A Surgeon Who Uses Martial Arts [EN]: Chapter 300

Chapter 57: Pioneer (5)

Screech.

Jun-hoo inserted the key into the lock of the storage room on the third floor and entered.

He had received the key in advance from one of the older staff members he greeted regularly.

Click!

The inside of the storage room lit up brightly as he turned on the light.

The storage room was about 4 pyeong (approximately 132 square feet) and was cluttered with cleaning tools such as mops, rags, and brooms.

“Teacher, you asked me to talk, but why did you bring me to such a grim place?”

Juwon asked warily as he followed Jun-hoo into the storage room.

“Could you lock the door, please?”

“…Yes.”

The door closed, and Juwon stood facing Jun-hoo.

Confusion was evident in Juwon’s eyes.

There were many things he wanted to say.

Many things he had to say, but.

Jun-hoo moved his lips, restraining himself as much as possible.

“Juwon, I know what I’m about to say will sound absurd, but I’m not crazy.”

“Why? Are you going to reveal that you’re an alien?”

“Not an alien, but a Murim person.”

Jun-hoo’s soft voice echoed in the storage room.

Juwon stared at Jun-hoo with a blank expression, then waved his hand.

“Come on, are you playing a prank because I was reading a martial arts novel?”

“There’s a time for jokes and a time when it’s not needed, and this is the latter.”

Jun-hoo reached towards the shelf where the tissues were.

He gathered the internal energy from his dantian [energy center] and used the Suction Art on his palm.

Whoosh.

Thud!

As if possessed by a ghost.

The tissue crossed the air and landed in Jun-hoo’s grasp. Juwon’s eyes widened as if they were about to pop out.

“What is it? Am I dreaming? Teacher… did you give me a sedative without me knowing?”

“Is this still a dream?”

“Ouch!”

Jun-hoo chuckled and lightly pinched Juwon’s cheek. Juwon shuddered.

-You said you like martial arts novels, right? How about this? Can you hear my voice clearly?

This time, Jun-hoo sent a telepathic message to Juwon. Telepathy was the Murim version of telepathy.

“Wow. I’m going crazy. So, pulling the tissue was Object Summoning, and that voice was Telepathy?”

As a martial arts novel enthusiast, Juwon readily used martial arts terms.

It seemed like this would make the conversation easier.

If Juwon didn’t know about Murim.

Jun-hoo was planning to pretend to be a psychic.

“That’s right. It’s good that you know so well that I don’t need to add anything.”

“But isn’t Murim and martial arts novels a fictional world? How can this be happening…?”

“I don’t know the details either. I’m just experiencing the world of Murim and the modern world, like Zhuang Zhou’s butterfly dream [a philosophical allegory about the nature of reality].”

“I’m still dumbfounded, but can you show me Object Summoning one more time?”

Jun-hoo nodded instead of answering.

He aimed the hand holding the tissue back at the shelf.

Whoosh.

The tissue left Jun-hoo’s hand and returned to its original place.

He used internal energy in reverse to push the tissue away from his hand.

Perhaps he needed time to think.

Juwon crossed his arms and looked up at the ceiling for a while.

“So, the reason you revealed that you’re a Murim person to me, and the reason you brought me here… there must be a reason. What is it?”

Finally, the main point came out.

Jun-hoo calmly organized his thoughts.

The reason for revealing that he was a Murim person was because of the treatment method he would use in the future.

The treatment for CRPS [Complex Regional Pain Syndrome] was not modern medicine but Qigong [a system of coordinated body-posture and movement, breathing, and meditation used for health].

If Juwon misunderstood this as quackery, he wouldn’t be able to get consent for the treatment.

Without consent, the treatment process would not be smooth.

After listening to Jun-hoo’s explanation, Juwon nodded.

“That makes sense. If you hadn’t shown me your abilities right in front of my eyes, I wouldn’t have believed you either.”

“Yes. And of course, as you know, please keep my identity a secret.”

“Of course. You even got Kwon Hyuk’s autograph and video for me. How could I not keep my mouth shut?”

