A Surgeon Who Uses Martial Arts [EN]: Chapter 19

The Emergency Treatment (4)

Hyung-tae was pacing around his room.

His eyes were constantly drawn to the phone on his desk, and he nervously bit his nails.

The day before the college entrance exam. [In South Korea, this is a crucial, high-stakes test.]

He knew he needed to maintain a calm mind, but it wasn’t easy.

For Hyung-tae, something else felt just as important as the exam.

Vibration.

Just then, his phone rang. It was a familiar number, the one he had been waiting for.

‘Finally, I’m getting my revenge,’ he thought.

Confident that he would hear good news, Hyung-tae rushed to his desk.

If the plan had failed, they wouldn’t have been able to call him.

“Yes, hello.”

-Hey, Hyung-tae?

A deep voice echoed in his ear.

It was the voice of Hyun-jin, a local thug Hyung-tae had been trying to befriend since last year.

For a hefty sum of 500,000 won [approximately $400 USD], Hyung-tae had asked Hyun-jin to mess with Jun-hoo.

Especially on the day before the college entrance exam.

So that the detestable Jun-hoo would writhe in pain.

To make him waste an entire year.

“Yes, *hyung-nim* [a respectful Korean term for an older male friend or brother]. Was the favor I asked taken care of?”

-Beating up some punk high schooler is hardly a big deal. Anyway, are you coming to the construction site near the villa?

“It’s okay. I’m sure you *hyung-nim* took care of it well.”

-But wouldn’t you feel better if you saw his face? Isn’t that why you commissioned it?

Hyun-jin’s argument made sense.

What was the point of planning a good show if you weren’t going to watch it?

So, Hyung-tae replied that he would be there soon, put on his padded jacket, and headed to the site.

It was as if.

Hyung-tae felt like he was finally seeing the light at the end of a dark tunnel.

The second semester of his first year of high school, when he was beaten by Jun-hoo.

That’s when Hyung-tae’s life began to go wrong.

The bully gang was disbanded, and his classmates despised him.

So, he couldn’t make a single friend properly.

It was only a matter of time before Hyung-tae’s high self-esteem was thrown into the trash.

During the lonely and painful past two years.

Hyung-tae secretly sharpened his knife [metaphorically, meaning he plotted revenge].

He struggled to get revenge on Jun-hoo, who had ruined his life.

And he was on his way to see the result now.

You son of a bitch.

No matter how much you fly, you can’t handle adult gangsters.

Yeah, that’s right.

Everything is your fault for messing with me, so take it sweetly. Hehehe.

Hiding the laughter that was leaking from his mouth, Hyung-tae entered the construction site.

Perhaps because it was cold, the construction site was deserted and dark. The scenery inside was not clearly visible.

“*Hyung-nim*, where are you?”

Hyung-tae, who had passed through the entrance, approached the center of the construction site.

There stood Hyun-jin’s gang, whom Hyung-tae had been waiting for.

“Ah…”

The moment he saw Hyun-jin’s gang, a sigh involuntarily escaped.

Hyung-tae sensed that something had gone terribly wrong.

Hyun-jin’s left eye was bruised purple like a panda.

The other thugs also had one or more injuries.

They were limping, had a split lip, or couldn’t use one arm.

No way…….

Hyung-tae denied the absurd thought that suddenly came to mind.

“He’s strong, isn’t he? You *hyung-nim* must have suffered a lot.”

“…….”

“*Hyung-nim*?”

Hyung-tae spoke, but Hyun-jin and the thugs said nothing.

They were just bowing their heads like ripe rice [a Korean idiom for being humbled or defeated].

Was it because of the heavy and ominous silence?

Hyung-tae felt goosebumps on his arms and looked around.

Behind him, at the entrance of the construction site, Jun-hoo was standing there.

Unlike Hyun-jin’s group, Jun-hoo looked perfectly fine.

