The First Case
Is this... what acupuncture was supposed to be?
Why on earth had the next page suddenly decrypted itself?
The reason was made clear in the very next line.
You have successfully resonated with the bodies of one thousand people, proving your patience and will as a healer.
'One thousand...?'
Since encountering the Gamshin-tongmaek-rok, Kyungwoo had spent six months at Daeo Oriental Hospital and eight months seeing patients in Yongdeok-ri. While he only saw three or four patients a day in the village, he had handled thirty to forty daily at Daeo. His total number of consultations was well over five thousand, but considering his high re-visit rate, it made sense that he had finally reached the threshold of one thousand unique patients.
An ordinary person would have taken over five years to meet this initial condition. They likely would have given up the medical path after failing to endure the pain, or spent an eternity seeing fewer than ten patients a day while only catering to VIPs.
But Kyungwoo had always possessed both physical stamina and a strong mentality. Furthermore, he had a firm goal he was striving toward—one he had set aside for now because of this damn Pain Resonance ability. That was why he had endured six months of absorbing the suffering of dozens of people into his own body every single day.
'So, those six months at Daeo weren't a total waste.'
It was a strange, comforting thought. However, as he read the following lines, Kyungwoo couldn't help but curse under his breath again.
You have now passed the beginner stage of merely feeling the patient's pain. You must advance to the intermediate stage of deeply exploring each pathology.
What does it mean to explore a pathology deeply? It is to realize that even with the same symptoms, the root and manifestation differ for every patient.
Even in cervical pain, for some it is caused by wind-cold, for others by damp-heat, and for others by stagnant qi. To investigate the reality and treat according to the cause is the true way of medicine.
I shall impart the secret to resolving this: it is the needle.
Select the precise acupoint, and in that exact spot, with the exact angle and depth, practice needling on your own body. Pierce the single point, as fine as the tip of a needle, to open the path of qi and blood, and the residual pain shall scatter.
Ah, I see. So now you want to leave the pain in my own body?
If I poke around here and there and manage to guess the right answer, you'll resolve the pain for me?
"Are you actually insane?"
Kyungwoo grabbed the book and hurled it against the wall.
Thud— clatter.
Of course, it was perfectly fine. Unlike its dignified exterior that looked like it would crumble into dust at any moment, the book's durability had already been proven by the several times he had thrown it before.
'Haa...'
Kyungwoo rotated his ankle. A dull ache. It wasn't unbearable, just mildly unpleasant. He knew from the past few days that the pain would vanish after a good night's sleep.
'But... if the way this book decrypts requires fulfilling specific conditions.'
He had to pass this mission to advance to the next stage anyway. Delaying a day only meant he would be a day late. Besides, a sense of stubbornness flared up in him.
'So, you're saying my needling wasn't precise enough?'
As the top graduate of Kyung-hyun University, the most prestigious Korean medicine school in the country, he was effectively the top of all his peers nationwide. He had passed the national board exam with the highest score, and his reputation for both theory and manual dexterity was recognized everywhere.
'You little book-bastard...'
Just you wait. I’ll hit the exact spot on the first try, and I’ll get rid of this phantom pain once and for all!
However, the next day, Park Miyoung found Kyungwoo passed out in his office, surrounded by dozens of torn-open acupuncture needle packets.
"Director! I told you to go home and sleep!"
The book-bastard was kind. No, it had become kinder than before. Since he had earned his qualifications by experiencing the suffering of a thousand people, perhaps it was at least willing to provide guidelines?
Last night, Kyungwoo had felt the flow of the pulse. Among the acupoints of the Gallbladder Meridian passing through the area around his ankle, he could feel the one with the most severe turbidity.
Guheo.
Kyungwoo located the Guheo point on his ankle and inserted the needle with perfect technique.
"Ow!"
He felt like swearing. If you can create pain as an illusion, can't you get rid of it too? In good conscience, shouldn't you at least spare me the pain of the needle piercing my skin? It hurt like hell.
Still, he endured it and pushed the needle to the depth he judged to be appropriate...
'Is this not it?'
The sensation he felt told him that this wasn't the place.
"You're just so... incredibly kind..."
