The First Target
‘What’s gotten into this thing all of a sudden?’
Kyungwoo looked down at the medical text, dumbfounded. Even at that moment, the text was busily writing and erasing characters, seemingly struggling to form the next sentence.
[You have, albeit temporarily, approached the realm of a Divine Doctor...]
[Approached...]
[Approached...]
[Approached.]
“Hey, what are you doing?”
The text paused for a moment. It felt as if a heavy sigh—*huff*—was emanating from it. The medical text pulled itself together and began to reveal the next passage.
[It was said in ancient times that the state where all things in heaven and earth connect as one is called Boshin (Universal Body), and to understand the myriad pains of the world without being bound by them is called Gensin (Seeing the Divine). You have, albeit temporarily, reached the realm of Gensin.
Just as one who walks above the clouds misses the lightness when they step back onto the soil, and one who has endured the burning of fire remembers the heat when they touch cold water, you, too, shall now remember the traces of Gensin. Though you may not maintain that realm, a path once walked is easy to find again.]
One of the sentences in the middle had been replaced with strange, honorific language. Kyungwoo read the newly appeared sentences carefully.
‘As I thought...’
Something had changed yesterday. He had felt a distinct difference in himself, unlike anything he’d experienced before. This was different in trajectory from the path he had been aiming for. Accumulating Jeong-gi (vital essence) was a way to endure pain, but the realm of Gensin was about escaping the shackles of pain entirely. It didn’t seem like something that was supposed to be unlocked at his current stage.
If that was the case, the reason this book was stuttering like that was probably...
“Hey, do you respect me?”
[......]
“Seeing me touch the realm of a Divine Doctor, even for a moment, you’re thinking you shouldn’t treat me lightly anymore, and you’re feeling all giddy because you think I’m the one who’s going to fulfill your dreams?”
The medical text hurriedly denied it.
[The ability to resonate with pain is not a trial, but a special privilege bestowed upon the chosen. Since the qualification of a Divine Doctor is granted only to those who possess the heart to truly save patients by transcending their own suffering, you have excellently proven that heart... err.]
Along with some garbled characters, the last part was frantically erased.
‘So, resonating with pain isn’t just for the purpose of accurately knowing the patient’s condition, but a test to see if I will continue to try to save patients despite such disadvantages.’
Thinking of it that way, it became clear. Jia and Mr. Kim Jang-hyun, whom he saw yesterday. Besides being patients with urgent and serious illnesses, the two had something in common: the losses he had to endure. For Jia, he had opened the Kyungwoo Oriental Clinic while accepting a deficit just to treat her. Yesterday, he had saved an emergency patient without caring about getting swept up in unpleasant situations like lawsuits. Of course, it was Kyungwoo himself who had shown a much higher level of medical skill with incredible concentration during that time, but...
‘Does my ability jump in steps when I prove both my “skill” and my “will”?’
While he was thinking, the medical text finally managed to correct the last sentence.
[...the qualification of a Divine Doctor shall be granted.]
And now, Kyungwoo admitted it a little.
‘With that level of ability... I suppose it shouldn’t be passed on to someone swayed by self-interest.’
After obtaining the Gamshin-tongmaek-rok, Kyungwoo’s skills had improved significantly. However, when he asked himself if this ability was essential even if he couldn’t treat patients properly, he hadn’t thought so, at least not personally. Kyungwoo had been the top student throughout his time at the Oriental Medical School and had been doing well at the Oriental Hospital after graduation. Of course, even so, a single Oriental doctor going up against a massive chain would be like throwing an egg at a rock, but...
He had thought that aiming for his calling as a skilled Oriental doctor, versus aiming for it while being more skilled but restricted, the former would naturally be more advantageous. But...
‘After experiencing it yesterday...’
His mind had changed. This was an ability that might even reverse the fate of a person whose time was already set. So, if he mastered it completely, he thought this might actually be a much faster shortcut.
However...
‘I can’t let it catch on.’
In any case, this medical text was the type that preferred “the standard, step-by-step approach.” It would rejoice if he solved a task with an unfathomable trick, saying it saw the possibility of a Divine Doctor, but it wasn’t the type to suggest an easy path first.
‘I guess there’s a restriction to ensure the candidate is verified properly. So it doesn’t just hand out abilities to anyone.’
So, he still needed to play coy and push-and-pull with this thing. To milk every last bit of the next and subsequent stages it would open up for him.
“Hey, Book-bugi.”
