Chapter 5

Chapter 5

5. When You’re Stuck, Cheats Really Are the Best!

Hotel Tycoon really was a god-tier game.

No, even calling it god-tier hardly did it justice.

I couldn't remember the last time I'd enjoyed a game this much.

The scale, the packed content despite costing only 1,900 won, even the meticulous management details.

One more turn, just one more turn—and before I knew it, I'd stayed up all night.

The place might be called the Pathological Liar Gallery, but the people there were actually more honest than anyone else.

Including me, one of the gallery's well-known regulars.

But fun and difficulty were two separate matters.

【Hale Makani】

╔═══════════╗

║ DAY 274 Scenario 3 ║

║ Funds $412,880 ▼$6,140 ║

║ Goal: 70% occupancy in 24 mo.║

║ 456 days left (Attempt 4) ║

╚═══════════╝

┌ CORAL SANDS ────┐

│ 3F [■■□□□□XXXX] │

│ 2F [■■■■▨▨□□□□] │

│ 1F [■■■■■■■▨□□] │

│ ■Occupied13 □Vacant12 ▨Cleaning3 │

│ XUnavailable4 │

└───────────┘

┌ Operating Metrics ───┐

│ Occupancy 43.3% ▼2.1 │

│ Room Rate $164 ▼$12 │

│ RevPAR $71.0 ▼ │

│ Satisfaction ★★☆☆☆ 44 │

│ Return Rate 8% ▼ │

│ Labor Ratio 41% ▲ │

└───────────┘

┌ Staff ─────────┐

│ Front Desk 2/3 ⚠ Short │

│ Housekeeping 2/4 ⚠ Short │

│ Maintenance 1/2 ⚠ Short │

│ F&B 0/3 ✕ Closed │

│ ────────── │

│ 5 staff · $26,200/month │

└───────────┘

Two hundred seventy-four straight days in the red. This run was completely screwed too.

Even if every room had been full, things would've been tight, yet occupancy was barely over forty percent and the service reviews were predictably awful.

And things had absolutely not gotten this bad because I had no talent for games!

I am Kim Woo-jin.

If you added up all the time I'd wasted gaming from elementary school through middle school, high school, college, and even while job hunting, it'd easily top ten years.

The problem was the brutal starting conditions.

┌ Starting Conditions ─────┐

│ Operating Status: Closed │

│ Funds: -$344,637 │

│ Facility Status: Excellent ★★★│

│ Rooms: 30 (Lowest)│

│ Employees: 1 (Lowest)│

│ Employees: 1 (Lowest)│

│ ───────── │

│ ※ Difficulty: Highest │

└──────────┘

That's right.

I'd entered the exact current condition of my hotel.

And the resulting difficulty was the highest setting: NIGHTMARE.

The game had been out for ten years, yet no one had ever cleared its hardest difficulty.

It might sound stupid to put myself through that in a game meant for fun, but I didn't really have another choice.

So if I actually run the hotel like this, it'll really go bankrupt?

Wait, looking more closely, one condition was slightly different.

That hotel was mine anyway. There was no rule saying I had to use only the money listed in the hotel's books.

┌ Starting Conditions ─────┐

│ ··· │

│ Funds: $3,500,000 │

│··· │

│ ───────── │

│ Difficulty: EASY │

└──────────┘

Good. Now this is manageable.

I'm clearing this before sunrise no matter what!

***

At the same time, at Hale Makani Hotel.

Though everyone else was asleep, the hotel lobby was as bright as midday.

Frank was rushing around alone with a camera, checking for defects now that the remodeling was finished.

Of course, there was no real need to be this busy so late at night.

Hadn't Vivian Serra, the curator, hounded the workers throughout construction while carrying a ruler marked down to micrometer precision?

If anything, they'd put in even more care than the original design required, and nothing seemed lacking.

Frank simply enjoyed walking through the hotel now that it had returned to how it looked forty years ago.

‘I got a little carried away. That's not like me. I should wrap this up and head back to the office.’

Once back in the office, Frank started working through the mountain of files piled on his desk.

