A Surgeon Who Uses Martial Arts [EN]: Chapter 395

“Jun-hoo!”

Austin’s roar exploded, echoing loudly.

Hector, standing beside him, flinched in surprise.

Austin had never shouted that loudly in the operating room before.

Hector’s gaze snapped to Austin.

His expression was mostly hidden by the mask, but his eyes blazed with intensity.

His face trembled, betraying his inner turmoil. Austin’s anger had reached a boiling point.

Hector then looked at Jun-hoo.

If Austin was fire, Jun-hoo was ice.

Even after Jun-hoo had roughly torn the dura mater [the tough membrane covering the brain and spinal cord], completely undoing Austin’s meticulous work, he didn’t even flinch.

He offered no apology, no excuses, no justification.

The tension between Austin and Jun-hoo was stretched as taut as a rubber band about to snap.

‘That guy did that on purpose, one hundred percent.’

Hector realized belatedly.

He clicked his tongue at Jun-hoo’s audacity.

Why had Jun-hoo done that? He should have carefully dissected the dura mater after taking over from Austin, but why tear it so carelessly?

‘Probably to shorten the surgery time.’

As a seasoned professor, Hector easily grasped Jun-hoo’s intention.

To be honest, Hector had been feeling frustrated while watching Austin. It felt like a weight on his chest.

It wasn’t that he didn’t understand the desire to provide the best possible treatment for the patient, but dura mater dissection wasn’t the core of this surgery.

Investing several hours in it seemed disproportionate.

“You dare to perform a procedure without my permission?”

“If I had asked for permission, you wouldn’t have granted it, would you?” Jun-hoo retorted sharply to Austin’s question.

“Of course, I wouldn’t. Who would allow a surgeon to perform a procedure so carelessly?”

“Dissecting the meninges [the membranes surrounding the brain and spinal cord] delicately would take forever. Our staff and the patient are getting exhausted.”

“You have to endure it, even if it’s hard,” Austin said firmly.

So, if Jun-hoo hadn’t taken that unexpected action, Austin would have continued to insist on the painstaking meningeal dissection.

Department Head versus Trainee.

What would be the outcome of this absurd argument? Hector was dying of curiosity.

For the record, Hector was on Jun-hoo’s side, at least regarding the method of meningeal dissection. Just because he respected Austin didn’t mean he always thought Austin was right.

‘Go for it, Jun-hoo. Keep pushing!’

In the silence that followed their exchange, a heavy stillness enveloped the operating room. Only the patient monitoring device beeped rhythmically.

Hector glanced up at the observation room. The faces of the people in the front row were faintly visible.

They all looked bewildered, as if they didn’t know what was going on. Who would have imagined that a mere trainee would revolt against Austin?

“Professor, what is the core of this surgery?” Jun-hoo threw the question back.

“It’s to separate the shared structures in the children’s heads.”

“Which of the structures is the most important?”

“The brain blood vessels, of course.”

“Then shouldn’t we focus all our efforts on dissecting and suturing the brain blood vessels?”

Jun-hoo was saying everything Hector wanted to say.

“Dura mater dissection has already taken up too much time—a whopping two hours.”

Jun-hoo’s voice and logic grew stronger.

“Isn’t it enough to dissect the meninges moderately and perform a good meningeal reconstruction?”

“Are you suggesting we use an artificial dura mater? Do you think I haven’t considered that?” Austin retorted, his voice laced with irritation.

“Artificial dura mater cannot match the natural dura mater. The postoperative recovery speed is on a different level!”

“The benefit of using the natural dura mater versus the benefit of minimizing surgery time and staff fatigue—which benefit is greater?”

“Don’t reduce it to a simple dichotomy [a division into two mutually exclusive or contradictory categories],” Austin said, shaking his head.

“A surgeon should choose the best method for the patient and do their best with it.”

“I’m not using a dichotomy, but a quintichotomy [a division into five parts]: best, good, average, bad, worst.”

“……”

“Your judgment is clearly the best, but it’s the worst in this situation. My judgment is the worst, but it’s the best in this situation.”

“……”

“Please understand that sometimes the best can be the worst,” Jun-hoo concluded.

Did Austin grasp the meaning behind Jun-hoo’s words? Austin didn’t retort immediately. He lowered his head and looked down at the patient’s head.

More than half of the dura mater had been separated like a work of art, while the rest was roughly torn, like scraps of paper.

What was Austin thinking? Hector suddenly wished he could read Austin’s mind.

Jun-hoo had boldly rebelled, but there was no guarantee that the rebellion would succeed. Even if a medieval king could be overthrown by treason, the head surgeon in the operating room wouldn’t step down so easily.

The final decision-maker was still Austin.

“Jun-hoo.”

“Yes, Professor.”

“Your actions are infuriating, but I think the intention itself is worth considering,” Austin said slowly.

“Then let’s do this.”

“What do you mean?”

“Let’s have the four of us vote on the dura mater dissection method. You wouldn’t have any complaints if we follow the side with the most votes, right?”

“I agree.”

“Those who think Jun-hoo’s opinion is correct, please raise your hand lightly.”

Jun-hoo raised his hand first, and Raymond followed suit.

Hector had already expected this. If Raymond didn’t agree with Jun-hoo, he would have stubbornly refused to hand over the surgical instruments.

Jun-hoo was good at persuading even his adversaries.

Austin was against it, so there was no reason for him to raise his hand.

So, the only one left was Hector.

Everyone’s eyes turned to Hector, especially Austin’s gaze, which was intense.