[Yes? ...No, speak, practitioner.]
‘This thing is seriously funny.’
“There’s one thing I don’t understand. Actually, I’ve had a similar feeling to yesterday before, right? The feeling that the pain was more bearable than before. But even then, a lot of discomfort remained, you know? But now, it’s like the feeling of it being difficult until I reach the limit has completely disappeared.”
In other words, the process of accumulation had vanished. Was this also the realm of Gensin? If so, the sensations would rush back once he crossed the limit.
[That was my serv... no, this book took measures.]
“You did?”
[When resonating with pain that exceeds the realm, it is inevitable that the mind will be affected. This is something the practitioner must overcome, but...]
“And?”
[Since the degree of shock can be adjusted when the limit has not been reached, it is a special gift that this book offe... no, bestows upon the practitioner who has proven their will and skill.]
“You book-bastard! You should’ve done that sooner!”
It was that kind of feeling. Like when you go to a department store in shabby clothes and they tell you to look around on your own, but when you revisit wearing luxury goods, the treatment suddenly changes.
‘Well, it’s not bad for me, though...’
***
After the next day’s treatment, Kyungwoo sat down across from Gong Chayoung.
“Teacher Gong, what are you going to do after you’re discharged from service?”
“Me? Hmm...”
Chayoung pondered. Come to think of it, her public health doctor life would end in two months. Two years at her previous posting, and ten months in Baejae-ri. She hadn’t exactly been slacking off the whole time, but even among those days, she had lived the last three months very diligently, even by her own standards. Especially lately, she had been so obsessed with conquering each acupuncture point that she was stamping her attendance at Kyungwoo Oriental Clinic every single day...
‘In my heart, I want to work under my senior as an associate director!’
A clinic that looked like it was in the red to anyone who saw it. It seemed like it would be tight just paying the nursing assistant’s salary, so there was no way he could afford an associate director’s salary.
‘But... back in the day when it was more of an apprenticeship, people even paid money to learn the secret techniques, right?’
Would he accept her if she just said she wouldn’t take a salary and asked to be hired as an associate director? Chayoung cautiously brought it up.
“Um... if it’s possible for me to work here—”
“Work.”
“Pardon?”
The permission came before she could even finish her sentence. However, what followed was even more shocking!
“But I’m going to Seoul.”
“What?!”
Kyungwoo chuckled as he watched Chayoung’s dumbfounded face.
“You’re joking, right?”
“I’m serious.”
“No, then what is an associate director supposed to do where there’s no director...”
“Not associate director, Teacher Gong will be the director.”
“Uh...?”
“I don’t mean for you to stay forever, just for about a year? There are patients whose conditions I need to keep an eye on, so I can’t just close the doors, but I’d rather have Teacher Gong see them than hand it over to someone else. Then I can come down occasionally to check on the patients’ progress, too. I’ll call you once I get settled in Seoul.”
Me... a director?
It wasn’t like there weren’t peers who opened their own clinics right after graduation, but...
Chayoung’s heart began to pound.
“Ah, if the revenue doesn’t come in, I’ll make sure to guarantee the associate director’s salary by selling herbal medicine if I have to. It’s a difficult request, but I should at least do that—”
“No, you don’t have to!”
Chayoung cut off Kyungwoo’s proposal.
“Once I’m a sole proprietor, I’ll manage on my own, what kind of guaranteed salary is that? Um, by any chance, the premium...”
“What premium? For a clinic that sees six people a day. It’s a free transfer. There aren’t many machines, but I’ll just hand it over to you.”
“Yes. Then I will gratefully accept!”
She would have stuck by his side to learn even without pay, but along with the opportunity to gain experience, he even promised to call her later! Plus, thinking of the know-how Kyungwoo would occasionally come down to teach her...
‘I’d be a fool not to take this!’
Kyungwoo looked at Chayoung, who had that exact expression on her face, with a sense of pride.
‘Actually, she’s someone who could easily get hired at any clinic in Seoul, yet she’s volunteering for hardship.’
“Then, shall we increase the patient turnover just enough so you don’t run a deficit when you take over?”
“Ah, are you going to increase the number of reserved patients?”
“I should loosen up my hands a bit more, too.”
Kyungwoo discussed it with Park Miyoung and Park Chunsik, and lifted the “Kyungwoo Oriental Clinic Embargo” that had been hanging over Yongdeok-ri and Baejae-ri. And then...
Kyungwoo Oriental Clinic began to become famous!
