A Surgeon Who Uses Martial Arts [EN]: Chapter 352

The Martial Surgeon – Chapter 352

Chapter 68: The Newbie (2)

Knock. Knock. Knock.

An unexpected knock came at an unexpected time.

Jun-hoo put down the hair dryer he was using to dry his wet hair and went to the front door.

Oliver was already there, wearing his doctor’s coat.

“Good morning.”

A refreshing smile bloomed on Oliver’s lips like the morning sun.

“What brings you here so early?”

“I’ll explain later.”

“Come on in.”

Jun-hoo chuckled and went back to his room. He finished drying his hair.

As he did, he glanced at Oliver, who was curiously scanning the room.

Jun-hoo’s gaze was soft.

“Your room is so empty? It doesn’t look like you have much luggage.”

“I prefer to travel light. Having too much luggage is just cumbersome.”

“But you’re so devoid of humanity.”

“You’ll see my humanity when I’m treating patients.”

After drying his hair, Jun-hoo quickly changed into his work clothes. He put on the blue scrubs he had received yesterday and then put on his doctor’s coat.

The Mayou Clinic logo and his name were embroidered on the chest of the coat, visible in the mirror.

A sense of belonging filled him.

The long-awaited Boost Up Program is finally starting.

What will I learn here?

How will I have changed in seven years?

Excitement and anticipation intertwined in his heart.

“How did you know I was awake?”

Jun-hoo asked, staring at Oliver.

Oliver wasn’t a rude person, so he must have known Jun-hoo was awake before coming.

“It wouldn’t be fun if I just told you. Guess.”

“A quiz in the morning?”

“That’s right.”

Jun-hoo stroked his chin and made a few deductions.

He used the process of elimination, removing suspicious diseases one by one when examining a patient.

“I think…”

“You think?”

“You probably woke up early and exercised. Not indoor exercise, but running outside.”

“…”

“You finished exercising and came back to the dorm, and you saw the light on in my room.”

“Do you really think so? I’ll give you another chance.”

“I don’t need it.”

“Hmm…”

Oliver paused for a moment and then gave Jun-hoo a thumbs up.

“What? Are you Sherlock Holmes? You got it exactly right without missing a thing?”

Oliver said in admiration.

“It’s nothing much.”

Jun-hoo shrugged as if it were no big deal.

In the Murim world [martial arts world].

And in the modern world.

Jun-hoo was exceptionally bright.

He had a knack for observing, analyzing, and deducing.

He probably would have been outstanding even if he had chosen internal medicine instead of surgery.

“Let’s go.”

“Okay.”

Jun-hoo walked down the dormitory hallway with Oliver.

Soon, they took the elevator and had breakfast in the restaurant on the first floor.

“By the way, what’s going on this morning? Don’t tell me you’re going to give me another quiz.”

“Tch. You caught me. It’s nothing big, I just wanted to give you a tour of the clinic. You’re not from Mayou, so you must be unfamiliar with the layout.”

Jun-hoo’s heart warmed at Oliver’s consideration.

‘This guy is much better than I thought.’

Jun-hoo muttered to himself and mentally rewound the events of last night.

When Jun-hoo came out into the hallway late at night to film for NewTube [a fictional video platform like YouTube].

Raymond and Oliver were talking at the end of the hallway.

“What do you think of that Asian guy after talking to him?”

Raymond asked.

Jun-hoo tensed up for no reason, even though he wasn’t the one being asked.

He had a bad feeling.

He wondered if Oliver, who had been taking care of him, was actually a mole planted by Raymond.

Look at the situation.

Isn’t it the perfect environment to be suspicious?

Two people who should be resting in the dorm are talking alone late at night?

The situation reeked of suspicion.

“His name is Jun-hoo. And he’s not Asian.”

“Oh, really? Did you two build a strong friendship in the short time you’ve been together?”

Raymond sneered.

“Maybe. But is that all you called me here to ask?”

“What? Is that all?”

“You still can’t stand people who are better than you. If you’re curious about Jun-hoo, ask him yourself. Don’t try to pry through other people.”

“If you hang out with Jun-hoo, you’ll get on my bad side too. You better be careful.”

Oliver didn’t answer.

He stared at Raymond and then flipped him off [gave him the middle finger].

Raymond’s face turned red with humiliation.

Thump. Thump.

Oliver turned his back on Raymond and approached the hallway where Jun-hoo was hiding.

Jun-hoo muffled his footsteps and ran back to the dorm so he wouldn’t be caught.

Contrary to his worries, Oliver wasn’t a spy.

He had just been called out by Raymond.

“What are you thinking about so hard?”

At Oliver’s question, Jun-hoo snapped out of his reverie and returned to reality.

“I just can’t get used to the kimchi at the cafeteria. Don’t you dare say you’ve eaten kimchi anywhere else after eating this.”

Jun-hoo smiled awkwardly and changed the subject.

* * *

Jun-hoo came out an hour earlier than his work time and toured the main building with Oliver.

The hospital was so large and complex that even an hour wasn’t enough for the tour.

During the tour, Jun-hoo was impressed by how well the departments at Mayou Clinic were arranged for the patients’ convenience.

At Shinwon University Hospital, the examination rooms and treatment rooms were scattered haphazardly.

The patients had to walk around tiredly, even changing floors and buildings.

But Mayou Clinic was different.

The examination rooms on the second and third floors were integrated to minimize the patients’ movements.

