Doctor’s Rebirth - Chapter 390

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 390
“Hmm?”
“So he’s not just some quack, but someone moving with a specific purpose. Once I started thinking about it that way, everything began to fit into place.”
At those words, Sama Hyeon stroked his chin thoughtfully.
“True enough. If he were only concerned with his own safety, there’d be no reason to change what his predecessor established. Tinkering with something that’s already running smoothly would be reckless, not wise.”
“Right. That’s what I thought.”
“So, have you finished everything that needed to be done?”
“No. Now I need to begin the actual treatment in earnest. There are people who need surgery.”
Six critically injured patients in total.
Those requiring surgery due to complications.
The reason I couldn’t perform surgery immediately was lack of preparation.
I brought certain equipment in case surgery might be needed outside, but setting up and preparing those things takes time.
Unlike back at Unryongpyoguk when I had to operate hastily with nothing, unable to even worry about infection, the equipment situation now is vastly different.
“Then I’ll handle the external security. I can work with Man Seon, right~?”
“I’m sorry, Hyeon-a. You were supposed to just return to the Geumhyeol Hall.”
“What~ I’d rather stay and play with my brother anyway. So brother, do your best.”
“Yeah. I’ll give it my all.”
With those words, Jin Cheon-hee rose to his feet.
Until reinforcements arrive from the Geumhyeol Hall, antibiotics are a limited resource.
Though I brought a generous supply, it’s not enough to save an entire village from plague.
‘Hmm, my hands are trembling.’
After parting with Sama Hyeon, I leaned my back against a suitable pillar.
Adversity is truly exhausting.
Just when I thought I’d finally reached a realm and escaped it, a greater hardship rears its head once more.
I cycled through the Hyeonwon Jeondan Singeong repeatedly with intensity.
Taking deep breaths in and out, I gauged my vision using the pillar as a reference point.
How much time had passed? The tilted world righted itself once more.
‘Even if the ground were to tilt beyond measure, completely inverting up and down, there would be no functional impairment.’
An ordinary Gangho doctor might not understand, but I knew my realm wouldn’t allow such a thing to happen to me.
What frightened me was how this situation would end, and how much time remained.
‘No fever yet.’
No one knows whether I’ve been infected or not.
It’s like how everyone on a tour bus eats the same thing, yet some get food poisoning while others remain perfectly fine.
It’s simply a matter of probability, high or low.
‘I hope there’s enough medicine left for me.’
Of course, not developing the illness would be best.
* * *
Generally speaking, when a renowned major sect of Gangho is mentioned, its main headquarters rivals a small city in scale.
Martial artists alone number at least a thousand who can live there, and the servants and attendants working to support such warriors number another thousand or more.
A space capable of sustaining several thousand people.
Moreover, since the families of these people live in the surrounding areas, the development of commerce and trade to support them is inevitable.
Because of this, the scale cannot help but grow to that of a city.
In such circumstances, even if secret meetings occur within Oh Dok-mun, it would be difficult to detect them if there were traitors within the organization.
Here and now.
A clandestine meeting was taking place in the residence of the Oh Dok-mun Sect Leader.
Boldly, the Sect Leader had summoned his ally to his own quarters and was conversing with him.
“The Guardian Elder will not awaken for several more days. Are the preparations complete?”
The Oh Dok-mun Sect Leader posed the question. The handsome young man responded with a bitter smile.
He was certainly the one who had clashed with me.
The shaman who had determined the location of the burial ground.
“Of course. The Veiled Madman has already fallen into the trap. Just as the rumors suggested, he shows no hesitation in sacrificing anything to save people.”
“The limitation of foolish hypocrisy, I suppose. That half-breed will be the same, but….”
“Well, the board is set. Now you understand what you must do?”
“I do. I march out and capture the Veiled Madman, correct?”
“What of the Mun-ju?”
“We can dispose of him at the same time. He’s been obstructing us constantly anyway, so it would be more convenient to end this now and have me take his position.”
The shaman nodded at the Sect Leader’s words.
“I pray your plan comes to fruition.”
“It will… certainly come to pass.”
Soon after, the shaman uttered certain words.
“Amse Cheonha, Amse, Amamse.”
The Sect Leader echoed the same slogan in response.
“Amse Cheonha, Amse, Amamse.”
The two hermits of Oh Dok-mun chanted the slogan bearing the will of the Demonic Sect’s first leader, then rose from their seats.
* * *
The region itself is a hot area.
Because of this, bathing in hot water is rare, and everyone washes with cold water.
Naturally, typhoid fever could easily spread through such water.
Especially since I had heard this was a region that practiced bathing once every three days?
In the end, the spread of the plague could only accelerate.
‘If I insist from now on that they drink only boiled water and wash with boiled water… will these people actually follow through? Seeing how they accept salmonella as a type of poison, perhaps I could convince them using that framework… but.’
There are practical problems as well.
In a world without gas stoves, creating hot water ultimately requires chopping firewood to generate heat.
Realistically, additional labor is inevitable.
‘As a modern person, it’s rather foolish for me to act superior and say, “You must only drink boiled water!”‘
This isn’t a place like Wan-nong where such culture has already taken root. And I’m not going to chop firewood for them.
In the current situation, it’s possible to boil water temporarily for treatment, but what comes after?
‘In the end, everything requires actual material cost.’
No matter how much knowledge of the future I possess, without understanding the circumstances of this era, it amounts to nothing more than a sense of superiority.
