A Surgeon Who Uses Martial Arts [EN]: Chapter 157

Chapter 29: Mission (2)

Woo-oong, woo-oong.

The internal energy extending from Jun-hoo’s palm passed through the patient’s scalp without hesitation.

Past the hard skull.

Penetrating the dura mater, arachnoid mater, and pia mater [the three layers of membranes protecting the brain and spinal cord] in order.

The Inner Eye Skill, which allowed him to see through objects with internal energy, was an advanced martial art.

Even Jun-hoo in the Murim world [a world of martial arts] could only achieve it with high concentration and a sharpened mind.

However, the modern Jun-hoo was mastering it skillfully.

A single-minded determination to cure the patient.

And the constant effort stemming from that determination had trained Jun-hoo.

Jun-hoo’s martial arts had advanced even further in the modern world.

The problem was from now on.

The patient’s life and death were in my hands.

With a determined expression, Jun-hoo moved the internal energy that had reached the brain to the brainstem where the tumor was located.

He began to shape the internal energy at a spot 3 centimeters away from the brainstem.

Jun-hoo imagined a small needle.

And a small needle made of internal energy actually began to form.

The so-called Mind Sword.

It was humble compared to the Mind Swords of masters who had reached the Mystic Realm or the Realm of Life and Death, but it was still a Mind Sword.

Drip. Drip. Drip.

Sweat poured down Jun-hoo’s face like rain.

The hand resting on the patient’s head trembled.

Unleashing such a presumptuous martial art caused serious side effects in his body. He felt nauseous, and it was as if ants were gnawing at his blood vessels.

Jun-hoo bit his lip tightly.

Tenaciously enduring the overwhelming pain.

Considering the pain and despair the patient had endured, this was nothing but a drop in the bucket.

He had to endure this much.

Preparation is complete, let’s go.

To remove the brain tumor.

Jun-hoo moved the internal energy in the shape of a small needle towards the brainstem.

Like a leaf flowing along a river.

The Mind Sword moved towards the tumor along the cerebrospinal fluid [the fluid surrounding the brain and spinal cord].

As it got closer to the tumor, the tumor’s unique destructive suction was vividly conveyed.

The tumor was just like a ruthless heretic.

Blinded by their own greed, they destroyed everything around them and eventually ruined themselves.

Not easy.

It’s not planning to give in easily, huh?

Jun-hoo operated the Half Step Evasion to counter the tumor’s suction.

Certainly, the actual battle was a world apart from practicing with a model.

It was more difficult to control the Mind Sword because of the tumor’s suction.

If he wasn’t careful, the Mind Sword would be sucked into the tumor and pierce through the brainstem.

He would become a murderer instead of a doctor.

Jun-hoo forcefully fought off the sudden surge of fear.

Elevating it into a determination to cure the patient at all costs.

Anxiety, tension, nervousness.

If his concentration was consumed by these emotions, the internal energy tumor removal surgery could never succeed.

Perhaps his earnest heart was conveyed.

Jun-hoo experienced a sense of unity as if the Mind Sword had become one with him.

Woo-oong, woo-oong.

The Mind Sword began to advance one step further towards the tumor.

Full Moon Slash.

The Mind Sword drew a circle, cutting around the tumor’s perimeter.

The Mind Sword precisely excised only the brainstem area that the tumor had invaded.

It didn’t touch a single hair on the brainstem’s cortex or normal cells.

Even though he was using a Mind Sword, not a regular sword.

Even though he could only move within the limited space inside the skull.

Jun-hoo’s surgery was incredibly precise.

It was the result of rigorous training.

Sudden Gale Strike.

Swish, swish.

The Mind Sword mercilessly began to shred the tumor. Then, the tumor was cut into pieces like a cake.

After thoroughly pulverizing the tumor.

Jun-hoo transformed the internal energy from a needle into a thread.

Phoenix Needle Thread.

As the final martial art to complete the tumor resection, Jun-hoo bound the fragmented tumors together as if tying up a criminal with a rope.

He reduced the tumor, which was 4cm x 4cm in size,

to 2.5cm x 2.5cm in size.

Because Gamma Knife surgery is most effective when the tumor is 3cm or less.

Enduring the urge to collapse right away.

Jun-hoo poured all his energy into the final treatment.

But it was at that moment.

