Surviving as a Rogue Hospital Director - Chapter 104

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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 104.
“I wondered if there was a rat, but it was Director Choi. Ha, ha, ha. Just joking.”
The more Han Myeong-jae laughed, the more his belly jiggled. He sneered at Beom-jun, who had barely managed to regain his composure in that ridiculous state.
“You could have at least said you were coming.”
Beom-jun glanced at Han Myeong-jae’s secretary—a colleague of Jae-gyeong—but he averted his gaze.
The man wasn’t even registered as a talent. Beom-jun had let his guard down.
“I was about to say so. You’re quite impatient, aren’t you?”
Beom-jun rose and spoke to Han Myeong-jae.
Tall and youthful, Beom-jun looked down at Han Myeong-jae, yet the director radiated an aura no less formidable than his own.
[Warning: A person with strong hostility is in the vicinity.]
[Warning: A person with strong hostility is in the vicinity.]
[Warning: A person with strong hostility is in the vicinity.]
The status window repeated itself. The red text warned Beom-jun clearly.
To be cautious of this man.
Beom-jun studied Han Myeong-jae’s brazen face—the face of someone with enough animosity to kill him.
His eyes, ambition burning despite his age, fixed on Beom-jun like a predator sizing up prey.
Inside the Director’s Office sat Deputy Director Gu Hui-jeong. She sat as though she couldn’t hear the commotion near the door—ears closed, eyes shut.
‘So she wasn’t on a call.’
Beom-jun had assumed she was on the phone since only the director’s voice was audible, but that wasn’t it. The deputy director had a habit of saying nothing whenever the director was near, and it seemed to be the case this time as well.
He’d thought their relationship had grown distant after erasing her hostility toward him, but it was a more complex problem than that.
Beom-jun, who had been eager to seize the initiative, hesitated when he spotted an unexpected figure inside the Director’s Office.
It would be a lie to say he wasn’t afraid.
Though he now inhabited the body of Doctor X, Beom-jun had spent far longer living as an ordinary doctor. Most of that time had been spent being pressured by the Hospital Director and trampled among his peers.
Naturally, he’d had no capacity left to think of patients. He’d consoled himself by saying it was unavoidable due to lack of time and energy, taking vicarious satisfaction through watching Im Sung-hyuk instead.
To be honest, he’d only cleared quests because he had no choice. To not clear a quest meant death, so he’d raised his odds of survival by clearing them.
“If you wish, come in with me. We were just talking about patient Kim Do-yoon anyway. That’s why you came, isn’t it?”
Han Myeong-jae laughed viciously and gestured with his chin for Beom-jun to enter.
‘He has no sense of shame.’
Watching Han Myeong-jae invoke the name of patient Kim Do-yoon, Beom-jun felt a long-buried fury begin to boil.
A man who valued money over life,
who deemed himself more important than the weak.
Everyone might live that way, but a doctor could not.
If one became a doctor to save lives,
from the moment one took the Hippocratic Oath,
one had a duty to cultivate integrity, no matter one’s nature.
‘What crime did the patient commit? If an unlucky bastard like this becomes their doctor, their life is just ruined, that’s all.’
Kim Do-yoon was a perfect example. A patient with no money and no power became easy prey for a man like this.
In the original work, Kim Do-yoon was destined to become a world-renowned painter. Though for now, his future was uncertain and he was being manipulated by Han Myeong-jae.
Beom-jun recalled patient Kim Do-yoon as described in Doctor X—pure and clear-minded. He remembered how the boy couldn’t even look properly at Im Sung-hyuk, biting his own fingernails instead.
The patient had come to the hospital because he was sick, yet he’d been drawn into this situation because of his entanglement with Han Myeong-jae.
And Han Myeong-jae, the very architect of all this, was sitting back at his leisure.
“By all means. You must have something to tell me. I’ve come with my own business as well.”
Despite Han Myeong-jae’s mockery, Beom-jun spoke without wavering. Seeing his grim resolve, the corners of Han Myeong-jae’s mouth, which had been twitching, fell.
“Hmm, come inside then.”
But the curve of his mouth, descending in a parabola, remained thick with desire.
Han Myeong-jae led Beom-jun deeper into the Director’s Office, pretending at composure.
* * *
Deputy Director Gu Hui-jeong sat to Han Myeong-jae’s right, a table between them. She’d been in that same spot last time too—it seemed to be her fixed seat.
Only the leather sofa where she sat was torn at the seams, and the part where her body rested had turned pale white.
“I heard I told you not to just show up at the deputy director’s door unannounced. Ah, is this what they call a double standard?”
Han Myeong-jae spoke the moment Beom-jun sat down, calling out the hypocrisy—that Beom-jun had been told to contact the deputy director in advance and request a time, yet here he was now without giving prior notice.
Though he’d anticipated it, Han Myeong-jae clearly knew the specific details of what had transpired between him and the deputy director.
“It depends on the circumstances, doesn’t it? You can’t apply the same standard to everything. A hospital is ultimately a place where people live—it needs flexibility.”
When Beom-jun responded calmly to the sarcasm, Han Myeong-jae’s brow furrowed immediately.
The mere fact that Beom-jun didn’t fumble his words seemed to displease him greatly.
Han Myeong-jae scanned Beom-jun from top to bottom as he sat back at ease, his brow furrowed so deeply the wrinkles wouldn’t relax.
“Never mind. What’s this about? It must be something important.”
