A Surgeon Who Uses Martial Arts [EN]: Chapter 4

Martial Arts Surgeon – Episode 4

Chapter 1: Butterfly’s Dream (4)

Hyung-seok had just finished a delivery to a store on the first floor and took out a cigarette.

-Don’t say that. I’m proud of you, Dad. You always work hard for Mom and me. That’s enough for me.

His eyes stung again as he recalled what his son had said earlier.

Did his son know?

How much of a gift that one word was to his flawed father.

Just savoring those words gave Hyung-seok the confidence to overcome any hardship that might come his way.

How admirable and thoughtful,

How grateful he was.

Hyung-seok smoked, marveling at his son’s changed demeanor.

Overnight, his son had become a completely different person.

Not only had he said things that moved Hyung-seok,

But he also sprinted through the villa with a load of heavy packages, without even showing a hint of exhaustion.

Was he secretly working out?

Amidst the waves of various emotions that arose when he thought of his son,

Hyung-seok finished his cigarette.

But his son had not yet returned.

Considering their delivery speed so far, he should have been back by now.

‘That’s strange. It’s not a place where you could misdeliver.’

A sense of unease washed over him.

What if his son had an accident?

But his worries didn’t last long.

It was likely that he had a stomachache and went to the bathroom, or that he suddenly ran out of battery and was taking a break.

If he’s any later, I’ll call him then.

Having made up his mind, Hyung-seok put another cigarette in his mouth.

Wiiiing.

The sound of an ambulance siren came from afar.

* * *

Sancheong Building, 1st floor lobby.

Jun-hoo placed all the items for delivery in front of the security office.

It was then that he belatedly noticed people surrounding something.

A middle-aged man in a suit was lying on the floor.

He was motionless, as if he had lost consciousness.

The people around him were just milling about, not really stepping forward to do anything.

‘That man might die.’

Jun-hoo strode towards the fallen man.

He had learned about CPR [Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation] in health class at school.

He had learned that when someone collapses, you need to check their consciousness and breathing, and then perform chest compressions.

As someone aiming to become a surgeon who saves lives,

He couldn’t ignore a life in danger.

“Please step aside.”

Jun-hoo pushed the people away and knelt beside the man.

“Sir, are you okay?”

He shook the man’s shoulder, but the man didn’t respond.

The chest, which should have been rising and falling if he was breathing, had also stopped moving.

He put his finger under his nose.

As expected, he couldn’t feel any breath.

The man seemed to have collapsed from a sudden heart attack and lost consciousness.

“Can the man with glasses over there please call 119 [South Korean emergency hotline]?”

“Someone else already reported it.”

“Okay.”

Jun-hoo calmly followed the manual he had learned at school.

Anyone would be flustered when someone loses consciousness and collapses.

But that wasn’t the case for Jun-hoo.

In the Murim world [a world of martial arts and cultivation], Jun-hoo had watched countless people get hurt or die.

People with their organs spilling out.

People with severed arms.

People with severed heads, and so on.

Compared to the injured people Jun-hoo had seen in the Murim world, the man in front of him was in a tame condition.

In this modern life, I don’t punish evildoers.

Instead, I save people with my own hands.

Having steeled his resolve, Jun-hoo quickly loosened the man’s shirt.

The man had a cross necklace around his neck.

If he had performed chest compressions without removing the necklace, the man might have been seriously injured.

Tuduk. Tuduk.

Jun-hoo tore off the necklace with force.

“Student, don’t get involved and just stay still. What if you do something halfway and this person gets even more hurt?”

A man scolded Jun-hoo, trying to stop his CPR.

“Even a half-hearted attempt is better than indifference. Since you mentioned it, please bring the defibrillator from the entrance.”

“No, I said just stay still!”

“Don’t make me say it twice!”

Jun-hoo shouted loudly, imbued with internal energy [qi or chi, vital energy in traditional Chinese medicine and martial arts].

He was getting angry because the man was holding him back in a situation where every second mattered.

Chest compressions were inherently a treatment that could shock the patient.

It was almost a given that ribs would break.

Because, you see,

In order to squeeze the blood stagnant in the stopped heart out to the whole body, that much strong pressure was needed.

So, you can’t do chest compressions because you’re worried about breaking ribs

Or because you’re worried about hurting the patient?

That was nothing but nonsense.

It was like burning down the house to catch a flea.

“Ah… Okay, I’m going.”

The man, overwhelmed by Jun-hoo’s spirit, stammered and moved towards the defibrillator.

Jun-hoo began to settle in next to the patient in earnest.

He placed his clasped hands in the center of the patient’s chest and began to compress forcefully.

120 times per minute.

Intuitively calculating, that’s 2 times per second.

Jun-hoo compressed the patient’s chest in time with his own rhythm.

Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump!

The patient’s body heaved each time Jun-hoo compressed.

Like a fish out of water.

‘I think this will be okay?’

Jun-hoo felt that his power control was perfect.

Not too strong.

But not too weak either.

He was confident that he was achieving the right balance.

Because martial arts inherently begin with freely controlling strength and weakness.

Jun-hoo was also satisfied with the speed of the chest compressions.

He was feeling a bit tired as it went over 2 minutes, but he was keeping the 120 times per minute like clockwork.

You may not know it, but you are my unofficial first patient.

You mustn’t die, and you can’t die.

While doing chest compressions, Jun-hoo desperately prayed for the patient’s survival.

He didn’t want to helplessly watch someone die like he did in the Murim world.

Life in the modern world had to be different from life in the Murim world.

“Hey, I brought the defibrillator?”

