A Surgeon Who Uses Martial Arts [EN]: Chapter 452

Chapter 88. The Unending Cold (3)

“Could I possibly get your name and contact information?”

Chul-min asked Jun-hoo.

“Why would you need that…?”

“You might not know, but our district selects a Citizen of the Month. I’d like to nominate you, if that’s alright.”

“It’s alright. I just did what needed to be done.”

Jun-hoo waved his hand dismissively.

Honestly…

Jun-hoo’s actions weren’t just doing what needed to be done; they were extraordinary.

He killed a viper with his bare hands.

He prevented the patient from being bitten again.

And on top of that, he treated the patient in a ‘novel way.’ If not for that method, the patient would never have recovered as well as he did.

But he didn’t particularly want to make a fuss about it.

For Jun-hoo, treating sick people wasn’t just a means to an end, but a goal in itself.

It was also a way to fight off his own shadow of ‘helplessness.’

“I understand your humility.”

Chul-min paused before continuing.

“The more good deeds are publicized, the better. People are stimulated not only by bad things but also by good things.”

Jun-hoo was struck by Chul-min’s words.

Come to think of it…

He could see it that way.

“Alright… I’ll let you know.”

“Great thinking. If you’re selected as Citizen of the Month, I’ll contact you again later.”

“Okay, then.”

The paramedics placed the patient on a stretcher and prepared to leave.

The old man with glasses was also going with the paramedics as a guardian, muttering about how he was going to ride in a helicopter, something he never expected to do in his life.

“Thank you, doctor. I really owe you my life.”

Just before leaving, the patient lightly bowed his head in gratitude.

Jun-hoo responded with a smile instead of words. He retraced his steps toward home.

The sky was as clear as a lake.

The sunlight overhead was dazzling.

If you don’t give up, there’s always a way.

If there’s no way, you make one.

On the way home.

Jun-hoo replayed the method he used to save the poisoned patient.

Immediately after deciding to treat the patient.

Various thoughts flashed through Jun-hoo’s mind.

The first thing that came to mind was, of course, inner energy.

Treat the poison with inner energy!

Inner energy had natural healing abilities.

It was no coincidence that masters of profound inner energy recovered faster than others and even reached a state of immunity to all poisons.

But inner energy wasn’t a panacea [a cure-all].

First of all, when he was poisoned himself.

It was no problem to expel the poison through meditative breathing.

However, using inner energy to treat someone else’s poisoning was problematic.

To treat the poison, he had to pour in a tremendous amount of inner energy, but in the process, there was a side effect of the poison becoming more active.

The same was true for the old man patient earlier.

If he had used ‘Inner Energy Infusion’ on the patient, the poison would have spread even faster throughout his body.

If he had poured in more inner energy to treat it, the old man’s body, which was not that of a martial artist, would have been overloaded.

A frustrating situation where he had to rely on inner energy, but he couldn’t use it.

Jun-hoo had a reverse idea.

What was that reverse idea?

It was the ‘Star-Absorbing Art’ used by the Blood Cult.

The Star-Absorbing Art was an evil martial art that absorbed the inner energy or essence of others.

Even righteous sects knew how to use it, but they forbade it and didn’t use it.

What if he only sucked out the poisonous energy with the Star-Absorbing Art?

Jun-hoo asked the question and followed it through.

Pretending to reassure the patient.

He placed his hand on the patient’s chest.

He immediately unleashed the Star-Absorbing Art.

Inner Energy Infusion used the wave pattern, but the Star-Absorbing Art used the opposite, the suction pattern.

Jun-hoo sucked up all the poisonous energy raging inside the patient’s body.

Like a vacuum cleaner, whoosh, whoosh!

Perhaps because he quickly applied direct pressure.

The poison was spreading slowly, and the amount of poison that had already spread was not large.

Jun-hoo drove the poison he had sucked from the patient into his own dantian [energy center located in the abdomen].

He created a storm of inner energy in his dantian.

Whoooosh.

Whoooosh.

In the swirling storm of inner energy, the poison was completely detoxified.

This was the secret behind the miracle of how the patient was able to be unharmed even after being bitten by a viper.

I’ve gained a new realization.

I never knew I could save a patient with unorthodox martial arts.

Jun-hoo smiled at the thought.

In fact, he had been feeling limited by martial arts and inner energy.

Unless he reached the realm of Mysterious Realm.

He had doubted whether there would be any more ways to apply martial arts to treatment.

But looking back, his judgment was extremely shallow and narrow.

He just hadn’t realized it yet.

There might be endless ways to apply martial arts to treatment.

How far could the Star-Absorbing Art’s detoxification treatment go?

Could he save a patient who had ingested agricultural poison?

Or…

Could it be applied to other fields besides detoxification?

As his thoughts branched out in countless directions, he arrived home. Jun-hoo dressed neatly and left the house again.

There was one person he had to see before meeting Ah-young.

* * *

That afternoon, Sinchon [a district in Seoul].

Ding-dong!

Jun-hoo entered a cafe near the station, heralded by the bell.

Because it was a weekend afternoon, the cafe was full of customers.

It was hard to find an empty seat.

The customers, gathered in groups of three or five, were chatting lively.

“Over here!”

A middle-aged man stood up from his seat and waved his hand.

Jun-hoo moved to the window seat.

“Hello.”

“Nice to see you. It’s so hard to see your face these days. How long has it been? It feels like it’s been almost 10 years?”

The man smiled brightly and patted Jun-hoo’s shoulder.

“It feels like it’s been about that long.”

Jun-hoo also smiled and replied.

“What would you like to drink?”

“I’ll have a warm latte. What would you like? I’ll pay.”

“I asked you to come, so I should pay. You said a latte? Just stay put.”

