A Surgeon Who Uses Martial Arts [EN]: Chapter 437

Chapter 85: Truth (3)

“Yoda, are you not feeling well?”

“My stomach feels a bit acidic.”

Sung-hyun’s face scrunched up at his senior’s words, placing a hand on his chest.

Sung-hyun was in the barracks with his direct superior, eating instant meals instead of dinner.

Schnell Chicken, Cream Udon, and sausages were spread out on the floor of the barracks.

The pungent smell of processed food filled the barracks.

“Can’t you fix a stomach ache with the Force?”

“I don’t have any Force.”

“You’re not pretending you don’t have it, are you?”

“If I had it, I wouldn’t pretend I didn’t.”

Sung-hyun shook his head.

Sung-hyun’s ears were more pointed and longer than other people’s. Because of that, he had many ear-related nicknames since he was young.

In the army, he was called ‘Yoda’ from Star Wars.

“You went to the Korean Doso Hospital for an outside clinic visit a while ago. What did they say there?”

“I had an endoscopy and they said I have chronic gastritis. They said I’d be fine if I managed my diet well.”

“Hmm… really? Then did you get sick from eating frozen food?”

“I didn’t eat much. Can’t you see?”

Sung-hyun rattled on.

“And the dinner menu is fried croaker and ‘dung soup’; how can I stand that terrible menu?”

Sung-hyun shuddered, thinking of the dinner menu. (“Dung soup” is likely a mistranslation or euphemism for a less appetizing stew.)

Maybe a private or a lance corporal wouldn’t mind.

But as a sergeant, he couldn’t eat such torturous food. It would only make his gastritis worse.

“Ugh…”

Sung-hyun picked up a piece of Schnell Chicken and frowned. (Schnell Chicken is likely a brand of instant or fast food chicken.)

It felt like drinking vinegar on an empty stomach.

His stomach was burning.

He could feel the finely chewed chicken pieces passing through his esophagus and stomach in detail.

Usually, it felt like a stone was pressing on his chest.

He occasionally had chest pains.

But today, the pain was especially severe.

“My older brother also has chronic gastritis, but I don’t think he had as hard a time as you…”

“I think it’s because I’ve been stressed out lately because of the sergeant major.”

“Well, that guy’s going through puberty these days.”
The senior nodded as if acknowledging it.

“I can’t eat anymore. I’m going to go to the medical unit.”

“Okay. I’ll leave your share, so go and be with the Force.”

“I’ve said it many times, but I don’t have the Force…”

“You’re going to get ‘gel-Force’ if you go to the medical unit anyway.”
The senior joked and laughed alone.

Was his brain pickled in Star Wars?

Sung-hyun dragged his slippers, left the barracks, and headed to the medical unit.

He stroked the hand on his solar plexus in a clockwise direction.

It had already been a month since he had been examined and had an endoscopy at the Korean Doso Hospital.

He was shocked when he was first diagnosed with chronic gastritis, but he was told that chronic gastritis was a common disease.

The doctor said that as many as 60 percent of Koreans have chronic gastritis to some degree.

In fact, Sung-hyun’s stomach didn’t hurt that badly.

It only burned when he ate spicy food or was stressed.

The problem was…

It happened in the last week.

The level of heartburn had skyrocketed recently.

When his stomach wasn’t feeling well these days, he couldn’t manage his facial expressions at all. There were many times when he had to stop working in the middle of things.

Still, Sung-hyun had endured it well.

Didn’t the endoscopy say there was nothing seriously wrong?

Then the symptoms must be temporary.

“Yoda, you’re here?”

As soon as he entered the medical unit, the medic spoke to Sung-hyun.

It was after work hours, so the medic was also wearing his workout clothes.

“Are you also on the ‘Yoda’ train, sir?”

“It just feels catchy. What’s wrong?”

“My stomach is burning.”

Sung-hyun lowered his head and looked down at his solar plexus.

“Didn’t you have an endoscopy at Doso Hospital a while ago? But it still hurts?”

