The Summoning of the Book-bugi

Kyungwoo followed Professor In Gyeonghak down to the ward.

"Oh, Doctor! I heard the news from yesterday."

"I heard you ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠performed an incredible feat?"

Nurses who had been at the hospital during Kyungwoo's tenure approached to greet him, and others who entered later whispered from a distance.

"Is that him?"

"I heard he was famous even during his residency."

"It’s like a drama. Saving an emergency patient with just acupuncture needles."

The hospital was buzzing. The medical staff, constantly pressured by bed occupancy rates and revenue-per-patient targets, felt a stir of emotion. Even though they understood the hospital director’s directive that university hospitals must now prioritize profitability, they couldn't help but feel their hearts race at such a heroic tale.

'If only I could...'

'Someday, I want to be like that...!'

Ambition flickered on the faces of the young residents. Professor In Gyeonghak, feeling the gazes directed at his back, felt a sense of pride as if he were the father of a son who had just ranked first in the entire school.

They entered the acupuncture ward. Kyungwoo was wearing one of the professor's spare white coats.

"Hello, Professor. What brings you here on a Sunday?"

"I had some business at the hospital, so I thought I'd stop by. How were you last night?"

"The usual, I suppose. It gets worse at night."

The patient noticed the stranger behind the professor. It was a face she hadn't seen before. While he didn't look like hospital staff, it wasn't an entirely unfamiliar occurrence for a long-term patient; local Oriental medicine doctors often came to observe the treatments of the renowned Professor In Gyeonghak.

But today, there was a peculiarity.

"Would it be alright if this doctor checked your pulse for a moment, Ms. Yoon Jeonghee?"

"Oh... yes."

Even before she could ask, the professor added, "He is my protégé. He’s quite skilled, so I wanted to get his advice on your treatment."

'Was he always like this...?'

The professor was charismatic. He was kind to patients but rarely spoke unnecessary words, and she had often seen him reprimand residents and nurses, so she had been somewhat intimidated by him. Seeing Professor In Gyeonghak looking so unusually excited made her tilt her head in confusion.

"She’s a C6-C7 disc patient. Onset three months ago, worsened six weeks ago. Western medicine is recommending surgery, but she’s in her second week of admission, opting for conservative treatment. Ms. Yoon, we’ll review your chart with him shortly; if that’s alright, please sign the consent form for the nurse."

After the brief briefing, Kyungwoo stepped forward and took the patient's pulse. A C6-C7 disc issue was the same condition as Grandma Shim Sunja. Usually, one would feel a sharp, piercing pain like a metal nail being driven in, but for this patient...?

'...!'

As expected, it was different from before. He could feel the pain, but it was as if he were observing it from a distance. The nature of this sensation was...

'Ah.'

Kyungwoo parted his lips slightly.

'That’s it!'

After Chapter 3 of the Gamshin-tongmaek-rok, Gam-tong-sim-tam, was unlocked, Kyungwoo had visited Jia’s home to treat her CRPS pain attacks. That night, the Gamshin-tongmaek-rok had given him a mission.

At first, it told him to meditate for 24 hours to reach a state of perfect concentration. But it had also said that if that was impossible, he should experience Jia’s pain for a shichen (two hours) to feel the root of it thoroughly. And that day, Kyungwoo had felt a strange sensation. While observing the pain boiling within his own body as if it were a patient's symptom, he had nearly reached a state of selflessness.

From the next day on, Kyungwoo felt less burdened. He felt as if he were observing pain more rationally. 'If I reached a state of "absolute stillness" yesterday without any process because my concentration was abnormally heightened in a crisis...?'

And as a result, did I start receiving pain as information rather than sensation when seeing other patients? 'This... how many people can I handle like this?'

A state where he could treat patients at will without being affected by pain at all. The medical text called that the stage of a Divine Physician (Shin-ui). So, Kyungwoo had asked again: how long would it take to see 15 patients a day without difficulty? The text said it would normally take 10 years, but the only person to ever reach the stage of a Divine Physician had done it in just one year.

'Could it be...'

Kyungwoo moved to the next bed.