The man moved toward the counter.

The man’s name was Lee Jun-hyuk, and he was Jun-hoo’s maternal uncle.

He used to see him occasionally when he was in medical school, but he couldn’t see him as much while he was working as a resident and going through the boost-up program at Mayo [referring to a prestigious medical training program, likely at the Mayo Clinic].

Jun-hyuk, who had finished ordering, sat across from Jun-hoo.

Jun-hyuk, whom he had seen in a long time, had become plump.

His face was the same, but only his stomach was bulging. The shirt he was wearing was slightly open.

“Jun-hoo, you don’t seem to age at all? You’re just like you used to be?”

“I hear that often. You don’t seem to have changed much either, Uncle?”

“Well, I just have one more mouth to feed.”

Jun-hyuk chuckled and poked his stomach with his index finger.

“How’s life as a military doctor?”

“Honestly, it’s pretty comfortable. It’s the most relaxing time of my life.”

It wasn’t like he could perform surgery at the medical unit, and it wasn’t like patients were constantly rushing in.

There were no night duties either.

At 6 p.m., he could leave the base. This luxurious time would definitely not come again.

Of course, Jun-hoo was using his time more diligently and working hard for the welfare of the soldiers compared to other military doctors, but it was still a sweet deal.

“You said you were working in entertainment management, Uncle?”

Jun-hoo changed the subject.

“Didn’t you hear from your sister? I’ve been working at Hyesung Entertainment for three years.”

“Hyesung is one of the top 5 agencies, isn’t it?”

“That’s right. I was working at a small agency and was lucky enough to get scouted. I’m a deputy manager now.”

“Congratulations.”

Jun-hoo smiled brightly and said.

“I’m telling you in advance, I have no intention of becoming a celebrity.”

“You’re counting your chickens before they hatch [making assumptions before things happen].”

Jun-hyuk laughed at Jun-hoo’s joke.

Buzzzzz.

The vibrating bell rang just in time.

Jun-hoo took the vibrating bell and went to the counter to get the coffee.

White steam rose from the coffee cup. Silence flowed for a moment as the conversation was interrupted.

Why did Jun-hyuk suddenly ask to see him?

The question he had forgotten for a moment popped into his head.

Of course, there doesn’t have to be a reason for an uncle to want to see his nephew.

But if he suddenly asks to see him after not being in contact, there must be a special intention.

Is my uncle sick?

Or is someone my uncle knows sick?

Or is it to ask me to introduce him to a good hospital or doctor?

Numerous possibilities were intricately intertwined.

Jun-hoo took a sip of coffee and threw a fastball [direct question].

“What’s the reason you asked to see me today?”

“It’s nothing else, I just have a medical question.”

“That’s my major. What are you curious about?”

“There’s a disease called epilepsy, right?”

“There is.”

Jun-hoo nodded.

Epilepsy is a disease that was formerly called ‘seizures.’ Just like schizophrenia was formerly called ‘split personality.’

The causes of epilepsy were many, including genetics, trauma, and a history of brain damage.

The main symptom was seizures.

There were also generalized seizures that caused convulsions throughout the body or foaming at the mouth and collapsing.

There were also mild petit mal seizures or partial seizures.

“How is epilepsy usually diagnosed?”

“EEG (electroencephalogram, brain wave test) is the most accurate. A unique brain wave is detected in patients with epilepsy.”

“…….”

“MRI is also often used to diagnose it, but epilepsy often occurs even if there are no abnormalities in the MRI results.”

“How is it treated?”

“It’s usually treated with medication, and if there’s a clear lesion in the brain, then surgery is performed.”

“Do many young people get that epilepsy?”

“It usually occurs in the very young or the elderly, but it’s quite common in young adults.”

“I see…”

Jun-hyuk nodded and took a sip of coffee.

Jun-hoo said more, but somehow Jun-hyuk seemed more hesitant.

“Do you have a patient with epilepsy around you, Uncle?”

“Hoo. Actually.”

Jun-hyuk sighed before bringing up the main point.

Should he say this or not?

Should he ask Jun-hoo or not?

Jun-hyuk had been tossing and turning for days. But no matter how much he thought about it, there was no other way out.

The idol that Jun-hyuk’s label had newly launched had completely failed.

Two mini-albums had flopped, and even the full-length album that had been ambitiously launched recently had failed.

The only idol he could rely on now was ‘Seven Wolf,’ but Seven Wolf’s situation was not so easy.

Jun-hyuk had specially asked Jun-hoo to meet him in order to solve Seven Wolf’s problems.

“I have an idol that I manage. But among them, there’s an important guy who’s called the ‘entry member’ [a key member expected to attract fans].”

“Yes. So?”

“That member has to go to the military…”

Jun-hyuk couldn’t bring himself to make eye contact with Jun-hoo.

After a long silence, he struggled to part his parched lips.

“I heard that you can get a military exemption with that ‘epilepsy.’ You can do it with a broker, but that’s too dangerous.”

“…….”

“Since you’re a neurosurgeon, I was wondering if I could ask you for a favor…”

“…….”

“I know that your uncle wouldn’t normally ask for this kind of favor… Can you just help me this once?”

Jun-hyuk bit his lip as if he had made up his mind and looked straight at Jun-hoo’s face.

Jun-hoo was silent.

He was looking at Jun-hyuk with eyes that were hard to read.

“I know it’s ridiculous for an uncle to call his nephew out after a long time and talk about this…”

“…….”

“But it’s a very urgent matter. If things don’t work out this time, your uncle might get fired from the company. You wouldn’t want that, would you? Huh?”

Jun-hyuk tried to persuade Jun-hoo as nicely as possible.

And finally, Jun-hoo opened his mouth.

“Uncle. I’m…”