A Surgeon Who Uses Martial Arts [EN]: Chapter 327

Chapter 63. Method (2)

“Nothing much.”

Seo-jin replied in an awkward voice, then put the phone in his gown pocket.

He cleared his throat and looked at the monitor in front of him.

“If it’s nothing, why hide your phone so quickly? Were you perhaps messaging your sweetheart?”

Jun-hoo sat next to Seo-jin and began his interrogation.

In fact, there were suspicious things about Seo-jin’s behavior.

Even in the midst of his busy schedule, Seo-jin couldn’t take his eyes off his phone. He had a faint smile on his face, as if something was very pleasing.

What could make the usually stoic Seo-jin smile?

Could it be anything other than love?

“Don’t talk about sweethearts. Mind your own business and look at your work. You have a lot of charts to write today.”

“Come on, you’re definitely dating. Why hide it like it’s something to be ashamed of?”

“I’m really not.”

Seo-jin turned his head sharply and glared at Jun-hoo.

His eyes were fierce.

“Listen when people are talking. You listen so well to patients, why don’t you listen to me at all?”

“Because you’re hiding something. If it’s nothing, why not just be open about it?”

Jun-hoo immediately retorted.

He couldn’t just let it go today.

He had to uncover Seo-jin’s secret to sleep soundly.

The two stared at each other for a long time.

The first to surrender was…

Seo-jin.

Seo-jin sighed deeply and put his hand in his gown pocket, fiddling with his phone.

“I’m only telling you this specially, so don’t tell anyone else.”

Instead of answering, Jun-hoo mimed zipping his lips.

Then Seo-jin took his phone out of his pocket and held the screen out to Jun-hoo.

Jun-hoo stared at what was on the screen for a long time.

Was he mistaken?

What was on the screen wasn’t messages with a woman.

What was on the screen was…

Surprisingly, a web novel.

Seo-jin’s secret hobby was reading web novels.

The novel’s title was ‘The Return of the SSS-Class Archmage’.

A complete clean freak.

It was definitely a hobby that was quite different from Seo-jin’s usual image, who was often called a Scrooge when it came to expressing emotions.

“It’s a bit unexpected… but it’s not a hobby you need to hide, is it? A lot of people read web novels these days.”

“Hmm… is that so?”

Seo-jin looked relieved when Jun-hoo didn’t react negatively.

“Then do you like web novels?”

“I’d say I like them. I especially like the martial arts genre. It’s classic and shows humanity well.”

Jun-hoo felt a little embarrassed as he spoke.

He had personally experienced the world of martial arts, which he thought was fictional, and was performing unbelievable feats with the abilities he gained there.

“I don’t really like martial arts novels. There are a lot of difficult Chinese characters and terms, and I don’t really relate to the Beggars’ Sect being a sect of beggars.”

Seo-jin shook his head.

“You’ll get used to the terms quickly if you read them a few times. And those terms actually enhance the charm of martial arts.”

“Then you read them a lot. I’ll just keep reading fantasy.”

Seo-jin seemed to lose interest in the conversation and started working on charts again, looking at the monitor.

Tap tap tap. Tap tap tap.

The sound of the keyboard was clear.

His fingers gained speed.

Anyway, Seo-jin’s work skills were perfect, but his social skills were zero.

Well, maybe even that was part of Seo-jin’s charm.

Jun-hoo also started writing progress notes next to Seo-jin.

There was cervical spine surgery this afternoon.

* * *

That evening.

Jun-hoo, who was on duty in the on-call room, was staring intently at the phone in his hand.

Behind Jun-hoo, Dae-hwi was slurping cup noodles.

The tempting smell of ramen filled the on-call room. It smelled spicy, so he seemed to be eating spicy ramen.

“Aren’t you having dinner, senior?”

“I ate something simple earlier.”

“What did you eat?”

“Bread and milk.”

“You’ll probably be hungry in the early morning. I’ve stashed a few cup noodles in the cabinet over there. Eat them quickly, or Senior Hyuk-jae will sweep them away.”

“Come to think of it, how is Hyuk-jae these days?”

Jun-hoo asked without taking his eyes off his phone.

Hyuk-jae used to verbally abuse and assault the junior doctors, claiming to maintain discipline in the department.

He tried to do the same to Jun-hoo, but he got a taste of his own medicine.

“He’s a lamb compared to before. I think he’ll be bleating like a sheep later on.”

“That’s a relief. I was worried that he might be secretly bullying you or Seo-jin. The characteristic of those kinds of people is that they’re not easily reformed.”

“I’m honestly a little worried.”

Dae-hwi poured the ramen broth into the sink and sat across from Jun-hoo.

A dark cloud hung over Dae-hwi’s face.

“He’s okay now… but I’m worried that he’ll change again when you finish your dispatch [temporary assignment] and return, senior.”

“I’m planning to take care of him one more time before returning to Seoul anyway. If he does anything stupid later, call me anytime.”

“…”

“I’ll come down to Daejeon on my day off and give him a good scolding.”

“Wow. As expected of you, Senior Jun-hoo. Your after-sales service is perfect.”

Dae-hwi hesitated before continuing.

“But what have you been looking at so intently since earlier?”

“Web novel.”

Jun-hoo said, holding out his phone screen to Dae-hwi.

The title of the novel Jun-hoo was reading was ‘The Return of the SSS-Class Archmage’.

It was the very novel that Seo-jin was reading.

“You read that kind of childish stuff too, senior? That’s totally unexpected.”

“Aren’t mystery novels or romances childish, but web novels are?”

