Surviving as a Rogue Hospital Director - Chapter 107

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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 107.
Upon arriving at the Director’s Office, Young-ran pulled out a small notepad with careful, methodical movements. She began her account in a measured tone.
“Director, I saw Patient Kim Do-yoon slipping into the Examination Room to take a call. It was shortly after he got two attending physicians. He was asking if that was okay.”
Young-ran relayed only the facts without embellishment, suggesting the patient seemed suspicious.
“It’s a small testing room just in Ward 77, and people rarely use it after 6 p.m. I don’t know how he found out about it, but from what I saw, it didn’t look like his first call from there.”
As head of Ward 77, she was vigilant about Patient Kim Do-yoon leaking internal information to the outside.
“It seems like he’s contacting someone at Eunseong Hospital. What if we just transferred him there? He’s a VIP, but since he didn’t make the donation himself, if we push it to Eunseong, it should work out.”
She seemed to believe the person on the other end of the call was someone from Eunseong Hospital.
But Beom-jun’s attention was fixed on Han Myeong-jae. He suspected there was something between the Chairman and Patient Kim Do-yoon.
‘There’s no way he just happened to meet the patient right before admission. Is it coincidence that Korea University Hospital is buying paintings at this exact moment?’
As he listened to Young-ran’s account, Beom-jun stroked his chin thoughtfully.
“Was there anything else?”
“He mentioned that if he paints with his left hand, his artistic style would be completely different. I’m not sure what he meant by that.”
Young-ran seemed unbothered by some of what Patient Kim Do-yoon had said.
“The patient is naturally anxious, and before surgery, it’s quite common for people to fixate on aftereffects.”
She appeared to trust her own instincts, her sharp eye for detail suggesting that Kim Do-yoon must have seemed quite anxious to her.
By her logic, Patient Kim Do-yoon shouldn’t have any trouble using his right hand. This surgery would be nearly perfect, requiring almost no rehabilitation period.
That’s why Kim Do-yoon was able to return to his artistic work immediately and advance into Paris.
Of course, from the patient’s perspective, rehabilitation concerns would naturally weigh on him. He’d think that even subtle changes could significantly disrupt his future life as a painter.
Beom-jun recollected the details of “Doctor X.” In the scenes involving Kim Do-yoon, he reviewed them repeatedly to see if he’d missed anything.
But no matter how much he went over it, nothing new emerged. In the original work, Han Myeong-jae had never made contact with Patient Kim Do-yoon, so there was nothing to gain except Kim Do-yoon’s inherent nature.
Beom-jun let out a sigh. He couldn’t treat Kim Do-yoon without knowing what transaction had occurred between Han Myeong-jae and the patient. That would be like walking straight into a trap.
Especially if the man was going to fabricate medical malpractice.
‘Maybe I have no choice but to quickly raise the Deputy Director’s favor and register him as a talented individual. That’ll take time, and I’m not sure the patient will wait.’
Just then, Beom-jun’s eyes caught sight of Young-ran’s notepad. She’d been holding it since entering the Director’s Office.
“What is that? Could I take a look?”
“Oh, this is just something I jotted down while listening to the call. I wrote it roughly, so if it’s hard to read, just let me know.”
She’d transcribed what she’d scribbled on the back of her hand at the time. The memo wasn’t as neat as her current handwriting might suggest.
– Patient Kim Do-yoon. Call from Examination Room: Two attending physicians why?
– Will right hand be difficult to use going forward. Expressed anxiety.
The notepad contained what Young-ran had told Im Sung-hyuk, organized mainly by key terms.
But below that, there was one more line, struck through horizontally.
– Gets attention? 5 years ago. Broken Genius.
Seeing the question mark, Beom-jun asked her to clarify.
“What does this mean?”
“Oh, it seemed like Patient Kim Do-yoon admires a certain painter. He seems to have become famous around five years ago, but I wasn’t sure what he meant, so I left it out of my report for now.”
At Young-ran’s words, it felt as if Beom-jun had been struck from behind.
She was right. In “Doctor X,” Kim Do-yoon had a role model.
“A painter who draws with both hands. That’s why his artistic style is so free and uninhibited, I think. I’m actually left-handed myself, but I use my right hand for pens and brushes.”
Kim Do-yoon, who’d grown up eating scraps at the Eunseong Foundation, yearned for freedom. He’d once vowed to become a painter like that.
‘That painter injured his right hand in an accident. During his rehabilitation, he painted with his left hand and became famous.’
The art world was captivated by the story of the Broken Genius. He gained even more attention when he held events drawing the same pictures in different artistic styles.
Now Beom-jun understood what Kim Do-yoon was about to do. What the Hidden Quest meant by fabricated medical malpractice.
There was no way Im Sung-hyuk’s surgery could go wrong. So after being discharged in perfect condition, he’d deliberately damage his right hand.
Then naturally he wouldn’t be able to use his right hand anymore, and he’d need to confirm whether it was okay that he had two attending physicians.
Beom-jun’s eyes widened. His mouth fell half open.
The scattered puzzle pieces came together, and the full picture emerged.
Doctors can’t track everything that happens to a patient after discharge.
If he claimed late-onset complications and blamed Im Sung-hyuk, it would hold up.
‘This is insane. No matter how desperate his circumstances, would he really sell his own hand to ruin someone else’s life?’
In exchange, he’d supply paintings to Korea University Hospital. Beom-jun saw Kim Do-yoon in a new light. He was a different person from the one Beom-jun had seen in “Doctor X.”
