Chapter 32
Chapter 32
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Securing the Airway is Crucial (5)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Thump thump thump.
My heart was still pounding wildly out of control.
The hellish scene from Zone A just moments ago was vivid in my mind.
The bright red bloodstains splattered on my gown sleeve made it all feel even more real.
…Saved him.
Me.
With these hands.
A hollow laugh escaped me.
I had to tell someone about this.
This insane experience was too much to keep to myself.
I needed to share it with my one and only outlet, the gathering place of hell's mentors.
'Gallery.'
As soon as the blue interface popped up, I hammered away at the keyboard with fingers—or rather, thoughts—still buzzing with excitement.
Title: Yo, I just saved a goddamn life.
Author: HellJoseonSlave1
Patient comes in a week after tonsillectomy complaining of a bloody smell from his throat. Turns out there's blood trickling from the surgical site.
Had a bad feeling, so I prepped an intubation kit just in case while stopping the bleed... then bam, he coughs once and blood erupts from his throat like a fountain.
Straight-up *pshooooosh* explosion.
Airway blocked in seconds, sats diving to the 70s, and I'm the only one around. So I just did it. Shoved the tube in. Nailed it on the first try. Patient's on the vent now, stable. No questions.
And.
[New comment posted.]
[New comment posted.]
[New comment posted.]
Notifications exploded.
I scrolled down like I was munching popcorn.
Anonymous (210.94): ?
LatteIsTheWord: ??
HippocratesHeir: ??? O living one, what madness is this?
OperatingRoomGhost3: ????????????
A flood of question marks. Why?
Anonymous (118.235): Wait, you did that with no residency experience?
BoneManiac88: ?? How the hell?
AnesthesiologyPainMedicine: Cut the bullshit. You did this in real life? On a post-op bleed patient? Airway securing at nightmare difficulty, and a first-year pulls it off solo? How?
Anonymous (1.234): HellJoseon, tone down the troll bullshit ffs lolololol Dude, blood geyser spraying everywhere—how'd you even see? Did you spot the vocal cords? Got a damn endoscope in your eye or what lolololol
God's Scalpel: Good fanfic.
Waves of ridicule and scorn crashed in.
Yeah, go ahead, talk your shit.
The vivid red blood splatters on my white coat and mask.
Click.
I dropped a single photo into the comments without a word.
> HellJoseonSlave1: [Photo]
The gallery fell silent for a solid second.
Then the shock hit.
Anonymous (210.94): …It's real.
AnesthesiologyPainMedicine: That's blood. Look at the mask and gown. Arterial spray for sure. No way you'd grab some random patient's pic just to cap your troll.
OperatingRoomGhost3: Holy shit… this lunatic actually pulled it off?
LatteIsTheWord: Kid's got some real balls.
The vibe flipped.
Doubts turned to awe and amazement.
I scrolled on, basking in satisfaction.
Proof shuts 'em all up every time.
God's Scalpel: Lucky bastard. So, Plan B ready?
Plan B?
God's Scalpel: You prepped a surgical airway like cricothyrotomy for worst-case, right?
I stared blankly at the comment.
Surgical airway?
Slitting the throat?
Oh.
Oh yeah.
The one I bombed in sims.
Pure instinct and brutal honesty—I replied.
> HellJoseonSlave1: Oh yeah. Just prepped the tube.
Silence.
Then.
> God's Scalpel: YOU FUCKING IDIOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It began.
AnesthesiologyPainMedicine: THIS PSYCHO ALMOST GOT SOMEONE KILLED!!!!!! WHAT IF YOU FUCKED UP?! Tube doesn't go in! Blood cakes the cords completely! You'd just watch the patient choke out and code right there, you brain-dead maniac?!?!?!?
Anonymous (118.235): LMAOOOOOOOOOOOOO Never even crossed my mind lololololol Dude went full yolo no backup plan? LMAOOOOOOOOOOO
HippocratesHeir: O living one… Thy courage is admirable, but thy recklessness invites the wrath of the gods!
The gallery erupted in rage and disbelief.
God's Scalpel: Good thing it worked. Fail that, and the patient would've died.
No arguing with cold hard facts.
Yeah, true.
I'd only pictured success.
