Surviving as a Rogue Hospital Director - Chapter 86

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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 86.
Just then, someone approached Beom-jun.
“Thank you for your consideration, Director.”
It was Cha Woo-jin, a professor from Anesthesiology.
‘What? Why is he here?’
He had resigned from Unsung Hospital and come to Korean University Hospital, and he seemed to know many people here.
“Professor Cha is here too? What about the Operating Room?”
“I had a gap in my schedule, so I stopped by. It’s fortunate I came—and even more so that you’re here, Director.”
Cha Woo-jin spoke while maintaining his characteristic gentleness.
There was something luminous about him, a crystalline quality. Light actually gleamed from his bare forehead.
Even setting Cha Woo-jin aside, the doctors from Unsung Hospital all carried a refined, polished image, and Woo-jin fit seamlessly among them without the slightest discord.
Looking at him now, you could unmistakably see the mark of Unsung on him.
[Talent detected.]
[Talent detected.]
Standing among the doctors, the Status Window appeared ceaselessly.
Beom-jun checked only the Talent information of a few people nearby.
[Name: Jeong Seung-ho / Position: Pediatrics Professor]
Interview: ■■□□□
Examination: ■■■□□
Diagnosis: ■■■■□
Treatment: ■■■□□
Follow-up: ■■■□□
– Growth Potential: Minimal
– Favorability: 3
[Name: Son Yeon-i / Position: Obstetrics and Gynecology Professor]
Interview: ■■■□□
Examination: ■■■■□
Diagnosis: ■■■■■
Treatment: ■■□□□
Follow-up: ■■□□□
– Growth Potential: Average
– Favorability: 3
Now and then, he caught sight of people like Professor Cha Woo-jin—already complete.
[Name: Jo Gyeong-won / Position: Neurosurgery Professor]
Interview: ■■■□□
Examination: ■■■□□
Diagnosis: ■■■■■
Treatment: ■■■□□
Follow-up: ■■■□□
– Growth Potential: None
– Favorability: 3
Even if there were no more room to grow at Unsung Hospital,
it meant the doctors were continuing the same work without any great ambition.
Still, their overall abilities were solid.
‘Well, they probably only sent the better doctors anyway.’
Unsung had likely cherry-picked which doctors to transfer. They’d be the face of Unsung at any other hospital.
But no one in particular caught Beom-jun’s eye. Everyone was competent enough—which made them rather unremarkable.
With half-lidded eyes, he checked the detailed information below their abilities and found unexpected things.
‘Wait, their hostility’s gone?’
The doctors who had harbored hostility toward him now had strikethrough marks.
– Hostility: Minimal
– Hostility: Average
‘How did that happen?’
Just as Beom-jun opened his half-lidded eyes wider, Woo-jin leaned in close beside him and whispered something.
“People were speaking poorly of you, so I cleared things up.”
“Rumors about me?”
“Yes, sir. They were calling you a ruffian. It was strange to me—that sort of thing doesn’t happen at Unsung.”
Well, it was less a rumor and more the truth. Before Ui-jin took over, Director Choi Beom-jun really had been a ruffian.
In Doctor X, the Beom-jun he’d seen had gotten into fistfights with doctors quite frequently.
The medical world is certainly disciplined, but most conflict involves verbal abuse and psychological torment. When Doctor X actually showed a scene of doctors throwing punches, even Ui-jin had frowned.
With that being the case, Unsung must have heard the rumors. It wasn’t a common thing. Then again, Unsung was a hospital that particularly emphasized service, so they probably were shocked.
“What exactly did you tell them?”
“That it was a misunderstanding. That nothing like… that has happened since you woke up in the Intensive Care Unit.”
Woo-jin had filtered the history of Choi Beom-jun as he recounted it.
“That things are completely different now, that you’re a new person—something along those lines?”
“Yes? That’s right. Something… like that.”
Woo-jin, who had been speaking indirectly, fumbled at Beom-jun’s direct phrasing.
Beom-jun checked all the Talent information for the doctors resting inside the Lounge.
Mostly professors were taking a break, and among thirty-four people, only three still harbored hostility. And even that was minimal.
‘Could it really have disappeared that quickly?’
He’d gone to great lengths to eliminate the Vice Director’s hostility by spending an item, but the Unsung doctors were different.
“At first, everyone seemed skeptical, but several of them saw you getting along well with Professor Im, so…”
“Ah, their minds changed pretty fast.”
Beom-jun guessed that their hostility toward him hadn’t run deep.
The rumor of being a ruffian was likely just idle gossip. After hearing Woo-jin’s explanation and seeing who Beom-jun actually was, they would’ve been able to judge the truth of it themselves.
Assuming, of course, that their heads were on straight.
“Rumors are rumors, but there’s something to be seen from direct experience here. And you cared for everyone so well today, sir.”
Right—no matter how accustomed they were to discipline, they were all doctors who had learned plenty. Beom-jun suspected that with even a little stimulus, these people could sharpen their focus.
“I think that’s why their minds changed so quickly. I suspect things will improve further going forward.”
While Beom-jun was turning this over in his mind, Woo-jin kept the conversation going without a pause, filling every silence with his words, and as soon as Beom-jun opened his mouth to speak, he swallowed hard and waited for his response.
Woo-jin seemed to be nervous, like he was taking an exam.
“You didn’t need to step in like that, but I appreciate it. You did well.”
To Woo-jin, who was quivering slightly, Beom-jun spoke in an even tone.
At that, Woo-jin spread both his palms and protested. He fumbled with his words in a strange way.
“…No! I only… thought the same way, sir.”
Beom-jun didn’t get the sense that Woo-jin was trying to win his favor. Rather, it looked like a survival strategy he’d been employing for a long time.
