A Surgeon Who Uses Martial Arts [EN]: Chapter 278

Chapter 53: Master and Disciple (3)

Clang!

The door to the operating room at Jewon University Hospital in Seoul opened.

Though the hospital was different, the scene inside the operating room was similar.

There was a nurses’ station next to the entrance where nurses were working, and numerous operating rooms spread out like flower petals.

That’s why operating rooms were sometimes called rosettes.

The supply room was on the far left of the operating room.

And on the far right was the changing room needed for the staff to change clothes.

With only slight differences in interior and structure, the operating room at Jewon University Hospital was not much different from the one at Shinwon University Hospital.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

Despite the familiarity of the scene, Jun-hoo’s heart was pounding violently.

A thick, dry saliva caught in his throat.

His hands were cold and clammy with tension.

Jun-hoo felt like he had suddenly become a thief.

Because he was clearly an uninvited guest.

“Professor! The patient is in Rosette No. 3. Nurse Seon-hye is preparing the surgical instruments.”

A nurse on duty at the station spoke to Jae-hyun.

Then, she noticed Jun-hoo next to Jae-hyun and tilted her head.

“Who is that next to you? I don’t recognize him.”

“We don’t have any residents or interns in our department, so I called an intern from another department.”

Jae-hyun stopped walking and answered.

“Are you sure it’s okay? Looking at the schedule, it’s a brain arteriovenous malformation [an abnormal tangle of blood vessels connecting arteries and veins in the brain] surgery. If he’s an intern, assisting might be difficult…”

“I picked a good ace, so don’t worry.”

“Still…”

The nurse narrowed her eyes and looked at Jun-hoo, as if she suspected something.

Jun-hoo had to stay sharp because he couldn’t reveal his identity here.

“Is there anything you’d like to say?”

Jun-hoo took the initiative.

“No, it’s not that, but you’re really handsome, Doctor. You look like an actor, not a doctor.”

“You flatter me. You’re beautiful too, Nurse.”

“But with your looks… I feel like I would have remembered when you came to the operating room… I can’t remember at all. It’s strange.”

“I haven’t been working as an intern for very long.”

Jun-hoo shrugged as if the question was absurd.

“I trained in internal medicine and recently started training in plastic surgery.”

“Then we’ll be able to see you often in the future?”

The nurse asked with a hopeful voice.

“Maybe?”

“Why maybe?”

“You never know what might happen. I might quit training in the middle.”

So that it wouldn’t be strange if his face wasn’t seen later.

Jun-hoo threw out the bait in advance.

Simply hidden by his martial arts, Jun-hoo’s strategy and tactics were top-notch.

In his previous life, Zhuge Tae-seon, the chief manager of the Murim Alliance [a fictional organization in martial arts stories], wanted to make Jun-hoo his successor.

“It’s getting late, let’s go in.”

“Yes, Professor.”

The conversation was cut off by Jae-hyun.

The two safely passed the first hurdle of the joint surgery and moved to the changing room.

Jun-hoo stared intently at Jae-hyun, who was changing his clothes.

“You should be nervous and embarrassed, but you made up the story well on the spot. I was a little impressed.”

A smile appeared on Jae-hyun’s lips.

Jae-hyun thought Jun-hoo was just a kind and passionate doctor dedicated to patients and medicine.

It couldn’t be helped because…

Even as master and disciple, the two had spent very little time face to face.

They had spent very little time together in their daily lives.

So they still didn’t know each other well.

But with the episode just now, Jae-hyun began to see Jun-hoo differently.

Seeing how he handled unexpected situations, Jun-hoo had excellent crisis management skills, was perceptive, and knew how to be appropriately brazen.

Rare for a surgeon.

His hexagonal stats were evenly distributed [referring to a character’s attributes being well-rounded in a game-like manner].

“I think communication skills and quick wit are as important as medical skills.”

“Why do you think so?”

“Taking surgery as an example…”

Jun-hoo paused before continuing.

“You need to communicate well with other staff to ensure that treatments and surgical techniques proceed in an orderly manner. You need to be quick-witted to respond quickly to emergencies.”

“You have a very thorough answer. You must have thought about it a lot.”

Jae-hyun nodded as if satisfied with Jun-hoo’s answer.

“Yes. I’m all ready.”

Jun-hoo lowered his head and looked down at his body.

He had finished putting on his surgical gown.

The surgical gown at Shinwon University Hospital was green, but the one at Jewon University Hospital was blue.

Perhaps that’s why.

Wearing the blue surgical gown made him feel like a real staff member at Jewon University Hospital.

Soon, the two moved to the sink and began scrubbing (pre-operative disinfection).

Scrub. Scrub. Scrub.

The stiff, rough brush scraped against his fingers, wrists, and forearms.

Crimson bubbles rose as the brush rubbed against his skin. It was foam caused by the disinfectant on the brush.

