Plague Doctor - Chapter 18

Chapter 18: True Definition Of “Guts”
Translator: Larbre Studio Editor: Larbre Studio

In the first three hours of dissecting the cadaver, Gu Jun’s performance displayed the full extent of his ability.
Professor Gu immediately announced his intentions to bring Gu Jun to participate in the competition. Everyone else had no objection. Regardless of Gu Jun’s skills in other medical aspects, he was simply a killing machine on the dissection table. 2
“Boy, keep up your efforts. Don’t waste your talent.” Professor Gu once again changed his attitude towards this evildoer and regained some favourable impression towards him. That was because it was impossible to achieve this level of skill without innumerable hours of practice. Gu Jun must have devoted a lot of effort into it. 2
“I will.” Gu Jun nodded, thinking back to how it took three hours before he could dissect even one-third of the malformed hand. His mission completion was only at 6%, and only 68.5 hours were left. There was barely enough time to even sleep. He insisted. “I want to continue for another 10 minutes.”
Hmm? Cai Zixuan, who was cleaning up the dissecting instrument, suddenly froze. The original plan was to return the instrument back to place and lowering the cadaver back into the refrigerated tank on the dissection table. They would then cover it up with a damp formalin cloth and raise it up the next time they had dissection.
“10 more minutes?” Xu Hai couldn’t help but exclaim. “Even a man hanging himself needs to take a breather!” After three hours, his waist was sore and his legs were hurting. His eyes were swollen, his hands were numb, and his fatigue was extended beyond his physical body. 2
“I support Ah Jun!” He Yuhan raised her hand. It seems that she had already become one of Gu Jun’s little fangirls. If it wasn’t for the fact they were in the same grade, she really wanted to greet Gu Jun as Senior Brother.
“I need to rest for at least another hour,” Wang Ruoxiang said. She knew her condition the best and shook her head slightly. “If I only rest for 10 minutes, I will die.”
Human anatomy and experimenting on mice were two vastly different things.
Xu Hai was about to cheer. The class monitor was wise!
“I mean, I will continue to dissect by myself. Whoever wants to join me, please feel free.” Gu Jun never thought of pulling them into his antics because the completion degree only counted his own operations. It could be exploited in that way. He said earnestly, “I plan to stay in the Dissection Building these days, and I will only sleep for five hours at night.” 1
“Well, boy. You can continue practising. Anyone who wants to practise with him, go ahead.” Professor Gu gave the go-ahead. Having a surgical operation which lasts for more than ten consecutive hours was a common occurrence in the medical world. It acted as a test to see if one possessed enough physical strength and mental fortitude. “Nowadays, it is rare to have national resources to support us. The school has also given the green light. But if you want to practise, then you can operate on the other more ordinary limbs. This malformed hand should be left when everyone is present.”
“I understand.” Gu Jun nodded.
This time, Cai Zixuan and He Yuhan both chose to stay and follow him to dissect the right upper extremity of the body. In contrast, others left the laboratory to rest.
The right upper limb was the standard structure of the human body part. The three operated while referencing the anatomical atlas of the human upper arms. Even without the guidance of Professor Gu, they had no problems technical-wise. 1
The three buried themselves in dissection. They only stopped after another three hours had passed, and it was already evening.
Gu Jun saw that the mission completion rate had achieved the 10% mark. He had been operating non-stop for the past three hours, but it only increased by 4%. He guessed that the dissection of the anatomically malformed hand would increase the completion rate at a swifter pace, while regular parts of the anatomy would add less to the completion rate. There was only one deformity which everyone had to share. When he thought about this, time became even more pressing.
“We continue!” He said. 1
Cai Zixuan gave a weak squeal, while He Yuhan revealed a trace of panic and regret.
After another half an hour or so had passed, Wang Ruoxiang came back with box meals and mineral water. There were another three hours in the evening when they had to “do battle”.
Gu Jun and the three had only stopped at this point and went outside to the corridor to rest and eat dinner. At this time, He Yuhan was so tired that she felt like she was about to faint. She never had such a good appetite, pouncing on a box meal and wolfing it down ravenously. It tasted so delicious that she was almost moved to tears.
There were some other Frontier Cup students in the corridor as well, who were also training here. After the break, everyone was gossiping about the malformed remains.
“Did some plague break out?” 1
“Plague? No, do you think that the deformity is a form of illness?”
“Could it be some sort of secret experiment?”
Everyone was busy clamouring, but none could come up with a concrete explanation, and few people actually leaned towards supernatural explanations. Medical “slaves” were devout believers of science, after all.
Gu Jun ate the boxed meal in silence, but his heart had a vague premonition that there was some sort of outbreak that the public didn’t know about. 5
***
The next three days, the urban legends of medical “slaves” sleeping in the Dissection Building was proven to be true.
