The director’s office of OO Hospital.
Seong-jun had stopped by the hospital to cast Cure and God’s Miracle.
Upon hearing that the hospital director requested a brief meeting, he headed to the office.
“Haha, I’ve heard so much about you, but this is the first time we’ve met. It’s a pleasure. I am Hwang Gyu-seok, the director of this hospital.”
When the white-haired director offered a handshake with a smile, Seong-jun smiled back and took his hand.
“Ah, yes. Nice to meet you. I’m Kim Seong-jun.”
After a light handshake, the director and Seong-jun took their seats.
As he sat down, Seong-jun observed the director closely.
‘Hmm. I figured we’d meet eventually, but it doesn’t feel like he called me just to exchange greetings. It feels like he has an ulterior motive. What is it?’
Even though he cast Cure under the approval of the department heads, he was still performing medical acts at OO Hospital.
He had expected to meet the director at least once.
However, judging by the atmosphere, this was not just a social call.
Sensing an underlying intention, Seong-jun decided to verify it first.
‘I’ll find out soon enough. Deep Analysis.’
Seong-jun immediately cast Deep Analysis on the director.
[Analysis Result]
Name: Hwang Gyu-seok [Civilian]
Reliability: 39
Psychological State: [He intends to expand his business by utilizing Seong-jun, a high-grade healer who has recently gained massive fame. He plans to tie Seong-jun down with a contract to prepare for any potential variables, aiming to create a new profit model while simultaneously raising the hospital’s brand recognition.]
After checking Hwang Gyu-seok’s psychological state, Seong-jun felt a cold smile forming internally.
‘Hah! Look at this guy. So, you want to use me to make money and boost the hospital’s reputation? And you’re planning to bind me with a contract for that?’
Having grasped what Hwang Gyu-seok was thinking through Deep Analysis, Seong-jun relaxed into his seat.
Now that he knew the goal, he simply had to respond accordingly.
“South Korea has been buzzing with talk about you lately, Healer Kim Seong-jun. I guessed you were a high-grade healer since you were alleviating diseases with Cure, but I had no idea you were this incredible.”
The director opened the conversation with praise.
Seong-jun replied with a smile.
“Incredible? Hardly. The media is just making a fuss over something minor. Anyway, you said you wanted to see me.”
As Seong-jun moved straight to the point, the director adjusted his posture and spoke seriously.
“I was worried I might be a bother, but I’m glad to hear it’s been helpful.”
“Haha, a bother? Not at all. Your presence alone is a huge help to this hospital. Moreover, I heard you’ve decided to treat those suffering from physical disabilities due to accidents here.”
Seong-jun planned to make his rounds through the Gastroenterology and Respiratory Internal Medicine departments to cast Cure on critical patients first, then take his time to perform diagnoses.
He needed to determine if treatment was possible before proceeding.
“Yes. Chief Jeong Seong-sik made the suggestion, and it seemed like a good idea to me, so I accepted. I believe you’ve already given your approval, Director.”
“Ah, yes. That’s correct. The reason I brought this up is that more people are visiting the hospital for that reason than expected. Since the decision was sudden, we weren’t fully prepared. We’ve set up a separate area in the Orthopedics ward for now, but we can’t accommodate everyone. The rest had to receive waiting numbers and go home. That’s why I’m suggesting this—what if we establish a brand-new ward specifically for those patients? However, for that to happen, I need a firm commitment that you will come to the hospital on a regular basis.”
If they built a new ward for disability patients and Seong-jun suddenly stopped showing up or moved to another hospital, it would be a major problem for them.
It seemed he wanted to settle this point clearly.
Seong-jun spoke with a firm voice.
“A new ward? There’s no need to go that far. Just maintain the existing system and accept the patients who come for my treatment in any available space. That will be enough.”
The director looked flustered by Seong-jun’s response.
“What? But… if we do that, we can only take in a minimum number of people. There’s already a line of patients wanting your treatment…”
As the director tried to list various excuses, Seong-jun cut him off.
