A Surgeon Who Uses Martial Arts [EN]: Chapter 297

57. Pioneering (2)

Jun-ho strolled through the lively streets of Sinchon.

It was a weekday.

Even though it was well past lunchtime, the streets bustled with young people.

Couples and groups of friends, three or five strong, all seemed headed toward SNS-famous [Social Networking Service-famous, referring to restaurants or locations popular on social media] restaurants or trendy hotspots.

The shops lining the streets pulsed with the latest music.

A familiar song came on, and the young man ahead of Jun-ho started dancing, his shoulders swaying.

The vibrant energy of the street felt both unfamiliar and fascinating to Jun-ho.

Hospitals…

The people who worked there, the patients coming for treatment—they all seemed to lack that same energy.

He wondered if the true measure of energy was doing what you had to do, or doing what you wanted to do.

Clang!
The door chime announced his arrival as he entered a cafe near the station.

Jun-ho chose a seat by the window.

With a blank expression, he watched the young people coming and going.

In the Murim [martial arts world in Korean fantasy] world.

Even in the modern world.

Jun-ho’s life had never been ordinary.

And so, a longing for an ordinary life always lingered in a corner of his heart.

“Teacher. Hello.”

He turned toward the cheerful voice.

The woman approaching the table had medium-length hair that swayed around her shoulders.

She reminded him of a rabbit.

With her fair skin and large eyes, she exuded a cute and cheerful vibe rather than a sophisticated one.

This was Jun-ho’s second meeting with Young-eun.

“Nice to see you, Young-eun.”

“You haven’t ordered a drink yet. What would you like? My treat! Well, the company card’s treat, to be exact, but…”

“I’ll have a warm Americano.”

“Hmm… Coming all the way to Sinchon and ordering a plain Americano. How about something a little different?”

“Is there a menu you’d recommend?”

“How about a hazelnut Frappuccino?”

“Frap… what?”

“Frappuccino. You don’t know Frappuccino? You should take this opportunity to try one.”

“Okay. I’ll have that.”

Young-eun ordered at the counter and then sat across from Jun-ho.

“But Teacher, there’s something I want to complain about.”

Young-eun narrowed her eyes, speaking directly.

Feeling a twinge of guilt, Jun-ho avoided her gaze.

“You went on assignment to Daejeon and haven’t been sending any videos? Do you know our channel has been on hiatus for ten days?”

“Hahaha. I’m still adjusting to the new place…”

“Then you should be filming even more! Subscribers must be curious about what you’re doing at the Daejeon hospital.”

Young-eun launched into a barrage of nagging.

Jun-ho was getting nagged by Young-eun in a way he hadn’t even experienced from professors or senior doctors at the hospital.

“Daejeon hospital cafeteria versus Seoul hospital cafeteria—you could even upload comparison videos like that. Am I wrong?”

“…You’re right, Young-eun.”

“So, did you do wrong? Or didn’t you?”

“I did… wrong.”

“I fully understand that you’re unbelievably busy, but you still need to produce three videos a week.”

“…”

“That way, we can help more patients in difficult circumstances with the NewTube [Korean version of Youtube] revenue.”

“I give up. From now on, I’ll film videos with my phone whenever I have a spare moment, no matter what I’m doing.”

Jun-ho surrendered immediately, waving the white flag.

Honestly, Young-eun was right.

He had been neglecting NewTube recently.

“Oh, right. How did Kwon Hyuk react when you suggested a collaboration?”

Jun-ho changed the subject.

“I talked to him, and he was ecstatic. I think it’s the first time he’s received a collaboration offer from a channel with more subscribers than his.”

“I’m glad it’s going smoothly without any issues.”

A smile touched Jun-ho’s lips.

The best gift Jun-ho could currently give to Joo-won, who was suffering from complex regional pain syndrome, was a collaboration with Kwon Hyuk.

“And I have something else to tell you.”

“What is it?”

“Don’t be too scared. It’s good news this time.”

Young-eun chuckled as Jun-ho looked at her cautiously.

“Surprisingly!”

“Surprisingly?”

“You’ve received an advertisement offer for a nutritional supplement. Namely… Super Max Meta, a comprehensive vitamin B complex.”

