Surviving as a Rogue Hospital Director - Chapter 110

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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 110.
Two days passed, and the day of Kim Do-yoon’s discharge arrived.
As expected, there were no complications at the surgical site, and Kim Do-yoon recovered rapidly.
The hand tremor disappeared completely right after surgery. He claimed his movements felt sluggish, but it was only temporary—in time, everything would return to normal.
Im Sung-hyuk assured him that he wouldn’t even need rehabilitation. The surgery had been that clean.
“I’m glad the surgery went well. Be sure to come back in a week so we can check your progress.”
Yet despite this, Im Sung-hyuk found it uncomfortable to look at his patient. Now that he knew Kim Do-yoon’s true intentions, there was no way he could regard him kindly.
“Yes. I’ll see you next week.”
Do-yoon thought Im Sung-hyuk seemed a bit distant, but he chalked it up to his imagination. Maybe the surgeon was just tired after the operation. Or perhaps the tension had finally lifted.
But a week after his discharge, Kim Do-yoon came to the Emergency Room instead of the clinic.
“Hello, Professor. This is the Emergency Room attending physician. Kim Do-yoon is the patient you operated on last week, and right now his right hand shows complete loss of Motor Function. I think you should come take a look.”
The attending said Kim Do-yoon couldn’t move his right hand at all, but Im Sung-hyuk wasn’t surprised.
So it’s happened. He acknowledged and hung up, then logged into the hospital system to check Kim Do-yoon’s current status.
– Sensory: + / Motor: – / Circulatory: +
Nerve function is evaluated through three criteria: whether sensation is intact, whether movement is possible, and whether blood circulation is functioning.
Circulation is assessed by checking the extremities—the tips of fingers and toes—measuring nail bed color and skin temperature, but sensation and movement rely entirely on the patient’s own account.
‘If it were just mild numbness or dullness, maybe. But complete paralysis? Did Han Myeong-jae not coach him on this part?’
Im Sung-hyuk let out a hollow laugh upon reviewing Kim Do-yoon’s chart. Of course, such cases existed, but not with Kim Do-yoon.
For paralysis to develop, the motor nerves deep in the tissue would have to be damaged. That wasn’t the case here.
A bit of sensory dysfunction would be convincing, but Motor loss? Not remotely.
Yet he couldn’t tell an Emergency Room patient to stop lying, and he certainly couldn’t force the man to move.
Im Sung-hyuk buried his face in his hands.
But his distress didn’t last long. Brooding alone wouldn’t solve anything.
Im Sung-hyuk pulled his phone from his coat pocket and called Beom-jun. The only person who could handle this situation.
* * *
At that moment, Beom-jun was already in the Director’s Office, logged into the hospital system. He already knew Kim Do-yoon had come to the Emergency Room.
‘It would’ve been easier to claim sensory loss, but Han Myeong-jae has no finesse.’
The Director had given Kim Do-yoon a difficult task: to claim his hand had no movement. Well, whether it was the one who obeys blindly or the one who orders it, there wasn’t much difference.
– Buzz-buzz-buzz.
Just then, Beom-jun’s phone rang. The name on the screen was a welcome one.
“Director, Kim Do-yoon has come to the Emergency Room.”
Beom-jun chuckled to himself upon receiving Im Sung-hyuk’s call.
In Doctor X, Im Sung-hyuk had been intensely proud. He’d never relied on anyone and handled everything alone.
But now that same Im Sung-hyuk had completely handed over control to Beom-jun, waiting for his orders.
‘So I’ve become someone he trusts.’
The Im Sung-hyuk who had once comforted him when life was hard now looked up to him.
“…Director? What should we do?”
Beom-jun pushed aside the swell of emotion and issued his instructions to Im Sung-hyuk.
“Go ahead and wait. I’ll be there in five minutes.”
“Understood, sir.”
Beom-jun calmly opened his status window and cast the Control Gun.
[Identifying target.]
As he activated the Control Gun, everyone within his sight appeared outlined in red.
‘When I aimed for the head, it was a headshot.’
Recalling how to use the Control Gun, Beom-jun made his way to the Emergency Room.
The more urgent the situation, the more he slowed his pace.
He moved his mind, not his limbs.
* * *
In the Emergency Room, Kim Do-yoon repeated the same words like a parrot.
“It won’t move, I’m telling you. My fingers won’t move.”
“Your sensation is still intact, right? Let me test you with an alcohol swab. Can you tell me which finger I’m touching?”
The Emergency Room nurse found his symptoms odd and tested him.
“The fourth one. This time the second. Now the third.”
Do-yoon answered correctly the moment the alcohol swab touched his fingers.
The Emergency Room nurse tilted her head.
“All correct. Hmm, that’s strange.”
While she played along, doubt still lingered in her mind.
She quietly pulled an Insulin Needle from her uniform pocket—the thin kind used when injecting insulin into subcutaneous fat.
She was going to check if the patient could feel pain. It wasn’t a common method, but it was called a Pinprick Test.
