A Surgeon Who Uses Martial Arts [EN]: Chapter 243

Chapter 46: The Mogen (3)

The head physician’s office in the neurosurgery ward.

Min-seok and the head physician were talking, seated on the sofa in front of the desk.

The room was a mess, a result of the Korean Brain Blood Vessel Association members having just left.

Uncleaned, empty coffee cups littered the table.

Snack crumbs were scattered about.

And some of the sofas were askew.

“Hahahaha. Did you see the association members’ faces? They looked like they were about to die of shock.”

The head physician roared with laughter, as if he’d just watched a comedy show.

It was the first time in several months that the head physician had seemed so cheerful.

Min-seok was quite surprised by his reaction.

“There were some unexpected issues, but it turned out well. The story is compelling. The association members will definitely never forget today’s surgery.”

“I think so too.”

Min-seok nodded.

“Microscope malfunctions during surgery are unheard of.”

“Of course, they shouldn’t happen. They must not happen.”

Listening to the head physician,

Min-seok leaned back on the sofa.

He was so exhausted he wanted to lie down on the floor right then and there.

The surgery was already difficult,

And the microscope malfunction in the middle caused extreme mental strain.

On top of that, he had to entertain the association members and the head physician after the surgery, which was utterly draining.

“How is the patient’s condition?”

“Good. All vitals are stable. I also checked the MRI taken after the surgery, and there were no abnormalities.”

“Whew. I’m completely relieved now. I was worried that Jun-hoo might not have anastomosed [surgically connected] properly and something bad would have happened.”

“Actually, I only felt truly relieved after seeing the MRI.”

Min-seok answered, sipping his coffee.

As the surgery was nearing its end,

Jun-hoo was the only one who could clearly see the tiny brain blood vessels.

The microscope had broken down, and only Jun-hoo had 25x vision.

So, Min-seok couldn’t tell for sure whether Jun-hoo had properly anastomosed the blood vessels or not.

He was only ‘guessing’… that the surgery went well because the brain pressure was normal.

And no hematoma [a collection of blood outside of blood vessels] was visible.

However, after checking the MRI, the guess turned into ‘certainty.’

Jun-hoo’s anastomosis was perfect.

“Anyway, the surgery was completed safely thanks to Jun-hoo.”

“Yes. If we had waited for the repair, it could have been a disaster. It’s chilling just to think about it.”

“I think I know now why Professor Kwak and Professor Seo adore Jun-hoo so much.”

*Isn’t it obvious? The first-year resident has no value to you. That’s why you weren’t interested.*

…Min-seok barely managed to hold back the words he wanted to say.

And Min-seok thought.

Jun-hoo’s future didn’t seem so peaceful.

Being noticed by the head physician meant….

That he would be exploited by the head physician from now on.

Min-seok suddenly felt sorry for Jun-hoo.

But he couldn’t help Jun-hoo because he was busy with his own problems.

The head physician was a selfish dictator.

“Head Physician.”

“Yes?”

“If we publish this surgery as a paper, there won’t be any problems getting it published in the association journal, right?”

“You’re worrying about nothing. After seeing it with their own eyes today, do you think the association members will pretend they didn’t see anything?”

“I was just asking in case.”

“Someone bold enough to perform direct blood vessel anastomosis on a child with moyamoya disease [a rare progressive cerebrovascular disorder] is so timid. Tsk, tsk, tsk.”

The head physician clicked his tongue as if Min-seok was pathetic.

“Write a paper about the events that happened today, not just the surgical paper.”

“What do you mean?”

“A paper about how the microscope broke down and a resident with 20/20 vision finished the surgery using only loupes [magnifying glasses].”

“That’s a bit….”

Min-seok trailed off.

It was true that Jun-hoo’s performance was amazing.

It was also true that it was like something out of a hero movie.

But was it really worthy of a paper?

Min-seok didn’t think so.

He was worried that he would only be embarrassed if he wrote the paper….

His cheeks were already burning.

“The paper about Jun-hoo isn’t scientific, and there are no elements that can be quantified as data. I don’t know if it will be of great significance.”

“What? What do you mean? It’ll grab everyone’s attention at the conference like crazy.”

The head physician laughed heartily.

He seemed happy just thinking about a paper with Jun-hoo as the main character.

The head physician was an attention seeker through and through.

*Oh, my poor fate. How did I end up meeting such a devilish head physician and suffering so much?*

“I’m telling you this so you don’t misunderstand… writing a paper about Jun-hoo is not a suggestion. It’s an order.”

“I understand. I’ll do it in parallel with the existing paper. It doesn’t seem too difficult to write.”

“Yes. You’ll understand my feelings when you become the head physician later.”

The head physician nodded and continued.

“Keep tonight free. Let’s treat ourselves to Korean beef. You’ve worked hard, so you need to take care of your body.”

“Thank you, Head Physician.”

After finishing the conversation, Min-seok left the head physician’s office.

Leaning against the wall.

He wiped the sweat from his forehead with the sleeve of his doctor’s gown.

The conversation with the head physician was always uncomfortable.

* * *

Beep, beep, beep.

The door to operating room number 4 opened.

Jun-hoo entered in surgical attire.

Even if there was no surgery scheduled, surgical attire had to be worn to prevent contamination when entering the operating room.

A man who had arrived earlier was standing in the operating room.

The man was also wearing surgical attire.

The man was about 5’9″ (175cm) tall, slender, and had large, innocent eyes like a cow.

He was staring intently at the microscope with a toolbox on the operating table.

Thump. Thump.

Jun-hoo deliberately made footsteps.

Only then did the man look at Jun-hoo.

“Who are you….”

“I’m Seo Jun-hoo, a neurosurgery resident. Nice to meet you.”