“The one that singer promotes, right?”

“Yes. The pay is quite good, too.”

“I don’t want to do it.”

Jun-ho refused outright.

An earthquake of magnitude 6.0 occurred in Young-eun’s eyes.

“Why? It’s such a good opportunity.”

“I hate show doctors. Nutritional supplement ads are something show doctors do.”

‘Show doctor’ was a derogatory term for doctors who used their position to promote various products or were enthusiastic about selling their own products.

“Isn’t it ultimately up to the subscribers to decide whether to buy something or not? We’ll be filming with a paid advertisement disclaimer anyway, so we’re not deceiving them.”

“Still, the intention itself feels a bit off. It feels like I’m exploiting the subscribers.”

“I don’t think you need to think of it only in a negative way. We don’t have to unconditionally promote it just because it’s a paid advertisement.”

“Then I’ll think about it for now.”

Beeeeep.

Just then, the vibrating pager on the table buzzed. Jun-ho picked it up and went to the counter.

He returned to his seat with the ordered coffee.

“Wow. I feel like I’ve been tricked by Young-eun. I’m starting to feel a little betrayed?”

While placing the coffee on the table, Jun-ho glared at Young-eun with a sulky expression.

Jun-ho’s coffee was a calorie-bomb Frappuccino with plenty of whipped cream, while Young-eun’s was a warm Americano.

“I’m on a diet these days.”

Young-eun smiled awkwardly.

* * *

Jun-ho and Young-eun, having gotten off at City Hall Station, were heading to a residential area quite far from the station.

Unlike the bustling streets of Sinchon, the residential area was deserted, with few people around.

Multi-family houses and villas lined the road on both sides, and many cars were parked along the street.

“It’s over there.”

Young-eun pointed to a four-story building a short distance away.

A sign reading ‘Kwon’s Mixed Martial Arts Gym’ hung on the third floor.

“How long are they expecting the shoot to take?”

“I heard about three to four hours.”

“Well, that’s reasonable.”

Chatting idly, the two entered the narrow alleyway.

But that’s when it happened.

Two men suddenly appeared, blocking the entrance to the alley.

Dressed in tracksuits and chewing gum loudly, they looked like local thugs.

‘What’s with these guys?’

Jun-ho sensed something suspicious from the thugs blocking their path.

The thugs had broad, square shoulders. Their chests were puffed out, and their pectoral muscles were bulging.

The thickness of their thighs was also extraordinary.

Just in case, Jun-ho gathered the inner energy from his dantian [energy center in the body] and released it outwards.

An invisible, intangible inner force spread out within a 30-meter radius.

The inner energy became like the sensitive antennae of an insect, conveying various information about the surroundings to Jun-ho.

This was a martial art called ‘Ki Sense’ in the Murim world [a fictional world of martial arts clans and warriors, often used in Korean fantasy stories].

It was a martial art that meticulously scanned the surroundings with inner energy, and the deeper the inner energy, the wider the scanning range.

One person behind the SUV.

One person behind the car across the alleyway they were about to pass through.

One person on top of the four-story villa.

In addition to the thugs, a total of three suspicious individuals were positioned in strange locations.

Jun-ho easily understood the meaning of this.

“Teacher, I have a bad feeling. Let’s go back.”

Young-eun grabbed Jun-ho’s sleeve.

The two people in front of the alley looked like local gangsters to anyone.

It was obvious that their intentions were impure.

“It’s okay. Nothing will happen.”

“It feels like something big is about to happen, not just nothing. Those people are standing there like they’re a tollgate. Trying to collect a toll.”

“Young-eun.”

Jun-ho’s calm gaze rested on Young-eun.

“Yes, Teacher.”

“You like NewTube content, right?”

“Like it? I’m crazy about it. My nickname at the company is ‘Angle-meter’ [someone who is obsessed with finding the best angles for filming].”

“This is content. Follow me.”

Young-eun had no choice but to follow Jun-ho as he took the lead, while questioning Jun-ho’s incomprehensible words and actions.

“Wow, are they on a date? How nice to see.”