The man who had argued with Jun-hoo earlier returned to the scene.

Jun-hoo managed to speak with difficulty.

“Haa… Haa… Just attach the pads and use it.”

“I’ve only done it on a doll, I’ve never done it on a person.”

“Just… do it.”

Jun-hoo couldn’t stop the chest compressions.

He had heard that the golden time to save a patient after cardiac arrest was 3-5 minutes.

Stopping chest compressions during the golden time was no different from abandoning the patient.

“Alright, I don’t know anymore.”

The man bit his lip as if he had made up his mind.

He fumbled through the instructions, connected the connector, and attached the pads to the patient’s chest and side.

-Analyzing heart rhythm… Defibrillation is needed. Charging… Step away from the patient.

A dry mechanical sound flowed out.

“Step away from the patient!”

Jun-hoo stopped chest compressions for the first time and distanced himself from the patient.

The surprised man followed Jun-hoo.

-Defibrillation is needed. Press the orange shock button.

Following the instructions, Jun-hoo pressed the shock button.

The patient shuddered as if he had been electrocuted.

-Defibrillation has been performed. Continue CPR if necessary.

After the electric shock, Jun-hoo returned to the patient and performed chest compressions again.

Drip. Drip. Drip.

Large drops of sweat flowed down Jun-hoo’s face.

His bangs had long been soaked and drooping like seaweed.

His breathing was also heavy.

The chest compressions, which he was doing alone, were a bit much for Jun-hoo.

But he couldn’t give up just because it was hard.

Saving a life couldn’t be that easy and simple.

So, chest compressions and defibrillation were repeated several times.

“Kheu-eup.”

The patient suddenly groaned and stirred.

He had regained consciousness thanks to Jun-hoo’s dedication.

Only then did Jun-hoo stop chest compressions and check the patient’s condition.

“Are you conscious?”

“Heueum. Whe… where is this…”

“This is Sancheong Building. You suddenly lost consciousness and collapsed.”

After hearing Jun-hoo’s story, the patient struggled to get up.

He began to look around with a bewildered face.

Only after confirming that the patient was safe could Jun-hoo smile.

The sweat and effort Jun-hoo had shed were by no means in vain.

Because the patient had regained consciousness.

Because he had returned from the afterlife to this world.

Jun-hoo, who had saved a person for the first time, felt a sense of fulfillment that he couldn’t express in words.

And he was also certain that this was the path he had to take.

I won’t let anyone die anymore.

* * *

Thadadak.

Young-jae entered the lobby of the building where the report had been made with hurried steps.

It was 12 minutes ago that he had received a report that a man had suddenly collapsed.

And it was 12 minutes after the report that he arrived at the scene.

The patient’s exact condition was unknown.

But if it was a heart attack, there was a high probability that the patient had already suffered brain damage.

That’s why he was even more anxious.

And what was with the traffic accident happening nearby?

The reporting site was close to the emergency center, so he could have arrived sooner.

But when he arrived at the scene, the situation was surprisingly over.

A middle-aged man, who seemed to be the protagonist of the report call, was sitting in the lobby, conscious.

An still young-looking student was guarding his side.

Near the two, there was also a defibrillator that seemed to have been used.

“I’m a 119 paramedic. What happened?”

Young-jae asked the middle-aged man.

“I collapsed, but this student saved me.”

Young-jae’s gaze rested on the student.

The student was wearing a delivery vest, as if he was working a delivery job.

His face and hair were all covered in sweat.

“Student, you did a great job.”

“No, I just did what I had to do.”

The student’s answer was calm.

It was natural to be scared if someone collapsed, but he had admirably performed CPR.

It wasn’t Young-jae or God who saved the middle-aged man, but the student in front of him.

“But student.”

“Yes.”

“Did you do CPR alone?”

“Almost. I only received help with attaching the defibrillator.”

Young-jae was quite shocked by the student’s answer.

CPR was a treatment that seemed simple but required tremendous stamina and endurance.

So much so that paramedics and doctors take turns every 2 minutes.

But this student had performed CPR alone for a whopping 12 minutes.

Wow. Is that even possible?

“That’s strange. You can’t do it that long alone?”

“I’m just unusually strong.”

The student smiled brightly and got up.

He even showed the composure to reach out his hand to the patient and help him up.

“Student, you really worked hard, and patient, please go to a nearby hospital. Even though you’ve regained consciousness, you still need to get checked out.”

“Okay. Student, thank you. I’ll repay you handsomely later.”

The middle-aged man exchanged contact information with the student and even handed him his business card.

Not only that.

Another man at the scene also separately received contact information from the student. From what he could hear, he seemed to be a reporter from somewhere…

“Senior, what happened?”

While returning to the ambulance with the patient.

Young-jae faced Dong-seok, who was pulling a stretcher car towards him.

Dong-seok’s reaction was bewildered, just like Young-jae had been a little while ago.

“The situation is over. A student saved the patient with CPR.”

“Whew. Thank goodness. I thought something big was going to happen.”

After putting the patient in the back of the ambulance first, the two continued to talk.

“Dong-seok.”

“Yes, Senior.”

“Have you ever heard a story about a middle or high school student doing CPR alone for 12 minutes?”

“12 minutes alone? Come on, you’re joking, right?”

Dong-seok shook his head.

“I feel like I’m going to die after just 2 minutes, how can you do 12 minutes? Even if the winner of the Ironman triathlon came, that wouldn’t be possible?”

“But that actually happened.”

Young-jae chuckled and turned his gaze to the street.

The student who saved the patient was pulling a handcart and moving somewhere.

Is that student actually a monster?