Three days later.
At the entrance of the Benevolent Heart Clinic, a deeply moving scene was unfolding.
"Miraculous doctor! You are the greatest benefactor of our goblin race!"
The goblin leader clung to Victor's leg, weeping so hard that snot and tears ran together.
Behind him, that gluttonous magic boar, which had undergone three days of 'post-operative observation,' was happily... gnawing on a carrot.
Yes, a carrot.
After the inhumane 'gastric reduction surgery,' its stomach capacity had been forcibly shrunk to one-third of its original size.
While it could no longer swallow a whole cow in one meal as it once did, the benefits were obvious.
The blocked pylorus had been cleared, the internal organs that had been squeezed for years returned to their original positions, and its body—which had been on the verge of collapse due to over-nutrition—had miraculously regained its vitality.
Most importantly, it could finally taste food again!
Even if it was just a small carrot, it ate with tears in its eyes, as if it were the ultimate delicacy.
"Alright, alright, stop crying."
Victor peeled the goblin off his leg with a look of disgust.
"Remember to take your medicine on time when you get back. Strictly control its diet; no more binge eating. If it ruptures its stomach again, the next surgery fee will be doubled."
"Of course, of course! We will definitely supervise the Great King's weight loss!"
The goblin leader, overflowing with gratitude, led the 'successfully slimmed down' Great King away.
Before leaving, he left behind an entire chest of sparkling gems as the medical fee, making Elizabeth grin from ear to ear.
"Phew... another one solved."
Victor stretched his limbs, feeling he had moved one step closer to the path of the 'God of Medicine.'
However.
Just as he was about to return inside for a cup of coffee and a rest—
"AAAAAHHHH!!!"
A shrill, ear-piercing female scream exploded in the clinic lobby without warning.
The sound was sharp, high-pitched, and filled with endless pain and resentment. The sound waves were so intense they shattered a row of glass beakers on the counter.
Crash! Crash! Crash!
"My beakers!"
Elizabeth screamed in distress; those were high-end goods she had just exchanged from the system mall!
Victor's eardrums buzzed from the sudden 'soprano' blast, nearly deafening him on the spot.
"What's going on?!"
Covering his ears, he glared angrily toward the source of the noise.
In the center of the lobby, at some unknown point, a... no, a mass of black shadow floating in mid-air had appeared.
It was a female phantom.
She wore a tattered black dress, and her skin possessed a corpse-like pallor.
Most striking were the things wrapped around her.
Coils of black chains with sharp spikes, like venomous snakes, tightly bound her limbs, torso, and even her neck.
Those spikes were driven deep into her soul, forcing her to endure the excruciating pain of a thousand cuts at every moment.
"Ah—! It hurts! It hurts so much—!"
The female ghost clutched her head, rolling and screaming frantically in mid-air, her voice filled with hysterical despair.
"Is that... the Queen of Pain?"
Elizabeth recognized the uninvited guest, her expression turning somber.
"A high-rank vengeful spirit that feeds on pain and uses it as power. Legend has it they were women who were tortured to death. After death, their resentment lingers, turning them into messengers who spread suffering."
"The chains on her body are the manifestation of her own soul power. The more pain she feels, the stronger her power and the more destructive her screams."
"In simple terms, she's a source of noise pollution."
Victor's summary was simple and blunt.
He watched the soprano who was about to shake the clinic's ceiling down, his brow furrowed.
"How did she get in? What about our defense system?"
"Reporting to the Director, she... she crawled in through the sewer."
Alice poked her head out from the side, pointing an innocent finger at the drainage hole on the floor that was still emitting black mist.
"..."
Victor took a deep breath.
It seemed he would have to install a filter in the sewers too.
"Ah—! Why! Why must I endure this endless pain!"
The Queen of Pain was still screaming.
Her voice had begun to carry a physical psychic impact, causing the nearby skeleton guards to crouch and cover their heads. The soul fires in their eyes flickered like candles about to be snuffed out.
Even Mia bared her teeth in irritation, letting out a threatening low growl from her throat.
"Shut up!"
Victor finally reached his limit.
With a furious shout, he activated 【Doctor's Pressure】.
That terrifying aura, a mixture of disinfectant and formalin, expanded instantly, forcibly suppressing the Queen of Pain's screams.
The Queen of Pain froze.
For the first time, her eyes—distorted by agony—focused on Victor.
"Who... who are you?"
"I am the Director here."
Victor pointed to the red cross emblem on his chest, his tone icy.
"Madam, you are currently severely disrupting the normal medical order of my clinic and have caused significant damage to our public property."
He pointed at the pile of glass shards on the floor.
"According to regulations, I now have the right to subject you to mandatory... treatment."
"Treatment? Hahahaha!"
The Queen of Pain acted as if she had heard the greatest joke in the world, letting out a piercing, mad laugh.
"My pain is my power! My screams are my weapons! How can you treat me? Kill me? I've already died once!"
"No, no, no."
Victor shook his head.
He activated the 【True Sight Eye】, scanning the female ghost covered in 'nails' from head to toe.