After dozens of attempts, feeling as though his Guheo point had been turned into a rag, Kyungwoo finally succeeded in finding the exact spot and depth. Once he did, the turbidity shrank from the size of a golf ball to a ping-pong ball and moved to the next acupoint. This time, it was Yanglingquan.
'Is it even telling me the order of the acupoint combinations?'
Kyungwoo inserted the needle toward the tibialis anterior muscle to soften the stiffened muscle and promote the flow of qi. Fortunately, his intent hit the mark, and he felt the sensation that he had done it correctly after only a few tries.
'It’s like a dedicated acupuncture simulation program. If I weren't using my own body as the human model, I’d be applauding.'
Even while grumbling, Kyungwoo became increasingly focused. Guheo, Yanglingquan, Zulinqi, Xuanzhong, Shenmai. The combination of acupoints was almost identical to the ones he had used on the village head, albeit with a slight difference in order. As he succeeded in each needling, the turbidity scattered until it finally seemed to oxidize into nothingness...
"D-did I succeed?"
As if mocking him, the next line of the text decrypted.
Finally, if you succeed in needling the entire combination of acupoints once more with precision and injecting the exact amount of pain stimulus, one case will be complete.
It was a 100% frustration-inducing order that made him feel like he should hear a cheerful "Ding-ding-ding, Last Exercise!" sound.
"I'm not doing it! I'm not!"
As Kyungwoo threw the needle packet away, the next line decrypted with helpful efficiency.
For your reference, if you give up at this stage, all previous attempts will be nullified, and you will have to start from the beginning next time.
Is this thing a reactive AI? Why does it feel like its responses change based on my reactions?
"AAAAAAARGH!!"
Kyungwoo's scream echoed into the night air of Yongdeok-ri. But there was no choice. He couldn't stop now, not when he had put in so much effort. The night wore on, and Miyoung found the director with dark circles under his eyes when she opened the clinic for morning cleaning.
"Director, please, eat this and pull yourself together."
Kyungwoo slurped down the dried pollack soup Miyoung had packed for her own lunch, his hollow eyes blinking.
'Insane difficulty...'
In the end, all Kyungwoo had completed the previous day was the single treatment method for the village head's acute ankle sprain. Just then, Park Chunsik walked into the clinic with his wife, Yoon Jeomrye.
"Doc, your ankle looked fine yesterday morning, but it wasn't fully healed, was it?"
"It’s because you jumped around the reservoir canal just because you thought you were healed!"
Flash—
A murderous glint settled in Kyungwoo's eyes.
'You put me through all this hell... and you made it worse again?'
"Lie down over here."
"...It’s not going to be as painful as yesterday's needles, is it?"
"Let me take a look first. I'll take a veeery good look."
Heh-heh-heh-heh—
A strange, eerie laugh leaked from Kyungwoo's lips.
In conclusion,
"Doc, you’re a true master, a real master!"
Park Chunsik expressed his gratitude, his mouth stretched from ear to ear. What Kyungwoo had practiced last night was injecting the exact, necessary amount of stimulus. The minimum required pain stimulus. Combined with perfect acupoint location and needling...
"How come it hurts way less than yesterday, but the needles seem to be working even better?"
His wife, Yoon Jeomrye, nagged her husband as naturally as breathing.
"The Director is a genius, obviously. Is this your first day knowing that?"
"No, I mean, today feels even more upgraded than usual, even more than yesterday..."
"Stop talking nonsense and don't overdo it again! Don't be a burden to the Director."
"A-alright, alright..."
While they bickered, Kyungwoo was looking down at his own hands.
'That feeling, seriously...'
Eight years—no, fourteen years if you counted his time in school—he had been holding needles. In acupuncture classes, he had studied by sticking needles into all 361 acupoints on his own body; during vacations, he had constantly attended acupuncture camps; and since getting his license, he had performed the procedure tens of thousands of times. Yet... this was different.
The space as small as a pore left by a plucked hair. The filiform needle that had to enter that exact spot. A single three-dimensional point with zero margin for error in direction and depth, on acupoints that varied slightly from person to person. The sensation of reaching that point precisely was...
