The lights in the emergency room went out at 2:17 a.m.
At the same moment, three major hospitals in the Seoul metropolitan area posted notices suspending patient intake.A mass withdrawal of residents.ICUs were left with skeleton crews, and ambulances waited in front of hospitals with nowhere to go.
That was when red text appeared on one corner of the situation room screen.
"Request to confirm Doctor Truck deployment availability."
It was a scenario no one had ever officially prepared for.
Someone asked quietly,"Are we… allowed to go out?"
Song Jaemin swallowed hard."The law isn't ready yet."
Doyun answered immediately."Then are people ready to die?"
Silence.
Then a decision.
"Deploy."
■ Doctor Truck Replaces the Hospital
The first call was a myocardial infarction.
The ambulance had been turned away by hospitals,and the patient was losing consciousness inside the vehicle.
The Doctor Truck pulled over immediately on the highway shoulder.
The doors opened.Surgical lights came on.IV access secured.
The heart rhythm returned.
The entire process ended without a bill.
The patient's guardian, in tears, asked,"How much… how much do we owe?"
Song Jaemin shook his head."Not now.They're alive."
That sentence became a headline.
"Medical care that saves lives without calculating the cost."
■ The Medical Establishment Strikes Back
By morning, statements poured in.
"Illegal medical practice.""It accelerates the collapse of the healthcare system.""Possible violation of the Emergency Medical Act."
On a televised debate, one doctor said,"If trucks replace hospitals,what happens to doctors?"
Doyun was asked the same question by a reporter.
He replied,"Doctors are people who save lives.Hospitals were just the space that made it possible."
The reporter pressed on."Then what is Doctor Truck?"
Doyun thought for a moment and answered,
"A bridge that reaches places hospitals can't."
■ The Beginning of a Constitutional Debate
That afternoon, the word "Constitution" appeared for the first time in legal circles.
"Access to healthcare is a fundamental right.""It cannot be unconstitutional for the public to fill a vacuum."
Real estate and medical capital responded immediately.
"The private system is encroaching on the public domain."
Song Jaemin laughed when he read it.
"It's not encroachment.We just stepped into an empty space."
■ Numbers That Tell the Truth
That single day, Doctor Truck responded to 11 cases.
Fatalities: 0.On-site stabilization success rate without hospital transfer: 100%.Cost?
Free.
All operating expenses were covered by Truck City revenue.Mart operations, House Truck sales, event income.
The TF team's financial report stated:
"No additional cost was required to save lives.The money had already been earned."
■ As Night Deepened
An official notice arrived under the name of the Ministry of Health and Welfare.
"Request for immediate suspension of Doctor Truck pilot operations."
Doyun set the document down and said,"If we stop,who takes responsibility for the people who die in the meantime?"
No one answered.
He added quietly,"Then we will."
The title of the next episode appeared on the situation room screen.
〈The Day the State Stopped, the System Moved〉