A Surgeon Who Uses Martial Arts [EN]: Chapter 249

Jun-hoo felt a mix of emotions as he watched Jae-hyun on the show.

First, shock.

Then, bewilderment.

Even a hint of betrayal.

The program currently airing was blatantly targeting consumers’ wallets.

It glorified Cissus [a type of plant often marketed for weight loss] like a god.

And Jae-hyun couldn’t possibly be unaware of this.

So why on earth would Jae-hyun appear on such a low-quality broadcast?

A man who cared so deeply for his patients.

Jun-hoo reached for his phone to confirm the facts.

Beeep. Beeep.

Only a dry ringing tone continued.

Jae-hyun didn’t answer.

Considering his usual schedule, he was likely in surgery.

It seemed he would have to hear the truth later.

“Hyung [older brother or close male friend] must be busy even when he’s resting?”

Tae-yong asked, sitting on the sofa next to Jun-hoo.

Seeing Jun-hoo holding his phone with a serious expression, he assumed it was a work-related call.

“Something like that. In the worst case, I might have to go back to the hospital.”

“Huh? On your day off?”

“Neurosurgery is like that. There’s no such thing as a complete rest.”

Jun-hoo smiled bitterly and continued.

“Even professors and department heads often come to the hospital on their days off if there’s a shortage of staff.”

“That’s harsh. At least they should guarantee days off…”

“That’s why it’s not popular. In this era of work-life balance, who would apply if they have to work on holidays?”

Jun-hoo finished his lament briefly.

The number of surgery applicants was decreasing.

Warnings were pouring in that they might become extinct like dinosaurs in a few decades.

Soon, like importing raw materials.

There were even self-deprecating suggestions that they might have to import surgeons.

A tragedy that was unseen but definitely approaching.

A tragedy that could be seen but was deliberately ignored.

How could this tragedy be prevented?

Even Jun-hoo, who had mastered martial arts, had no answer.

It seemed faster to annihilate the Demonic Cult [a common trope in martial arts stories, representing an evil organization] alone than to destroy the ills of the surgical world.

“But Tae-yong, you seem to have gained some weight?”

“I’ve been stuck at home watching broadcasts lately, so I think I’ve gained about 5 kilos [approximately 11 pounds].”

“What kind of broadcasts? There are so many kinds.”

“Game broadcasts. Game broadcasts suit me best.”

Tae-yong placed the empty cup ramen on the low table.

“Hyung, your NewTube [a fictional analogue to YouTube] channel is a huge hit. Is there any secret to your editing style, content creation, or anything that could help me?”

Tae-yong’s eyes sparkled like stars.

But Jun-hoo was at a loss.

Surprisingly, Jun-hoo didn’t know any tricks, secrets, or know-hows and still turned his channel into a large enterprise.

So he had no advice to give Tae-yong.

The reason Jun-hoo’s channel became a hit.

There was actually a secret hidden in ‘2 lucks’.

The first was ‘looks luck’.

Jun-hoo gained his first fame through live study broadcasts using his good looks.

Of course, he had never made any special effort to become handsome.

The second reason the channel became a hit was ‘martial arts luck’.

Dance challenges that instantly copied idol dances, bending coins, and so on.

The recently uploaded videos were main content utilizing martial arts.

People couldn’t help but be interested in the extraordinary feats he performed.

But these two things couldn’t be told to others.

And shouldn’t be told.

Thus, the conversation with Tae-yong ended in just 5 minutes.

Tae-yong also realized it.

Unfortunately, there was nothing to learn from Jun-hoo.

He filmed videos with his phone and uploaded them without editing.

Jun-hoo’s content was impossible to imitate.

He couldn’t suddenly get plastic surgery to become handsome, and so on.

To Tae-yong, Jun-hoo was simply a luxury sports car that couldn’t be chased.

“Luck was the biggest factor. All sorts of situations just happened to align.”

“So, luck and talent are the most important things for success?”

Tae-yong sighed deeply.

“Luck and talent are indeed the most important. But success doesn’t come to those who just stand still.”

“…….”

“You have to do something first. That’s how opportunities arise.”

“Thanks, Hyung. Thanks for coming even though you’re busy.”

“What? Are you already trying to send me away? Since I came all this way, let me watch you broadcast.”

