Surviving as a Rogue Hospital Director - Chapter 88

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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 88.
Beom-jun was sifting through records of patients treated in the past at Korean University Hospital—specifically, a patient who had suffered from the same rare disease as Eun Seo-yeong.
He was searching for a clue to unlock the Hidden Quest.
[Hidden Quest: Establish Your Defense]
Han Myeong-jae has resolved to end you. Become a benefactor to the Eunseong family and make yourself a shield for Director Choi Beom-jun.
‘Can you become someone’s benefactor just because you want to? Do I have to deliberately create a crisis and then perform some miracle rescue?’
Beom-jun found himself drowning in doubts—maybe he should just skip this quest entirely.
But when he looked at the reward, he steeled himself.
Han’s interference was escalating. Ever since Beom-jun had neutralized the Deputy Director’s hostility, he’d felt the Chairman’s grip tightening around his throat. The quest description itself mentioned Han’s murderous resolve—that was how serious it was.
The direct phone number of Chairman Eun that he’d receive upon completing the quest wasn’t merely a favor. It would be someone to counterbalance Han outside the hospital’s walls.
Beom-jun swallowed hard. Each quest he cleared drained something vital from him.
His current survival rate was sixty-five percent. If he completed roughly ten more quests like this, he’d finally reach one hundred percent.
‘Just stay alive. Once I make it through this, I’m done with this wretched hospital.’
Beom-jun pressed both hands against his head.
Benefactor. Quest. Survival rate.
The keywords tangled together in his mind, growing more knotted the more he worried.
Beom-jun replayed the scene from Doctor X where Eun Seo-yeong appeared, but nothing particular came to mind.
A cold, polished heiress.
Im Sung-hyuk had treated her like an ordinary person, which had built rapport between them.
So when Beom-jun first met Eun Seo-yeong, he’d done the same—handled her like any regular patient.
Of course, her reaction hadn’t been typical. Most ill patients depend heavily on their doctor’s words, but Eun Seo-yeong didn’t.
Even before she’d heard a diagnosis, her posture had been rigid, unyielding.
‘I don’t know about her self-esteem, but her pride was definitely showing.’
Beom-jun revisited his first impression of her—seated in that wheelchair, yet tilting her chin up, looking down at him.
Then something struck him suddenly, flashing through his mind like lightning.
Eun Seo-yeong had passed countless tests within the Eunseong family—evaluations of business acumen, character, temperament. She was being groomed as a promising successor for the next generation.
—”I’ve heard the explanation. Let me think about it for a while.”
—”…The side effects are merely one possibility. The probability is far from high.”
—”You said it’s low probability? That won’t do for me.”
In that moment, a passage from Doctor X echoed in his ears with crystalline clarity, as vivid as an audiobook.
Beom-jun bolted from the Director’s Office.
Stepping into the long corridor of the hospital, his footsteps echoed against the marble floor—thud, thud, thud. His heart pounded in rhythm with each step.
* * *
When Beom-jun reached Eun Seo-yeong’s private room, his hand froze on the door handle.
The nurses in Ward 77 exchanged knowing glances as they noticed the Director standing outside.
It probably wasn’t just because he’d appeared. Eun Seo-yeong’s raised voice had been audible even in the hallway—if you didn’t know better, you’d think they were arguing.
“I’ve heard the explanation. Let me think about it for a while.”
Inside the room, the conversation Beom-jun had read in Doctor X was unfolding word for word—a discussion about how to proceed with her treatment.
Sung-hyuk, having recognized Long QT Syndrome, was explaining the possibility of surgery to Eun Seo-yeong.
“We won’t know for certain until the genetic test results come back, but if it is Long QT Syndrome, surgery would be advisable.”
To him, it seemed a straightforward procedure—merely blocking a portion of the nerves. He’d performed similar surgeries many times and had confidence in his skill.
But when she heard that improperly severing the nerve could result in partial paralysis, she recoiled in horror. Sung-hyuk added that the likelihood of side effects was single digits, but it made no difference.
“So I could end up disabled for the rest of my life?”
“The side effects are merely one possibility. The probability is far from high.”
“A low probability just isn’t acceptable to me.”
She insisted she couldn’t bear any risk at all.
Sung-hyuk found Eun Seo-yeong’s stubbornness frustrating.
Every treatment carries the potential for side effects. In truth, nothing is ever one hundred percent risk-free.
‘Doesn’t she have a guardian? She’s always alone whenever I make rounds.’
It would have helped if someone she trusted could talk her into it, but since her admission, Eun Seo-yeong had been utterly alone.
The elaborately appointed private suite held no sign of human warmth.
Even conversation might shift her perspective, but with Eun Seo-yeong as she was now, there seemed no room for that.
Knock, knock.
Then came a knock from outside. The one who entered was Beom-jun.
“Anyway, right now you’re saying you don’t know. Later we can…”
As the door opened, Eun Seo-yeong stopped mid-sentence and registered Beom-jun’s face. Sung-hyuk, his own face flushed with frustration, turned away.
Beom-jun approached the two of them.
According to the original work, Eun Seo-yeong never agrees to surgery. She only falls into a coma, and only then—deemed to lack sufficient mental capacity—does a guardian consent to the operation on her behalf.
“Director, you’ve arrived.”
When Sung-hyuk greeted Beom-jun and changed the subject, Eun Seo-yeong bristled.
