A Surgeon Who Uses Martial Arts [EN]: Chapter 446

Chapter 87: Cold Wave (2)

A quiet night.

A bitterly cold night.

A night shrouded in darkness.

After the campsite was set up, soldiers began seeking out the aid station one by one.

Jun-hoo deliberately avoided directly providing treatment.

Like an elder in a park offering advice on *baduk* [a Korean board game similar to Go], he watched the treatment process with his hands behind his back.

The reason was simple.

He wanted to assess the skills of the squad leaders.

The residents lacked experience in outpatient care.

The closest experience they had was working in the emergency room for a month during their internship.

Of course, they studied medicine and always saw patients while working at the hospital, but their diagnostic skills were inevitably lacking.

The reason why military doctors were often called quacks was undoubtedly due to their unique lazy mindset and this lack of experience.

‘This is kind of fun.’

A smile appeared on Jun-hoo’s face.

It had been a long time since he had watched others without providing treatment or care himself.

Based on Jun-hoo’s observations, each squad leader had a distinct style.

The 1st squad leader was gentle and meticulous. He empathized with the soldiers and conducted lengthy interviews.

The downside was… during the interview, he would suddenly veer off into unrelated topics.

The 2nd squad leader was taciturn. Instead, he was quick to diagnose and treat.

The 3rd squad leader was the biggest problem.

Even when a soldier complained of pain, he would always say that they would be fine if they took medicine and rested.

It wasn’t entirely wrong, but those receiving treatment couldn’t feel any sincerity, and with that kind of style, there was a high risk of missing serious illnesses.

A soldier who kept complaining of abdominal pain turned out to have appendicitis and nearly died of peritonitis due to neglect by the military doctor.

…Wasn’t there such a terrible incident?

“3rd Squad Leader.”

“Yes, Company Commander.”

“Can I see you for a moment?”

Jun-hoo called the 3rd squad leader out of the aid station separately when he had time.

The 3rd squad leader tilted his head, not knowing why. He shivered in the increasingly bitter wind as the night deepened.

“When you’re providing treatment, try to develop the habit of thinking from the patient’s perspective.”

“The patient’s perspective… you mean?”

“Yes. Don’t forget that doctors are also a service profession. You have to be kind and efficient.”

“But, Company Commander…”

The 3rd squad leader opened his mouth as if he had been waiting for this. He looked dissatisfied.

“The patients I treated, they were mostly minor cases. What more could I do besides telling them to get some rest?”

What the 3rd squad leader said was somewhat true. Perhaps because it was the first day of training, there were no emergency patients among those who visited the aid station.

Colds, indigestion, back pain, blisters on the feet, etc. Most of them were ailments caused by the chilly weather and marching.

“Even if it’s a minor case, you should do the bare minimum. I’ve been watching you.”

Jun-hoo frowned and continued to press him. “Did you use a stethoscope on the soldier with a cough? Did you or didn’t you?”

“……I didn’t.”

“If you had used a stethoscope, you could have checked for pneumonia.”

“But there’s no need to suspect pneumonia…”

“You still haven’t come to your senses.”

Jun-hoo shook his head. Since he was higher in rank and almost twelve years older, Jun-hoo was using informal speech with the squad leaders with their consent.

“Examining patients thoroughly is a doctor’s duty. It’s not optional.”

“……”

The 3rd squad leader kept his mouth shut. It was hard to read his expression because he was looking down.

“3rd Squad Leader, imagine you’re a regular soldier in the army. Or imagine your son went to the army.”

“……”

“Would you feel good if you received treatment like that? How would you handle it if a problem arises later?”

“I will be careful.”

Jun-hoo scolded the 3rd squad leader appropriately and sent him back to the aid station, then remained in that spot, looking up at the bright full moon.

It wasn’t that he couldn’t understand the 3rd squad leader completely.

A doctor sees dozens of patients a day. It was true that it was difficult to empathize with every patient and do one’s best with every treatment.

