December 14, 1994. Maebashi City, Gunma Prefecture, Kanto Region, Japan.
After finishing a twenty-four-hour shift, Kiryu Kazusuke walked out through the hospital’s front doors.
The winter wind cut across his face like a knife. He breathed out a plume of white mist and could not help pulling his coat tighter around himself.
As a resident physician, this sort of high-intensity work had long since become routine.
People came and went at the hospital entrance.
There were patients’ family members hurrying in, colleagues like him who had stayed up until their eyes were bloodshot, and the wail of an ambulance siren drawing near from afar before roaring away again.
Kiryu Kazusuke merely glanced over before walking on.
It was not that he was cold-blooded.
Rather, before he had his stroke of luck in his previous life, he had been a doctor too. After seeing such things too many times, one grew used to them, and then numb to them.
Counting from the day he opened his eyes, exactly seven days had passed.
He rubbed his temples, which felt somewhat swollen from exhaustion.
“Kiryu-kun.”
Just as he had taken only a few steps out of the hospital, a voice rang out behind him.
Kiryu Kazusuke stopped.
Turning around, he saw a woman in an off-white coat, a thick cashmere scarf wrapped around her neck, her face made up with exquisite care.
Osada Ayaka.
A nurse from the First Department of Surgery, and the senior who had given the original owner hope before destroying it.
“Is something the matter?”
Kiryu Kazusuke put his hands into his pockets to warm himself a little.
“Yes, there’s something I’d like to talk to you about.”
Osada Ayaka revealed a smile like the warm sun in winter.
“I know you’ve just gotten off work and must be exhausted, but this is truly important to me. Could I take up a bit of your time and buy you a cup of coffee?”
As she spoke, she pointed at the family restaurant across the street.
Kiryu Kazusuke stared at her for a while.
He had a fair idea of what she wanted to discuss.
During the twenty-four hours he had been on duty, a medical incident had occurred in the hospital.
The nurse performing the procedure at the bedside had been Osada Ayaka.
And Kiryu Kazusuke, as a junior resident physician, had been present the entire time.
“Let’s go.”
Kiryu Kazusuke did not refuse. Mainly, he also wanted to know how this senior of his intended to argue her way out of it.
……
The heating in the family restaurant was turned up high.
The two of them found a window booth and sat down.
Osada Ayaka took off her coat, revealing the pale pink wool sweater underneath.
She first poured a glass of water for Kiryu Kazusuke before pouring one for herself.
“Kiryu-kun, you still remember that I was the one who showed you around back then, don’t you?”
“Yes.”
That much was true.
In his memories, Osada Ayaka had always been the kind of senior who was gentle, considerate, and understanding.
From the moment he entered the First Department of Surgery, she had always taken good care of him as a newcomer.
She would take the initiative to show him around, comfort him from the side when he was scolded by seniors, and bring him homemade bentos when he was on the night shift.
What young man could withstand a test like that?
The original owner had soon fallen for her.
Osada Ayaka continued speaking as though chatting idly. “Back then, you really didn’t know anything. You couldn’t even find the door to the medication room. I had to teach you step by step. Time really passes quickly.”
Kiryu Kazusuke did not respond.
He ordered himself the cheapest blended coffee, then waited for her to get to the point.
A while later.
Osada Ayaka held her water glass and sighed softly. “The hospital has already started an internal investigation into what happened yesterday.”
“This afternoon, the head of the Nursing Department even specifically called me in for a talk. She said it was an operational error on my part.”
“But Kiryu-kun, you were there the whole time.”
“You should know that what I did at the time was entirely in accordance with standard procedure. There was no problem at all.”
Toward the end, her voice lowered, carrying a hint of grievance.
Sitting across from her, Kiryu Kazusuke took a sip of the coffee the server had just brought over.
It was very hot, and the taste was only so-so.
His sense of taste was rather dull; he could not tell the difference between hand-ground and instant coffee.