The first surgery with his teacher.

The first surgery at another hospital.

Rather than being nervous or anxious, Jun-hoo was excited.

The more powerful the opponent’s martial arts, the hotter the martial artist’s blood boils.

The more urgent and difficult the surgery, the hotter the surgeon’s blood boils.

Jun-hoo was a born surgeon.

The precarious tightrope walk between life and death.

The unexpected talents and potential discovered while struggling in a crisis.

The noble sense of duty towards people, and so on.

Jun-hoo loved all of it.

I will show you exactly how much I have grown.

Please watch me.

Jun-hoo steeled himself as he followed Jae-hyun, who was walking ahead, after finishing the scrub.

* * *

Beeeeeep.

The door to operating room number 3 opened automatically.

Swooooosh.

A shower of white air from the air shower poured down like a waterfall from the ceiling.

Only after completing the second disinfection.

Jun-hoo was able to step into the operating room.

The air touching his skin was cool.

When he took a deep breath, the pungent smell of alcohol stung his nose.

The surgical preparation was already complete.

The patient lying on the operating table was connected to a patient monitoring device.

Beep- Beep- Beep-

The mechanical sound rang regularly in time.

Her body temperature was 37 degrees Celsius.

Her blood pressure was somewhat low at 100mmHg/70mmHg.

Conversely, her pulse was high at 150 beats per minute.

It was a typical vital sign that appeared when bleeding occurred.

On both sides of the operating table, dressing carts piled high with surgical instruments and supplies were parked.

A timer indicating that 3 minutes had passed since the general anesthesia was also running.

Jun-hoo naturally took the position of the first assistant.

That is, he stood opposite Jae-hyun.

He thought it would be several more years before he could operate with Jae-hyun.

The opportunity came unexpectedly quickly.

Before the full-scale surgery, Jun-hoo stared silently at Yu-ri.

He was saddened by the fact that Yu-ri had become like this.

And he was saddened once again by the miserable reality of neurosurgery.

Yu-ri lying on the operating table.

To be precise, this situation of operating on Yu-ri was no different from Frankenstein, who remodeled and patched together other people’s bodies.

A nurse from ‘Seoul Woosung Hospital’.

Undergoing brain surgery at ‘Jewon University’ Hospital.

And an assistant from ‘Shinwon University’ Hospital is helping with the surgery.

Could there be a more terrible hybrid and farce in the world?

What was even more devastating was…

Even Yu-ri was actually very lucky.

It was fortunate that Yu-ri was discovered by Jun-hoo and that Jun-hoo desperately used all his connections and martial arts.

Otherwise, no one could guarantee Yu-ri’s life and recovery.

Whirr.

The sound of wheels came from the supply room.

When he turned his head, he saw a scrub nurse pulling another dressing cart toward the operating table.

“Jun-hoo, say hello. This is Nurse Shin Seo-hyun, whom I cherish and like the most.”

“How do I say hello…”

Jun-hoo trailed off.

He had to hide his identity and become an assistant.

So he was at a loss as to how to introduce himself.

“You’re Dr. Seo Jun-hoo from Shinwon University, right?”

“…How did you know that?”

“The professor has been talking about you non-stop. At first, I thought you were his son.”

“Dr. Shin. I’m still unmarried, is it okay to talk about having a son already?”

“Then you should have been more reserved in your words.”

Seo-hyun replied sulkily and stared at Jun-hoo.

“The professor and I have no secrets. So I knew in advance that Dr. Seo would be assisting.”

“Ah. I see. Then I feel relieved. I’m Seo Jun-hoo, a second-year resident at Shinwon University Hospital.”

“I’m Shin Seo-hyun, who has been assisting in the brain surgery department for 6 years in the operating room.”

The introductions ended briefly.

And Seo-hyun took a seat next to Jun-hoo.

“Dr. Shin. Shouldn’t you be next to the professor?”

“Seriously, Professor… Haven’t you told him yet?”

“I was just about to. I’ll do the brain arteriovenous malformation surgery, but I’ll leave the hematoma [a solid swelling of clotted blood within the tissues] removal to… Jun-hoo, I’ll leave it to you.”

Jae-hyun said as if declaring it.

* * *

Scrape. Scrape. Scrape.

A pleasant sound spread throughout the operating room.

Holding a razor in his hand, Jun-hoo was cutting the hair on the patient’s right temporal region.

Jun-hoo’s wrist was dazzling.

The razor moved freely and without hesitation from various angles.

Thud. Thud. Thud.

Black hair scattered and fell like dancing on the white surgical cloth spread on the floor.

The cut surface was as clean as if it had been cut with a ruler.

The area where the hair was cut was bluish.

This was a procedure to prevent contamination from hair before and after surgery, and was called shaving.

When Jae-hyun said he would entrust the first surgery to him.

Jun-hoo looked quite flustered, but soon regained his composure.

