A Surgeon Who Uses Martial Arts [EN]: Chapter 328

63. The Method (3)

Next morning.

Seo Jin rose from the bed on the first floor of the on-call room.

He turned off the Sisyphean alarm [referencing the endless, repetitive task of Sisyphus from Greek mythology] and sat on the edge of the bed.

He managed to lift his body against gravity, but lifting his eyelids was too much.

His eyelids felt like lead.

He hadn’t slept enough, and his head felt heavy. Many thoughts were tangled like a skein of yarn.

Seo Jin barely managed to open his eyes.

“…….”

The on-call room was quiet.

Seo Jin was the only one who had escaped from sleep.

A streak of dawn shone through the gap in the not fully closed curtains.

He crammed his feet into Crocs, grabbed his toiletries bag, and headed to the staff-only restroom.

He washed his messy, bird’s nest-like hair.

He washed his face and shaved.

Seo Jin in the mirror looked neat and tidy.

In fact, surgical residents didn’t wash well.

It wasn’t because they were inherently lazy or lacked a sense of hygiene.

It was because they lacked the time and energy to care about their appearance and attire.

Seo Jin returned to the on-call room and stood in front of his personal locker.

He put on a pure white gown, a far cry from the yellow and grimy gowns of the other staff.

This was possible because Seo Jin pathologically couldn’t stand unclean things.

Seo Jin’s footsteps left the on-call room and headed to the duty room.

His gait was awkward and almost comical as he tried not to step on the cracks on the floor of the ward hallway.

Creak.

As he entered the duty room, he saw Jun-hoo sitting at his desk.

“Good morning.”

Jun-hoo waved his hand first and greeted him. Seo Jin nodded and sat next to Jun-hoo.

He glanced at Jun-hoo.

Even though he was on duty, Jun-hoo didn’t show even a hint of fatigue.

Jun-hoo’s eyes were still clear and full of life.

“Do you secretly take red ginseng or something? You look so energetic every day?”

“Not red ginseng, but there is something I take every day.”

“What is it?”

“The love that patients give me?”

Seo Jin chuckled at Jun-hoo’s absurd answer.

The love that patients give couldn’t be a fatigue recovery drug.

But it was somewhat true that Jun-hoo thrived on the love of his patients.

Among the residents, no one took care of and managed patients and their families as well as Jun-hoo.

Jun-hoo was the epitome of a dedicated doctor.

If Seo Jin had a cleanliness obsession, Jun-hoo seemed to have an obsession with the health and recovery of his patients.

In some ways, the two were alike.

“I don’t think it would work for me even if I ate that?”

“Everyone has a different constitution. By the way, you must be very tired?”

“Is there anyone in the department who isn’t tired except you?”

“You studied until dawn yesterday. When I was making rounds, I saw the lights in the conference room were on until dawn.”

“I studied the cerebrovascular part a bit.”

Seo Jin’s answer was indifferent.

“Are you going to do a cerebrovascular fellowship after your residency?”

“That’s right. I’m interested in the brain.”

Saving people, promoting the growth and development of neurosurgery, and so on.

Seo Jin had no grand reason like that.

Seo Jin simply chose neurosurgery because he was fascinated by the mystery of the brain as an organ.

“Turn around. I’ll give you a back massage.”

Seo Jin obediently followed Jun-hoo’s instructions.

He turned the backless chair 90 degrees and showed his back to Jun-hoo.

Thump!

Jun-hoo’s palm was placed on the area below Seo Jin’s left shoulder blade.

Like a hand warmer.

A warm heat was transmitted from Jun-hoo’s palm.

The heat instantly reached his heart. Soon, the heat that started from his heart spread throughout his body.

It was as fast as a contrast agent being injected into a blood vessel.

Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!

Jun-hoo tapped Seo Jin’s back and waist a few times with his palm and shouted, ‘Done.’

“Wow. That’s refreshing.”

Seo Jin moved his neck, shoulders, and arms lightly and smiled with satisfaction.