***
Kyungwoo Oriental Clinic’s daily reservations increased to 15. It could handle up to 16, but he left a margin of one for emergency patients or other variables.
‘To think I could afford such luxury, hehe.’
Taking reservations while leaving one spot open made Kyungwoo feel like a rich man. It was like having 5% battery left on your phone, but having a power bank in your bag!
“Is this the clinic that’s supposed to be so good?”
“Why on earth did they open a clinic in a place like this?”
“Is it true that they fix a sprained ankle in one acupuncture session?”
Patients had started to find their way there after hearing rumors from other neighborhoods, but the 15 spots a day weren’t fully packed yet. On top of that, even the residual pain had disappeared, so Kyungwoo’s condition was actually better even though the number of patients had increased.
“Director, are you really okay...?”
Park Miyoung seemed worried about Kyungwoo’s changed appearance, bringing him iced coffee from time to time and meticulously adjusting the heater temperature in the director’s office. But her face was also full of smiles. The feeling that she was finally earning her paycheck! At this rate, it looked like they would turn a profit for the first time since Kyungwoo Oriental Clinic opened.
“Morning clinic is closed!”
He had finished after seeing 7 people in the morning. This much was nothing as long as there were no pain restrictions. Back in his Oriental Hospital days, he had seen up to 70 people a day.
Kyungwoo stretched his arms wide.
“I was short on diseases to train with for a while, you must be excited that there are so many new patients?”
After taking a jab at the medical text, Kyungwoo quickly inhaled his lunch box. There was a lot to do during lunch hour, too.
‘Let’s see, Jia’s checkup results...’
As soon as he returned from Seoul, he had asked Jia’s mother. To go to the Western hospital and get the latest checkup results. And this morning, he received the CD. There was a note attached to the CD...
[I am Lee Hyun-soo, Jia’s attending physician.
Last time, you predicted a 90% improvement in three months, but Jia came back in two, so I was worried she might have gotten worse...
It turns out you sent her sooner because she recovered quickly.
Judging by the current figures, while it falls a bit short of complete remission, I judge it to be at a level where she can sufficiently return to daily life.
As the attending physician who has seen Jia since the onset of her illness, I thank you.]
‘He’s a good doctor.’
Because the conflict between Western and Oriental medicine had intensified, making it very difficult to collaborate with each other at some point... seeing a doctor with such an open mind was very welcome.
‘The figures all came out well.’
Now, he just needed to add this data and polish it to submit his paper. After attaching the files and sharing the email with Gong Chayoung, Kyungwoo entered the Hani-Agora community.
This Oriental doctor community had a bulletin board for posting business transfer listings and those looking to acquire. Checking this every day was one of Kyungwoo’s daily routines lately. There were two types of opening a clinic: new opening and acquisition opening. To set up a clinic from scratch according to the director’s intentions and tastes, a new opening was good, but it had the disadvantage of being difficult to distinguish whether it was a golden spot or a shitty spot just by looking at the location. Also, since new openings had high interior costs, there were many directors who wanted to open by taking over a transfer even if they had to pay some premium.
Kyungwoo was also in a situation where he was agonizing between the two...
‘There’s nothing that fits the conditions today either.’
Among Kyungwoo’s conditions, there was one tricky item... That was that it had to be near a branch of the Somyeong Oriental Clinic. It wasn’t easy to find a listing that met that condition.
‘Should I just do a new opening after all...’
As he hit the back button to return to the main screen, the best post on the anonymous bulletin board, which only opened on Wednesdays on Hani-Agora, caught Kyungwoo’s eye.
That post already had over a hundred comments...
The OP, who had nothing better to do, was replying to each and every comment.
Then, *click*, the anonymous bulletin board time ended, and the IDs started to appear.
Kyungwoo’s eyes sparkled. It was an ID he knew.
‘Look at this bastard...?’
The other person deleted the comment where the ID was revealed immediately, but Kyungwoo had already grasped his identity. Lee Tae-young. A guy who had picked fights with him at every turn during his school days and had gone around spreading false rumors at peer gatherings that Kyungwoo had caused a medical accident.
‘That’s right. This guy existed. Didn’t they say he got a Somyeong branch?’
Kyungwoo immediately accessed the Somyeong Oriental Hospital website and clicked on the branch introduction page. He clicked through the branches one by one, looking for Lee Tae-young’s face.
‘Bingo, here he is.’
Kyungwoo wore a savage smile. He had decided. The first target was the branch operated by this bastard.