An unexpected variable occurred.

Creak.

“Jun-hoo, what are you doing? Haven’t you set up the stereotactic frame yet? Why are you putting your hand on the patient’s head?”

Min-kyung’s voice, who had arrived at the operating room earlier than expected, was heard.

The concentration that had been as solid as a rock began to crack.

* * *

“Jun-hoo, you’re not yourself today?”

Min-kyung tilted her head and approached Jun-hoo.

If it were the diligent Jun-hoo she knew, the surgery preparations would have already been completed.

But when she entered the operating room,

Jun-hoo hadn’t done anything.

He was just putting his hand on the patient’s head.

He didn’t even respond to Min-kyung’s repeated words.

“Min-kyung, why? What’s wrong?”

“Jun-hoo seems a bit strange.”

Min-kyung said, looking at Eun-jung, who followed her in.

Yang Eun-jung.

A professor of stereotactic neurosurgery and the chief surgeon for today’s Gamma Knife surgery.

“What is he doing over there?”

“I don’t know either. Seo Jun-hoo, there’s a limit to how much you can ignore your senior. Are you going to keep acting like this?”

Min-kyung pouted and approached Jun-hoo.

She placed her hand on Jun-hoo’s shoulder, who was standing like a stone statue.

“Ah… I’m sorry. Senior, I think I dozed off for a moment while standing.”

Only then did Jun-hoo take his hand off the patient’s head and turn to Min-kyung.

With a forced smile on his face.

“Then why were you putting your hand on the patient’s head?”

“I thought they seemed nervous, so I was giving them a head massage. I’m good at massages, you know.”

“Well, that’s true, but…”

Jun-hoo’s explanation was awkward and strange, but it wasn’t completely nonsensical.

So, Min-kyung didn’t ask further.

Instead, she checked the patient’s condition.

“Patient, how are you feeling?”

“I think I… fell asleep for a moment too.”

The patient replied in a slurred voice.

Jun-hoo dozed off, and the patient dozed off too….

It was a complete mess.

“Jun-hoo, what will happen to my reputation if you act like this? I praised you so much to the professor on the way here.”

Min-kyung glanced back and saw Eun-jung with her arms crossed.

She was glaring at them with a fierce look.

“I’m sorry. It just happened….”

Jun-hoo scratched the back of his head and smiled awkwardly.

“Oh… Jun-hoo, you have a nosebleed?”

Min-kyung was startled to see Jun-hoo bleeding from his nose.

Blood was pouring out of both of Jun-hoo’s nostrils non-stop, as if a faucet had been turned on.

“I guess I’ve been a bit tired lately. I’m sorry, Senior. I’ll ask you to set up the surgery.”

“Okay. Go to the bathroom quickly.”

“Professor, I’m sorry.”

Jun-hoo left the operating room, holding his nose with both hands.

Min-kyung looked at Jun-hoo’s retreating figure with pity.

* * *

Second-floor restroom in the annex.

Jun-hoo, who had entered a stall inside the restroom, was clutching the toilet.

“Ugh, ugh! Ugh, ugh!”

A painful groan spread out.

Black, dead blood poured out of his open mouth without stopping.

After struggling with internal injuries for a while, Jun-hoo staggered and stood up.

He came out of the stall and stood in front of the sink.

In a short moment, his appearance had become unbelievably haggard. Dark circles deepened, and his eyes were hollow.

Because of the traces of the nosebleed that had flowed down his lips, philtrum [the vertical groove between the nose and upper lip], and chin,

He looked ridiculously made up in the mirror.

Splash.

Jun-hoo washed his face with running water.

He thoroughly washed away the remnants of the nosebleed and rinsed his mouth with tap water.

That was close.

I almost went to the other world as it was.

Jun-hoo let out a sigh of relief and looked back at the situation a moment ago.

Jun-hoo was greatly embarrassed by Min-kyung’s sudden appearance.

Min-kyung had arrived at the operating room earlier than expected.

As a result, his concentration collapsed.

His internal energy reversed and twisted like a thug, turning Jun-hoo’s insides into a mess.

A dizzying moment when he almost suffered from Qi Deviation [a dangerous imbalance of internal energy].

Jun-hoo barely managed to finish the tumor treatment.

Now that he had regained his composure.

