Sunlight pierced the mist.
“Cough, cough...”
Gru, the goblin scout, jerked violently as he jolted awake from unconsciousness.
His first sensation was pain.
A phantom agony, as if a giant hammer were smashing into his bone marrow, made him clutch his head and scream, “Don't hit me anymore! I don't have any money! I don't want the treatment!”
The air was silent.
There was no hammer, no human with a demonic smile, and no terrifying little girl with scissors.
Only the cold morning wind.
Gru tremblingly touched his right leg.
A splat was tied there, wrapped in bandages.
He tried moving his toes.
They weren't broken?
He tried to stand up. Though it was swollen and painful, the main bone supporting his body was indeed straight and hard.
It was really... fixed?
Gru widened his cloudy little eyes, staring at the clinic’s tightly shut doors.
The ferocious face of that man raising the hammer flashed through his mind.
Along with that soul-shuddering phrase—'physical bone setting.'
A chill rushed straight to the top of his skull.
“A devil... he’s absolutely a devil!”
Gru let out a strange shriek. Ignoring his injuries, he scrambled and crawled, lunging into the forest.
He had to escape!
The further, the better!
...
Deep within the Blackthorn Forest, at the goblin camp.
“Help! Great Chief! Help!”
Gru dragged his splinted leg, rushing in like a madman with snot and tears covering his face.
“Gru? You’re not dead?”
The old shaman looked at him in surprise. “We all thought a wolf had carried you off.”
“Almost! Just a little bit more!”
Gru collapsed on the ground, shaking like a leaf.
“I met a human... a pervert wearing a bloodstained white robe!”
Hearing the word “human,” the surrounding goblins greedily licked their lips.
“Is he weak?”
A warrior raised a spiked club. “Let’s go rob him!”
“No! Don't go!”
Gru grabbed the warrior’s leg in terror, his voice shrill.
“He isn't human! He’s a demon! A lunatic who enjoys torturing us!”
He pointed at the splint on his leg, accusing through tears, “He caught me and tied me to a cold, icy table.”
“He brought out a massive iron hammer used for sieges! And he smashed my broken leg, blow by blow!”
“He was laughing while he hit me! He even asked if it hurt!”
“I fainted, but then he woke me up again and told me I could go back next time for a discount... He wants to break my leg all over again!”
Hiss—
The surrounding goblins gasped.
Smashing bones to pieces and then putting them back together? And asking if it hurts with a smile?
What kind of perverted torture was that?
“And...”
Gru lowered his voice, his eyes filled with dread.
“He has a monster girl by his side! She carries great scissors bigger than me, and with one snip, she turned a rock into powder! She even asked that demon doctor if she could snip off my head to make a doll!”
“A doll?!”
The shaman was so frightened he dropped his wooden staff.
That was the sick hobby of an evil necromancer!
“It’s true! That place is a slaughterhouse!”
Gru spoke with absolute conviction.
“There’s a sign hanging at the door that says ‘No Anesthesia’... It means he wants us to stay awake while we enjoy the pain!”
“That isn't a clinic, it’s a house of horrors! A torture chamber!”
Fear spread through the tribe like a plague.
...
Inside the Benevolent Heart Clinic.
Victor hummed a little tune as he wiped down the “medical bone hammer” that had served him so well.
“The first transaction has ended successfully.”
Though he only earned 10 points, it proved that the path of 'physical therapy' was viable.
“Alice, how was the feedback from that patient just now?”
Alice straightened up and tilted her head in thought.
“He ran very fast.”
She pointed toward the door. “As soon as he woke up, he hopped away on his broken leg faster than a rabbit.”
“This indicates the Director's surgery was a complete success. His leg no longer hurts, and it’s likely even stronger than before.”
“Exactly.”
Victor nodded with satisfaction, his face showing the confidence unique to a 'divine doctor.'
“It seems my skills haven't grown rusty. Though the process was a bit rough, the therapeutic effect is undeniable.”
“That patient must have been impressed by my medical expertise and rushed back to help spread the word for me.”
He walked to the window and looked out at the forest, his eyes full of anticipation.
“Just you wait. Once the reputation spreads, patients will come in a steady stream.”
“When that happens, we can expand the clinic and make this cursed land shine with the light of love.”
Alice nodded vigorously, her gaze fanatical.
“Full of love... that has been snipped and stitched.”
...
The 'reputation' Victor looked forward to did indeed spread.
But this reputation seemed to have veered off in a rather bizarre direction.
By noon on the first day.
Ogre Tribe: “A human mage in a white robe has arrived in the east. He specializes in catching goblins and breaking their legs just to hear the sound for his amusement!”
