Aiming for a Higher Place (4)
I wondered where else in Korea there would be a doctor like Song Myeong-jin.
‘this!’
I heard footsteps, so I picked up the mop in the corner and pretended to clean it.
“Are you cleaning again after doing it in the morning?”
Song Myeong-jin smiled and spoke.
“Ah. Yes. Because it’s messy.”
“If it’s okay, let’s have a late-night snack with me.”
“yes.”
Choi Ki-seok finished cleaning and picked up his cell phone.
Song Myeong-jin wanted oriental medicine samgyetang, so he ordered two samgyetang.
“Anyway, today was really nice.”
Song Myeong-jin lightly tapped Choi Ki-seok on the shoulder.
“Not only did he stop the nurse from falling, but he also stood by as an assistant. If it weren’t for Dr. Choi, it would have been a big problem.”
“No, the doctor did all the surgery.”
Choi Ki-seok scratched the back of his head with an embarrassed expression.
“Being humble. Aren’t you tired from doing your homework as well as doing your internship?”
“I’m fine. And I have to endure that much to become a master like the professor.”
Amid a moment of silence, Song Myeong-jin spoke first.
“Why did Dr. Choi choose to be a doctor out of all the professions? Thoracic surgery, which is said to be the most difficult.”
“I have been suffering from heart failure for a long time. Early this year, my condition worsened and I had a heart transplant.”
“ah······.”
“So, naturally, I became interested in thoracic surgery. In the future, I want to become a doctor like Professor Song and help sick people.”
Choi Ki-seok answered and then changed the topic.
“Then may I ask you a question? Why did you decide to become a doctor?”
“In my case… my younger sister passed away from tuberculosis when I was young.”
“······.”
“It’s unimaginable now, but in the past, tuberculosis was a very scary disease.”
Song Myeong-jin spoke calmly.
“I was in the 6th grade of elementary school. My younger sister caught a cold in the winter. She had a cough for a while and felt hot during the day and cold at night. But no one in my family thought it was tuberculosis.”
“······.”
“I took my younger brother to the hospital only after he vomited blood, but by then it was already too late.”
Song Myung-jin bit his lip.
The devastation of that time was clearly visible on his face.
“After seeing my younger brother die, I decided. From now on, I will never let anyone die in front of me.”
“······.”
Choi Ki-seok remained silent.
I didn’t want to give a clumsy answer or comfort.
I thought those words were an insult to Song Myeong-jin, who must have lived a life of guilt and sorrow for his younger brother.
“Doctor Choi. I felt one thing during this surgery.”
“what is that?”
“I still have a long way to go.”
Choi Ki-seok looked stunned at Song Myeong-jin’s words.
“If the professor says something like that, what happens to me and other thoracic surgeons?”
“I don’t know how it may sound, but I really felt it. If it had been bilateral lung surgery, it might have failed. That’s why I’m asking Dr. Choi for one favor.”
“Please?”
“yes.”
Song Myeong-jin gazed at Choi Ki-seok with profound eyes.
“Can you do me a favor?”
“I haven’t heard what the request is yet.”
“But today I want to hear an answer first. Can you listen?”
“······Yes. If it’s for the patient, I’ll do it unconditionally.”
Song Myeong-jin smiled with satisfaction at Choi Ki-seok’s courageous answer.
“I hope Dr. Choi becomes the best thoracic surgeon in the world.”
“That’s already my goal?”
Choi Ki-seok tilted his head.
“But isn’t Dr. Choi trying to become the best in cardiac surgery?”
“That’s true, but…”
“I hope Dr. Choi becomes the best in all departments of thoracic surgery. All three fields: adult cardiac surgery, pulmonary esophageal surgery, and pediatric thoracic surgery.”
Song Myeong-jin cleared his throat and continued speaking.
“If Mr. Choi becomes the best in all three fields, no one will be able to touch Mr. Choi. There is no need to argue with Professor Cho Ji-hwan like I do.”