“Web novels somehow feel absurd and nonsensical.”

“That’s a prejudice. *The Lord of the Rings* is also a fantasy novel if you think about it.”

“Come on. Aren’t you going too far? Comparing *The Lord of the Rings* to a web novel…”

Jun-hoo shut his mouth at Dae-hwi’s words.

Perhaps it was because the sudden silence was awkward.

Or maybe he felt he had made a mistake.

Dae-hwi cautiously watched Jun-hoo’s expression.

However, Dae-hwi burst out laughing at Jun-hoo’s next words.

“That’s true, isn’t it? I used the wrong example, didn’t I?”

“Yes. You missed the mark completely.”

The two laughed heartily.

Soon after, Dae-hwi left.

Jun-hoo was left alone in the on-call room.

Jun-hoo put his phone on the desk and leaned comfortably against the back of the chair.

Hoon-shik, who was the top troublemaker in the Daejeon department, was imprisoned in jail.

Seo-jin had returned.

And Chief Gwa-jang was solidifying his position, having seized power in the neurosurgery department.

Jun-hoo was also smoothly achieving his desired goals.

He was intensively training in cervical and lumbar spine surgery to improve his proficiency.

Cerebrovascular part.

Brain tumor part.

Cervical and lumbar spine part.

By the time he returned to Seoul.

He would already have skills in these three fields comparable to a professor.

‘Now it seems like I only need to solve one more thing…’

Tock. Tock. Tock.

Jun-hoo tapped the armrest of the chair with his index finger.

He had been feeling a depletion of internal energy lately.

The new martial art, Internal Energy Heart Technique.

That is, pouring internal energy into the hearts of colleagues or patients.

Jun-hoo had been frequently using the martial art that increased their recovery power in a short time.

As a result, his internal energy was constantly running out.

Even though he steadily ate the Cheonsan pills [elixir pills] delivered from the traditional medicine clinic and practiced Qi circulation [energy circulation] whenever he had time.

Unfortunately…

The situation showed no signs of improving.

In fact, the fundamental cause could be attributed to…

The limited capacity of his dantian [energy center].

If the bowl only holds 500ml.

It was the same principle as pouring 1 liter of water and having to spill the remaining 500ml.

If he reached the realm of Hyeon-gyeong [a high level of martial arts mastery].

He could use his whole body as a dantian, but that was not an area that Jun-hoo could control.

Is there a way to expand the bowl of the dantian to the level of 1 liter instead of 500ml?

Jun-hoo’s worries deepened.

As his worries deepened, the wrinkles on his forehead also deepened.

Beeeee.

The phone vibrated just in time.

He thought it was a text from Ah-young, but it was an alert that a free episode had been released for the web novel he had been reading.

Jun-hoo chuckled in vain, feeling let down.

But right then!

A bold idea that he had never heard or seen before flashed through Jun-hoo’s mind.

The clue was surprisingly close…

It was ‘The Return of the SSS-Class Archmage’.

In the novel, the protagonist Chris learned the Mana Heart Training Method.

Mana Heart Training Method.

This was a method of accumulating mana by wrapping a band of mana around the heart.

But what if I tried this myself?

Jun-hoo’s thoughts suddenly went that far.

If he succeeded.

Jun-hoo could dramatically increase the space for accumulating internal energy.

Let’s try it for now.

Now is not the time to be picky.

Jun-hoo went to the corner of the on-call room and sat cross-legged.

First, he maintained the Cheongmyeong Mind Method as it was.

He inhaled the essence of the air with his breath.

And with his exhale, he sent the internal energy near his heart with pressure. He tried to wrap a vortex-shaped band around the area close to his heart.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

The wildly beating heart shattered the band of internal energy that Jun-hoo had created.

The first attempt failed miserably.

Jun-hoo’s brow narrowed and the corners of his mouth drooped.

But there could be no retreat or surrender.

The saying ‘the more the better’ was most fitting for internal energy.

The more internal energy, the better.

And that abundant internal energy would surely play a leading role in Jun-hoo saving patients and colleagues.

Jun-hoo tried to create a band of internal energy steadily, to the point where curses came out of his mouth.

But the attempts repeatedly ended in bubbles.

The problem was…

As expected, the heartbeat was the biggest problem.

The band of internal energy could not withstand the strong heartbeat.

‘Is the novel just a novel after all?’

With no success despite all his efforts, Jun-hoo could not help but look at the Mana Heart Training Method with suspicion.

Well, if the Mana Heart Training Method was really possible.

Why were there no people in the world of martial arts who had learned the Mana Heart Training Method?

That’s where that reasonable doubt came from.

Jun-hoo released his cross-legged position and stared at the human model in front of him.

Was it because he had sweated so much over the Mana Heart Training?

The heart area of the model particularly caught his eye.

Red and blue blood vessels were spreading out in all directions like branches, centered on the heart.

As he stared at the model.

Jun-hoo realized that he had been missing something very important all along.

Just because it’s called the Mana Heart Training Method.

Until now, he had only focused on the heart, but he realized that he might be able to get help from the surrounding blood vessels.

1) Do not create a band of internal energy from the beginning.

2) Instead, place points of internal energy on the blood vessels around the heart. Widen those points into a circle.

3) Connect the points with internal energy.

This was the new Mana Heart Training Method that Jun-hoo had come up with.

He judged that the bases of internal energy secured in advance would be able to firmly fix the band of internal energy.

It’s a very absurd method, but…

Let’s do it right away.

Jun-hoo was burning with enthusiasm and sat cross-legged again.