As Jun-ho and Young-eun got closer, the seagull-browed thug spouted a third-rate, low-quality line and chuckled.

The shovel-chinned thug next to the seagull-browed one also cackled along.

“Why don’t you donate some to the poor people in the neighborhood? You look like you’re doing well.”

“You have money to buy Frappuccinos, but not to give to you guys.”

“Frappu… what? Anyway, you’re saying you can’t give us money?”

“Yeah. I can’t.”

“Ha… trying to show off in front of your girlfriend. Get a grip. Wouldn’t it be cooler to pay us and pass by quietly than to get beaten up by us?”

The seagull-browed thug moved closer to Jun-ho, glaring at him with a grimace.

Young-eun stepped forward, feeling that she couldn’t stay still any longer.

“Teacher, we’re going to be late for the collaboration shoot. Don’t be stubborn and let’s resolve this nicely.”

Young-eun hurriedly took out her wallet from her bag.

But Jun-ho reached out and stopped Young-eun.

“No. Don’t give these guys a single penny. They’re not worth even 10 won [a very small amount of Korean currency, essentially worthless].”

“Teacher, we’re going to get into a fight. It’ll be difficult for you to live in the hospital if you get hurt.”

“What? You’re a doctor? Then you must have a lot of money?”

The seagull-browed thug’s eyes gleamed with greed.

Young-eun realized her mistake, but she couldn’t take back the words she had already spoken.

“Hit me if you’re confident.”

“Huh?”

“I said, hit me if you’re confident.”

The seagull-browed thug was rather taken aback by Jun-ho’s strong stance.

The seagull-browed thug staggered backward, seemingly flustered. His companion, the shovel-chinned thug, also became speechless.

“Don’t mess around.”

Jun-ho’s shoulder slammed into the seagull-browed thug’s shoulder.

The seagull-browed thug staggered, creating an opening.

In that gap, Jun-ho grabbed Young-eun’s wrist and escaped from the alleyway.

Young-eun was bewildered by the unexpectedly easy resolution.

“Teacher. What just happened?”

“It seems like there was no prior agreement, judging from Young-eun’s reaction. This is a hidden camera. Those people are from the gym.”

Jun-ho pointed behind him with his index finger.

* * *

“Hey, how did the hidden camera go? Will we get some NewTube content?”

Kwon-hyuk asked the man who had just rushed into the gym breathlessly.

“Well… it’s a bit ambiguous.”

“What’s ambiguous about it?”

Kwon-hyuk frowned and asked again.

Kwon-hyuk had prepared a hidden camera to exploit the popularity of Jun-ho, a million-subscriber NewTuber [Korean term for YouTuber].

He instructed his gym juniors to dress up as thugs and deliberately pick a fight with Jun-ho.

[What happens when a million-subscriber NewTuber encounters thugs on the street?]

He had already come up with a provocative title.

“He was surprisingly calm. They argued for a bit, then he ignored Sung-jin and Jong-hyun and just left.”

“That’s it?”

“Yes.”

“Ha… we’re screwed.”

The picture Kwon-hyuk had in his mind was completely different from the reality.

He had expected Jun-ho to be completely intimidated and hand over money to his juniors.

If that had happened, he would have gotten at least 500,000 views…

“I thought he would be weak because he’s a doctor, but he’s surprisingly bold?”

“Yeah. Sung-jin and Jong-hyun also looked visibly flustered. They were supposed to provoke him more, but they couldn’t even follow the script.”

“Ugh. Idiots. MMA trainees getting intimidated by a doctor.”

Kwon-hyuk shook his head.

Since they had already filmed it, he planned to use the footage, even if it was disappointing.

Just then, Jun-ho and his manager entered the gym.

Thump. Thump.

Jun-ho’s footsteps headed straight for Kwon-hyuk.

Jun-ho’s body was much more solid than Kwon-hyuk had imagined. His shoulders were broad, and his gait was powerful.

He was even reminded of the foreign fighters in the same weight class he had faced in the past.

“Kwon-hyuk.”

Jun-ho glared at Kwon-hyuk and continued.

“You’re being very rude from the first meeting. Do I look like a joke to you?”