Surviving as a Rogue Hospital Director - Chapter 10

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 10.
“How can you promise that? If I find the doctor, we’ll film. Don’t come back later saying something different.”
The director believed that the doctors at Korean University Hospital would never step out of line with him. And until now, that had been true.
But hearing those words, Beom Jun bared his teeth in a grotesque smile. His triple-lidded eyes swelled as if they might devour the director, then curved smoothly.
Even the director, who had been so stubbornly in control, flinched at the sight. It was as though he couldn’t believe the dog he’d kept under his foot had shown its fangs.
[Main Quest completed.]
[Main Quest: Capture the interest of Director Han Myeong Jae.]
[Beom Jun’s Survival Probability has increased by 3%.]
[Current Survival Probability is 8%.]
As the Status Window appeared, Beom Jun let out an internal cheer.
‘Yes! That’s it!’
[Director Han Myeong Jae has developed curiosity about you.]
[Additional reward provided.]
[You have obtained a Reversal Card.]
[Name: Reversal Card (Director)
Effect: Reverse the Director’s decision once.]
A hidden reward had appeared. A card to reverse the director’s decision—he’d need to save that and use it wisely.
Now he only needed to persuade Lim Sung Hyuk. It was time for their protagonist to make his move.
* * *
“I won’t do it.”
Lim Sung Hyuk hardened his expression just as firmly as the director had.
“Come on! Just hear me out?”
If they were shooting a promotional video representing Korean University Hospital, the leading role should naturally belong to Lim Sung Hyuk. But the man himself was adamantly refusing.
“What sincerity is there when you’re standing in front of a camera?”
“That’s exactly why Professor Lim should do it. You won’t be self-conscious—you’ll do it from the heart.”
Beom Jun coaxed Lim Sung Hyuk gently.
“There’ll barely be any scenes of you on camera. All you need to do is an interview.”
Half of it was a lie, if he was honest. Beom Jun himself couldn’t predict exactly how things would unfold once filming started. But the Status Window that appeared was bringing good news.
[Work directive confirmed for the Thoracic Surgery Department. Control factor activated.]
[Stage 2: Reluctant cooperation ensues.]
“Ugh.”
Just as the Status Window predicted, Lim Sung Hyuk showed clear reluctance but didn’t refuse outright. Instead, he pressed his lips firmly shut in protest.
Watching this, Beom Jun prepared the carrot.
“I’m going to allocate the filming budget to the Thoracic Surgery Department. That’ll make it 1.5 times the original budget.”
When Beom Jun mentioned the specific number, Lim Sung Hyuk’s downturned eyes snapped upward. Shooting a single video and pocketing half a year’s departmental budget without spending anything? That was absolutely no loss.
“How many EKG Machines would that cover? The Thoracic Surgery Department needs a lot of equipment anyway. I won’t touch anything—use it for whatever you think the department needs.”
Beom Jun dangled the bait, referencing the EKG Machines he’d purchased recently.
“….”
Lim Sung Hyuk fell silent, and Beom Jun gave him time to think.
[Personality trait: Confrontational. Exercise caution.]
This was information from Lim Sung Hyuk’s Personnel Information. In “Doctor X,” it was one of the reasons his relationship with the director had been so fractured.
No matter how much of a trash person the director was, if Lim Sung Hyuk was the type to just follow orders, they would never have clashed. Beom Jun judged that Lim Sung Hyuk needed time to think this through.
Beom Jun took a moment to drink some water and wet his throat. A few minutes later, Lim Sung Hyuk sighed and finally spoke.
“What exactly are you planning to film?”
He asked with a changed tone. Though his words still carried resentment and frustration. This was good enough. Beom Jun smiled at him.
“You’ll find out soon.”
Beom Jun answered meaningfully. A suitable candidate would be admitted soon. She’d bring a tragic backstory and beauty both.
Beom Jun himself was genuinely looking forward to seeing her in person. In “Doctor X,” even the ice-cold Lim Sung Hyuk had thawed for her. Lee Seo had been discharged, so her arrival couldn’t be far off now.
* * *
Beom Jun was working on a production proposal for Korean University Hospital’s flagship video.
Well, of course he wasn’t writing it himself.
“How far along are you?”
Beom Jun asked Kim Jae Gyeong, who was buried in paperwork.
There was no way Korean University Hospital had in-house video production staff. About seventy percent of the workforce were medical professionals, and there was no reason to keep specialized filming personnel on permanent staff.
So they had to find an external production company to outsource to, which meant they needed documentation to secure the budget.
“Um, it should probably be done by this week.”
When Kim Jae Gyeong said that, Beom Jun tilted his head. Usually when he said things like that, he submitted everything by Friday—basically when the week was nearly finished.
[Exemplar of “the kid’s just good-hearted.” Will execute tasks as instructed, so detailed explanations are necessary for task completion.]
He’d thought the trait listed in the Personnel Information—about needing detailed explanations—could only go so far. Initially, he figured it was because Kim Jae Gyeong’s actual work capacity wasn’t that strong.
But he’d explained exactly how to write the proposal, and there was still so much left? Beom Jun, even as a doctor of decent ability himself, found it hard to understand.
‘Why isn’t he finishing this?’
Kim Jae Gyeong was merely ordinary, but staying ordinary among doctors wasn’t easy.
