A Surgeon Who Uses Martial Arts [EN]: Chapter 1

The Martial Art Using Surgeon 1

Chapter 1: Butterfly’s Dream (1)

Deep in the dark forest where even moonlight couldn’t penetrate.

I followed the night breeze, carrying the acrid smell of blood, until I reached an open space.

The open space, thick with bamboo, was a living hell.

Dozens of martial artists lay scattered as gruesome corpses.

Limbs were torn apart or severed.

The blood from the corpses flowed down the slope like small streams.

Passing through the open space against the blood flow, two martial artists were engaged in a deadly battle before a bottomless cliff.

Clang, clang, clang.

Swords and sabers clashed.

Blue sparks flew in all directions.

The two martial artists exchanged fatal blows fiercely, advancing and retreating.

The balance of the fight did not easily tip to one side.

Eventually, the two, who had been fiercely exchanging blows, stepped back, keeping a reasonable distance.

“I saw you when you were just a greenhorn, and your skills have improved quite a bit.”

Blood Demon, Jeok Il-do, chuckled.

Having mastered demonic arts, his eyes were redder than blood.

“Of course. I’ve been counting the moments to punish you.”

Seo Jun-hoo, the young master of the Seo Clan, replied.

Seo Jun-hoo’s eyes were cold and sharp.

The sword raised above his chest reflected the moonlight, scattering dazzling light.

“Heh heh heh. All talk and no action. I’ll send you to the afterlife to join your father soon enough.”

“If you can.”

“You’re on your last legs, yet you insist on maintaining your pride until the end?”

A bitter smile appeared on Jeok Il-do’s lips.

Seo Jun-hoo had suffered a deep wound to his chest from the earlier exchanges.

Blood poured incessantly from the chest revealed through the torn martial robes.

He had managed to hold on quite well until now.

However, it seemed clear as day that Jeok Il-do would be the ultimate victor.

“I still have a trump card left.”

Whoosh!

Unexpectedly, Seo Jun-hoo made the first move.

Seo Jun-hoo stepped forward, using his footwork to rush towards Jeok Il-do.

Clinging to his fading consciousness due to the blood loss, he staked everything on his final move.

Father, please give me strength.

Azure Wind Sword Art, Final Form: Flowing Cloud Mountain.

Becoming a gust of wind, Seo Jun-hoo arrived right in front of Jeok Il-do in the blink of an eye.

“Ah… No? Cough. Cough.”

It was already too late when he realized the presence.

Jeok Il-do coughed up blood, forced to look down at the sword embedded in his heart.

As fear and pain surged, he couldn’t even twitch a finger.

“This is our family’s secret technique that you underestimated. Created by my father and perfected by me.”

“Kuh… Unbelievable…”

“Get lost.”

Seo Jun-hoo kicked Jeok Il-do in the abdomen and pulled out his sword.

Then, he watched Jeok Il-do fall off the cliff before collapsing to the ground.

There was no time to feel the satisfaction of avenging his father.

It became increasingly difficult to breathe.

His body grew cold, and his consciousness became hazy.

Although he had succeeded in his revenge, it seemed this was the end for Seo Jun-hoo as well.

Clang!

Seo Jun-hoo dropped his sword and sprawled out on the ground.

He didn’t even have the strength to sit up anymore.

He didn’t even have the strength to lift his eyelids.

In his fading consciousness, his deceased father’s face.

The face of Lady Cheon, whom he had promised to marry, came to mind.

Both of them were smiling brightly at Seo Jun-hoo.

He wanted to smile with them, but Seo Jun-hoo was unable to, which made him feel frustrated.

Darkness and sleep continued to wash over him.

Seo Jun-hoo knew that what was coming was death.

Just before losing consciousness completely.

Seo Jun-hoo noticed a butterfly landing on his chest.

The journey to the afterlife didn’t seem so lonely after all.

* * *

“Ah…”

His eyes burned.

He vividly felt the thick tears flowing down his cheeks.

Waking up from his sleep, Jun-hoo was crying without even realizing it.