But let’s also consider the patient’s perspective. The patient relies solely on one doctor. But how would they feel if the doctor was negligent in their treatment and care? They would feel sad in addition to being sick.

“Ha. Shit. He’s acting like such a boomer. Is he trying to establish military discipline on purpose?”

“Why? What did the Company Commander say?”

“He’s telling me I’m not thorough enough with my treatments.”

“He’s right.”

“1st Squad Leader, do you want to get hit? Does he think I went through hell studying for the college entrance exam and entered medical school to develop empathy?”

“……”

“A doctor should just be respected and make good money.”

Jun-hoo, who had enhanced his hearing with internal energy, laughed. Of course, it wasn’t a pleasant laugh. It was an unpleasant laugh. One corner of his mouth twisted and hardened.

The reason why Jun-hoo didn’t return to the aid station with the 3rd squad leader was precisely this—to find out the 3rd squad leader’s true feelings.

Even with all allowances made, the 3rd squad leader was clearly rotten. His mindset reeked.

The way of thinking of those who cause medical accidents and commit heinous acts to cover them up was probably the same as that.

The sense of privilege that comes with being a doctor, a distorted view of medicine that sees patients not as a purpose but as a means, etc.

‘I need to give him a taste of his own medicine this time. I’ll make him cry his eyes out.’

Jun-hoo gritted his teeth secretly.

* * *

Outside the winter training campsite, two soldiers were standing guard.

The temperature was -15 degrees Celsius [5 degrees Fahrenheit], but the wind chill made it feel much colder. The campsite was in the mountains, and the wind was blowing fiercely. Every time the wind brushed against their faces, it felt like they were being slapped with cold water.

Ear muffs covering their ears, a neck gaiter, a padded jacket worn inside their field combat uniform, etc. Even with enough winter gear, the cold was a formidable adversary.

“I need to prepare foot warmers for my shift tomorrow. My feet are so cold they’re stinging.”

“Me too.”

The conversation ended quickly. In the bitter cold, even small talk was a luxury. Opening their mouths let in cold air, drying out their throats.

“Someone’s coming over there. Who at this hour…”

The junior soldier swallowed hard.

“Could it be a ghost?”

“Sergeant, do you believe in ghosts? There’s no such thing as ghosts in the world.”

“Ghosts exist. If aliens can exist, so can ghosts.”

The senior soldier said in a serious voice.

“Have you ever seen a ghost?”

“I’ve seen them a few times when I was young.”

“Aren’t you mistaking things like laundry hanging on the roof?”

“No. It was definitely a ghost wearing a white mourning dress.”

“But why are ghosts always Korean? I’ve never heard of anyone seeing a foreign ghost.”

The junior soldier questioned him closely, but the senior soldier, who believed in ghosts, already had a rebuttal.

“Most people who die in Korea are Korean, aren’t they? So there are overwhelmingly more Korean ghosts.”

“…I understand.”

The junior soldier held back, though he had a lot to say.

“Anyway, that’s not a ghost, it’s a person.”

The senior soldier nodded and said. The person who appeared under the bright moonlight was none other than the medical company commander.

He didn’t know why someone who should be in the aid station was returning from outside the campsite, but the only unusual thing was… a squirrel was sitting on the medical company commander’s shoulder.

Was the medical company commander a druid or something? The senior soldier felt a strong sense of incongruity from what he was seeing.

“Should I challenge him?”

The junior asked with a nervous face.

“You have to.”

“Don’t officers hate being challenged?”

“Still, do it. It’s winter training.”

“I understand. Halt! Halt!”

The junior soldier took a defensive stance in a loud voice. The gun was pointed at the medical company commander. The gun had a blank cartridge magazine attached.

“Hands up, or I’ll shoot. *Hwarang* [Military Term]!”

“Cigarette [Response to Hwarang]!”

“Who are you?”

“Medical Company Commander.”

“Purpose?”

“Returning to base.”

“Unity!”

“Unity!”