By the afternoon of the first day.
Dark Elf Camp: “He doesn't just smash legs! He likes live dissections, pulling out intestines to tie them in knots before stuffing them back in! The female demon by his side specifically collects heads!”
By the evening of the first day.
The entire outer region was in an uproar.
The rumors had evolved to a mythical level:
“That ‘Pale Demon’ eats monsters without even spitting out the bones! First, he smashes your bones into pulp with an iron hammer, then he uses a power saw to slice you up!”
“The sign at the door, ‘Benevolent Heart Clinic’... It means ‘we dig out your heart to go with our wine’!”
“Too cruel! Even man-eating monsters like us think he’s a freak!”
Fear reached its peak and transformed into rage.
Deep in the Blackthorn Forest, inside a cave built of beast bones.
“ROAR!!!”
An earth-shattering roar erupted.
A giant beast the size of a truck stepped out of the shadows.
It had two massive wolf heads.
The left one was white, cold and cunning; the right one was black, violent and bloodthirsty.
The regional overlord—the Twin-Headed Demon Wolf, the Wolf Brothers.
“Brother! I’m hungry! I want meat!”
The black wolf head drooled. “I heard a soft-skinned human has arrived? I want to eat his liver!”
“Shut up, you idiot,” the white wolf head scolded coldly.
“That human named Victor isn't simple. To easily kill a ghoul and then let a goblin return to report... he is provoking us.”
“Provoking?”
The black wolf head grew furious, its fangs clicking. “He dares provoke the great Wolf? I’ll crush his skull!”
“Indeed, it’s time for a cleanup.”
The white wolf head narrowed its eyes, a cold light flickering in its pupils.
This forest was its territory.
Lately, lower-level monsters had been fleeing in fear of that “Pale Demon,” making hunting difficult.
Furthermore, the smell of disinfectant wafting from that clinic was extremely repulsive to it.
“Since he likes treating illnesses...”
The white wolf head split its mouth into a cruel grin.
“Then we shall bring a ‘major illness’ to find him.”
“Pass the order!”
It howled at the sky, the sound piercing through the forest.
“Assemble all subordinates! Goblins, kobolds, ogres!”
“Tonight is the full moon. We go to visit that ‘benevolent’ doctor!”
“I want to tear his clinic into ruins! I’ll chew his bones to pieces one by one!”
“AWOOOOOO——!!!”
With the Wolf King’s command, the forest boiled.
Countless crimson eyes lit up in the darkness.
It was a craving for flesh and a fearful counterattack against the “perverted demon.”
...
Inside the clinic.
Victor had just finished his last piece of compressed rations.
By the light of the shadowless lamp, he was studying the blueprints in the system mall.
【Basic Defense Tower: 500 Points】
【Automatic Anesthetic Ballista: 800 Points】
“I’m so poor...” Victor sighed.
“It would be great if a big client showed up. The kind who is very sick but also has plenty of money—or magic cores.”
Just as he was thinking this, Alice suddenly put down her mop.
She walked quickly to the window, staring out into the pitch-black night.
Her originally cute face gradually took on an excited, almost ferocious expression.
“Director.”
Her voice trembled slightly.
It wasn't fear; it was extreme exhilaration.
“It seems... many patients have arrived.”
“So many... they are all over the hills.”
Victor’s eyes lit up, and he immediately jumped up to rush to the door.
Through the system’s 【Lure Radar】, dense red dots were converging from all directions.
In the center, a massive, deep purple-red light was moving at high speed with an unrivaled momentum.
“A big client! It really is a big client!”
Victor rubbed his hands in excitement.
He was completely unaware that those red dots represented killing intent.
In his eyes, those were walking point bundles and materials waiting to be harvested.
Especially that big red dot in the middle.
“Look at that energy signature... it has to be at least an elite monster! If I cure this one, how many points will it give?”
He quickly straightened his lab coat and tidied his hair in the glass, ensuring his image was professional.
“Alice, get ready to work!”
Victor grabbed the Rusty Saw of Redemption and checked the fuel tank.
“There are many patients this time; we might have to work overtime.”
“Remember the slogan: No abandonment, no giving up!”
“Even if they are terminally ill, even if they are so manic they want to bite people, we must use ‘love’ to influence them!”
Looking at Victor’s face which was filled with 'intellectual curiosity,' a yandere-like smile curled on Alice’s lips.
Hum—
The great scissors manifested, black resentment coiling around her arms.
“Understood, Director.”
“I will make them... all go quiet.”
“Quiet forever.”
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