Chapter 48 – Online Star (7)

Dowook had planned to refuse. But Kim Suhani’s sense which pulsed through his hands at that moment made it impossible to do so.

Broadcast. The desire to communicate. Even before he organized his thoughts, the words left his mouth.

“Don’t blame me if this fails.”

“It’ll be even more awesome if it fails. A good angle will come out from YouTube. You shouldn’t misunderstand, the goal isn’t to win. It’s mainly to communicate with Battleland newbies. I’ll talk to the organizers first, please sit down and get warmed up.”

Almost pushed to sit in front of the computer, Dowook looked alternately between the main monitor showing the game screen and the second monitor showing the chat window.

Ddirring.

-I’ll cure even my patient’s broadcast! Doctor, you’re so cool!

The ID was highlighted blue on the second monitor, and the amount of donation came up.

Dowook instinctively said these words.

“‘NoMatterHowMuchGingerIsHarvestedI’mGarlic’ thank you for the ₩50,000. We’ll make good use of it as the patient’s medicine fee.”

「??????」

「What was that? It was totally a streamer’s tone.」

「Like patient like doctor hahahahaha」

Hundreds of messages went up in a hurry, but some interesting ones caught his eyes. He thought it was because of Kim Suhan’s sense.

「He was a handsome doctor a few days ago, but today he’s a bit crushed.」

Catching one of them, Dowook continued.

“I would like to ask for some understanding from patient Kim Suhan’s viewers. I’ve been working overtime for 3 days, so I’m not at my best at the moment. But, what do you mean crushed? Isn’t that crossing the line?”

「Right. It’s not to the level of crushed. Looking at your face, you might kick the bucket the day after tomorrow?」

「Day af t hahahahahaha」

「Face’s emergency situation! Nurse! CPR!」

「Face…… am I the only one uncomfortable?」

「Ack face! It’s cheaper than a tire!」

「Tire hahahaha hey isn’t this going too far with doc.」

All kinds of jokes poured out, and the chat became energetic. He could feel that the viewers were enjoying the show.

‘What the! They’re making fun of me but why do I feel so satisfied?’

Dowook realized that Kim Suhan’s sense had expected this situation to some extent since he paid attention to the chat.

“Doctor, I’ve talked to the organizers.”

Hearing Kim Suhan, who was lying on the bed, Dowook turned his head.

“The organizer agreed to let us participate in the next round. My score in the first half will be added to yours, and we will be considered as team participants.”

“Will the score have any meaning?”

“Tsk. A newbie should just listen to the expert.”

Dowook looked blankly at the screen where the 5th round had already begun. Truthfully, there was nothing complicated. Since he just had to play 5 rounds of a game that took 15 minutes per round.

“Newbie, over there. You should at least go through the tutorial, why are you just watching.”

“Ah, should I?”

“The practice button in the menu. Stage 1. Augh, why are you so slow.”

Clicking the mouse as instructed, Dowook turned to look at Kim Suhan.

“You didn’t ask me to sit here because of what I’ve said over the past few days?”

“Maybe~”

Kim Suhan smirked slightly.

「Criticism ON!」

「Doctor! There’s a vicious viewer behind you!」

Entering the practice mode, he was taught how to move the character and aim and fire a gun one by one.

“F hits hits! The others grab equipment and come running in a second. If you do it like that, you won’t be able to load it before you get hit.”

“I have to check what I picked up so……”

“No, you have to check before you pick it up and just grab it. You laughed a lot from behind me when you saw me do it like that and got hit while I was practicing.”

“I think there’s quite a bit of emotion in your words.”

“Ahem, you are on the verge of getting away. How can a soldier go against the instructor?”

-Ddirring.

-Doctor, it’s not too late. Just put Ssuhan-hyung to sleep.

“JungguWillAnesthesizeYou thank you for the ₩10,000. We have to monitor his vitals so total anesthesia would be difficult. Should we simply anesthetize his mouth?”

“do-doctor? Anesthesia is a foul.”

“Excessive training for beginners is also a foul. Let’s be gentle with our words.”

“huh.”

The chat went crazy at the reversal of the situation.

「LPLD tiki-taka’s insane haha」 [T/N: LPLD=Like Patient Like Doctor. Tiki-taka is a style of play in soccer with short passes and movements. So I guess a comment about their bickering.]

「I really like this duo!」

The second stage was target practice.

Just as the game system instructed, he picked up the gun and pressed the trigger.

“I mean. Can you still miss the target when it’s standing still?”

“Ah, it’s just practice!”

As he was listening to advice when he was the one playing, Dowook’s feelings also intensified with every moment. He thought the saying was ‘putting yourself in someone’s shoes.’ It was a different feeling from when he was just watching and criticizing.

