A Surgeon Who Uses Martial Arts [EN]: Chapter 128

Surgeon Who Uses Martial Arts – Episode 128

Chapter 23: Conman (3)

Neurosurgery conference room.

Sitting at his desk, Jun-hoo was fiddling with the blueberry jam jar he had confiscated from the patient.

What should he do with this thing?

Among the nutritional components of the jam, the most notable was sugar.

The ‘Mak’ jam contained 3 grams of sugar per 100 grams.

This was because it used stevia.

These days, zero-calorie drinks are all the rage, and this jam seemed to be a product derived from that trend.

On a whim, Jun-hoo searched for the product.

‘Mak’ jam was a huge hit.

It felt like a pioneer in low-calorie jams.

‘It’s less stimulating and delicious,’ the product description claimed.

‘Even people with diabetes or impaired glucose tolerance can enjoy it without worry,’ it continued, and so on.

Numerous reviews testified to the jam’s popularity.

The daughter, as the guardian, must have heard these claims and gifted the jam to the patient.

If so.

1) The company committed fraud with the nutrition facts.

2) The patient is lying.

There were two possible explanations for the patient’s high blood sugar levels.

Drrr.

Just then.

The conference room door opened, and Eun-ha came in.

“Senior, I brought the blood glucose meter you mentioned.”

“Thanks. What’s Lee Jung-hwa’s blood sugar like?”

“Her fasting blood sugar this evening is 80.”

Compared to the blood sugar measured before lunch, it had dropped more than twofold.

It was a normal level.

However, Jun-hoo couldn’t jump to conclusions.

He didn’t know if the patient had stopped eating the snacks she was secretly eating.

It was still unknown if there was a problem with the jam.

“Thank you, Eun-ha. Get back to work now.”

“But Senior, why did you ask me to bring the blood glucose meter?”

“I’m going to check my blood sugar.”

“Do you perhaps… have diabetes?”

Eun-ha asked with wide, owl-like eyes.

She looked severely shocked.

Jun-hoo chuckled, feeling like he had unintentionally caused a misunderstanding.

“I don’t have diabetes, but there’s something I want to check.”

Jun-hoo told Eun-ha about the jam-related situation.

“Ah… so that’s what happened. Still, is it really necessary to eat the jam and even measure your blood sugar?”

“Of course, I have to verify it myself.”

“I don’t think the company would play tricks with the sugar content. There are so many zero-calorie or low-calorie foods these days.”

Eun-ha took the company’s side.

Her reasoning was the recent zero-calorie trend and the popularity of ‘Mak’ jam.

Distrust of some patients who don’t follow instructions and tell lies was also one of the reasons.

But Jun-hoo was a guardian of balance.

He didn’t readily believe the patient’s words.

He didn’t readily believe the company’s words.

He didn’t even readily believe Eun-ha’s words.

He had to be suspicious enough before believing.

That was Jun-hoo’s way of thinking.

He had suffered greatly from prejudice in the Murim world [a world of martial arts and cultivation, often used in Korean fantasy novels].

“Perhaps… Senior… you’re not really… diabetic, are you?”

“I told you I’m not. Eun-ha, do you want to get scolded?”

“It’s okay if you’re diabetic, Senior. I’m confident I can manage it well.”

“Are you going to keep talking nonsense? Come here. Let me flick your forehead. I’ll wake you right up.”

“Hehe. No way.”

As Jun-hoo pretended to get up, Eun-ha quickly left the staff room.

It was a swift escape befitting her nickname, Squirrel.

Jun-hoo checked his pre-meal blood sugar.

(He had maintained a fasted state for four hours for the experiment)

He disinfected his finger and pricked it with a lancet [a small, two-edged surgical knife or blade with a point].

He put the blood flowing from his finger on the test strip and connected it to the blood glucose meter.

Diabetic patients must really suffer a lot.

Having to prick their fingers like this several times a day…

While checking his blood sugar, Jun-hoo deeply felt the hardships of diabetic patients.

Although blood glucose meters that don’t require blood sampling are being developed and some are commercially available…

The road still seemed long.