“It won’t be fun, though?”

“I’ll be the judge of that.”

* * *

Thud!

After finishing the broadcast setup, Tae-yong sat in front of the computer desk.

Jun-hoo was sitting on the bed, outside the range of the streaming cam mounted on the monitor.

It was the first time someone was watching his broadcast.

So he was unnecessarily nervous.

He felt pressure and burden to do well.

There’s no need to do well, right?

No more, no less, just do what you usually do.

That should be enough.

Tae-yong calmed himself and started the broadcast.

The platform Tae-yong was broadcasting on was ‘Tweety,’ which was considered optimized for game broadcasts.

[Ending It on the Spot, Hellish Jumping Queen.]

Tae-yong wrote the broadcast title first.

‘Ending It on the Spot’ referred to content where he would choose one game and play it until he saw the ending.

And the game ‘Jumping Queen’ was…

It was truly a game made by the devil.

The game itself was simple.

You just had to become a character in the game and climb the tower.

The controls were easy, so even kindergarteners could do it.

You just used the left and right arrow keys to control the left and right direction.

And press the space bar to jump.

But there was a reason why ‘Jumping Queen’ was a devilish game…

If you jumped wrong and fell off the platform.

You had to taste an endless fall.

You had to fall to the beginning of the tower.

In other words, it had a vicious structure where all your hard work of 2-3 hours would be reset with just one mistake.

The path of hardship ahead was clear, but Tae-yong decided to endure it.

There was no better content than ‘Jumping Queen’ for an unpopular streamer to get attention.

“Hello, everyone. Welcome, Mr. Malpyo. Nice to see you. Hello to Ms. Calamansi too.”

Tae-yong greeted the viewers who were entering.

After chatting for about 10 minutes, the number of viewers approached 70.

It was almost double the usual number.

He wondered why the chat cycle, which usually had one message every 2-3 minutes, had sped up, and there was a reason for it.

‘Content luck’ was definitely scary.

-Just dragging it out, when are you going to play Jumping Queen? Are you scared????

-Is this the broadcast that won’t end until next year??? lol [laughing out loud]

“I was thinking of starting now anyway? I was chatting because I thought it would be boring if it ended too quickly… Well, there’s no helping it now. Fasten your seatbelts.”

Tae-yong ran ‘Jumping Queen’ and started playing right away.

Thud!

Thud!

Thud!

The brave knight kept falling helplessly from the platform.

‘Jumping Queen’ had a total of 5 stages, but Tae-yong couldn’t clear even one stage in an hour.

The limit of patience was slowly approaching!

His head was about to explode with annoyance.

His chest was tightening with frustration.

“Wow. F***. What kind of s*** game is this? Are they out of their minds? Why would they make a game like this?”

Bang!

Tae-yong finally pounded the desk with his fist.

It was because he couldn’t control his anger.

He knew that ‘Jumping Queen’ was cruel, but knowing it in his head and experiencing it with his body were completely different things.

If he kept playing this game, he felt like he would develop a disease he didn’t even have.

-lol. You can’t just try to eat ‘Jumping Queen’ without any effort??? lol

-The pain of others is my happiness. It’s thrilling, fresh, and new.

-Usually, it takes a day or two to finish, but with your skills, it will probably take three days. lol

Tae-yong’s heart sank at the flood of messages in the chat window.

But he had made such a big fuss that he couldn’t give up now.

He was forced to play the game against his will.

Just then, Jun-hoo, whom he had forgotten even existed, said a word.

“Tae-yong, that’s not how you play the game.”

“You don’t know because you’re not playing, but this isn’t an easy game. If you press the keyboard wrong for just 0.01 seconds, the jump goes wrong, you know?”

As Tae-yong complained, the chat window went crazy.

-Why can’t you play the game properly while feeling 0.01 seconds??? lol

-Crazy. The man of 0.01 seconds. You should go to F1 racing. lol

-I thought you were Sonic the Hedgehog, yikes.

Tae-yong’s mentality was shattered by the taunts and sarcasm pouring out of the chat window and Jun-hoo’s lecture, who didn’t even know the game.

His sanity ‘snapped’.

