A Surgeon Who Uses Martial Arts [EN]: Chapter 256

Chapter 49: The Typhoon (1)

Thud. Thud.

Jun-hoo headed toward the cerebral angiography room, his steps light.

The conversation with Kyung-soo had gone well.

When Jun-hoo asked if he could go to Daejeon, Kyung-soo answered, “Sure,” without hesitation.

Jun-hoo was surprised.

Additional questions tumbled out.

“Are you really okay with it? The Daejeon branch will be several times harder than Seoul.”

“What’s not okay about it? Daejeon is just another place where people live.”

“Still…”

Jun-hoo trailed off, seized with guilt.

He was asking his friend to go to a difficult place, and that couldn’t be pleasant.

Jun-hoo hated causing trouble for his colleagues, even back in the Murim [a world of martial arts and chivalry].

The nickname ‘Immaculate Sword’ wasn’t just because of his outstanding martial arts skills but also because his work was so clean that no one else had to clean up after him.

But in this situation, even Jun-hoo couldn’t do anything about it.

To deal with Si-hoo, Jun-hoo had to stay in Seoul.

He needed time to set a trap.

“Aren’t you going to ask me why I’m asking you to go to Daejeon?”

“I’m a little curious, but I think it’s better to hear it after I come back. You must have a plan, right?”

“Thank you for understanding. I won’t forget this favor.”

“Yeah. Not like a magpie repaying a favor [a Korean idiom for forgetting a favor], I’m Kyung-soo, the one who repays favors right away. Make a folktale about it later. Oh, and…”

After a moment of silence, Kyung-soo continued.

“Don’t think it’s too difficult or feel too sorry to ask people around you for help. You think asking someone for something is causing trouble, right?”

Kyung-soo’s words were like a sword, piercing Jun-hoo’s lungs and heart simultaneously.

His body stiffened, and his mouth froze.

Like a martial arts technique being countered, Jun-hoo’s deep inner self was exposed.

“You might not understand, but ‘not’ asking for help is also ‘arrogant.’ Think about it. You don’t want to admit your shortcomings, so you don’t ask for help from others, even if it’s hard, right?”

“…”

“In that sense, I think ‘not’ asking for help is a kind of ‘distorted perfectionism.’ Honestly, I’m grateful that you asked me for help. I feel like you’re finally seeing me as a colleague. Just know that for now.”

Jun-hoo nodded instead of answering, still reeling from Kyung-soo’s words.

His voice wouldn’t come out easily.

Above all, the words ‘I feel like you’re finally seeing me as a colleague’ resonated deeply with Jun-hoo.

Kyung-soo’s point might be right.

Until now, Jun-hoo might have only thought of the people around him as colleagues ‘in words.’

Deep down, he might have underestimated them, thinking of them not as colleagues but as people he had to take care of.

So, Kyung-soo must have been happy to receive Jun-hoo’s request.

Being asked for something meant that the person being asked had the ability to handle the task.

It meant acknowledging their ability.

Facing the darkness within, Jun-hoo felt the pleasure of his world expanding.

It was refreshing, like shedding a skin.

Light was entering where it hadn’t before, and the unpleasant dampness and moisture were disappearing.

Jun-hoo’s steps, having achieved something in his inner self rather than in martial arts, were unstoppable.

And the place he finally stopped at was…

[Cerebral Angiography Room]

One of today’s main events was waiting for Jun-hoo.

* * *

The cerebral angiography room had a slightly different structure from the operating room.

A examination table was placed in the center.

Above the examination table was a C-arm [a type of X-ray machine] located where the patient’s head would be when lying down.

The C-arm was a radiation examination device shaped like the letter C.

Next to the C-arm, three monitors were installed to read CT images on the spot.

Various treatment supplies needed for the examination were neatly placed on one side of the wall.

Jun-hoo was preparing for the angiography with his senior, Min-kyung, and the assisting scrub nurse.

Clatter, clatter.