“Then, shall we start talking about the treatment?”

“Treatment? Was there hope for me?”

Juwon’s voice rose as he asked.

Hope had the power to pull someone out of the abyss of despair.

“It’s ambiguous to call it a complete cure… but after receiving my treatment, you will be able to live your daily life without difficulty.”

Jun-hoo explained the effects of the treatment.

He added that the Qigong he would use would completely paralyze the pain sensation in his legs.

A life without pain VS a life with pain.

Which would Juwon choose?

Jun-hoo’s curiosity was resolved much faster and more intensely than expected.

“Is there anything to think about? Of course, the former.”

Juwon continued in an excited voice.

“Teacher. Please save me from that terrible and dreadful pain. I beg you.”

Juwon’s back bent 90 degrees.

* * *

“Teacher. Patient Choi Seung-hyuk in room 512 has a temperature of 38.2 degrees Celsius. What should we do?”

Resident Dae-hwi, a first-year resident, was passing by the ward station when Nurse Seon-hye notified him about the patient.

“Um… isn’t Senior Jun-hoo in the on-call room?”

“He took the CRPS patient somewhere earlier.”

“Really? Why would he do that?”

Dae-hwi stopped walking and tilted his head.

Jun-hoo’s actions felt somewhat out of the blue.

Unfortunately, there was nothing that neurosurgery could do for CRPS patients.

The nerve block he had performed a while ago hadn’t been very effective either.

“That patient is being discharged tomorrow. Maybe he took him to say something he wanted to say?”

“If he had something to say, couldn’t he have said it in the hospital room? I don’t know if there was a need to leave the ward when a pain attack could happen at any time.”

“That makes sense when I hear it.”

“What do you think, Teacher? Don’t you think Senior Jun-hoo is too soft-hearted?”

Dae-hwi asked Seon-hye, leaning one arm on the station reception desk.

Seon-hye nodded as if agreeing.

“The teachers who do their jobs well are usually taciturn… but Teacher Jun-hoo is almost a patient-lover.”

“That’s why I’m worried. Just look at the CRPS patient. There’s nothing we can do for him, but he’s constantly trying to do something.”

“…”

“What if his body and mind get worn out because of that?”

Dae-hwi was genuinely worried about Jun-hoo.

It was, of course, great and good for a doctor to care about his patients.

But Jun-hoo was going too far.

The more a doctor empathizes with a patient, the more painful it is for the doctor.

From this point of view, Jun-hoo’s insides must be nothing more than ashes right now.

But Dae-hwi only knew one thing and didn’t know the other.

Feeling the patient’s pain as his own was painful, but Jun-hoo was developing brilliantly using that pain as a raw material.

“Teacher Dae-hwi. Who’s worrying about whom right now? Aren’t you the one who’s up to his neck in trouble?”

Seon-hye asked with a mix of humor.

“Hahaha. You’re right. How presumptuous.”

“Hey, don’t take it that way. It sounds like I’m putting you down.”

“I’m joking too. I’ll look at the chart for the patient you just notified me about and prescribe something right away.”

After finishing his conversation with Seon-hye, Dae-hwi moved to the on-call room.

* * *

Third-floor storage room.

Juwon was lying on the floor covered with a hospital bed sheet.

Jun-hoo was kneeling beside Juwon, preparing the Thousand World Black Night Art.

Thousand World Black Night Art.

A Demonic Art that completely paralyzes pain.

After a difficult and long deliberation, Jun-hoo realized the principle of that sinister Demonic Art.

The hundreds of acupoints in the human body could be broadly classified into two categories.

One was motor meridians.

The other was sensory meridians.

The Thousand World Black Night Art was a technique that permanently destroyed the sensory meridians among the two.

With his knowledge of Murim and anatomical knowledge, Jun-hoo had memorized the location of all sensory meridians in the lower extremities.

“Te… Teacher. Are you sure it’ll be okay? I’m not going to get possessed or anything during the treatment, am I?”

Juwon’s voice trembled.