“Director.”
Seong-jun’s expression was blank as he interrupted.
“…”
The director fell silent and looked at Seong-jun.
“Do you really think I don’t know what you’re intending? You’re trying to create a new profit model through me and expand your business. And you want to bind me with some form of contract to eliminate any variables. Am I wrong?”
The director jumped in surprise.
“Gasp! H-How did you…”
The words slipped out before the director could stop himself, and he quickly covered his mouth with his hand.
Seong-jun looked at him with a thin smile.
“Director, the reason I use Cure on patients here is strictly out of goodwill. It’s a form of volunteer work. This activity might be postponed or delayed for a long time depending on my situation, and I can stop whenever I feel like it. That was the premise from the start. Why would someone like me have any reason to be tied down by something called a contract?”
From Seong-jun’s perspective, he had to perform Unpaid Good Deeds to increase his title experience.
He couldn’t afford the variable of a contract.
While he wasn’t certain yet, the moment he signed a contract, his actions might no longer be considered “unpaid.”
But more importantly, if he were tied down by a contract, he wouldn’t be able to quit whenever he wanted.
“Sigh. I don’t know how you found out, but since you already know, there’s no helping it. You’re right. To be honest, your mere existence has a massive impact on this hospital. At the same time, you are bringing in significant profit. That’s why I wanted to keep you here by any means necessary.”
Since the other party already knew everything, making excuses would only make him look pathetic.
The director confessed everything honestly.
Watching the director, Seong-jun spoke again.
“I happened to start casting Cure at this hospital, but it doesn’t necessarily have to be this hospital. If you do anything to distort my goodwill or try to chain me down, I will leave this place without a single regret.”
The director wasn’t the only one who wanted to eliminate variables.
Seong-jun also didn’t want any factors affecting the condition of his Unpaid Good Deed.
That was why he threatened to go elsewhere if the director kept bringing up contracts.
If the director told him to go, he would go.
To put it bluntly, what hospital would refuse a high-grade healer offering to use Cure for free?
The director panicked.
“N-No! Haha, let’s forget I ever mentioned a contract. You can just come whenever you want and do as you please, Healer Kim.”
If Seong-jun left for another hospital, OO Hospital would be left staring blankly like a dog chasing a chicken that flew onto a roof.
Even without a formal contract, having Seong-jun see patients through OO Hospital was an enormous benefit.
“I’m glad to hear that. We’ll leave it at that, then. Instead—if you can even call it that—if you want to create a new profit model using my presence, feel free to do so. I plan to continue this for a while. That is, if you can handle the instability of knowing I’m not tied down here. Furthermore, there must be thorough discussion with me regardless of what you do.”
He had to consistently come to the hospital for Unpaid Good Deeds for a while anyway to raise his title level.
Besides, hadn’t he told the people who visited his house to go to OO Hospital?
Unless something special happened, he wouldn’t suddenly stop what he had been doing.
That was why Seong-jun told him to go ahead with his profit models if he was willing to accept the risk.
He felt he could offer that much consideration.
“Ah, yes! I understand. I will think about that more carefully. And I don’t know if I should mention this, but… ahem. Actually, requests are flooding in from other departments wanting your help as well. If it’s okay with you, could you take a look at other departments too? Oh! Of course, if you find it too difficult, I’ll cut them off myself.”
As rumors spread that Seong-jun was using Cure at OO Hospital, patients swamped not only Gastroenterology and Respiratory Internal Medicine but other departments as well.
In particular, many terminally ill or severely ill patients came with the hope that they might improve after receiving Seong-jun’s Cure.
“Well, the number of critical patients in Gastroenterology and Respiratory Internal Medicine has decreased significantly compared to the beginning. I think it’s about time to expand the scope. However, increasing it all at once is a burden, so I’ll add one more department for now. Please recommend one department with a high ratio of critical patients, Director.”
