"A Holy War?"
Victor stood atop the lookout tower, listening to the terrifying news the old hunter John had brought back, yet his face remained expressionless.
He merely took a slow, deliberate sip of his goji berry tea, which had already gone cold.
"I see."
"Di... Director?"
John stared at Victor’s excessively calm reaction, completely dumbfounded.
"That is the Holy Light Church! A crusade of thirty thousand men! And the Saintess herself is leading them!"
"How... how can you not be the least bit worried?"
"Worried about what?"
Victor asked in return, his tone making it sound like common sense.
"Let the soldiers meet the generals, and the earth block the flood."
"Even if the sky falls, Nidhogg is there to hold it up."
He pointed at the black "mountain" at the base of the tower, which was currently snoring.
The corrupted dragon Nidhogg seemed to sense his master’s call. He lazily opened one eye, let out a yawn that reeked of sulfur, then rolled over and went back to sleep.
John: "..."
He felt like his brain waves would never be in sync with this director’s.
"Besides, old man John."
Victor turned around and patted the old hunter on the shoulder, a smile full of "business savvy" appearing on his face.
"Don't you think... this is an opportunity?"
"An opportunity?" John was even more confused.
"Think about it."
Victor spoke with persuasive charm.
"An army of thirty thousand, traveling a long distance to reach this middle-of-nowhere place. They won't eat well, they won't sleep well, and they'll struggle to adapt to the climate."
"Once the fighting starts, getting bumped or bruised, losing an arm or a leg—isn't that perfectly normal?"
"When that happens, will they go to those priests who only know how to chant for 'Holy Light healing,' or will they come to our professional hospital capable of limb reattachment and bringing the dead back to life (paid version)?"
"These... these are thirty thousand potential clients!"
Victor became more excited as he spoke, his eyes gleaming with the ecstasy of seeing his KPIs about to blow through the roof.
"War profits are the easiest to make!"
John looked at Victor's face, which was practically screaming "greed," and felt his knees go weak.
He finally understood.
This Director...
He didn't see the Holy Light Church as an enemy at all.
He saw them as...
"VIP clients" to boost his year-end performance.
"Alright, enough about that."
Victor waved his hand; the war could be planned for later.
The urgent matter was something far more important.
He opened the system interface and looked at the string of numbers in his account that made his heart race every time he saw them.
【Account Balance: 108,560 Points.】
One hundred thousand!
After pulling Nidhogg’s "cavity," his points had surpassed six digits for the first time in history!
This massive sum would be a waste if it were only used to buy compressed rations and scalpels.
"System!"
Victor declared with a grand wave of his hand, full of heroic spirit.
"I want to expand! I want to upgrade!"
"This current little dinky castle doesn't even have a proper ICU. It's too pathetic!"
"It doesn't match my status as a 'Physician-in-Charge (Pseudo-Demigod)'!"
"Initiate the Phase II expansion project for me!"
"My goal is—"
Victor opened his arms as if embracing the entire world.
"The sea of stars... no, wait, it's to build the top-tier, five-star, world-renowned number one—"
"Integrated Medical Center on the Ogriss continent!"
【Command confirmed.】
【Planning 'Phase II Project' scheme...】
【Scheme generated. Please confirm, Host.】
A blue architectural blueprint, ten times more complex than the previous one, slowly unfurled before Victor.
【Benevolent Heart Clinic 2.0 — 'Saint Victor’s Dark Sanitarium'】
【Main Structure: Upgrade from a 'three-story small castle' to a 'nine-story Gothic main building' + 'East and West Wing Inpatient Departments.'】
【New Functional Modules:】
【Outpatient Hall】: Can accommodate five hundred people for registration and consultation simultaneously.
【Intensive Care Unit (ICU)】: Equipped with an automated life support system.
【Plastic Surgery and Cosmetology Department】: Meets the aesthetic needs of high-end clients.
【Psychiatric Department (VIP Isolation Zone)】: Dedicated to detaining and 'treating' mentally unstable, dangerous elements.
【Employee Dormitory】 and 【Luxury Director’s Office】.
【Estimated Point Consumption: 80,000 points.】
【Confirm upgrade?】
"Confirm! Immediately! Right now!"
Victor pressed the button without the slightest hesitation.
What were points for?
Points were for spending!
BOOM—!!!!
As the button was pressed...
A roar ten times louder than the previous expansion echoed from deep beneath the clinic.
The entire castle, along with the ground for thousands of meters around it, began to tremble violently.
It was as if an ancient giant beast that had slept for ten thousand years was awakening from the depths.
"A... Again?!"
The Bone Sovereign Aur, who was currently grooming his Mohawk in the backyard, was so startled that he dropped his comb.
He thought the ancient god's heart had exploded again.
"Don't be nervous! Routine operation!"
Victor’s voice broadcasted across the entire territory through the speaker system.
"Attention everyone! The hospital is undergoing an internal renovation and upgrade! Please wear your safety helmets and do not wander onto the construction site!"