It was a mysterious thing.

When Jun-hoo put his hand on his back and waist, he felt a languid warmth, his head cleared, and energy sprang up all over his body.

“You should have opened a massage shop instead of being a doctor?”

“I seriously think about that sometimes.”

Jun-hoo looked at Seo Jin and chuckled.

“Thank you. Seo Jin.”

“For what?”

Seo Jin tilted his head at the sudden expression of gratitude. If anyone should be grateful, it would be himself, who had just received a massage.

“Just thank you.”

“Don’t mumble and tell me straight. I need to know what you’re thankful for so I can do something to be thanked again and get a massage as a bonus.”

“Do you have to know the reason?”

“Yeah.”

“Thank you for recommending the fantasy novel.”

“Is it by any chance ‘The Return of the SSS-Class Archmage’?”

“Bingo. You guessed it right away.”

“You have a very unique personality. Thanking someone for recommending a fantasy novel.”

Seo Jin showed a dumbfounded reaction, but Jun-hoo was still smiling brightly.

“You don’t know how that book has changed me.”

* * *

That morning.

Jun-hoo was wearing casual clothes for the first time in a while and was coming out of the hospital’s main building.

Spring weather was ripening.

The sun was warm, and the wind was gentle.

Yellow canola flowers were peeking out from the flower beds located throughout the hospital.

The clothes of people going to and from the hospital also became lighter. The dreaded long padding [referring to long, insulated winter coats] had disappeared somewhere.

When he had completely exited the hospital entrance.

Jun-hoo turned around and looked at the hospital buildings.

The building, which had felt awkward like someone else’s house when he was first dispatched, now felt familiar, like his own home.

Getting close wasn’t actually a difficult thing.

You just had to see it often.

If there was someone you saw often but still felt awkward with, it was clear that you weren’t seeing that person properly.

While heading to the subway station.

Jun-hoo gently placed his right hand on his left chest.

He could feel the internal energy surrounding his heart like a belt.

Yesterday at dawn.

After shedding blood, sweat, and tears, Jun-hoo finally succeeded in completing the Mana Heart 1st Circle.

The idea of ​​placing points of internal energy in the blood vessels around the heart and connecting those points with internal energy played a decisive role.

Of course, that didn’t mean there weren’t trials in the process.

Internal energy in the dantian [a traditional Chinese medicine concept referring to an energy center in the lower abdomen].

Internal energy in the Mana Heart.

While connecting the internal energy located in different parts, he almost fell into demonic possession.

It was like osmosis.

The internal energy in the dantian, which had a relatively high density, flowed backward toward the Mana Heart, and the Mana Heart was almost shattered.

Even now, just thinking about that time made the back of his neck cold and his back sweat.

Still, this is more than satisfactory.

I can endure enough until I reach the realm of Hyeon Gyeong [a high level of martial arts mastery in some fantasy settings].

The corners of Jun-hoo’s mouth were torn as if they would reach his ears.

The amount of internal energy that could be accumulated in the Mana Heart was comparable to that of the dantian.

If he continued to train steadily, Jun-hoo would be as good as having two dantians.

The days of suffering from a lack of internal energy like before would decrease exponentially.

How much time has passed?

Jun-hoo, who was off work for the first time in a while, arrived at Yongmun Station in Daejeon by subway.

Among them, it was a shabby residential area far from the station.

The residential alley was deserted.

It was hard to see people.

A stray cat was staring at Jun-hoo from under a car parked on the street.

The cat’s languid eyes seemed to be asking Jun-hoo, ‘Who are you?’

Clang!

Jun-hoo opened the rusty and peeling blue iron gate and entered the first floor of the multi-family house.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

When he lightly knocked on the opaque glass door, a sound was heard from inside.

“Who is it?”

“Are you Ms. Lee Jeong-hye? I’m Seo Jun-hoo, a neurosurgeon. Did you send me an email?”

“Ah, yes! Doctor. Hello.”

The door opened wide.