“Ah, damn it! Then you try it yourself. If talking was all it took, I would have gone to Seoul National University [one of the most prestigious universities in South Korea] and Harvard.”

“You’ll feel self-conscious, are you sure you’re okay with that?”

“Please, let me feel it.”

-Shocking! Streamer Spinach wants to ‘feel’ it from today!

-Weren’t you broadcasting alone? Did you have a guest today?

“Yes. My cousin is watching the broadcast. Anyway, he said he wants to try it, so I’ll pass it on for a bit.”

Tae-yong gave up his seat in front of the computer desk.

Instead, he brought a chair from the living room and took a seat next to Jun-hoo.

The viewers were…

They condemned Tae-yong as a coward, but Tae-yong didn’t care.

Tae-yong wanted Jun-hoo to pay the price for underestimating Jumping Queen.

-Wow! Your cousin is so handsome. Is he an idol trainee? There’s a glow coming from behind him?

-Isn’t that 1 million NewTuber Seo Jun-hoo? The one who uploaded the coin bending video a while ago?

-That’s right! That’s him! Awesome!!!

The chat window heated up as viewers recognized Jun-hoo.

The scroll went up like a fountain.

It was hard to read all the chats one by one.

Certainly, Jun-hoo’s popularity and reputation were as different from Tae-yong’s as heaven and earth.

But!

In front of ‘Jumping Queen,’ even a 1 million NewTuber was just one pitiful sacrifice.

‘Hehehe. I hope you suffer a little too, Hyung.’

Tae-yong secretly smiled evilly and continued.

“Hyung, are you ready?”

“There are only three keys to control, what’s there to prepare?”

“Ooh~ You’re so confident. It’s going to take a long time, so try just the first stage.”

“No, if I’m going to start, I have to see the ending.”

Jun-hoo’s confidence soared.

Of course, that confidence would soon plummet like the knight character he was controlling.

Jun-hoo’s ‘Jumping Queen’ play began.

Even Jun-hoo, who had been so confident, was helpless at first. He slipped off the platform 3-4 times in a row and fell to the starting area.

Honestly, it was a bit of schadenfreude [pleasure derived by someone from another person’s misfortune].

“See? I told you it was difficult, right? Seeing it and doing it are completely different.”

“It’s okay. I’m getting the hang of it now.”

“Is that feeling perhaps self-consciousness?”

For the fun of the broadcast, Tae-yong deliberately teased Jun-hoo.

Of course, he was planning to apologize later after the broadcast was over.

“It is self-consciousness. But the problem is that I’m not the one feeling it, you are.”

“You’re a doctor, so you’re good at talking.”

“I’m good at more than just talking.”

Jun-hoo grinned.

The following play was amazing.

No. It was something to faint from.

From the moment he said he was getting the hang of it, Jun-hoo never slipped off the platform even once.

He didn’t allow a single mistake.

The knight character controlled by Jun-hoo rose straight to the top of the tower.

Anyone who saw it would mistake ‘Jumping Queen’ for a children’s game.

The reaction in the chat window was also explosive.

-Jun-hoo, your physicality is insane. Your control is completely mastered. No mistakes. Yikes…

-Didn’t you practice in advance? How can a beginner be so good???

-Practice in advance? Does that make sense??? lol Why would a busy university hospital surgeon practice something like Jumping Queen? lol

-If you play it a second time, you’ll break the world record.

Tae-yong almost fainted at Jun-hoo’s amazing play.

The look in his eyes towards the monitor.

The touch of his hand controlling the keyboard.

Everything about Jun-hoo was delicate and stable.

So, was this the overwhelming physicality of a surgeon?

What couldn’t Jun-hoo do?

Tae-yong also had such a question.

“Well, I cleared it quickly.”

As if it was a very natural result, Jun-hoo took his hand off the keyboard.

He shrugged his shoulders.

Jun-hoo cleared Jumping Queen, which takes an average of one to two days to play, on his first try.

In just 5 minutes…

It was at a level where it was impossible to argue even if everything was rigged.

Jun-hoo Hyung… are you even human????

“I saw the world record story in the chat window earlier? What’s the world record? I want to try to break it.”

Tae-yong even felt dizzy at Jun-hoo’s nonchalant words.

Wow… crazy…

Did you see all the chats while playing the game?