But as the processed documents stacked higher on the right, the smile gradually disappeared from his face.

By the time he pulled out a document labeled ‘Payroll Ledger,’ deep wrinkles had formed between his brows.

‘Even if we somehow reopen, our operating funds are nowhere near enough. We need to hire staff, but how are we supposed to pay them?’

The figures were so hopeless that if there'd been an accounting department, everyone in it would've resigned on the spot and fled.

“Whew.”

A deep sigh escaped Frank before he realized it.

How long had he been leafing through those suffocating ledgers?

- Bzzzz.

Just as sunlight became brighter than the lobby lights, the front doors opened and someone welcome stepped inside.

“You're here?”

“Good morning, Frank.”

No.

For such a cheerful greeting, the owner, Woo-jin, looked absolutely dreadful.

Hollow eyes, dark circles down to his jaw, and an unsteady gait.

He hardly looked like someone who'd slept well before coming to work.

But contrary to his miserable appearance, Woo-jin's expression was incredibly bright.

Just like Frank's own face when he'd toured the newly renovated hotel before dawn.

“By the way, could you check our corporate account?”

“Pardon? The corporate account?”

‘Don't tell me?’

Frank had already been full of worry from staring at the hopeless books, and being suddenly asked to check the account sent an ominous thought through his mind.

Hadn't he experienced something similar a few months ago?

The shareholders who'd dug through the books trying to squeeze whatever money they could from a perpetually loss-making hotel.

The only difference was that this time, the hotel's corporate account barely had enough left for this month's maintenance expenses.

At least, it should have.

“W-What is this······.”

┌─────────┐

│ ↙ Deposit posted. │

│ $3,500,000 │

└─────────┘

“Ah, looks like it went through. I tried running the numbers, but there simply wasn't enough capital to operate properly.”

“How did you get this much money······?”

“I was told the financial structure could deteriorate, so I handled it as a paid-in capital increase.”

“Sullivan said he'd email the paperwork later, so for now, use it for whatever operating expenses are urgent.”

“······.”

Frank couldn't answer.

He could only imagine how hard Woo-jin must have worked to secure this enormous amount of money.

‘So the reason he's barely been around lately was because he was trying to raise this money? He went this far for our hotel······.’

“Well, I'll be going now. Ugh, I'm exhausted. I didn't sleep a wink.”

“Ah, yes. Thank you for your hard work.”

Frank stared for a long moment at the spot where Woo-jin had stood, then slowly rolled up his sleeves.

‘If the owner is this serious about saving the hotel, I can't just sit around either!’

***

After returning to the hotel I was staying at, I rubbed my eyes over and over, barely managing to reach my room.

Now I can finally slee······.

【Cleaning in Progress】

(We apologize for the inconvenience.)

Ah.

- Vrrrrr.

Judging by the sound of the vacuum cleaner inside, I was already way past the point where I could ask them to leave.

With no other choice, I headed back to the lounge café.

Fine, I'll kill some time on the gallery while I wait.

━━━━━━━

Pathological Liar Gallery

━━━━━━━

[General] Yo, running a hotel is easy as hell!

HotelMan | 2026.10.14 17:47:05 | Views 220 | Likes 9

──────────────

As long as you start with plenty of money,

you can turn a profit fast no matter how bad the conditions are.

──────────────

└ Anon(211.36): What's the point if you use cheats

└ HotelMan[OP]: It's pocket change anyway.

└ Anon(58.140): You.. couldn't even afford a 1,900-won game..

└ Anon(39.7): ↑Lmaoooooooo

└ 2YearsOnFluoxetine(58.140): ↑Fuck lmaoooo that's hilarious

└ CutieCoco: ↑lol

└ HotelMan[OP]: No, I told you my Stem account had overseas payments blocked!

These bastards, it's true.

Ah, anyway, I'm way too tired. I need some coffee.

Just as I was about to call an employee over,

- Crash.

Huh?

Something shattered, followed by a loud commotion near the counter.

© Kim Mangcho#1ond5