'Is this... what acupuncture was supposed to be?'
It was an experience that elevated Kyungwoo's senses—which he thought had already seen it all—to an entirely different dimension. It was only natural that the village head was making such a fuss.
"Oh my, yesterday there was still some swelling left, but this time the swelling has completely gone down!"
Kyungwoo stopped Miyoung from getting too excited.
"Village Head, you aren't fully healed yet."
"Yes, Doc!"
"Even if I’ve returned it to normal with treatment, tissue that has been injured once is bound to be unstable. I’ll give you an ankle brace, so wear it and don't overdo it for a week."
"You got it! You got it!"
Yoon Jeomrye lifted a large bear-pot out of their cultivator.
"Director, have this for lunch."
"What is it?"
"It’s silky fowl soup. I boiled it for a long time with medicinal herbs from Mt. Sokri, so have some to boost your health. Your face looks like a wreck, Director."
"It’s because I’ve been overworking myself..."
At those words, Miyoung stared at him, dumbfounded.
'He says he's overworking himself after seeing only three patients yesterday...'
He was a director she simply couldn't understand.
Ding-a-ling—
"Welcome."
Kim Yuhwan, the head of the Yongdeok-ri Agricultural Association, stepped into Myungho Oriental Clinic. It was the place with the most patients among the three clinics in Goesan town. Yet, his face was like a funeral mask.
'Ah... I really should have gone to Kyungwoo’s clinic. When can I get an appointment again...'
The number of households in Yongdeok-ri wasn't large. Even so, getting an appointment at Kyungwoo’s clinic, which only accepted two or three patients a day, was no easy feat. He had finally managed to get an appointment after waiting for his turn, but he had been contacted about some missing farmland subsidy documents yesterday and had to rush into town.
"Sigh, such is my fate."
As Kim Yuhwan sighed, Jin Seyoung, the office manager at the desk, asked.
"Mr. Yuhwan, why haven't we seen many patients from Yongdeok-ri lately? Did you move to a different clinic?"
The manager received incentives based on treatment and herbal medicine sales. She was desperate to find out why the Yongdeok-ri patients, who used to visit several times a month, had suddenly stopped coming.
"Ahaha... it’s the farming season, so we’re busy."
"You need consistent treatment to improve farming efficiency. Your back is still the same, right? You have to keep coming for treatment to get better."
"Haha, yes..."
The interrogation continued in the director's office.
"Mr. Yuhwan, it’s been a while."
"Ah, yes... I’ve been a bit busy lately."
"Your stenosis is severe, so your back must be hurting a lot. You need to keep the intervals for your treatment."
'But I’ve been treated so much...'
He swallowed the words that a single session of acupuncture at Kyungwoo’s clinic was enough to last him two weeks.
"Come to think of it, the Village Head hasn't been coming lately either. Is something going on in Yongdeok-ri?"
"No, nothing special."
"Hmm... if you can't come often, you should take some herbal medicine. You need tonifying herbs to improve your recovery..."
"I’ll just get acupuncture today."
However, regret filled Kim Yuhwan’s face as he lay in the treatment room getting acupuncture.
'This isn't the feeling.'
Just then, his phone rang. He lowered his voice and answered quietly.
"Uh, Minju’s mom. Yeah. I’m getting treatment. It’s just okay, I guess. I really should have gone to the neighborhood one. Your appointment is tomorrow, right? Can’t you transfer it? What? You won't even give it up for your husband? Ha, fine, let’s talk when I get home."
'What was that? Neighborhood? Appointment?'
Manager Jin Seyoung pricked up her ears. She had thought it was strange that the Yongdeok-ri patients weren't coming, and it seemed they really had gone somewhere else. But a neighborhood clinic? A clinic had opened in... Yongdeok-ri?
She rushed to the director's office and knocked.
"Director, Director!"
"Manager Jin, what’s wrong?"
"It seems an oriental clinic has opened in Yongdeok-ri."
"Does that make sense? A clinic could never be sustained by the population of Yongdeok-ri."
"That may be so, but..."
Manager Jin’s eyes sparkled.
"I’ll investigate it."
A few days later, a spy infiltrated Yongdeok-ri.