CH 7
After looking at the English version of the guidebook for the underwater base that was placed beside me, Seo Ji-hyeok asked, “Have you read the entire guidebook for the underwater base?”
I had only managed to read 40 pages out of the approximately 300 pages of the English version of the guidebook. I lightly shook my head towards Seo Ji-hyeok. I could read English, but the problem was that there were many technical terms related to the underwater base that were not necessary in everyday life. There were also parts that I did not understand what they were explaining. Was the thickness of a screw or wall really that important? Besides, the attention span of a human like me, who was more familiar with electromagnetic waves, didn’t even last 8 seconds.
“You seem to be reading it in English. Do you need a Korean translated version?”
“Yes! I really need it!”
I shouted in excitement, surprising Seo Ji-hyuk, who then laughed.
“I have it in my room. However, mine is from a few years ago, so it may be different from the latest version, so compare it as you read.”
“Yes, thank you. I wasn’t making much progress reading it in English. Is there a Korean version available?”
“Well… I also received the English version of the guidebook and didn’t read it at first. Our team leader was so angry at our team for not reading it that he made a Korean version within a month. He then told us that if we didn’t memorize it within a week, we would be kicked out. So I hastily read it. I highlighted a few things with a fluorescent pen, but other than that, it should be in good condition. I’ll give it to you when you’re done with your treatment.”
“It will be really helpful. My translator can’t translate documents.”
Seo Ji-hyeok blinked when he saw my outdated, earpiece-like translator. I felt a bit embarra*sed, but it was better than not having one at all.
I quickly added, “It’s expensive to have documents translated.”
“Right.”
“I’ll read the book before you come next time. But how about you do some dental work the next time you come?”
I proceeded to teach Seo Ji-hyeok in great detail on how to use the dental drill, and after advising him not to eat anything sweet, I handed him the drill. A few minutes later, he gave me a book with a grand title in Korean letters, “Underwater Base Guidebook Korean Edition,” and left. I was delighted to see Korean and hugged the book for a while.
Although the dental clinic was not too busy, it was not completely empty either. Some people were interested in the dental clinic after opening the door for the first time in the underwater base, but most people were unable to make a reservation due to their work schedule or were slowly considering making a reservation after hearing reviews from previous patients.
Occasionally, I could hear from patients how terrible the medical culture was in each country, such as William Erikson, a member of the mining team, who criticized the American medical service while vomiting. He revealed all his teeth with cavities and made an unreasonable demand to replace them all with gold. When I asked if he was going to fast today, his enthusiasm subsided a bit, and I started filling the cavity and scaling.
He had never scaled before, and during the procedure, he clenched and released his fists, squeezing poor Orange Whale Noel, whom he was hugging, as if squeezing a cooked squid over 180 centimeters, and writhed. Then he suddenly went to the bathroom and did not return.
I sent him a message saying that the treatment was not yet finished, but there was no reply. When I sent a message saying I would give him the dental drill, which I was sure would be at the front of the gates of hell, there was no response.
In the case of Vladimir Sergeyevich Ivanov, the team leader from Russia, he came with alcohol. I greeted him with a welcome, not knowing what it was, but when I smelled it, I thought drinking vodka in a steel bucket was water and was shocked.
When I reached out my hand towards him, a man with blond hair over 190 cm just handed me a bottle of alcohol. Seeing me locking the cap of the steel bucket with a strong force, he knew that the man gave it to me to drink. I shook my head. Then I told him to brush his teeth with disposable toothbrush and toothpaste and wear gloves. Unexpectedly, the man brushed his teeth and grinned, then lay on the dental chair.
His oral condition was a bit unusual, specifically all six of his front teeth were implants. When I asked about it, he twisted his blond eyebrows and said, “You don’t really want to know, Teacher.”
I couldn’t tell if my interpreter was too old or if the man really spoke Russian cruelly. A*suming that I understood his one-word answer, I asked again, putting too much pressure on my right lower molar, which broke, looking at it.
“Doesn’t it hurt?”
“Life is pain.”
I almost gave him more pain, but I decided to test his patience with the man who brought alcohol into the place where he was told not to drink. When I said, “Raise your hand if it hurts,” the American raised both hands and shook them, but Ivanov endured it well like life is pain. Noel, who was forced to hug him, was much more stable than the patients who pa*sed by before.