After savoring the sorrow, loneliness, and grief that filled his entire body, Jun-hoo got up.

‘What on earth is going on?’

After calming his poignant emotions, a sense of confusion followed.

Jun-hoo was clearly an ordinary first-year high school student.

He was sleeping in late, enjoying his summer vacation a few days ago.

But he felt as if he had lived for thirty years in a strange place called Murim [a world of martial arts and cultivation, often found in Korean fantasy novels].

He could vividly recall his memories from Murim right now.

If that’s the case.

Am I Seo Jun-hoo from Murim?

Am I Seo Jun-hoo, a high school student in the modern era?

Suddenly, his identity began to waver.

Severe headaches and nausea also washed over him.

To calm his panicked mind, Jun-hoo went to the living room, took out cold water from the refrigerator, and drank it.

Strangely enough, the object called a refrigerator didn’t feel foreign at all.

If he were Seo Jun-hoo from Murim, he should find the refrigerator bizarre.

Air conditioner, TV, sofa, wall clock, and so on.

Jun-hoo felt that everything else he saw was also natural.

He could easily understand their uses.

So, did he simply have a vivid dream?

But that was also strange.

He had never heard of a vivid dream that felt like directly experiencing 30 years.

His parents were out working, and the house was quiet.

Jun-hoo sat on the sofa and organized his thoughts.

He desperately tried to understand what had happened to him.

Just then, something came to mind.

The Butterfly Dream or Zhuangzi’s Dream, which he had learned about in ethics class.

Did Zhuang Zhou become a butterfly?

Or did the butterfly become Zhuang Zhou?

Zhuang Zhou said that there is no fixed self, so the two cannot be distinguished.

In other words, according to Zhuang Zhou, Jun-hoo in the modern era is Jun-hoo, and Jun-hoo in Murim is also Jun-hoo.

It was a difficult story to understand and accept.

‘I’ll find out if I check.’

Jun-hoo returned to his room and sat cross-legged.

He circulated the Azure Cloud Mind Method, the Seo Clan’s inner cultivation technique.

He took a deep breath, accepting the qi [life energy or vital force] of the atmosphere into his body.

He exhaled slowly, preserving the qi in his dantian [energy center in the body, located in the abdomen] with the pressure.

[Clouds follow the wind to reach all things, so if true qi follows the blood flow, there is no place it cannot reach.]

Thirty minutes after reciting the incantation of the Azure Cloud Mind Method and performing meditative breathing.

Jun-hoo clearly felt the true qi flowing through his meridians [energy pathways in the body] and the true qi coiled in his dantian.

Although it wasn’t as much as in Murim.

He could definitely build internal energy even in the modern era.

“Ha… It works?”

Jun-hoo released his cross-legged position and muttered to himself with a sigh.

The fact that he could circulate the mind method and perform meditative breathing.

This fact clearly indicated two things.

That Jun-hoo didn’t simply have a vivid dream.

Jun-hoo is a modern high school student, but at the same time, he is also Seo Jun-hoo from Murim.

Like Zhuang Zhou’s Butterfly Dream.

Jun-hoo was finally able to gradually accept his confused identity.

I am Seo Jun-hoo in the modern era.

At the same time, I am Seo Jun-hoo in Murim.

Having gained enlightenment, Jun-hoo immediately moved to the bathroom.

Jun-hoo reflected in the mirror looked exactly like Seo Jun-hoo from Murim when he was young.

Not only did they have the same name and surname, but their faces were also identical.

“Sigh. Life is quite spectacular.”

* * *

Jun-hoo went to a nearby spring to get some fresh air.

The spring was as crowded as usual.

People carrying carts full of water bottles.

People walking their dogs.

People wearing hiking clothes and walking along the trails, etc.

It was an extremely ordinary scene, but it looked quite unfamiliar to Jun-hoo.

Perhaps it was because he had spent nearly thirty years in Murim.

Jun-hoo walked aimlessly along the spring trail and sat on a bench.

Mehhhh.

Mehhhh.

The cicadas chirped loudly.

