Chapter 214
Chapter 214
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 214
Chapter Title: 49. Doctor of Darkness (2)
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“What, 8 percent? Why are these lunatics so desperate not to kill people?”
Restraint mortality rate: 84%. Chest-opening accident rate for a heart swap: 8%.
Yeong-woo shook his head as if utterly fed up.
“Ugh.”
With that, he strode straight toward the bedroom.
“H-Hey, where are you going?”
“I need to call the doctor. I’d have agonized even over a 1 percent accident rate, but 8 percent...”
It was a probability that was hard to ignore.
Especially in a situation like now, where he had quite a bit to lose.
Thud!
As Yeong-woo entered the bedroom to use the phone, the Kim Tae-jun family—who had been watching the Returnee’s Room on TV—all turned their heads in unison.
“Oh, don’t mind me. Just a quick errand...”
Yeong-woo was about to say they should keep watching TV when he followed the kids’ gazes to the screen and his mouth fell open.
“...Damn.”
His own image was already appearing on the TV in the Returnee’s Room.
‘Right, that TV over there is showing me, isn’t it?’
In other words, the heart surgery scene coming up shortly would be broadcast unfiltered through that TV as well.
“I’m about to do a heart surgery in the living room, and it’ll show up exactly on that screen, so it’d be best to have the kids rest in another room for a bit.”
At Yeong-woo’s words, not only Se-ok but the ‘friends’ on the screen jumped in surprise and asked back.
“W-What are you going to do?”
―What the hell kind of crazy talk is that all of a sudden?
―Heart surgery...?
But Yeong-woo had no time to explain in detail.
He didn’t know how long the surgery would take, so if possible, he needed to open his chest right away.
‘At 10 o’clock, pay taxes quick, rest for an hour, then head out. No time to waste.’
Thinking this, Yeong-woo had already picked up the receiver by the bed.
Click.
He then immediately inputted the call number written on the surgery warning message.
※ Call Number: 024 0909#
‘Is this right? I got the heart myself, and now I have to pay to hire a new doctor just to install it?’
Beep, beep, bleep.
Once Yeong-woo entered the full call number, a kind of outgoing tone emanated from the receiver.
―Zzzzzzzzt.
It sounded like mere electronic noise at first glance, but since Yeong-woo had heard a similar sound through the cabin’s TV before, he waited quietly.
Then.
Clack.
Soon, the sound of someone picking up came from the other end of the receiver, followed by a very husky voice.
―Sacred Dispatch here. How may I assist you?
“......?”
Yeong-woo’s brain froze for a moment upon hearing the other party’s line.
For some reason, it gave him a similar feeling to when he’d made contact with the Rainbow Credit Company.
A foul intuition that this place was definitely no public institution or government-certified business.
“Um... do you have a doctor... available?”
At Yeong-woo’s words, the voice on the other end suddenly spoke in a much friendlier tone than before.
―Ah, looking for a doctor, I see.
Then it tossed out a question he hadn’t even imagined.
―Who may I have the pleasure of speaking with? If you know the planet name, full name, and identification number, please provide those as well, and we’ll dispatch the lead surgeon right away.
‘They don’t even know who’s calling or from where?’
Yeong-woo sensed something off.
The company name being ‘Sacred Dispatch’ was suspicious enough to begin with... In vibe, wasn’t it like a temp agency back on Earth?
“Pardon my rudeness, but are you a medical service? I’m looking for a doctor to perform a heart replacement surgery right now.”
The other party chuckled lowly and gave a curt reply.
―If you received this number, then yes, we are your medical service.
“Ah.”
It was an answer packed with implications.
Yeong-woo wasn’t oblivious; he vaguely grasped what this situation meant.
First, Sacred Dispatch wasn’t strictly a medical company. But among the personnel—or entities—they could dispatch, there were doctors.
Second, if the system had provided Sacred Dispatch’s call number, it meant this was the only option.
But surely proper medical companies existed in this universe—why could he only get a doctor through Sacred Dispatch?
“......”
A chill ran down his spine.
Evil karma stabbing straight into his heart.
“...Is it because my evil karma is too high?”
When Yeong-woo finally posed the loaded question, the other party responded as if caught red-handed.
―In a way, it’s actually a good thing? Our doctors are generally more skilled. Being in a similar boat, they’ll put extra sincere effort into the surgery.
‘Similar boat...’
Meaning the ‘doctor’ dispatched for the heart surgery would also be someone with an astronomical evil karma value.
What the hell did a doctor have to do to rack up that much evil karma?
‘I knew it. High evil karma changes even the surrounding infrastructure.’
And this was just a glimpse of differentiated medical services. No doubt other fields were the same?
‘This is basically the universe’s back alley.’
As Yeong-woo made a troubled face, Sacred Dispatch spoke up again.