In Doctor X, he’d been bound by his contract with Unsung for ten years and worked like a slave. Since leaving was impossible, he would’ve had to earn recognition to survive somehow.
“Even so, doing well is doing well.”
“…Yes, sir. Thank you.”
Woo-jin, who until just a moment ago had been straining to meet his gaze, now looked away at Beom-jun’s words.
Even if things felt awkward at first, now that Cha Woo-jin was at Korean University Hospital, he didn’t need to keep proving himself. At least not to Beom-jun.
Just then, a Status Window appeared above Woo-jin’s head, now quieter.
[Cha Woo-jin’s Favorability has increased by 1.]
Sigh, what could you say. There was something poignant about him. Cha Woo-jin had a poignant quality despite his tall, handsome frame.
Meanwhile, beside him, Jeong Da-eun was sipping a Vanilla Latte through a straw. Beom-jun casually noted the drink she was holding.
‘Looks like a latte. Next time I’ll just bring that kind.’
But when Beom-jun’s gaze turned to Da-eun, Woo-jin quickly introduced her.
“Oh, that’s Professor Jeong Da-eun. She’s from Thoracic Surgery at Unsung Hospital.”
Without being asked, Woo-jin attended to Beom-jun as naturally as breathing. Even if someone told him to stop, he probably wouldn’t. It was a habit.
When Beom-jun’s sharp gaze swept over him, Woo-jin laughed awkwardly.
“….”
“…?”
A brief silence fell, and Woo-jin opened and closed his mouth. About to spill out more words to fill the void.
Then Da-eun, standing beside him, seized the moment perfectly and stepped forward to introduce herself.
“Hello, Director. I’ve heard a lot about what a wonderful person you are. Seeing you today, it’s really true. Thank you so much.”
At her introduction, Beom-jun’s eyes widened. More precisely, at the Status Window that appeared above her head.
[Due to Synergy Effect with Cha Woo-jin, Jeong Da-eun’s Favorability has increased by 1.]
Synergy had only applied to Im Sung-hyuk and Min-ho besides him. So he’d thought it only worked between the same department—was that not the case?
Beom-jun studied both Professor Cha Woo-jin and Professor Jeong Da-eun as he spoke.
“Ah, so Professor Cha spoke kindly of me?”
“Not at all. Professor Cha doesn’t usually say much about others, good or bad. So I figured you must really be a good person.”
Da-eun, who came up to Woo-jin’s shoulder, stood pressed right against his side as she spoke, and they stood quite close.
“No, really, I just said it as it is….”
“He said I’m one of your people, though.”
Woo-jin deflected the praise as if the word “no” was worn into his mouth, and Da-eun gave his chest a playful tap with her fist.
Watching her physical affection come so naturally, Beom-jun caught a whiff of something.
‘Hmm, these two seem to be dating.’
Now that he thought about it, it made sense that Cha Woo-jin would be in the Unsung Hospital doctors’ exclusive Lounge.
“You’re one of my people! Like this?”
“No, wait! Director, it’s not like that.”
When Da-eun spoke playfully, Woo-jin spread both his palms again.
Beom-jun pondered what she’d said. The memory was hazy—did he really say something like that?
Probably she was referring to when he ran into Professor Cha in the Operating Room.
“Korean University Hospital will be different from Unsung.
You’re one of our hospital now. It’s payback for the Operating Room tour you gave today.”
‘Right, I did say that.’
He’d said Korean University Hospital would be different from Unsung Hospital, but it seemed what stuck with Cha Woo-jin was when Beom-jun had said he was now part of Korean University Hospital.
[Name: Cha Woo-jin / Position: Anesthesiology Professor]
Interview: □□□□□
Examination: ■■■■□
Diagnosis: ■■■■□
Treatment: ■■■■□
Follow-up: □□□□□
– Growth Potential: None
– Favorability: 6
Beom-jun opened Woo-jin’s Talent information. His Favorability had risen in the Operating Room and was now at 6.
‘If I raise it by just one more, I can register him as Talent.’
Beom-jun, who had originally wanted to recruit only necessary Talent, changed his mind after acquiring Young-ran.
The more Talent, the better. If he registered people indiscriminately, they’d be useful someday.
Especially since he could gather information about Unsung Hospital from Woo-jin, things were going smoothly.
‘Should I register both Cha Woo-jin and Jeong Da-eun all at once?’
It was an opportunity, if nothing else. He probably wouldn’t have many chances to observe both of them together, given that they showed a Synergy Effect.
Meanwhile, Woo-jin and Da-eun seemed to have forgotten Beom-jun was standing right in front of them, bickering with each other.
“Why are you even telling the Director such things?”
“Why not? It’s a good story, so it’s fine.”
Looking at Da-eun, who was smiling brightly, Beom-jun felt something like a sense of boundaries. Like watching a small, innocent creature—it was oddly uncomfortable. Woo-jin beside her was little different.
‘They’re different from the Korean University Hospital doctors.’
The two of them had a distinctly different texture from the Korean University Hospital doctors.
Maybe that’s exactly why they could be worked into Unsung Hospital’s harsh system. To follow strong control without complaint and carry out formulaic work.
“I wasn’t just saying it. Everyone at Korean University Hospital is one of us.”
“Really? Unsung is a good hospital too, but it sounds like Korean University Hospital is as well.”
When Beom-jun winked at Woo-jin and spoke, Da-eun liked him even more for it.
[Jeong Da-eun’s Favorability has increased by 1.]
Excellent—now Jeong Da-eun’s Favorability matched Cha Woo-jin’s at 6.
‘Perfect, let’s do this all at once!’
Beom-jun had found a way to raise both their Favorability in one go.

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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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