Chapter 134: Abnormality (4)

Meanwhile, Lee Hyunjong was at the emergency room. He was an outstanding physician who could qualify as a professor of surgery, but he didn’t know much about infections.

True experts recognize their limits.

He felt slightly defensive, but regardless, the director had made tremendous achievements in the emergency room.

“Yes, Dr. Choi. It seems that they should be transferred to the intensive care unit.”

“How is the intake?”

“Eh… The director personally handled it, so I’ll ask you to take care of it later.”

“Okay. Good. Where is the intensive care unit?”

“In the main building. They’ve been assigned to the internal medicine department’s intensive care unit.”

“There were beds available?”

“Yes. Exactly two.”

“Good.”

It wasn’t easy to be admitted directly into the intensive care unit (ICU). Not all patients hospitalized were appropriate for the ICU, and even doctors preferred not to admit their own patients there if possible. Of course, it was always best to leave some beds open for emergencies, but the director’s intervention meant that principle had to be broken.

“Hey, I got them into the ICU. Let’s go.”

Lee Hyunjong returned with a smug grin on his face to where Suhyuk and Shin Hyun-tae were still arguing with their boss.

At this point, they hadn’t finished discussing the matter at hand. Shin Hyun-tae waved his hands in annoyance; he thought about how he should just give up trying to get Lee Hyunjong to listen to him at times like these.

“S-Stop checking up on me.”

“Hey, I’m also a doctor…”

“He’s a heart specialist, and these patients have infections.”

“Hah…”

Normally, Lee Hyunjong would’ve flipped out by now. He was fundamentally a good person but not to the point where he wouldn’t acknowledge his flaws. However, right now, it wasn’t the time for that. It was the moment when the authority and expert in infectious diseases, Shin Hyun-tae, was monitoring critical patients.

‘Ugh, how annoying.’

Lee Hyunjong might be annoyed if someone kept interrupting him while he was treating heart patients. That’s why he bit his tongue and stepped back.

“So…there is no such thing as a miracle cure?”

“Huh? Yes, of course. What kind of miracle could there possibly be within our army? Our soldiers can’t grow them.”

“Indeed…”

Meanwhile, Shin Hyun-tae continued asking questions with a serious expression, and his superior answered sincerely.

No, there’s no sign of animal infection, so perhaps it is not a psychogenic illness.

Suhyuk listened to their conversation from the side, sharing opinions based on what he’d heard.

I can’t be certain, but if this were truly such a severe illness… wouldn’t there already be pandemonium? If wild animals are the source, then shouldn’t they have been infected first?

That is true, though… Hmm.

There was no further breakthrough, however. Rather, digging up more information felt like falling deeper into a labyrinth.

Shin Hyun-tae’s situation wasn’t much different.

So it isn’t psychogenic. Then…then I need to think about something else.

His mind wasn’t going blank at all; humans had always been overflowing with ideas.

Despite being stuck with a dead end, they could still propose new theories.

Infection from contaminated water? Hmm, that’s possible but…

Extracting the most plausible theory was another story altogether.

“Who will be transferred to the intensive care unit?”

Meanwhile, two agents dispatched from the ICU arrived.

“Oh, here.” Lee Hyunjong stood there looking free and raised his hand.

The agents rushed over as if they knew the director would be present.

“Yes, Dr. Choi. We’ll transfer them right away. If you need any—”

“I’ll do it!”

Since he had already assigned an intern to assist him during their visit to the emergency room, the transfer went smoothly.

Suhyuk was able to move with only his staff, which made it possible for Shin Hyun-tae and Suhyuk to continue their conversation.

“By any chance, is there any possibility that these two might have been involved in some personal activity?”

“Personal activity… Hmm.” The manager scratched his chin and cocked his head. From the perspective of trainees, they wouldn’t be doing anything else within the training camp, but the manager had already received dozens of new recruits, so he had a different viewpoint.

They sure know how to pull off some crazy stuff.

Apparently, one of them had even hidden alcohol and eaten at night. In other words, it meant that these two could have done something else outside of the training camp, something outrageous.

“They might have done something. When we asked them…they said they didn’t do anything.”

“Of course they would say that if you ask them.”

“Yes, well…anyway, it isn’t entirely impossible for them to have done something after getting out of control.”

“Hm…I see. And…”

Shin Hyun-tae continued asking questions until he reached the intensive care unit and was about to enter the room. This was so he could get as much information as possible before interviewing the patient. There was a huge difference between asking based on background knowledge versus not knowing what to ask.

“Thank you. I will contact you again.”

“Yes. If not me, then Ha Taesung will be here. We will contact the guardians separately.”

“Ah, yes. Then…”

After saying goodbye, Shin Hyun-tae immediately entered the intensive care unit. The patient already had a tube inserted and only needed to be connected to the respirator. Shin Hyun-tae’s face darkened as he watched this happen. He knew all too well that connecting a ventilator to a pneumonia patient was not a good sign for their prognosis.

