A Surgeon Who Uses Martial Arts [EN]: Chapter 397

“Is something wrong?”

Perhaps sensing the unusual atmosphere.

Austin looked up at Jun-hoo.

He had just finished stitching one suture.

“The suture is defective. I tied it properly, but it’s unraveling in the middle.”

“Oh, my…”

Austin sighed.

The mask he was wearing fluttered.

Austin’s eyes, alternating between the discarded suture and the unanastomosed [not connected] blood vessel, seemed to say:

Even the heavens are heartless.

Are we truly being abandoned like this?

Jun-hoo was just as troubled.

Vascular spasm.

To prevent the blood vessels from twisting, the twins’ blood vessels had to be anastomosed [surgically connected] at similar times.

That way, the blood flow would be consistent.

But look at the current situation.

Austin had completed nearly three-fifths of the anastomosis [surgical connection], while Jun-hoo had essentially done nothing.

The gap had become too wide.

“Could you slow down the anastomosis [surgical connection] speed a little, Professor?”

Raymond asked urgently.

“We separated large cerebral blood vessels, not small ones. If we delay, the brain will experience ischemia [lack of blood supply].”

“Then, is spasm more dangerous? Or is ischemia [lack of blood supply] more dangerous?”

“Both. Your question is like asking whether you like your mother or your father more.”

Austin’s voice sank.

Hector also belatedly grasped the situation and began to shake his leg in anxiety.

Even in the midst of all this, precious time was being wasted.

‘Why now…’

Jun-hoo bit his lip, looking down at the surgical site.

He had imagined the surgery dozens of times in his head, but he had never imagined this kind of case.

It seemed that imagination could not keep up with reality.

Jun-hoo’s gaze suddenly turned to the wall clock. It had already been 15 hours since the surgery began.

The anastomosis [surgical connection] had been in progress for 15 minutes.

The middle cerebral artery could only withstand it for about 20 minutes at most.

He had to make a move within that time, no matter what.

But how?

Jun-hoo asked himself again and again.

At the same time, he quickly scanned the weapons he possessed.

Medical knowledge and experience.

Military arts and internal energy that could be applied, and so on.

One second felt like a minute.

In a short time, the trajectories he had passed through flashed through his mind like a movie film.

The answer would not be outside.

It would definitely be inside him.

“Professor, didn’t you say that ischemia [lack of blood supply] and spasm are like choosing between mom and dad?”

Raymond asked in a determined voice.

“I certainly did.”

“So now we have to choose one of them…”

“No. There’s no time to hesitate.”

Jun-hoo cut Raymond off.

He picked up the needle holder and forceps he had been holding.

“Professor, please proceed at your pace. I will match your pace.”

A glow settled in Jun-hoo’s eyes.

It was a look of rising above despair.

“No matter how good you are, that’s impossible. It would be better to follow Raymond’s advice.”

“…”

“If I had to choose, I’d rather have a spasm than ischemia [lack of blood supply]. After all, if the blood vessel is damaged, it can’t be reversed.”

“That’s right. Jun-hoo, there’s no need to overdo it.”

Hector, who had been silent, finally stepped forward.

He spoke as if coaxing a child.

“If you’re too greedy for speed and the anastomosis [surgical connection] is sloppy, that’s also a problem. If there’s a leak, that’s another headache.”

“There’s no more time to argue. Please trust me, Professor.”

“Heh…”

“I think I’ll regret it for the rest of my life if I give up here. And I don’t want to regret it.”

“You can regret it even if you do the anastomosis [surgical connection] quickly.”

“If I’m going to regret it no matter what, I’ll do what I want and regret it.”

Jun-hoo replied without backing down.

Emma and Sophia might not have understood, but Jun-hoo had promised the children.

He would definitely help the children regain a healthy life.

To keep that promise.

The cerebral blood vessel anastomosis [surgical connection], which was the key point of this surgery, had to be successfully completed without any flaws.

Jun-hoo didn’t want the blood vessels to twist and the children to have to undergo dangerous reoperation.

He also didn’t want the children’s brains to be damaged due to cerebral ischemia [lack of blood supply].

“Alright. Do as you wish.”

“Professor, you can’t. It’s too reckless. Shouldn’t we maintain an environment as similar to the practice as possible to increase the success rate of the surgery?”

Hector raised his voice to express his opposition. But Austin shook his head silently.

A sign of uncompromising refusal.

Hector huffed and puffed, but did not resist further.

After a brief commotion, the curtain on the cerebral blood vessel anastomosis [surgical connection] rose again.

Before the anastomosis [surgical connection].

Jun-hoo grabbed both ends of the new 11-0 nylon suture and pulled them. Taut tension was transmitted to his fingertips.

It meant it wasn’t defective.

If he had done the anastomosis [surgical connection] with this, he wouldn’t have had to go through so much trouble.

There would have been no need for the staff to hurt each other’s feelings, and the children would not have been in danger.

But the water had already been spilled.

What Jun-hoo had to do now was wipe up the spilled water and fill the cup with new water.

I have to catch up with Professor Austin from now on.

In terms of time, I have to cut 10 seconds per knot.

It’s not enough time to do a precise anastomosis [surgical connection] with 11-0 suture, but I have no choice but to do it….

I’m from the Murim world [martial arts world], right?

I have special abilities that others don’t have, right?

If I use my own weapons, there’s nothing I can’t do.

No. This is something only you can do.

The stopped time.

Jun-hoo’s stopped hand began to move.

* * *

30 minutes later, in the break room.

The staff who had been performing the conjoined twins separation surgery were taking a break in the break room.

Everyone looked exhausted.