Never spared a single second on failure.
Tunnel vision, huh.
Anonymous (210.94): But damn, this psycho nailed it lolololololololololo
OperatingRoomGhost3: Gotta give credit where due. Intubating a gushing airway on first try? Pure lunatic shit. Even third-years shake and bomb that.
AnesthesiologyPainMedicine: Talent or just brainless? Can't tell ffs...
LatteIsTheWord: LMAOOOOOOOOOOOOO But why no Plan B lolololol Gets funnier the more I think about it, what a clown lolololololololololo
BoneManiac88: This braindead meta? HellJoseon the ultimate bro lolololololol
I laughed emptily at their reactions.
Yeah.
Even I think I'm kinda nuts.
I stared blankly at the gallery's chaotic mix of mockery and praise.
What the hell did I do?
Save a life? Or just win a massive gamble on luck?
My head throbbed.
Dozens more comments piled up in real-time, arguing, analyzing, jeering, marveling.
To these ghost fucks, my near-death saga was prime entertainment and drinking fodder.
The madness raged on for a while—then one comment cut through the noise.
In archaic tones, like the board's damn mod.
HippocratesHeir: Enough! Debate on this living one's deeds has run its course. Now, the [Croaked Docs Gallery] renders its official verdict on this great yet foolish act!
…Verdict?
What bullshit. This a Roman court now?
I gawked at the screen.
HippocratesHeir: Ahem. Verdict commences. First, multifaceted review of the protagonist, HellJoseonSlave1.
HippocratesHeir: One: Hand skills? We've confirmed through countless cases his hands are utterly unfit for medical work. Can't suture for shit—routine—and even yanked a patient's tooth barehanded, an unprecedented feat. Verdict: His hands ain't a doc's; just protein lumps!
Facts hit hard.
No comeback.
HippocratesHeir: Two: Airway skills? Astonishingly, in a worst-case blood fountain, he nailed intubation first try. Feat even veteran anesthesiologists struggle with. Verdict: Airway game god-tier inexplicably! Trash hands, but airway freak talent—grotesque genius!
Grotesque talent.
Praise or diss?
HippocratesHeir: Three: Did he save the patient? Yes. Swift call saved him from asphyxiation. Undeniably rescued a life.
Yeah.
HippocratesHeir: Four: Did he nearly kill the patient? Also yes! No Plan B for contingencies. Fail the first shot, and he'd watch helplessly as the patient died. Arrogant, ignorant—unprofessional as fuck!
I nodded quietly.
Yeah, spot on.
All true.
HippocratesHeir wrapped his rant, dropping the final judgment.
HippocratesHeir: …Thus, the [Croaked Docs Gallery] dubs HellJoseonSlave1: 'Hands are human-waste trash-level garbage, but airway securing weirdly ghostly ace; dramatically saved a patient but nearly killed the same one; miracle doc blending courage and stupidity, genius and idiocy!'
…What a mouthful ffs.
LatteIsTheWord: *slow clap~*
OperatingRoomGhost3: (cat clapping emoji)
Anonymous (210.94): Clap clap clap clap clap! House pride, HellJoseon!
BoneManiac88: Kyaa graaand Hell-Jo-seon-Slaaave
Gallery turned festival mode instantly.
…Clap?
I stared vacantly into space.
This whole scene felt too surreal.
I'd just clawed back from a life-or-death brawl, and these ghosts hand me some bullshit award-punishment hybrid and clap for themselves.
Reality crashed in.
Deep, dark reality.
Fuck it.
I gave in, playing along.
In this mad world, might as well go mad with 'em to survive.
HellJoseonSlave1: Clap clap.
> Anonymous (118.235): Look at this dude lolololololololololo
> LatteIsTheWord: LMAOOOOOOOOOOOOO He actually did it
> AnesthesiologyPainMedicine: LMAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
> OperatingRoomGhost3: LMAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Fucking kills me lolololololololololo This guy's the real deal lolololololol
Agh.
I quietly closed the gallery tab.
Beat.
Can't win against these lunatics.
Back in the on-call room, I murmured the title they'd slapped on me.
'Hands trash, airway wizard—saved a patient but nearly killed him doc.'
…Dammit.
Can't even deny it.