He rubbed his eyes, wondering if it was a dream, but Jun-hoo’s figure did not disappear.

It was from that moment that the anxiety he had desperately denied soared.

No, this can’t be happening.

This shouldn’t be happening.

Step. Step.

Jun-hoo approached Hyung-tae, and Hyung-tae could only back away helplessly.

Then, he was cornered against the wall of the construction site.

“You, you still haven’t fixed your old bad habits, have you?”

Jun-hoo’s voice was colder than the winter wind.

Hyung-tae felt a chill and trembled.

“You son of a bitch, you thought I’d just let it go after my life was twisted because of you?”

Hyung-tae mustered his courage and shouted.

“*Hyung-nim*, help me take care of this bastard. We can win if we fight together.”

Hyung-tae’s cry was just an empty echo.

Hyun-jin’s gang was just standing there like stone statues.

You, you, you idiot!

You acted all tough, but you couldn’t even subdue one high schooler and got your asses kicked, you morons!

“Our cute Hyung-tae. Get a grip on the situation. Don’t just use your head as a decoration, think a little.”

Jun-hoo sneered and tapped Hyung-tae’s forehead with his index finger.

Hyung-tae, who had a trauma from being flicked on the forehead, was startled and sat down on the floor.

He didn’t want to admit it, but he felt like he had to admit it now.

That his plan had gone to hell.

* * *

Jun-hoo was looking down at Hyung-tae with his arms crossed.

Jun-hoo didn’t believe that Hyung-tae would have turned over a new leaf in the past two years.

There were two kinds of people in the world.

People who admit their mistakes and make a fresh start.

People who don’t admit their mistakes and repeat the same mistakes.

Hyung-tae was, of course, the latter.

If Hyung-tae was a human being capable of rehabilitation.

He wouldn’t have tormented Jun-hoo so viciously.

He wouldn’t have wielded a knife because he was losing the fight.

He wouldn’t have thought of using a recorder to make Jun-hoo the perpetrator of school violence.

But still.

Jun-hoo expected Hyung-tae to behave himself during his school days, even if he couldn’t be rehabilitated.

That was the least he could do.

That was the least of his humanity.

But surprisingly, Hyung-tae carried out a vicious plan to bring Jun-hoo down on the day before the college entrance exam.

This was not something a human would do.

How should he deal with this trash?

Jun-hoo paused for a moment to think.

If the modern world was a Murim world [a martial arts world often depicted in Korean fantasy novels], he might have killed Hyung-tae with his own hands, but the modern world was not a Murim world.

Vigilante activity was impossible.

And murder was also legally prohibited.

‘No, I’ve come too far. Jun-hoo.’

Jun-hoo barely managed to hold on to his mind, which was about to be consumed by anger.

Jun-hoo had watched quite a few righteous people who had become evil while hating evil.

He should never step on that dark path.

Then, there was only one way to punish evil without being tainted by it.

An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.

Just to give back to the other person what they were trying to do to you.

“You guys, come here.”

When Jun-hoo beckoned, Hyun-jin’s gang rushed to Jun-hoo’s side.

“Mess this friend up so he can’t take the college entrance exam tomorrow.”

“Hey, Jun-hoo. That’s a bit much!”

Hyung-tae, who had been silent, continued in a pleading voice.

The way he had been acting, not knowing his place, had disappeared without a trace.

Was he finally realizing the reality?

“I was wrong, so please let me take the exam. I can take as many hits as you want. So please, just the exam…….”

“…….”

“Huh? Please.”

Even after seeing Hyung-tae begging with his hands together, Jun-hoo didn’t feel an ounce of pity or sympathy.

Hyung-tae was a guy who was desperate only when it came to things related to his own interests.

He was a piece of human trash who had already completely forgotten that he had tried to ruin Jun-hoo’s college entrance exam by hiring thugs.

To forgive Hyung-tae, you would have to be Jesus or Buddha…….

Unfortunately, Jun-hoo was not a saint.

