Dr. Shin Seonhan: The Doctor Who Sees The Future [EN]: Chapter 164

#164 Rival Match (2)

[Resident Prizes]

―1st Place: Latest Laptop

―2nd Place: Mini Beam Projector for Camping

―3rd Place: Smart Watch

[Intern Prizes]

―1st Place: Buds Pod Pro 3

―2nd, 3rd Place: Small Souvenirs

Oh, not bad?

The prizes are more substantial than I expected.

Among them, the intern 1st place prize instantly caught my attention.

“Isn’t that the latest model?”

“You know about it?”

“Of course.”

“Well, I heard young people these days really like it. So, I intentionally prepared it with that in mind.”

The 1st place prize is quite appealing.

Wireless earbuds.

They’re famous for their powerful noise-canceling function.

I heard they use the latest technology to perfectly block out unnecessary ambient noise.

“I was thinking of buying them anyway.”

“Oh, really? Do you like listening to music often?”

“Not really.”

I chuckled awkwardly, thinking about last night.

To be precise, I need them for noise cancellation.

Of course, as an intern who always needs to be alert, I probably won’t use them often.

But, the nights are a different story.

Snore, snore— Cough, cough— Phew—

Maybe it’s because it’s tough in the transplantation surgery department these days, but my roommate Geun-wook’s snoring is getting worse day by day.

Especially when Geun-wook starts snoring before I fall asleep, it’s incredibly distressing.

It feels like I have to fall asleep while a helicopter transporting an emergency patient is taking off and landing in the next room.

But I can’t exactly block Geun-wook’s airways, so I have no choice but to block my ears.

Sometimes, on my days off, I actually wear earplugs to sleep.

“Perfect timing. Try hard and aim for the prize.”

“Should I?”

“Then I’d be happy. Your YouTube views would go up quite a bit, right? I can already see the thumbnail. Hehehe.”

The PR team leader started to actively persuade me.

I could feel his ambition to use me, since my face was known from the Gangnam Station incident [referring to a previous event where the protagonist’s face became known to the public].

As someone whose photo was already forcibly plastered on the Yonsei University Hospital website and blog, it wasn’t anything new.

“Then, see you the day after tomorrow!”

The PR team leader grinned, patted me on the back, and quickly disappeared.

He seemed to already take it for granted that I would participate in the competition.

Of course, I was planning to participate anyway.

The competition itself seemed fun, and the prizes are attractive too.

Besides, laparoscopic/thoracoscopic surgery is a technique that I must master someday if I want to apply to the surgical field.

“This makes me want to compete.”

“Right?”

Jeez.

Ryoo Myung-in suddenly sticks his head next to me.

“How long have you been here?”

“Just now. I thought I’d get beat up by Geun-wook hyung [older brother/senior] if I kept teasing him, so I ran away.”

Ryoo Myung-in’s gaze is fixed on the poster as he says that.

As expected, there’s no way he’d miss an event like this.

He can’t stand anything but ranking competitions.

“Did you know about this competition?”

“Of course. I applied to participate as soon as I heard about it.”

“Already?”

“Of course. It’s a chance to show and prove how good my hands are, so I can’t miss it. You know I can’t stand not getting first place in something like this, hyung.”

Ryoo Myung-in smiled meaningfully with a pale face.

I can feel his burning competitive spirit.

I had forgotten for a while, but he still thinks of me as a rival.

The look in his eyes right now is also burning fiercely.

It’s so hot, I’m going to get burned. My face will get scorched.

“Sun-han hyung will probably have to settle for a small souvenir. First place is mine anyway.”

“You’re full of confidence?”

“I’m Ryoo Myung-in, after all.”

Here we go again.

I can’t help but find him annoying, even if I try to see him as cute.

Well, it was this guy’s characteristic to say things that sound like middle school syndrome [referring to cringey or exaggerated behavior often associated with middle schoolers] without any hesitation.

But…….

When it comes to competitiveness, I don’t lose either.

I might not even start, but if I decide to compete, I have to win.

“Sun-han hyung is definitely going to apply to participate, right?”

“Maybe.”

“Don’t avoid me because you’re scared.”

“Our Myung-in is still a master of nonsense.”

