A Surgeon Who Uses Martial Arts [EN]: Chapter 461

Chapter 90. Escape (2)

Si-ho was dead, yet he couldn’t die.

Because no one in the world knew that Si-ho was dead.

Si-ho’s official death wasn’t recognized until ten days after his heart stopped.

A delinquent student in the neighborhood found Si-ho’s body while wandering around a derelict redevelopment site.

The world was in an uproar over Si-ho’s death.

First of all, Si-ho himself was a good subject for the media to tear apart.

Si-ho was a psychopath and a former neurosurgeon.

Just dealing with the way he tortured and killed patients in the past could fill an entire episode of a documentary.

And that wasn’t all.

Si-ho’s death was a mystery in itself.

Why did he go to the ruins?

Why did he get a gun permit?

What was he firing at until all the shotgun shells were gone?

Everything was full of questions.

The police said they were investigating.

But the NewTubers [a portmanteau of “new” and “YouTuber,” referring to online video content creators], who dig into mystery cases, all covered Si-ho’s death.

Some NewTubers said that the resentment of the dead tormented Si-ho.

Some NewTubers said that Si-ho had a mental illness.

The speculations were all different.

But since it was an unresolved problem, no one’s opinion was right.

And no one’s opinion was wrong.

“Detective Kim. Don’t you think it’s suspicious no matter how you think about it?”

“Are you talking about that case?”

“What else would be bothering us besides that case?”

At a police station in Incheon.

Detective Kim and Detective Seo were chatting while pulling out mixed coffee from an outdoor vending machine.

Detective Kim lit a cigarette first.

Detective Seo, who said he was quitting smoking, also bummed a cigarette from Detective Kim and lit it.

Click!

The cigarette was lit.

The cigarette was burning black, and the two detectives’ hearts were also burning black.

The harsh cigarette smoke rode the wind and soared into the sky.

“The stench is terrible, but when you open it up, nothing comes out… It’s a ghostly thing.”

“That’s right. It seems like someone is involved, but we can’t figure out who it is.”

Detective Seo nodded at Detective Kim’s words.

Si-ho’s actions, movements, work, etc., were all suspicious. There was nothing ordinary about it.

But when you look into each one, all that comes out are useless facts like empty shells.

“The higher-ups are also very interested, but how are you going to conclude it?”

“Now, all we can trust is the autopsy result.”

“There were no abnormalities on the outside, right?”

“Not at all.”

Detective Kim shook his head.

Si-ho’s death was truly unique.

He fired a gun in all directions, but he himself was dead as if he were sleeping peacefully.

At least, according to Detective Kim’s examination at the scene, there were no signs of assault.

So it was maddening.

It was definitely a murder, but there were no signs of murder.

Clearly, the circumstances…

…indicated that Si-ho had a fight with someone at the scene.

Beep, beep, beep.

The phone rang just in time.

It was a call from Professor Hong of the National Forensic Service. Detective Kim hurriedly answered the call.

“Yes. Professor. Did the autopsy results come out for that case?”

-It’s out. But I don’t know if I should call this good news or bad news.

“If it’s good, it’s good, and if it’s bad, it’s bad, right? Why are you being so ambiguous?”

-Because the autopsy results are ambiguous.

Professor Hong chuckled.

-The victim’s cause of death is a heart attack.

“Is that all? Were no drugs found in the body?”

-There wasn’t even a cold medicine ingredient, let alone poison.

Detective Kim bit his lip at Professor Hong’s words.

If the victim died of a heart attack, it meant he died of natural causes.

And natural causes meant…

…that no one had harmed the victim.

He felt a sense of futility at the fact that the victim, who had been suspected of so much, had simply died of natural causes.

Detective Kim inhaled the cigarette down to the filter and stubbed it out in the ashtray.

“Is there no possibility that someone used something like a taser to intentionally cause a heart attack?”

-No. If you were hit by a taser, there should be traces left.

“Then is it really a natural death?”

-There is only one possibility.

“What is it?”

Detective Kim asked urgently, holding the phone close to his ear.

Is there still a breakthrough left?

-If the culprit is a psychic, they may have induced the victim’s heart attack.

“Oh, a corny joke… I’m deflated.”

-It’s no fun to live a hard life. Anyway, just know that there are no traces of murder. Read the autopsy report and close the case.”

“Yes. Thank you for your hard work.”

Detective Kim hung up.

Several days later, Si-ho’s death was ruled as a natural death due to a heart attack.

The autopsy results were absolute.

The world forgot about Si-ho as if nothing had happened.

The sun rose and set repeatedly.

People went to work and got off work.

Various news stories happening on the Korean Peninsula and around the world covered up Si-ho’s death.

The disappeared were silent.

* * *

Standing by the window of the medical company commander’s office, Jun-hoo was looking at the parade ground.

After dealing with Si-ho.

It was hard to shake off the unsettling feeling for days.

In his head, he thought he had done the right thing.

If Si-ho had been left alone.

A-young and his parents would have suffered a great deal, and he believed that it would have had a negative impact on society.

So he was convinced that he had done a righteous act.

But his heart was different.

He kept sending signals that he had crossed a line that he should not have crossed.

The signal was mainly expressed as guilt.

Jun-hoo often dropped his head and sighed deeply.

Conscience sometimes asked such harsh questions.

If there is a problem in the future.

If an evil person gets in the way of your goal, will you take their life again like Si-ho?

Jun-hoo couldn’t answer.

But as always, time was the cure.

Jun-hoo shook off the heavy guilt.