Austin’s eyes seemed to say, ‘Hector… even you…’ He didn’t want to disappoint Austin, but he couldn’t help it.

He couldn’t help but be drawn to Jun-hoo’s judgment.

As Hector hesitated to raise his hand, Austin’s eyes curved into a crescent moon as he smiled.

“The conclusion is two to two. We are the department head and professor, so our opinions should be given more weight than yours.”

“……”

“Therefore……”

“Just a moment, Professor,” Hector interrupted Austin.

“It’s three to one.”

“Three to one?” Austin raised his eyebrows as he noticed Hector’s hand, which was already raised.

Austin’s eyes seemed to be saying, ‘Hector… even you…’

He didn’t want to disappoint Austin, but he couldn’t help it. He couldn’t help but be drawn to Jun-hoo’s judgment.

* * *

Boo-oook. Boo-oook.

Although there was no sound, it felt like such a sound was being heard.

The surgery resumed, and Austin was dissecting the meninges in a rough manner, unlike before.

All the hard work he had done so far was in vain.

The dura mater, arachnoid mater [the middle layer of the meninges], and pia mater [the innermost layer of the meninges] were torn apart.

The torn meningeal layers were tattered, and unlike before, microvascular bleeding also occurred.

Additional procedures were performed to suck up the blood with a suction device and to stop the bleeding with gauze.

But the speed of the surgery was unmatched.

In just one hour, the staff succeeded in removing all the meninges shared by the children.

If they had used Austin’s original method, it would have really taken half a day, without exaggeration.

As the meninges were removed, the wrinkled brain, like a walnut, peeked out.

Jun-hoo brought his eyes close to the microscope.

The middle cerebral artery shared by Emma and Sophia was in the shape of a semicircle.

Separating that brain blood vessel and connecting it to each of their blood vessels was the highlight of today’s surgery.

The success or failure of the anastomosis [the surgical connection of two blood vessels] was the same as the success or failure of the surgery.

As he observed the cerebral artery in detail, he noticed it was faintly throbbing, like a fish out of water.

Compared to veins, arteries were too elastic, making anastomosis difficult. The more force applied during anastomosis, the higher the possibility of the blood vessel rupturing.

“Professor, I’m sorry.”

Jun-hoo took his eyes off the microscope and looked at Austin. He belatedly offered an apology.

Austin had been silent since Jun-hoo’s rebellion. He didn’t give orders and just did his job.

The fact that an active person had become taciturn meant that the shock or wound was that great.

“Sorry…” Austin murmured in a faint voice.

“If we were to be strict, I’m the one who should be sorry.”

“Why would you be, Professor…? I was the one who acted arbitrarily.”

“Looking back, I also acted arbitrarily. I pushed my style without asking for your opinions.”

“……”

“I’ve been thinking a lot after hearing your words, Jun-hoo. Yes, it was all my greed. I was trapped in the stubbornness of perfection.”

Austin made eye contact with each of the staff and continued. His attitude was not one of forcibly admitting his mistakes but of sincerely repenting.

“I’ve realized once again that the perfection I thought of may not be perfection for the patient. Thank you for giving me a good realization.”

“……”

“For the record, the reason I’ve been silent so far is not because I’m sulking. It’s because I needed time to reflect. Please keep that in mind.”

Jun-hoo was sincerely impressed by Austin’s poignant self-reflection.

Even though Jun-hoo had performed the procedure without permission, and even though the staff below had opposed his procedure, Austin didn’t make an issue of it.

Rather, he said that he had gained enlightenment through it.

Could he have done that if he were Austin? Jun-hoo couldn’t be sure.

That’s why he respected and admired Austin even more.

The attitude of assuming that he might be wrong was something that not everyone could have.

It was Jun-hoo who gained enlightenment instead.

So, he decided that even if he becomes a hexa neurosurgeon who is proficient in brain tumors, brain blood vessels, pediatrics, stereotactic neurosurgery [a minimally invasive surgical procedure to target specific areas in the brain], spine, and hand surgery (specializing in anastomosis), he vowed not to forget the attitude of listening to and respecting the opinions of the staff.

Looking back, the Murim world [a fictional world in martial arts stories] was the same. Those who always package themselves as righteous are the Demonic Sect. Those who worry about whether they are righteous or not are the Orthodox Sect.

“Raymond.”

“Yes, Professor.”

“What’s the patient’s condition?”

“Body temperature is 36.7 degrees Celsius. Blood pressure is 120mmHg over 80mmHg. Pulse is 100 beats per minute. Oxygen saturation is normal, and intracranial pressure is 20mmHg. Electrocardiogram and electroencephalogram are normal.”

“The intracranial pressure is slightly high. Add mannitol [a diuretic drug used to reduce intracranial pressure] and raise the children’s heads slightly.”

“Yes, Professor.”

Austin gave the order, and Raymond followed it.

After the procedure, the operating room became as still as the eye of a storm.

Everyone knew that the procedure that would determine the patient’s life was about to begin.

The staff’s eyes became determined.

“Is everyone ready?”

“Ready.”

“Ready.”

“Ready.”

“Jun-hoo, I hope you do a little better than you did in practice, if possible.”

“Yes. Leave it to me.”

Jun-hoo’s voice was full of confidence.

Jun-hoo had been sharpening his knife for this moment. He had been imagining and training in his head without even sleeping.

Jun-hoo was rather pleased that a place had been created for him to fully demonstrate his skills.

“Number 10.”

Austin, who received the scalpel from Hector, cut the middle cerebral artery shared by the twins with the scalpel.

A sea of blood unfolded.