Beep beep beep.

The blood sugar level that came out while he was lost in thought was 75mg/dl.

As expected, it was a normal level.

“As you can see, it’s normal, right? This time, I’m going to eat a whole jar of jam and check my blood sugar.”

Talking to himself, Jun-hoo held out the blood glucose meter towards the phone mounted on the stand opposite him.

He was filming his current actions for a NewTube [a fictional analogue to YouTube] upload.

Puk. Puk. Puk.

Jun-hoo scooped up and ate a whole jar of ‘Mak’ jam with the spoon he had brought.

Was it because it was a low-calorie jam?

The jam had low viscosity and was runny.

The fruit flavor was weak, as if it had been watered down.

Yet, the sweetness was clearly felt.

One hour until the next blood sugar check.

Jun-hoo set an alarm timer and studied neurosurgery textbooks.

Time passed in the blink of an eye.

“Now, I’m going to check my post-meal blood sugar. Since it’s only 15 calories even if I eat a whole jar, there shouldn’t be any change in my blood sugar, right?”

Jun-hoo checked his blood sugar as before.

Beep beep beep!

The reading appeared on the blood glucose meter.

* * *

The next day.

After the morning conference and rounds, the staff of the medical office scattered.

The professor seeing outpatients went to the outpatient clinic.

The professor with surgery headed to the operating room.

The residents were the same.

“Senior, how did yesterday’s experiment go?”

Eun-ha asked Jun-hoo, who was heading to the staff room.

“How do you think it went?”

“Perhaps the patient was secretly eating snacks and lying?”

“No. The problem was with the company.”

Jun-hoo’s face contorted as he answered.

One hour after eating a whole jar of jam.

Jun-hoo’s measured blood sugar was a whopping 160.

The level had risen by a staggering 85.

“Really? Are you sure you didn’t measure it wrong?”

Eun-ha asked in an unbelievable voice.

“Patients also measure their blood sugar well. Do you think I would make a mistake?”

“…I just wondered. Then isn’t this a huge issue?”

“It is a huge issue. Those trash-like guys, there are things you don’t mess with.”

Jun-hoo felt a fire burning inside him as he thought of the wicked company.

The company deceived consumers.

They falsely wrote the nutrition facts.

15 calories my foot.

Looking at the blood sugar, it seemed like it would easily be 150 calories.

In particular, the part that Jun-hoo was worried about.

Was diabetic patients eating ‘Mak’ jam regularly and for a long time.

They could eat ‘Mak’ jam with peace of mind.

And their diabetes could get worse.

“But that’s strange. If they used stevia, the blood sugar shouldn’t rise normally.”

“Since they’ve been caught as liars, you shouldn’t believe that either.”

Jun-hoo shook his head and continued.

“They probably used very little stevia and actually used more sugar. Because sugar is much cheaper.”

“That makes sense.”

“I have to show these guys a painful lesson. I can’t just let it go.”

Jun-hoo gritted his teeth.

As always, Jun-hoo had no mercy for evildoers.

Weeds grow more luxuriantly the more they are left unattended.

The same was true of villains.

If they weren’t uprooted.

They were bound to harm those around them.

“Can you tell Kyung-soo that I’ll be in late?”

“Yes, Senior.”

After parting with Eun-ha.

Jun-hoo turned his steps away from the staff room.

He visited the hospital room where Lee Jung-hwa was.

“To continue the story I told you yesterday… there was a big problem with the jam. The jam you ate was not a low-calorie jam, but a high-calorie jam.”

Facing the patient, Jun-hoo explained the experiment he had done yesterday.

“Right? Doctor. I told you I wasn’t lying. I really only ate hospital food and that jam.”

“…”

“The nurse has been looking at me suspiciously since yesterday afternoon. I almost died of frustration.”

“I hope you can understand generously. I don’t think they would have thought that a company would commit fraud with something like this. I’ll apologize with them.”

“It’s not your fault, Doctor. Rather, I’m grateful. Thanks to you, I’ve cleared my name.”

