Chapter 12

Chapter 12

The applicant clearly wasn't confident about what she could actually do.

So she exaggerated her abilities.

At the same time, she blamed outside factors.

The workplace atmosphere had been bad.

The patients complained too much.

Someone like that would have difficulty building trust with patients.

I'll ask one last question, then send her out.

"How comfortable are you with front-desk software?"

Gain wasn't expecting incredible computer skills from a receptionist.

But the person needed to at least handle registration, issue medical records, and print prescriptions.

"Well, I'm not slow at typing. But every program is different, so it takes time to get used to them, right? But I learn very quickly. And I'm really good at cleaning and organizing. As you know, Director, things like that matter even more in a small clinic. Oh, and about lunch breaks..."

"Thank you. Here's your interview fee."

"Thank you!"

Im Gain immediately erased the first applicant from her mind.

The interview had been a pure waste of time.

Even the interview fee felt wasted.

"Hello."

The second applicant wasn't a nursing assistant.

She was a registered nurse.

She was different from the moment she walked through the door.

She wore a mask.

Before sitting down, she took out a small alcohol wipe and cleaned the armrests of the chair.

Her résumé was the cleanest and most organized one.

That's why she caught my attention.

"You worked at a university hospital for quite a long time, then spent a few months at several different clinics afterward. What kind of work did you do?"

"Patient care, assisting with examinations, instrument organization, and sterilization."

"Can you work with electronic medical records?"

"I've used both DoctorYang and Bit V-Chart."

"We'll be using DoctorYang."

"Good. But may I ask one thing?"

She paused briefly before continuing.

"What standards do you plan to use for sterilization and disinfection? I don't compromise very well on those."

That single sentence told Gain a great deal about her personality.

The advantage was obvious.

She wasn't careless.

The disadvantage was obvious too.

When she said she 'didn't compromise,' what she really meant was:

I can't work somewhere that doesn't follow proper sterilization principles.

So that's why her work history is broken into short periods.

She must have quit whenever a clinic failed to follow proper standards.

Im Gain looked into her eyes.

They weren't sharp.

They weren't calculating.

She'll definitely do her own job properly.

Some private-clinic directors might dislike that attitude.

After all, the director was the one who decided exactly how far sterilization protocols needed to go.

Principles mattered.

But there were places, like ordinary chair armrests, that didn't need full medical-grade sterilization.

Trying to sterilize absolutely everything would also increase supply costs.

I'll keep her under consideration.

There had to be a reason she was so obsessed with sterilization.

It might even be a way of controlling her own anxiety.

During Gain's time as a Saintess, she'd seen countless times how easily anxiety could destroy people.

"Thank you. Here's the interview fee."

"I'll text you the result today. Please ask the next applicant to come in."

The woman remained perfectly straight and composed until the end.

Before leaving, she even wiped down the chair she'd been sitting on.

She accepted the interview fee, put it directly into her bag, and washed her hands before going out.

At least the sterilization would definitely be perfect.

The question was how much time and energy Gain wanted to spend on sterilization and disinfection.

The answer was simple.

As much as necessary.

Anything that absolutely needed sterilization would be properly sterilized.

But she wasn't going to spend all day wiping every chair.

If Gain could convince the applicant of that, she could become an excellent employee.

"Please send in the next applicant."

The next woman was in her twenties.

She had an energetic personality and a bright expression.

She looked genuinely happy to be there.

"Thank you so much for giving me an interview!"

She must've been rejected on paper a lot.

Probably because she has no experience.

"Where did you work before?"

The answer came immediately.

"I'm confident in reception and dealing with customers."

Gain liked that.

Straight to the point.

"Why do you think so?"

She didn't hesitate even for a moment.

"I used to work at a call center. I dealt with angry people all day. That's where I learned how to empathize with people who have complaints."

She spoke quickly, but unlike the first applicant, she never rambled.

Every sentence had a clear point.

Gain actually found that refreshing.

"This is an OB-GYN clinic. Guardians can be sensitive, and patients are often emotionally vulnerable."

"I understand."

"Good."

If someone had the right attitude, Gain could teach them the work.

When the final applicant began to stand, Gain pulled a white envelope from deep inside her desk.

"You came all the way here today. Use this for transportation."

"Oh! An interview fee... Thank you!"

The applicant's eyes widened.

Very few tiny neighborhood clinics with no name recognition paid interview fees.

Gain gave her the kind smile of a generous clinic director.

Inside the envelope was one crisp ten-thousand-won bill.

Three applicants had interviewed.

Thirty thousand won total.

