A Surgeon Who Uses Martial Arts [EN]: Chapter 272

Chapter 52: Eradication (2)

The situation was resolved.

Shi-ho, in handcuffs, was meekly led away by the skinny officer.

I had expected him to resist violently or spew curses and insults, but Shi-ho’s attitude was surprisingly docile.

It was hard to believe he was the same person who had just caused a knife-wielding commotion.

‘He must be bewildered, still wondering if it’s a dream or reality.’

Jun-hoo watched Shi-ho disappear into the distance, a faint smile playing on his lips.

The moment the police stormed in and Shi-ho lunged at Jun-hoo, Jun-hoo deliberately used the Forceful Vacuum Grasp [a martial arts technique involving telekinetic-like force].

There were two reasons for this.

One was the certainty that the police wouldn’t recognize his martial arts even if he used them.

The other was to provoke Shi-ho.

Shi-ho’s mind must still be a mess. Jun-hoo had subdued him with what appeared to be a telekinetic superpower.

“You seem to know the assailant. Who are you?”

The bespectacled officer stood opposite Jun-hoo and asked.

He was putting the gun he had been holding back into its holster, breathing a sigh of relief.

“I’m a junior doctor from the same department. I thought he might do something terrible, so I followed him… and sure enough, he was wielding a scalpel and causing a ruckus.”

Jun-hoo placed the scalpel he had taken from Shi-ho on the table.

The blade reflected the light, scattering it in all directions.

“Wasn’t that a very dangerous thing to do? Chasing someone with a weapon empty-handed.”

“My girlfriend works in this cardiothoracic surgery department. I couldn’t stand by and watch if he was going to harm her.”

“Hmm… I understand your feelings, but please be careful in the future.”

“Yes, I will.”

Jun-hoo replied casually.

Jun-hoo had already foreseen that if the fentanyl murders were discovered, Shi-ho would go after Ah-young.

So, he had asked Ah-young a few days ago to stay home and rest today, when he had set the trap.

In other words, Shi-ho had been chasing an impossible goal from the start.

“Do you have a personal grudge against the assailant?”

“We’ve always had a bad relationship. And today, there was a reason for him to explode with pent-up resentment.”

Jun-hoo continued his explanation.

He explained that Shi-ho was a psychopathic killer who had secretly murdered many patients and that he was in an extremely unstable state of mind today because he had been caught in the act of committing murder.

“Wait, are you the one who reported the incident earlier?”

The officer’s eyes widened.

“Yes. I unintentionally had to report two incidents. One was the attempted murder of a patient, and the other was the disturbance just now.”

“Wow… you’ve been caught up in a lot of bad things. You must be shocked.”

More relieved than shocked.

Because I feel like I’ve pulled out a painful tooth.

…Jun-hoo barely managed to hold back from saying that.

If he had said whatever came to mind, he might have been treated like a psychopath himself.

Jun-hoo talked with the police for about 30 more minutes.

It was about Shi-ho’s other crimes.

During the conversation, Jun-hoo handed over the materials he had prepared in advance to the police.

The murder diary.

The video of the scene where he tried to administer fentanyl.

The fentanyl and propofol hidden in the secret drawer, and so on.

The police were shocked by the mountain of evidence.

And they couldn’t believe what they were seeing.

Not only did he see through the crimes of others, but he had also secured such perfect evidence.

They never imagined he would have gathered so much.

Jun-hoo wasn’t a doctor, but a detective.

A seasoned detective who was experienced in field work.

“Ha….”

The officer looked through the materials and let out a sigh of admiration.

“Excellent. There are many cases where people report incidents without sufficient evidence… With this much, it’s a foregone conclusion that your friend will go to jail.”

“Do you have any idea how long his sentence will be?”

Jun-hoo asked, his eyes gleaming.

Shi-ho’s sentence was of utmost importance to Jun-hoo.

“I don’t know how the crimes he committed in the past will be punished, but even just for today, there are two attempted murders….”

“There are?”

“I think he’ll rot in jail for at least 10 years.”

The officer’s answer was somewhat disappointing.

It wasn’t a confirmed sentence, but the price for trying to kill two people was only 10 years.

Modern times were good in many ways, but the punishment for evildoers was terrible.

It was confusing whether the law existed to protect the victims or to protect the perpetrators.

And that wasn’t all.

Why was the perpetrator’s letter of remorse so easily accepted, and how did the judge even determine the perpetrator’s remorse?

If this were the Murim world [a fictional world in martial arts stories], Shi-ho would have had to give up his head, regardless of whether he was from the orthodox or unorthodox factions.

In Murim, a life was repaid with a life.

“I’m late in asking, but are you hurt anywhere?”

“As you can see.”

Jun-hoo spread his arms wide.

