Surviving as a Rogue Hospital Director - Chapter 89

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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 89.
Sung-hyuk nodded as he received the genetic testing results. Just as the Hospital Director had predicted, Eun Seo-young carried the gene that triggered Long QT Syndrome.
– Long QT Syndrome causative gene (+)
Long QT Syndrome had a 0.05% incidence rate—one case per two thousand people.
Considering that some diseases worldwide affected only one or two individuals, Long QT could be considered relatively common among rare conditions.
‘The Director must have encountered this before. He’s seen Long QT Syndrome patients.’
So Sung-hyuk reasoned that Beom-jun had treated cases similar to Eun Seo-young’s.
If that weren’t so, there’d be no other explanation. When the Hospital Director first spoke, the detailed test results still hadn’t come back.
Unlike Sung-hyuk, who’d graduated from a medical school in the provinces, the Hospital Director had graduated from Korean University Medical School and risen directly through the ranks—from intern to Hospital Director—all at Korean University Hospital.
The severity of patients Sung-hyuk had treated so far couldn’t help but pale in comparison.
Korean University Hospital was the place people sought out when treatment elsewhere had exhausted all options, so it accumulated far more rare disease cases than most.
‘Without the Director, I might not have been able to formulate a treatment plan at all. As I am now, I’m not enough.’
Sung-hyuk let out a shallow sigh as the limits of his current abilities crystallized in his mind. The habit of swallowing his pain, of enduring hardship in silence—it remained embedded in him.
In the original story, Im Sung-hyuk would have scoured through every paper in Doctor X to uncover Eun Seo-young’s diagnosis.
But the current Im Sung-hyuk, unaware of that fact, drove himself harder still.
Sung-hyuk reviewed the current status that Beom-jun must have observed in Eun Seo-young. He couldn’t bear not to know.
‘What exactly did the Director notice? How could he have figured it out?’
Locked in the Professor’s Office, Sung-hyuk compared the computer monitor against the printed materials.
Starting with the Comprehensive Screening Center test results,
he dug through all the biometric data—blood pressure, body temperature—from admission to now.
He rapidly scanned through the countless treatments conducted over the past month at Eunseong Hospital. Since she’d been in the diagnostic phase, she’d undergone every conceivable test. Many experimental drugs had been tried as well.
By now the sun hanging on the clock tower had vanished, handing off the baton to the moon.
With no time to flip on the main lights in the darkened office, Sung-hyuk relied on a single desk lamp,
when Hyun-ji entered the Professor’s Office and bowed briefly. She seemed to have grown tired of waiting.
“Professor, I’ll be heading home now! See you tomorrow!”
Only then did Sung-hyuk check the time. It had gone past nine. Clinic had ended at five—four hours had elapsed.
How long had it been since he’d concentrated this hard outside an operating room? Before becoming a professor, Sung-hyuk had devoted himself to mastering theory thoroughly, and afterward to sharpening his hands. This kind of deep archive work was truly rare.
Barricading himself away to investigate materials like this had been ages.
Sung-hyuk arched backward like a frog, both arms bent at right angles. He bent his neck back as well, and his extended spine cried out for salvation.
“Ugh.”
Loosening his stiffened body, Sung-hyuk let out an involuntary groan. Then he stretched his neck and pressed acupressure points along the optic nerve pathway.
He really was getting older. Back in his Resident days, he could pull all-nighters for days on end without issue. That wasn’t so easy anymore.
‘Maybe I should just ask the Director…’
As Sung-hyuk tried to rouse his exhausted body, he hesitated briefly, then shook his head firmly. Only by solving problems himself could they truly become his own knowledge.
Besides, he couldn’t consult the Director every time a difficult patient appeared.
Sung-hyuk returned to poring over Eun Seo-young’s medical records. And then something he hadn’t noticed before caught his eye.
It appeared fresh, as though seeing it for the first time.
– Medical History: Syncope x1 (age 14), collapse at swimming pool. Diagnosed as Vasovagal Syncope at the time.
‘She had collapsed before?’
Eight years ago—so distant that Sung-hyuk himself had overlooked it. Though they hadn’t conducted a detailed Medical Interview then, it was highly probable that it too had been a seizure.
And at a swimming pool, no less.
Long QT Syndrome patients had a high likelihood of seizures while swimming.
Swimming was intense aerobic exercise, which caused heart rate to spike sharply, and controlling breath was one of the factors that destabilized cardiac rhythm.
Yet the record stated, ‘Diagnosed as Vasovagal Syncope at the time’—phrased as if a doctor had rendered a clinical judgment.
‘Who diagnosed it as Vasovagal Syncope? There wasn’t even a detailed examination.’
But among the countless materials, there was no record of any thorough testing.
Sung-hyuk felt it—something was clicking into place. He began to analyze the data more deeply.
Long QT Syndrome came in three types,
and Eun Seo-young’s symptoms—seizure during swimming—corresponded to Type 1. It had a higher cure rate than other types, so with proper treatment, no lasting complications should remain.
The most dangerous Type 3, by contrast, could cause sudden cardiac death during sleep, but fortunately Eun Seo-young was nowhere near that category.
Sung-hyuk began constructing a methodical treatment plan, moving forward step by step.
But then he frowned at a line below.
– Family History: None
‘A genetic disease, yet no family history?’
It didn’t align with Eun Seo-young’s existing information. Statistically, at least one or two people per three generations should have appeared.
“It would be wise to conduct genetic testing not just on Eun Seo-young, but on her family members as well.”
Testing the entire Eunseong family wouldn’t hurt. Cost wouldn’t be an issue anyway.
