Surviving as a Rogue Hospital Director - Chapter 9

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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 9.
“Is Im the Professor next to you? Put him on the phone.”
Beom Jun spoke to Lee Min Ho, who was still going on about how the director was the best and all that.
“Eh? The Professor? Ah, I was going to make the call myself….”
Flustered, Lee Min Ho lost his words for a moment. After some hushed conversation, Im Sung Hyuk appeared.
“Yes, Director.”
Im Sung Hyuk answered the phone stiffly, his voice clipped and formal. It didn’t seem like Lee Min Ho had pushed him into it. Lee Min Ho probably said he’d call himself, and Sung Hyuk took the phone—though usually he wouldn’t have let someone else handle it.
But the fact that such a proud man hadn’t refused to come to the phone himself meant
he genuinely needed the equipment.
“I’ll have the Director’s secretary contact you. Just tell them what equipment you need and how much.”
Now that Beom Jun had become director, he saw the professor’s position differently. It was hardly a grand thing—just a few pieces of medical equipment.
Not requesting a Helicopter for the Thoracic Surgery Department alone, not replacing the MRI with a new one. Just a few EKG Equipment units, and he had to be this cautious about it.
“I should have done a proper inventory check from the start. I’m sorry. You must have had a hard time.”
Beom Jun apologized to Sung Hyuk. It wasn’t really his fault, but it seemed like the right thing to say to him.
“…No, sir. Thank you, Director.”
After a silence, Sung Hyuk replied. He had hesitated for a moment. He hadn’t actually done anything yet, but becoming the director certainly had an impact on his authority.
After hanging up, Beom Jun’s vision filled with status windows.
[Im Sung Hyuk’s Favorability has increased by 1.]
[Due to Synergy Effect, Lee Min Ho’s Favorability increases by 1.]
[Thoracic Surgery Department Control Level has increased: Stage 2]
This brought Lee Min Ho’s Favorability to 9. Im Sung Hyuk was still at 8, but that wasn’t bad.
‘My guys, I’ll take good care of you.’
Now that he’d registered them as Talents, Beom Jun felt a genuine affection for Sung Hyuk and Lee Min Ho. It was different from how he’d felt reading . He wanted to look after them somehow.
When he cleared the window, another status window appeared.
[You have an unchecked notification.]
‘What’s this?’
He must have cleared it along with all the other windows that appeared at once earlier.
When he pressed confirm, two windows appeared simultaneously.
[Beom Jun’s Survival Probability has increased by 2%.]
[Current Survival Probability: 5%.]
Beom Jun rested his chin in his hand, thinking. This had appeared once before, when he registered Im Sung Hyuk as a Talent.
‘When I registered the others as Talents, this window didn’t appear.’
Lee Min Ho and Han Myung Jae hadn’t been major characters in . Lee Min Ho especially had barely been mentioned.
It seemed the Survival Probability only increased when someone related to Beom Jun’s death flag was registered as a Talent.
Beom Jun stared at the number. 5%—still in the single digits. That left 95%. And time kept marching on. Six months until death. Every moment counted.
* * *
The next morning, not long after arriving at work, Beom Jun headed to the Chairman’s Office.
He wanted to settle it while he had momentum. Tucked under his arm was Korea University Hospital’s second-half financial statement.
The hospital director’s term at Korea University Hospital was only three years. Every three years, a new director was either elected or the existing one was reappointed.
The Board of Directors operated the same way. The board made decisions at the highest level and oversaw the hospital to ensure power didn’t concentrate in a single director. Korea University Hospital was composed of one Chairman and nine board members.
Beom Jun had accidentally discovered the board roster while going through documents. The board members from the Ministry of Health and Welfare, the Ministry of Strategy and Finance, and the Ministry of Education rotated regularly as ex officio members, but the Chairman had held his position for fifteen years.
Sensing something off, Beom Jun reviewed five years of meeting minutes and found that every agenda item before the board passed unanimously.
‘So the board was this unified.’
The quest made sense now. The quest was filling in the parts the protagonist-focused narrative didn’t cover in detail.
Beom Jun resolved that he would survive, even in the midst of these people banding together to kill him.
The Chairman stayed in the shadows, never embroiled in scandal, but Beom Jun had to bring him into the light.
“Good morning, Chairman. It’s a fine day.”
Beom Jun greeted the Chairman, who sat alone playing Go in the Chairman’s Office.
[Name: Han Myung Jae / Position: Chairman]
Leadership: ■■■■■
External Relations: ■■■■□
Decision Making: ■■■■■
Overall Management: ■■■■■
– Growth Potential: Minimal
– Favorability: ??
– Hostility: Minimal
[Highly calculating. Distinguishes people by profit and loss. Merciless to those who fall out of favor.]
“I brought some documents that need your approval.”
“Leave them there.”
The Chairman glanced at Beom Jun briefly before returning his attention to the Go board.
“While I’m here, I wanted to mention something if you have a moment.”
At Beom Jun’s words, the Chairman looked him over, then spoke as if he already knew.
“…You were injured, weren’t you? Your eyes have changed.”
The elderly man had heavy eyelids, but his bearing was formidable. There was a reason he’d remained the head of Korea University Hospital well past sixty.
Beom Jun swallowed dryly. No one had pointed out the change so directly until now.
Most people were too busy gauging the director’s mood, and even those perceptive enough to notice refrained from saying it aloud.