My mind grew complicated, but I shook my head.
‘I’ll think about it later. The patients in front of me come first.’
After all, when the disease breaks out, I can’t even be certain whether antibiotics will remain for my own use.
I deliberately lowered my gaze.
Rather than looking far ahead, escaping this immediate quagmire beneath my feet took priority.
I entered the operating room with these thoughts in mind.
I sterilized my body with fire and confirmed that the hastily constructed formation was functioning properly.
‘So there are six patients requiring surgery in total.’
All of them needed surgery performed as quickly as possible if their lives were to be saved.
However, from the perspective of a surgeon, it was an extraordinarily exhausting task.
The saving grace was that all the doctors who came with me were Medical Staff—those who had been thoroughly tested under my guidance.
In other words, they were veterans with considerable surgical experience even among the medical professionals.
“Hehehehe, Master, I find myself performing surgery here as well.”
One of the Medical Staff spoke with a vacant expression.
Though his eyes held no spark of life, his hands moved with practiced precision in preparing for surgery.
He was a warrior of reversal—having lost something precious as a human, yet gained knowledge that advanced humanity and saved lives.
I felt a warmth in my chest.
“I can’t tell you how reassuring it is to have you here with me.”
“Before we departed, you said we’d be eating tropical fruits and sightseeing… I feel utterly deceived.”
“Hahaha, that’s just the way our lives are, isn’t it?”
With a radiant smile, I silenced the Medical Staff and rolled my neck to loosen it.
The patient had finished anesthesia and fallen asleep, with one of the Medical Staff taking his pulse.
“We’ve brought a fair amount of antibiotics, but anesthetics are not so plentiful, Master. Once we use all five remaining doses, I’m uncertain what will happen.”
“Yes. We’ll have to pray that no more surgeries become necessary.”
‘That’s right. Resources are always scarce. I’ve never known abundance… wait.’
This is Gangho.
I repeated this to myself several more times, then examined myself carefully.
If mistakes were to occur, it would be right to withdraw now.
“….”
The Hyeonwon Jeondan Singeong inspected every corner of my thoughts.
As expected, there were no problems with its function.
Then I had no choice but to utilize this body.
“Patient Jang Cheon-gong, age thirty-six.”
“Yes, preparations for intestinal cleansing are complete.”
“Then I’ll begin surgery. This will be a long day. Hahaha.”
Perforation is always problematic.
Simply put, perforation refers to a hole developing in an organ—perforation of the stomach if it occurs there, intestinal perforation if it occurs in the intestines.
The greatest problem with typhoid fever is damage to Peyer’s patches.
Peyer’s patches are small, rice-grain-shaped structures where lymphoid nodules congregate, playing an extremely important role in the immune system.
When the small intestine absorbs nutrients, lymphocytes pass through these Peyer’s patches to block bacteria.
This typhoid bacterium deliberately allows itself to be consumed by macrophages in these Peyer’s patches, where it survives and reproduces.
When macrophages migrate like that, typhoid bacteria spread accordingly throughout the body, naturally becoming a major cause of complications.
While the typhoid bacteria scatter throughout the entire body, Peyer’s patches develop ulcerations, and in severe cases, they perforate.
‘Intestinal obstruction~ osteomyelitis~ arthritis~ cholecystitis~ parotitis~ and depending on the person, some develop hearing loss and can’t hear anymore~’
These complications contribute to elevated mortality rates.
As if humming a trot song, I mentally recited the list of typhoid complications.
‘Right. I knew I’d see this at least once. Typhoid fever.’
It’s fortunate I brought my direct medical staff.
“Before our friend draws his blade, let’s take one more pulse reading. Well, the vitals look decent at this level. From what I can see now, there don’t appear to be other complications, but… we’ll need to keep monitoring while administering antibiotics after the surgery.”
I immediately began the laparotomy.
As I opened the abdomen, the medical staff performed acupuncture at vital points to minimize bleeding.
Blood supply was naturally insufficient.
Blood is the patient’s life. Therefore, an inexperienced surgeon could not hold the scalpel.
I immediately extracted the internal organs, cleaned the contaminated areas inside the body, and resected the sections that needed to be removed.
“It’s fine. The necrosis isn’t as severe as I thought. You must have been quite healthy. This would be much better if you just drank less alcohol.”
Clean resection.
Not a single drop of blood spilled.
After that, the next medical staff member immediately pressed the blood vessels to stop the bleeding again and began suturing.
“It’s easier to sew cloth by flipping it inside out—why can’t we do that with people?”
I deliberately made a strange joke to maintain the atmosphere.
The medical staff continued to assist me.
‘Normally he’d leave the suturing to us, but it seems he’s doing it himself to finish quickly.’
‘We can’t keep up with that speed.’
‘That level of precision… would Hwagyeong be capable of it?’
Then, as if they had made a promise, the medical staff reached the same conclusion.
‘But to reach Soggakju’s level, wouldn’t you have to work yourself to death like Soggakju does?’
Soon their eyes became those of vagrants whose souls had been stolen.
“Kyaa, as expected, it’s me. Look at these clean sutures.”
The medical staff watched me praising myself and thought.
‘Soggakju… this is impossible for us.’
Just the gap between us now is enough to kill us if we tried to make him our role model.
Work-life balance isn’t called that for nothing.
Medicine is important, but doctors are people too—people need to live first.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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