Chapter 32
Thump, thump, thump.
My heart was still racing wildly on its own.
The hellscape that had just unfolded in Area A was still vivid before my eyes.
The bright-red bloodstains splattered on my coat sleeve made it feel even more real.
...I saved him.
Me.
With these hands.
A dry laugh escaped me.
This had to be reported.
This insane experience was too much for me to keep to myself.
I had to tell that place—my only outlet, the place where the teachers of hell gathered.
‘Gallery.’
As soon as the blue interface appeared, I hammered out the post with fingers—no, thoughts—that still hadn’t cooled down from the excitement.
Title : Hey, I just saved a person's life.
Author : 헬조선노예1
A patient who'd had a tonsillectomy a week ago came in saying his throat smelled of blood. When I checked, blood was seeping from the surgical site in tiny drips.
I had a bad feeling, so I’d laid out the intubation set in advance just in case and was trying to stop the bleeding… when he suddenly coughed once and a fountain of blood burst out of his throat.
It really went sploosh and burst out.
In an instant, his airway was blocked and his sats dove into the 70s, and I was the only one around. So I just did it. Shoved the tube in. Bottom line: success. The patient is stable on the vent now. No questions.
And.
[새로운 댓글이 달렸습니다.]
[새로운 댓글이 달렸습니다.]
[새로운 댓글이 달렸습니다.]
The notifications exploded.
I scrolled down with the feeling of opening a bag of popcorn.
ㅇㅇ (210.94) : ?
라떼는말이야 : ??
히포크라테스후예 : ??? Living one, what on earth is that supposed to mean?
수술실망령3 : ????????????
A feast of question marks poured out endlessly. Why?
ㅇㅇ (118.235) : No way, you did that without any practice?
뼈덕후88 : ?? How the hell did you do that?
마취과통증의학과 : Cut the crap. You seriously did that in a real case? A post-op bleeding patient? A case with top-tier airway management difficulty, and you handled it alone as a first-year? How?
ㅇㅇ (1.234) : Hey, Hell-Slave, tone down the bullshit, you fucking bastard ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Hey, man, blood was gushing out like a fountain—did you even have a clear view? Could you even see the vocal cords? Did you have an endoscope for eyes or something? ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
메스의신 : I enjoyed the story.
Criticism and mockery rolled in like waves.
Yeah, go ahead and talk all you want.
The bright-red blood splattered vividly over my white coat and mask.
Click.
Without saying a word, I tossed a single photo into the comments.
ㄴ 헬조선노예1 : [사진]
The gallery once again fell silent for a second.
And what broke that silence was shock.
ㅇㅇ (210.94) : …It was real.
마취과통증의학과 : It’s blood. Look at the splatter on the mask and gown. That was definitely arterial bleeding. And it’s not like you came back from another patient just to make this up.
수술실망령3 : Wow… this crazy bastard. He actually pulled this off?
라떼는말이야 : You young punk sure have guts.
The mood flipped.
Doubt turned into awe and surprise.
I scrolled down, basking in satisfaction.
As expected, nothing beats proof.
메스의신 : Lucky. So did you prepare a Plan B?
Plan B?
메스의신 : You must’ve prepared surgical airway access like a cricothyrotomy or something, right?
I went blank reading that comment.
Surgical airway access?
Cutting the throat open?
Oh.
Oh, right.
That thing I got wrong in simulation.
Without thinking, I replied honestly and simply.
ㄴ 헬조선노예1 : Oh, right. I just prepared the intubation set.
Silence fell.
And.
ㄴ 메스의신 : Hey, you son of a bitch!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It was the beginning.
마취과통증의학과 : Are you fucking crazy, you really wanted to die or something!!!!!! What if you'd failed?! What if the tube hadn't gone in! What if the vocal cords hadn't been visible through that bloody mess! Were you just going to stand there and watch the patient suffocate and his heart stop, you insane bastard!!!!!!!!
ㅇㅇ (118.235) : Hahahahahahahahaha wow, I really never would've imagined that hahahahahahahahahaha you just charged in without a Plan B? hahahahahahahahahaha
히포크라테스후예 : Living one… your courage is admirable, but your recklessness will incur the wrath of the gods!
The gallery was completely turned upside down by rage and shock.
메스의신 : Be glad the outcome was good, because if you'd failed, the patient would have died.
I had nothing to say in the face of those brutal facts.
Come to think of it, that was true.
I had only assumed success.
I hadn't considered failure for even a second, not for a single moment.
Was this that famous tunnel vision?
ㅇㅇ (210.94) : But damn, this crazy bastard really is insanely good at it lol
수술실망령3 : Give credit where it's due. Successfully intubating on the first try in an airway spewing a fountain of blood is just insane. Even a third-year would be shaking so hard they'd fail on a case like that.