His shoulders and heart gradually became lighter.

Just admitting that he was not a righteous person made him feel at ease.

Si-ho’s death was handled as a natural death as Jun-hoo had planned.

Since the mystery was solved.

The world lost interest in Si-ho.

Jun-hoo’s method of dealing with Si-ho was to inject excessive internal energy into Si-ho’s heart.

It was a variation of the ‘Internal Energy Heart Infusion Technique’.

It was a technique that put the heart in a state of over-excitation and overloaded the heart.

Unless you know martial arts.

No one under the sky could figure out the technique.

A-young didn’t say anything special about Si-ho’s death.

A-young would have roughly noticed it too.

What the whole story of the incident was.

But the two of them didn’t say anything about it, as if they had made a promise.

After shaking off Si-ho’s death.

Time passed well.

Jun-hoo spent busy days both in the military unit and outside.

He searched for papers on brain death and vegetative patients and studied treatments.

He imagined surgery in his head.

And sometimes, he operated on neurosurgical emergency patients who were brought in from Korean chiropractic hospitals as a shadow surgeon.

In the meantime, the seasons changed several times.

Not only Jun-hoo changed, but also the people around Jun-hoo.

The most dramatic change was…

…in his teacher, Park Jae-hyun.

He became a member of the National Assembly [South Korea’s unicameral legislature] in a district in Seoul in the general election.

The teacher was moving forward step by step towards his ambition to reform the medical community.

The path of a member of the National Assembly may be more difficult than the path of a surgeon, but Jun-hoo believed in his teacher.

The regiment commander of the unit Jun-hoo belonged to was promoted to brigadier general and left the unit.

Jun-hoo was also transferred to another unit.

Even there, Jun-hoo’s reputation soared.

Everyone from soldiers to officers loved Jun-hoo. Sincerity towards patients could not help but work anytime, anywhere.

The Ministry of National Defense clock turned and turned.

Finally, the suppressor that had been holding Jun-hoo back was removed.

Jun-hoo was discharged from the army.

A new chapter in his life was beginning.

* * *

Vroom, vroom.

A car was running on the national highway.

It was an ambiguous time, neither morning nor noon.

The road was so quiet that it felt like it had been chartered.

“Nice.”

Jun-hoo muttered to himself.

He had just finished reporting his discharge and left the military unit he had been serving in.

The wind blew in through the half-open car window. Jun-hoo’s hair fluttered like a flag.

The season was spring.

Yellow canola flowers were in full bloom along the roadsides on both sides of the national highway.

The sky was bluer than a lake, and cumulus clouds were swimming like turtles.

The season of spring felt like a symbol of the new surgeon life that would unfold in the future.

The three years of military life as a medical officer.

Of course, it was a meaningful time, but it was also frustrating.

The medical unit was too small and narrow to unfold Jun-hoo’s abilities.

The treatment environment was poor, and he couldn’t even dream of surgery.

But everything changed today.

The moment he returns to the university hospital.

Jun-hoo will become a fish in water and run wild.

‘I’ll be busy for a while.’

Jun-hoo chuckled.

He would have to restart NewTube, which he had not been able to do due to the concurrent employment ban during his military service.

I’ll have to meet colleagues and acquaintances.

Among them, the most important thing to do was… to find out which hospital he would be working at in the future.

Depending on which hospital.

Depending on what position he has, Jun-hoo’s surgeon life will be very different.

Of course, he had been contacted a few days ago and had somewhat made up his mind.

Back in Seoul, Jun-hoo went straight to the building area a little away from the Yeongdeungpo downtown area.

Parked the car in the underground parking lot.

Took off his combat uniform in the car and put on the casual clothes he had brought in advance.

[National Assembly Member Park Jae-hyun’s Office]

Jun-hoo stopped in front of the office on the 3rd floor hallway. He felt a strange sense of weight from the words “National Assembly member.”

Time is so fleeting.

It seems like just yesterday that I had my mother’s cerebral hemorrhage surgery by my teacher, but my teacher became a member of the National Assembly.

I’m finishing my military service as a medical officer and looking for a position at a university hospital.

Knock, knock, knock.

A woman who appeared to be a secretary opened the door when he knocked.

“You’re Seo Jun-hoo, right?”

“Yes.”

“This way.”

Jun-hoo was guided inside by the secretary. The National Assembly member’s office looked like the office of a small business on the outside.

With partitions as boundaries.

Two employees were busy with paperwork.

The teacher’s desk was placed by the window. The area around the desk was bright with sunlight, as if it was a sunny spot.

Green orchids were growing vigorously in the sunlight.

“You’ve come.”

Jae-hyun got up from his seat.

He smiled and offered Jun-hoo a handshake. Jun-hoo smiled and accepted his teacher’s handshake.

“I’m used to seeing you in a gown, but it feels strange to see you in a suit.”

“Me too. I’m so uncomfortable.”

The teacher joked.

We talked on the phone often, but it was the first time I had seen his face directly since he became a member of the National Assembly.

The teacher was still as young as a vampire, but he had some gray hair.

“Shall I get you a drink?”

“No. It’s okay. I was going to suggest we go down for a while and have a separate conversation. Let’s go to the cafe down there.”

“Yes. Teacher.”

Jun-hoo followed his teacher to the cafe on the first floor.

“This is your first year as a member of the National Assembly, how is your legislative activity going?”

At Jun-hoo’s question, the teacher shook his head.

“If you hear the story I’m about to tell you, you’ll definitely faint.”