“He’s angry again. I should call you Park Tto-wook instead of Park Dowook.”

[T/N: Doesn’t make sense in English, but in Korean ‘suddenly becoming angry’ is 욱하다(Ook Hada) and ‘again’ is 또(tto). So Kim Suhan was creatively making fun of our MC using his name by saying his name should mean “becoming angry again.”]

「Tto-wook lmao」

When a nickname was created, the chat was quickly filled with “Tto-wook.”

Moving the character, reading the comments, making comments. Reacting regularly to the large amounts of donations.

As he was actually hosting the broadcast, he desperately felt that this was a formidable process.

“Let’s make that the character’s name, too.”

“As Tto-wook? I disagree.”

“It’s what the viewers want.”

As he was creating his character, the 5th round was over.

“Doctor. Please change the screen with the transmission mouse.”

When he pressed the green button which was already set up, the game screen switched to the relay screen.

-That was the fifth round. As expected Captain Shot has become the strongest candidate for first place. There’s another piece of news. Instead of Ssuhan, who withdrew due to uncontrollable circumstances, his doctor will participate.

-I took a brief look and he was a very handsome doctor.

-What about his skills?

The commentator shook his head looking at the announcer.

-Let’s take a break and start the second half.

The screen broadcasting the competition was switched to an advertisement, and a message arrived in the game asking the players to return to the waiting room in five minutes.

‘Why am I so nervous?’

After finishing the tutorial, he accessed the waiting room. The participants who had been waiting first asked Dowok about Kim Suhan’s condition.

[Yapsil : Is Ssuhan-hyung alright?]

[Roksam : He seems to be lying down at the back. Is he very sick?]

Dowook looked behind him at Kim Suhan. He was lying motionlessly with his upper body propped up. His left arm paralysis hadn’t gone away yet, but his vitals were stable.

[Tto-wook : He’s physically stable, but he’s pouting because he had to withdraw after becoming a candidate for the championship.]

[Yapsil : Hahahahahaha]

[Roksam : Candidate for championship? Did Ssuhan-hyung say that himself? The three of us are the candidates for last place.]

[Yapsil : This hyung is a real man. In the midst of all that, he’s still joking so that the viewers can enjoy the show.]

The waiting room was filled with laughter. The viewers watching it also became a sea of laughter. Kim Suhan, who didn’t know what was happening, made eye contact with Dowook.

“Once the game starts, just follow what I say. 4th place in the 4th round with 6 kills. The words of a skilled champion.”

“I’ll do that.”

“You’re obedient now. It’s a good posture. So you can at least get one kill.”

「Ssuhan-hyung. Don’t be like that. If you look at the replay, you’ll kick your blanket.」

This caught his eye among the numerous chat messages. However, Dowook didn’t say anything so he could see the blanket kick later.

Perhaps because the broadcast went smoother than he thought, the number of viewers which was around 50,000 increased to 55,000.

-Let’s start Round 6!

The problem was the game.

‘Phew. don’t be nervous, Dowook. Even so, it’s just a game.’

A 3D video of a plane flying over an island played, followed by a parachute. A character with the nickname ‘Tto-wook’ fell on a quiet road.

“Doctor, do you see the big church in front? Run to that place. It’s an area with a lot of equipment.”

Following Kim Suhan’s instructions, he opened the door of the church on the hill and entered..

He swept through the screen picking up the items on the floor. He opened the inventory and carefully equipped the items one by one and criticism flew right away.

“Are you an old man? Put them on quickly and go find a gun. 2nd floor, 2nd floor!”

“I’m going.”

“Ah ah, stop! There’s a first-aid kit in the corner! Keep your eyes peeled!”

“I got it.”

“You have to install it on the shortcut key, too!”

“I will.”

Silently doing as he was told, he arrived on the second floor. But somehow, an enemy from the opposite entrance picked up a gun first and started shooting at Dowook’s character.

“Run, run! Dodge it first!”

Startled, Dowook took a few steps back and pressed the wrong key.

Lying down and shooting position.

The person who was following him with a gun might not have expected this and froze in front of him.

“Arrrggh! What are you doing! Really what are you doing!”

The opponent changed his weapon into a frying pan and hit Dowook’s character. Since his character had already run out of stamina, Dowook, who responded with a rare control of lying down and punching, quickly died.

[Seo Bom’s frying pan killed Tto-wook.]

[Ranking #50. Kill: 0]

The screen turned gray. Dowook lost his words at the sudden elimination and looked blankly at the monitor.

「What did I just see?」

「The frying pan villain sent Dr. Tto-wook to heaven.」

「Murderer! Murderer!」

「That can happen. There are games like this toooo ha…….」

“Doctor…….”

