A Surgeon Who Uses Martial Arts [EN]: Chapter 271

Chapter 52. Eradication (1)

“Who are you?”

As Shi-ho arrived at the thoracic surgery station, a nurse on duty looked at him, surprised, and asked the question.

It was late evening.

She seemed quite surprised that a doctor from another department was visiting the ward at this hour.

“I’m Shi-ho from neurosurgery.”

Shi-ho lightly shook the name tag hanging on his necklace, displaying it.

The nurse checked the name tag and nodded.

“But what brings you here…”

“I’d like to request a consultation.”

“For a consultation, you could just call, right? You didn’t have to come all the way to the ward.”

Shi-ho found the nurse’s question bothersome and annoying. He was already on edge, consumed by murderous intent, and this insignificant interruption was grating on him.

*Since the water has already been spilled [Since the situation has already escalated].*

*Should he just slit her mouth open with a scalpel?*

Shi-ho briefly considered it, fiddling with the scalpel he had put in his gown pocket, then dismissed the thought.

“Wouldn’t it be rude to ask you to come to our ward late at night? That’s why I came.”

“Wow! You’re such a thoughtful person. The on-call room is over there.”

“Thank you.”

Shi-ho immediately moved in the direction the nurse pointed.

The thoracic surgery ward was quiet.

The rooms were dark, and there was no one walking in the hallway.

Most of the patients were asleep.

And soon, Jun-hoo’s girlfriend, Ah-young, would be heading to a similar place.

Not dreamland, but the afterlife.

Shi-ho stopped abruptly in front of the thoracic surgery on-call room.

He imagined Ah-young being brutally murdered.

He imagined Jun-hoo crying tears of blood and wailing in front of Ah-young’s corpse.

If he could derive that much pleasure.

He felt like he could endure rotting in prison.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

A voice told him to come in after he knocked.

Shi-ho opened the on-call room door halfway.

At that moment, strength drained from his limbs, and disappointment washed over him.

The on-call doctor was a man.

In other words, it wasn’t Ah-young.

“Who… are you?”

The thoracic surgery on-call doctor showed a similar reaction to the previous nurse.

He tilted his head and stared at Shi-ho.

“I’m Lee Shi-ho from neurosurgery. I was supposed to meet Dr. Ah-young, but where is she?”

“…”

“Doctor?”

“Ah. Yes. You can go to the conference room.”

The on-call doctor’s expression was strange.

He seemed to be hiding something.

But Shi-ho, who was single-minded in his purpose, dismissed it, thinking it was nothing, and went straight to the conference room.

Creak.

Bang!

Shi-ho, who quickly arrived at the conference room, couldn’t help but be shocked once again.

Ah-young wasn’t there.

Instead, Jun-hoo was guarding the conference room.

He rubbed his eyes, wondering if it was a hallucination, but the person sitting in the chair was indeed Jun-hoo.

Jun-hoo got up from his chair.

He crossed his arms and gave Shi-ho a condescending look.

Shi-ho didn’t like the contemptuous look. He felt an urge to gouge out Jun-hoo’s eyes.

“Nice to see you again?”

“You bastard…! Why the hell are you…”

Shi-ho gritted his teeth.

“Why else? I know everything you’re up to, so I came to stop you.”

“…”

“I figured you’d try to appeal to the professor’s emotions and then run straight to Ah-young.”

“…”

“You must think that killing Ah-young is the best revenge you can get on me.”

Shi-ho’s pride was wounded by Jun-hoo’s remark.

It was as if he had entered his mind.

Jun-hoo had completely seen through him.

*Ugh.*

Has he been toyed with in Seo Jun-hoo’s hands all along?

“Then where is Ah-young?”

“She’s not at the hospital. I asked her in advance to take a good rest at home today.”

“I’ve been had [I’ve been tricked].”

“Is it just one thing you’ve been had on? I think you’ve been had on two or three things?”

“Heh heh heh.”

While talking to Jun-hoo.

Shi-ho laughed like a madman.

The chilling laughter shook the conference room.

“What’s so funny? Are you already that happy just thinking about going to jail?”

“No. I think it’s better this way. Killing you would be much more meaningful than killing Ah-young.”

*Swoosh.*

A scalpel was in Shi-ho’s hand, emerging from his gown pocket.

Reflecting the conference room lights.

The scalpel scattered sharp light in all directions.

Shi-ho pointed the tip of the blade at Jun-hoo.