“You met separately with patient Kim Do-yoon before his admission. Why did you personally meet a patient who was supposed to be admitted to Korea University Hospital?”
Beom-jun questioned him accusingly.
“The painting in Korea University Hospital has been there too long—I’m in the process of changing it. As for his admission, I made the connection after learning of his difficult circumstances.”
Han Myeong-jae cleverly reversed the sequence of events. He must have discovered Kim Do-yoon while investigating a VIP patient slated for Korea University Hospital, then approached him with an offer to buy his paintings.
Yet Han Myeong-jae spouted bald-faced lies as smoothly as water flowing downhill.
“Think of it as sponsoring youth from the Eunseong Foundation. Deepening our ties with Eunseong, you see. When people are connected, they don’t break apart easily. You should remember that too.”
At the end of his words, Han Myeong-jae glanced at the deputy director, as if instructing her. Hui-jeong nodded weakly.
“Yes, Director.”
The deputy director who had spoken so casually and pointed fingers at Beom-jun was nowhere to be found.
With her hands folded neatly, she bowed her head halfway like a guilty party, her eyes vacant.
Beom-jun thought she looked unnatural, as if wearing ill-fitting clothes.
“All of this arose because Director Choi created a connection with Eunseong in the first place. Don’t get further involved in this matter.”
And so Han Myeong-jae blamed the entire affair on Beom-jun, making him the root cause of everything.
Han Myeong-jae had tried to dispatch a doctor to Eunseong Hospital, and Beom-jun had blocked it, which is how this episode had started—but he seemed to have completely forgotten.
Still, Beom-jun didn’t bother explaining to him. One only makes the effort to speak with someone who might actually listen.
Beom-jun kept his purpose for coming here crystal clear in his mind.
[Hidden Quest: Discern the enemy’s plot.]
Director Han Myeong-jae is setting a trap. Escape from the trap.
Reward: Item Reuse Coupon (1 use)
Beom-jun’s eyes moved to open the quest window. He only needed to issue a warning so that Han Myeong-jae wouldn’t touch patient Kim Do-yoon again.
“Then I assume you’ll keep your hands off patient Kim Do-yoon. Now, if you’ll excuse me.”
Beom-jun stopped Han Myeong-jae just as the director was about to conclude the conversation on his own terms.
“That won’t do. Medicine is not a commodity for transaction. Once payment is attached, it ceases to be treatment and becomes a contract.”
Beom-jun intended to sever the pathway through which Han Myeong-jae could approach Kim Do-yoon.
Im Sung-hyuk would handle the treatment, and if he filtered out the painting issue, then patient Kim Do-yoon wouldn’t be played by Han Myeong-jae.
“Moreover, a monetary exchange would constitute a violation of Medical Law.”
If there was compensation for treatment, the punishment would never be light. A monetary exchange was a particularly grave legal violation.
“You know one thing but miss two.”
Han Myeong-jae laughed viciously at that.
“I intend to pay him a very generous price for his paintings. Since I won’t beat down the cost, naturally it has nothing to do with compensation for treatment.”
Han Myeong-jae claimed that patient Kim Do-yoon wouldn’t be delivering his painting as payment to Korea University Hospital. On the surface, at least, that’s what he was saying.
“So the artist admitted to Korea University Hospital as a patient isn’t providing paintings as compensation for treatment—is that your argument?”
Beom-jun laughed in disbelief, letting out a short puff.
“Exactly. I’m buying them out of pure goodwill. Treating him and buying his paintings too—from Kim Do-yoon’s perspective, I’m nothing short of his benefactor.”
Han Myeong-jae’s words were utterly ridiculous and petty.
“Very well. So that’s how you’re going to proceed. Fine. Do as you wish.”
Beom-jun nodded. There were circumstances, but no evidence. However, he’d also confirmed that Han Myeong-jae had no particularly sharp move in response.
The fact that he was pushing an unreasonable situation suggested this whole affair was hanging on patient Kim Do-yoon’s continued cooperation.
‘If patient Kim Do-yoon changes his mind, this entire matter disappears.’
Beom-jun smiled at Han Myeong-jae. As confidence bloomed in him, Han Myeong-jae looked flustered and took a sip of coffee.
In that moment, his eyes met Hui-jeong’s across the table.
Beom-jun suspected that the reason Han Myeong-jae had no sharp move was because of the deputy director. Because she’d withdrawn her hand from this affair. Hui-jeong’s gaze brushed against his and returned to its proper position.
‘This is probably the best I can do for now.’
That was enough. Having nothing more to say, Beom-jun rose from his seat.
“Then I’ll be going.”
At Beom-jun’s words, Han Myeong-jae, who had been drinking his coffee, set down his cup.
“Sit down. We’re not finished talking yet.”
He lashed out at Beom-jun for standing without his permission.
“I have nothing more to say. If there’s anything else, come to the Doctor’s Office.”
“What, what’s going on?”
Beom-jun turned around. Then the director grabbed a glass cup from the table and hurled it.
Crash!
But he’d misjudged the trajectory, and the coffee spilled over him instead.
Beom-jun pivoted sharply and caught the flying cup in one hand, like snatching a baseball out of midair.
Han Myeong-jae sat drenched, coffee soaking his head and clothes, while the deputy director bit both her lips to keep from smiling.
Thump!
Without a word, Beom-jun set the cup down on the table. Then he left the Director’s Office without hesitation.
A long diagonal crack ran through the glass cup where his hand had gripped it.

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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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