Kim Suhan’s voice was filled with emotions, so Dowook turned his head and immediately sighed. Kim Suhan’s expression of pressing down his laughter was very mean.

“You told me to go to church.”

“Why are you blaming me? The problem is your hand which needs 10 seconds to put on equipment.”

“It’s right to take that into consideration when criticizing.”

“Didn’t you say that I should be gentle?”

-Ddiirrring.

-Doctor. Any excuse is a disadvantage here. Just get hit first.

“‘SoBad’…… thank you for the ₩10,000.”

“Our viewers have good timing. Good.”

The 6th round finished.

The competition broadcasters reviewed the highlight scenes. Seeing how Dowook died, they couldn’t continue talking for a while due to laughter.

-Khhhh. Personally, this match. I think this will be a famous scene that will be remembered in the history of Battleland.

“It’s still fantastic when watched again. Do you know how talented you are at broadcasting, doctor? I can’t believe you made a scene-stealer in just one game.”

“Let’s be serious this round.”

“Yes, serious. Let’s try to rise in the rankings.”

At the start of the 7th round, Kim Suhan said his strategy. The so-called ‘hiding around.’

As soon as Dowook fell, he secretly moved to a deserted forest.

“Good. Like that. See see. 3 people already died while fighting among themselves. Great. At least 47th place!”

Their ranking went up, but the character was only holding a pistol since he avoided places with many items.

“I think I can hear a car?”

“Find cover no matter what. Just hide even if you hear the sound of the wind. Since we’ve gone up to 40th place.”

After waiting for another 3 minutes, a system message appeared notifying that the safe zone would be narrowed. And from far away, a red magnetic field began to approach.

“What should I do?”

“Open the map.”

“Map?”

“Shortcut key M.”

A map showing the safe area opened.

“It’s far. There’s no other choice. Run!”

Just as he was about to go out, a grenade flew from the second floor of a building across the street. With the sound of an explosion, the screen flashed brightly before returning to normal.

“Enemy, enemy! Right in front!”

Tang-tang.

He fired his pistol, but the enemy leisurely rode a motorcycle and moved away. Looking at the ID, it was Captain Shot. He was the current No.1 contestant.

Looking at Captain Shot who left even though there was enough time to kill him, Dowook asked.

“Why did he let us go?”

“He didn’t let us go.”

“If not?”

Beep beep beep.

Along with a warning sound, a red magnetic field hit Dowook’s character. His stamina, which still had 30 points, started to slowly run out one point at a time.

“You can’t get out that wall by just running. It’s a very cruel play that leaves you to die alone. Captain Shot’s too mean to a Barin.”

[T/N: Barin is a term referring to a newbie in Battleground.]

“We can’t escape?”

Dowook made his character run hard, but eventually lost his strength in the magnetic field.

[Tto-wook has died in the magnetic field.]

[Rank #33. Kill: 0]

The atmosphere in the chat became unusual after he hid for a round and died alone without even properly shooting.

「Why participate if you’re going to go ‘No Fun Meta’?」

「The plan was all wrong.」

「Oh, my. I was looking forward to it. Why did you play like this?」

「You should have at least gotten revenge on the frying pan killer.」

The final ranking had increased, but the responses had worsened.

As the chat started firing up, Kim Suhan’s sense was of no use.

Dowook realized one thing from this experience. What the viewers wanted was not a high ranking. They wanted to enjoy the game and communicate with each other.

‘Live streaming is hard.’

Vrrrrrr.

In the meantime, his phone rang. He turned it on and saw that it was a call from the ward nurse. It was a notification about the drop in the blood pressure of a soldier patient who underwent cerebral infarction surgery a few days ago.

This was something he had to see with his own eyes before he could understand the patient’s condition so Dowook stood up.

“A call came so I have to go to another ward.”

“Will it take a long time?”

“It’s nearby, but just in case, I’ll call Dr. Nam Hana to come over.”

“If you leave by yourself now, it will really be a big problem.”

Kim Suhan looked at Dowook with a desperate face.

“50,000 people are up in arms right now.”

“It’s 59,000 right now.”

“What? They must have come over from other channels to curse at us.”

Dowook turned to the camera.

Kim Suhan’s sense strongly told him that he had to say something at this moment.

“Viewers who just came in, my skills may not be very good. It’s ok if the competition doesn’t go well. But please remember this one thing. I sincerely followed Instructor Kim Suhan’s plan. Thank you.”

“Doctor…….”

「Traitor Hahahahaha. In the midst of all this, Dr. Tto-wook is throwing Ssuhan-hyung to the wolves and running away.」

「Crazy toss skill. Where was such live streaming talent hiding all this time?」

The chat, which was full of criticism, quickly went back and forth happily saying, ‘Ssuhan-hyung got screwed hahahaha.’.