“······.”
“Please become the best. No matter what anyone says, a doctor’s job is to treat patients. No one can touch a doctor who treats and takes good care of patients.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
Choi Ki-seok nodded vigorously.
Each of Song Myeong-jin’s words penetrated my heart. A desire I had never felt before enveloped my entire body.
A thoracic surgeon who specializes in all three specialties.
My heart swelled as the dream grew bigger.
But that’s the moment.
Tiring!
[Special mission ‘Toward the Top’ has been created.]
[Mission achievement conditions]
– Adult thoracic surgery: Successful aortic surgery
– Pulmonary esophageal surgery: Successful bilateral lung transplant surgery
– Pediatric thoracic surgery: Successful tetralogy of Fallot surgery
[Upon mission accomplishment A special skill is given.]
Exactly. Knock. Knock.
While confirming the mission, a knock was heard and the medical door opened.
“Delivery has arrived.”
“Yes. Just a moment.”
Choi Ki-seok paid for the food with his National Assembly membership fee and laid out newspaper on the table.
When I opened the plastic container, white soup and well-cooked boiled rice appeared. At the same time, the smell of chicken broth tickled my nose and dry saliva passed through my uvula.
“Professor. Enjoy your meal.”
“That’s right. I had a hard time today because of the surgery, but Dr. Choi also ate a lot.”
We started eating in earnest.
Choi Ki-seok first tore off the flesh of the leg and then drank the soup. I thought it would not taste good because it was delivered samgyetang, but I was very mistaken.
I felt a deep flavor as the taste of herbal medicine was added to the taste of boiled chicken that I was familiar with.
I was engrossed in my meal, forgetting that Song Myeong-jin was across from me.
A lot of time has passed since then.
“Whoa…”
Ki-Seok Choi finished his meal and washed his mouth with water.
If the quality is this good, I think I should seriously consider samgyetang for my next late-night snack.
While I was thinking about this and that, I read Song Myeong-jin’s gaze.
Song Myeong-jin was glancing at the chicken breast placed on the plastic container. The sight was so cute that Choi Ki-seok could barely suppress his laughter.
“Professor. Would you like some of this?”
“Ah… No, Mr. Choi, eat it.”
“I don’t like soft meat, so I saved it separately. If the professor doesn’t eat it, I’ll throw it away…”
“It would be a waste to throw it away, so should I eat it?”
Song Myeong-jin brought the plastic container filled with chicken breast towards him.
“Professor, you are a thoracic surgeon. I can’t even keep up with you.”
“why?”
“You like chicken breast the best.”
Song Myeong-jin burst out laughing at Choi Ki-seok’s joke.
A meaningful day had passed with the priest’s first surgery and first meal.
* * *
A week has passed since Cho Ji-hwan became the director of thoracic surgery.
Jo Ji-hwan became a manager due to his political power and background.
Song Myeong-jin opened his eyes and lost his position as manager.
The thoracic surgery department seemed like it would be a bloody day due to the clash between the two people, but it turned out to be a surprisingly quiet day.
First, the lung transplant case was quietly buried.
Heart expert Song Myeong-jin successfully performed a difficult lung transplant, but Jo Ji-hwan called it a feat.
It’s just that the results were good by chance.
Song Myeong-jin’s achievements were somewhat buried by Jo Ji-hwan’s political play.
However, after the lung transplant incident, the two never clashed.
Not only in public settings but also in private settings.
They simply treat patients according to their respective schedules.
The variable is the vacancy created when Jo Ji-hwan became the manager.
Who will take the position of assistant professor?
All of Uiguk’s attention was focused on that.
* * *
As time passed, my second month at the thoracic surgery clinic arrived.
As Fixton was accepted, Choi Ki-seok did not go to another department but remained in the Department of Thoracic Surgery.
Choi Ki-seok’s evaluation was good.
