A Surgeon Who Uses Martial Arts [EN]: Chapter 101

The Martial Surgeon – Episode 101

Chapter 18: The Tipping Point (1)

Jun-hoo had two main plans to deal with Mi-ho.

One was to expose her lack of skill to the second and third-year residents.

Mi-ho had been treated like an ace while passing off her work to Dae-jin.

It was a huge misconception and misunderstanding.

According to Jun-hoo’s observations, Mi-ho’s work ability was terrible.

To overcome that.

She had been using Dae-jin, who couldn’t refuse requests.

The problem was that such misconceptions and misunderstandings could continue even after Dae-jin collapsed.

Because, well.

-Mi-ho is doing Dae-jin’s work instead. The workload has increased, so Mi-ho is not doing as well as usual.

…the seniors could defend Mi-ho like that.

To break down that situation, Jun-hoo deliberately volunteered for Dae-jin’s work.

He blocked the situation where Mi-ho could make excuses that she couldn’t do her job because she had too much work.

The result was the situation a little while ago.

Mi-ho was verbally dressed down by Sang-hyuk.

That her work was too slow.

That she didn’t know how to prioritize tasks.

It was a bonus that she felt humiliated being compared to Jun-hoo.

‘She’s going to have a hard time in the future, right?’

The smile on Jun-hoo’s lips didn’t disappear.

Mi-ho had no one to delegate work to because Dae-jin had collapsed.

Jun-hoo would never help Mi-ho.

Mi-ho’s confidence would plummet as she was compared to the intern, Jun-hoo.

If the vicious cycle repeats, the seniors will see Mi-ho in a new light.

They would realize that the real hard worker in the department was Dae-jin, not Mi-ho.

Drrrrr.

Just in time, the door to the on-call room opened, and Yu-jeong, Jun-hoo’s partner intern, appeared.

“I heard you’re taking over the first-year’s work instead of Dae-jin? Isn’t it too much?”

“I learned most of it when I was training in orthopedics. No problem.”

“Are you saying it’s okay because it’s really okay? You’re not just pretending to be strong, are you?”

Yu-jeong was worried about Jun-hoo.

Charting and order entry.

Yu-jeong knew that it looked easy on the surface, but it was actually very difficult to delve into.

Entering diagnosis, disease code, and patient condition.

Entering additional orders through rounding [regularly checking on patients].

Entering additional orders after receiving nurse notifications, and so on.

There were dozens of things to worry about for just one patient.

If dozens more patients were added to that, it would be enough to cause a headache.

It wasn’t for nothing that people said the first year of residency was the toughest part of the doctor’s training.

“What would I gain from pretending? I’m doing it because I can handle it. And if I couldn’t do my job, I would have been kicked out right away, right?”

“I guess so.”

Yu-jeong’s voice contained a hint of agreement.

“Still, isn’t this a little too much advanced learning? Already mastering the first-year’s work?”

“Because a doctor’s job is to learn and help others.”

“Our Jun-hoo, a cool doctor.”

Yu-jeong said with a smile.

Jun-hoo had many unique qualities since he was in medical school.

Top of his class in medical school admission and graduation.

Perfect score on the national medical exam, and so on.

Also, Jun-hoo was not only talented but also righteous and considerate of his peers.

“Still, wouldn’t it have been better to stay still and not get involved? Then your body would be comfortable, and that annoying Mi-ho would suffer.”

“I know it’s hard to understand, but me taking on Dae-jin’s work is what’s tormenting Mi-ho.”

“Huh? I don’t know what you mean?”

“You’ll find out soon enough, even if you don’t want to.”

Jun-hoo smiled meaningfully and got up from his seat.

“Sorry, but can you watch the on-call room for a bit?”

“That’s not difficult. But bathroom? Or rounding?”

“A fire.”

Jun-hoo left the on-call room and crossed the ward hallway.

Looking at the rooms to the left and right as he walked.

He saw the room where Sang-hyuk and Mi-ho, who had left earlier, were together.

Mi-ho was holding a syringe in her hand. She stood with her head bowed like a sinner.

She must have been discouraged by failing the paracentesis [a procedure to remove fluid from the abdomen].

Because Sang-hyuk was the one actually doing the paracentesis.

Her terrible skills, which had been hidden in Dae-jin’s shadow, were surfacing.

Jun-hoo’s plan was paying off.

“Seo Jun-hoo, what are you doing here?”

Sang-hyuk, who came out into the hallway after the procedure, asked Jun-hoo.

“I was on my way to the bathroom, and I saw you doing the procedure, senior. But why are you doing the procedure instead of Mi-ho, senior?”

Jun-hoo deliberately asked, knowing all the inside information.

To tease Mi-ho.

“Mi-ho, she’s a third-month resident, and she still can’t do a proper paracentesis. I was dying of frustration.”

Sang-hyuk looked at Mi-ho with a pathetic gaze.