The examination tools collided with each other, emitting dull metallic sounds.

Curved basins, trays, Bards [catheters], and forceps containers were placed one by one on the dressing cart.

It became densely packed without any empty space.

The scrub nurse opened and closed a container filled with alcohol swabs.

In that short moment, a pungent alcohol scent spread around.

Jun-hoo, who had a sensitive sense of smell, felt a tingling in his nose.

Cerebral angiography, huh…

Jun-hoo recited the examination he had to learn in his mind.

In neurosurgery, cerebral angiography was one of the essential examinations.

Cerebral angiography was an examination that could most accurately check the condition of the cerebral blood vessels.

It played a crucial role in planning surgery and post-operative treatment plans.

Of course, Jun-hoo was the only one on Earth who could perform ‘Internal Energy Cerebral Angiography.’

‘Internal Energy Cerebral Angiography’ used internal energy instead of contrast agents and had no side effects on the patient.

Unlike cerebral angiography, which took nearly an hour to examine and get results, Jun-hoo’s ‘Internal Energy Angiography’ was all okay in one minute.

It was truly a fraudulent examination method.

However, ‘Internal Energy Angiography’ also had an unavoidable disadvantage.

That was that the examination results could not be shared with others. No one would believe it even if he told them.

Anyway, I should learn everything I can.

I need to learn cerebral angiography so I can do catheter procedures later.

“Jun-hoo, what are you thinking about?”

Min-kyung, who was preparing for surgery next to him, asked.

Jun-hoo turned his head toward Min-kyung.

When performing cerebral angiography, he wore surgical attire to prevent infection, just like when performing surgery.

So, only Min-kyung’s eyes were visible.

Now that I see it, her double eyelids were quite long.

“No. Just nothing.”

“Hey, don’t tell me the great Seo Jun-hoo is nervous?”

“Actually, I’m so scared. I’m forcibly holding back my trembling hands and feet.”

Jun-hoo playfully shook his limbs. Min-kyung burst into laughter at the sight.

“I really can’t stop you. But Jun-hoo.”

“Yes.”

“Are you really not going to Daejeon? When I see it, you seem to be the perfect person to be dispatched to Daejeon.”

Min-kyung’s chatter continued.

If you work in Daejeon, which is designated as a regional trauma center, you will have more opportunities to see emergency patients.

You will naturally enter the operating room more often.

Then you can improve your skills.

Blah blah blah…

If he wasn’t wearing a mask, a bucket of saliva would have splattered.

Min-kyung was passionate about tempting Jun-hoo.

But Jun-hoo was just listening to Min-kyung’s story with a cold look.

And when he finished speaking, he ended the situation with a single word.

“Si-hoo told you to, didn’t he?”

Min-kyung’s eyes widened at the sharp question. He instinctively avoided Jun-hoo’s gaze.

“Don’t misunderstand, because what I’m saying now is not to my senior.”

“……”

“Tell the chief that I won’t stand still if he tries to pull another trick.”

“……”

“Got it?”

“I… I know, but isn’t that expression too harsh?”

There was resistance in Min-kyung’s voice.

“He deserves to hear those words. That human.”

“Sigh. I don’t know anymore. I should just stay still.”

“You made a good decision. If you get caught between me and the chief, only you will suffer. Staying quiet is the best thing to do.”

“But it’s so strange.”

“What is?”

“In my opinion, no matter how I look at it, you and Si-hoo are like soul partners. But the two of you are always biting, tearing, hitting, and fighting each other.”

“We’re not soul partners; we’re soul rivals.”

A lonely smile hung on Jun-hoo’s lips.

No one could see the smile hidden behind the mask.

If the enemy in Murim was Jeok Il-do, the enemy in modern times was Si-hoo.

The commonality between the two was that they were pleasure killers who only cared about themselves.

They were also devils who conflicted with Jun-hoo in every way and inflicted pain on him.

However, Jeok Il-do and Si-hoo were not exactly the same.