Gain's hands hadn't trembled this much even when an enemy blade had once been held to her throat.

But now her fingertips didn't want to let go of a ten-thousand-won bill.

...Dinner tonight will be convenience-store triangular rice balls.

Gain had taken out every loan she could to open this tiny clinic.

Renovations.

Used medical equipment.

The building deposit.

Her bank account was already nearly empty.

In her previous life, one holy miracle could cure a patient and inspire believers to donate gold and jewels.

Modern Korea was much colder.

Loan interest and monthly maintenance fees were very real.

"Please get home safely. I'll contact you."

"Yes!"

Gain smiled as brightly as she could while seeing the applicant out.

Inside her head, however, she was already calculating.

Two employees' salaries.

Meal allowances.

Mandatory social-insurance contributions.

Good.

Whoever gets hired had better earn their salary.

Still...

Gain remembered the days before she was fully recognized as the Saintess, when she had trembled over every copper coin and silver piece.

Because of that, her conscience wouldn't allow her to invite someone all the way here and give them nothing for the interview.

After sending the last applicant home, Im Gain organized the résumés.

"This one is out. This one was pretty good. And this one has a great attitude, but I'd have to teach her medical-assistant work from the beginning."

The second applicant was the one obsessed with disinfection and sterilization.

Gain still hadn't made a final decision about her.

But after seeing the other applicants, she had to admit the woman was quite good.

She seems very responsible.

Gain could put her in charge of sanitation and instruments in the examination and treatment rooms.

The third applicant, who had worked in a call center and was good at emotional labor, could manage the front desk, electronic charts, and hospital administration.

Exactly what I originally planned.

One front-desk employee and one clinical assistant.

Two people.

Eventually, she'd need more people for both jobs.

But for now, she would start with two.

If one employee took a vacation, the other needed to understand enough of their work to fill in.

"Good. You're hired. And... send."

Im Gain scheduled employment notification texts to the two successful applicants.

Staffing was finished.

She set down her phone and slowly looked around the empty examination room.

The used examination chair.

The ultrasound machine with its yellowed edges scrubbed clean.

The front desk that had only been properly installed yesterday.

She had personally chosen every piece.

She had brought them in under her own name.

Back in the Saintess's tent, someone always arrived before her to start the fire and prepare the tools.

Here, she'd done all of it herself.

Rather than feeling lonely, it felt strangely refreshing.

Training in the morning.

Starting tomorrow afternoon, this tiny OB-GYN clinic would truly open to the world.

Gain ran her fingertips over one of the chairs in the dark waiting room.

Tomorrow, someone would come and receive treatment here.

She couldn't quite imagine what the face of her first patient would look like.

But anticipation made her heart beat faster.

"Whew."

It was very different from opening a temple for the Goddess.

Back then, countless people had helped.

Believers carried bricks one by one and raised the building from bare earth.

Tens of thousands of people had been involved.

Priests who prayed.

Nobles who provided funding.

Village women who came to clean.

Sculptors who carved statues of the Goddess.

Architects who designed the building.

The temple had been enormous and beautiful, like a grand European cathedral.

The general hospital the princess had built for Gain had been the same.

Dwarves famous as the greatest builders on the continent had constructed its frame.

Inside were tools made from refined mithril and dragon bone, including Gain's personal surgical blades.

Those buildings had been completed without Gain getting so much as a speck of dust on her hands.

There's no comparison in scale.

This place was only one corner of a single floor.

Compared to the general hospital that had used several buildings or the grand temple, it was tiny and shabby.

"...That's why I like it."

Gain murmured.

Here, she had personally chosen everything.

The wallpaper.

The flooring.

Even the location of the secondhand ultrasound machine.

In the past, countless people interfered with every decision.

A noble who donated a huge sum wanted his name carved across an entire wall.

The princess wanted the hospital designed like a royal palace.

Because of that, the magnificent buildings had been far from ideal when it came to convenient movement for patients.

They weren't what Gain truly wanted.

This place was different.

It genuinely felt like hers.

"There's dust here. I should wipe it."

Im Gain slowly walked through the empty clinic.

This was her final inspection before opening.

Inside one reception-desk drawer was the medical-institution registration certificate she'd received from the public health center yesterday.

Her National Health Insurance provider number had also been issued.

In the other world, all she'd needed to do was erect a statue of the Goddess and report the temple's existence.

Here, the administrative procedures were far more complicated.

But on paper as well...

This place was now officially a clinic.

"Whew."

She felt refreshed.

Then she heard footsteps climbing the stairs.

Gain tilted her head and listened.

Was it already a patient?