Just then, as if to prove his deduction correct, a status window appeared.
[Hidden Quest Completed.]
[Hidden Quest: Uncover the Enemy’s Plot]
[Reward: Obtained ‘Item Reuse Ticket (1 use)’.]
Beom-jun nodded, then let out a low laugh. A curse escaped his lips.
“Crazy bastard.”
Beom-jun guessed that the Chairman would disguise Beom-jun’s own coming murder the same way.
Come to think of it, when Beom-jun first possessed “Doctor X,” he’d woken up in the ICU, so there had already been one murder attempt.
Did he really not care if other people’s lives were destroyed as long as he got what he wanted?
Han Myeong-jae, who’d climbed to the top of the pyramid through relentless effort, had no qualms about trampling on those below him.
“Why… why are you like that, Director?”
Frightened by the change in Beom-jun’s demeanor, Young-ran asked. His expression had turned cold, his eyes icy—it didn’t match his smile.
After composing the heat rising inside him, he spoke calmly.
“When is Patient Kim Do-yoon’s surgery scheduled?”
“Tomorrow afternoon is what we have on the books. Should I move it up?”
“No.”
Beom-jun responded firmly to Young-ran’s suggestion.
“Let’s postpone it for now.”
There’s no emergency here. I can’t proceed with surgery under these circumstances.
First, I need to tell Im Sung-hyuk about this.
* * *
Im Sung-hyuk’s expression shifted moment by moment as he listened to Beom-jun’s explanation.
Though he was usually expressionless and blunt, it was difficult to control his emotions when a patient was involved.
“Are you saying the patient will claim medical malpractice? Did you confirm this with the patient?”
“How do you confirm something like that? By saying, ‘You’re planning to blame Professor Im for medical malpractice, right?'”
“Then it’s not certain.”
Im Sung-hyuk didn’t believe it at first. It would be difficult to understand by normal standards how a patient would sacrifice himself to spite a doctor.
Beom-jun too would probably have remained skeptical until the end if the status window hadn’t shown that the Hidden Quest was complete.
“He’d be disabled for life. Even if he made a deal with the Chairman, no sane person would agree to that.”
“I never said Kim Do-yoon was sane.”
Right now, Kim Do-yoon was in a period when his financial hardship had reached its peak. Even if he could somehow make his living as a painter for the rest of his life, anyone desperate enough to bet his right hand couldn’t be entirely of sound mind. He wouldn’t be making a living through his own skill anymore.
“Still…”
“Not everyone acts within your sense of logic. Humans can change whenever the environment is right.”
Im Sung-hyuk, who’d been about to object, fell silent at Beom-jun’s continued words.
“Maybe you and I are no different.”
Humans are fragile creatures.
The same person acts differently around family, coworkers, and friends. They grow weak before the strong and strong before the weak—it happens all the time.
That’s why Beom-jun had created an environment where Im Sung-hyuk could focus entirely on treatment. So he wouldn’t be ambitious for the hospital director position and could concentrate solely on patients.
At first, Beom-jun had thought that if Im Sung-hyuk showed no interest in the director’s position, the Chairman and Deputy Director wouldn’t murder him.
Im Sung-hyuk’s spirits were dampened somewhat, but he still objected to Beom-jun’s reasoning.
“If it were me, I would’ve treated Patient Kim Do-yoon even if the Chairman offered me a billion won.”
“Is that so.”
“Yes.”
Im Sung-hyuk answered curtly, his discomfort evident. Beom-jun nodded and let out a quiet laugh. He really might. That’s probably why he was the protagonist of “Doctor X.”
“I wish everyone lived like you do.”
Im Sung-hyuk hadn’t lost his conviction to prioritize patients above all else. But Beom-jun knew better than anyone how rarely that conviction held.
Myself and my family over patients.
The hospital over patients.
Money over patients.
As a doctor, things more important than patients came easily. And before long, patients found themselves left far behind.
But Beom-jun kept trying nonetheless.
Even when falling and breaking repeatedly, he never abandoned the effort.
Though right now, Kim Do-yoon was only thinking of his own interests.
“…Are you saying to give up on Patient Kim Do-yoon? The Ward 77 head nurse was saying to transfer him to Eunseong Hospital.”
At Im Sung-hyuk’s words, Beom-jun laughed as if exasperated.
Beom-jun had long since written off any affection for Kim Do-yoon, but Im Sung-hyuk, it seemed, still harbored some.
“You want to save a patient who’d stab you in the back?”
Im Sung-hyuk touched the back of his neck awkwardly. Right, he’d forgotten for a moment. Im Sung-hyuk was that kind of person. That’s why Beom-jun had watched “Doctor X” in the first place.
“He still needs treatment, so that much hasn’t changed. I’ll go with whatever you decide, Director. If the surgery can’t happen, then so be it.”
However, he didn’t insist stubbornly and handed the keys over to Beom-jun.
“It’ll work out.”
“…?”
“If it won’t work, we’ll just make it work.”
A question mark appeared on Im Sung-hyuk’s face at Beom-jun’s words. Beom-jun gave his confused shoulder a light tap.
He could reuse an item he’d already used.
And there was something perfectly suited to this situation. Since there were no restrictions on the target, it should work on a patient too.
Beom-jun opened the status window and pulled up the still-incomplete Main Quest.
[Main Quest: Secure a Witness]
Kim Do-yoon would become both the perpetrator of the fabricated medical malpractice and the witness.

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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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