“Ahhhhh!!!!”
The nurse lightly pricked Kim Do-yoon’s finger. He let out a piercing wail.
“Mm, so you can feel it’s sharp.”
“What are you doing!!”
Kim Do-yoon made a fuss, but despite his anguished cry, the pricked spot didn’t even bleed.
‘Sensory is intact, but Motor is gone? Can that really happen?’
The nurse tilted her head again. Yet Do-yoon’s complaint seemed credible.
When she’d pricked him with the needle, he’d only screamed—his finger hadn’t twitched at all.
So he really couldn’t move it.
“You should warn someone before you stab them!!”
“Mm, didn’t I? My apologies. That’s all done. The professor will be here soon. Just wait a moment.”
To the thrashing Do-yoon, the nurse replied kindly, barely paying attention.
Kim Do-yoon’s indignation faded at the word “professor.”
“Is that the professor who did my surgery?”
“Yes, you did have surgery with Professor Im Sung-hyuk, correct?”
At her words, Kim Do-yoon swallowed hard and nodded. His pupils dilated with anxiety.
‘It’ll be fine, right? Han Myeong-jae even set me up with Botox. Looking at this nurse, she has no idea.’
The day after his discharge, Kim Do-yoon had gone to a Dermatology Clinic introduced by Han Myeong-jae and received Botox injections between the bones on the back of his hand.
It wasn’t covered by insurance, so he’d struggled to pay in cash, but the effect was certain. Since yesterday, he couldn’t even make a fist.
He was told that at such a high concentration, it would take about six months for full movement to return. Kim Do-yoon believed Han Myeong-jae’s word completely and executed the deception without hesitation.
All he needed today was a medical assessment that his right hand couldn’t be used.
Then he’d be reborn as a genius painter equally skilled with both hands. Ambidextrous painters weren’t common, so it would become his unique trademark and signature.
‘If I get caught later, I’ll do rehab or whatever, say it got better. Sure, it’s unfortunate for the doctor, but honestly, I’ve eaten well and lived well all this time anyway.’
Kim Do-yoon reassured himself, brushing aside even a hint of guilt.
Even Han Myeong-jae said Im Sung-hyuk wasn’t exactly a good doctor. In the end, all doctors just treat patients to make a living.
‘Only think of yourself, Kim Do-yoon. You’re the most pitiful one.’
Kim Do-yoon wrapped his arms around himself.
If his name became known, his art would flourish. He was sick of ramen. It was time to eat some beef.
Then Im Sung-hyuk strode into the Emergency Room entrance with his long legs. The tall surgeon spotted Kim Do-yoon and rushed toward him without hesitation.
Kim Do-yoon instinctively clutched the blanket and pulled it toward his body. His throat bobbed as he swallowed dryly.
* * *
“Patient Kim Do-yoon, good to see you again.”
At Im Sung-hyuk’s greeting, Kim Do-yoon’s shoulders shrank. Just a simple greeting, and he was terrified. Im Sung-hyuk seemed angry.
“Th-the surgery, w-went well, didn’t it?!”
Kim Do-yoon spoke forcefully to mask his tension. It was because of what Han Myeong-jae had told him.
‘Going hard is fine. If I say the surgery failed, Im Sung-hyuk can’t say anything to me.’
Looking at Kim Do-yoon, Im Sung-hyuk clenched his teeth. Heat seemed to pour from inside his nose.
“Let me examine your hand first.”
Expressionless, Im Sung-hyuk extended his hand to Kim Do-yoon. Do-yoon offered his left hand, the one closer.
“Not that one. You came in because your right hand won’t move, didn’t you?”
“I know that!”
Setting aside Do-yoon’s sharp tone, Im Sung-hyuk first examined his right hand.
When he lifted it, it hung limp, and on the surface, it resembled paralysis.
‘Right after surgery, he could move it. How did he manage this?’
Im Sung-hyuk suddenly released Kim Do-yoon’s hand in mid-air.
Kim Do-yoon instinctively tensed, preventing his arm from dropping with a thud.
The large muscles from arm to hand could move. It was only the fingers and the joints in each segment that wouldn’t bend.
“Professor, I already checked the SMC earlier, and it showed only Motor loss. We did a Pinprick Test too. The Electromyography showed diminished muscle response as well.”
The Emergency Room nurse approached and briefed Im Sung-hyuk while he examined Kim Do-yoon.
“I see.”
But Im Sung-hyuk replied flatly.
“What should we do, Professor? Should you issue an order?”
“No.”
At Im Sung-hyuk’s firm response, Kim Do-yoon beside the nurse flinched even more.
“Let’s wait a moment.”
“Wait for… what?”
The busy nurse pressed him for an answer.
“The Director will be here soon. Ah, there he is.”
Im Sung-hyuk pointed toward the side door at the back of the Emergency Room. There, Beom-jun was approaching with long strides, just as Im Sung-hyuk had done.

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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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