I habitually praised young patients who received dental treatment, such as “You did well to endure it,” but as soon as I realized that the person I was praising was a Russian man who drank vodka like water, I remained silent and focused on the treatment.
In case of an injury at the underwater base, the patient is immediately transferred to the central elevator and receives treatment at the Korean hospital. The elevator moves every 10 minutes, but if the emergency button is pressed, it stops wherever it is and arrives 3 kilometers below. Then, if you catch that elevator, you will go straight down to the 0th floor.
Vladimir, I am not sure if he even listened to me when I picked up the pitcher from the table and put it into my arms. As he was leaving, I impulsively threw him a needle, which a man in the air caught and gave me a disapproving look before leaving.
Since I found a box full of dental floss, my goal has been for the power in the underwater base to use it for brushing teeth. It is a salaried job, so it’s not like we need patients, but from what I saw in the past two days, there aren’t many people who take flossing seriously.
I need to remain hopeful. Although less than 10 people have visited the dental clinic so far, there is no need to despair. I hope this new hobby spreads throughout the gloomy underwater base. Or perhaps a legend of a dentist who threatens patients to floss like a shark with three rows of teeth might arise.
No matter how much one brushes or flosses, or avoids sugary foods, direct impact cannot be prevented. I treated five peculiar men over the course of three days. They had either chipped front teeth, gold on their molars, or felt like their teeth were loose from a strong blow to their jaw.
One of them had something lodged in their teeth that wasn’t a dental appliance. They were all from the mining and engineering team, and the excuses they gave for their condition were absurd. They tripped over stairs, fell off their beds, or didn’t remember what happened after suddenly waking up.
It was obvious that this was the result of a fistfight. And judging from the size of the patients and the fact that their right hands were dominant, it was the result of their own fights. None of them proudly entered with any boasting, and they all seemed furious. Therefore, the patients I treated had all tasted defeat at least once or twice.
I first treated long-ignored wounds and trauma, and the latest act of violence arrived at the clinic. Yesterday’s loser had a broken lower molar, not to mention shaking teeth. I examined the broken tooth and let out a sigh.
“That bastard sure has a strong fist.”
Violence is not tolerated in the underwater base. But I couldn’t understand where these fist fights were happening. Engineer A team’s Tyler began to speak in an excited tone when I asked the question.
“That crazy son of a b***h threw the first punch. Oh, of course, I hit him more times. Just wait and see, I’m going to turn him into a jellyfish without any teeth. I’ll make him suck soup for the rest of his life!”
As I pondered how to repair the fantastically shattered molar, which the 2-meter-tall giant boasted about, whether I should Tetris the pieces back together or give up and extract it, a known curse word was heard.
“You son of a b***h!”
Tyler began to tell his side of the story to someone who was willing to listen, and I heard him pouring out every curse word I knew. I had never seen such pa*sionate contempt from a peaceful Canadian aside from hockey. It turns out that the engineering team never backs down from even the smallest issue, and their team leader, Shin Hae-ryang, even fuels disputes. I was halfway filtering out the angry words of the opponent when Tyler started to curse the entire engineering team.
Thanks to him, I could remember the names of all seven members of the engineering team, except for Seo Ji-hyuk whom I have not met yet. It must have been hard. You’ve done well so far even if it was painful. Anyone who provides any kind of service to people becomes a service worker. I cut off Tyler’s vulgar remarks towards the customers and urged him to start on the next appointment immediately.
Unspoken words filled the treatment room. After a long and short period of treatment, Tyler trembled and got up from the medical bed. He had saved his molar, but Noel, who was in Tyler’s arms, had a completely crumpled face.
“Please rinse your mouth. You may go now. See you next week.”
“I will never come back!”
I patted Tyler’s hand, telling him he did a good job of holding on, and handed him the dental floss. People at the underwater base, who prioritize equipment repairs and mining, tend to have rough faces and are generally large, but surprisingly, they didn’t throw away the dental floss and left obediently with it in hand. Perhaps they were still in shock after the treatment or just left with it unconsciously because they were too embarra*sed to run away from here.
Just making a dental appointment was enough to make people lose their nerve, so the protagonist made sure to offer encouragement and praise to those who made the effort to come in. Simply showing up at the dentist’s office was an accomplishment in itself, so it was important to acknowledge that.
