A Surgeon Who Uses Martial Arts [EN]: Chapter 526

Chapter 103: Cutting to the Chase (2)

“Even for you, Chief, that’s impossible.”

Hwang Jung-hoon firmly opposed.

He acknowledged Joon-hoo was the best neurosurgeon in Korea.

He also fully understood Joon-hoo’s admirable desire to save the child monk and bring Hyun-jong back.

But one had to distinguish between ‘what to do’ and ‘what not to do.’

Complete removal of the tumor was excessively reckless.

The child shouldn’t suffer brain damage or lose their life in the process of removing the tumor.

“Touching the auditory nerve could cause permanent hearing loss. And that’s not all.”

Hwang Jung-hoon’s rebuttal poured out like machine-gun fire.

“What will you do about the blood vessels that run beneath the tumor’s surface? The tumor and blood vessels are almost touching.”

“…….”

“There’s already been a lot of bleeding, and any more could put a strain on the brain.”

“Chief. I think Professor Hwang is right this time.”

Even Yena sided with Hwang Jung-hoon. Yena couldn’t bring herself to meet Joon-hoo’s eyes.

Since Joon-hoo’s appointment as chief.

This was the first major rebellion.

Despite facing strong resistance, Joon-hoo showed no particular reaction.

He simply made eye contact with the staff one by one.

‘Well, this is the reaction I expected.’

Joon-hoo didn’t dislike or resent the staff.

He was actually grateful.

Even for Joon-hoo, armed with martial arts, the probability of completely removing the infiltrated tumor was only 40 percent.

So, the staff was offering sincere advice.

If the staff didn’t care about Joon-hoo, they probably wouldn’t have reacted this way.

They would have said that the chief could definitely do it.

They would have urged him to save the patient at all costs.

Then, as soon as Joon-hoo failed in the removal, they would have criticized him behind his back.

Saying it served him right for showing off.

“Tae-hyun.”

“Yes, Chief.”

“There’s a tray with a bandage on the second shelf of the instrument cabinet. Please bring it to me.”

“Understood.”

Tae-hyun, the second assistant and a third-year resident, dashed to the instrument cabinet.

Joon-hoo moved his head.

The quick-witted Tae-hyun opened the tray.

Inside the tray, there was only one scalpel.

Unusually, the scalpel already had the blade attached to the handle.

Even more noteworthy was that the blade was jet black. Under the operating light, the surface of the blade gleamed smoothly like a pebble.

“W-What is this?”

Hwang Jung-hoon asked with wide, startled eyes.

“As you can see, it’s a scalpel.”

“It doesn’t look like an ordinary scalpel, though?”

“You have a good eye. It’s a scalpel made of obsidian.”

“Obsidian?”

Obsidian was an igneous rock formed by volcanic activity. It had the property of becoming thinner and sharper the more it was polished.

That property was astonishing.

A blade made of obsidian was several times sharper than a surgical blade.

“Certainly, if you use an obsidian scalpel with your skills, Chief, you might be able to cut out only the tumor precisely. But still…”

Hwang Jung-hoon frowned.

“Obsidian is too weak and easily broken. It’s only used for animal experiments and hasn’t been approved by the FDA [Food and Drug Administration].”

“…….”

“Your actions are still reckless.”

“Do you think I’m doing this for my own benefit?”

Joon-hoo remained calm throughout.

His heart was hot, but his head was chillingly cold.

The Joon-hoo of the martial world, who would do anything to avenge Jeok Il-do, was no more.

Having worked as a surgeon for a long time.

And taking on various responsibilities as chief, he had grown internally as well.

“Tumor? It’s fine if we don’t remove that thing. With this much infiltration, no one can say anything to me.”

“…….”

“Making such a fuss only tires me out. Am I wrong?”

“You’re right. That’s why we’re telling you to stop.”

“But then, what happens to this child?”

Joon-hoo’s gaze rested on So-myeong.

The staff also looked down at So-myeong.

“The malignant tumor will grow back. Probably faster than the child grows.”

“…….”

“If we don’t completely remove it now, the child has no future.”

Joon-hoo’s words echoed in the operating room. The staff couldn’t bear to keep looking at So-myeong and averted their eyes.

Everyone knew.

That if they finished the surgery here, the child would be readmitted someday. And that even then, there would be no way to help.

But the staff had been trying to forget that fact.

“And you’ve been saying it’s reckless since earlier, right?”

“…Yes.”

“The more urgent the situation, the less likely you are to save the patient with normal methods. You know that.”

“Sigh… Do as you wish, Chief.”

Hwang Jung-hoon lightly raised both arms.

It was a sign of surrender.

Joon-hoo nodded, meaning he was grateful for the understanding.

“Scalpel.”

“Yes, Chief.”

Joon-hoo took the obsidian scalpel that Tae-hyun handed him.

The handle was also made to match the obsidian blade, so he felt almost no weight.

It was like holding a feather in his hand.

Joon-hoo sought his missing piece in the surgical tool.

Unless he reached Hyeon-gyeong.

Wasn’t there no way for Joon-hoo to grow further?

Then, what if he changed the surgical tool?

That’s when he thought of the obsidian scalpel.

For a swordsman, the next most important thing after martial arts was a famous sword.

Ahead of the complete tumor removal, the staff watched Joon-hoo with anxious expressions.

They couldn’t even breathe easily.

Dry saliva went down, and their Adam’s apples trembled.

But unlike the staff’s worries, Joon-hoo was overflowing with confidence.

As a result of several days of mental training.

The success rate of the tumor removal performed with the obsidian scalpel was 100 percent.

The dark scalpel approached the surgical site moment by moment.