They leaned back on the sofa and stared at the ceiling with blank faces.

They only occasionally quenched their parched mouths with drinks.

The total surgery time so far was 16 hours.

They had been operating non-stop without a single break, so it was no wonder they were tired.

‘This guy is completely crazy?’

Raymond glanced at Jun-hoo, who was sitting next to him.

Unlike the other staff, Jun-hoo was sitting on the sofa perfectly fine.

His shoulders were spread and his waist was straight.

There was not a single strand of hair that showed any sign of exhaustion.

But what shocked Raymond was not Jun-hoo’s iron stamina.

It was Jun-hoo’s anastomosis [surgical connection] skills.

Raymond went back to 30 minutes ago.

He recalled Jun-hoo’s anastomosis [surgical connection] skills, which were like an F1 racing car.

It wasn’t an exaggeration, but Jun-hoo’s hands couldn’t be seen at that time.

It felt like something was whooshing through the air.

As if wind was coming out of his hands.

Jun-hoo’s gown also fluttered faintly whenever Jun-hoo moved his hands.

‘I don’t think I saw his hands at all, just afterimages.’

Raymond’s gaze soon shifted from Jun-hoo’s face to Jun-hoo’s hands.

What kind of hands are those?

How can he start the anastomosis [surgical connection] later than Professor Austin and finish it faster than Professor Austin?

Raymond was about to add Jun-hoo’s hands to the world’s seven mysteries.

“Why are you staring at me like that? Do I have honey on my hands?”

Jun-hoo, who felt Raymond’s gaze, smiled.

“No, your anastomosis [surgical connection] speed is ridiculous. It’s not a mechanical hand.”

“Ha… To be honest, I was also surprised. I didn’t think he would catch up with me.”

Austin stepped in to support with admiration.

No one believed that Jun-hoo would succeed in the anastomosis [surgical connection].

He had fallen into the water, so he had just entrusted the work with the feeling of grabbing at straws.

“Were you hiding your skills?”

Austin continued to ask.

“No. When I was in an extreme situation, I think a superhuman power burst out without me knowing.”

“Superhuman power… I really can’t express it any other way.”

“…”

“Anyway, you did a really good job. Thanks to you, we got through the biggest crisis safely.”

“You’re welcome. It’s also my fault for not checking the suture properly.”

“It’s not your fault. The defective suture was a kind of natural disaster.”

Austin warmly patted Jun-hoo on the back.

Jun-hoo’s face finally relaxed a little.

In the silence of the conversation.

Jun-hoo stared at his hands.

Emma and Sophia, the staff.

And it was none other than these two hands that saved Jun-hoo himself.

‘I still can’t believe it.’

Jun-hoo smiled.

In order to overwhelmingly improve the anastomosis [surgical connection] speed, Jun-hoo carried out two strategies at the same time.

One was the formalization of moves.

Hadn’t he already done the anastomosis [surgical connection] once?

He made the feeling at that time into a move so that his hands would move reflexively and mechanically.

The advantage of formalization of moves was that there was no need to think and worry.

And if there was no thought and worry, the action would naturally become faster.

Jun-hoo’s second strategy.

It was to recite the g诀 [formula] of ‘Lightning Speed’ while unfolding the moves.

G诀 [formula] was a kind of mindset.

It may seem like a cult to modern people, but the mind had the ability to create reality.

Even the Plum Blossom Sword Technique of the Mount Hua Sect was like that.

How could the scent of plum blossoms come out when wielding a sword?

But if deep faith and internal energy were supported, it could make the impossible possible.

So, while operating internal energy, Jun-hoo firmly believed.

That he was a streak of lightning that flashed.

That he was a spark that blazed.

Was it because of the desperate determination to save the children?

Jun-hoo did not fall into 心魔 [inner demon/obsession].

He became lightning himself.

He became a flame himself.

To be honest, even Jun-hoo couldn’t guarantee that he could succeed in the anastomosis [surgical connection] this time if the same situation came again.

The state of 物我一体 [unity of self and object] did not come at any time.

“Everyone must be tired, so come to me one by one. First, Professor Austin, come here.”

“What’s going on all of a sudden?”

“You’ll know when you come.”

Austin tilted his head and sat next to Jun-hoo.

Jun-hoo released every corner of Austin’s body with 推宫过血 [meridian massage] and 点穴法 [acupressure].

Internal Energy Injection.

That is, he even used the technique of injecting internal energy into the heart to spread internal energy throughout the body and temporarily inject energy through it.

“No, my body has suddenly become energetic? I can’t believe it.”

Austin widened his eyes and scanned his body.

Jun-hoo just smiled.

“Did you cast a spell?”

“I gave you a oriental massage. I learned it a long time ago.”

“Professor. Are you deliberately exaggerating?”

Hector, who was watching this, showed suspicious eyes. But after receiving treatment at the next call, Hector also began to praise Jun-hoo.

Raymond’s reaction was the same.

Jun-hoo had used a full set (?) of recovery techniques, so it was a natural result.

‘There will be no problems due to physical strength or concentration, and now only the finishing touches are left?’

Jun-hoo lightly tilted his neck left and right.

The sweet break time was over and the staff returned to the operating room.

The neurosurgery staff who had been in charge of the operating room for a while said that there were no problems with the children.

They also delivered the good news that no leaks had occurred at the anastomosed [surgically connected] site after conducting a blood vessel test.

The staff who had regained their condition resumed the surgery.

Three hours later.

Emma and Sophia’s heads, which had been attached like one head, were separated.

The two children looked at each other for the first time.

Jun-hoo’s nose tingled.