I had only managed to read 40 pages out of the approximately 300 pages of the English version of the guidebook. I lightly shook my head towards Seo Ji-hyeok. I could read English, but the problem was that there were many technical terms related to the underwater base that were not necessary in everyday life. There were also parts that I did not understand what they were explaining. Was the thickness of a screw or wall really that important? Besides, the attention span of a human like me, who was more familiar with electromagnetic waves, didn’t even last 8 seconds.
“You seem to be reading it in English. Do you need a Korean translated version?”
“Yes! I really need it!”
I shouted in excitement, surprising Seo Ji-hyuk, who then laughed.
“I have it in my room. However, mine is from a few years ago, so it may be different from the latest version, so compare it as you read.”
“Yes, thank you. I wasn’t making much progress reading it in English. Is there a Korean version available?”
“Well… I also received the English version of the guidebook and didn’t read it at first. Our team leader was so angry at our team for not reading it that he made a Korean version within a month. He then told us that if we didn’t memorize it within a week, we would be kicked out. So I hastily read it. I highlighted a few things with a fluorescent pen, but other than that, it should be in good condition. I’ll give it to you when you’re done with your treatment.”
“It will be really helpful. My translator can’t translate documents.”
Seo Ji-hyeok blinked when he saw my outdated, earpiece-like translator. I felt a bit embarra*sed, but it was better than not having one at all.
I quickly added, “It’s expensive to have documents translated.”
“Right.”
“I’ll read the book before you come next time. But how about you do some dental work the next time you come?”
I proceeded to teach Seo Ji-hyeok in great detail on how to use the dental drill, and after advising him not to eat anything sweet, I handed him the drill. A few minutes later, he gave me a book with a grand title in Korean letters, “Underwater Base Guidebook Korean Edition,” and left. I was delighted to see Korean and hugged the book for a while.
Although the dental clinic was not too busy, it was not completely empty either. Some people were interested in the dental clinic after opening the door for the first time in the underwater base, but most people were unable to make a reservation due to their work schedule or were slowly considering making a reservation after hearing reviews from previous patients.
Occasionally, I could hear from patients how terrible the medical culture was in each country, such as William Erikson, a member of the mining team, who criticized the American medical service while vomiting. He revealed all his teeth with cavities and made an unreasonable demand to replace them all with gold. When I asked if he was going to fast today, his enthusiasm subsided a bit, and I started filling the cavity and scaling.
He had never scaled before, and during the procedure, he clenched and released his fists, squeezing poor Orange Whale Noel, whom he was hugging, as if squeezing a cooked squid over 180 centimeters, and writhed. Then he suddenly went to the bathroom and did not return.
I sent him a message saying that the treatment was not yet finished, but there was no reply. When I sent a message saying I would give him the dental drill, which I was sure would be at the front of the gates of hell, there was no response.
In the case of Vladimir Sergeyevich Ivanov, the team leader from Russia, he came with alcohol. I greeted him with a welcome, not knowing what it was, but when I smelled it, I thought drinking vodka in a steel bucket was water and was shocked.
When I reached out my hand towards him, a man with blond hair over 190 cm just handed me a bottle of alcohol. Seeing me locking the cap of the steel bucket with a strong force, he knew that the man gave it to me to drink. I shook my head. Then I told him to brush his teeth with disposable toothbrush and toothpaste and wear gloves. Unexpectedly, the man brushed his teeth and grinned, then lay on the dental chair.
His oral condition was a bit unusual, specifically all six of his front teeth were implants. When I asked about it, he twisted his blond eyebrows and said, “You don’t really want to know, Teacher.”
I couldn’t tell if my interpreter was too old or if the man really spoke Russian cruelly. A*suming that I understood his one-word answer, I asked again, putting too much pressure on my right lower molar, which broke, looking at it.
“Doesn’t it hurt?”
“Life is pain.”
I almost gave him more pain, but I decided to test his patience with the man who brought alcohol into the place where he was told not to drink. When I said, “Raise your hand if it hurts,” the American raised both hands and shook them, but Ivanov endured it well like life is pain. Noel, who was forced to hug him, was much more stable than the patients who pa*sed by before.