Gu Jun showed the other five students the true definition of “guts”. Apart from the five hours of slumber at night, he would always be immersed in three-hour dissection exercises. Wang Ruoxiang and Cai Zixuan all rotated turns to dissect, while he would always be the one on the field. 4
It is impossible to brag on the dissection table. Whether one had genuine skills or not, all would be revealed.
Now Gu Jun had firmly secured a spot on the team roster as an expert, Professor Gu also gave him high praises. Indeed, when a scholar returns after three days of isolation, others would be left slack-jawed by his progress1.
Wang Ruoxiang2 feels that she had become Wang Zhenxiang3. That was because Gu Jun’s contribution to medicine should at least be more significant than mice now. 8
It was not like Gu Jun did not feel tiredness, but he simply could not afford to stop. He had to obtain the reward of the map piece! He had no other options! Watching as the completion rate of the mission progressed bit by bit from 10% to 20% to 50%, and then to 80%. Although his mental state and efficiency had declined across the board, he still gritted his teeth. He continued to persevere on and repeated to himself like reciting a mantra: “I cannot surrender.”
This marathon-like dissection seemed to be a baptism of formalin, which transformed him. 2
This was the first time in Gu Jun’s life as a medical student that he had been so desperate. He was so tired that he lacked even the energy to fall asleep. 6
However, his rewards were not just the increase in proficiency of the Hands of Dexterity. His own understanding of various surgical anatomical and surgical techniques had also significantly improved.
At the same time, the more he dissected these anatomical remains, the more befuddled he felt by the matter at Longkan. It was not like there were abnormalities in other parts of the body. Contrary, the other parts were extremely ordinary and healthy. It was precisely this fact that made the cadaver’s death more difficult to understand.
The greater the progress on the dissection of the malformed hand, the more Gu Jun’s previous judgment was confirmed to be correct. It left them terrifyingly confused! What surprised them the most was that the humerus and radius were not just simply twisted together, but the radius had penetrated through the middle of the humerus yet the humerus had no symptoms of fracture. 6
This was medically impossible, even if nuclear radiation was considered.
Their tower of medical and scientific knowledge started to have rifts in them.
They wanted an answer, but perhaps they may only obtain it in the future or maybe never find a solution.
***
Finally, on the afternoon of the third day under the guidance of Professor Gu, the group of six finished the dissection of the body’s abdominal area.
The remaining time of the mission was only 00:14:38. Less than 15 minutes left. When Gu Jun completely removed the liver from the corpse…
With a DING! in his head, the message prompt box started to pop up continuously:
[Current anatomical completion: 100%, DIFFICULT mission – Mission Completed!]
[The level of the Hands of Dexterity has risen! The current level is second-tier(0/30000 proficiency)] 4
[Mission rewards are waiting to be collected: 1 piece of incomplete structure map. Click to receive your rewards.] 2
Finally… it’s done! Gu Jun frowned, before letting out a sigh of relief. But with the exhalation of this breath, he felt his surroundings spin. His entire body wobbled unsteadily and almost collapsed to the floor. The liver almost flew out of his hands. He mustered the last dregs of his strength to place the liver on the anatomical plate and propped himself up so that he would not fall.
“Gu Jun?” Wang Ruoxiang was the first to notice his difficulty. The liver wasn’t moving? Following that, everyone discovered his condition.
Xu Hai’s eyes were a little crazed. HAHAHAHA, finally can’t hold out any longer? It seems like you are just a mortal after all! HAHAHAHA. 1
“I’m done,” Gu Jun gasped as he spoke to the rest. “I’m going to crash in the dormitory. Otherwise, you guys would be dissecting me tomorrow.”
“Hurry up and go back,” Professor Gu waved his hands and extolled Gu Jun. Looking at Gu Jun’s red and swollen eyes, his exhausted face, and a foul odour emitting from his body, Professor Gu was really afraid that the boy would die suddenly. 3
With the withdrawal of Gu Jun, Cai Zixuan, his chief deputy, lost his spiritual pillar and suddenly started to wobble. Over the past few days, Cai Zixuan’s already-thin hairline further receded, and his originally dark circles had evolved to cover his entire face. 6
The secondary deputy, He Yuhan, did not fare much better. Everything in her vision looked green in color. She was a pharmacist, goddamn it, but she had dissected more than clinical students over the last few days. She understood now that following Gu Jun was not suitable for her. She’ll be exhausted to death! 3
“Then everyone, I’ll be leaving first.” Gu Jun removed his gloves, mask, and white coat. He washed his hands at the sink counter and hurriedly ran out of the laboratory. He left the Dissection Building and rode his bike back to the dormitory. 2
Mission rewards, I want to receive my mission rewards!
Meaning that after one has disappeared for a long time and made tremendous improvement, others cannot use the same pair of eyes to judge him
Ruo means false/fake
Zhen means real/true