The surgeries were over, and the patients had all been moved to the ward.
Not to the obstetrics ward where Blundell usually stayed, but to the one where Dr. Robert Liston spent most of his time.
"Ughhh…."
"Aaaargh…."
In other words, it was hell.
And I'm not exaggerating…
This place is hell.
"They really do cut off a lot of limbs here, huh…?"
It was undeniable that the discovery of anesthesia had brought progress to surgery.
Otherwise, the procedures I had learned wouldn't even be possible.
But did that progress happen overnight?
Didn't seem like it.
Now that I was actually living in this era… yeah, I could tell.
"Humans aren't as smart as we like to think."
People don't change that easily.
Even when something new comes along, it's rare for people to switch gears instantly, as if flipping a light switch.
At least Robert Liston was one of the better ones.
This guy—an undisputed master, no, a grandmaster, no, a legend of amputation—was starting to believe that surgery needed to move beyond just cutting limbs.
And ever since he saw me practicing nose surgeries on cadavers, something seemed to have clicked in his mind.
So, at least for now, we were following the hospital director's wishes and sticking to amputations.
The real problem was the new surgeons who had been suddenly promoted to lead operations, thanks to the director's schemes.
"Alright, another one coming in! Move! Move!"
"Aaaaargh!"
I understood their struggle.
They had spent their whole careers watching Robert Liston—the Robert Liston—chop through limbs like a force of nature.
And now, all of a sudden, it was their turn to do the cutting.
Procedures weren't the issue.
They had memorized them so well that they could recite them in their sleep.
I mean, come on, their teacher was Robert Liston.
How could they forget?
"Gaaaah!"
The real problem was that they couldn't do it as fast as Liston.
And why was that?
Because of me.
Even the patients had grown bolder.
Losing a limb was terrifying, anesthesia or not. But before, some had been so afraid of the pain that they'd rather die than go through it.
Now? Now that we had anesthesia, they were lining up to have their limbs chopped off.
"This is…"
"This is terrifying… Doctor."
And so, the Amputation Ward—
Jesus… even saying it out loud sounds ridiculous.
How can a ward be called the Amputation Ward?
Anyway, it was packed.
With who?
With people screaming in agony.
"That's…"
I should have seen this coming.
Looking around, all I saw were people missing an arm, a leg… some were missing both. And all of them were suffering.
"Ah… Of course… I should have realized."
I had discovered anesthesia, not painkillers.
Even something as simple as Tylenol would be a blessing…
But if that existed, people wouldn't be bleeding themselves dry for headaches, would they?
Some hospitals apparently used electric chairs to deal with pain.
Absolutely insane…
"What do I do about this…?"
Sure, the patients didn't feel pain during the amputation.
But the pain after the surgery? That was still there.
I'd never lost a limb myself, but just watching them, I could feel how much it hurt.
It made total sense.
"For now… there's no space anywhere else."
"If they stay here any longer, even sane people will go mad."
"I'll look for another place. In the meantime… Here, take these."
I handed the patients some cloth to plug their ears and hurried off to find another ward.
Worst case, I'd have them sleep in a lecture hall.
This place…
Wow…
Yeah, this wasn't going to work.
And I needed to talk to Liston.
There was no way we could just let this continue.
"Professor Blundell, can you take two male patients?"
"Do you think that's possible?"
"No."
"Exactly. Even if it were up to me, it's out of the question. Their husbands would beat them to death."
I had asked Blundell just in case, but his answer was brutally clear.
Not that it had much to do with the era.
Yeah… they'd definitely get beaten to death.
"Have you seen it?"
"Seen what? Ah, the Amputation Ward?"
"The… yeah. The screaming is…"
"Well, of course it's painful. We're chopping off arms and legs."
I mean…
Sure, but…
That's not how a doctor should talk about it.
Fine, yes, cutting off limbs hurts. That's obvious.
But you can't be that cold about it.
"It's too much. I can't leave my patients there."
"Why? Afraid the other patients will ask for extra limbs?"
"No, I mean, the trauma—"
"Trauma? What are you talking about?"
And just like that, I realized another key fact about this era.
These people didn't care about mental suffering. At all.
No wonder they treated workers like trash.
Seriously…
I had noticed that an unusual number of patients were coming in with underarm abrasions.
Turns out their "company housing" was just a rope to lean on while sleeping.
And in the morning? They cut the rope to wake everyone up.
And I was talking about trauma in this world?
I should be grateful they weren't calling me crazy.
"…Anyway, they need to rest. It's too noisy there."
"Well, yeah, it's hard to sleep with all that screaming."
"They also lost a lot of blood."
"I heard it wasn't that much. I mean, come on, it's just a nose surgery. How much blood could they possibly lose?"
My ENT friends would riot if they heard this.
Nosebleeds can kill, you bastards!
"Well… it was my first surgery, and my first patient. I just…"
"Ah… yeah, I suppose that makes sense."
Of course, Blundell didn't get it.
So I had to keep begging.
Sigh…
I knew I was right, but I still had to grovel.
What else could I do?
I was still just a pawn in this place.
But one day, when I become a king…
They'll all pay.
"They'll all pay."
"Alright, I'll see what I can do."
"Yes, thank you. Also…"
"Hmm? Speak freely."
"Do you know where Dr. Liston is?"
"Oh, yeah. He was really impressed by your surgery. Grabbed a scalpel and ran off somewhere."
"…A scalpel?"
Why does that man always grab a blade whenever he gets inspired?
"He's probably in the square."
"Oh…"
And why does he always end up cutting someone's limb off?
Sighing, I ran toward the square.
If he had acted quickly, he probably wasn't in the central square—he'd be in the smaller one near the hospital.
Which was… really close.
"Yo, Pyeong! You headed to the square too?"
It was Joseph and Alfred, still full of energy after assisting my surgery.
"Yeah. Need to talk to him."
"Man, you guys are tigh
t. Like brothers."
"…Something like that."
And when we arrived, there was Liston.
His signature blade raised high, gleaming in the rare London sunlight.
He looked like…
King Arthur?
Or maybe a Viking warlord.
But of course…
He was just cutting off another leg.