Fifth Vital [EN]: Chapter 194

Five Vital Signs – Episode 194

Episode 194. The Bargaining Doctor

The broadcast featuring Tae-kyung was nearing its final, highlight scenes.

“Now, as the name of our show suggests, we’ll have a test. Are you feeling a bit nervous now?”

“Yes, a little nervous.”

Tae-kyung, who had been indirectly exposing Ko Gye-deuk with a serious and earnest demeanor just moments ago, had returned to his warm, original self.

“That’s right. Everyone who appears on the show says they get nervous at this time. But don’t be too nervous, as it’s not a real test.”

After that, the host briefly explained the format.

The format involved solving problems from stage 1 to stage 7, randomly selected by a computer, with some being multiple-choice and others short-answer.

Each stage had a prize amount; stopping would award the prize for that stage, while moving to the next stage would increase the prize money.

Answering correctly up to the final problem, stage 7, would award all the accumulated prize money.

“Now! When the problem appears on the screen in front of you, you must answer within one minute to be recognized. For reference, the production team and I have no idea what problems will come out, as they are randomly selected from hundreds of thousands of problems stored in the computer.”

As the host continued his enthusiastic explanation, Tae-kyung picked up the water bottle he hadn’t touched until now and gulped down the water.

“Why are you suddenly drinking water? Are you thirsty?”

“Yes, my mouth is very dry.”

“This is a personal question, but are you more nervous than when you’re performing surgery?”

“I think it’s similar.”

“Have you ever watched our show to see what kind of problems come out?”

“I watched it once the day before on YouTube.”

“You watched it. Was there anything you saw while watching that you hoped would come up?”

“There was an episode with a celebrity where multiplication came up.”

“Ah! The multiplication table, the 2 times table?”

“Yes. I think it would be nice if a problem like that came up for me too.”

“There are all sorts of problems in that computer, from common sense to trivial matters. I hope an easy difficulty comes out. Now! Let’s start the problem. Give us the first problem!”

The screen showed a fairly easy elementary school math problem, befitting stage 1, and Tae-kyung easily answered it correctly.

After that, he smoothly answered up to stage 5, and the atmosphere on set heated up.

“What’s going on? Mr. Kim Tae-kyung is answering the problems correctly up to stage 5 with unstoppable momentum! You’re the first person in two months to reach stage 5. How do you feel right now?”

“I feel good.”

“How do you know all the answers?”

“I think I’ve just been lucky so far.”

“Will you challenge the next stage?”

“Yes, I will challenge it.”

“Then let’s move on to the next stage. Give us the stage 6 problem.”

-What is the name of the execution device used during the French Revolution to behead prisoners, proposed by Dr. J.I. Guillotin, also known as the guillotine?

“Mr. Kim, do you know the answer?”

“Ha! To be honest, I don’t know.”

“You said you don’t know, but fortunately, this problem is multiple choice. Give us the options.”

1. Guillopoon 2. Guillycan 3. Guillotine 4. Guiyeotaek 5. Guieotaeng

After seeing the problem and the options, Tae-kyung burst out laughing without realizing it.

“Mr. Kim Tae-kyung, who has been seriously solving problems until now, is laughing for the first time. What is the meaning of this laughter? Do you know the answer, and that’s why you’re laughing?”

“No. I laughed because I thought I was in big trouble since I didn’t know.”

“The moment you said you didn’t know, Producer Park quietly clapped his hands. He’s probably anxious about the prize money, right? Have you decided on the answer?”

“Yes. I’ll go with number 3, Guillotine.”

“Why did you choose number 3?”

“I just guessed the most plausible one.”

“You said you guessed the most plausible one, but let’s see if the answer is correct… The answer is correct! The answer is number 3, Guillotine.”

As Tae-kyung answered correctly, the production team was happy and nervous at the same time.

“Now, we are about to face the final stage 7 problem for a prize of 55 million won [approximately $42,000 USD]. How do you feel?”

