Dr. Shin Seonhan: The Doctor Who Sees The Future [EN]: Chapter 168

#168 Rival Match (6)

‘So fast?’

Everyone looked toward the sound.

Who could it be?

Surprisingly, the first to finish was the imposing Jo Jin-gi.

He completed it in just one minute and earned an additional 6 points for the remaining 10 seconds.

His expression radiated the triumphant air of a general returning from war.

“Oh, we have someone faster than expected.”

“Shall we take a look first?”

Soon, Jo Jin-gi’s cut paper was moved to the table where the judges were.

The emcee, who was carrying the paper, tilted his head, and the professors who examined the results all wore questioning looks.

“……What is this?”

It was utter chaos.

The overall shape was hard to define, whether it was a pentagon or an oval. The sides of the pentagon were so strangely shaped that it was hard to call them straight lines.

Moreover, Jo Jin-gi’s paper was tattered.

It showed how much force he had used when holding the paper with the grasper in his left hand; the area held by the grasper was almost torn.

Faced with the judges’ bewildered expressions, the emcee struggled to sugarcoat Jo Jin-gi’s work.

Is it just that he is an intern after all?

It is true that interns still lack experience in freely handling laparoscopic/thoracoscopic instruments [minimally invasive surgical tools].

However, not everyone was so clumsy.

“I’m done.”

The next to declare completion was Ryu Myung-in.

He completed cutting the pentagon with 23 seconds left and earned an additional 2 points.

At first glance, the shape looked neat.

After seeing Ryu Myung-in’s work, the professors’ darkened expressions brightened again.

They were already looking forward to how high he would score in accuracy.

And a few seconds later.

Shin Seon-han completed, earning an additional 1 point.

Other interns, still holding the uncut paper, hurried to complete the mission.

BEEP―

The 2-minute timer ended.

Each participant’s results, labeled with their names, were sent to the judging professors.

Now all the missions were over, and only the score announcement remained.

“Well… before the judging, I would like to say a word to all the participants.”

One of the professors grabbed the microphone and cleared his throat.

“This competition is, after all, a practical exercise. Although it takes the form of an entertainment event, it must be approached with the heart of a doctor.”

The professor continued to explain.

“For example, when performing lung cancer surgery with a thoracoscope [a type of endoscope used to view the chest cavity], the task of removing the patient’s lymph nodes requires a high degree of precision.

You have to hold the lymph node with your left hand and accurately separate it by cutting and cauterizing the surrounding soft tissue with your right hand.

What if you fail to separate it accurately?

The cancer may recur due to the remaining cancer tissue, which would make the surgery a failure.

Therefore, delicate work in units of 1mm is required.

“And, the importance of the left hand is……”

What if the lymph node being held by the grasper in the left hand is pressed too hard and crushed?

The crushed cancer tissues can spread into the thoracic cavity.

It means that the surgery could harm the patient.

Then, the professor held up Jo Jin-gi’s paper.

“In other words, it would be a big problem if you cut the patient’s lymph node like this, crushing it. You shouldn’t perform surgery like this in the future, right?”

Wahaha―

Laughter spread through the auditorium.

Jo Jin-gi’s face turned as red as a beet.

“Of course, I think you can improve in the future since you are an intern.”

The professor gave an additional comment considering he was an intern, but Jo Jin-gi had rushed in vain and failed to gain anything.

He belatedly regretted coming to the competition, but it was already water under the bridge [an idiom meaning it’s too late to change something].

But the professor’s words did not end there.

“But after watching the video of the first round a little while ago… the number of seeds for contestant number 5, Mr. Jo Jin-gi, seemed a bit strange. It certainly looked like the completed number increased by a few while picking them up by hand.”

Ssaa―

The auditorium froze.

Until just a moment ago, the atmosphere was filled with laughter, but not anymore.

Because there is a big difference between simply being and .

Dozens of cold gazes pierced Jo Jin-gi’s pale face like arrows.

“Speed, accuracy, skill… those are all important, but shouldn’t conscience be the top priority?”

Jo Jin-gi shrank his shoulders, speechless at the professor’s righteous words.

“Well, I’ll believe it was a simple mistake, but contestant number 5 is disqualified.”

“Yes……”

“Keu-heup.”

Ryu Myung-in, who was next to him, covered his mouth with his sleeve, unable to hold back his laughter.

There was nowhere lower to fall, but with this incident, Jo Jin-gi’s reputation was definitely crushed to rock bottom.

“Then, please wait while we begin the round 3 judging.”

Soon, the professors’ judging continued.

They exchanged many words, but their eyes saw similarly, so their opinions generally matched.

Because it was not an area where preferences could be divided in the first place.

“Tsk, the corner is completely gone.”

“Can’t use this.”

“The cut surface here isn’t bad. It seems they roughly finished the other sides because they ran out of time.”

The professors’ eyes had no choice but to be strict.

Because they knew better than anyone the importance of delicate manipulation.

The act of putting a knife to a patient’s body requires thoroughness, and this evaluation criterion is no exception even for interns.

As a result of evaluating with such standards, few people exceeded 12 points out of 15.

At that time, the professors were suddenly surprised to see one paper.

“Take a look at this.”

“Wow, amazing?”

“Didn’t they cut this with a ruler?”

The professors’ surprised gazes gathered.

The blade of an endoscopic scissor is slightly curved.

It is not easy to cut perfectly straight using it.

Yet, the result in front of them had a surprisingly straight shape.

“The intern is quite skilled.”

“How did they cut it so well?”

“At this level, the score is……”

Soon, the professors nodded with admiration and completed the evaluation.

A tense moment.

The interns’ and residents’ gazes converged on one place.

