The Patient
The morning began with a busy clinic session. It was rare for him to stall time like he did when first entering the Murim Alliance, but most patients were treated and gone in the blink of an eye.
The long line outside the building had shortened quickly. Namgung Yurin, looking weary, asked softly.
“Why… do all the geishas suffer from the same illness?”
Yuseong scratched his nose, embarrassed. The Hao Clan was founded by lower-class people. Namgung Yurin, who grew up sheltered as the granddaughter of a prestigious clan, didn’t know much about their lives.
“It’s some kind of infectious disease. It spreads between men and women.”
“...!”
Namgung Yurin couldn’t finish her sentence. When the topic of men and women came up, she clamped her lips shut and avoided his gaze, clearly flustered.
Since she had fallen silent, Yuseong had nothing more to say. A quiet silence stretched between them.
“Doctor-nim, the geishas’ treatments are all finished. Shall we see the poor villagers next?”
A servant’s voice came from outside. Yuseong answered immediately.
“Yes! Please bring them in.”
When Yuseong stepped out, the Hao Clan’s geishas were strictly looked after. They would sometimes return twice or even three times after one treatment.
But with the poor, it was different. Those who had been treated before rarely came back, and sometimes word reached him that patients he had healed had passed away.
For such hopeless reasons.
“Ugh…”
From the very first moment she entered, a woman with soot smeared across her face came in, groaning in pain. A completely unfamiliar face.
Clutching her belly. The Hao Clan couldn’t house every poor person, so for a stomach ache of that level, they wouldn’t have brought her here.
Seeing her expression, Yuseong understood why she had come.
“You’re in too much pain, Doctor-nim. Please, do something…!”
She was bent over so low that her waist scraped the floor, still groaning while clutching her stomach. It looked like something was seriously wrong.
Yuseong quickly pulled out a needle. He noticed the woman’s eyes drifting toward the Cheonunseok needle.
Unlike the jagged ore, it had been shaped into a smooth needle form. For women who loved beautiful things, it wasn’t unusual to glance at it once.
He ignored it, dripped holy power onto her abdomen, and let it flow.
“Strange. It’s not the abdomen?”
Usually, when a patient complained of symptoms, spreading holy power in that area would trigger an abnormality. He had poured holy power over her entire body, even her head, but nothing registered.
Except for one thing.
“This woman… has martial arts training?”
Significant inner energy had accumulated in her dantian. Yuseong could tell from how developed it was.
Among the Hao Clan’s geishas, some had cultivated inner energy for beauty or health reasons, but it was uncommon among the poor.
“I see. Your fingers are also unusual. Long and slender, like spider legs. Did you learn some special martial art?”
The moment he confirmed it, he raised his guard and hastily retreated.
“Have you trained in martial arts?”
“Back off!”
Namgung Yurin gripped her sword sheath and blocked in front of Yuseong. But
“Ah, just a little! I learned a bit of internal energy before I went bankrupt. The stomach pain isn’t related to that at all! Just help me out, please!”
The woman cried out while still rolling on the floor.
“...What should we do, Yuseong-nim?”
Everyone had their own circumstances. Perhaps she wanted to become a poor person.
“Ah. I’ll treat you.”
To prevent Yuseong from wasting effort, Namgung Yurin stayed close. Even though the drawback was that broad holy power had to be spread, if he didn’t know the cause, he could simply use the skill.
Then it would heal perfectly.
“It hurts, it hurts!”
Her face was still twisted in agony.
“Does it really hurt?”
“I’m dying. When are you going to treat me?”
The treatment had clearly ended moments ago. Just to be sure, he spread holy power over a wider area and used the recovery skill again.
The same result. The power of the gods was absolute. There was only one possibility.
“She’s faking it.”
He found it ridiculous. Why come here and waste his time pretending to be ill? There had been one impish woman who faked illness recently, but that had been a good memory and he could forgive it. Still…
This woman was too filthy to even recognize her face. He held back the urge to kick her butt and said,
“I see it’s faking. The treatment is over, so leave.”
“I’m really in pain… I’ll just go.”
The woman left clutching her belly. After dealing with her, he hadn’t gained a single drop of holy power and had wasted time.
He should add this woman to the Hao Clan’s blacklist.
“...Thank you for your hard work, Yuseong-nim.”
“Hah. Wherever we go, there are always issues.”
Whether in the game world or the real one, people’s lives were the same. *** A few days later.
“It’s complete!”
Tang Harin held up the transparent liquid in her jar and shouted.
“Is that the one you asked the Medicine Pavilion to make?”
Yuseong asked. Tang Harin proudly puffed out her chest. Even in her changed clothes, her presence kept drawing glances. Tang Harin smiled brightly.
“Yes. It’s a type of Thousand-Li Tracking Scent.”
The Thousand-Li Tracking Scent. If you buried it in something, the scent could be detected from a thousand li away.
A thousand li was about four hundred kilometers by modern standards. Smelling it from farther than Busan from Seoul?