Mi-ho pursed her lips and couldn’t say anything.

“Ah, I see. If you have time, would you like to have a cup of coffee in the lounge?”

“I’d love to. Let’s go. Mi-ho, no matter what, get all the rounding orders entered by noon. Got it?”

“…Yes, senior.”

Jun-hoo moved to the lounge with Sang-hyuk.

They drank canned coffee and gossiped about Mi-ho.

If a righteous person from the Murim [martial arts world] saw Jun-hoo like this, they might criticize Jun-hoo for doing something unjust.

But Jun-hoo’s thoughts were different.

Mi-ho was the one who started the trickery first.

Mi-ho poured out bad things about him to Sang-hyuk, causing him to have prejudice.

So, from Jun-hoo’s point of view, gossiping was just returning what he had received.

Just because you coax and soothe it doesn’t mean the weeds will stop growing.

The best way to solve weeds.

That is to pull them out by the roots.

Jun-hoo had such a way of thinking.

Although he had been in the righteous sect, Jun-hoo was always a hardliner when it came to dealing with villains.

Jun-hoo had never once thought of himself as a pure and clean person like a white robe.

If you compare it to clothes.

Jun-hoo would be clothes with alternating white and black stripes.

Righteous when he is righteous.

As ruthless as a villain when punishing villains.

The current Jun-hoo was the latter.

And no one could stop Jun-hoo, who was filled with venom.

* * *

‘Ha, damn it. Why is everything so twisted? It’s a complete mess.’

Mi-ho, who had returned to the on-call room, tore at her hair.

The proverb ‘a carefully built tower will not collapse’ was clearly fake.

Mi-ho’s image as a smart worker, which she had worked so hard to build, was shattered this morning.

Sang-hyuk was a third-year resident and the real power in the residency.

To compare it to the military, he was like a hard-working, influential sergeant.

And yet.

She had been firmly targeted by such a Sang-hyuk.

That entering rounding orders was too slow.

That she couldn’t even do a proper paracentesis.

‘Dae-jin, why did he suddenly collapse and make a fuss?’

Mi-ho blamed the innocent Dae-jin for no reason. She blamed Dae-jin for this whole mess.

“Hey! What are you doing in the on-call room without doing procedures? Can an intern be idle?”

Mi-ho’s sharp gaze turned to Yu-jeong.

“Ah… no. Jun-hoo asked me to watch the on-call room for a bit.”

“Is Jun-hoo your superior? I’m here now, so do your job. Don’t loaf around.”

“…Yes.”

When Yu-jeong left, only Mi-ho remained in the on-call room.

Mi-ho, who had been huffing and puffing, took out a cold drink from the refrigerator and drank it.

Only then did the fire in her stomach subside.

Mi-ho recalled Jun-hoo as she fumbled to enter the charts.

The collapsed Dae-jin was a problem, but Jun-hoo was an even bigger problem.

Looking back, it seemed like this whole mess had started because of Jun-hoo.

If Jun-hoo hadn’t taken on Dae-jin’s work, Mi-ho wouldn’t have been caught like a rat like this.

Even if she didn’t do her job well.

She could have made excuses that it was because she had too much work.

And one more unpleasant fact.

As Jun-hoo was handling his work smartly, unlike an intern, she was being compared to Jun-hoo.

Mi-ho was constantly losing out by being compared to Jun-hoo.

She was hearing humiliating evaluations that she was worse at her job than an intern.

Seo Jun-hoo. That bastard.

‘He’s clearly trying to screw me over on purpose.’

‘You may be laughing now, but just you wait.’

As soon as Dae-jin returns, the situation will be completely reversed.

Mi-ho gritted her teeth and focused on her work.

Mi-ho was not the type to take things lying down.

* * *

“My ear keeps itching. Is someone talking about me?”

Jun-hoo, who was working in the on-call room, muttered to himself, touching his earlobe.

Of course, he was saying it for Mi-ho, who was working next to him, to hear.

Pretending not to notice, he looked at Mi-ho’s expression, and as expected, she had a constipated look on her face.

“You must have done something to be talked about.”

“I guess so? Then I should thank the person who’s talking about me.”

“What are you talking about?”

“They say you live longer if you’re talked about. Aren’t they talking about me so I can live longer? Of course, I should be thankful.”

Mi-ho shook her head at Jun-hoo’s jest.

Ring~.

The phone rang, so Jun-hoo, who was in the nearest seat, answered the phone.

“Yes. Gastroenterology.”

-Doctor. This is the emergency room. We have a patient with abdominal stab wounds who needs to go into emergency surgery.

The voice of the emergency medicine doctor on the phone was urgent.

The following notification was also shocking.

The patient had about five stab wounds in the abdomen, and even a knife was still stuck in the LUQ (left upper quadrant when dividing the abdomen into quadrants).

