Doctor’s Rebirth

Chapter 46

In Jin Cheon-hee’s view, Yoo Ho was now truly at his limit.

Even though that guy doing nine jobs simultaneously had already far surpassed human limits, it seemed he still couldn’t work infinitely.

‘What a shame.’

It felt like watching a hard drive reach its capacity limit.

Whether it’s 10 terabytes or 100 terabytes, eventually you hit a limit when you keep adding data. That’s how it felt.

‘Still, maybe if I coax him a little more and gently push him…’

By Jin Cheon-hee’s standards, Yoo Ho wasn’t human, so he felt no particular pang of conscience.

Yoo Ho opened his mouth.

“You asked about my relationship with the master, didn’t you?”

“Haha, of course not. I’m just saying it so you’ll get bored and drop it.”

“So what is it?”

Yoo Ho’s brush paused slightly. Then he said,

“He resolved a grudge of an insignificant being.”

“Insignificant being?”

“To people, it may be an insignificant creature, but even such creatures have grudges. He resolved one of those.”

“Doesn’t ‘insignificant being’ usually refer to animals or plants? Why do you call yourself an insignificant being, Chief Yoo?”

Yoo Ho didn’t answer. He just smiled bitterly.

“Are you curious?”

“Of course.”

“That’s good. I hope you keep being curious until you develop stress-induced illness.”

Jin Cheon-hee reached out and grabbed both of Yoo Ho’s cheeks. Then he stretched them out to the sides.

The boy smiled brightly and said to Yoo Ho,

“Doing this makes our Chief Yoo’s face look brighter. Indeed, from a physiognomy perspective, having some cheek fat makes one look more fortunate.”

“Even if you say that, I still won’t tell you more. Well, I might tell you when I’m about to kill you, young master.”

Jin Cheon-hee, without letting go of Yoo Ho’s cheeks, asked,

“Killing pests, something like that?”

“If you’re that curious, why don’t you fail in treating the master?”

This damned fox.

They bickered like this for a while.

When Jin Cheon-hee let go, Yoo Ho said,

“I’m not telling you for your own sake, young master. Well, you probably won’t believe this either.”

“…”

“But it is strange, I must admit.”

“What is?”

“That there’s a human still alive who works me like this and tries to dig into my past like this. In that sense, may I pluck out just one of your fingernails? I won’t kill you.”

“Forget it and just do your work. After the liver, it’s the spleen.”

“We’re going in surgical order, I see.”

“Most of the Medical Pavilion members who volunteered for the Surgery Hall participated in surgeries with me. The physicians of the White Dragon Medical Pavilion already have solid basics, and this is practical experience they’ve worked hard for. It’s good to refresh their memories.”

“Oh, that’s quite a good idea. I was wondering what order you were following for the table of contents… Honestly, I’m impressed.”

“Oh, you’re impressed? So does that make you not want to kill me?”

“But I have to draw the illustrations, don’t I? And edit the book too.”

“Yeah, that’s right.”

“As expected, young master, you’re not human.”

Regardless, Jin Cheon-hee kept pushing Yoo Ho.

The production of medical texts and education was progressing smoothly.

Those who received Jin Cheon-hee’s knowledge were opening their eyes to a new world.

At this rate, in a few years, it should be possible to teach the knowledge Jin Cheon-hee knows by turning it into books.

And the White Dragon Medical Pavilion might become the world’s premier medical institution, dominating the medical system of this world.

***

Arc 7: Surgery and Antibiotics (1)

Winter was getting even deeper in earnest.

Jin Cheon-hee was still busy with his daily routine, but recently there had been a change in that routine.

It was because he had roughly finished the work of turning surgical knowledge into books with Yoo Ho’s help.

Now, he had officially started activities as the Surgery Hall Master.

They decided to accept patients deemed to need surgery, limited to the area near where the main branch of the White Dragon Medical Pavilion was located.

That was just a few days ago.

Of course, Yoo Ho had worked hard for this.

Only Yoo Ho could create the tools needed for surgery.

‘This level is about equivalent to an early to mid-20th century operating room. That Yoo Ho. I really wonder about his true identity. The master just laughs and doesn’t say anything. The hall masters seem to know something.’

Jin Cheon-hee, wearing a pure white outer garment, looked around and marveled.

Glass IV bottles. And the IV lines and catheters connected to them. A variety of tools including very sharp small knives, scalpels, and forceps.

All of these were items made by pestering Yoo Ho.

Even things that made you wonder if they could be made were there, along with disinfectant solution that had been distilled multiple times.

And today.

For the first time since Wang Gak-yeon, another surgery was scheduled.

Unlike Phantom Archer, who had barged in suddenly asking to be saved, this was a patient who had come here through proper medical examination.

It was also a patient that even the world-renowned Divine Doctor Baek Rin had shaken his head at, saying survival would be difficult.

The diagnosis was acute appendicitis.

Commonly known as a ruptured appendix.

“The patient is entering.”

With a voice from outside, the patient was brought in.

The wheeled medical bed the patient was lying on was also something made by pushing Yoo Ho, and it was said that now, recognizing its usefulness, other nearby craftsmen were being commissioned to make them.

“So this is the operating room. How fascinating…”

“Now we can finally witness the young lord’s surgery skills.”

Besides the patient and the Medical Pavilion members who would assist with the surgery, Master Zhuge Rin and three of the four great hall masters, excluding the Martial Force Hall master, entered.