마취과통증의학과 : I can't tell if it's talent or if he just doesn't have a brain, fuck...
라떼는말이야 : Hahahahahahahahaha but seriously, why didn't you prepare a Plan B? The more I think about it, the funnier this bastard gets hahahahahahahahahahaha
뼈덕후88 : Is this that mindless meta thing or whatever? You’re such a hardcore man, 헬노예 lololololol
I let out a hollow laugh at their reactions.
Yeah.
Even I think I'm kind of a lunatic.
I stared blankly at the chaos in the gallery, filled with a mix of mockery and praise.
What had I just done?
Did I save a person, or did I just get lucky in some huge gamble?
My head throbbed.
Dozens of comments kept pouring in in real time, fighting, analyzing, mocking, and marveling among themselves.
It was obvious to these crazy ghosts that my desperate struggle was their favorite spectacle and gossip fodder.
Then, just as the madness had been going on for a while, one comment appeared that silenced all the noise.
In a lofty tone, as if he were the board's head mod or something.
히포크라테스후예 : Enough, everyone! The discussion of this living one's deeds has been sufficient. Now it is time for [Dead Doctors Gallery] to deliver its official verdict on this great yet foolish act!
...A verdict?
What the hell is he talking about? Is this some kind of Roman court?
I stared at the screen, speechless.
히포크라테스후예 : Ahem. Then I shall begin the verdict now. First, a multifaceted examination of the protagonist of this case, 헬조선노예1, is necessary.
히포크라테스후예 : First, what of his manual skills? We have already confirmed through numerous cases that both of his hands are terribly ill-suited to medical work. Failing to perform even a single suture properly is par for the course, and he even achieved the unprecedented feat of yanking out a patient's tooth with his bare hands. Therefore, his hands are not a doctor's hands at all, but merely lumps of protein!
He's hitting me with facts.
I couldn't find a rebuttal.
히포크라테스후예 : Second, however, what of his airway-management skills? Astonishingly, in the worst possible situation, with blood gushing out like a fountain, he succeeded in perfect endotracheal intubation on the first try. That is a feat even an anesthesiologist with decades of experience would struggle with. Therefore, I judge his airway-management ability to be absurdly, almost mysteriously, exceptional! A truly grotesque talent—trash at hands-on work, but somehow a genius at airway control!
A grotesque talent, huh.
Is that praise or an insult?
히포크라테스후예 : Third, did he save the patient? Yes. Without his swift judgment and action, it is obvious the patient would have died of asphyxiation. He undeniably saved a life.
Yeah, that's true.
히포크라테스후예 : Fourth, did he nearly kill the patient? Also yes! There was no Plan B prepared for contingencies. If the first attempt had failed, he would have had to watch helplessly as the patient died. This is the result of arrogance and ignorance, utterly unfit for a doctor!
I quietly nodded.
Yeah, exactly.
All of it is true.
When 히포크라테스후예 finished spouting that nonsense, the final verdict was at last handed down.
히포크라테스후예 : ..Therefore, the members of [Dead Doctors Gallery] hereby appoint 헬조선노예1 as a 'doctor whose hands are trash-level human waste, but whose airway management is freakishly, unnaturally good, who dramatically saved a patient while also nearly killing that patient, and who possesses courage and recklessness, genius and idiocy, all at once'!
...Why the fuck is it so long.
라떼는말이야 : Clap clap~
수술실망령3 : (cat character clapping emoji)
ㅇㅇ (210.94) : Clap clap clap clap clap! It’s the glory of the family, 헬노예야!
뼈덕후88 : Kyaa, the Great Hell-Slave.
The gallery instantly turned festive.
..Applause?
I stared into space with empty eyes.
This situation was absurdly unreal.
I had just come back from a life-or-death struggle, and these ghosts were awarding me some fucked-up title I couldn’t even tell was a reward or a punishment, clapping among themselves.
The existential crash hit me.
A deep, dark existential crash.
Screw it.
I gave up on everything and decided to play along with the rhythm.
In this crazy world, maybe the only way to survive is to go crazy along with it.
헬조선노예1 : Clap clap.
ㄴ ㅇㅇ (118.235) : Look at this bastard lolololololol
ㄴ 라떼는말이야 : hahahahahahahahaha I told you to clap and you actually did it
ㄴ 마취과통증의학과 : hahahahahahahahaha
ㄴ 수술실망령3 : hahahahahahahahahahaha oh, this is fucking hilarious hahahahahahahahahahaha this bastard is really a piece of work, a real piece of work hahahahahahahahaha
Ugh.
I quietly closed the gallery window.
I lost.
There's no beating these lunatics.
In the on-call room, I quietly repeated the title those ghosts had just given me.
‘A doctor whose hands are trash but who’s freakishly good at airway management, who saved a patient yet nearly killed him.’
...Damn.
I can't deny it.