“I think we can stop the questioning here. It may be troublesome, but you may have to appear in court or at the police station a few more times. Please keep that in mind.”

“Of course. Thank you for your hard work as well.”

Jun-hoo left the cardiothoracic surgery conference room with the police.

Then, in front of the door, he made eye contact with the cardiothoracic surgery resident who had been eavesdropping on the conversation.

The resident quickly turned his head away, avoiding their gaze, and scratched his head with one hand.

Jun-hoo told the resident that he would explain the situation later.

“But officer, is it okay if I ride along in the police car?”

“I don’t mind… but why?”

“There’s something I still need to say to the assailant.”

“Well, go ahead.”

They arrived at the ground-level parking lot on the first floor of the hospital.

The police car was easy to spot. The lights on the roof were emitting red and blue lights in all directions.

Shi-ho was sitting in the back seat behind the driver, in handcuffs.

The skinny officer was guarding him.

Zhiiiing.

The bespectacled officer sat in the driver’s seat and lowered the window of Shi-ho’s seat.

“……”

“……”

The gazes of Jun-hoo and Shi-ho crossed.

Their positions were different from before, and their feelings toward each other had changed as well.

“Can I ask you for one favor before you go?”

“A favor? Now? From me?”

Shi-ho smiled bitterly at Jun-hoo’s words.

“You’re the only one who can grant it, and you’re the only one who can confirm it.”

“I’ll listen.”

“You know, I’ve always been curious about this. People complain so much that the hospital food is so bad, right?”

Perhaps noticing that the topic was strange, Shi-ho’s head began to tilt to the side.

“So, I suddenly became curious. Is the food in prison and detention centers worse? Or is the hospital food worse?”

“……”

“Can you check and let me know?”

“……You son of a bitch…….”

Shi-ho’s face turned red as he realized Jun-hoo’s provocation.

His eyebrows and cheeks twitched.

The police officers added fuel to the fire by bursting into laughter.

Shi-ho’s humiliation reached its peak.

Toc. Toc. Toc.

Jun-hoo lightly tapped on the police car.

Zhiiiing.

The window of Shi-ho’s seat closed, and the police car left the hospital.

Jun-hoo stood there, watching until the police car completely disappeared from sight.

* * *

The psychopath Shi-ho was now gone from the ward.

If I wanted to see Shi-ho in the future, I would have to check the news.

With a relieved step, Jun-hoo visited the cardiothoracic surgery ward.

After explaining the situation to the resident on duty, he returned to the neurosurgery ward and talked with Kyung-soo and Min-kyung.

The topic was, of course, about Shi-ho.

“You’ve really been through a lot. Thanks to you, the ward has regained its peace.”

Kyung-soo gave Jun-hoo a thumbs up.

Kyung-soo had vaguely sensed it too, that Shi-ho wasn’t as purely good as other people thought, that he had some shady intentions.

But surprisingly, Jun-hoo had gone one step further.

He had uncovered Shi-ho’s criminal acts and added a plan to increase Shi-ho’s sentence.

The method was somewhat dangerous, but… still, the result was amazing.

Shi-ho would have his medical license revoked and be buried in the medical community, and he would be branded as a terrible criminal and unable to live a human life.

“You’ve been through a lot too. I couldn’t have finished this so cleanly without you.”

“Well, I just did what you told me to do.”

Kyung-soo shrugged.

“I’m grateful that you took my words seriously. You could have dismissed them as nonsense.”

“……”

“In the worst case, you could have divulged my plan to Senior Shi-ho.”

After speaking, Jun-hoo turned his gaze to Min-kyung.

“Senior… are you okay?”

“No, not really.”

Min-kyung’s voice was dejected as she answered Jun-hoo’s question.

Her expression also looked incredibly depressed.

The air around Min-kyung was heavy.

Jun-hoo couldn’t help but feel sorry for her because he knew the reason so well.

Min-kyung had a crush on Shi-ho.

What if she realized that the person she had been crushing on all along was actually a two-faced killer?

How could she express that shock in words?

So, Jun-hoo couldn’t even bring himself to comfort Min-kyung carelessly.

Telling someone who can’t muster strength to cheer up could be a form of violence.

“Jun-hoo, let me ask you one thing.”

“Yes, Senior.”

“You’ve known for a long time, haven’t you? That Senior Shi-ho was a strange person.”

“Yes.”

“That’s why you tried so hard to stop me from confessing to Senior Shi-ho.”

“Yes.”

“If that’s the case, you should have told me sooner. It would have been easier on my heart if I had known in advance… I wouldn’t be in so much pain now….”

Min-kyung bit her lip with a sad expression.

“I’m going to go now.”

Min-kyung left, but the lingering feeling she left behind lasted for a long time.