Emergency CT results showed bleeding in the abdominal aorta, inferior vena cava, and liver.

The blood pressure was 90 mmHg systolic.

And 60 mmHg diastolic.

Despite emergency treatment, his life was in danger.

“I’ll go down and check it out first.”

Jun-hoo quickly scanned the patient’s chart and hung up the phone.

Perhaps because he had watched so many colleagues suffer from swords and knives in Murim [martial arts world].

And because he himself had lost his life to a sword wound.

Jun-hoo felt even more urgent when he heard that there was an emergency patient with stab wounds.

“There’s a patient with abdominal stab wounds from a knife. I’m going down to the emergency room and will be back.”

Jun-hoo explained the situation to Mi-ho and rushed to the emergency room.

Originally, it was right for Mi-ho, a first-year resident, to go down.

But considering Mi-ho’s work ability.

Jun-hoo felt uneasy, like leaving a child near the water, so he stepped up himself.

Jun-hoo, who left the on-call room, used the emergency stairs instead of the elevator.

That was faster for Jun-hoo, who had learned martial arts.

Whoosh. Bang!

Jun-hoo jumped down nearly 20 steps at once.

Another person would have broken their ankle, but Jun-hoo didn’t feel even a bit of impact.

He protected his ankle with internal energy and maintained his center of gravity with gravity control.

He sprinted through the crowded hallway, stepping on the Thousand Mile Boots technique [a martial arts movement technique for rapid movement].

“Gastroenterology. Where is the patient with abdominal stab wounds?”

Jun-hoo moved to the emergency room station and asked.

“A1 area, bed 3. But you came so fast? I feel like I just hung up the phone.”

“I happened to be nearby.”

Jun-hoo hurriedly moved to the area where the patient was.

Ah…

A sigh escaped as soon as he saw the patient.

The patient was unconscious.

The abdomen was wrapped in blood-soaked bandages, and as notified, a knife was stuck in the left upper abdomen.

Looking at the monitor of the patient monitoring device, the blood pressure and pulse were a mess.

The electrocardiogram was also unstable.

Sharp, triangular waves were repeating irregularly.

A situation where surgery was needed as soon as possible.

Perhaps that’s why.

Beep.

The machine sound of the patient monitoring device connected to the patient seemed to be urging emergency surgery.

“How did the patient get these injuries?”

Jun-hoo asked the male guardian in his mid-50s who was guarding the patient.

“Well, this friend asked me to go with him to collect a debt from a friend he knew.”

“…”

“So, we went to the debtor’s house, and during the conversation, voices got louder, and that person suddenly pulled out a knife and started…”

The guardian couldn’t finish his sentence.

The misery and horror he felt at the time were evident on his face.

“Jin-soo, can he live? It’s too unfair to die like this.”

“I can’t guarantee a full recovery, but I’ll do my best.”

After speaking, Jun-hoo took a step closer to the bed.

He attempted his own emergency treatment that other doctors could not do.

Pa-ba-bat!

Jun-hoo quickly acupunctured the patient’s abdomen at a speed that the guardian couldn’t feel any strangeness.

He had already accurately identified the bleeding area through the CT scan before coming down to the emergency room.

So, he blocked the blood vessels where the bleeding occurred with internal energy processed into a circular ring shape.

This should buy him some time.

“The best treatment is to go into surgery as soon as possible.”

“Yes. Please.”

The guardian bit his lip and answered.

The guardian’s anxious gaze.

Never left the knife stuck in the patient’s abdomen from earlier.

“Please wait a moment.”

The condition was so serious that there was no time to look at the patient any further.

Jun-hoo still turned to the station.

He called the gastroenterology department.

He asked Mi-ho, who answered the phone, to schedule the surgery.

Even so, his gaze was constantly directed at the bed where the patient was lying.

To prepare for any problems before the surgery.

But it was at that moment.

“…!”

The guardian’s strange behavior caught Jun-hoo’s eye.

The guardian had an expression that he had made up his mind.

He got up from his seat and reached for the knife stuck in the patient’s left upper abdomen.

For a moment, Jun-hoo doubted his eyes.

‘Ha… I’m going crazy.’

‘Is he trying to pull out the knife with his own hands?’

‘Then the bleeding will get worse?’

‘It seems like the guardian wants to do something for the patient, but…’

‘He seems to be doing such reckless things after watching movies or dramas…’

‘That action is a shortcut to killing the patient.’

In an instant, a chilling cold swept down Jun-hoo’s spine.

‘No.’

‘I can’t stop the guardian even if I step on the movement technique.’

‘The distance is far, and there are too many obstacles.’

‘No.’

‘If I use the Lion’s Roar [a martial arts technique that uses sound to stun or incapacitate], the other doctors and nurses who are treating will be surprised and make mistakes.’

‘Then what can I do?’

Even as Jun-hoo was in trouble.

The guardian’s hand was heading towards the knife every moment.