“Hehe…… Then, see you the day after tomorrow.”

Ryoo Myung-in disappeared with a laugh.

I chuckled.

It felt like I saw his true self after a long time.

Now he openly provokes me without any disguise.

But when I think about the days when he wore a sly mask, I thought it was much better to have him openly pick a fight like that.

‘Well, anyway, getting first place won’t be easy.’

I recalled my memories.

Three months ago.

I rotated through the thoracic surgery schedule with him and confirmed Ryoo Myung-in’s skills.

As expected of the top student at Yonsei University.

Ryoo Myung-in had an extraordinary mind, and above all, his hands were fast.

That was definitely something I acknowledged and sometimes admired.

So, it’s no wonder he’s so confident.

‘Well, at best, we’re both interns with no experience, so… the conditions will be the same for now.’

As I was thinking that and about to enter the dorm, I heard a commotion from inside the lounge.

“Hey, Geun-wook-ah. Who do you think would win if a lion vs. a tiger fought in the jungle?”

“The tiger would win.”

“The lion would win.”

“The tiger can do a one-two punch with its front paws, you know?”

“Are you kidding me? Have you never seen a lion punch? And lions have more fighting experience in the wild, you know?”

……Have they really regressed to elementary school students?

The two people’s debate seems to have moved beyond Messi and Ronaldo to another realm.

I quickly moved to my room, afraid of getting caught up in it again.

But, I’m honestly curious.

Of course, not about the tiger and lion thing.

If the resident doctors compete against each other in the finals, who would be the strongest?

* * *

“Well, this year’s winner will probably be Dr. Song Yoo-joo.”

“Probably, right?”

“Shh, lower your voice a little.”

The next day.

Dr. Yoo Jung-nam from obstetrics and gynecology, who was eating with me in the cafeteria, put a finger to her lips.

I tilted my head, stopping mid-sentence.

“Why are you doing that? Dr. Song Yoo-joo has been the fixed winner since two years ago….”

Last night, I searched for competition videos.

They were videos with quite high views on Yonsei University Hospital’s channel.

And as I expected, the winner was the same person for two years in a row.

―1st Winner: Song Yoo-joo (1st year resident)

―2nd Winner: Song Yoo-joo (2nd year resident)

In a way, it’s a natural result.

I know Dr. Song Yoo-joo’s skills because I’ve seen them with my own eyes a few times.

Sometimes she feels like a machine rather than a person.

In particular, thoracoscopy is an essential tool for thoracic surgeons, so there’s no way Dr. Song Yoo-joo wouldn’t be good at it.

Of course, it must have been amazing that she defeated all the 4th year seniors and won from her 1st year.

She would have been a so-called monster rookie.

“I know Dr. Song Yoo-joo is amazing too. But I’m afraid that if I say this year’s winner is Song Yoo-joo, Dr. Chun Sa-yeon might hear it….”

“Dr. Chun?”

“They’re rivals.”

“Ah, really?”

That’s something I didn’t know.

They were rivals?

Chun Sa-yeon vs. Song Yoo-joo… I can’t quite imagine it.

Dr. Yoo Jung-nam looked around and whispered in a small voice.

“To be precise, it’s just Dr. Chun Sa-yeon who unilaterally thinks of her as a rival… Don’t tell anyone that I said this.”

Of course, Dr. Chun Sa-yeon also worked hard in the last competition, and her results were quite good.

5th place in the 1st competition.

3rd place in the 2nd competition.

Considering her low seniority among residents, it was an incredibly high score.

But, even so, she couldn’t overcome the wall called Song Yoo-joo.

Of course, 3rd place is also good.

But Chun Sa-yeon’s pride wouldn’t accept that.

“So, she says she’s sharpening her knife to somehow beat Dr. Song Yoo-joo this year.”

“Sharpening her knife?”

“I heard she’s been practicing laparoscopy late at night alone in the animal lab in the basement with the practice machine when she’s on duty?”

That much?

Well, the prize isn’t the issue. It’s a battle of pride.

I imagined Dr. Chun Sa-yeon rolling her big eyes and doing special training.

It’s kind of eerie….

“But this year, you really never know what will happen. I heard that the rules are changing a bit.”

