[Congratulations, player! You have received a quest item: the ghost bride’s paired-union cord.]
[I’m stunned. Was a special-grade item really that easy to get?]
[Enough talk. I’m going to learn how to cook, too.]
[Does anyone have this girl’s contact info? Those chocolate cookies made me crave some so badly.]
[Agreed. My chocolate-loving brain has been bewitched by those cookies.]
I set the remaining cookies in front of Bạch Vũ.
He crunched away, his eyes narrowing happily.
At some point, Granny and the ghost bride had left.
I looked up toward the window and saw that night had fallen.
10.
Meanwhile, screams rang out nonstop in Room 418.
Lý Vỹ and the other players ran in panic, fleeing the female ghost.
The fat man shrieked in alarm.
“What’s going on? Didn’t we get the key item? Why didn’t it trigger the plot where the female ghost steals the groom?”
The comments erupted in laughter.
[They’re in such a sorry state, but I can’t help laughing. What do I do?]
[How could they know? The girl healed the female ghost, and now she doesn’t want that lousy husband anymore—let alone steal the groom.]
[What now? Is Lý Vỹ’s team going to be wiped out by the female ghost here?]
Lý Vỹ gritted his teeth and suddenly charged forward.
He put on the groom’s outfit.
“I’m your groom!”
[Oh, is Lý Vỹ trying to change the route? He wants to play the ghost bride’s groom.]
[But won’t the ghost bride kill him? Is he sacrificing himself to save everyone?]
[Lý Vỹ is amazing.]
Tô Ngọc Đình panicked and started to rush forward.
“Lý Vỹ, don’t!”
The ghost bride blinked at Lý Vỹ in front of her and asked out of habit,
“Do you want to marry another woman?”
“No. I’ll marry only you.”
The ghost bride reached out and put a hand on Lý Vỹ’s shoulder, ready to take him away.
Lý Vỹ suddenly shouted,
“To prove my love for you, I’m willing to hand over that little homewrecker who came between us!”
With that, he grabbed Tô Ngọc Đình beside him and shoved her into the ghost bride’s arms.
The ghost bride blinked, stunned, but the comments exploded like a flood.
[I remember now—there’s a hidden move here. After saying he’ll marry only her, you sacrifice a female player to the ghost bride.]
[That’s right. Then the ghost bride will spare everyone, but the female player is as good as dead.]
[Lý Vỹ is such a scumbag!]
Tô Ngọc Đình stared at Lý Vỹ, devastated.
“I treated you so well, and this is how you repay me? You piece of trash.”
Lý Vỹ turned away, refusing to look at her.
“Oh, come on. You became my girlfriend because I’m a top-tier player at the top of the leaderboard, didn’t you? I protected you through all those dungeons. You’d have been dead long ago without me. This was just an exchange of benefits. There’s no such thing as scummy or not scummy.”
Tô Ngọc Đình laughed, a wild, despairing laugh.
“I even thought that since there was only one comb, if I couldn’t get out, I’d let you leave.”
Tô Ngọc Đình took the comb from her clothes, and Lý Vỹ and the others were all stunned.
[Oh, so Tô Ngọc Đình was going to use the comb to get Lý Vỹ out of the dungeon. Who would’ve thought he’d try to sacrifice her?]
[Look at Lý Vỹ’s expression. He must really regret it now.]
Tô Ngọc Đình looked at Lý Vỹ and smiled bitterly.
“If that’s how it is, then none of us are leaving.”
Tô Ngọc Đình pressed the button to destroy the item.
“No!” Lý Vỹ tried to rush forward and stop her, but it was too late.
The comb vanished, and Tô Ngọc Đình suddenly lunged into the female ghost’s long claws.
Blood spurted from her neck, and she died instantly.
The ghost bride also turned into red smoke and disappeared into thin air.
The fat man stared despairingly at the spot where Tô Ngọc Đình had disappeared.
“It’s over. We failed. We didn’t get the paired-union cord, and now we have to fight the Hotel Owner boss. How are we supposed to beat him?”
“We’re dead for sure this time.”
“Lý Vỹ, you’re a real piece of trash.”
“What did you say!”
Lý Vỹ looked up and glared at his underlings with a terrifying expression.
“If you’re willing to abandon even your girlfriend, you’d have no qualms about throwing us so-called brothers under the bus.”
“Following someone like you, we’d just get shoved out as cannon fodder when the time came. We’re leaving.”
Several veteran players led the newcomers out of the room, leaving Lý Vỹ alone.
11.
Meanwhile, I was setting the jade comb and paired-union cord on the table.
A notification window appeared before me.
[Congratulations, player! You have obtained Granny’s comb and the ghost bride’s paired-union cord. Obtain the Hotel Owner’s white rose to complete the all-achievements clear and receive a special reward multiplied tenfold.]
I propped my chin on my hand and thought it over.
“Where could the Hotel Owner’s white rose be?”
Just then, Bạch Vũ reached out with his slender fingers and placed a translucent white rose in front of me.
Before I could react, a notification window appeared.
[Congratulations, player! You have completed the all-achievements clear and received a special reward multiplied tenfold—a highest-grade summoning contract.]
I stared at Bạch Vũ in shock.
“You… did you kill the Hotel Owner?”