Jun-hoo and Kyung-soo had to remain silent for a while, savoring the lingering feeling.

“Senior Min-kyung must have been quite shocked. She’s blaming you, and she’s never blamed anyone before.”

Kyung-soo was the first to speak.

“Honestly, even if you had told Senior Min-kyung in advance that Senior Shi-ho was a psychopath, would she have believed it?”

“……”

“She already had a strong crush on Senior Shi-ho.”

“Okay, don’t push Senior Min-kyung too hard.”

“I know, but still, what’s not right is not right.”

Kyung-soo drew a clear line.

Not being swayed by emotions was Kyung-soo’s strength and weakness.

“Anyway, you must feel relieved?”

“Of course, I feel relieved. Now I can go to Daejeon with peace of mind.”

Jun-hoo said, stretching.

Jun-hoo had wanted to be dispatched to Daejeon for a long time.

Daejeon Shinwon University Hospital was designated as a regional trauma center, and Jun-hoo firmly believed that he could gain experience by treating various trauma patients in Daejeon.

The reason he had hesitated to go to Daejeon all this time was 100 percent because of Shi-ho.

But now that Shi-ho was gone, going to Daejeon was like an adventure to learn martial arts from another sect for Jun-hoo.

“By the way, you’re going to have a hard time too, right?”

Jun-hoo changed the subject.

“It’ll be tough for about a month because you’re not here and the chief isn’t here either. But is our head of department an ordinary person?”

“……”

“He won’t let the T.O [Table of Organization, referring to a staff vacancy] vacancy go unnoticed.”

“Well, that’s true….”

Jun-hoo, who was nodding in agreement, felt a vibration in his pocket.

He took out his phone and saw that Ah-young was calling.

Ha… the moment I’ve been dreading has finally come.

Jun-hoo was more afraid of Ah-young’s call than Shi-ho with a scalpel.

How should he explain today’s incident to appease Ah-young?

* * *

At that moment, in the police car, Shi-ho, who had gone from a surgeon to a criminal, was staring blankly out the window.

The road was deserted because it was night.

The road was wide open, and the police car was speeding along as if gliding.

The surrounding scenery flashed by.

The sound of the wind coming in and out through the slightly open window was loud.

Because he had been arrested urgently, Shi-ho was still wearing his doctor’s gown.

Just then, the car passed through a tunnel.

The darkness of the tunnel dyed Shi-ho’s gown black.

-So, I suddenly became curious. Is the food in prison and detention centers worse? Or is the hospital food worse? Can you check and let me know?

Jun-hoo’s words kept swirling in his head, and Shi-ho couldn’t contain his rising anger.

If the police weren’t around, Shi-ho would have hit, broken, and thrown everything around him.

With a few deep breaths, Shi-ho barely managed to calm his mind and wondered if there was a way to retaliate against Jun-hoo.

That’s right.

Come to think of it, Jun-hoo was a psychic, wasn’t he?

I still can’t believe it, but I definitely saw it with my own eyes!

He took the scalpel from my hand with an unknown force!

“Hey, I have something important to say.”

“What is it?”

“The doctor I tried to kill, that doctor is actually a psychic.”

“……”

“You guys saw it too, right? The scalpel leaving my hand on its own. Then shouldn’t you arrest that bastard and investigate him too?”

Shi-ho asked, raising his voice.

“Are you crazy? How can there be psychics in the world?”

The skinny officer next to him looked at Shi-ho and sneered.

The officer in the driver’s seat replaced his answer with a snort.

“You guys really didn’t see it? The scalpel really came out on its own, I’m telling you!”

“This guy is really hopeless. Is he already laying the groundwork for a mental illness? You can tell he’s a doctor.”

“No! I’m perfectly sane. Jun-hoo definitely stopped my hand and took the scalpel with something called Forceful Vacuum Grasp!”

“Oh, Forceful Vacuum Grasp. It’s been a long time since I’ve heard that word.”

“You! Do you know Forceful Vacuum Grasp?”

Shi-ho’s voice brightened.

It seemed like he was finally communicating with the police.

“Of course, I know. It’s a martial art that appears in martial arts novels. It’s a kind of telekinesis that uses internal energy to push or pull objects.”

The officer in the driver’s seat said, but the answer that followed drained the strength from his limbs.

“You pathetic fool. But that only appears in martial arts novels. How is Forceful Vacuum Grasp possible in reality?”

“No… it’s real. I saw it, and I was attacked, I’m telling you.”

“Shut up and let’s go quietly. We’re not generous enough to listen to your nonsense.”

Shi-ho frowned at the officer’s rebuke.

Suddenly, he was the only fool.

Shame washed over him once again.

Jun-hoo, that bastard, did he calculate all of this?

The real devil… was someone else.