He set the cup back on the table, his gaze falling outside the window.
The leaves of the roadside trees had mostly fallen, their bare branches pointing toward the overcast sky.
Kiryu Kazusuke, a graduate of the Gunma University School of Medicine.
After passing the national medical practitioner’s examination, he had naturally joined the First Department of Surgery at the university’s affiliated hospital as a resident physician.
And yet, one week ago, the original owner had chosen the dead end of suicide by charcoal burning.
The reason?
Very simple, and very clichéd.
On the night of Thanksgiving, November 24, he had seen the senior he admired get into a Toyota sedan at the hospital entrance, and it was not until the next day that he saw her return with her gait somewhat unnatural.
Heartbroken and despairing, the original owner had chosen to end his own life.
As for the current Kiryu Kazusuke who had reincarnated here, after the initial period of adjustment, he could only accept reality helplessly.
What a pity.
Not that he was sympathizing with the original owner.
It was simply because this world’s culture and entertainment had not diverged at some turning point.
Haruki Murakami’s Trilogy of Youth existed, and Tokyo Love Story had also defined the brilliance of the “Monday 9” drama slot in 1991…
More importantly, he had not awakened any profound memories.
When he picked up a pen and sat at the desk for half a day, in the end, all he could force out were a few lines such as “My high school grades were not ideal”…
The shameful but easy path of reaching the pinnacle of life through plagiarism was not open to him.
A few seconds later.
Only then did he withdraw his gaze and let it fall once more on Osada Ayaka’s face.
Were the facts really as she had described?
Of course not.
That elderly patient had chronic heart failure complicated by severe left ventricular dysfunction, and his infusion rate and dosage needed to be strictly controlled.
Yet when Osada Ayaka administered the intravenous injection, she had manually increased the drip rate of the infusion pump.
This was a major taboo in routine procedure. For a frail elderly patient, a large volume of fluid rushing into the body in a short period of time would sharply increase the burden on the heart, causing blood to rapidly pool in the lungs.
And afterward, the patient’s condition had indeed developed in that direction.
The old man quickly developed extreme difficulty breathing, coughed up pink frothy sputum, and his blood oxygen saturation plummeted.
If Kiryu had not reacted quickly, immediately identified the problem, and organized resuscitation, that patient might already have been gone.
He said mildly, “Osada-senpai, the hospital’s investigation will have a professional judgment. I believe they’ll get to the bottom of it.”
The meaning was very clear.
Everything would be handled according to procedure. Whatever the investigation team asked, he would answer.
Osada Ayaka’s expression changed slightly. “Kiryu-kun, this investigation is very important to me.”
“If it’s determined to be a medical incident, not only will I be disciplined, my nursing license might even be revoked.”
As she spoke, she leaned forward slightly.
She valued this job very much.
Back when she was in university, she had sworn that she would one day live the life of those women in department stores, dressed properly with exquisite makeup.
However, reality very quickly taught her what reality was.
She had graduated just in time for the economic bubble to burst.
Work as a nurse was hard, and her salary was only barely enough to sustain her life.
So she understood: relying on herself alone was not enough.
Even diving athletes needed the rebound force of a springboard in order to leap upward.
She was the same.
The Kiryu Kazusuke before her had originally been one of the springboards she had chosen.
Although he was only a resident physician now, after a few years, he would grow up and become an operating surgeon beside an operating table filled with money.
Osada Ayaka reached her arm forward.
She grabbed Kiryu Kazusuke’s hand and said with earnest expectation, “So I hope that when you’re questioned in the investigation, you can put in a word for me.”
“Just say…”
“That my actions at the time were completely in line with regulations, and that it was an accident caused by the patient’s own condition, all right?”
“You’re a top student who graduated from this university. Your testimony carries a lot of weight. As long as you speak up, they’ll definitely believe you.”
As she spoke, her eyes reddened, as though she were about to burst into tears.
