Chapter 95
Chapter 95
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Dropping the Bomb (2)
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I'd arrived at the conference hall just like that.
The massive hall at Daegu EXCO was already packed from early morning with the passion of K-medical professionals—or the exhaustion of those who'd been dragged there against their will.
I unfolded my crumpled body from the car and awkwardly straightened my tie.
"All right, kids."
As soon as Professor Cheon Eun-jeong stepped out of the car, she clapped her hands.
Standing next to her was Lee Min-jae, who looked like half his soul had already checked out.
"Now that it's our second time, you've probably got a rough idea by now, right? What we're doing?"
Professor Cheon grinned mischievously at me.
She seemed to remember how lost I'd been when she first dragged me to one of these conferences last fall.
*'Ah, yep. I've got it.'*
I flashed a rotten smile inwardly.
*'One: Slip out of the professor's sight. Two: Raid the pharmaceutical booths with Lee Min-jae. Three: Fill up on free coffee and snacks. Four: Hide and erase my presence until my presentation time.'*
It was a perfect plan.
But a second-year social animal like me couldn't just blurt out what was in his head.
I equipped the most model-student, academically enthusiastic second-year resident face from deep within.
"I've got experience from last year, so I know the drill!"
I replied in a voice stiff with discipline.
"I'll diligently go around the refresher courses, check out interesting sessions, network with doctors from other hospitals, and learn the latest medical knowledge!"
"That's the spirit!"
Professor Cheon smacked my shoulder with a very satisfied look.
"Good, our Han is a second-year now too. You've gotten really reliable. Keep that attitude. I've got meetings this morning, so let's meet up for lunch later. Lee Min-jae!"
"Yes, Professor!"
Lee Min-jae, who'd been spacing out beside her, jumped to attention.
"Don't wander around like a first-year just because you're a fellow now. Take good care of Hyun-jae here."
"No, Professor! How do I look like a first-year..."
Professor Cheon lightly ignored Lee Min-jae's protests and vanished into the crowd.
And just like that, after a brief farewell to Professor Cheon, only Lee Min-jae and I were left in the hall.
I turned my head toward him very, very slowly.
Lee Min-jae was staring back at me, his earlier dumb expression completely gone.
We exchanged glances without a word.
*'Go?'*
*'Go.'*
Lee Min-jae nodded toward the nearest booth, decked out flashily in blue and white by a pharmaceutical company near the entrance.
"Hyun-jae."
"Yes, sir."
"Commence Operation: Reclaiming Our Investment as K-Medical Pros. I'll handle the high-value targets on the left. You take the stationery on the right. Regroup in ten minutes at the coffee booth over there. Over."
"Got it."
And so, we became bandits prowling the booths.
***
We were wandering around the conference hall like that.
I was taking a breather with a paper cup of instant coffee—spoils of victory—in hand.
While scanning the crowd for my next target, two doctors standing right next to me caught my eye.
Their name badges read names like 'Seoul Aseong Hospital' and 'Oseong Seoul Hospital'—massive, intimidating names of major hospitals.
"Check this out."
One guy spread out the conference program and clicked his tongue.
"What, mandatory credits?"
"No, this oral presentation—what the hell is this?"
I found myself listening in absentmindedly.
"...What the hell is this? Wow, which lunatic brought this to the conference?"
*'Hmm? What's the presentation that's got them cursing like that?'*
I sipped my coffee and edged a step closer.
"It's a surgery led by an emergency medicine doctor. Does that even make sense?"
"Crazy. Emergency medicine? Not GS—general surgery?"
"Yeah. Second-year resident, apparently. From some hospital in Busan."
I nearly spat out the instant coffee I'd been holding in my mouth onto the floor.
I hurriedly turned away from them.
My heart was pounding like mad.
*'Fuck. The rumors have already spread everywhere.'*
Their horrific conversation continued behind my back.
"Is he ballsy or brainless? What the hell was he thinking slicing open a belly?"
I stared down in horror at the name badge on my chest.
[Han Hyun-jae / Cheongjin University Medical Center]
This wasn't a name badge—it was a billboard screaming, "I'm that crazy bastard who sliced open the belly."
I yanked off the dangling badge and shoved it deep into the inside pocket of my jacket.
*'Survive. Just stay out of sight and survive until the presentation.'*
***
[Oral 5 - Trauma]
The massive corridor of Daegu EXCO Convention Hall.
I stood in front of the huge signboard.
...This is it.
[Oral 5: Trauma / Rooms 301-303]
My heart sank.
I awkwardly straightened my tie again.
Not that anyone would notice something like that anyway.
Hoo.
I took a deep breath.
Thanks to grinding the Memory Palace skill last night, my brain was firing on all cylinders.
Dozens of anticipated questions the ghosts had hammered into me, every line from the paper Professor Cheon had given me—it all felt like it was rendered in 3D in my head.
Yeah, I'm ready.