It is necessary but…

If the virus continued to progress, there were cases where patients would die without any way to save them.

“Ah, Professor Shin. I’ve come.”

“Yes, Professor Hong.”

Fortunately, these patients received VIP-like treatment through a slightly strange route.

The director had asked for his direct help and this hospital’s policy was to treat soldiers with the utmost care, so as soon as Hong Changgi, a pulmonologist, finished seeing out patients, he rushed up to the director’s office.

“I heard about it from Dr. Choi.”

“Yes, the progression has been quite unusual. Perhaps you were exposed to some sort of toxic substance?”

“Huh? Toxic?”

“Yes. Judging by these pictures…the progression is too fast. It is possible that this isn’t simply an infection.”

“Ah… Poisoning. Poisoning…” Shin Hyun-tae nodded, thinking about how different respiratory diseases could be.

“Hrmm. Poisoning.”

Lee Hyunjong had also never considered this possibility, so he unconsciously took one step closer to Suhyuk. Regardless of whether it was something he knew or not, his interest lay in medicine due to his personality.

Huh.

On the other hand, Suhyuk’s face looked as if someone had slapped him across the face. He had been quite confident after acquiring Baruda, since his skills were already recognized in America. His arrogance had grown somewhat due to that success, but he hadn’t thought about poisoning at all.

[Poisoning. Huh.]

Likewise, Baru hadn’t considered this possibility either.

Let’s reflect on ourselves. We’re still far away.

[Th-that’s right. Poisoning. Huh…]

Of course, this patient’s cause of pneumonia could have been due to a virus instead of toxic substances, but it was problematic that they hadn’t considered Poisoning at all.

‘As far as I can tell, that is most likely the case’.

[That is correct.]

This seemed like the most plausible theory. Only two people who were exposed to the same poison would be affected, which explained why no one else in the room had symptoms. The rapid progression compared to other known diseases also made sense. Moreover, the difference between the symptoms and photos found online was explained away.

“By the way, what kind of poison is this? Is there something similar in the army?”

In any case, while Suhyuk and Baruda entered reflective mode, the conversation with Hong Changgi and Shin Hyun-tae continued.

“That thing…it exists. Why?”

The two professors had both served in the military for quite some time and weren’t particularly invested in their service, so it was difficult to have a smooth conversation with them.

“That thing?”

“Yes, that… I think it’s gas, gas.”

“Oh… Biological warfare?”

“Right, that! Is it possible that it is C.S.? It is extremely spicy.”

Of course, there were still shocking experiences imprinted on his mind.

Biological warfare…

Shin Hyun-tae’s eyes were still red as he spoke, indicating that he was heated up. He seemed convinced by about 90 percent of what Hong Changgi said.

However, Hong Changgi shook his head at this explanation.

“Huh… That isn’t it.”

“Huh? No?”

“It…really well-made. There is no poison.”

“Huh. Then what is it? What?”

“We should start checking from now on. First… One of them was conscious earlier.”

“Ah, yes. I gave him only oxygen. It might be difficult but…”

“That’s right. Should we go? I’ll take care of this friend here.”

“Yes, that would be good.”

The blow that could be considered a finishing move, the C.S. Tan shot, had caused Shin Hyun-tae’s shoulders to shrink somewhat. Lee Hyunjong laughed at his opponent’s appearance as if he found it amusing.

“It doesn’t seem like infection anymore… You aren’t an expert?”

It seemed he was bothered by the previous incident.

“You’re older than me so…”

“I’m still 60 years old!”

“Sigh. Please get out of my way and let me see the patient.”

“You aren’t an expert?”

“Still, I have to look. At least, I’ve started seeing patients.”

“Well, yes. In any case, I’ll take a look at him too. Poisoning, so my interest is definitely piqued.”

Hong Changgi was the most important person, but he was quiet while the two argued amongst themselves. This was because there was a significant age difference between them and they were both senior members of the hospital staff with much higher positions than Hong Changgi’s.

“Patient, can you hear me?”

Fortunately, despite their bickering, the patients understood that this wasn’t meant to interrupt their treatment, so they listened attentively. Thanks to this, Professor Hong could continue his questioning without any problems. The patient’s condition had improved from the X-ray, allowing for a successful conversation.

“Yes, yes.”

“Do you have any experience working alone with another patient?”

“No…nope. Never.”

“Never? Please answer carefully. The patient is doing better now, but that wasn’t the case for this one. If you don’t give me clues, it will be difficult to treat him.”

“Uh…”

Hong Changgi dug deep but didn’t get much out of him. He decided to change his approach.

“Then have you ever smelled something before?”

“Huh… No, not really. Well, there was that time I went to a bathhouse.”

“And?”

“I’ve never experienced anything like that before.”

This also yielded no results. Just as he wondered what to do next, Baruda spoke up.

“It seems you’re lying.”