The air in the on-call room thickened with tension, as if it would burst.

*Whoosh.*

The sound of the wind blowing from outside the window was eerie, like a ghostly wail.

The two people’s tangled relationship, like warp and weft [the interwoven threads of a loom], was about to be resolved in some way at this place.

“Everything’s good, but there’s an error in your calculation.”

“Error? What is it?”

“By now, the police should have barged in, but there are no police, right? In other words, there’s no one to protect you.”

Shi-ho smiled leisurely.

He put more strength into the hand holding the scalpel.

He knew that Jun-hoo’s physique was extraordinary, but it was useless in front of a scalpel.

This place, the thoracic surgery conference room, would surely become Jun-hoo’s tomb.

“Okay. Go ahead and run wild. There are no recorders or cameras here. It’s a space prepared for you and me to spend some cozy time together.”

“You’re still running your mouth until the end.”

He didn’t need the mouth anymore.

*Dada da dat [Sound of footsteps].*

Shi-ho rushed towards Jun-hoo at a rapid pace.

Since the circular table was blocking the two, he had to approach Jun-hoo in a semicircle.

Jun-hoo had already unfolded his arms and was staring intently at Shi-ho rushing towards him.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

Shi-ho’s heart was beating violently. His muscles tensed up, and the blood flowing through his body became hot.

From the first time they met, Shi-ho didn’t like Jun-hoo.

He felt extreme revulsion at his kind heart that cared for patients and those around him.

Humans are selfish beings.

Humans are beings who move for profit, but Jun-hoo showed an attitude that went against that human nature.

To Shi-ho, who believed in the theory of inherent evil, Jun-hoo’s existence was a thorn in his side.

So he used all sorts of methods to harass Jun-hoo, but they all failed.

Jun-hoo was always several steps ahead of Shi-ho in every way.

He couldn’t catch up no matter how hard he tried.

After going through all sorts of hardships to break the micro microscope, he was able to anastomose [reconnect] blood vessels using only loupes (optical glasses)… .

What was he supposed to do?

But today would be different.

Holding a scalpel in his hand and entering madman mode, Shi-ho was confident that he could turn anyone in the world into a corpse.

“You have to die! You’re a mutant that shouldn’t exist in this world.”

Swish! Swish!

The scalpel relentlessly stabbed Jun-hoo’s chest in succession.

But Jun-hoo dodged it with ease, drawing an S-shape with his waist.

Shi-ho was extremely angry.

He slashed horizontally, slashed vertically, slashed diagonally, stabbed relentlessly, and so on.

He slashed Jun-hoo dozens of times with the scalpel, but each time the scalpel cut through the air.

Jun-hoo was a ghost.

He could be seen, but he couldn’t be touched.

From some point on, Shi-ho began to get tired. His arms trembled, and beads of sweat formed on his forehead.

Seo Jun-hoo… .

What the hell is this guy!

This monster who has avoided all the scalpels and has never lost his composure… .

“Disgusting bastard.”

“What?”

“You’re the scum of the earth. You’re trash that can’t even be recycled.”

Jun-hoo’s voice was violent as he spoke, dodging Shi-ho’s scalpel.

“You don’t know anything. Killing and being killed is human nature. I’m just being true to my nature!”

Shi-ho said, struggling, slashing the scalpel diagonally towards Jun-hoo’s neck.

*Whoosh.*

However, the scalpel missed again in vain.

“No. You’re just a low-class pervert who enjoys pleasure killings. Do you think I’ve only dealt with humans like you once or twice?”

“…”

“If this wasn’t modern times, you would have died at my hands a long time ago.”

Shi-ho felt a strong sense of incongruity at Jun-hoo’s brutal confession.

He was bothered by the words ‘If this wasn’t modern times’.

He was even more bothered by the fact that the kind-hearted Jun-hoo was saying that he would kill him.

Jun-hoo seemed to have a secret.

But right then.

Creak.

Bang!

“Hey, you there! Drop the knife right now!”

The on-call room door opened roughly.

Shi-ho glanced at the direction of the sound and saw the police. Two police officers hurriedly took the lead behind Shi-ho.

One was holding a baton and the other had a gun drawn.

“Seo Jun-hoo, did you perhaps calculate even this?”

Shi-ho smiled in vain.

“Of course. I came up with another plan for you to eat prison food for a long, long time. If you have two counts of attempted murder, you’ll probably have to be bent over when you get out of prison [implying a long sentence and physical decline].”