Bạch Vũ smiled at me, his eyes narrowing.
“Not exactly. He’s still alive. He’s right here.”
He gently took my hand and placed it on his chest.
[Player has encountered the final boss, the Hotel Owner. Player level is too low. Please be careful.]
I was stunned for a moment, then felt a little smug.
I really am something.
I’m such a good judge of character.
The person I fell in love with at first sight turned out to be the strongest monster.
Seeing that my eyes held no fear or distance, only a hint of bragging,
Bạch Vũ’s smile deepened.
He wouldn’t say what he’d thought at the moment he revealed his true identity.
On the hotel’s lowest floor was a luxurious prison, its walls covered in sumptuous swan velvet.
The floor was covered in handwoven Persian carpets.
The bed had a down mattress made from the softest feathers on a swan’s wing.
On the mattress sat a golden cage.
His precious, beautiful canary belonged in the loveliest cage, where she could keep him company throughout his endless life.
But now, the canary didn’t mind his ugly, singed feathers.
So he, too, was willing to fly with her beneath the deep blue sky.
Bạch Vũ leaned over and tenderly kissed the corner of my lips, content.
I excitedly took his hand.
“Would you come home with me to meet my family?”
Bạch Vũ smiled and nodded.
My heart filled with joy, then I furrowed my brow.
“But you’re a dungeon boss. Can you leave this place?”
Bạch Vũ pointed to the glowing spot on my hand.
“Your reward for clearing every stage is a Contract Summoning Ticket. You can use it to form a contract with me and make me your summon.”
My face lit up, and I immediately used the contract ticket.
A streak of white light appeared on Bạch Vũ’s wrist and mine, binding us together.
At the same time, every door in the hotel clicked open.
I stared at Bạch Vũ, bewildered. He smiled and explained.
“I’m the Hotel Owner. Every other monster in the hotel is one of my subordinates. Since you’ve formed a contract with me, you’ve formed a contract with all of them.”
“From now on, every monster will obey you and fight by your side in this world of dungeons.”
At that moment, the veteran players emerging from Lý Vỹ’s room stared in panic at the strange monsters coming out of the other rooms.
Moonlit skeletons, werewolves, vampires, alluring witches, bloodthirsty elves… And these frenzied monsters were chatting and laughing happily.
“Granny, is the lady’s stir-fried pig intestines really as delicious as you said?”
“Oh, absolutely! The smell alone had me swooning!”
“Honestly, I think the cookies smell even better.”
“I want hot pot with fish. I wonder if the lady will let me have some. After all these years stuck in this dump of a hotel, I finally get to go out and eat something good!”
12.
Three months later, in the dungeon lobby.
All the players stared anxiously and eagerly at the glowing screen displaying the player rankings.
The screen flickered a few times, then updated.
“Look! Sister Lăng is in first place now!”
“I’m so honored—I’ve been following Sister Lăng’s livestreams ever since her very first one!”
“I didn’t just watch her livestreams. I once cleared an orphanage dungeon alongside Sister Tô Ngọc Lăng. As soon as the first monster—the creepy nurse—appeared, Sister Lăng opened a summoning array and called up a whole horde of monsters. They swept the entire dungeon in no time. I became a fan right then and there!”
“There are Sister Lăng fans here? Come join her newly founded Culinary Guild!”
“We have just one rule: veteran players aren’t allowed to discriminate against or harm newcomers. We have to protect every newcomer!”
“I heard that under Sister Lăng’s leadership, quite a few players have earned enough dungeon points to return to the real world!”
“Look, Sister Lăng’s here! Oh, and her husband-to-be is with her! What a gorgeous couple. I love powerful couples like them!”
Amid the chatter, I smiled brightly, took Bạch Vũ’s hand, and walked through the players’ welcoming cheers toward the players’ guild I had founded.
The entire dungeon world was now brimming with life and hope.
Even my unlucky little sister had become a friendly, enthusiastic ghost.
As it turned out, after the ghost bride’s claw brushed her that day, she had become a vengeful spirit bound to the hotel dungeon.
Thanks to the contract between Bạch Vũ and me, I was able to bring her with me into the dungeon world.
Now she was a little caretaker for the newcomers in our guild, constantly encouraging them to grow.
“Sister Tình Tình, what supplies should I buy for the castle dungeon I’m about to enter?”
“Sister Tình Tình, you’re so beautiful! Could I ask the guild leader to form a contract with you? I want to take you home to meet my mom!”
“Hah! A toad dreaming of a swan! Sister Tình Tình, could you help me figure out which skill would make the best use of my points?”
Just then, I spotted Lý Vỹ.
His guild had fallen apart after players ostracized him, but thanks to his considerable abilities, he was still doing well in the dungeon world.
But he no longer had a girl who, for all her vanity and harshness, had loved him with all her heart.
“Tình Tình…”
A tear of despair rolled from the corner of his eye.
I shot him a contemptuous glance and signaled for the players under my command to escort him out.
Then I happily wrapped my arms around Bạch Vũ.
The world was changing, becoming a better place.
And the one thing that would never change was…
Bạch Vũ’s handsome face.
No, even that was changing—he was getting more handsome by the day.
I was truly happy.
As expected, food and love are the only things you can always count on.
—THE END—