Honestly, he doubted it. Had that expression shown on his face? Tang Harin raised her eyebrows.
“What? The ‘I don’t believe it’ look?”
“Honestly, I’m not convinced. How can you smell a scent from a thousand li away? It’s not a dog, it’s a person. Well, even dogs can’t smell that far.”
“Hmm. It’s not a person or a dog. It’s something else that smells it. An elf.”
“...Really? So you really can smell scents from a thousand li away?”
Thinking from a modern person’s perspective, he had completely overlooked elements like elves. But
“A thousand li… actually, I haven’t personally tested it, so I don’t know how far it goes. What I do know is that it’s far superior to the old Thousand-Li Tracking Scent. I improved it on purpose for that exact purpose.”
Ah. The old Thousand-Li Tracking Scent existed, and Tang Harin had improved its performance.
She continued.
“Even if it’s not a thousand li, this is not something to be ignored. If you have one thing most precious to you, take it out.”
“What for?”
“To bury this. If there’s anything you never want to forget, even if it’s just in case, it will help if it’s lost.”
“There’s no need. This is something I carry on me at all times.”
“Ha, always carrying it on you…?”
Tang Harin’s gaze moved to Yuseong’s lower abdomen. Yuseong lowered his voice with some vague embarrassment.
“...What are you thinking? Look up.”
“Ah, that’s not it?”
“It’s definitely not. What I said was the needle.”
He was in trouble.
“Ah, as expected of a doctor. But do you always carry it, whether you’re sleeping, awake, going to the bathroom, or washing?”
“...”
That wasn’t it. Realizing that, Tang Harin’s suggestion became tempting. The needle made with Cheonunseok. A precious item that allowed him to treat more patients than his current holy power allowed.
Even with effort, the Hao Clan couldn’t obtain more Cheonunseok. Even if he happened to find it, without connections in the Tang Clan, it would be difficult to process.
Considering the distance to Sichuan, even ordering and receiving it would take months.
“I see. It’s insurance.”
Yuseong took out the needle case and pulled out the needle made from Cheonunseok.
“This.”
Tang Harin nodded vigorously and accepted the needle.
“By the way, it’s not harmful, right?”
“You prick people’s bodies, right? Don’t worry. I’ll only let a little poison seep in. Once it dries well, even if you touch it with your hand, there won’t be any effect.”
In that case, Yuseong watched without concern. Tang Harin took out a small brush and dipped it in the Thousand-Li Tracking Scent.
Transparent liquid gathered on the brush. She applied it by lightly touching the opposite end of the needle.
Then she held the middle part of the needle and offered it to Yuseong.
“Is that it?”
“Yes, but it has to dry naturally in the wind. Don’t put it in the case for now.”
According to Tang Harin’s claim, if this needle were lost, a way to recover it would appear.
“But I have no intention of losing it.”
Because it was a precious item. *** Peaceful days passed. One person came to see Yuseong after he finished treating patients.
“You haven’t forgotten today’s appointment, have you!”
Physician Cha looked especially lively today.
“By your invitation, we’re going to the tavern together today too.”
“Of course. But are you really that excited?”
“Heh. It’s good. The day I have a drink with the doctor-nim is better than my birthday!”
He smiled brightly while saying things that would make his parents burst a vein. And when Yuseong and Physician Cha stepped out of the Medicine Pavilion, a woman in green clothes was waiting in front.
“Hello? I was invited by Physician Cha too. Can I come along?”
“...You too?”
Tang Harin sent over a nervous look. She wasn’t joining blindly like before; she was asking for her opinion.
And she subtly glanced at Yuseong’s side toward Physician Cha.
“Hey, Doctor-nim. I invited you because I had work and wanted to have another drink. If it’s inconvenient, tell me.”
Physician Cha urged subtly. Since Tang Harin had already apologized to Physician Cha and Yuseong about the last incident, he had no intention of bringing it up again.
But Yuseong thought he understood why Physician Cha was so happy.
“Free alcohol is tempting.”
Physician Cha had a head full of gray hair, with a coin-sized bald spot in the middle. Yuseong looked sadly at his head that was starting to show signs of circular baldness and said,
“Alright, let’s go together.”
Physician Cha brightened up.
“Really? Then let’s all go together! Tang Lady, come along!”
“Yes.”
Physician Cha was thrilled at the prospect of free alcohol, Tang Harin was happy to join a place with Yuseong, and Yuseong enjoyed the noisy atmosphere, so the three of them set off for the tavern with two guards. In the lively tavern, Physician Cha raised the mood.
“As expected, no matter when you drink this alcohol, it’s top quality! Doctor-nim, have a drink too!”
Yuseong secretly cast a detoxification skill because Physician Cha was enjoying it too much. At that moment, a man sitting at the next table who was eating suddenly collapsed with a thud.
“Hey!”
The person sitting with him cried out in surprise. Everyone’s eyes turned toward him.
“Patient?!”
Yuseong’s eyes sparkled.