What liked him the most were the patients and nurses.
First of all, his personality was friendly and cool, and he succeeded in all treatments at once, so I couldn’t hate him.
Doctors’ evaluations of Choi Ki-seok were divided in half.
Ki-Seok Choi is a disciple of Myung-Jin Song.
As this fact became known, several doctors, led by Manager Cho Ji-hwan, kept Choi Ki-seok in check. However, Choi Ki-seok stayed quiet and avoided getting caught.
2 am.
Ki-Seok Choi opened his eyes, got up, and turned off the alarm.
Perhaps because it had become a habit, waking up early wasn’t that difficult.
After washing up and putting on my doctor’s gown, I sat down at the computer and looked at my emails.
Song Myeong-jin’s thesis arrived in the mail today as well.
“Hmm…”
Choi Ki-seok began to read the paper with concentration.
Is it because he wants his student to become the best in all fields of thoracic surgery?
Recently, Song Myeong-jin sent a paper on cardiac surgery as well as a paper on pediatric lung and esophageal surgery.
Ki-Seok Choi read the paper quickly thanks to the buff effect and wrote a short review and sent it to the paper.
First homework done!
I just moved to the hideout.
“also.”
Ki-Seok Choi smiled again today when he saw the Styrofoam box placed in front of the door.
When I slightly opened the box, fresh beef intestines were revealed.
The fishy smell of the intestines was now lovely.
Somehow, practicing with cow intestines was more helpful than practicing knitting.
After completing simple preparations, we began practicing surgery.
Half of the exercises are done with the right hand.
The other half were done with the left hand.
As time passed, the bloody smell enveloped the hideout.
Blood splattered around the surgical cloth, and the sound of scissors cutting the knot rang sharply.
Choi Ki-seok devoted himself to practicing as if he was actually performing a surgery.
“Whoa…”
I sighed and put down the treatment tool in my hand.
But it is that moment.
Tiring!
[A new skill has been created.]
[Dragon’s Eye skill increases to Lv.2. A new mode will be added.]
A long-awaited notification struck my ear.
Choi Ki-seok quickly looked at the status window.
Passive Skill
NEW [I’m Left-Handed Lv.1]
– The killing speed and accuracy of the left hand increases.
– When using only the left hand, the accuracy of killing with the left hand doubles.
– As the level increases, the kill speed and accuracy increase.
– The maximum level is 3.
[Dragon’s Eye Lv.2]
– A zoom-in mode and zoom-out mode are created that allow you to control your gaze at will.
– As the level increases, various effects are displayed.
– A new mode, video mode, has been opened.
I smiled broadly as I checked the skills I had worked so hard to acquire.
It was already a time when I was exhausted because there was nothing to gain compared to the effort, but the reward came at a good time.
“It’s video mode…”
I rubbed my chin and tried using video mode.
Then my vision changed as if I was using a video recording program.
A frame was created and images could be captured within it.
[Do you want to start recording a video?]
When I decided to do so, the time bar under the frame slowly moved.
I checked the maximum bar and it was 72 hours.
This means that video recording is possible for up to 72 hours.
Choi Ki-seok started cleaning up after using the mode.
Because my vision was unnatural, cleaning took longer than usual.
After finishing the cleaning, I ended filming the video.
Surprisingly, the video recorded at the bottom of the skill remained as a file.
“You’re crazy.”
Choi Ki-seok couldn’t help but be amazed as he analyzed the video.
A video is literally a video.
I was able to focus on the parts I wanted and skip the parts I didn’t need.
It doesn’t end there.
Surprisingly, I was able to use zoom in and zoom out modes on the video screen as well.
This means that in the future, you will be able to record a video of the surgery and then analyze it and make it your own.
If you can utilize this well, it is not unreasonable to become the best thoracic surgeon.
Choi Ki-seok headed to the ward with excited steps.
I’m already looking forward to the surgery.