The mountainside in midsummer was a deep green, and the breeze carried the fresh scent of grass.

Jun-hoo wiped the sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand.

Perhaps it was because he had accepted Seo Jun-hoo from Murim as himself.

He no longer felt confused about his identity.

However, he was still dumbfounded.

After all, he had just experienced something extraordinary.

Buzz.

The phone he had brought with him vibrated.

Jun-hoo frowned after checking the arrived message.

[Hey, you X bastard. Are you having a blast because it’s vacation? You haven’t contacted your 형님 [hyung-nim, older brother or respected male figure]? LOL]

[Bring 1 million won [Korean currency, approximately $800 USD] by the time school starts. 형님 is short on allowance these days. I’ll beat you as much as the amount you’re short, so behave yourself~ LOL]

The message was sent by Hyeong-tae, a classmate and the school bully in the same class.

After entering high school, Jun-hoo had been constantly bullied by Hyeong-tae’s gang.

The reason was simple.

The bully girls praised Jun-hoo for being handsome, and Hyeong-tae didn’t like that.

The events that followed were truly horrific.

Bread shuttle [being forced to buy bread for bullies].

Money shuttle [being forced to give money to bullies].

Punching bag shuttle [being used as a punching bag by bullies], etc.

Jun-hoo was reduced to various shuttles for Hyeong-tae’s gang, who were not human.

He reported the bullying to the homeroom teacher, but the teacher dismissed Jun-hoo’s words, saying that it couldn’t be true.

Because Hyeong-tae was outwardly a good student who studied well and was a model student in the class.

He couldn’t tell his parents about the bullying either.

He couldn’t bear to see his parents suffer because of him.

So, Jun-hoo suffered alone.

He frequently felt the urge to end his life.

As a result, his friendships naturally collapsed, and his grades plummeted.

For the past few months, Jun-hoo had not been truly living.

‘Little punks. How cute.’

After reading the messages, Jun-hoo chuckled.

If it were the old Jun-hoo, he would have trembled after receiving the messages.

But the current Jun-hoo didn’t need to do that.

Those who should be trembling with fear were Hyeong-tae’s gang.

Putting his phone back in his pocket, Jun-hoo looked up at the blue sky.

How should he live from now on?

Suddenly, an existential question washed over him.

Now that he didn’t need to worry about Hyeong-tae’s gang, he had to make his life wonderful.

The first future that came to mind was that of a sports player.

Whatever sport it was, Jun-hoo was confident that he could achieve outstanding accomplishments compared to others.

Jun-hoo had internal energy and martial arts.

He was confident in anything that involved using his body.

However, the path of a sports star didn’t particularly appeal to him.

Having already defeated countless demonic leaders while wielding a sword, Jun-hoo didn’t feel much interest in sports.

He also felt like it was cheating for him to jump into sports.

Then what other good jobs are there?

What job can make his parents live comfortably, have a good social image, and make him feel proud?

Deepening worries.

As Jun-hoo pondered, he sought answers from within himself.

So, he carefully reflected on his life spent in Murim.

There were many things he regretted.

But the most regrettable thing was losing precious people.

Due to illness.

Due to injuries.

Due to power struggles between righteous sects.

Also, due to attacks by heretics.

The people of the clan were constantly injured or killed.

Jun-hoo from Murim was strong, but he couldn’t prevent the physical pain and separation from his loved ones.

Unfortunately, Jun-hoo’s sword always had its limits.

‘That’s right! That job…’

Just then, a perfect job came to mind.

A job that uses tools similar to swords.

A job that protects precious lives.

A job that requires a steel-like physique and high concentration.

Finally, a job that requires skillful hand movements.

Jun-hoo wanted to become a surgeon.

He wanted to hold a scalpel instead of a sword.

He wanted to save good people instead of killing bad people.

A martial art using surgeon….

This might be better than I thought?

On the way home, Jun-hoo coincidentally saw a butterfly.

A butterfly that looked exactly like the butterfly that watched over Jun-hoo’s final moments before he lost his life in Murim.