―So, shall we send over a doctor? If you’d like, you can view the list of doctors currently on standby for dispatch.
‘They have a list of standby doctors? What kind of doctors have that much free time?’
Yeong-woo unconsciously pressed his forehead.
entrust his heart surgery to a dark doctor whose profile reeked of evil karma, or open his chest in front of the public doctor assigned by the surgery system.
For reference, the latter’s medical accident rate was 8%.
“F-First, could I see that list? It includes prices too, right?”
―Of course. Please state your planet name, full name, and identification number if available.
No choice now.
Yeong-woo checked his karma balance once, then recited his personal info into the receiver.
“Earth, Jeong Yeong-woo07.”
―And the last four digits of the call number you used to reach us?
“0909#...? This one?”
―Yes. Received. Sending them right away.
Before the other party even finished speaking, a list of ‘doctors’ appeared before Yeong-woo’s eyes.
―Take a look, and select the doctor you like—they’ll be dispatched immediately. Wishing you a safe surgery!
With that, the connection to Sacred Dispatch cut off, leaving Yeong-woo with only the list they’d sent.
[Sacred Dispatch Affiliated Doctors]
※ Aliases used to protect doctors’ identities.
※ If surgery succeeds, client’s evil karma increases by 1% of lead surgeon’s evil karma value.
「Morak’s Slaughterer」 - Evil Karma: 80 million
|Medical Accident Rate 4% or less, surgery fees negotiable.
● 4 million karma.
「Chainsaw Fiend」 - Evil Karma: 140 million
|Medical Accident Rate 3% or less, body modification specialist. Cosmetic procedures negotiable separately.
● 6 million karma.
“......”
It looked ominous from the top.
‘And the evil karma base unit is already in the millions...’
But Sacred Dispatch had reason to be confident.
The ‘doctors’’ medical accident rates were overwhelmingly lower than the public medical team he’d seen earlier.
For example, even Morak’s Slaughterer with a 4% or less rate was half that of the public team.
‘You can’t think of it as just a 1 or 2 percent difference. Medical accidents are catastrophic the moment they happen, so think in multiples.’
The doctor list continued downward, growing more absurd the further it went.
「Flesh Devourer」 - Evil Karma: 210 million
|Medical Accident Rate 3% or less, painkillers available.
● 7 million karma.
「Mind Piercer」 - Evil Karma: 280 million
|Medical Accident Rate 3% or less, psychiatry specialist. Internal injury healing, peace of mind.
● 10 million karma.
‘The 3% range must be the cursed zone.’
Yeong-woo began feeling skeptical.
Of course, with his current funds, those costs weren’t an unbearable burden.
But was the dragon heart truly worth risking his life over in surgery?
‘Fusion with the heart means it’ll probably turn into something amazing later.’
But if he died from bad luck mid-surgery, what was the point?
‘Maybe better to just process it into a talisman instead.’
The moment Yeong-woo started leaning toward a fallback option, the final doctor’s profile jumped out at him.
「Heretic」 - Evil Karma: 450 million
|Medical Accident Rate 3% or less, revival possible within 3 seconds of death during surgery. Additional fees from second revival.
● 14 million karma.
“What...? No way.”
Revival possible within 3 seconds of death during surgery.
Yeong-woo couldn’t tear his eyes away from the line claiming the impossible was possible.
Was this for real?
‘A scam? Make it look like death with tricks, then revive repeatedly to milk extra fees?’
Yeong-woo eyed the ‘Heretic’ profile suspiciously.
Plus, the surgery cost wasn’t just the listed 14 million karma.
※ If surgery succeeds, client’s evil karma increases by 1% of lead surgeon’s evil karma value.
‘1% of 450 million... 4.5 million.’
For Yeong-woo, with about 46 million evil karma remaining, that was a 10% increase.
He’d been trying to shave some off, and now his infamy would only grow.
‘This is driving me insane.’
Meanwhile, tax time was steadily approaching.
“......”
So in the end, Yeong-woo.
‘Le...Let’s trust Doctor Heretic once.’
Swipe.
He reached out and selected the miracle doctor who could even reverse death: Heretic.
Thud!
As soon as Yeong-woo finalized his lead surgeon from the list, all the profiles vanished.
And every light in the cabin went out.
Except for the TV connected to the Returnee’s Room.
―Wh-What’s going on?
―What’s happening over there?
―Sh...Should we prep the cannons?
The ‘friends’ tensed as the TV screen they were watching suddenly went dark, and Yeong-woo was carefully drawing his knife alongside his father.
“...To the living room, slowly.”
If the doctor came through a portal or something, they’d appear where the client was, so Yeong-woo first left the bedroom and turned toward the living room.
Then.
「Doctor here, you called? You’ll get pretty roughed up, so come somewhere without kids.」
In the dim living room, he spotted the doctor who’d been sharpening a scythe, beckoning him over.