Jun-hoo thought that having knowledge of Murim was rather toxic in times like these.

If he didn’t know about Demonic Possession, there would be no reason to worry about Jun-hoo’s Qigong.

“Don’t worry. The probability of failure is extremely low.”

“Why?”

“I’ll tell you later. It’s better not to know now.”

Jun-hoo announced the start of the treatment and lightly tilted his head left and right.

Juwon would not know what sacrifices Jun-hoo had made and how many trials he had gone through for this moment.

But it didn’t matter.

Jun-hoo was someone who wanted to embrace others.

Not someone who wanted to be embraced by others.

Juwon, I’ll do my best.

I’ll take responsibility so that you can return to a normal life.

Because I’m your doctor.

With a determined resolve, the curtain rose on the Qigong treatment.

Jun-hoo’s finger touched Juwon’s Nugok acupoint.

The Nugok acupoint was a meridian located 3 centimeters above the ankle bone, where the medial calf nerve passed.

It was a kind of nerve hub.

Woo Woong.

Woo Woong.

The internal energy released from Jun-hoo’s finger went straight towards the Nugok acupoint.

The internal energy enveloped the Nugok acupoint like a wave and soon began to condense into a single point.

The hot heat generated in the process of compressing internal energy.

Jun-hoo was applying the Samadhi Fire technique.

Samadhi Fire was a kind of fire attack. It was adding fire attributes to internal energy.

The Samadhi Fire technique could only be used by masters above the Harmony Realm, and its efficiency was extremely low.

Just as energy is needed to convert thermal energy into electrical energy.

Internal energy was also needed to add fire attributes to internal energy.

Since the main acupoints are usually naturally restored as long as innate true energy exists, the only way to permanently prevent restoration is to completely burn the acupoint.

Jun-hoo understood the principle of the Thousand World Black Night Art as a cauterization concept in modern medicine.

And this was an accurate judgment.

“Te… Teacher. My leg is suddenly hot? Is it okay?”

“Yes. It’s part of the treatment process. It will be scary and painful, but bear with it. From now on, don’t move or speak.”

Juwon nodded instead of answering.

Jun-hoo focused his high concentration and devoted himself to the Thousand World Black Night Art.

Qigong treatment was certainly not easy.

He had to burn only the sensory meridians accurately with the Samadhi Fire technique.

If he accidentally touched the motor meridians, Juwon would not be able to use his legs forever.

Since even a single mistake was not allowed, Jun-hoo felt like he was walking on thin ice every time he touched an acupoint.

But he had to endure.

Nothing changes if you do nothing.

That was the truth of life.

The healthier the doctor becomes, the healthier the patient becomes.

That was the truth of medicine.

Nugok, Jigi, Eumneungcheon, etc.

Jun-hoo’s finger rose along the acupoints.

As internal energy consumption became extreme, an extreme sense of emptiness rushed into his dantian. It felt like someone was squeezing his lower abdomen.

His breathing became rough.

His fingers trembled slightly.

As the physical burden increased, the concentration that had been focused on one point began to scatter.

Useless thoughts popped out.

Juwon is holding up well.

Jun-hoo, you just need to do well.

It’s almost here!

While encouraging himself, the end of the Black Night Art was near.

The only remaining sensory meridian was the Gimun acupoint.

But that was when it happened.

While Jun-hoo was cauterizing the Gimun acupoint, the storage room door burst open.

“Excuse me. What are you doing in the storage room?”

“…”

“Judging by your appearance, you seem to be a doctor… what are you doing with a patient in the storage room? Aren’t you going to answer?”

A blunt voice was heard from behind.

Thud. Thud.

The approaching footsteps were terrifying.

Jun-hoo couldn’t even open his mouth because he was doing the most important acupoint cauterization work.

Juwon had his eyes tightly closed.

He didn’t seem to notice that an employee was approaching because he was overcoming the heat caused by the Black Night Art.

He was about to drop the ball right before the finish line.

“Teacher. Please say something!”

The employee finally put his hand on Jun-hoo’s shoulder.