The bewildered collections team hurriedly lifted Jo Eokbae onto the bed.
Taeho approached Jo Eokbae and checked his condition. Rema provided a more detailed analysis.
-There is a high probability of ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI).
Taeho urgently issued instructions.
“Administer oxygen via mask at 4 L/min. Contact the cardiovascular center and request preparation for primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), and administer 300 mg of aspirin and 600 mg of clopidogrel. Since it may take over 90 minutes to reach the cardiovascular center, prepare thrombolytics as well. And have the defibrillator ready in case of emergency.”
Under Taeho’s command, Park Geumja and the nursing assistants moved in perfect order.
“His blood pressure keeps dropping, now at 90/60. Arrhythmia is starting to show as well. His condition is critical, so let’s move quickly!”
Oxygen was supplied through the mask, while fluids and medication were administered at the same time to maintain his blood pressure. As transport to the cardiovascular center was expected to be delayed, thrombolytics were administered swiftly.
Taeho closely observed the vital signs displayed on the monitor. Rema’s voice rang out.
-Patient’s heart rate is rapidly declining. Ventricular fibrillation confirmed.
‘Damn it!’
Taeho pressed the defibrillator paddles he had prepared in advance against Jo Eokbae’s chest.
“Everyone, clear! Defibrillating!”
“Charged, 200 joules!”
An electric shock discharged from the paddles, and Jo Eokbae’s upper body jolted. After two cycles of CPR, they checked his cardiac rhythm again. Ventricular fibrillation still persisted, so a second defibrillation was performed. After continued CPR, his pulse began to return little by little.
Rema reported.
-Normal cardiac rhythm restored. Heart rate 62 beats per minute. Oxygen saturation rising to 91%.
A normal sinus rhythm was confirmed on the ECG monitor.
“Blood pressure has risen to 105/70. He hasn’t regained consciousness yet, but spontaneous breathing has returned.”
Taeho felt relieved, but he did not let down his guard.
“Maintain oxygen supply and continue monitoring vital signs. We need to transfer him to the cardiovascular center as quickly as possible. PCI is urgent.”
The patients in the waiting room all watched the scene with bated breath. The young doctor was desperately trying to save the man who, just moments ago, had been threatening him.
At last, Jo Eokbae’s heartbeat and blood pressure slowly stabilized. Watching the vital signs on the monitor gradually return to normal range, Taeho let out a sigh of relief.
“Hoo…”
Jo Eokbae slowly opened his eyes. His lips were still pale and bluish, but he was regaining consciousness.
As if to prove he had come back to life, Jo Eokbae drew in a deep breath.
“Haa…”
Everyone in the waiting room stood up, looked at Taeho, and clapped vigorously.
“He’s alive!”
“Wow!”
Taeho looked at Jo Eokbae and spoke calmly.
“You’ll need absolute rest for the time being. If we’d been even a little later, it could have been dangerous. You need continued treatment at a higher-level hospital, so we’ll transfer you once the ambulance arrives.”
Jo Eokbae blinked, trying to grasp the situation.
Jo Eokbae’s subordinates bowed repeatedly to Taeho, their voices choked with tears.
“Thank you, Doctor! If it weren’t for you, our team leader would’ve been in serious trouble today!”
Taeho gave a brief nod and replied.
“I only did what any doctor should. Please make sure to take good care of your team leader’s health from now on.”
Jo Eokbae muttered in a dazed voice.
“Fuck… What a goddamn awful day.”
Jo Eokbae’s eyes turned to Taeho. He could not find the words to say to the man who had saved his life. He had spent his whole life barking orders, but had never sincerely thanked anyone.
In a small voice, almost a whisper, Jo Eokbae ordered his subordinates.
“Clean up everything you messed up here.”
His subordinates immediately got up, put the scattered chairs and items back in place, and picked up the trash. With awkward yet serious expressions, they diligently did things they had likely never done in their lives.