As soon as he finished speaking.
RUMBLE—!!!
Under the terrified gazes of all the monsters.
That black castle, which was already grand enough, actually...
Began to sprout from the ground like a bamboo shoot!
The foundation sank, and a new, even more massive foundation welled up from beneath the earth.
The walls cracked open as more black megaliths carved with eerie reliefs appeared out of thin air, wrapping, merging, and expanding the original structure.
Countless spires grew upward like mushrooms after rain, piercing the clouds.
Two side wings, shaped like the feathers of a giant beast, extended from both sides of the main building, encompassing the entire backyard.
A massive magic circle unfolded in the sky, raining down golden light.
That was the system performing 'solidification' and 'enchantment.'
The entire process was filled with a mythic sense of epic scale and the violence aesthetics of the Industrial Revolution.
Half an hour later.
When the last wisp of golden light dissipated.
A magnificent structure, beyond the description of any language, stood in the center of the Eternal Night Peninsula.
It was no longer a castle.
It was a... city.
A medical city of dark Gothic style, composed of countless spires, arches, gargoyles, and stained glass.
The main building soared into the clouds, with the massive bone-red cross symbol at the top radiating a heart-pounding sacred (evil) light under the sun.
The Inpatient Departments of the east and west wings stood like the open arms of a giant beast, guarding the core area.
Even the small bone path at the entrance had been expanded into a 'grand thoroughfare' that could accommodate ten carriages side-by-side.
And at the most prominent position by the main gate...
There was an additional, luxurious-looking small house built of pure white marble.
A gold-lettered sign hung on the lintel of the house—
【Security Post】.
The old hunter John looked at that 'Gatekeeper's Room,' which was more luxurious than the house he used to live in, and was moved to tears.
He had finally...
Upgraded from a vagrant sleeping on a haystack to a security guard with his own private office.
...
"Whew... refreshing."
Victor stood in his brand-new Director’s Office on the top floor of the main building, which featured 360-degree panoramic floor-to-ceiling windows. He felt like he had reached the peak of his life.
Eighty thousand points had evaporated in an instant.
But he didn't feel the slightest bit of regret.
Because all of this was too worth it.
The current Benevolent Heart Clinic finally looked like a "general hospital."
All sorts of departments were present, and the equipment was advanced.
Never mind treating a broken leg or mental illness—even if he had to perform a heart transplant on a dragon, he now had the confidence to succeed.
"Excellent."
Victor nodded with satisfaction.
The hardware facilities were in place.
Next...
He just had to wait for the "customer flow."
And as it turned out, he didn't have to wait very long.
"Director! This is bad!"
Alice suddenly ran up from downstairs, her delicate little face filled with anxiety.
"What's wrong?"
"There are... too many people!"
Alice pointed out the window.
"Those monsters who were scared away before... I don't know why... but they've all come back!"
Victor walked to the window and looked in the direction she was pointing.
On the vast open ground outside the clinic...
Right now, it was packed with thousands of dark, crowding...
Monsters.
Cyclopes, ogres, harpies, goblins, kobolds...
There were even some bizarre creatures he had never seen before.
They were all covered in bruises and swollen faces, missing arms and legs, looking utterly wretched.
Clearly, they were all victims of the recent "renovation."
But now, the look in their eyes as they gazed at this magnificent castle was no longer one of fear or hostility.
Instead, it was a complex gaze mixed with awe, fanaticism, and... a thirst for knowledge.
"A... a miracle!"
An ogre with three broken ribs knelt on the ground, tears streaming down his face.
"To be able to build such a temple in an instant... He must be the incarnation of the God of Construction and Earth in the mortal realm!"
"That's right! I just felt half of my osteoporosis being cured by that golden light!"
A harpy missing half a wing echoed with excitement.
"How is this a demon's den? This is clearly a holy land that can heal all things!"
"Divine Doctor! We want to see the Divine Doctor!"
"I think my waist was snapped by a falling rock! Please, Divine Doctor, take a look!"
"My head! My head was shaken just now, and now it feels like things are sloshing around inside! Do I have a concussion?"
A siege that was originally full of hostility had, under the system’s "miraculous" infrastructure capability, been turned into...
An unprecedentedly large-scale... medical dispute... no, a massive scene of people seeking medical help.
Victor watched the group of monsters downstairs nearly coming to blows again as they fought for "registration slots," and felt his temples throbbing.
He picked up the megaphone and took a deep breath.
"Stop crowding! Line up!"
"If you keep pushing... believe it or not, I'll turn you all into specimens!"
However, this time...
His threat seemed to have the opposite effect.
"Turn into a specimen? Great! I heard that lets you stay young forever!"
"I want to sign up! I'm first!"
"Get lost! I was here first!"
Watching the completely out-of-control scene below, Victor rubbed the bridge of his nose, a happy yet painful expression appearing on his face.
"Dammit."
"Even with the expansion..."
"I can't handle this much traffic."
Rate on N.U.