He began to neatly trim the patient’s hair.

Shaving was the most basic treatment for a neurosurgeon.

Jae-hyun could roughly estimate Jun-hoo’s level just by looking at Jun-hoo’s shaving skills.

Jun-hoo’s hands didn’t tremble, he used both hands freely, and his touch was delicate so as not to injure the scalp.

At this level, he could immediately perform most brain tumor surgeries…

It’s a pity, a pity.

If he had been under me, I would have given him better opportunities.

Knowing how Shinwon University would treat Jun-hoo.

Jae-hyun felt even more sorry for Jun-hoo’s treatment.

“Professor. Can I start the surgery?”

“Go ahead.”

Jae-hyun nodded, finishing his thoughts.

While removing the surgical drape with the fallen hair, the curtain rose for the full-scale surgery.

Swoosh.

The temporal region where the hair was cut was disinfected with red medicine, and a drape was placed over it.

“Number 10 blade.”

Seo-hyun inserted the blade into the scalpel and handed it to Jun-hoo.

From then on, it was lightning fast.

Jae-hyun was overwhelmed by the tremendous sense of speed, as if he were traveling on the KTX [Korea Train Express, a high-speed rail system].

Whirr.

Jun-hoo’s wrist rotated in a circle.

Following that movement, a circular incision with a diameter of 3 centimeters was made in the patient’s head.

The incision was in the shape of a perfect circle, as if it had been drawn with a compass.

The skull incision following the scalp incision was also fantastic.

Jun-hoo drilled four holes in the patient’s skull like a skilled technician.

Weeee.

The roar of the drill was deafening.

His ears were ringing.

Holes were created in the skull due to the drill, and white bone powder piled up around the holes.

Jae-hyun tried to suck up the bone powder with suction.

Jun-hoo’s treatment was one step faster.

Should he say he was a master of both hands?

Jun-hoo finished the self-suction with his left hand, not his right hand holding the drill.

The bone powder disappeared without a trace.

Not only that.

Jun-hoo used a cutting tool to neatly connect the four holes in the skull into a square.

When the skull was removed with a curette [a surgical instrument used for scraping or cleaning], the forefront of the meninges [the membranes that surround the brain and spinal cord].

The opaque dura mater [the outermost of the three layers of the meninges], like the membrane of an egg white, revealed its appearance.

Jun-hoo pulled the incision to the left and right with a retractor.

The surgical field of view was secured at once.

Jae-hyun was greatly impressed by Jun-hoo’s unhesitating surgery, but at the same time, he felt a sense of bewilderment and familiarity.

What is the identity of this complex emotion that is difficult to express in words?

“…”

Jae-hyun suddenly made eye contact with Seo-hyun.

Seo-hyun pointed at Jun-hoo with her right index finger. Then she raised her thumb as if forcing it.

It meant that she liked Jun-hoo.

Continuing surgery.

The dura mater, arachnoid mater, and pia mater [the three layers of the meninges] were incised in an instant.

The soft, wrinkled brain, shaped like a giant walnut, revealed its appearance to the world.

Even in the meantime, Jun-hoo did not forget to measure the patient’s intracranial pressure.

A probe containing a sensor was inserted into the patient’s Kocher’s point [a specific point on the skull used for surgical access to the brain].

The patient’s intracranial pressure was 25mmHg.

Considering that normal intracranial pressure is 5mmHg-15mmHg, it was quite high.

Considering the primary disease of arteriovenous malformation.

Considering the bleeding site and transfer time, it was quite good.

“I will proceed with hematoma removal immediately.”

Jun-hoo’s voice was confident.

Jun-hoo approached the brain parenchyma [the functional tissue of the brain] and sucked up the hematoma with a suction device.

But a thin stream of blood flowed out from the area where the hematoma had disappeared.

The bleeding had not stopped yet.

“Dr. Shin. Can you put thrombin (hemostatic agent) [a substance that promotes blood clotting] on a 2X2 gauze?”

“Ah. Yes.”

Seo-hyun handed Jun-hoo the gauze soaked in the hemostatic agent.

Jun-hoo grabbed the gauze with forceps and gently placed it on the middle cerebral artery vessel where the bleeding occurred.

After about 3 minutes, when the gauze was removed, the bleeding disappeared as if by magic.

Meanwhile, Jae-hyun, who had observed Jun-hoo’s hematoma removal from beginning to end…

Only then did he realize the identity of the complex emotions he had been feeling.

Surprisingly!

Jun-hoo had perfectly replicated his surgical style.

Considering that Jun-hoo had studied with Jae-hyun’s thesis, it was possible enough.

Still, to think he would imitate it so exactly…

Jae-hyun stared at Jun-hoo with a dumbfounded expression.

Maybe it was a delusion.

For a moment, he was confused as to whether the person opposite him was Jun-hoo or himself.

Look at this audacious guy?