Dugudugu―

The public relations team leader played a drumbeat BGM through the speaker.

Soon, the scores for round 3 were announced on the screen.

[Round 3 Rankings]

1st: Shin Seon-han 21

2nd: Ryu Myung-in 18

3rd: Na Yu-jin 17

3rd: Son Ye-ri 17

…….

“Wow!”

Exclamations echoed in the hall.

Another 1st place, and by a whopping 3 points.

Moreover, the speed wasn’t that fast either?

Everyone couldn’t help but be surprised by the result.

Soon, the professor grabbed the microphone again.

“Mr. Shin Seon-han, who took first place, was very impressive in his meticulousness… Even with strict standards, there was nothing to criticize. Of course, I also saw the skills of the other intern teachers very impressively.”

The judging commentary was concluded with the professor’s comments.

The emcee soon announced the winner of the intern league without delay.

With everyone’s applause, the two were called onto the stage.

Ryu Myung-in’s expression was lukewarm.

It’s like he doesn’t feel like he won even though he won 1st place.

It seemed that the blow was severe because he had been overtaken twice in a row at the end.

“Wow, that’s a shame. If Seon-han *ssaem* [term of respect] had touched it just once before the first round, he would have taken 1st place alone!”

“Well, Ryu Myung-in did well too.”

“That’s true, but still.”

An Gyeong-sik clicked his tongue as if he was disappointed.

Meanwhile, Ma Dong-seop had a proud expression.

As expected, I saw the right person.

You must come to the Department of Thoracic Surgery!

Even if you don’t come, I’ll kidnap you!

Ma Dong-seop was looking at Shin Seon-han with burning eyes, plotting all sorts of schemes in his head.

The public relations team leader held a small wireless earphone box and wore a troubled expression.

Before anyone could say anything, Seon-han’s mouth opened.

“I will concede.”

Myung-in’s eyes, which had been sulking, widened.

Seon-han already felt like he had been rewarded.

At first, he was tempted by the prize, but it was meaningful enough to gain experience using laparoscopic/thoracoscopic instruments.

And, above all, it was fun.

The feeling when his hands and instruments moved as if they were one after Teacher Song Yu-ju’s teachings.

It was an exhilarating experience for Seon-han.

“We can share it half and half.”

“What are you talking about.”

“There’s a saying that you should share even a bean [a Korean proverb about sharing]. If you and I wear one each……”

“You can have it all you want.”

Seon-han lightly blocked Myung-in’s nonsense.

After taking a few commemorative photos with the professors, the two returned to their seats together.

“But how is that possible?”

“What is?”

“It took me several days to get used to it. But how… even this morning, you couldn’t even grab the seeds properly and kept dropping them……”

Ryu Myung-in asked as if he was genuinely curious.

Although his pride was hurt, it seemed that his respect for the other person was greater.

Seeing that he didn’t hide such feelings, he was, in a way, a pure-hearted person.

Shin Seon-han said as if brushing it off casually.

“You’d be like that too if you grew up slicing and dicing fish at Garak Market [a large fish market in Seoul] since you were young.”

A question mark appeared on Ryu Myung-in’s face.

He’s a really weird *hyung* [older brother or older male friend].

It was another moment when he felt that way.

“Waaaa!”

“Surgery fighting!”

“Obstetrics and Gynecology, let’s go!”

The cheering is already fierce.

Unlike the interns, from now on, it’s really a competition for those who belong to a department.

Then, An Gyeong-sik clenched his fist as if he couldn’t lose.

“*Sunbae-nim* [senior colleague]. We have to cheer too! There are fewer of us, so we have to try twice as hard.”

“Is it finally time to take this out? Hehehe.”

Jjieok―

Ma Dong-seop opened his bag with a determined expression.

He felt the aura of a gangster as if he was about to take out a baseball bat or a knife.

Soon, colorful cheering sticks came out of the bag.

They were cute designs that didn’t match Ma Dong-seop’s thick arms at all.

Song Yu-ju was startled and asked.

“What is that?”

“I have cousins. I borrowed idol cheering tools from my cousins. How is it?”

“Terrible.”

“Did you say cute?”

“If you cheer for me with that and say something like milky white, I’ll kill you.”

“Oh, I’m too embarrassed to do something like that.”

Ma Dong-seop joked and gave a creepy smile.

“Hey, An Gyeong. You take one too. It makes a sound when you shake it.”

“Yes, *Sunbae-nim*!”

An Gyeong-sik excitedly received the cheering stick.

The two are a perfect match at times like this.

Waaaa!

With applause, the residents headed to the center of the hall.

At that moment.

The thoracic surgery duo shouted in a loud voice, shaking their cheering sticks.

“Milky White Song Yu-ju!”

“Handsome Song Yu-ju!”

Wahaha!

Unexpectedly enthusiastic cheering spread laughter throughout the hall.

……I’m going to kill you.

Song Yu-ju glared at Ma Dong-seop with such unspoken eyes and headed to the center of the hall.

* * *

Swaaaa―

I splashed water on my face in the bathroom.

I had been up almost all night, so after the intern competition, a languid fatigue washed over me.

“Still, I have to watch the resident teachers’ competition until the end.”

I tore open a package of one of the biscuits on the table at the hall entrance and put it in my mouth.

‘Well, Song Yu-ju *teacher* [term of respect] will probably win anyway…….’

But the rules were said to be changing from this year.

I wonder how it will change?

Will it be a change that will interfere with Song Yu-ju *teacher’s* victory?

Feeling curious, the moment I re-entered the hall, I heard the emcee’s voice.

Oh?

An unexpected person was doing well.

Short hair. A silhouette that was once plump but has recently become relatively slender.

It was general surgeon, Byeon Gyu-nam.