“Really?”

“Dr. Song Yoo-joo is such an unbalanced character [meaning she is overwhelmingly skilled] that they’re trying to proceed differently from this year. I don’t know the details though.”

Rule change.

It seems like it will be interesting in many ways.

I felt anticipation for the competition that will be held tomorrow.

Ding—

At that time, a text message arrived on my phone.

It was a message from the Talent Education Development Office.

Since the intern doctors have no experience with laparoscopy and thoracoscopy, we will give you the opportunity to practice by arriving 30 minutes early before the competition starts. Please attend on time.

Also, please promote the teaser video link attached on SNS, etc….

Teaser video?

There’s something like this.

When I touched the link address, a short video interviewing the professors from the four departments participating in the competition played.

[Obstetrics and Gynecology: Professor Yang Pil-soon]

―I hope that our residents’ skills will be upgraded through this competition. All of our obstetrics and gynecology doctors, fighting!

The beginning was a normal interview.

Professor Yang Pil-soon’s unique calm and kind tone.

But, the tension started to rise in earnest from the next one.

[Thoracic Surgery: Professor Heo Joon-im]

―Ah, well, isn’t the winner going to be thoracic surgery anyway? There’s a reason why our department has won for two years in a row.

Wide-area provocation!

As expected of a young professor, it was a witty remark.

Then, as if it were an ‘evil edit,’ the embarrassed faces of professors from other departments flashed by.

―Come to think of it, it reminds me of when I was a resident. At that time, I was right-handed, so I practiced with my left hand to….

Bbiriririk~

The video skips quickly.

And the subtitle says .

The PR team leader really prepared a lot.

The video editing was well done, so it felt as fun as a variety show.

After the thoracic surgery’s words ended, it was the surgery’s turn.

[Surgery: Professor Eom Seo-yong]

―This year, we will restore the pride of surgery! Don’t be nervous and if you do as usual, you can win! Aja, aja fighting!

It’s been a while since I saw Professor Eom Seo-yong from surgery.

He was a very affectionate person who constantly lectured Dr. Byun and lamented, ‘You’re making my hair fall out more because of you.’

It’s nice to see him again on screen like this.

And the highlight was the last urology department.

[Urology: Professor Jeon Ip-seon]

―Hello. I’m Jeon Ip-seon, a professor of urology at Yonsei University Hospital and the 4th batter of the social baseball team. Last year, our urology doctors didn’t make it into the rankings.

With a stern expression, he was holding a baseball bat, so-called ppatta [a Korean slang term for baseball bat], in the hospital front yard.

Boom, boom!

He swung the bat a few times menacingly and gave a short and impactful comment to the camera.

―Guys, let’s be good when we laugh. Fighting!

“Puhaha. It seems like the PR team wrote the script for this?”

Dr. Yoo Jung-nam, who was watching the video with me, burst into laughter.

‘Fun.’

The professors are already stepping up and creating a competitive atmosphere.

Of course, I’m not affiliated with a specific department, but I still feel motivated.

I’m off tomorrow after being on duty today.

I’m expecting a bit of a condition slump because I have to work tonight, but….

‘What could happen?’

Nothing like a crazy amount of work piling up on the last day will happen, right?

* * *

But, ta-da.

That surprisingly happened in reality.

My last schedule with OBGYN was a hell party.

“Two emergency C-sections will be opened with a time gap, so intern doctor, please prepare well!”

“A patient with a burst wound in the emergency room needs dressing, so can you go and prepare?”

Suddenly, several things piled up at once, so my last duty was endlessly busy.

It felt like I was paying off the debt of a few days of peaceful life.

As expected, I should never say things like .

Dr. Mi-sun, who came to work in the morning, was surprised to see me.

“Sun-han, why do you look so haggard today?”

“I had a lot of work last night.”

“Didn’t you say there’s a skills competition today?”

“I’ll do the handover first.”

Of course.

I shouldn’t neglect my main job.

After thoroughly handing over everything so that nothing was missed, it was already 8:45.

“Oh no… shouldn’t you go quickly?”

“Yes, I’ll go quickly.”

“Do well and come back, fighting!”

“Fighting!”

I’m late.

I hurried to the where the competition was being held.