The incident that day spread through Geumsan-ri like wildfire. The residents of Geumsan-ri who heard the story were left with their mouths hanging open.
“They say the director of Geumsan Clinic saved that nasty gangster boss?”
“He looked fine on the outside. Guess somethin’ was wrong with him too?”
“Who knows what’s goin’ on inside a person? But Geumsan Clinic really is somethin’, ain’t it?”
“They say those fellas were so grateful, they even cleaned the whole main road before leavin’. Ain’t that somethin’ strange.”
In an instant, Taeho became known as “the miracle doctor who saves lives and even reforms gangsters.”
The nursing assistants at Geumsan Clinic were delighted as well.
The collections team had even cleaned up all the trash piled up on the street in front of the clinic.
“Director, now even the crows won’t have anything to eat, so I don’t think they’ll show up in front of the clinic anymore.”
“It was bothering me how they kept rummaging through the trash in front of the clinic. This really worked out well.”
Taeho smiled and said,
“That’s good.”
No matter how clever and fine a bird a crow might be, was there any bird less suited to a hospital than a crow?
Recently, illegal dumping had become frequent in front of Geumsan Clinic, attracting flocks of crows. They came to peck at the food waste in the garbage.
“I’m sure the village chief put them up to all of it.”
Park Geumja crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes.
The problem was that they only had suspicions, with no proof that the village chief was involved.
But then the collections team cleaned up all the trash and even put up a sign.
[CCTV installed. If you dump trash here, ‘we’ will come to your house. We are watching.]
After that, trash never appeared there again. The crows no longer circled around the clinic either.
***
Seongun Capital office.
Ha Doyun received a call from Jo Eokbae, who was hospitalized. The corners of his lips rose in interest.
“He saved a man who was supposed to die like that? That doctor must really be someone who’s going to make it big.”
He immediately gave instructions to his secretary.
“Thoroughly investigate a doctor named Kang Taeho right now. Oh, and check whether I can invest in a hospital or whatever again.”
***
It had been a long day.
After work, Taeho returned home.
Before, whenever he came home, it felt like he was freeloading in a storage room. But now, it felt like he was resting in a proper home. It was thanks to Lee Hajun having decorated the house well.
For dinner, he simply cooked and ate ramyeon. Yesterday’s dinner had also been ramyeon, but after working hard all day and coming home, he could not be bothered to grill meat or make new side dishes, so he ate whatever was convenient.
‘If not for the food situation, it would be perfect…’
Even breakfast and lunch were mostly things he ate not because they were delicious, but because he needed to survive. He had tried almost every restaurant in town, but had not found one that suited his taste.
‘Let’s not complain too much. Just not being hounded by loan sharks is already something.’
Taeho shook his head and tapped Rema lightly.
“Rema.”
A hologram screen appeared beyond the transparent lenses, and Rema’s voice echoed in his ear.
-Yes, Kang Taeho.
“Search pharmaceutical stocks for me like last time.”
Even after paying off the loan principal and all the interest, he still had over 1.3 billion won left. The clinic was also generating solid profits every day, so he was thinking of using this money as seed capital to bet further on pharmaceutical stocks.
But the analysis data and statistics that would normally have appeared immediately did not show up. The screen trembled briefly, then only silence remained.
“Rema?”
With a puzzled expression, he tapped the glasses frame several times.
After a moment, Rema spoke again.
-Search is impossible.
“Impossible?”
Taeho raised his eyebrows.
What kind of unexpected situation was this?
“What’s going on? You were helping me just fine during treatment a little while ago. Nothing has changed, has it?”
Rema’s voice continued, more firm than before.
-You have already achieved the first objective, “earn 2 billion won.” In order to set a new objective, coins must be charged.
“Coins? What coins all of a sudden? Didn’t you say I could use you for free?”
-There is no cost to use me, but the system requires coins to be charged.
“And how do I charge those coins?”
-Coins are the value that forms the foundation of maintaining the social system.
Taeho let out a faint groan.