【Patient: Queen of Pain (High-Rank Vengeful Spirit)】
【Diagnosis: Hyperalgesia (Neurological-type)】
【Etiology: During the soul transformation process, the neural circuits responsible for conducting pain were abnormally amplified by ten thousand times, causing her to have a violent pain response to even the slightest stimulus.】
【Comprehensive Evaluation: A poor internet-addicted girl living in a 250ms delay world because the network cable signal is too good.】
After reading the diagnostic report, Victor understood instantly.
This girl didn't like pain.
Rather, her 'pain threshold' was too low.
If someone else was pricked by a needle, they might just say 'ouch.'
If a breeze blew on her, she probably felt like someone was rubbing sandpaper back and forth across her face.
"I can cure your illness."
Victor looked at the Queen of Pain, a professional smile full of confidence appearing on his face.
"And it's quite simple."
"Nonsense! My pain is an innate curse! No one can break it!" the Queen of Pain shrieked in rebuttal.
"A curse?"
Victor laughed.
"In my eyes, there are no so-called curses—only illnesses that have yet to be conquered."
He wasted no more words and turned toward the operating room.
A moment later.
He emerged pushing an equipment cart that looked like it was specifically for neurosurgery.
On the cart was a row of shimmering, extremely precise...
Nerve probes and micro-scalpels.
"What are you trying to do?!"
The Queen of Pain watched those gleaming tools, instinctively feeling a wave of unease.
"Don't be nervous."
Victor picked up the thinnest probe, its end connected to a wire, and waved it under the light.
"The reason you feel pain is because there's a problem with your pain signal transmission."
"In simple terms, your 'pain' switch is broken and stuck in the 'on' position."
"And what I'm going to do is help you turn that switch... off temporarily."
As Victor spoke, he signaled Alice and Elizabeth.
"Hold her down."
"Yes, Director."
"Hmph, don't underestimate me."
Alice's suture threads and Elizabeth's blood whips flew out simultaneously, instantly binding the screaming Queen of Pain into a motionless cocoon.
"Let me go! You demons!"
The Queen of Pain struggled frantically.
But Victor ignored her protests entirely.
He held the nerve probe, which was thinner than a strand of hair, and brought it close to the Queen of Pain's pale face.
His gaze was focused and calm, as if he were not facing a screaming vengeful spirit, but a precision circuit board in need of repair.
"Don't move."
"This might feel a bit numb."
Victor's wrist flicked.
With an inconceivable angle and speed, the probe—flickering with a faint electrical light—accurately pierced the back of the Queen of Pain's neck. That was the weakest point where the soul core connected to the nerve center.
Zzt—
A faint sound of electricity rang out.
The Queen of Pain's body jerked and went stiff.
Her face, which had been distorted by extreme agony, froze instantly.
The world...
Fell silent.
The excruciating pain that had tortured her for centuries—that never-ending tide—vanished in this single moment.
It disappeared without a trace.
It was as if someone had pressed the mute button.
"Uh..."
The Queen of Pain was stunned.
In disbelief, she moved her arm that was pierced by the chains.
It didn't hurt.
She tried twisting her bound neck.
Still no pain.
It felt like someone who had been wearing headphones blasting static for centuries had suddenly had them ripped off.
The entire world felt empty and surreal.
"What... what happened?" her voice trembled.
"It's simple," Victor said flatly as he withdrew the probe.
"I used a micro-current to temporarily block the pain signal transmission of your 'fifth cranial nerve' and 'spinothalamic tract.'"
"In short, you can't feel pain right now."
Can't feel pain?
The Queen of Pain instinctively wanted to scream—it had been her reflex for centuries.
She opened her mouth and used all her strength to let out a standard "Ah—" syllable.
However.
What emerged from her mouth was no longer a shrill, glass-shattering shriek.
Instead, it was a burst of...
"Hahahaha—hic!"
A boisterous, almost foolish, hearty laugh.
"Hahahahahaha!"
As she laughed, she touched her throat in disbelief.
"What's going on? I clearly wanted to scream! Why am I laughing?"
"Because you can't feel pain anymore," Victor explained.
"Screaming was your way of venting pain. Since the pain is gone, your body automatically interpreted that venting method as... joy."
"Joy... joy?"
The Queen of Pain stared blankly at her hands.
Then, she tried to scream again.
"Hahahaha—!!"
The laughter grew louder.
She even rolled around in mid-air from laughing so hard, black tears streaming from the corners of her eyes.
"It doesn't hurt! It really doesn't hurt! Hahahaha!"
"Such a strange feeling... haha... I'm not used to it..."
"But... hahahaha... this feels great!"
Elizabeth and Alice watched dumbfounded as the female ghost, who had been wailing just a second ago, now laughed like a three-hundred-pound idiot.
They turned their heads in unison, looking at Victor with expressions one might use for a god—or a lunatic.
This man...
Just how many ways did he have to drive someone crazy?
"Ahem."
Victor cleared his throat, very satisfied with the result.
He walked up to the still-cackling Queen of Pain, a genial smile on his face.
"Madam, see? You feel much better now, don't you?"
"Much... much better! Hahahaha!"
"In that case..."
Victor rubbed his hands together, flashing a fox-like smile.
"Shouldn't we discuss the matter of the treatment fees?"
Rate on N.U.