“Has it been about a week? It was okay, then it got bad again.”

“Then I’ll have the company commander examine you.”

“Hasn’t the company commander left work yet?”

“He said he has some business at the unit today.”

“I don’t need to see the company commander. Just give me a ‘gel-Force’.”

“Still, it would be better to see a doctor…”

“I’ve already had an endoscopy. Whatever.”

Sung-hyun shrugged his shoulders.

It wasn’t like he was ignoring the medical company commander.

Realistically, it was because he judged that the company commander couldn’t do anything for him.

But it was just then.

Just as the medic was taking out the Gel Force from the medicine cabinet and handing it to Sung-hyun.

The door to the company commander’s office burst open.

“Come in.”

* * *

Before hearing the conversation between the medic and the soldier flowing from the treatment room.

Jun-hoo was doing research in the company commander’s office.

What kind of research was it…

It was research on the brain acupoint technique.

It was a study distinguishing between brain acupoint techniques for amplifying one’s abilities and brain acupoint techniques for treatment.

In an experiment just yesterday.

Jun-hoo had achieved amazing results.

There was a meaningful change in the brain acupoint technique he performed on Second Lieutenant Yoo Kyung-woon.

Before and after performing the brain acupoint technique.

The difference between the two was clear.

There was a clear difference in the EEG (Electroencephalography) brainwave rhythm patterns.

That is to say.

The brain acupoint technique has sufficient potential to be used for treatment.

If the brain is stimulated with the brain acupoint technique, the brain activity will increase, and the lieutenant will gradually regain consciousness.

Jun-hoo was filled with such hope.

And if the lieutenant regains consciousness, he will be able to strike a counterattack against the truth investigation committee, which investigated in a haphazard manner.

Furthermore, he will be able to catch the unscrupulous criminal who pulled the trigger on the lieutenant.

That was why Jun-hoo had to risk his life in this research.

‘Where should I draw the line?’

Jun-hoo stroked his chin silently.

Brain acupoint technique to amplify one’s abilities.

There were no restrictions on the area to be acupunctured or the internal energy to be injected.

Because the purpose is to become stronger.

However, for brain acupoint techniques for treatment, it is necessary to set an upper limit on the internal energy to be injected.

It was also necessary to carefully select the acupoint site.

Jun-hoo’s brain was healthy, but the patient’s brain was not healthy.

It was difficult to treat them the same way.

To activate consciousness, it is necessary to stimulate vision first. 70 percent of the brain is used to process visual information.

Then the acupoint site should be the occipital lobe, which is in charge of vision.

Next.

I have to decide on the amount of internal energy to inject when acupuncturing…

Pa-ba-ba-bat! Pa-ba-ba-bat!

Jun-hoo acupunctured the back of his head several times with his index finger.

He examined how his vision changed depending on the amount of internal energy injected.

If the internal energy used for the brain acupoint technique for ability amplification is 10, it seemed that only about 2 should be used for the patient.

Then it would be less burdensome on the patient’s brain.

If the patient’s condition improves.

The amount of internal energy to be injected can be gradually increased.

Now all that’s left is practice.

I want to try it out quickly.

Just as Jun-hoo was about to get up from his seat.

The conversation between the medic and the soldier was heard from the treatment room.

“Come in.”

Jun-hoo said, opening the door to the medical company commander’s office.

A moment later, the soldier hesitated and entered the company commander’s office. He sat on a backless examination chair.

“Sung-hyun. You’re the friend who had an endoscopy at Doso Hospital a month ago for heartburn, right?”

“Wow! How did you know that?”

Sung-hyun’s eyebrows soared high into the sky.

His eyes widened like an owl.

“It’s not hard to memorize the few patients I have. Especially if they’ve been to Doso Hospital.”

Jun-hoo smiled brightly.

The habit of memorizing names and faces came from Murim. He used to belong to the Murim Alliance Inspection Team and hunted bounty fugitives. (Murim refers to a martial arts world or community, often depicted in Korean fantasy stories.)