“Ah. You’re the resident doctor. I’m Moon Young-hoon, the maintenance team leader from ‘Lydian Bio.'”

As Jun-hoo stood next to him, Young-hoon repeatedly bowed to Jun-hoo.

“I’m really sorry about the microscope issue. I heard that it broke down during an urgent surgery and caused you trouble.”

“…….”

“I’m really sorry for the inconvenience.”

“People’s work can’t be perfect, but… please pay special attention. It was really dangerous.”

Just thinking about the surgery at the time,

Jun-hoo felt a chill down his spine.

It was fortunate that Jun-hoo had trained in the Murim [a fictional martial arts world].

If they had waited for the repair for an hour, it was hard to imagine what tragedy would have occurred.

“Are you majoring in biomedical engineering, Team Leader?”

“Yes. I chose it because it was said to be a promising major, but honestly, I don’t know. Looking at what I’ve been doing lately, I actually wanted to develop equipment, not repair it.”

“That must be frustrating.”

“I’m planning to move to another department later when I get the chance.”

Biomedical engineering is a field that designs and develops various equipment necessary for hospital examinations and treatments.

Almost all of the examination equipment and tools used in hospitals have been through the hands of engineers from the biomedical engineering department.

In fantasy novels,

They’re like dwarves.

“Have you started the maintenance?”

Jun-hoo changed the subject.

“Yes. I’m checking it. The lens is fine, but the video output isn’t working. It’s a strange case.”

Young-hoon tilted his head.

“I think I’ll have to take a look inside.”

“Is there anything I can help with….”

“It’s okay. I can do it alone.”

The two men’s gazes remained on the microscope for a while.

The microscope was shaped like a ‘¬.’

The part with the lens (-) was covered with transparent plastic to prevent contamination.

The vertical part (l) was a stand.

The instrument panel and buttons for detailed operation of the microscope were located there.

“But aren’t you busy, Doctor? I can’t guarantee when the repair will be finished. You’ll be tired if you keep watching….”

“This is a good learning experience.”

Jun-hoo wanted to learn how to repair the microscope on this occasion.

Then, even if the microscope breaks down again,

The aftermath would be much easier to manage.

Jun-hoo was the only surgeon on Earth who could handle 25x magnification.

Other surgeons could not be expected to perform like Jun-hoo.

In other words, learning the repair method was the best option.

Jun-hoo carefully watched Young-hoon’s work.

Storing it in his super-powered photographic memory.

Fluttering~

Young-hoon removed the plastic packaging from the microscope lens.

And he loosened the eight screws located about four inches (10 centimeters) above the lens.

When the screws were loosened, tangled wires were visible.

The wires looked like the connection wires of a time bomb seen in movies.

“This is a bit strange?”

“Why is that?”

“The problem was simpler than I thought. Do you see this line here?”

Young-hoon pointed to the orange wire with a screwdriver.

Surprisingly, the coating of the orange wire was peeled off.

There were signs of damage to the wire inside the coating.

Several strands of wire were sticking out.

“To use the body as an analogy, this orange wire is like a person’s optic nerve. If the optic nerve is damaged, you can’t see, and if this wire breaks down, the lens can’t transmit images.”

“But wasn’t this intentionally damaged? What do you think, Doctor?”

Jun-hoo frowned and asked.

Something didn’t smell right.

It smelled dirty and fishy.

The cross-section of the peeled coating was too clean.

As if it had been cut with a knife.

“Even to me, it doesn’t look natural. But who would do this intentionally?”

Young-hoon asked with a dumbfounded expression.

Jun-hoo immediately thought of one person.

The psychopath doctor, Si-ho.

Si-ho was capable of playing such a terrible prank.

As soon as he thought that far,

Discomfort and anger swept through his entire body.

*Is this bastard playing with people’s lives again? Now he’s even… damaging the microscope?*

“Do you have anyone you suspect?”

Reading Jun-hoo’s unusual expression,

Young-hoon asked.

“Yes. Honestly, I do.”

“I’m sorry, but that’s too much of a stretch. Don’t accuse innocent people.”

“Why?”

“Let’s say that person had malicious intent. But how would that person know the function of this orange wire?”

“…….”

“Only we who do the maintenance know that.”

“I think you’re right, but….”

Jun-hoo tilted his head.

Young-hoon’s words made sense.

If Si-ho was the culprit, Si-ho would have to know the internal structure of the microscope.

That was realistically impossible.

Perhaps even his teacher, Professor Park Jae-hyun, wouldn’t know the structure of the microscope.

The doctor was the one who used the microscope.

He was not the one who maintained the microscope.

But why?

He couldn’t easily dismiss the Si-ho culprit theory.

Was it because Si-ho was the real culprit?

Or was it simply because he was biased against Si-ho?

Jun-hoo was confused this time because he couldn’t figure it out.

“I found out that a few months ago, a new employee joined the team during the regular maintenance.”

“Yes. So?”

“The new employee may have accidentally touched the coating while doing maintenance. There is a possibility that the damage accumulated over time and caused the breakdown.”

“Is there really no way for a doctor to know the structure of a microscope?”

“You might know if you major in biomedical engineering.”

Young-hoon’s joking answer.

What it meant was clear.

Surgeons can never touch the microscope.

Then Si-ho was definitely not the culprit….

Today’s incident was just a simple accident.

It was a mishap….

But still, Jun-hoo found it hard to shake the thought that Si-ho was the culprit.

*Isn’t Si-ho eager to screw him over?*

*For someone like Si-ho, this moyamoya disease surgery was a very good chance to play a prank.*

*He knew that Jun-hoo had a special affection for Jae-eun and her guardians.*