Thanks to Seong-jun’s consistent use of Cure, the critical patient count in those two departments had dropped.
Adding a new department seemed like a good idea.
However, adding too many at once would be overwhelming, so he decided to start with one.
‘It’s actually perfect since the title leveling speed has slowed down because there are fewer critical patients. Once a new department is added, I can level up the title quickly for a while.’
The efficiency of the title was better than expected, so he couldn’t neglect it.
He planned to work hard until he reached the maximum level for his current titles.
After chatting a bit more with the director, Seong-jun stood up to go see his patients.
—
The next day, in front of a C-grade Dungeon portal in Gyeonggi Province.
Three people gathered to enter a dungeon for the first time in a long while.
“It feels like it’s been forever since we entered a dungeon.”
“Tell me about it. Between the B-rank Dungeon Break and the A-rank Dungeon raid, it’s been hectic. But Seong-jun, why is that person here?”
Yuseon pointed toward a person who seemed out of place: Karl Buckman.
“Sigh. I told him I was going to raid a dungeon, and he insisted on following me.”
Since he was entering the dungeon early in the morning, Seong-jun had told Karl that treatments would happen around 7:00 PM today.
But upon hearing he was going to a dungeon, Karl Buckman insisted on coming along.
Despite Seong-jun’s attempts to dissuade him, Karl followed him all the way here.
“Wow! I never thought I’d see one of the top ten dealers in the world in my lifetime.”
When Karl Buckman was active as a full S-rank, his dealer ranking was 11th in the world, and he was ranked 4th among melee dealers.
There were only three melee hunters in the entire world stronger than him.
Of course, that was before his ranking plummeted after losing an arm.
“Anyway, how do we handle the distribution? We can’t touch Seong-jun’s share, so should we split it from our portions?”
When Yuseon asked about the distribution ratio, Karl Buckman smiled.
“Hey, don’t worry. I’m just here to help Seong-jun. Naturally, I’m opting out of the distribution.”
Karl Buckman followed despite Seong-jun’s protests purely to help him.
Although he was being treated in exchange for a fair price, Seong-jun had given him hope of regaining his lost arm.
As a small token of gratitude, he decided to provide free assistance until his treatment was complete.
“Oh! You’re opting out? Then we’re more than happy! With an S-rank dealer in the party, hunting is going to be incredibly fast, right?”
Gwang-taek looked excited.
Even with only one arm, Karl Buckman was skilled enough to easily overpower an A-rank.
That was why he was able to lead the first team of the Holy Emperor.
“Enough about that. Let’s just go in. As you know, this dungeon is a recently generated dark-attribute C-grade dungeon, the Ghoul Labyrinth. Ghouls, which are mid-level undead, are the main monsters. Since it’s dark-attribute, we won’t have much trouble. Let’s go.”
The Ghoul Labyrinth was a fresh dark-attribute dungeon, making it an optimal place for the party members to hunt together for the first time in a while.
As Seong-jun finished speaking and entered the portal first, Gwang-taek, Yuseon, and finally Karl Buckman followed him inside.
*Whoosh! Whoosh!*
As they stepped through the portal into the dungeon entrance, they saw several parties getting ready to hunt.
Some of them recognized Seong-jun.
“Huh? Isn’t that Seong-jun? Haha! Nice to see you! I didn’t expect to run into you here.”
“Oh! Look who it is! Isn’t that the Saint, Seong-jun? Hahaha!”
These were all people Seong-jun had met back when he was casting buffs in D-grade dungeons.
It seemed they had moved up to C-grade dungeon parties within their guild.
“Haha, long time no see. Has everyone been doing well?”
“We’re the ones who should be asking you that! You were amazing during that B-rank Dungeon Break, and I heard you raided an A-rank dungeon with Changcheon. Wow! I was so shocked when I heard the news. Oh! That’s right! I also heard you were A-rank? Hah! I knew you were extraordinary, but I never guessed A-rank. Anyway, are you giving out buffs today? You’re not going to skip us just because you’re famous, are you?”