The soldiers who had completed the challenge procedure saluted loudly.

“You’re working hard in this cold.”

Jun-hoo approached the soldiers and said.

“No, sir. But aren’t you cold, Company Commander?”

The senior soldier asked Jun-hoo. Jun-hoo’s attire was too light. He wasn’t wearing any winter gear at all. He was just wearing his combat uniform and field jacket.

If the senior soldier was dressed like Jun-hoo, he would have already frozen to death.

“I don’t usually feel the cold.”

“Shouldn’t you feel it when it’s this chilly?”

“I guess so.”

Jun-hoo chuckled.

“What’s the squirrel on your shoulder?”

“It’s a friend I made while I was out for a bit. Why, do you want to challenge this friend too?”

“No, sir.”

“Keep up the good work.”

Jun-hoo passed the guards and headed to the aid station, stroking the head of the squirrel on his shoulder with one hand.

Two hours ago, Jun-hoo left the aid station and went outside the campsite.

What was the most dangerous illness in this training? No matter how much he thought about it, there was only one answer: hypothermia.

At first glance, hypothermia might not seem like an illness, but that was definitely not the case. Every year, there were tragic incidents of drunk people freezing to death on the streets in the middle of winter.

If you let your guard down, you could easily die from hypothermia.

The second question that followed: If hypothermia was the biggest concern, how would you treat it?

You would lay the patient in a warm place and raise their body temperature with thick blankets.

It was the most orthodox method, but also the least effective. Jun-hoo couldn’t be satisfied with just that method.

Above all, Jun-hoo wasn’t an ordinary doctor. Wasn’t he a doctor who had experienced the world of martial arts?

So, after leaving the campsite, in a quiet and secluded place, Jun-hoo created a treatment for hypothermia. He experimented with methods of infusing heat into his internal energy and achieved satisfactory results after about two hours of hard work.

The method was simple. It was an application of a part of the incantation he had heard from someone who had mastered fire techniques among the martial artists.

Rotate the internal energy in the *dantian* [energy center in the body] vigorously clockwise.

Heat is generated as this rotation speed increases.

Jun-hoo followed the incantation. He rotated his internal energy to the point where he wondered if it was okay, and his lower abdomen became as warm as a heated floor.

He wanted to try fire techniques while he was at it, but he refrained. He thought he might go into Qi Deviation [a dangerous imbalance of internal energy].

In the first place, there was no place to use fire techniques in modern times even if he mastered them.

“Chirp! Chirp! Chirp!”

The squirrel on his shoulder tapped Jun-hoo’s cheek with its hand. He felt like he knew what it was saying.

Jun-hoo bent down and stretched his arm towards the ground.

Squeak, squeak, squeak.

The squirrel ran down Jun-hoo’s arm to the ground and disappeared like an arrow.

Jun-hoo stayed in place until the squirrel disappeared.

That squirrel was nothing less than a symbol that Jun-hoo’s ‘Warm Internal Energy Method’ had succeeded.

While returning to the aid station after finishing his training, Jun-hoo accidentally found a frozen squirrel.

So he wrapped the squirrel in one hand and used the ‘Warm Internal Energy Method.’

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.

Originally, internal energy had no temperature. However, due to the heat generated while rotating the *dantian*, the internal energy became warm.

Jun-hoo’s hand, which was holding the squirrel, was warmer than a heater.

However, heaters could not even touch the tip of the ‘Warm Internal Energy Method’s’ toes because the warm internal energy permeated not only the surface of the squirrel’s body but also the inside of its body.

This was the difference between general hypothermia treatment and internal energy treatment.

Jun-hoo returned to the aid station after finishing his training.

The aid station was silent. There were two medical soldiers on duty, and the military doctor on duty was the 3rd squad leader.

There were a total of three electric heaters: one for the military doctor, one for the medical soldiers, and one for the ward.

But the ward was just a place where about eight stretchers were laid out.

“Why was that patient admitted?”

Jun-hoo asked the medical soldiers.