“I think I heard you say your stomach was burning, is that right?”

“Yes. I haven’t been able to concentrate on work for the past week.”

“How often does it hurt?”

“I haven’t counted them one by one, but…”

Sung-hyun scratched his cheek with his index finger and continued.

“I think it’s been about 10 times.”

“When does it usually hurt?”

“It’s so random that it’s hard to say. Sometimes it hurts before meals, and sometimes it hurts after meals.”

Jun-hoo continued his medical interview with Sung-hyun and extracted information.

About 3 minutes passed.

Earthworm wrinkles appeared on Jun-hoo’s forehead.

“It’s not that serious. You can just take the gel force.”

“I don’t know.”

Jun-hoo shook his head as if he was dissatisfied.

Another military doctor would have sent Sung-hyun back, telling him to manage his diet and stress well.

That was the general reaction.

Didn’t he have an endoscopy just a month ago and was diagnosed with chronic gastritis?

In fact, there was nothing more that Jun-hoo could do for Sung-hyun as a military doctor.

But Jun-hoo was no ordinary military doctor.

He was a ‘special’ military doctor with weapons that no one else in the world had: martial arts and internal energy.

Also, Jun-hoo didn’t think of his military service as a vacation like other military doctors.

To Jun-hoo, military service was an extension of his work at a university hospital.

Whether it’s a street, a market, or a desert, isn’t the place where you treat patients a hospital?

Fundamentally, a doctor’s duty is to sincerely examine and treat the patient in front of him.

It doesn’t feel good.

I can’t just send him back.

After the medical interview, his brain sent a warning.

Jun-hoo had no intention of ignoring that warning.

“Why don’t you lie down on the bed first?”

“Yes?”

Sung-hyun tilted his head, perhaps because it was an unexpected suggestion.

“Lie down comfortably.”

“Yes.”

At Jun-hoo’s instruction, Sung-hyun lay straight on the bed. He blinked his eyes as if he was nervous and licked his lips with his tongue.

“It also helps when someone strokes your chest when you don’t feel well.”

Jun-hoo approached the side of the bed and made an excuse.

He placed his palm on Sung-hyun’s solar plexus.

At the same time as drawing a circle with his palm, he shot out the internal energy he had drawn from his dantian to Sung-hyun. (Dantian refers to a center of energy in the body, a concept in traditional Chinese medicine and martial arts.)

It was a procedure to replace an upper endoscopy with internal energy.

The intangible internal energy began to permeate the stomach, passing through the skin, fascia, and gastric membrane.

As a master of Hwagyeong, Jun-hoo handled internal energy like his own body and delicately groped Sung-hyun’s stomach. (Hwagyeong is likely a martial arts mastery level or technique.)

The stomach had a cardia, a passage connected to the esophagus, and a pylorus, a passage connected to the duodenum.

The upper part of the stomach is the fundus.

The middle part of the stomach is the body.

The lower part of the stomach is called the antrum.

Jun-hoo came down while examining from the fundus with internal energy.

Sung-hyun was diagnosed with chronic gastritis in the endoscopy.

Jun-hoo did not find any abnormal signs in the stomach.

It was not easy to detect inflammation reactions with internal energy.

It meant that internal energy examination was not always a panacea.

The biggest advantage of internal energy examination is that it can identify structural problems of organs.

And that it can diagnose ‘that disease’ relatively quickly and easily.

‘There’s nothing wrong with the fundus.’

The internal energy controlled by Jun-hoo examined the body of the stomach and began to grope the lesser curvature of the body.

‘……!’

Jun-hoo, who was examining the lesser curvature, frowned deeply. His eyes narrowed and his lips hardened into a straight line.

The worst of the worst assumptions was correct.

Should I be happy about this?

Should I be sad?

There was an abnormality in the middle of the lesser curvature of Sung-hyun’s stomach.

Something that existed there was trying to devour the internal energy greedily.