“I’m much more nervous than before. My hands are sweating.”

“Then we should solve the last problem quickly before you get more nervous, right?”

The screen showed several keywords for the final stage 7 problem.

Medicine, Literature, Current Affairs, Common Sense, Nonsense

“We are giving you problems that match the keywords you choose for the final stage. Please choose carefully.”

“I will choose medicine.”

“You chose medicine. Let’s find out what kind of problem it is.”

As the host gestured, Producer Park Pil-seung approached the two and handed the host a white envelope.

“I’m giving you the last problem directly. Let’s open the card. Oh! It’s about identifying a person related to medicine. Are you confident?”

“I need to hear the problem to know.”

“Then, without wasting any more time, let’s give you the last problem.”

Tae-kyung gripped the sketchbook and pen given to him by the production team and focused on the problem.

“This person received the Magsaysay Award in 1979 [an award recognizing individuals who demonstrate selfless service and transformative leadership in Asia] and treated patients by setting up tents in Busan, South Korea, during the Vietnam War. In 1959, he was also a great surgeon who succeeded in the first large-scale liver resection in Korea.

There is a very famous anecdote about this person, who dedicated his life to helping poor patients without a home, secretly opening the door at night for a hospitalized patient who said he had no money, telling him to run away, and even giving him money.

Who is this person, called the Schweitzer of Korea [referring to Albert Schweitzer, known for his humanitarian work], who lived only for patients?”

As soon as the problem ended, the hand holding the pen quickly moved across the sketchbook.

“Have you written down the answer?”

“Yes, I have.”

“Show it to us.”

The sketchbook that Tae-kyung revealed read ‘Jang Gi-ryeo’.

“If you get this problem right, you will win a huge prize, and if you get it wrong, you will unfortunately get nothing. Would you like a chance to change your answer?”

“No, thank you.”

“Mr. Kim Tae-kyung looks very confident right now. Will this confidence lead to the correct answer? All the production staff here are nervous. The answer is… The answer is Jang Gi-ryeo is correct!”

“Wow!”

“Congratulations.”

With the host’s congratulations, Tae-kyung smiled brightly as he received the panel with the prize money written on it and a congratulatory bouquet prepared by the production team.

“Finally, the winner of the prize money has been born. Wow! Congratulations again from the bottom of my heart.”

“Thank you.”

“Actually, I thought you knew the answer as soon as I heard the problem. Did you know it?”

“Yes, in fact, Jang Gi-ryeo is the person I respect the most. He was a decisive influence in choosing the profession of doctor.”

Being unusually nosy with patients, paying hospital bills for patients who have no money, and thinking of the patient’s pain as his own pain.

Tae-kyung’s attitude toward patients as a doctor was thanks to Dr. Jang Gi-ryeo.

When he started dreaming of becoming a doctor in his school days, Tae-kyung’s mother, who could not afford private education due to his family situation, bought him a book by Dr. Jang Gi-ryeo as a gift.

Tae-kyung, impressed by Dr. Jang Gi-ryeo’s mindset as a doctor and his care for patients, read the book over and over again until it wore out. And he vowed to become a doctor like him.

“It was a divine move that a problem about Dr. Jang Gi-ryeo came up. I have a personal question for you. What kind of doctor do you want to be remembered as?”

“I want to be remembered as a doctor who can empathize with the pain of patients and comfort their hearts, rather than a conventional and authoritarian doctor. In fact, if you were to pick the most pleasant moment for doctors, it would be when a patient’s illness is completely cured or improved.

If the patient is not doing well, my heart sinks, and I check on the patient with the feeling of riding a roller coaster several times a day.

I hope all the doctors who are working hard for patients all over the country will cheer up, and I pray that the patients in the hospital beds will recover as soon as possible.”

“I think you are already such a doctor. Do you have any plans for the future?”