I carefully pushed open the heavy door and stepped inside.
***
Before I knew it, my moment had arrived.
The session chair—a professor—gave closing remarks to the last presenter of the previous session and brought up the next slide.
[Presenter: Han Hyun-jae (Cheongjin University Medical Center)]
Yeah.
My turn.
I stood from my seat like a creaky robot and walked toward the podium.
The click of my dress shoes echoed through the quiet lecture hall, which was fucking awful.
Once at the podium, I plugged my presentation USB into the laptop and adjusted the mic height.
Please, God.
"Hoo..."
Deep breath.
I raised my head, and the sight before me was horrifying.
...No fucking way, why are there so many?
Yeah, these stares aren't for me.
These hundreds of eyeballs aren't all here for me.
They're just interested in the trauma session, that's all.
I comforted myself like that.
The lecture hall was packed, with hardly an empty seat in sight.
In the front row, heavyweights like Professor Kim Hyeok-jae sat with arms crossed, eyeing me with interest. In the middle rows, fellows from other hospitals and senior residents sat with judge-like expressions.
Even in the very back row, that group from the corridor earlier was staring me down.
This was a total public execution.
*'Yeah. Don't chicken out.'*
I gripped the mic tightly.
*'Have confidence, Han Hyun-jae. You're the best.'*
Yeah.
I am the best.
At least, no one else in this room has a more impressive backup crew watching their back.
Hundreds of ghosts, led by God's Scalpel, are ready to backseat-drive in real-time right now.
You're all cocky relying on a few professors, but I've got the gods of medicine from beyond on my side.
Good.
Let's do this.
I pressed the next button on the presenter with trembling fingers.
The first slide appeared on the massive screen.
[Emergency Resuscitative Laparotomy and Damage Control Packing Led by an Emergency Medicine Physician in a Scenario of Delayed Surgical Support: A Case Report]
I opened my mouth toward the mic.
Desperately hoping my voice wouldn't crack.
"Hello. I'm Han Hyun-jae, a second-year resident in emergency medicine at Cheongjin University Medical Center."
Oh, voice sounds good.
"The case I'm presenting today is a report on one instance where, for a patient with a penetrating abdominal injury in a situation where immediate intervention by a trauma surgeon was impossible, we performed an emergency resuscitative laparotomy under the leadership of an emergency medicine physician and successfully resuscitated the patient."
I pressed next.
Slide 2.
[The Treatment Gap]
Big letters appeared in the center of the screen.
"Patients in hypovolemic shock from penetrating abdominal injuries, especially those accompanied by massive intra-abdominal hemorrhage, record extremely high initial mortality rates."
I slowly swept my gaze across the audience, mimicking the tone of a famous professor's lecture I'd watched intently.
"The problem here is—"
Ding.
An animation effect brought up new text.
[The 'Treatment Gap Time' That Occurs When Immediate Surgical Intervention Is Impossible]
—"this treatment gap time."
Ding.
Next slide.
A horrific graph appeared, showing survival rates plummeting vertically from the moment the patient arrived at the ER.
[Graph: Survival Rate Decline Over Time After Patient Arrival (Source: Journal of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery)]
"The dozens of minutes—or more—it takes for the trauma surgery team to reach the patient. The time until the OR is ready. During this gap period, the patient's survival rate drops exponentially every minute, every second."
I posed a question to the audience.
"That's right. What should an emergency medicine physician do during this gap period?"
I moved to go to the next slide.
To deliver the line I'd prepared.
That's when it happened.
A hand shot up from the front row.
One from that Aseong Hospital group earlier.
*'Hold up.'*
I froze for a second.
*'Isn't this not Q&A time? Is it okay to raise your hand like this?'*
Am I just a noob and don't know?
Or is this a challenge?
*'...No idea.'*
I forced a calm pause in the presentation.
Professor Kim Hyeok-jae, sitting as session chair, furrowed his brow but didn't stop the questioner.
"Yes, go ahead."
The man took a mic and looked at me.
"I'm enjoying the presentation. Han Hyun-jae from Cheongjin University."
*'Enjoying my ass. We just started.'*
"You just asked what an emergency medicine doctor should do during that gap period you mentioned. You're not about to say that..."
The man inhaled.
"...what they can do during that gap—the emergency medicine doctor's role—is damage control surgery, are you?"
Silence fell.
All eyes turned back to me.
If I said yes, I'd be the arrogant second-year invading surgery's turf. If no, the point of this whole presentation vanishes.
I stared at him blankly.
...
Heh.
I couldn't hold back a grin.
*'Ah, thanks.'*
You've just asked exactly what I wanted to say, at the most dramatic moment, on my behalf.
You've put the perfect capstone on all the buildup I've prepared.
I readjusted my grip on the mic.
And, smiling at every professor and doctor in this massive hall—and that idiot trying to screw me over—
I answered.
"Yes."