Chapter 1

"Your conservative treatment approach is way too outdated, Dr. Lund. Mr. Joseph's time is far too valuable to sit in a hospital for half a year doing physical therapy and taking medication."

I instantly snapped out of my daze after hearing that contemptuous voice.

Derek Chapman, a new doctor in our department, was the one speaking. He held up his phone to show an AI medical consultation app called CyberDoc on the screen. He tapped the screen a few times and triumphantly surveyed the colleagues and the patient's family with a smug grin.

"I entered Mr. Joseph's ultrasound data and blood test results into this AI program, and the latest algorithm from Astoria gave a very clear diagnosis.

"Mr. Joseph isn't suffering from some complicated lesion due to a rare condition. He just has a standard retroperitoneal cyst. He'll be fine once he gets a simple laparoscopic surgery. He'll be discharged in three days, with zero chance of relapse."

I couldn't help but tremble all over when I heard those exact words again. I had actually been reborn. I had actually returned to the day that reshaped my whole life.

In my past life, I had pulled three consecutive all-nighters trying to uncover the truth behind Joseph Zeigler's condition—the heir to the powerful Zeigler family—digging through nearly a decade's worth of local and international medical journals.

His lesion was located in a very precarious spot and involved a rare vascular malformation, making any hasty surgery extremely likely to cause severe hemorrhage.

That was why, when Derek began boasting about his diagnosis, I openly reprimanded him without showing any mercy.

Derek felt so publicly humiliated that he stormed out of the hospital in a fit of rage, only to slip into a river and drown. His death marked the beginning of my nightmare.

Helen Walker, the head of department who was having an affair with him, abused her authority to access the hospital's surveillance footage.

She selectively edited the video before posting it online, then hired online trolls to manipulate public opinion. "Jealous Doctor Publicly Humiliates Young Medical Genius, Driving Him to Jump into a River!"

I became the most hated person on the internet in a single night. I was bombarded with death threats online, and my home address was doxed. I was utterly devastated when Dad suffered a sudden heart attack because he couldn't bear the online harassment.

Those self-proclaimed "justice seekers" livestreamed on their phones when the ambulance arrived, blocking the entrance to the apartment complex. They shouted in unison, "A murderer's father doesn't deserve medical care!"

I watched helplessly as Dad passed away right there on the stretcher. I was so overwhelmed by despair that I jumped from the hospital's rooftop.

"Jasper Lund! What are you spacing out for? Did my groundbreaking approach leave you speechless?"

My continued silence only fueled Derek's smugness.

He turned to Frank Zeigler, the patriarch of the Zeigler family, who was sitting to the side, and said ingratiatingly, "You can rest assured that current AI technology is far superior to those old-fashioned doctors who only go by the book, Mr. Frank. Mr. Joseph will be back on his feet once we cut out that cyst."

Frank had already been dissatisfied with my conservative approach. He felt that the lengthy treatment period would interfere with Joseph's engagement banquet with his fiancee the following month.

His eyes instantly brightened the moment he heard what Derek said. "Why did you insist on putting Joseph through months of medication if this can be solved with a simple minimally invasive procedure, Dr. Lund? Is that your way of trying to make extra money off the Zeigler family?"

Frank questioned me sharply, his voice dripping with hostility.

I took a deep breath and suppressed the painful memories of my past life. I then looked up, flashed a polite smile, and said calmly, "I have to admit, the younger generation nowadays is truly impressive.

"I'm getting so old that my approach has become outdated. I can't really keep up with all this high-tech stuff youngsters use nowadays."