Was it saying ordinary medical treatment alone was not enough? Was it just his imagination that Rema’s voice seemed a little more rigid too? Why was this thing suddenly acting like a sulking girlfriend?
“Then specifically, what do I have to do for the coins you want to be charged?”
-That is something Kang Taeho must judge and act upon for yourself. Not simple donations or formal volunteer work, but social achievements that can prove the true mission of a doctor are required.
“So in the end, if I want to make more money through investment, I have to help people? Through something like medical volunteer work?”
-Correct! (Dun-dun~)
What was with that firm voice and sound effect…?
For a moment, Taeho felt his insides twist, but he said nothing more.
The clinic was currently running better than he could have asked for. As long as he diligently saw patients, he would have no problem settling in and steadily building wealth.
But he had already tasted what it was like to make a large amount of money at once using Rema. When he knew an easy way to make money, was there any need to take the long way around? It felt like something had been given to him and then snatched away, and that irritated him.
That night, Taeho’s worries deepened.
-Good luck, Kang Taeho.
‘You annoying bastard…’
-Your heart rate and blood pressure are rising. Are you perhaps angry right now?
‘Ha… That thing is definitely messing with me, isn’t it?’
Taeho roughly took off the glasses, then muttered timidly.
“…I’m going to shower.”
***
Morning at Geumsan Clinic.
Taeho was coming down the stairs from the third floor as usual.
An old woman who had been squatting in the corner of the stairwell saw Taeho and looked delighted.
“Doctor, sir, just a moment. I got somethin’ to tell you.”
The old woman had been crouching there for so long that her knees had stiffened, and she could not get up on her own. Taeho supported her with both hands and helped her stand.
Shabby clothes. A wallet clutched tightly in her hand.
The old woman seemed to have something to say, but the words did not come easily.
“Ma’am, let’s go inside first and talk.”
Taeho guided the old woman into the clinic.
Once they sat facing each other in the examination room, the old woman caught her breath and began to speak.
“My old man’s legs hurt so bad he can’t move at all. He can’t come to the hospital neither. If we just leave him be, I feel like somethin’ awful’s gonna happen.”
The old woman’s voice was trembling.
“You should call an ambulance and have him examined at the hospital. Would you like us to call one for you?”
“It’s become a chronic thing, you see. Goin’ to the hospital once or twice ain’t gonna cure it. And there’s another house in our village. The old lady there says she’s been short of breath for several days now. So I took the first bus this mornin’ to come get medicine.”
“But you cannot receive treatment on someone else’s behalf, ma’am. That’s illegal, so we can’t do that for you.”
“Doctor, sir. Can’t you just give me a little medicine?”
“I can’t prescribe anything without seeing the patient’s condition.”
“Don’t matter. We need medicine at least, or all us old folks are gonna end up dyin’ like this. Please, make us some medicine. Doctor, sir. I’m beggin’ you.”
The old woman clasped her hands together and pleaded desperately, as if she were the one who had done something wrong.
“Ma’am, please calm down and wait just a moment. I’ll look into it.”
Taeho called Nurse Park Geumja.
“Please check whether the city or public health center offers any home medical service or hospital accompaniment service for people with limited mobility.”
“Yes, understood.”
Park Geumja, having grasped the situation in the examination room at a glance, quickly went out and made calls to several places.
“Doctor. They say Geumsan-ri isn’t eligible for support.”
“Why not?”
“They say the budget has already been allocated.”
Taeho frowned for a moment.
“Then, ma’am, I’ll stop by this afternoon after my scheduled appointments are done.”
“What? Really? It’s way up in the mountains, so it’ll be hard to find…”
“I’ll make sure to go.”
The old woman took Taeho’s hand with an expression of disbelief.
“Doctor, really? You’re really comin’?”
“Yes. Don’t worry, and go back home.”
Taeho checked the hologram that appeared before his eyes.
-Coins can be charged through mountain village medical volunteer service.
-1% coin charge per consultation.