-The thing about being a strong soldier. They’re not created by pushing them into harsh environments.

Dowook tilted his head at the sound he heard from the room even before the door was opened. The deep voice sounded like the three-star general who said he was the patient’s father-in-law.

Knock knock.

“It’s Park Dowook.”

When he entered, he saw the Navy Lieutenant General as well. He was teaching his son-in-law in a soldier way.

“Look at the US soldier training. You feed them well, let them sleep well, and put them in their best state. In the present generation, there is no battlefield where people have to starve for 3 days and nights. As an instructor, how can you overlook this and take the initiative?”

When Dowook stood next to the vital monitor, the Navy General, who was disciplining his son-in-law, bowed lightly.

“The doctor is here. What do you think, doctor? Do you think it’s right to overwork your body like this to develop a strong body and spirit?”

“That’s…….”

Checking the patient’s condition as he just lay there, Dowook answered.

“I don’t know much about the correlation between strength and effectiveness.”

“You’re still a doctor, you must have some basic knowledge. His cerebral infarction wouldn’t have come for no reason?”

“If it’s related to the disease, your words are wrong.”

“What?”

“This patient had a natural medical history and had such good stamina that he survived when ordinary people would have collapsed. You could say his usual training saved his life.”

When Dowook didn’t agree with his words, the Navy Lieutenant General coughed and looked far away.

“Ahem. I thought you were someone I could talk to.”

“Augh, Dad!”

The patient’s wife, who walked out of the bathroom, frowned at her father.

“Let him take care of himself. Why are you making things so suffocating?”

“I’m saying this because I’m worried about Sgt. Mjr. Jeong. It’s not like we belong to different companies. What should I do if Leejun blames me for not stopping his father?”

“What are you saying about a kid who’s proud of his father who’s a UDT shooting instructor? And if you’re going to nag, remove your badge and do it.”

“I’m not ignoring that part. Sgt. Mjr. Jeong should…….”

“Badge.”

As the patient’s wife glared, the Navy General flinched.

“……I just think it’s better if your husband takes a less important post and works more comfortably.”

“Please move so that the doctor can do his job!”

The Lieutenant General, who commanded those with one-star and 3 Mugunghwa, was just a father in front of his daughter. While the Lieutenant General stepped to one side, Dowook spoke as he completed his diagnosis.

“The blood pressure problems are temporary. If the pain gets worse, we’ll increase the amount of painkillers. The prognosis is very good. You’ll be able to move to some extent next week.”

“The prognosis is good? Phew, that’s great. Did you hear, love? You can move by next week.”

The eyes of the patient lying down with his head fixed in place turned to Dowook. And he expressed his thanks with his gaze.

Delivering a new note on the cycle of painkiller administration and condition management to the ward nurse, Dowook turned to the patient at a sudden thought. He turned to the patient’s wife and asked.

“Umm, Ma’am. Is the patient really a UDT shooting instructor?”

“That’s right.”

“Is it the special force that comes out in the event of a terrorist attack? The kind that’s on a different level from ordinary soldiers.”

The patient’s wife laughed slightly.

“All men must have some fantasies about UDT. What you said is roughly correct. There are a lot of secrets related to this, so I also pretend I don’t know much.”

“There’s nothing to say about my son-in-law’s talents. There’s plenty of places that want to recruit him but why does he have to stay with the Pre-Operation Team. …….”

“Dad. I’m talking to the doctor right now.”

The Navy Lieutenant General, who had briefly interrupted their conversation, coughed one more time.

‘That means he’s a real shooting expert. Will it help?’

Dowook slightly stretched his left hand toward the patient.

Tingle.

Something from an expert who had reached their peak in a field slammed into his head by traveling up his neural circuit. It felt like something penetrated his brain.

“You’re in a stable state now, so I’ll see you during rounds tomorrow.”

“Ok, Doctor. Thank you.”

Opening the door of RM 1105 he left and went into RM 1103.

The competition was about to start Round 8. Nam Hana, who was sitting in front of the computer, looked back at Dowook with a complicated expression.

“Senior…….”

“Hey, Hana. I’ll do it.”

Nam Hana stood up with a face full of relief and whispered to Dowook.

“The comments and the screen. The sounds from the computer and the patient making conversation. Ugh, it’s so chaotic. And scary.”

“I understand, I understand.”

When Dowook sat down, Kim Suhan lying on the bed spoke with relief.

“You came right on time. I reflected on my defeat in the last round. Let’s go head-to-head in this round. I’ll coach you properly.”

“No, thanks. I’ll take care of it this time so don’t give any advice.”