“I don’t have any special plans yet, and I will continue to work hard for patients and become a doctor like Dr. Jang Gi-ryeo.”

“You have become the winner of a huge prize. May I ask where you will use it?”

“Well, I really didn’t expect it, so I’ll have to think about it.”

“Okay. You joined our program today. Finally, please give us your thoughts.”

“It was a very meaningful time to be invited to a good place and to win a prize like this. Always be healthy. Thank you.”

The broadcast ended with a scene of Tae-kyung and the production team smiling brightly and saying goodbye.

As Producer Park Pil-seung and Writer Wang expected, the broadcast was successful.

* * *

As soon as the broadcast ended, online communities and various social media platforms, as well as real-time search terms, were flooded with discussions about the broadcast.

1. Kim Tae-kyung

2. After School Test Time

3. Dr. Jang Gi-ryeo

4. New Town Hit-and-Run Incident

5. Doctor Kim Tae-kyung

6. Hippocratic Oath

7. The Bargaining Doctor

8. Ho-jilgi’s Doctor [likely a reference to a character known for being generous or selfless]

9. Hit-and-Run

10. Patient Buying Doctor

The YouTube video re-uploaded by the production team was listed on the list of rapidly rising popular videos, and people became interested in the hit-and-run accident.

-This is a YouTube video of the hit-and-run accident scene that was broadcast today. Please spread it around.

-If you have anyone around you who lives in the new town, please ask them to check their dashcam footage.

-It’s really difficult to find a hit-and-run driver, but I hope this case will be solved.

-It’s a bit strange that there are no witnesses. If you’re watching the broadcast, please turn yourself in.

In particular, communities with housewives raising children, like Lee Soo-jung, voluntarily helped to prevent the incident from being buried. And what attracted more attention than the hit-and-run incident was the segment about the doctor who bargained with patients.

As Tae-kyung expected, people’s reaction to finding Ko Gye-deuk was intense.

The whole nation seemed determined to catch the nameless tagger.

-Did you guys watch the after-school test time today?

-Of course, I watched it. I thought it would be boring because a doctor was coming out, but it was surprisingly entertaining.

-That teacher’s force was no joke. He’s so cool. But who is that doctor who played with the patient?

-That’s right. Kim Tae-kyung is famous for being a good person, so if someone like that says that, he must be a really bad guy.

-Shouldn’t we be looking for that bad doctor instead of doing this?

-Anyway, after some time, I think someone will reveal who it is.

-Guys, jackpot! I just heard from my brother that Kim Tae-kyung was kicked out of the hospital he used to be in.

-Why was he kicked out?

-I heard that he was kicked out because he helped poor patients, and it wasn’t profitable for the hospital. For reference, my brother is a nurse at a university hospital.

-Jackpot! Even someone like that gets kicked out.

-The director of that hospital is a moron. Why would he kick out someone like that?

-Originally, university hospitals have a lot of factions. It’s hard for doctors who only think about patients to survive. Anywhere, in an organization, cunning and clever kids survive for a long time.

-No, but is there any way to find that doctor? He has a social position, so I don’t think he’s a doctor at a small hospital.

-Who could it be? Wow! I’m so curious.

Thump- Thump-

Ko Gye-deuk, who was watching people’s reactions in real time in the director’s office, was hitting the desk and making a difficult expression.

“What should I do about this… How do I fix this?”

Knowing the power of broadcasting well, he racked his brains to figure out how to resolve this situation, but he couldn’t think of any brilliant ideas.

“Surely this won’t reach the chairman’s ears? It won’t.”

As time went by, Ko Gye-deuk was so frustrated by the rapidly increasing comments and various articles of people looking for him that he felt the tension he had forgotten.

*I need to lay low for now.*

“It’s better to be careful about Lee Soo-jung and everything.”

The fear that his identity would be revealed was overwhelming him.

Quick-witted Ko Gye-deuk knew best that now was the time for him to lie low.