Time flew by.
Ever since Bone Sovereign Aur left with his cool blue Mohawk, satisfied as could be, the "reputation" of the Benevolent Heart Clinic had finally spread throughout the outer regions of the Eternal Night Peninsula in an explosive fashion.
However...
The direction this reputation took seemed a bit different from the "saving lives and healing the wounded with a doctor's heart" that Victor had envisioned.
...
In an underground cave within the Blackthorn Forest, a group of goblins huddled around a campfire, shivering as they shared the latest gossip.
"Have you heard? That 'Pale Demon' to the east... he's struck again!"
A goblin with a missing chunk of its ear lowered its voice, speaking mysteriously.
"The victim this time was that old bag of bones from the Weeping Cemetery—Aur!"
"Aur? The Bone Sovereign?" Another goblin was so startled that the roasted lizard in its hand fell to the ground. "That old fossil is an S-rank boss! Even the Twin-Headed Demon Wolf wouldn't dare provoke him! What did that demon do to him?"
"What else could he do?"
A look of terror appeared on the ear-clipped goblin's face as he described the scene vividly.
"My second uncle's neighbor's cousin saw it with his own eyes! That demon dragged Aur into his torture chamber and used a fire-spitting drill on that smooth, bald head of his... He drilled exactly three thousand holes!"
"Three thousand?!"
The surrounding goblins gasped, instinctively touching their own foreheads.
"They say that after drilling the holes, the demon still wasn't satisfied, so he stuffed burning insects into them! He let those bugs crawl all over inside Aur’s brain!"
"In the end, Aur was tortured out of human—no, bone shape. He escaped with a head full of blue fire! He was running and screaming 'Doctor, have mercy!' the whole way!"
"How terrifying! That demon doesn't even spare the undead!"
...
On the other side, deep within the Misty Swamp, a group of harpies was preening their feathers.
"Hey, have you heard the legends about that 'Benevolent Heart Clinic'?"
"Of course! They say that place isn't a clinic at all; it's a horror museum specifically for collecting powerful beings!"
A harpy with vibrant feathers lowered her voice and gossiped:
"I heard it from a goblin who escaped to this area. He said a butcher wearing bloodstained clothes lives in that clinic. His favorite thing to do is capture powerful creatures and then..."
She made a "snip-snip" gesture.
"...cut off a piece of them!"
"You know the king of the Blackthorn Forest, the Twin-Headed Demon Wolf, right? He was captured! The doctor thought the wolf king looked asymmetrical, so he used a rusty chainsaw to saw off one of the heads! He even hung that head on the wall as a decoration!"
"That’s not all!" another harpy added. "Supposedly, he used evil magic to turn the remaining half of the wolf into a pet that only knows how to wag its tail! He keeps it tied up at the entrance as a watchdog every day!"
"Heavens! How cruel! He just saws off an S-rank magic beast like that?"
"That's not even the scariest part!"
The harpy who spoke first had a hint of a tremble in her voice.
"They say even the Blood Queen Elizabeth, who has lived for hundreds of years, couldn't escape his clutches!"
"She was captured too! That demon used an impact drill to pull out all her teeth, and then... turned her into a specimen! She’s displayed right behind his counter! Wearing black stockings for everyone to see!"
"Hiss—!"
All the harpies gasped, instinctively shielding their wings.
That demon...
Not only was he powerful, but his tastes were so depraved?
He wouldn't even spare a mummified specimen?
...
And so it went.
Through wildly spiraling rumors that passed from one person to ten, and ten to a hundred...
The legends regarding Victor became increasingly absurd and terrifying.
Some said he liked to collect eyeballs, threading eyes from different races into a necklace.
Some said he would disembowel captured monsters and play a game of "Guess where your liver went" with them.
There were even rumors that the bed he slept on at night was made from the spines of those who resisted him.
In just a few short days...
Victor Corvinus—this name completely replaced the "Twin-Headed Demon Wolf" and the "Bone Sovereign" to become the protagonist of midnight nightmares for all monsters in the outer regions of the Eternal Night Peninsula.
"Pale Demon," "Bone Driller," "Wolf Head Collector," "Specimen Master"...
Titles filled with the stench of death were placed upon his head one after another.
The Benevolent Heart Clinic was also firmly established in its terrifying reputation as the "Entrance to Hell," the "Demon's Den," and the "Forbidden Zone for the Living."
...
And at this moment.
The legendary "Pale Demon" himself was sitting in his bright and clean clinic lobby, sneezing with a melancholy expression.
"Achoo—!"
"Strange, why have I been sneezing so much lately? Is the temperature dropping?"
Victor rubbed his nose, completely baffled.
He looked at the empty waiting room and the front door that hadn't been opened in three days, falling into deep thought.
"This shouldn't be happening."
He rested his chin on his hand and muttered to himself.