This was her trump card.
In the past, as long as she showed this expression, Kiryu-kun would immediately soften. No matter how excessive the request, he would agree.
This time would surely be the same.
However, Kiryu-kun said nothing. He neither agreed nor refused, merely looking at her quietly.
Osada Ayaka froze.
After waiting a few seconds.
She blinked, then carefully looked again at the Kiryu-kun before her.
It was still that familiar face, clean and delicate, with a hint of youthful student-like innocence.
But there was also something different.
The Kiryu-kun of the past had always been somewhat reserved and shy in front of her. When he spoke, he would not even dare to look her directly in the eye.
This made her feel a trace of unease.
Osada Ayaka lowered her head, her tone full of grievance and disappointment. “About Professor Mizutani… he was the one who kept pestering me. I had no choice. I could only agree to him…”
As she spoke, she raised her face again, so that Kiryu Kazusuke could see that her eyes were already brimming with tears.
A girl’s youth was limited.
Although Kiryu Kazusuke was a promising prospect, she did not want to wait any longer.
That Professor Mizutani was in fact only an associate professor in the First Department of Surgery. His full name was Mizutani Mitsumasa, and he was in his forties. Although he had a wife and family, as long as he spent generously, that was enough.
When a shortcut was placed before her, she had made her choice with almost no hesitation.
Even if she could only be a mistress who could not see the light of day, it did not matter.
As long as she could live respectably.
Yes, in the process, she had gotten somewhat carried away and had not paid much attention to Kiryu Kazusuke’s feelings.
In truth…
Kiryu Kazusuke was merely looking at the pale red screen of light before him, and at the lines of text clearly visible upon it.
[The Wicked Woman Worldline Convergence Plan has been activated.]
[Monitoring in progress.]
[…]
[Osada Ayaka: It’s all that old thing’s fault. If he wanted to die, he should’ve gone and died at some other hospital. Ugh, Professor Mizutani hates troublesome women the most. I absolutely have to make Dr. Kiryu help me cover up this accident!]
[Convergeable worldlines—]
[Branch One: You choose to protect yourself, and when questioned by the Medical Affairs Section, you state that you were unaware. (Reward: You may spend one passionate night with her tonight.)]
[Branch Two: You decide to cover this matter up for her, assuring the Medical Affairs Section that Nurse Osada’s actions were without issue. (Reward: She will become your lover for a duration of two months.)]
[Branch Three: Your conscience acts up. You uphold medical ethics and report the truth. (Reward: Your bank balance increases by 100,000 yen.)]
[Branch Four: You are vindictive. Not only will you report her, before that, you will toy with her a bit. (Reward: Kirschner wire fixation—Perfect.)]
To explain a few points.
1. Correspondences. Roughly speaking, resident physician: standardized trainee; specialist trainee: resident/chief resident; specialist: attending physician; lecturer: senior attending/teaching physician; associate professor: deputy department director + associate professor; professor: department director + chief physician + doctoral supervisor + academic leader.
2. Salary issues. The income of doctors at university hospitals is divided into two parts: salary and outside income, at a ratio of roughly 6:4. Lower-level resident physicians had very low salaries, sometimes even lower than convenience store clerks, because there were also those who worked for 0 yen (unpaid medical department members). This situation did not improve until the medical reforms of 2004. There was also the Arubaito phenomenon at the time, referring to doctors taking part-time shifts at other hospitals on their days off to supplement their living expenses.
3. Tuition issues. Tuition at national universities was at the level of several hundred thousand yen per year. If one had no money but wanted to attend an expensive private university, there were also student loans.
4. Surgical authority. In 1994, the old clinical training system was still in place. First-year resident physicians could independently perform minor surgeries such as appendectomies. In some hospitals, they could even independently handle emergency traumatic wound debridement and suturing, as well as fracture reductions, with the primary responsibility also falling on the operating physician.