Jeok Il-do overwhelmed Jun-hoo until he lost his life, while Si-hoo’s plots were detected by Jun-hoo and repeatedly frustrated.

But the reason why Si-hoo could not be ignored was that Si-hoo might harm Ah-young, who was Jun-hoo’s weakness, at any time.

If Ah-young suffered an irreversible accident because of Si-hoo, could he handle the shock?

Jun-hoo was honestly not confident.

So, he was resisting the Daejeon dispatch and trying to get rid of Si-hoo as soon as possible.

“About 20 minutes left?”

Min-kyung stared at the wall clock and continued.

“I’ll tell you the tips for angiography in detail, so remember them well. You know it well, right? If you explain it to the patient one by one, the patient will know you’re a newbie and get nervous.”

“Of course. I know it well.”

“Okay, let’s start.”

Jun-hoo listened to Min-kyung’s explanation intently and stored it in his head.

Of course, he had studied in advance.

However, the gap between indirect experience through books and practical experience that touches the skin was immeasurable.

Especially in the surgical field, where the patient’s life depends on the surgeon’s hands.

Indeed, Min-kyung’s tips learned on the spot were golden.

Thanks to that, the probability of failing angiography felt like it increased from 95 percent to 99 percent.

Confidence was overflowing from Jun-hoo’s body.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

The sound of knocking came just in time.

The nurse’s voice was heard from outside the door that the patient was entering.

The person who appeared when the angiography room door opened was a man in his 60s.

The surgical gown he was wearing looked hip-hop style because the patient was so skinny.

The patient’s slow steps headed to the operating table.

Squeak. Squeak.

The cumbersome sound came from the wheels of the IV pole that he was dragging with his right arm.

The patient’s name was Min Young-tae.

He visited the outpatient clinic due to headaches and dizziness.

As a result of the CT scan, a cerebral aneurysm was suspected in the posterior communicating artery, so he underwent cerebral angiography.

“Elder, would you like to lie down here?”

Jun-hoo approached the patient and asked.

The patient, who had firmly closed his lips, nodded.

Unlike his precarious actions, the patient’s eyes were firm.

It contained the spirit of a person fighting the disease, not a person afraid of the disease.

‘This kind of patient is really scary,’ Jun-hoo thought.

Like he was perfectly controlling his own body.

He seemed like a style that wanted the staff to do the treatment perfectly.

Indeed, the elder shook off the staff’s help and lay down on the operating table.

“Just a moment.”

Jun-hoo examined the patient’s wrist first.

There were no abnormalities in the contrast agent test.

The allergic reaction was normal.

Jun-hoo was rather excited about the angiography that was approaching so closely.

He forgot his fear even though today was the first time he was trying an examination using a catheter.

New medical skill = Having the ability to save more patients.

A firm formula was already embedded in his head.

From this point of view, there was no reason to be nervous about angiography, which would allow him to save more patients.

Jun-hoo explained the procedure and side effects of angiography to the patient.

And he immediately unfolded the Myriad Manifestations Divine Art.

The internal energy that had been dormant in the dantian [energy center] soared like a fountain and wrapped around his whole body.

Sight. Hearing. Touch. Taste. Smell.

The five senses were amplified several times.

At the same time, each of the five senses was felt vividly.

All the sensory information existing in the operating room was being sucked into Jun-hoo like a black hole.

“As you know, cerebral angiography is very difficult. Don’t be too greedy, and let’s just do ‘as much as we can today.’ Got it?”

Min-kyung, who was next to Jun-hoo, said as if whispering.

It was a voice conscious of the patient.

“Senior, you just said let’s just do as much as we can, right?”

“Yeah. But why?”

“Then it’s okay to succeed in CAG (Cerebral AngioGraphy, cerebral angiography) this time, right?”

“Oh, you’re crossing the line after I praised you for doing well every time?”

Jun-hoo smiled and replied.

“It’s originally my specialty. Crossing the line.”