The treatment rooms were concentrated on the fourth floor.

Patients first.

The hospital’s catchphrase wasn’t just empty words.

“This is the pediatric neurosurgery ward where we’ll be spending the next year.”

Oliver said as he walked down the hallway of the pediatric neurosurgery ward.

Jun-hoo nodded instead of answering.

Mayou’s pediatric neurosurgery ward had many similarities to Korea.

The wallpaper was colorful with primary colors, and various character stickers were attached everywhere.

From one of the rooms, a child’s loud cry could be heard from the morning.

Unfortunately, even the superheroes decorating the ward were not enough to soothe the children’s pain.

Jun-hoo entered the conference room at the end of the hallway.

Jun-hoo and Oliver sat in the front row.

Jun-hoo slowly turned around and looked around the conference room.

Even on the first day of training, factions had already formed.

Raymond’s group was in the back row.

Jun-hoo and Oliver were in the front row.

The other two colleagues sat in the middle, separated from each other.

While scanning the conference room, Jun-hoo suddenly met Raymond’s eyes.

Raymond’s gaze toward Jun-hoo was intense. It was an intensity closer to hatred than love.

How much time had passed?

While the trainees were chatting, a man with glasses went up to the podium and looked down at the trainees.

The man had impressive, narrow eyes and a sharp jawline.

“Okay, focus.”

The man clapped his hands to draw attention.

“My name is Bruce. I’m a visiting professor of pediatric neurosurgery. I’ll be helping Professor Austin train you in the future.”

Bruce looked at the trainees and continued.

“As you know from the orientation email, our training program is by no means easy. Why do you think that is? Anyone want to answer?”

At Bruce’s question, the trainees just looked at each other.

They hadn’t expected him to suddenly ask a question.

Jun-hoo raised his hand lightly.

“You’re Jun-hoo, who passed with the highest score. I have high expectations for you. So, what’s the answer?”

Bruce stared at Jun-hoo with a mixture of expectation and curiosity.

The other trainees’ attention was also focused on Jun-hoo.

“Originally, neurosurgery subspecialties require 2-3 years of training. But the Boost Up Program only runs for one year per subspecialty.”

“So?”

“I don’t think it makes sense for a 2-3 year course to be compressed into one year and be easy. Especially if the field is pediatric neurosurgery.”

Even though Jun-hoo’s answer was clear, Bruce didn’t say anything.

A heavy air settled in the conference room.

Raymond’s group in the back row burst into laughter, mocking Jun-hoo.

“Hey, quiet!”

“Sorry.”

“It was good that you stepped up bravely… and the answer was even better. Jun-hoo is right.”

Bruce continued with a satisfied smile.

In contrast, Raymond’s face twisted.

“To learn a lot in a short amount of time, you have to make sacrifices. The Boost Up training program is completely different from residency training. You’ll be in big trouble if you think of it that way.”

“…”

“Jun-hoo, good answer.”

“Thank you.”

Jun-hoo was about to bow habitually but stopped himself.

This was America, after all.

Bruce explained the training program for about 30 minutes.

And then, after a while, the problematic ‘thing’ appeared.

Several residents struggled to enter the conference room and placed ‘that thing’ in front of the trainees.

The trainees could only blink when they saw ‘that thing’.

“Don’t tell me… is this the textbook?”

Raymond asked in an absurd voice.

That’s right.

The thing was a pediatric neurosurgery textbook of 800 pages.

“That’s right. It’s the textbook you’ll be studying for the next month and the textbook you’ll be tested on every week.”

“…”

“Professor Austin personally compiled it, and it’s not available on the market. Treat it with care.”

“Still, isn’t this a bit much…? You want us to master this in a month?”

Oliver muttered to himself and flipped through a few pages of the textbook.

Then, he shook his head as if he was fed up.

Jun-hoo also became curious and rummaged through the textbook.

Perhaps because it was a textbook created by an individual.

There were no illustrations in the textbook, and only text was densely packed like a jungle.

But the content seemed quite substantial.

It explained the diseases and treatments of pediatric neurosurgery patients, focusing on actual treatment cases.

It was like looking at Master Jaehyun’s secret notes.

It seemed that surgeons who had reached the pinnacle had a habit of organizing their own know-how.

“What happens if we fail the written test?”

Oliver asked in a cautious voice.

“We’ll let it slide once, but there won’t be a second time. We’ll revoke your Boost Up Program qualification immediately.”

“Isn’t that too harsh? Revoking our qualification just because we failed a written test.”

Oliver raised his voice, unlike his usual self.

The other trainees nodded as if Oliver was right.

“Isn’t it a huge loss for the hospital to drop someone they worked so hard to select just because they failed a written test?”

“Oliver.”

Bruce chuckled and continued.

“I think you’re misunderstanding something. The Boost Up Program is an ultra-elite course. You’ll soon be representing the face of Mayou.”

“…”

“Can the face of the world’s best hospital be unseemly? If you’re not confident, you can leave now.”

Bruce’s attitude was firm.

There was no room for negotiation.

Noticing this, the trainees couldn’t dare to retort and grumbled with dissatisfaction.

“Ha… that’s harsh. How are we supposed to memorize this in a month while doing surgeries, assisting surgeries, managing the ward, and seeing outpatients? We’re screwed, aren’t we?”

Oliver looked at Jun-hoo as if seeking agreement.

Jun-hoo smiled ambiguously and muttered to himself.

It takes a month to read this…?

A week should be enough?