Since possessing , Beom Jun had never been in the presence of a superior before. This situation felt somewhat unfamiliar.
“That’s not what I wanted to discuss.”
But he couldn’t deflect. He had few opportunities to meet with the Chairman, so he needed to resolve this today.
“It won’t do you any good to tell me. Handle it appropriately on your own—quietly.”
The Chairman waved his hand dismissively, uninterested.
“It’ll only take a moment.”
“Stay quiet for three years and step down when your term ends. Isn’t that what I said?”
Never mind six months until he died—what was the point?
The Chairman seemed to have honey on the Go board; Beom Jun simply wasn’t a priority. In the quiet room, he heard the Chairman grip a stone, then the soft clack of placing it on the board.
Beom Jun didn’t back down. He went straight to the point. A man who cared above all about the hospital’s interests wouldn’t simply let this pass.
“I’ve found a way to increase Korea University Hospital’s revenue. For all departments.”
Beom Jun spoke at the back of the Chairman’s head. Finally, the Chairman set down the stone.
[Han Myung Jae has developed curiosity.]
True to the status window, he shifted to face Beom Jun.
“Let’s hear it. But don’t waste my time with nonsense.”
He moved to a table and gestured for Beom Jun to sit.
“I’ve thought of two approaches.”
One was actually fake—a smokescreen to unveil the real plan. Faced with an immovable Chairman, Beom Jun had improvised on the spot.
If he led with something absurd, the next proposal would seem reasonable by comparison.
“Oh? Go on.”
The Chairman’s gray eyebrows lifted with interest.
“First, we sell our patented treatment methods.”
After becoming director, Beom Jun had been surprised to learn Korea University Hospital held exclusive rights to numerous treatment methods. And what shocked him more was that they weren’t making them public.
It really illustrated Korea University Hospital’s rigid stance. In , they were always drunk on pride as the nation’s top hospital.
Holding a patent brought prestige, but it prevented commercialization.
Patients at other hospitals died because they couldn’t access the treatment, and prices rose because remedies couldn’t compete in the market.
Yet they kept it all to themselves?
“That’s our hospital’s asset.”
The Chairman’s tone hardened. As expected, he responded this way.
“It’s only an asset if it makes money. Right now, it doesn’t.”
Beom Jun almost said that things left unused eventually rot, but stopped himself.
“Hmm.”
The Chairman made a groaning sound. He couldn’t refute the logic, but antagonizing the Chairman like this wouldn’t benefit Beom Jun either.
“Just consider it. I’m sure it would help both short-term and long-term.”
Beom Jun took a step back, invoking the gains that appealed to the Chairman.
“I’ll think about it.”
Whatever he said, once something caught his interest, this man wouldn’t let it go lightly. Especially not when Korea University Hospital’s revenue was involved.
“And one more thing.”
Beom Jun spoke again as the Chairman’s interest seemed to fade. The Chairman sighed, having thought the conversation was over.
“What now.”
The corners of his mouth drooped in a parabola. This old man’s cheeks were full of spite.
“Let’s shoot a promotional film for Korea University Hospital. A documentary would be even better.”
The Chairman’s expression, which had been maintaining some decorum, crumpled instantly.
“What?”
Promoting Korea University Hospital domestically? Until now, no one had seen the need. Doctors least of all.
To them, Korea University Hospital was a place patients sought out of their own accord. They had worked hard to build the reputation and skill to deserve that.
What kind of nonsensical thing was this?
[Han Myung Jae has developed hostility toward you.]
Seeing the status window, Beom Jun continued calmly.
“We need to reach out to patients first. I’m not suggesting we manufacture false appearances. We should make Korea University Hospital’s sincerity known.”
Beom Jun began persuading the rigid Chairman.
“Ha! That’s what newly opened neighborhood clinics do! Don’t demean Korea University Hospital by lumping us with such things!”
But the Chairman came back forcefully. Horizontal creases crawled like worms across his forehead.
He couldn’t explain everything Korea University Hospital would accomplish in the future, so it probably sounded preposterous to him.
Yet Beom Jun didn’t shrink from the Chairman’s words. Unable to do it out of pride—how pathetically wasteful. Clinging to hollow prestige like that.
“Korea University Hospital may be ranked first domestically now, but surely you realize we can’t hold that position forever.”
Han Myung Jae had spent decades here, starting as a student at Korea University Medical School, then intern, resident, fellow, professor, department head, director, and now Chairman—as if he’d buried his bones in this place.
Standing in a position everyone revered, he’d grown accustomed to looking down at people.
“What did we do while other hospitals were growing? We just linger on government funding because we’re supposedly national. Honestly, it’s embarrassing.”
Beom Jun struck at the Chairman’s pride. Korea University Hospital’s financial difficulties had been ongoing—unknown to the outside world, but the Chairman himself must have been suffering over it.
“Our time will come again. And besides, there’s no way anyone at Korea University Hospital would seriously push for something like that. Stop talking nonsense.”
Beom Jun found a opening in the Chairman’s words.
“How can you be so sure of that?”
Beom Jun let out a scoff, laughing as if he found it absurd.
He recalled the status window he’d seen earlier. The Thoracic Surgery Department’s Control Level was at Stage 2, after all.
“Once I find a doctor willing, we’re filming. Don’t come up with excuses later.”

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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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