Chapter 1

Introduction:

I was in my office sorting through case files when a nurse burst in.

"Dr. Walker, come quick, Grant Chavez just collapsed in the hallway!"

But just as I stood up, a line of danmaku appeared before my eyes.

【Don't go. Grant hid his medical history. He's barely got a breath left in him now.】

【Grant wants to use his own death to run an extortion scam on you, to leave a payout for that gambler son of his.】

I stared blankly at the danmaku, at a loss.

That was when Grant's son, Spencer Chavez, started shrieking outside the door.

"Why isn't Dr. Walker here yet! My dad's dying of pain!"

1

The noise outside swelled, and a crowd of patients shoved the office door open.

A woman screamed at the top of her lungs.

"What are you standing there for? Go save him, now!"

An old man leaned on his cane and jabbed a finger in my face.

"Grant even gave you half an apple today, didn't he? You'd let a man die at a time like this? A dog must've eaten your conscience!"

Before I could say anything, Spencer rushed to the office doorway.

"Dr. Walker! My dad keeps screaming in pain, please, just come take a look at him."

Seeing that I didn't budge, Spencer suddenly slapped himself hard across the face, twice, then pointed behind him with a sob in his voice.

"My dad has a heart condition. If you ignore him, he'll die!"

"I've still got a couple of acres back home. I'll sell them and give you the money, okay? I'm begging you..."

My resolve wavered, and I got up, meaning to go take a look first.

The danmaku appeared again.

【Wake up! Are you going to gamble away your whole life?】

【Don't forget you're only a dermatologist. Your emergency skills aren't even up to an intern's in the ER!】

I spoke fast.

"I'll get the on-call ER doctor over here right away!"

As I spoke, I quietly clipped the badge camera the hospital had just issued to my collar.

Spencer's expression went cold in an instant.

"What's that supposed to mean? You're going to let him die?"

I stayed calm.

"My specialty is treating vitiligo. When it comes to heart conditions or fall injuries, I'm not much better at treatment than you are."

"This is a hospital. There are doctors more qualified for this."

Spencer glared at me with bloodshot eyes and turned to the onlookers.

"Everyone, look at this! This is your Dr. Walker! A white coat on the outside, a black heart on the inside!"

The patients crowding the doorway got worked up under Spencer's egging.

"Dr. Walker, saving one life is worth more than building a seven-story pagoda. Is your heart made of iron?"

"We're all witnesses here! If you let a man die today, we'll expose you online, and you can forget about ever being a doctor again."

Their words landed on me like a whip.

I didn't argue. Instead I turned to the nurse.

"Notify cardiology and the ER right away. Don't let anyone move the patient on their own, we can't risk a second injury."

The moment I finished, Spencer dropped to his knees in the doorway with a thud.

"We're just ordinary folks, we don't understand your rules. This is a matter of life and death! If you won't go save my dad, then you're a murderer!"

"Just save my dad, and my whole family will slave for you like oxen and horses to repay your kindness."

Spencer kowtowed and talked at the same time, his eyes darting everywhere, and the second he saw someone raise a phone, his wailing got even louder.

Having watched Spencer's whole performance with my own eyes, I chose my words carefully.

"And if he can't be saved?"

Spencer's wailing cut off mid-cry. He hadn't expected me to say something so blunt.

Spencer put on a face of utter despair.

"Dr. Walker, please, don't curse my dad to death."

"You're a big doctor, you've got status, you make good money, one of your watches costs more than our whole house. Of course you wouldn't know the suffering of people like us."

"My dad is the pillar of our family. If he dies, how are we supposed to live?"

A grown man in his thirties, and he could still call a guy in his seventies the pillar of the family.

Even I, who'd seen every kind of oddball in this hospital, was meeting a rare specimen like this for the first time.

Right then, a patient outside let out a startled cry.

"Somebody, quick, Grant's coughing up blood!"

At that, Spencer went white with panic, jumped to his feet, grabbed me, and started dragging me out.

I was hauled out of the office by Spencer.

In the hallway, the crowd of patients parted on their own to make way for him.

One patient cheered.

"Thank goodness, it's Dr. Walker! Grant's saved now!"

An old woman urged me anxiously.

"Dr. Walker, hurry, help Grant up, the floor's so cold."