“Kim Hyung-tae.”

Jun-hoo called Hyung-tae’s name in a low voice.

“You dug your own grave. If you hadn’t done this, there wouldn’t have been any problem.”

“Th-that’s true, but……. I’m still a senior in high school. I can make stupid mistakes and do things I regret.”

“Well, if you’re a senior in high school, you’re still a minor, so you can make mistakes.”

Hyung-tae looked relieved when Jun-hoo’s answer was lenient.

“Yeah. I think so.”

“In that sense, let’s make some mistakes today too.”

Jun-hoo smiled coldly, turned around, and walked towards the entrance of the construction site.

Jun-hoo was followed by dull thuds and screams.

* * *

That evening.

Jun-hoo was studying after having dinner with his parents.

He was quickly skimming through the notes he had organized before.

After looking through all the subjects, it was already almost 2 a.m.

Other students would have gone to bed long ago to manage their condition, but Jun-hoo didn’t need to do that.

When he felt tired.

He sat in a lotus position and did *ungi joshik* [a Korean term for meditation and breath control] for about 30 minutes.

Then, his body and mind felt refreshed as if he had woken up after sleeping for several hours.

It was like pressing the reset button.

Jun-hoo lay on the bed and looked up at the ceiling.

He didn’t feel any guilt about messing with Hyung-tae.

Hyung-tae was just getting the punishment he deserved.

If you thought that Jun-hoo was indecisive and naive just because he had been active in the Murim righteous sect, you were greatly mistaken.

Jun-hoo was cold and sometimes cruel.

That was the only way to hold evildoers accountable.

Jun-hoo had watched quite a few righteous people who had tried to forgive evildoers and reform them into good people.

The end of those righteous people was not as good as the evildoers.

They were either betrayed and killed.

Or they died without even knowing they had been betrayed.

One of the two.

Humans are inherently good.

Therefore, even evildoers can be transformed into good human beings with effort.

Jun-hoo believed that such thoughts were just naive wishful thinking.

‘The future will be a problem.’

Jun-hoo thought about the evildoers he would meet in the future because of Hyung-tae.

Since he had decided to become a doctor.

They would all be evil doctors.

Doctors who think of patients as a means of making money.

Doctors who shamelessly deny medical accidents.

Doctors who rip off their colleagues or junior doctors for their own promotion, etc.

How could he give them a taste of their own medicine?

He pondered for quite a while, but Jun-hoo couldn’t easily find a way.

He didn’t know exactly, but it would definitely be much more difficult than messing with Hyung-tae.

Punishing those in power is a very difficult task in both Murim and the modern world.

However, one thing was certain.

In order to punish evil doctors, Jun-hoo’s medical skills had to surpass their medical skills.

Because the power of a doctor must originate from medical skills.

Jun-hoo suddenly closed his eyes and fell into imagination.

His appearance of wearing blue surgical gowns, surgical masks, and gloves and performing surgery in the operating room.

The dream of becoming a surgeon, which had felt so distant, was now close enough to be grasped.

Once the college entrance exam is over and he enters medical school, it will feel even more real.

Jun-hoo got up from the bed and sat back at his desk.

He began to read the medical books he had received from neurosurgeon Jae-hyun.

Jun-hoo’s medical knowledge was already so extensive that it was comparable to that of a third-year medical student.

This was because the brain nutrition supplements and *ungi joshik*.

The brain nerve stimulation technique was creating an unbelievable study efficiency.

Perhaps by the time he enters medical school, he will have reached a level where he can take the medical licensing exam.

Jun-hoo studied until 5 a.m. and then relieved his fatigue with *ungi joshik*.

Finally, the long-awaited day of the college entrance exam had arrived.

He had solved the Hyung-tae problem, so there wouldn’t be any special variables, right?

Jun-hoo came out to the living room with a relieved heart.

Now, there was only one task left.

To get a perfect score on the college entrance exam.