Chapter 109
Chapter 109
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Rope (1)
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“Heh….”
My consciousness flooded back into the spot where the Cardiology Ghost had just departed.
At the same time, a chilling shiver raced up my spine.
“Phew….”
I gasped for breath raggedly, clutching the rooftop railing as I staggered.
Not yet.
It doesn’t hurt yet.
But I knew what was coming after this calm before the storm.
From my two previous experiences.
The time it took for the penalty to hit after the skill wore off.
I glanced at the clock on my phone.
The grace period after possession ended until the penalty arrived.
From experience, it was as short as three minutes or as long as about ten.
‘Fuck. No time.’
I racked my brain quickly.
What if I collapsed here?
I’d get carted back down to the ER again.
Open surgery and passed out during my first year.
REBOA at the start of this year and passed out.
And today, SGB from a helicopter and passed out?
‘A doctor collapsing three times in a row after three crazy stunts?’
Too contrived.
Suspicious as hell.
People would start thinking, ‘Did that bastard get possessed by a god or something?’
No, the sharp ones already suspected.
Yoo Sung-hoon, who went to Oseong Hospital first.
He’d jokingly asked a few times if a ghost had possessed me back then… who knows.
I needed to change my approach.
At the very least, avoid foaming at the mouth and collapsing in front of everyone.
I made my decision.
Run.
To somewhere with no one around.
“Professor Kang!”
I urgently called out to Professor Kang Hyun-jun, who was packing up his gear.
“Yeah, what…?”
Professor Kang still looked dazed, not fully recovered from the shock of my helicopter performance.
“Uh, well. This isn’t a regular shift today, right? It’s just the doctor helicopter training schedule.”
“Right. But from what you did earlier, you followed the briefing perfectly, and the OJT was… pretty intense real-world practice….”
Professor Kang nodded.
We’d already exceeded the training goals—overflow, even.
“I’m not feeling well right now.”
I cut straight to the point.
“Huh?”
“I’m heading out early.”
“Early?”
Professor Kang’s eyes widened.
A resident declaring early leave right in front of a godlike professor after just saving a life?
Insane.
But I had no choice right now.
In one minute, I’d be rolling on the floor.
“It’s not a regular shift anyway, just training. But right now… the dizziness is killer, and my condition’s tanking so fast I can barely stand.”
I made the most pained face imaginable.
Like motion sickness piled on fatigue.
“I feel like I’m gonna puke from how shitty my condition is.”
Yeah, early leave it is.
“Uh… yeah. Your face looks really bad. Sweating buckets….”
Professor Kang saw my pale complexion and nodded with a worried look.
“Well, first time on a chopper can do that. Plus CPR and the procedure inside… Take it easy.”
“Yes, sir. Thank you.”
The second he approved, I bolted without looking back.
Thud-thud-thud-thud—
I kicked open the rooftop door and raced down the stairs.
No time to wait for the elevator.
My legs wobbled, my heart felt like it would burst, but better than collapsing in front of people like an idiot.
6th floor. 5th. 4th. 3rd….
I sprinted past the 6th-floor control room all the way to the 1st-floor emergency medical center.
Stopping here meant keeling over in the middle of the hallway.
Luckily, I made it to the first floor.
Panting heavily, I flung open the on-call room door.
“Ha….”
Scan.
Four beds.
Bed 1: empty.
Bed 2: empty.
Bed 3.
Curtain drawn.
Someone sleeping.
Lee Min-jae?
Whatever.
Bed 4: empty.
“Okay.”
I hurled myself onto the farthest bed 4 like a missile.
No time to take off shoes—I crawled straight onto the bed.
Swish—
I yanked the curtain shut roughly, creating a perfect sealed space.
I hugged the pillow, curled up, and pulled the blanket over my head.
Mentally prepared.
‘Come on, muscle pain.’
1 second.
2 seconds.
3 seconds.
And then.
A sensation like someone searing red-hot tongs into the depths of my muscles began creeping up.
It was like every cell in my body was talking to me.
(Oh, hey, it’s me. Muscle pain here.)
(Waited long?)
(Tough show on the chopper today.)
(Now I’ll wreck you!)
As if hearing hallucinations like that.
Every nerve in my body screamed at once.
“Ugh……”
Damn penalty.
In the darkness, I began paying the price.
***
After that, it was the familiar routine.
12 hours of blackout.
When I opened my eyes, it was already the next morning, and luckily, the on-call room was empty.
I slipped out, put on a face like nothing happened, and left the hospital.
Phew….