The patient looked at Jun-hoo and continued.

“So what happens from now on?”

“Are you talking about the company?”

“Yes. I hope they get a painful punishment…”

“Rest assured. No one who has been targeted by me has ever been comfortable. Those guys will suffer painfully.”

After reassuring the patient, Jun-hoo left the hospital room.

He immediately called the company representative’s number.

With the recording button turned on.

* * *

One building in Gasan Digital Complex [a large tech and business district in Seoul].

Sweet Healthy headquarters, residing on the 6th floor.

-Team Leader, could you please take a call?

“Why?”

Yong-hyun, who was working in the office, frowned upon checking the connected extension.

-A customer called the customer service team just now. One customer is nitpicking about the calories of our product.

“…”

-They’re making a fuss, saying they’ll contact the media if they can’t talk to the person in charge.

“Ha… some weirdo called from the morning. Okay. Connect them.

-Thank you, Team Leader.

While the employee was dialing the extension.

Yong-hyun took a puff of his electronic cigarette. Indoor smoking bans were not important.

Yong-hyun was the company’s second-in-command.

The first-in-command was Yong-hyun’s older brother.

There was no one he had to be mindful of.

“Hello. This is Kim Yong-hyun, Planning Team Leader.”

-I’m sure you’ve heard the details, so I’ll get straight to the point.

“…”

-Properly label the product’s nutritional content, and formally apologize and compensate consumers.

Yong-hyun clicked his tongue at the other party’s absurd demands.

Was this some crazy bastard, not just a weirdo?

To make such brazen demands out of the blue?

“Hey. How well do you know our product to say such things?”

Yong-hyun continued, irritated.

-Very~ well. It’s a product that deceives consumers by cheating on calories, riding on the zero-calorie trend.

“Hey, that’s too harsh, isn’t it?”

Yong-hyun’s eyebrows twitched.

-I checked my blood sugar before and after eating the jam. But how do you explain that my blood sugar rose by nearly 85 after eating the jam, which was supposed to be low-calorie?

Yong-hyun swallowed hard at the customer’s point.

Ordinary consumers didn’t bother with such inconvenient efforts.

They just thought it was a trend and followed it without thinking or reflecting.

That was the nature of the masses.

Yong-hyun had never heard of anyone drinking a zero-calorie carbonated drink and checking their blood sugar.

But they actually checked their blood sugar?

An action that so many consumers who had eaten ‘Mak’ jam had not done?

So Yong-hyun was slightly nervous.

“You must have spread the jam on bread or eaten other food in between. Our jam only has 15 calories even if you eat a whole jar.”

-…

“That’s a fact proven in the laboratory.”

-I only ate the jam? I even left the data in a video?

The customer said mockingly.

Yong-hyun suddenly had a headache because they said they had even filmed a video.

Ha… What the hell is this?

-And that laboratory you just mentioned. Isn’t that related to your company? When I searched, it said that they also did product research and development together.

“Still, it’s a reputable laboratory. Don’t make baseless remarks without knowing anything.”

-It’s not a reputable laboratory, but a friendly one.

The customer’s voice became scathing.

The customer was only stating facts point by point, so Yong-hyun was in trouble.

But he couldn’t back down like this.

He couldn’t just watch the tower he had built up collapse.

Yong-hyun went on the offensive instead.

“You seem to want to extort money from the company by threatening us. No way! We won’t give you a penny!”

-…

“If you keep running your mouth, we may sue you for extortion.”

-So you guys are a bunch who don’t know how to repent. I knew it.

“What? Repent? A bunch? Hey, how old are you? You sound young, do you think the world is that easy?”

-You’re the one who’s going to realize that the world isn’t easy. Look forward to good news soon.

Too-oot.

Too-oot.

The customer hung up first.

Yong-hyun, who was furious, only puffed out electronic cigarette smoke.

“What a crazy bastard. Threatening me with some bullshit?”

Yong-hyun stared at the phone for a long time.

He was a little uneasy.

But the thought that there was nothing that lowly bastard could do calmed him down.