I habitually praised young patients who received dental treatment, such as “You did well to endure it,” but as soon as I realized that the person I was praising was a Russian man who drank vodka like water, I remained silent and focused on the treatment.
In case of an injury at the underwater base, the patient is immediately transferred to the central elevator and receives treatment at the Korean hospital. The elevator moves every 10 minutes, but if the emergency button is pressed, it stops wherever it is and arrives 3 kilometers below. Then, if you catch that elevator, you will go straight down to the 0th floor.
Vladimir, I am not sure if he even listened to me when I picked up the pitcher from the table and put it into my arms. As he was leaving, I impulsively threw him a needle, which a man in the air caught and gave me a disapproving look before leaving.
Since I found a box full of dental floss, my goal has been for the power in the underwater base to use it for brushing teeth. It is a salaried job, so it’s not like we need patients, but from what I saw in the past two days, there aren’t many people who take flossing seriously.
I need to remain hopeful. Although less than 10 people have visited the dental clinic so far, there is no need to despair. I hope this new hobby spreads throughout the gloomy underwater base. Or perhaps a legend of a dentist who threatens patients to floss like a shark with three rows of teeth might arise.
No matter how much one brushes or flosses, or avoids sugary foods, direct impact cannot be prevented. I treated five peculiar men over the course of three days. They had either chipped front teeth, gold on their molars, or felt like their teeth were loose from a strong blow to their jaw.
One of them had something lodged in their teeth that wasn’t a dental appliance. They were all from the mining and engineering team, and the excuses they gave for their condition were absurd. They tripped over stairs, fell off their beds, or didn’t remember what happened after suddenly waking up.
It was obvious that this was the result of a fistfight. And judging from the size of the patients and the fact that their right hands were dominant, it was the result of their own fights. None of them proudly entered with any boasting, and they all seemed furious. Therefore, the patients I treated had all tasted defeat at least once or twice.
I first treated long-ignored wounds and trauma, and the latest act of violence arrived at the clinic. Yesterday’s loser had a broken lower molar, not to mention shaking teeth. I examined the broken tooth and let out a sigh.
“That bastard sure has a strong fist.”
Violence is not tolerated in the underwater base. But I couldn’t understand where these fist fights were happening. Engineer A team’s Tyler began to speak in an excited tone when I asked the question.
“That crazy son of a b***h threw the first punch. Oh, of course, I hit him more times. Just wait and see, I’m going to turn him into a jellyfish without any teeth. I’ll make him suck soup for the rest of his life!”
As I pondered how to repair the fantastically shattered molar, which the 2-meter-tall giant boasted about, whether I should Tetris the pieces back together or give up and extract it, a known curse word was heard.
“You son of a b***h!”
Tyler began to tell his side of the story to someone who was willing to listen, and I heard him pouring out every curse word I knew. I had never seen such pa*sionate contempt from a peaceful Canadian aside from hockey. It turns out that the engineering team never backs down from even the smallest issue, and their team leader, Shin Hae-ryang, even fuels disputes. I was halfway filtering out the angry words of the opponent when Tyler started to curse the entire engineering team.
Thanks to him, I could remember the names of all seven members of the engineering team, except for Seo Ji-hyuk whom I have not met yet. It must have been hard. You’ve done well so far even if it was painful. Anyone who provides any kind of service to people becomes a service worker. I cut off Tyler’s vulgar remarks towards the customers and urged him to start on the next appointment immediately.
Unspoken words filled the treatment room. After a long and short period of treatment, Tyler trembled and got up from the medical bed. He had saved his molar, but Noel, who was in Tyler’s arms, had a completely crumpled face.
“Please rinse your mouth. You may go now. See you next week.”
“I will never come back!”
I patted Tyler’s hand, telling him he did a good job of holding on, and handed him the dental floss. People at the underwater base, who prioritize equipment repairs and mining, tend to have rough faces and are generally large, but surprisingly, they didn’t throw away the dental floss and left obediently with it in hand. Perhaps they were still in shock after the treatment or just left with it unconsciously because they were too embarra*sed to run away from here.
Just making a dental appointment was enough to make people lose their nerve, so the protagonist made sure to offer encouragement and praise to those who made the effort to come in. Simply showing up at the dentist’s office was an accomplishment in itself, so it was important to acknowledge that.
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