

I didn't understand what the manager meant until we reached the lobby.

There was nothing worth stealing.

The carpet, chandeliers, even the decorative pieces displayed on the birdcage luggage carts.

Every single thing looked thirty or forty years old.

“There was a time when you'd struggle to find a hotel on this beach with better facilities than ours. President Reagan himself stayed here whenever he came on vacation. ”

Every part of his wistful tour came with its own story.

The bizarre sculpture displayed in the center of the lobby had been left behind by an unknown, penniless artist in place of his lodging fee,

and the bald patch at the end of the hallway carpet was supposedly the handiwork of a particularly impatient bellboy.

After touring the hotel for about thirty minutes,

we finally returned to the lobby where we'd started.

“That concludes the tour, so I'll be taking my leave. Please take good care of the hotel. ”

The manager removed his hat and bowed deeply.

Apparently, he'd assumed this tour would be his final duty.

“Yes, thank you for your hard work. Get plenty of rest today. I'll see you tomorrow. ”

“What do you mean by that? ”

Had my English gotten rusty after spending the last few days doing nothing but browsing the gallery?

People seemed to be asking me to repeat myself a lot today.

“You're the hotel's only employee. Surely you're not planning to skip work tomorrow? ”

“N-No, sir! I'll be here! ”

I held out my hand to the manager—no, to Frank.

“I look forward to working with you. ”

“Thank you. Thank you so much······. ”

Thick tears rolled from the eyes of the stern-looking white man as he gripped my hand.

Only then did it truly sink in that I'd bought this hotel.

A crumbling interior and one old manager.

“This place really makes me want to spend some money. ”

“Pardon? ”

“Nothing. Pretend you didn't hear that. ”

This hotel was mine now.

I could buy and sell it however I wanted—no, decorate it however I wanted.

All right, where should I start?

Anything was fine.

Because I had more than enough money to spend.

I spent a while wandering through the hotel again, humming to myself,

“Ah! ”

Then something I needed to do first suddenly came to mind.

[General] Yo, I bought a hotel.

HotelMan | 2026.09.14 15:31:07 | Views 16 | Likes 0

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Got it way below market price, so I'm pretty happy.

It's a little old, but looks like it'll be fun to renovate. Lol

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└ 2YearsOnFluoxetine(58.140): PLEASE JUST TAKE YOUR MEDS!!

└ Anon(222.109): This Pathological Liar Gallery bastard downloaded Hotel Tycoon lmaoooooo

└ Anon(211.36): Lmaoooooooooooo

└ Anon(175.223): Lmaoooooooooooooooooooo

└ Anon(39.7): Fucking hell, now he's not even trying to make the lies believable lmaooooooo

© Kim Mangcho#1ond5