Those who had received Seong-jun’s buffs could not easily forget the experience.
They had felt the difference with their entire bodies.
“I still have a long way to go to level up my skills. Of course I’ll give them to you. Just a moment.”
After asking them to wait, Seong-jun cast his skills.
‘All-in-One! Wide Area Mode! Healing Light! Wide Area Mode!’
Even though there weren’t many people at the entrance, he cast Wide Area Mode because it was too tedious to buff everyone individually.
*Flash!*
As All-in-One and Healing Light were cast in Wide Area Mode, the effects applied to everyone at the entrance.
“Ooh! Is this the buff of the Saint, Kim Seong-jun? This is incredible!”
“M-My god! Is this increase in stats for real?”
“Whoa! What… what is this! The increase is completely different from before! S-Seong-jun! What happened?”
Both those receiving Seong-jun’s All-in-One for the first time and those who had received it before were equally shocked.
Most of the people gathered here were B-grade or C-grade, yet with a single buff, their stats had surpassed the average of an A-rank.
Meanwhile, Karl Buckman, who was part of Seong-jun’s party, was just as stunned.
‘C-Crazy! This is a buff? A buff can be this powerful? That’s impossible!’
The Holy Emperor had several high-grade buffers, but they only provided a bit of help during hunts.
None of them could grant such an overwhelming buff.
“Haha, well, good luck with your hunt. If we run into each other inside, I’ll buff you again. We’ll be going now.”
As Seong-jun prepared to leave, the others waved.
“Seong-jun! Thanks! We’re going to have a great day thanks to you. Let’s meet up outside the dungeon later! It’s my treat!”
“If anyone gives you trouble, let us know! Whoever it is, we’ll crush them for you! Hahaha!”
The hunters who received the buffs shouted their farewells as they waved.
***
Deep inside the dungeon.
Several individuals wearing deep hoods were gathered.
One of them pulled something from their cloak.
“Is that the device? The one that lets us summon elites even if the clear rate isn’t at 90%?”
What was this?
It was established theory that elites only appeared when the clear rate exceeded 90%, and that rule had never been broken until now.
Yet, they spoke of a device that could trigger the summon early.
“That’s right. It doesn’t just summon elites; it has the effect of drawing general monsters toward them. In literal terms, it creates a small wave within the dungeon. Furthermore, it temporarily turns a General Dungeon into a Closed Dungeon. It’s not perfect yet, so the lockdown only lasts for 12 hours, but with a bit more research, we’ll be able to turn general dungeons into permanent Closed Dungeons.”
It was a device that not only accelerated elite summons but also possessed the ability to convert a General Dungeon into a Closed Dungeon.
“If this works properly, we can kill any hunter we want. We’d just have to enter the dungeon they’re in and activate this.”
If a dungeon became locked and the monsters gathered in one place to create a wave?
There weren’t many hunters who could withstand a wave of thousands of monsters.
Especially since this was a wave occurring inside a dungeon, large-scale groups of hunters couldn’t form defensive lines like they did during a Dungeon Break.
Most importantly, since it would be converted into a Closed Dungeon, it would be difficult to hope for outside help.
In short, if there was someone they wanted dead, they just had to activate this device in that person’s dungeon.
“This is our first dungeon test, so I can’t guarantee it will work perfectly. If things go wrong, we might all have to put our lives on the line. But if this succeeds, we will finally be able to move on to the next stage.”
“Are you talking about the Forced Dungeon Break? Hehehe, if that becomes possible, it will be truly fantastic.”
A Forced Dungeon Break?
Until now, Dungeon Breaks had only occurred through Break Dungeons, allowing for a rapid response as soon as one appeared.
However, if a General Dungeon could trigger a Dungeon Break, no one would know when or where the next one would occur.
It meant the entire world could fall into absolute panic.