Chapter 99
Thus, the first day of the conference came to an end.
No, more accurately, I survived it.
My first oral presentation completely changed my life as a doctor.
Of course, I...
had become a star at the convention hall.
Right after the presentation ended, I was at the coffee booth in the lobby, gulping down free coffee.
At the table right next to me, a group with the ominous words Seoul Aseong Hospital on their name badges kept glancing my way and whispering.
“Hey, hey, see that resident over there....”
“Yeah, the one who opened that guy up...”
“Damn. They say he's a second-year, but he's got guts... his advisor looked completely wrecked.”
‘Yeah, that was me, you bastards. I’m the one who screwed your buddies over.’
I deliberately ignored their stares and downed the hot instant coffee in one go.
My tongue felt scorched, but that wasn't what mattered now.
The same thing happened in the hallway as I moved to another session room.
A group of dignified professors passing in front of me recognized me and stopped walking.
Of course, I just kept walking, stubbornly pretending not to care while acting like I didn't notice their attention.
But I couldn't stop their voices from drifting into my ears.
“Heh-heh, was that fellow the one who gave the oral presentation at that trauma session in Busan...?”
“Ah, you mean the laparotomy story? With just one case, he even boldly went so far as to make a proposal. He's got guts.”
“Tsk tsk, whether that's guts or recklessness...”
I had to keep my head down and hurry past them so I wouldn't make eye contact.
Please, could you just stop paying attention to me?
Even at the restaurants near the conference venue, this crazy star life showed no sign of stopping.
That evening, we had a dinner together with everyone from our hospital.
We were seated in a corner, quietly grilling meat.
“Hyeonjae. Still, you were awesome today. It was so satisfying.”
Lee Minjae chuckled as he filled my glass.
Of course, it wasn't alcohol; he said he had bad luck if he drank.
“Ah, could you please be quiet? Right now...”
Before I could finish, the restaurant door opened and a group of doctors from another hospital came piling in.
Fortunately, they didn't seem to recognize me.
Then I heard the sound of whispers.
“Oh, that's the guy who...”
“Meeting him in person.”
“That famous Han Hyeonjae from Cheongjin University? Oh, the one who gave that famous crazy trauma presentation...”
I dropped the samgyeopsal I was holding with my chopsticks back onto the grill.
‘I can't even eat in peace.’
I kept my head down and just shoveled rice into my mouth.
Yeah, Han Hyeonjae.
The road I'd chosen... but I couldn't help being conscious of the stares.
That day in the restaurant, I could feel dozens of eyes on my back.
Even in the hotel lobby, this insane star experience wouldn't stop.
The next morning, after being wrecked by the previous day's drinking and stress, I went downstairs to eat breakfast at the hotel.
The moment the elevator doors opened, a group that looked like residents sitting on the sofa and drinking coffee held their breath when they saw me.
“Hey, hey, that's the guy who...”
“Whoa. It's him. The one who gave that presentation yesterday.”
“Damn, look at that presence. He came in wearing a hoodie...”
I looked down at my own shabby getup, dragging my hotel slippers along.
‘Presence my ass. I'm just some unemployed bum from the neighborhood.’
I trudged toward the scrambled eggs at the breakfast buffet under their awestruck gazes.
...That's right.
I had unintentionally become a star.
As the second-year lunatic who cut open a belly in the ER.
And in the corner of the convention hall, across the restaurant table, and inside the hotel elevator, Professor Cheon Eunjeong was always there too, grabbing the back of her neck with a soulless expression.
All conference long, she just looked at me with a face that said, 'Oh, what bad luck I have,' while rubbing the back of her neck over and over with a deep sigh.
I simply pretended not to know anything and kept snagging the freebies.
Free eco-bag. Jackpot.
**
And so, the entire two-day conference really did come to an end.
No, it was just about to wrap up.
I sat there, thinking it over carefully.
‘I wasn't even possessed by some crazy bastard called the God of Scalpels, so why the hell did I do that... Ha...’
With skills and live coaching from hundreds of ghosts, my mouth had talked far too fluently about the paradigm of emergency medicine in Korea, completely regardless of my will.
Thanks to that, I had become a total lunatic.
“Ha...”
What could I do? It was already something I'd gone and discussed.
I don't know.
Since it had come to this already, I might as well just bulldoze straight ahead.
I was watching the final session, the closing ceremony and awards ceremony.
‘I want to go home. I want to go home, eat chicken, ignore any KakaoTalk messages, and just sleep.’