A woman who looked to be in her mid-50s greeted Jun-hoo happily.

“I knew you were coming today, but I didn’t know you would come so early in the morning.”

“Was I being rude?”

“Of course not. Please come inside.”

Following Jeong-hye, Jun-hoo entered the living room.

It was called a living room, but it was a space that was quite ambiguous to call a living room.

There was a sink and gas stove on the window side, and a three-person dining table was placed behind it.

The living room served as both a kitchen and a living room, but the space was cramped.

There wasn’t even empty space to put a single sofa for one person.

Not only that.

Every time he inhaled, the smell of urine and festering flesh assaulted his nostrils.

Jun-hoo’s gaze naturally turned to the large room, the source of the smell.

The door was slightly open.

“Please sit here. The house is very shabby, right?”

Jeong-hye’s face showed an embarrassed expression as she offered a dining table chair.

“No. Household circumstances can get better or worse, and they can get better or worse.”

“Would you like a cup of coffee?”

“I would appreciate it if you gave it to me.”

While Jeong-hye was putting water in the coffee pot, Jun-hoo carefully examined the living room.

The most noticeable thing was the three-tier storage cabinet placed in the corner of the living room. Diapers, disinfectants, pharmacy medicine, bandages, etc.

The storage cabinet was neatly organized as if various medical supplies were on display.

“The supplies are all new?”

“Yes?”

“The supplies in the storage cabinet are all new.”

“Ah… that’s… I recently cleaned up all the unused items and bought new ones that I needed. I wanted to change my mood.”

Jeong-hye put a cup filled with coffee mix on the table and sat across from Jun-hoo.

Only then could Jun-hoo see Jeong-hye in detail.

Jeong-hye’s skin looked dry and parched, as if she had suffered a lot.

Her eyes were lifeless, and her long hair was roughly tied back with a rubber band.

“I see you like nails?”

“Ah, you saw it.”

Jeong-hye smiled shyly and looked down at her fingernails.

Jeong-hye’s fingernails were emerald green and had sparkling cubic zirconia [artificial gemstones] embedded in them.

“People use the word ‘small but certain happiness’ a lot these days. So I tried it too. When I’m having a hard time, looking at my fingernails makes me feel better.”

“You did a good job. It’s good to have something to lean on.”

Jun-hoo smiled brightly.

His relationship with Jeong-hye began with an email he received ten days ago.

Jeong-hye is a subscriber to Jun-hoo’s NewTube [likely a fictional version of YouTube] and said that she lives with the pleasure of watching Jun-hoo’s NewTube.

[Actually, my husband was in a car accident and is in a vegetative state. As a wife, it is my duty to take care of my husband, but sometimes it is too much…]

Jeong-hye carefully wrote down her concerns and stories in the email.

And Jun-hoo, who was impressed by her sincerity, contacted her in advance and visited Jeong-hye’s house on his day off today.

It was to comfort Jeong-hye and help her materially.

Brain death or vegetative state.

These two keywords belonged to a category that made Jun-hoo ‘suddenly explode’ [likely meaning he feels a strong sense of purpose or urgency].

It was a disease that Jun-hoo wanted to conquer, and it was also a disease that caused extreme pain to the caregiver.

“When did the patient have the accident?”

Jun-hoo asked in a somber voice.

“It’s been about a year.”

“It’s been a year… you must have suffered a lot. I don’t think you have any children, so are you taking care of him alone?”

“A caregiver comes every day. I have to work to feed my husband.”

Jeong-hye’s voice was weak as she answered.

“I am receiving medical support, but… it is not easy to make a living and pay for my husband’s medical expenses.”

Jeong-hye’s depressed expression and colorful nails created a strange sense of incongruity for Jun-hoo.

He also thought that nails might be Jeong-hye’s struggle to dream of a bright tomorrow.

“Oh, doctor. Would you like to take a look at this?”

Jeong-hye got up from her seat, went into a small room, and came back with something.

Jeong-hye put something on the table.

“This is…….”