Jun-hoo said in a voice that only Shi-ho could hear.

“Officer. Are you hurt anywhere?”

“Yes. Fortunately, I’m not.”

“Hey. Put down the knife right now and let’s talk. You’re a doctor, so you should know what’s what, why are you doing this?”

The police soothed Shi-ho.

But this situation was a dilemma for Shi-ho.

Jun-hoo was in front of him, and armed police were behind him.

There was nowhere to go on either side.

The saying that *there is a hole to escape even if the sky falls* [there’s always a way out] was a lie.

How frustrating.

In the end, he couldn’t kill Seo Jun-hoo.

To be in this shape and this state… .

Self-loathing became a huge tsunami and covered Shi-ho’s heart.

Shi-ho let the scalpel, which had been aimed at Jun-hoo, droop to the ground.

“Okay. You thought well. But shall we take it one step further from there?”

“…”

“Let go of the knife you’re holding. Just relax a little. Gently.”

“You crazy bastard. There’s a limit to treating me like a child.”

Shi-ho glared at the older policeman who was persuading him.

The policeman flinched at the eerie look.

“Seo Jun-hoo. Let me ask you just one thing.”

“Why?”

“You said earlier that I’ve been playing in the palm of your hand since earlier, right?”

“That’s right. You know how to play if you’ve played before. Haven’t you already played enough to be sick of it?”

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

“Then guess. What choice will I make here? Will I attack you again, who is cornered?”

“…”

“Or will I attack the police who are trembling in fear of the perpetrator?”

The police officers’ eyes shook at Shi-ho’s words.

Shi-ho’s point was correct.

The police were holding batons and guns loaded with blanks to subdue Shi-ho, but they were very nervous.

They were not actively trying to resolve the situation.

“Why can’t you speak? Are you not confident this time?”

“…”

“The answer is this!”

*Swish!*

Shi-ho ran.

The destination was right in front of Jun-hoo, who had been pushed to the window.

“Stop! Or I’ll shoot!”

“Shoot if you have the guts!!”

Shi-ho ran out, ignoring the police.

Now, the distance between Shi-ho and Jun-hoo was close enough for them to feel each other’s breath.

The moment of decision!

The place where Shi-ho’s hand holding the scalpel was directed was not Jun-hoo. The scalpel, which had been extending straight forward, drew a semicircle and instead headed towards Shi-ho’s own neck.

That’s right.

Shi-ho was planning to take his own life in front of Jun-hoo.

He judged that it was a hundred times better to end his life than to beg for it pathetically in prison.

And if he was going to end his life anyway.

He wanted to splash Jun-hoo with his blood.

To appear in Jun-hoo’s dreams and torment him.

But at that very moment.

An amazing event occurred.

Shi-ho’s arm, which was about to cut off his carotid artery, could not move any further.

An invisible force gripped Shi-ho’s wrist tightly.

“Eeeeeek!”

No matter how hard he tried, it was useless.

It was as if an iron shackle had been placed on his wrist.

“Of course, I knew you would take your own life.”

Jun-hoo said as if whispering.

“Wh- what?”

“People like you don’t have a middle ground. If you can’t kill others, you have to kill yourself.”

“…”

“But aren’t you curious? Why your arm isn’t moving?”

“…”

“I’m using a martial art called *Heogongseopmul* [Fictional martial art involving manipulating objects from a distance] right now. I’m using the *Heupjageol* [Fictional technique to grab objects with internal energy] on my internal energy to grab your wrist and pull it towards me.”

“What the hell are you talking about?”

Shi-ho asked in confusion, and Jun-hoo smiled and continued.

“Read some martial arts novels hard in prison.”

“…”

“Then you’ll know. What kind of person I am that you dared to point a scalpel at. Why you can’t handle me even if you die and come back to life.”

After finishing speaking, Jun-hoo raised his index finger.

Then the scalpel that Shi-ho was holding floated in the air and went into Jun-hoo’s grasp.

The police did not see that superhuman figure.

Only Shi-ho could see it.

Because Shi-ho’s back was blocking the police’s view.

No way!

How can such a cartoonish thing happen in reality?

Shi-ho didn’t even have time to be more shocked.

*Thump!*

Jun-hoo tripped him and fell backwards.

However, the pain in his body was not felt at all due to the great mental shock.

“Seo Jun-hoo. What the hell are you… .”