"This patient has rheumatoid arthritis."

Two people.

"This one has lumbar spinal stenosis, and this one has post-herpetic neuralgia."

Three people. Four people. Even if there were more mild cases than before, this was a university hospital. Moreover, these were Professor In Gyeonghak’s patients, so they were not exactly easy cases. Yet, he felt strangely comfortable, and even the subtle sensations that had lingered like illusions were gone.

'Is there something going on? Even if the patient yesterday was in a life-or-death situation...'

With that suspicion, Kyungwoo continued to take pulses...

'Fifteen people!'

After finally reaching his goal, he clenched his fist!

'I did it!'

At this level, he could at least officially see patients again. He would have to stick to an appointment system, but these days, even that was common practice.

Thump, thump—

Kyungwoo moved to the next bed. This time, it was a little child. The child looked at Professor In and Kyungwoo and said brightly,

"It's Grandpa Doctor and Uncle Doctor!"

The nurse next to them laughed. She explained that the child categorized doctors by their appearance, calling them Grandpa, Uncle, or Big Brother.

'Grandpa...'

Kyungwoo chuckled to himself and glanced at Professor In. The professor was trying hard not to break his stern expression, but the corners of his mouth were twitching.

"Dong-hyun has chronic digestive disorders. He’s been admitted and discharged from our hospital a couple of times. He used to be in Internal Medicine, but he came to the Acupuncture department this time to see me."

The sixteenth patient. He placed his hand on the child's wrist with a pounding heart, but even this child was fine. And immediately after that, the familiar feeling of pain being received as a raw sensation flooded back in.

'My limit used to be 6 people... but it increased by a whopping 10?'

He would have to go back and interrogate the medical text about why this phenomenon occurred and if it could be replicated.

"This is enough."

The two men headed back to the station. All eyes were still on them. Even while working, everyone kept glancing at Professor In and Kyungwoo. Then, as he pulled up the chart program on the station computer, Professor In said something surprising.

"If you have any thoughts that differ from my diagnosis and prescription, speak up."

Head nurse Joo Yeon-kyung, who was writing a log, looked up in surprise. He was the best talent at the Gyeong-hyun Oriental ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Hospital. While he sometimes asked his disciples for their diagnosis to teach them, this felt different. It was as if he were asking for an opinion from a truly reliable colleague...

'That Professor In Gyeonghak?'

No one would believe it. It seemed that after yesterday's events, Professor In had re-evaluated Kyungwoo as an equal, or perhaps even a doctor who was superior in certain areas.

And Kyungwoo spoke without hesitation.

"Well, I learned from you, Professor. It’s almost identical to your opinion, but..."

Kyungwoo’s clinical foundation mostly came from Professor In. The mentor still stood at the pinnacle, and the charts showed that he was doing his absolute best for every single patient without a hint of laxity. However, the last child patient...

"Patient Min Dong-hyun, you diagnosed it as Spleen-Stomach Qi deficiency due to a lack of Mingmen fire, right?"

The prescription included Ijung-tang (Middle-warming decoction) supplemented with deer antler and tonics. The child’s limbs were indeed thin and his face gaunt.

"He improves at the hospital, but worsens again when he goes home. The Internal Medicine professor saw it as an Ijung-tang pattern, but I see it as the more fundamental Mingmen fire being weak, failing to warm the stomach Qi."

"If it were me, I would lower the Liver fire first."

"Liver fire...?"

The child’s sparkling eyes, which had seemed so innocent. And the flow of Qi that felt like it was surging upward when he touched him. Usually, one wouldn't consider Liver fire first when treating a child, but if the child had a naturally sharp and sensitive temperament...

"Isn't it possible that his digestion is constantly failing due to Liver Qi attacking the Spleen? The reason he worsens at home could be because the source of his stress is there."

"I didn't feel a wiry pulse (Xian-mai)."

"If he was born with weak Spleen Qi, the wiry pulse might not show. After the stress situation passes, the deficiency pattern that follows the excess pattern would have become more prominent. We will eventually need to tonify the Spleen and Kidney, but I would start by clearing the Liver fire. And I think ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠we should check with the guardian to see what kind of stress situation exists at home."