"When that old bag of bones Aur left, didn't he swear he would help me spread the word?"
"How is it that after all that promotion, there isn't a single patient?"
"Could it be that my treatment plans are too advanced for the native monsters here to accept?"
Victor glanced at Elizabeth, who was sitting behind the counter reading the ledger while applying bright red nail polish.
Then he looked at Alice, who was crouching in a corner playing "Rock-Paper-Scissors" with her great scissors.
Finally, he looked at Mia, who was lying on the rug by the door, chasing her tail in circles.
In the entire clinic, besides himself, there wasn't a single creature that looked normal.
"Could it be that there's a problem with my corporate culture?"
Victor fell into self-doubt.
"Director."
Elizabeth put down the nail polish, yawned, and said languidly:
"Don't bother thinking about it. It's obvious that your 'benevolent heart and skills' have scared away all potential clients."
"According to the intelligence I've gathered these past few days, word on the street is that you're a pervert who likes to drill into skeletons' brains and turn werewolves into pets."
"There are even rumors that I've been turned into a specimen wearing black stockings by you, and that I'm responsible for warming your bed every night."
Toward the end, an unnatural flush appeared on Elizabeth's face.
"Nonsense!"
Victor slapped the table, speaking with righteous indignation.
"When did I ever make you warm my bed? I only made you manage the accounts!"
"And that was a hair transplant! It was a craniocerebral separation! It was science! How can they call it drilling brains and making pets?"
"This is simply medical slander!"
Victor was fuming.
"No, I can't just sit here and wait for death anymore."
He stood up and paced back and forth in the room.
"Even good wine fears deep alleys. Since patients don't dare come to the door, we'll just have to bring the service to them."
He looked at Alice, who was having the time of her life playing, and a kind smile appeared on his face.
"Alice."
"I'm here, Lord Director!"
"Today's performance quota hasn't been met yet. Take your thread and great scissors and go out for a 'house call' round."
Victor pointed toward the forest.
"Remember our slogan: Caring for monster health starts with a mandatory physical exam."
"If you see anyone walking unsteadily, coughing, or looking mentally unstable, 'invite' them back for me."
"Understood, Lord Director!"
Alice's eyes lit up. She immediately dropped her great scissors and stood up excitedly.
"Mission guaranteed!"
"I'll make sure to catch all the sick bad children... and let you 'treat' them properly!"
With that, she turned into a dark shadow and vanished from the clinic entrance in an instant.
Victor looked in the direction she disappeared and nodded with satisfaction.
"Sigh, being a doctor these days really isn't easy."
"Not only do you need top-tier skills, but you also have to proactively go out and pull in clients."
He was just lamenting his lot.
Suddenly.
"Help—! Divine doctor! Divine doctor, help—!"
A series of shrill and urgent cries for help came without warning from the end of the white-bone path outside the clinic.
Victor's spirits lifted.
Business was here!
He walked quickly to the door and saw several short, green-skinned goblins carrying a massive stretcher made of branches and vines, scrambling and crawling toward the clinic.
They were running in a pathetic state—some had even lost their shoes, and their faces were written with terror and despair.
And on that massive stretcher they were carrying...
Lay a mountain-like...
Pig?
The pig was extremely massive, covered in black bristles with protruding fangs, looking incredibly fierce.
But now, it was skin and bones. Its huge belly had collapsed, its eyes were unfocused, and its breath was faint as if it could die at any moment.
"Divine doctor! Legendary Pale Demon!"
As soon as the lead goblin saw Victor standing at the door, it was as if he had seen a savior. He fell to his knees with a thud, clutching Victor's leg and wailing loudly.
"Please! I beg you to save our king!"
Victor stumbled as he was grabbed, looking down at the little creature with snot and tears smeared across its face, his brow furrowed.
"Stop crying and wipe that drool!"
He peeled the goblin off his leg with disgust and then looked at the dying giant pig on the stretcher.
"What's the situation?"
"Our king... our king hasn't eaten anything for three days!"
The goblin cried heart-wrenchingly.
"He is the Gluttonous Magic Boar! He used to eat a whole cow in one meal! Now he wants to vomit just looking at food! If this continues, he’ll starve to death!"
"Lord Divine Doctor, I know your power is boundless—you even drilled the Bone Sovereign's head!"
"Please, have mercy and save our king! As long as you can cure him, we are willing to offer all our treasures!"
Victor listened to the goblin's incoherent lament and looked at the "anorexic" Gluttonous Magic Boar.
He adjusted his non-existent glasses, and a smile filled with "mercy" and "professionalism" appeared on his face.
"Don't worry."
"Bring him in."
"Is it just anorexia?"
"A small problem."
Victor turned around and took out a long, cold-glinting... gastrectomy knife from his toolbox.
"A quick gastrectomy, and he'll be fine."
Rate on N.U.