Back home by taxi, the first thing I did was check reactions.
‘Gallery.’
The blue window popped up in front of me.
And as expected, pinned at the top of the main screen was a popular post.
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Heli Slave, Wanna Die?
Author: Cardiology Ghost
No heads-up beforehand.
Not even a single post warning.
No consent asked.
Just a sticky note saying ‘Doing SGB’ and boom—forcing possession? What manners are those?
Am I your Pokémon?
‘Go, Cardiology Ghost!’ and I pop out to jab a needle?
Listened to your super~ kind~ explanation, asshole.
=======================
I had nothing to say, feeling guilty.
With God’s Scalpel, I at least warned ahead, but this time it was pure emergency—I just went for it.
I quietly opened the comments.
Needed one killer line stronger than a hundred excuses.
[Comments]
Heli Slave 1: [Image: Stickman slamming his head on the floor in a grand bow]
ㄴ God’s Scalpel: ?
ㄴ God’s Scalpel: Stealing my signature move? Pay up royalties.
ㄴ Heli Slave 1: You wrecked my body with surgery too. Call it even.
The gallery crew clicked their tongues at my shamelessness.
Latte is Just Words: So what was it? What? Huh? What happened?
OR Ghost 3: Spill.
ㄴ Cardiology Ghost: Did SGB for electrical storm inside the chopper.
ㄴ Anon (118.235): ????? SGB from a helicopter? With ultrasound?
ㄴ Cardiology Ghost: Yeah.
ㄴ Anon (210.94): From helicopters now, huh.
Deriv posts shot past several pages in seconds.
From questions on whether SGB from a chopper was even possible to praises of Cardiology Ghost’s godlike hands.
I let out a sigh of relief at the lively reactions.
Looks like the anger’s settled.
The rest followed the usual script.
Right at roll-in, I ran into Director of Education and Training Oh Man-seok in the hospital hallway.
He stopped dead when he saw me.
Stared at my face for a solid three seconds, then sighed.
“Haa….”
A ground-shaking sigh.
I reflexively bowed 90 degrees.
“Hello, Professor.”
Professor Oh took off his glasses, wiped them, and spoke in an exhausted voice.
“Han.”
“Yes.”
“Next Friday. You know what.”
“…Yes, I do.”
“Good. Okay. See you then.”
Professor Oh waved me off like he didn’t want to talk more and walked away.
Training committee summons.
Basically an annual event now.
‘Review of Emergency Medicine Resident Han Hyun-jae’s Procedure Appropriateness During Doctor Helicopter Flight.’
Title alone gave it away.
Go, say ‘Unavoidable choice to save the patient,’ bow a bit, Professor Kang Hyun-jun covers saying he ordered it, and it ends with a reprimand or warning.
Discipline hearings don’t even scare me anymore.
Tolerance? Or just numb?
Reactions around me stayed the same.
No, a bit more colorful now.
Station corner.
Kim Ji-hoon and Jo Soo-yeon sipping coffee, glancing at me.
“Heard?”
Kim Ji-hoon spoke up.
“Yeah. Stabbed a neck from the chopper.”
Jo Soo-yeon nodded.
“Surgery’s getting threatening, so back to original double-board goal of internal medicine? First I’ve heard of EM nailing arrhythmia with SGB.”
“Nah. Precisely, it’s anesthesiology.”
Jo Soo-yeon corrected.
“SGB’s anesthesiology pain territory. Meaning this guy’s gunning for internal, surgery, and anesthesiology. Triple board. Triple.”
Jo Soo-yeon tossed.
“Precisely, EM makes it four boards.”
Kim Ji-hoon caught.
“Next he’ll hit OB-GYN for babies too.”
Jo Soo-yeon spiked back.
I gracefully flipped the bird at Kim Ji-hoon and Jo Soo-yeon doing their comedy routine right in front of me.
“Shut up, shit-talk duo.”
“Yup.”
“Yup.”
The duo quit teasing, giggled, and fled.
No, they stuck around past shift end just to mess with me.
Such grateful bastards.
Everything seemed back to normal.
Like the two prior possessions: commotion dies down, discipline hearing, add a legendary tale, back to routine.
I thought it’d be the same pattern.
But then….
“Han Hyun-jae.”
Afternoon just starting.
Familiar voice from behind the station called me.
Emergency Medicine Director Park Woong.
“Director. Hello.”
I stopped work and stood.
“Hyun-jae, come see me.”
The director nodded toward his office.
Something felt different this time.
The director called me with a serious face.