Someone on the stage picked up the microphone.
“Then, lastly, we’ll proceed with the awards for outstanding presentations. First, we’ll have the outstanding poster presentation award.”
…
“That concludes the award ceremony for the outstanding poster presentation. Congratulations, everyone.”
Right, the outstanding poster presentation award had just finished... so what came next?
I absentmindedly flipped through the program booklet.
[BEST ORAL PRESENTATION]
Ah, so it was the outstanding oral presentation.
Well, that had nothing to do with me.
I should be thankful just for getting through without causing any trouble.
That was probably for the real scholars—the professors who presented AI prognosis prediction models or gave passionate talks about post-resuscitation care.
I put my hand on my bag's zipper to start packing up.
“Then, next, we will announce the winners of the Spring Academic Conference Outstanding Oral Presentation Award!”
Dum-dum-dum-dum-
A pointless sound effect played.
Replace the outsourced company next year.
What the hell was that cheap BGM?
“There are four winners in total! Those called, please come up to the podium!”
With a flashy fanfare effect, four names appeared on the screen.
[Wulseong University College of Medicine Kim Minjin]
[Gyeonggi-do Fire and Disaster Headquarters EMS Medical Director Hwang Juwon]
‘Yeah, yeah, those guys deserved it. Nod, nod.’
I tried to stand up and grab my bag without any lingering regret.
[Cheongjin University College of Medicine Han Hyeonjae] [Dong-A University College of Medicine Choi Jeongguk]
“Puhhff—!”
I nearly spat out the free bottled water I'd just gulped down.
I covered my mouth with my wet hand.
My name.
There.
Why.
Me? There?
No, honestly, it had been shocking, but it wasn't the sort of presentation that should win an award.
“Damn, I should've anticipated this too.”
No, wait.
How was I supposed to predict that?
They're giving an award to that insane presentation?
To a presentation that was practically a declaration of war—'Emergency medicine doctors should cut open bellies too'?
This conference.
It was even crazier than I'd thought.
Stay calm.
Beside me, Professor Cheon Eunjeong pinched my forearm.
“Hey. You. What are you doing not going up there?”
Professor Cheon's voice was trembling slightly too.
At that moment, the entire conference hall began to stir.
“That guy from Wulseong University... was he just appointed as an assistant professor? Wow, an AI-based prediction model... he deserves it.”
“The role of an EMS medical director is important too.”
“But what's that? Han Hyeonjae from Cheongjin University?”
“A laparotomy? What kind of case is that? Have you heard about it?”
“Come on, professor. Don't you know? That Cheongjin University guy is the most famous...”
“Wow, insane. They gave an award to that presentation? This conference is crazy.”
“No, the impact was incredible. Maybe he'll end up in a showdown with surgery later.”
“Please, everyone, be quiet...”
I felt like crying as I pushed through hundreds of gazes toward the podium.
And just like that, I ended up standing on the podium.
On my left stood the Wulseong University assistant professor, who looked like a real genius, and on my right stood the seasoned EMS medical director.
And between them stood me, frozen like a complete loser.
The conference chair approached me with an expression disguised as a kindly smile, as if to say, 'You little bastard, you're something else.'
“Congratulations, Dr. Han. That was very impressive.”
“Ah... yes... thank you...”
And so I stood there and accepted some heavy plaque—I couldn't even tell whether it was a plaque, trophy, or certificate.
Camera flashes went off all around me.
“Okay, look straight ahead! Smile!”
I forced the corners of my mouth upward.
And so I smiled with the chair and took a photo on the podium.
My vision went white, and I couldn't see anything.
No, there was just one person I could see.
There, in the third row of the audience.
Lee Minjae.
‘Don't you dare laugh, Lee Minjae.’
Lee Minjae was holding up his phone, filming this historic moment of humiliation while his shoulders shook uncontrollably.
His mouth was twitching as he tried to hold back laughter.
That bastard.
I had really hoped his presentation would be selected as the outstanding oral presentation.
‘I can totally see he's about to die laughing at my expression.’
“Yes, congratulations again, Dr. Han Hyeonjae!”
At the host's voice, I came to my senses.
I awkwardly bowed once more and stepped down from the podium, carrying that plaque, which felt heavier than a year's salary.
Anyway, with that, my first oral presentation, the single biggest dark chapter of my doctor life, and at the same time the dazzling, shitty spring conference that brought me the greatest fame of my life, came to an end.