I need to pay attention to the people around me when I perform internal energy tumor removal surgery in the future.

If Senior Min-kyung had appeared in the middle of the removal, I wouldn’t have gotten away with it so luckily.

Jun-hoo stood still in front of the sink and checked his condition.

Because his internal energy was twisted.

It seemed like he wouldn’t be able to use internal energy for a day or two.

But it wasn’t a bad expense as tuition for his first internal energy tumor removal surgery.

Most of all, the patient was safe.

The surgery was successfully completed.

Jun-hoo returned to the Gamma Knife treatment room.

“Jun-hoo, are you feeling better?”

“Yes. I’m fine now. I feel refreshed.”

“You’ve been staying up all night studying and treating patients, and this is what happened. Take it easy from now on.”

“I’ll try my best.”

Jun-hoo was grateful for Min-kyung’s nagging concern.

“You need to take good care of your body usually. It’s easy for a doctor to become a patient in an instant?”

Eun-jung, who had been silent, said a word to Jun-hoo.

“Yes. Professor. I’ll keep that in mind.”

“I’ll let it go today, but if you do this again, I’ll punish you severely, so be prepared.”

The conversation ended as Eun-jung gave one more warning.

Jun-hoo looked at the monitors in the treatment room.

The patient’s brain MRI images taken before the surgery were displayed on a total of four monitors.

One of them had the patient’s shooting plan written on a chart.

The range, direction, and intensity of radiation, etc.

Gamma Knife surgery was a surgery that required precision like a surgical operation.

Because it emits a strong dose of radiation at once, normal cells can also be damaged if the surgery goes wrong.

“Min-kyung, did you put up the CT images taken right before the surgery?”

“I’ll put them up now.”

“Are you out of your mind following Jun-hoo’s lead?”

“I’m sorry.”

The moment Min-kyung put up the CT images, Eun-jung’s eyes widened like an owl’s.

“Huh? What is it?”

“What’s wrong, Professor?”

“The tumor seems to have gotten smaller? By exactly 1.5 centimeters, too.”

Eun-jung tilted her head, checking the size of the tumor with the mouse pointer.

“Can the tumor suddenly get smaller?”

“No way. That’s impossible. But why is that impossible thing….”

Eun-jung rubbed her eyes and looked at the CT images again.

But there was nothing wrong with Eun-jung’s eyesight.

The tumor had definitely gotten smaller.

In a finely fragmented state, too.

At the same time, in a form where those fragments were tightly packed together.

This was clearly an extraordinary and miraculous event.

“Professor, are you perhaps tired….”

“I don’t make mistakes like this, no matter how tired I am.”

Eun-jung cut off Min-kyung’s words.

At the same time, she compared the MRI images taken by the patient as an outpatient with the CT images taken today.

“It’s true? The tumor has gotten smaller.”

“Wow… this is a great paper topic? The tumor is shrinking on its own… this is the first time I’ve seen this.”

Eun-jung couldn’t hide her surprise.

Even if she searched all domestic and international papers, she would never find a case like this.

“Anyway, it’s a good thing, right?”

Jun-hoo joined the conversation.

“Of course. It’s a pain to revise the treatment plan, but the treatment effect will be certain. Gamma Knife is most effective when removing tumors smaller than 3 centimeters.”

“….”

“It will be good news for the patient and their guardian, so let’s change the treatment plan first.”

Eun-jung busily revised the treatment plan.

She meticulously adjusted the amount, range, and intensity of radiation.

Woo-oong, woo-oong.

Soon, the Gamma Knife surgery machine began to emit a majestic mechanical sound.

Jun-hoo looked at the operating room beyond the transparent window.

No one could know about Jun-hoo’s performance.

No one should know.

No one recognized it, but it didn’t matter.

It was enough as long as the patient was healthy.

It was enough for Jun-hoo if he became strong enough to embrace more patients.

Internal energy brain tumor angiography.

Internal energy brain tumor removal surgery.

Even the various secret manuals for brain tumor surgery that he had received from his teacher….

Is it about time to graduate from the brain tumor part?

A satisfied smile appeared on Jun-hoo’s lips.

One week later.

The 32-year-old brain tumor patient visited the hospital’s outpatient clinic again.

The MRI taken at this time showed that the brain tumor had been completely removed.

And another four months passed.