There was no tremor in Joon-hoo’s wrist.

Therefore, the blade was also still.

Woo-oong. Woo-oong.

Joon-hoo channeled the internal energy drawn from his dantian [energy center in the body] into the obsidian scalpel.

It was a hardening process.

Since the obsidian scalpel was thin, it was easy to break, so he increased its strength with internal energy.

This work, which compensated for the shortcomings of the obsidian scalpel, was only possible for Joon-hoo on Earth.

The slowly moving scalpel finally flew with lightning speed.

Pungmawoose (風磨雨洗)! [A move from the Qingfeng Sword Technique, meaning ‘wind grinds, rain washes’]

The first move of the Qingfeng Sword Technique was being reproduced through the obsidian scalpel.

The scalpel narrowly brushed past the auditory nerve bundles located around the tumor.

Drawing a ‘U’ shape, it neatly scooped out the boundary of the tumor in a circle.

* * *

“You’re out of your mind… You’re a madman.”

Hyun-jong, sitting across from Joon-hoo, shook his head.

The surgery was successful.

With the obsidian scalpel infused with internal energy, Joon-hoo unleashed 100 percent of his skills for the first time in a while.

He cleanly removed only the nerve glioma without damaging the nerves and blood vessels.

The obsidian scalpel would continue to be Joon-hoo’s reliable treasure.

“Originally, madmen change the world. Think about history. The people who said the Earth revolved around the sun, and the people who said humans could fly, were all initially treated as madmen.”

Joon-hoo replied with a smile.

Hyun-jong silently closed his mouth and took a sip of coffee.

He had prayed to Buddha to save So-myeong, and Joon-hoo happened to appear.

Joon-hoo succeeded in completely removing the tumor.

Even now, recalling that time, it felt like a dream.

Joon-hoo’s skills were that amazing. The public’s evaluation of Joon-hoo was actually an underestimate.

“Let me ask you just one thing.”

“Anything.”

“Are there any patients you can’t save?”

Hyun-jong asked out of pure curiosity.

“Of course, there are. I still can’t handle brain-dead and vegetative state patients.”

“And what else?”

“I also can’t save emergency patients who come in while I’m in the middle of surgery. I don’t have two bodies.”

“Search the EMR [Electronic Medical Record] for the name Kwon Jin-joo. Could you have saved that child?”

“Are you talking about your niece?”

“How did you…?”

“You had her name engraved in Chinese characters on the prayer beads. I was keeping an eye on it. I’ve already checked the charts and surgical records.”

“Cough. Cough.”

Hyun-jong choked, startled by Joon-hoo’s incredible perception. His coughing stopped after a long time.

Somehow, he felt like he was being played in Joon-hoo’s palm.

“Then the answer won’t take long. That’s good.”

Hyun-jong urged an answer with his eyes.

What would Joon-hoo’s answer be?

Would Joon-hoo have saved Jin-joo?

Or could even Joon-hoo not have saved Jin-joo?

Would he even tell the truth in the first place?

Rather, the head of Hyun-jong, who had asked the question, became more complicated.

“There are two answers.”

“Are you saying you’ll create an escape route?”

“No. I don’t know if the monk will understand, but sometimes there are two truths.”

Joon-hoo’s words were as ambiguous as those of a head monk.

Why was he laying the groundwork like that?

But at Joon-hoo’s following words, Hyun-jong slapped his knee.

A wise answer popped out to a foolish question.

“If it were me at the time the child was brought into the operating room, I wouldn’t have been able to save her. Back then, I hadn’t learned pediatric neurosurgery.”

“…….”

“If it were me now, I would have saved her enough.”

Joon-hoo was wisely dividing and reporting on his time and skills.

He also conveyed a meaningful realization that what was unavoidable in the past could be changed into something that could be done later.

“I also lost someone precious. This bracelet is like a keepsake that person gave me.”

Joon-hoo smiled bitterly and raised his wrist.

It was a germanium bracelet that was once popular.

It was thanks to the pseudo-science that the negative ions emitted by germanium were helpful for health.

“I know. I saw the article.”

“You were secretly very interested in me, weren’t you?”

“How can I not be interested in a tenacious person who comes to the temple for 60 days and does 108 prostrations [a deep bow showing respect]?”

Hyun-jong replied sulkily.

“Anyway, if I had given up the path of medicine back then, I wouldn’t have been able to save So-myeong today.”

“So, the conclusion is that you want me to return to pediatric neurosurgery, right?”

“That’s my desire, but you have to listen to me, Monk.”

Joon-hoo also said as if complaining.

A faint smile bloomed on Hyun-jong’s lips.

“There are good gray areas and bad gray areas. If I may say so, you are in a bad gray area.”

“…….”

“Return to pediatric neurosurgery. Or do your best to attain enlightenment. There is no middle ground.”

Joon-hoo’s words were like a sermon.

Following that, Joon-hoo said that he would cover all of So-myeong’s hospital bills.

He also said that there was no need to worry about the temple bearing the costs.

After pouring out everything he wanted to say, Joon-hoo left.

Hyun-jong was left alone in his seat.

Hyun-jong quietly closed his eyes. He calmed his breathing and delved deep into his dark inner self.

He sought to uncover what essence had been lifting and placing his heart until now.

He felt something like a small grain that he had been constantly ignoring.

Something small but precious.

Something small but precious.

The resonance it gave spread hotly throughout his body.

Hyun-jong cried hotly.

Wiping away tears with his monastic robe sleeve, he left the cafe.

When he arrived at the intensive care unit waiting room, he saw the haggard-looking head monk.

Hyun-jong said abruptly.

“Head Monk. I will be leaving the temple.”