During the previous surgery on Wang Gak-yeon, they couldn’t match schedules due to their own work.

It seemed they had come to observe directly today.

Of course, Yoo Ho, the nurse, was also present.

Recently, they had been training nursing staff through Yoo Ho, but no one was as satisfactory as Yoo Ho yet.

“Then we’ll begin the surgery. First, everyone has checked the medical diagnostic records, right?”

As everyone nodded, Jin Cheon-hee finally picked up the knife.

This time, Yoo Ho assisted as a nurse, and Zhuge Rin helped from the side.

First, he placed his free hand on the patient’s abdomen.

He moved his qi to feel the inside.

Although he had been practicing consistently since learning from Zhuge Rin in the past, it felt new every time.

It was like gaining a new sense, so it couldn’t be helped.

Jin Cheon-hee’s expression wrinkled as he checked the internal organs with this.

‘As expected, it’s a mess… Usually in this state, it’s hard to survive without drugs like antibiotics.’

Appendix surgery. The original name is acute appendicitis.

It refers to when the appendix becomes blocked and perforates (forms a hole).

When this happens, the contents of the digestive organs spill out, infecting and contaminating the internal area.

If not dealt with quickly, death occurs.

‘According to the medical records, the abdominal pain started five days ago. It’s unclear when the appendix perforated… Still, the vitality is good considering this state. Truly, all hail qi.’

He picked up the scalpel. He slowly cut across the abdomen with the sharp knife.

As he skillfully split open the belly, there was no need to open the peritoneum as a foul odor emerged from inside.

It was natural, given that the appendix had perforated, spilling all the contents of the intestines.

“Hemostasis! Suction!”

At Jin Cheon-hee’s words, Zhuge Rin’s hand moved like lightning to press acupoints.

The bleeding stopped instantly, and simultaneously, Yoo Ho reached out and sucked out the filth from inside the abdomen using the Void Absorption Technique technique.

But even so, the inside was still in a mess.

“Organ extraction! Is the water ready?”

He took out the intestines as a whole. Then he put them in the prepared boiling water and washed them.

He repeated and repeated until the contamination was removed, then stitched up the flesh to fix the ruptured appendix.

His hands were quick and swift. There was no bleeding during this process.

He managed to suture without touching even a single artery.

“Alcohol!”

Alcohol, that is, high-purity alcohol made through repeated distillation.

He used it to wipe and wash the organs and the inside of the abdomen one more time.

Then, after sucking it out again with the Void Absorption Technique technique, he pushed the organs back inside.

“Indeed…”

“My, my…”

The three great hall masters watched this process in astonishment.

For them, this kind of medical treatment was something they had never seen before.

Although the White Dragon Medical Pavilion is one of the three great medical institutions in the world, so they do use surgery techniques, even they had never seen or performed surgery at this level.

While they were surprised like this.

Jin Cheon-hee quickly began to suture and close the abdomen.

Everyone watching this expressed amazement upon amazement.

“The surgery is over. Please move the patient to the recovery room and ensure proper blood transfusion treatment.”

Thanks to pestering Yoo Ho to make glass IV bottles, they were now able to perform blood transfusions.

It was still impossible to make the IV fluids to go into the IV bottles, but with research, they might be able to make something to some extent.

‘There’s so much to do…’

The surgery ended successfully. But Jin Cheon-hee’s face wasn’t bright.

And unlike Jin Cheon-hee’s appearance, everyone else was expressing admiration.

The Medicinal Herbs Hall master, Man Pa-gok, spoke first.

“Truly amazing. Even that Bloodborne Elder Eccentric couldn’t perform this kind of surgery technique.”

At those words, the Acupuncture Hall master, Sama Byeong, fell into thought.

“To open the abdomen, wash the internal organs, suture them, and put them back… Usually, the moment you cut open the belly and take out the intestines, doesn’t the patient die? Sooner or later, that is.”

This era still lacked knowledge about infection and inflammation. Sama Byeong’s doubt was natural.

The Chiropractic Hall master, Joo Danha, said,

“Internal energy can extend life to some extent, but without being a peak master, recovery is impossible. Even if one becomes a peak master, if the wound is deep, there’s no way to avoid death.”

At those words, Sama Byeong furrowed his brow.

“Usually, they die after extreme high fever. Moreover, with a perforation in the intestines, it’s virtually impossible to eat or excrete, so death is just a matter of time.”

Appendicitis surgery is relatively easy treatment in modern times.

But in this era, it was a terrifying disease that led many to death.

The Medicinal Herbs Hall master asked the Acupuncture Hall master,

“Acupuncture Hall master, what do you think will happen to that patient?”

“The suturing is perfect and there’s little bleeding, so I don’t think that will happen… but we’ll have to observe the progress later.”

Can the fever problem really be solved?

The Medicinal Herbs Hall master’s shoulders grew heavy.

‘Existing internal injury medicines couldn’t control all fevers, can it be possible?’

Worry appeared on her kind face.

‘The young hall master has done his duty. The rest is up to me to take on!’

She too had devoted her life to saving patients.

Internal injury medicine is the most difficult medicine to compound. It had to consider the patient’s wounds, constitution, food eaten, and even the cause of the internal injury.

It was already remarkable to achieve this much in an era without antibiotics.

At that moment, Jin Cheon-hee left the operating room. All four great hall masters gathered towards Jin Cheon-hee.