“Hyun-ji… oh,”
Sung-hyuk realized Hyun-ji had already left and jotted a note on a Sticky Note.
– Eun Seo-young’s guardians: Genetic testing recommended.
Im Sung-hyuk had no way of knowing he was about to uncover a hereditary disease running through the Eunseong family.
Meanwhile, while Sung-hyuk was shut away in the Professor’s Office, Beom-jun sat at home reviewing his Status Window.
He was hoping to find some hint by looking through his Quests.
But as he scrolled past the personnel list, he noticed it trembling slightly. Specifically, the square corresponding to Im Sung-hyuk’s Examination skill was vibrating left and right.
[Name: Im Sung-hyuk / Position: Professor]
Medical Interview: ■■■■□
Examination: ■■■■□
Diagnosis: ■■■■■
Treatment: ■■■■■
Follow-up: ■■■■□
– Growth Potential: Sufficient
– Favorability: MAX
Among the single remaining empty squares in Medical Interview, Examination, and Follow-up, the second one—
Examination’s final square shook, then filled in black.
– Examination: ■■■■■
* * *
After Im Sung-hyuk ordered genetic testing for the entire Eunseong family, Korean University Hospital buzzed with activity for days.
The same gene as Eun Seo-young’s was found in over 80% of her relatives.
– Long QT Syndrome related gene (+)
Once the results came back, family members began opening up one by one about similar experiences.
“This was genetic? Why didn’t anyone say anything?”
Fears that it might interfere with succession struggles had kept everyone quiet, but now it all poured out like a broken dam.
“Really? Uncle too?”
“Just once when I was young. Collapsed that one time and that was it.”
“Huh?? I collapsed at the swimming pool too, and then recently it happened again.”
“…Doctor, could I have another seizure too?”
As a panicked Eun Seo-young looked on, an uncle disclosed his symptoms to Im Sung-hyuk.
After that, Eun Seo-young’s relatives came streaming into Korean University Hospital one after another to visit her, then departed. Grandmother, uncle, aunt, a newborn nephew—age made no difference.
The more testing was done, the more results accumulated confirming that patients carried the Long QT Syndrome gene just like Eun Seo-young.
“My wife discovered me having a seizure early in the morning,” he said.
Im Sung-hyuk had been most concerned about Type 3—the kind that struck during sleep and could be fatal. Thankfully, Eun Seo-young fell nowhere near that category.
The complications he’d feared would scarcely manifest. And before that concern, she wouldn’t have to worry about succession at all.
With so many family members afflicted by the same condition, nothing about her would particularly stand out.
Eun Seo-young had only to continue establishing herself as the next generation of Eunseong.
Though she’d appeared mature for her age, once her concerns resolved, she increasingly showed her years.
“I haven’t been swimming lately though—so why did I have a seizure?”
Now that they’d grown closer informally, Sung-hyuk discovered that Eun Seo-young was curious, prone to laughter,
an ordinary young woman in her early twenties.
“Were there any moments when you had to control your breathing?”
“Oh, I was practicing a speech. Could that have been it?”
Sung-hyuk nodded absently at her words.
“That’s quite possible.”
As Eun Seo-young’s attending physician, Sung-hyuk visited her regularly to conduct Medical Interviews and narrowed the treatment approach.
He went about his work with quiet diligence,
while secretly hoping word of Eun Seo-young would reach Beom-jun’s ears.
The Hospital Director had said that Eun Seo-young’s condition would be uncovered,
and on top of that, Sung-hyuk had discovered a hereditary disease running through the Eunseong family.
What Sung-hyuk wanted to emphasize was the latter. It was a result he’d achieved himself, beyond what the Director had taught him.
‘Another Eunseong VIP. The Director would be pleased to see this. Maybe he’ll say I did well.’
Sung-hyuk’s lips itched to speak, but he waited for the Hospital Director to hear about it through someone else.
When the Director finished a case, he would say: Well done. Thank you for your hard work. You’ve endured. Remarks like these.
This time Sung-hyuk wondered which of the three it would be.
* * *
“Just one more moment please! One minute!”
“Next patient, this way!!”
“My apologies. There’s a slight delay in the examination ahead. We’ll show you to your room shortly.”
The Comprehensive Screening Center at Korean University Hospital had descended into chaos.
Having heard the news about the Eunseong family, VIP patients flocked to Korean University Hospital as though it were some gourmet destination to explore.
They hadn’t come merely to look. The expensive premium health screening that Eun Seo-young had undergone—comprehensive screening from head to toe—sold like hotcakes.
Those with some sense even added genetic testing before leaving.
“Oh my, genetic testing too? Let’s try that as well~”
Eun Seo-young’s test had been an expensive screening that checked for over twenty hereditary conditions, but the VIPs seemed to treat it like a personality assessment.
Like an add-on option to the comprehensive screening, or rather like a trend among their set, Korean University Hospital’s health screening was being consumed.
‘What in the world is all this?’
Beom-jun, who’d come to the Screening Center, took in the patient-packed interior.
Even at a glance, they were middle-aged women with an air of refinement about them. Their handbags alone, their clothing—it was all evident.
“Ah, you’re the Director! I’ve heard about you!”
“So young, so young. That’s why you have such good instincts, I suppose. Is there anything besides genetic testing?”
“Genetic testing? What’s that?”
As Beom-jun appeared, patients recognized him and struck up conversations.
“Ha ha, go ahead and do whatever you’d like, then come back.”
Beom-jun’s lips couldn’t help but curve downward. Somewhere, he could have sworn he heard the sound of money piling up in Korean University Hospital.

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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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