“Are you sure this approach is correct? But there’s no patient like this available.”
To Kim Jae Gyeong’s question, Beom Jun answered with a nod.
The initial draft of the proposal included a Heart Transplant case. A patient with an artificial valve who manages it like a chronic condition, and eventually receives a Heart Transplant.
Kim Jae Gyeong searched up each term one by one. PFO?
A congenital defect that was fine when she was young—how was that possible? He couldn’t even understand the proposal’s content from the start, so progress had no choice but to lag.
“Director, I’ve been pulling all-nighters for a week now.”
Kim Jae Gyeong whined. Dark circles had deepened under his eyes, and he’d been eating and sleeping at his desk in rotation. To be honest, he was working hard enough to feel pitiful.
But the fact that the proposal still wasn’t finished despite all that effort was something Beom Jun genuinely couldn’t comprehend.
“Three more days and you’ll have ten days total?”
Since he couldn’t get it done during work hours, he’d have to pull all-nighters. But Kim Jae Gyeong started to complain.
“Director, this isn’t something that just comes together. Normally a proposal like this takes months to prepare.”
[Through the Loyalty effect, Kim Jae Gyeong’s emotions are shared with you.]
The Status Window appeared, and Kim Jae Gyeong’s emotional state was transferred to Beom Jun. His stamina depleted, he was clinging to his desk more out of resignation than anything else.
‘Oh no, if I push him any harder, he’ll cry.’
“Once the proposal is done, take a vacation.”
Beom Jun said to Kim Jae Gyeong, whose mouth hung open. At those words, Kim Jae Gyeong’s head whipped around. He’d always lamented that it seemed he’d never get to go back to Europe, where he’d gone on his honeymoon. He brought it up occasionally, talking about how much he’d loved it.
“Really…? But will it be okay if I go alone?”
Kim Jae Gyeong was well aware the hospital would be hectic, but he wasn’t so oblivious as to abandon it all by himself.
But once filming started, there really wasn’t much for the executive secretary to do. There was no reason to keep surplus staff unnecessarily tied up.
Suffering together didn’t always help the team. Teamwork might improve, but there was often unnecessary waste of energy.
Beom Jun thought it was better to give people breathing room to rest when they returned.
“You won’t have much to do anyway. Including the weekend, five days should be fine, right?”
At his words, Kim Jae Gyeong, who’d looked like a withered strip of dried seaweed moments before, straightened his spine.
“Eight nights, nine days—will that be enough to get to Europe?”
“It is! Absolutely!”
Kim Jae Gyeong suddenly blazed with determination and began typing furiously. The sound of keyboard clacking filled the Director’s Office.
Beom Jun watched with a wry smile.
The preparations to receive the new patient were coming together smoothly.
* * *
Lim Sung Hyuk was shoving kimbap into his mouth in his office. It had become routine not to eat properly. He should just be grateful to fill his stomach.
Next to Lim Sung Hyuk, who munched on the kimbap with bulging cheeks, sat a bowl of ramen with broth sloshing over the sides.
This made for a decent meal. Of course, assuming he could finish it all.
— Beep-beep-beep-beep.
Almost on cue, his cell phone rang. When Lim Sung Hyuk checked the caller ID on the display, he looked puzzled.
‘The Emergency Room is calling?’
The Emergency Room didn’t usually call Thoracic Surgery. The Emergency Medicine Department handled initial treatment first. Besides, Thoracic Surgery primarily focused on operations.
But the fact that Lim Sung Hyuk got a direct call meant the situation was serious. He pulled out a tissue and spat all the kimbap from his mouth.
“Yes, this is Professor Lim Sung Hyuk of Thoracic Surgery.”
Before he could even finish speaking, the voice on the other end came through.
“Hello, Professor! This is a fellow from Emergency Medicine.”
The fellow spoke politely but with unmistakable urgency, briefing him about the patient.
“Twenty-year-old female patient with a Mitral Valve transplant, showing A-Fib. BP is 93/59, heart rate in the 170s. Cardiology is here too, but they only have a resident. I apologize, but could you possibly come?”

The valve responsible for preventing blood from flowing backward is prone to failure. It’s used heavily with every heartbeat and is exposed to the highest pressure in the body.
The Emergency Medicine fellow said the patient’s heart who had received a transplant of that valve was not beating properly. The atrium was fluttering instead of squeezing blood, and the ventricle had lost its rhythm and couldn’t function properly.
Judging from the chaos evident through the phone, multiple people were speaking at once on the other end.
“Hey! We should stabilize the heart rate first!”
“Charge nurse? What’s this patient’s weight?”
Hearing the conversation, Lim Sung Hyuk sighed. Asking for weight meant they didn’t even know the proper dosage of medication for the patient yet. They hadn’t even started treatment on this emergency case.
“Wait…V-Tach!! We just saw V-Tach!”
The last voice he heard was rather familiar. It sounded similar to that guy who was constantly yelling into everyone’s ears.
‘Just now, that sounded like Min Ho.’
Whenever there was a patient with an EKG monitor, that one couldn’t leave well enough alone.
“Put Lee Min Ho on the line.”
Lim Sung Hyuk demanded to speak with Min Ho without hesitation. At least he and that guy could communicate.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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