“Anyway, I’m not rejecting treatment altogether. It just feels too early to decide right now.”
Eun Seo-yeong finished what she’d been saying, and Im Sung-hyuk sighed in front of her.
When Beom-jun moved to the side, Sung-hyuk, looking troubled, explained the situation to him.
“What’s going on?”
“Well, I was explaining the surgery. Once the genetic results come back, we’re planning for LCDS—Left Cardiac Sympathetic Denervation.”
Sung-hyuk stammered uncharacteristically, as if blaming himself for the VIP patient’s dissatisfaction. He’d been caught in a situation that wasn’t going well, right in front of the Director.
But from Doctor X, Beom-jun already understood Eun Seo-yeong’s stubbornness. Right now it was just Sung-hyuk. Soon members of the Eunseong family would come flocking to persuade her.
The fact that she refused them all the same suggested that beneath her polished exterior, she had steel in her.
Beom-jun gave Sung-hyuk a light, reassuring look—a gesture that said: we’ll discuss this with the patient present, but don’t worry.
Little was said between them, but Sung-hyuk understood that Beom-jun wasn’t disappointed in him.
Sung-hyuk stepped back, ceding his place beside the patient to Beom-jun.
Eun Seo-yeong was running her fingers absently through her hair,
and her locks were so thick and full they cascaded past her shoulders.
She might seem like an ordinary patient, but every so often her carefully maintained grooming showed through. Even when raising her voice at Im Sung-hyuk, she’d chosen her words carefully, never crossing a line.
In her early twenties, Eun Seo-yeong carried a maturity beyond her years.
As Beom-jun drew closer, she rolled only her eyes to steal a glance at him. Once she recognized a familiar face, some of the tension seemed to leave her.
Since they’d met before, Beom-jun skipped the introductions.
“It seems the side effects are a real concern for you.”
“…They say the probability is low, but it’s not zero. I’m just not ready to accept that risk right now.”
She explained her reasoning and her logic quite competently, but that wasn’t the whole story.
“Do you think it’s enough if you simply don’t suffer an episode right now?”
Eun Seo-yeong’s seizures occur because her brain is starved of oxygen during the periods when her heart isn’t beating properly.
To prevent seizures, her heart needs to be kept in check with strong medication, which naturally has its own side effects. The stronger the drug, the stronger the potential complications.
“I respect your medical judgment. But what if I just manage the symptoms at home the way I am now? I can always try it, and if it doesn’t work, I can still have the surgery later.”
Beom-jun listened skeptically. In Doctor X, she’d refused surgery outright. Now she spoke of observing the situation, but the truth was probably that she wouldn’t do it.
More than that, discharge itself made no sense. A doctor who sends home a patient whose seizure could strike at any moment wouldn’t be thinking of the patient’s welfare.
“You don’t know when the next episode will come. It could be your last one.”
“So there won’t be any more episodes after that?”
“No—you’ll be dead.”
Beom-jun delivered the words deliberately harsh to the complacent Eun Seo-yeong. Her expression froze, just slightly.
“There’s nothing more important to a patient than having the surgery. Nothing more personal could matter.”
Sung-hyuk added from the side, but Seo-yeong still looked to Beom-jun for permission.
“It’s not that I dislike it. I’m just choosing not to decide right now. Is that not allowed?”
Eun Seo-yeong, ignorant of what lay ahead, spoke only of the present moment.
From Beom-jun’s perspective, what she needed wasn’t time.
Eun Seo-yeong simply couldn’t accept imperfection. She believed she had to control everything perfectly, or not at all.
Eun Seo-yeong closed her mouth firmly. With Im Sung-hyuk, they’d reached no common ground, and the more they spoke, the more her emotions frayed.
‘If I can just smooth this over, I could become a benefactor, couldn’t I?’
The Eunseong family surely understood their daughter’s stubborn nature well enough.
If Beom-jun could persuade Eun Seo-yeong and the surgery succeeded,
he truly could become the family’s benefactor.
Meanwhile, Eun Seo-yeong’s composure was slipping—or rather, she wasn’t maintaining it, which was more accurate. Having found that courtesy was useless, she was simply showing her displeasure.
There was nothing to gain from irritating her further.
Beom-jun took a step back.
“There’s nothing wrong with that. I’m simply offering what I believe is the best choice.”
Beom-jun didn’t press her. He knew that wouldn’t help.
Eun Seo-yeong, just as when she’d first met Beom-jun, rolled only her eyes to glance at him sideways. It was written plainly on her face: what are you scheming?
All the more reason for Beom-jun to open his options wider for her.
“If you think you can handle it, then do as you wish.”
If she wanted to decide and control everything herself, then she alone would have to bear all responsibility for it—a silent question of whether Eun Seo-yeong could truly do that.
Eun Seo-yeong flinched at his words.
Left speechless, she pressed her lips together, biting the inside of her mouth, and her pupils wavered uncertainly side to side.
“…I’ll think about it.”
“Well then, do that.”
It was similar to what she’d said before, but her manner of speaking had changed.
This wasn’t a decision she’d make alone. No matter how stubborn she was, at minimum she’d consult her family. And if Beom-jun’s words reached the Eunseong household through that process, mission accomplished.
“Let’s leave it at that for today. Professor Im can follow up once more.”
“Yes, I understand.”
For now, it was time to wait for Eun Seo-yeong to move on her own.

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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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