Professor In looked at his disciple, who was now debating him on equal footing, with a proud gaze and acknowledged it.

"I will check with the guardian later."

The head nurse was surprised once more by the conversation. 'Professor In... is considering changing his diagnosis after listening to his disciple?'

She remembered nine years ago, when Hyun Kyungwoo was a first-year resident. Joo Yeon-kyung had still been a general nurse then. Right in front of this station, Kyungwoo had argued against Professor In regarding a prescription ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠for a patient in his ward. He had been thoroughly crushed back then... but now.

'A tree that will grow tall is different from its sprout, indeed.'

Although he had raised his voice at the nursing department a few times due to his temper, there wasn't a single nurse who disliked Kyungwoo. It was clear he did it all for the patients, and afterward, he would always buy them plenty of snacks for the nurses' station as if he were sorry.

'Like mentor, like student, truly.'

She also sped up her writing. For some reason, it was a morning filled with more energy than usual.

* * *

After leaving the hospital, Kyungwoo drove straight to Goesan. Plans began to stack up in his head.

'I need to finish things in Goesan as quickly as possible and look for a place to open my new clinic.'

First, he had to finish the paper with Chayoung and submit it. This was urgent because of the professor, so he planned to proceed immediately. The content was mostly finished anyway; it was at the stage where he just needed to input Jia’s final treatment data and wrap it up. And the nine intractable cases. He was currently seeing three intractable patients. In particular, Yang Jinwon was improving much faster than the medical text had predicted. Since it wouldn't matter if he completed the remaining six cases after going to Seoul... he just needed to finish with the current patients well.

'The problem is the clinic...'

Kyungwoo Oriental Clinic. It was a name he had slapped on it because he was too burned out to think of anything else, but it was a clinic he had operated under his own name. It wasn't exactly a prime location for a new opening, but since the Myeongho Clinic, which had been number one in the town, had closed due to a license suspension, and the county governor was also there...

If he just lifted the appointment restrictions, it seemed like it would run well enough to operate. 'Of course, I’d need a skilled Oriental doctor...'

Chayoung’s face came to mind. Since she had seen his patients in connection with the public health center, she knew their conditions best, and given her persistent personality and the fact that she had been designated as his "disciple," she possessed solid skills despite her short career.

'By the time I leave, Jia, Mr. Jinwon, and the other intractable patients will have improved quite a bit... but maintenance is also necessary.'

Since Chayoung’s discharge was about two months away, it was the perfect period for Kyungwoo to finish his work in Goesan and prepare for his new opening.

'If she’s interested...'

Chayoung would probably want to follow him, but he didn't have the capacity to hire an associate doctor right after opening. So, his calculation was to either call Chayoung up after his revenue increased to a certain level, or if her skills and situation supported it at that point, it would be fine to entrust her with a branch entirely.

'Eventually, I have to go for a chain-versus-chain battle.'

No matter how famous or successful he became as an individual doctor, he couldn't topple the status quo. Patients needed an alternative. A place with treatment effects that were clearly superior to the status quo. And if possible, a place with good cost-effectiveness. If he could create such a place, the flow would eventually tilt in this direction.

'The question is how much I can shorten that timeline.'

Kyungwoo made good use of the two-hour drive from Seoul to Yongdeok-ri. And finally... he arrived at his base.

Thinking that this was a place he would soon leave, the building looked strangely unfamiliar. Kyungwoo opened the locked door and walked into the clinic.

Click—

He turned on the lights in the waiting room and headed to the director's office. 'Let's see if you'll answer me willingly.'

Kyungwoo, who always started by complaining and threatening whenever he dealt with the Book-bugi, prepared his heart firmly.

"I'm back. Were you planning some other scheme while I was gone?"

Flip—

Kyungwoo opened the pages of the Gamshin-tongmaek-rok. He scanned it with his eyes, but no newly added sentences were visible yet...

"Hey, are you asleep?"

At that moment, finally, a line of encrypted text on the medical book rearranged itself and revealed its meaning.

What the? What’s with this clumsy half-formal, half-casual tone?