The Physician's Resolve
“Young Master, what are you doing?”
“Can’t you tell by looking? I’m packing a bundle.”
“But you can’t go to the academy until the epidemic settles down, can you? Why are you packing?”
“...There’s a reason for everything, so hurry up and help me. Gather the medical texts we bought last time and put them in a crate or something.”
“Yes, I should pack all the books over there, right?”
“Yeah.”
I needed to be prepared, as I didn’t know when I’d be called. While Dori was organizing the medical texts, I neatly arranged the pages I had scribbled on with gochoji—the ones intended for my fabrication. Being cheap paper, it was already turning a sickly yellow and had spots of black mold here and there. To an outsider, wouldn’t it look like an ancient document from several hundred years ago? Hmm, good, very good. After packing the fabricated ancient documents and a few pre-prepared items into the bundle, I asked Dori, who was still organizing books nearby.
“By the way, any news from outside?”
“News, sir?”
“Yeah, it’s about time they looked for me. You did deliver the books properly, right?”
“Yes, I submitted them to the Gyoseogak just as you said. I was worried they might look down on me for being a commoner and refuse to accept them, so I asked the eldest young master for help.”
“Hmm... well done.”
But why haven’t they come yet? Surely they didn’t just throw them away as trashy novels? No, that’s impossible. Even if they did, our family has a reputation, and with my eldest brother stepping in personally, they would have at least sent them to the Royal Infirmary for review. That’s as far as it needs to go. Because Heo Jun is at the Royal Infirmary. The GOAT of Korean medicine. If he’s the legend he is, he’d be able to figure out the gist of modern medical knowledge even if I only hinted at it. If not, oh well. I bought the books, wrote a book by stitching them together, and even went through the trouble of gathering gochoji to fabricate these documents—if I’ve done this much, I’ll have something to say even when I stand before King Yama later.
“Young Master, I’ve finished organizing.”
“You’ve worked hard. Want some taffy?”
“Oh, I’d love some!”
Just as I finished packing and was sucking on a sweet piece of taffy with Dori, I heard the voice of the academy servant calling me from outside the room.
“Young Master! Someone has come from the palace! They say you must enter the palace immediately.”
It’s here. As expected of Heo Jun. He’s a man who could even make an Iraqi terrorist unit go wild. I stood up immediately and grabbed the bundle I had prepared.
“Dori, let’s go.”
“Did he die, or did he live?”
Heo Jun could not take his eyes off the book. An endless wave of emotion surged within him at Jin Gwang-ryeol’s firm resolve, and a tear welled up at the thought of such a noble sacrifice. Now, it was time to check the results. Heo Jun immediately turned the page.
“The Royal Physician has collapsed?”
“Yes, he did not attend the morning court, so I stopped by his residence, and the servant said he collapsed last night.”
“Hmm, I see. What are the symptoms?”
“That is... it sounds serious. High fever and small rashes are appearing; it seems he has contracted the Mama (smallpox).”
“What, Mama?!”
“I know this current Mama is virulent. But how could the Royal Physician himself fall to such a wretched disease?”
“Prepare the Sanghae-galgeun-tang and Sipjeon-daebo-tang and follow me. I will go to the Royal Physician’s house immediately.”
No Min-guk rushed to Jin Gwang-ryeol’s house and checked his pulse. A chaotic, erratic heartbeat, cold sweat soaking the bedding, a raging fever, and red boils blooming on his chest. It was Mama.
“Physician, please regain your senses. How did this happen?”
“You... have you come? Sorry for making you travel so far...”
“Don’t talk of trouble. I have prepared medicine outside, so please wait a moment. I will find a way to cure you.”
At No Min-guk’s concern, Jin Gwang-ryeol smiled faintly. “We have a long history, you and I. It’s been thirty years since we entered the Royal Infirmary together, hasn’t it?”
“It has been longer than that. My son is already thirty, and we met before that.”
“Was it? It’s been a long, long time. It feels like yesterday that we studied, competed, laughed, and cried together. Tell me, did you never hate me?”
“Haha, of course I hated you. You were always a step ahead of me, how could I not? But as I grew older, I realized it was just the arrogance of youth. How could the bond built over thirty years simply disappear?”
“I am grateful you say so. Then... I can trust you with what comes next. In that sense, will you grant me one request?”
“Please, speak, Physician.”
Jin Gwang-ryeol, who had been catching his breath, spoke with a firm voice, as if he had made up his mind. “Do not give me medicine, but watch over me.”
“What? What are you saying!”
“Exactly as I said. Do not use medicine, but record my state exactly as it is.”
Jin Gwang-ryeol poured out everything he had heard from the ‘Tower.’ The relationship between the ‘Horse Physician’ and Mama, the nature of Mama never coming twice, and his decision to accept the disease himself last night. “If I die, this is not the answer, so you must find another path. If my symptoms differ from other Mama patients, record it. Reveal what is different, where that difference comes from, and which progression is better. You can do that, right?”
“Physician...”
“I beg of you...”
“He is a righteous man until the very end.” Heo Jun closed his eyes for a moment and paid his respects to the physician who burned his own body to pioneer a new path. Then, with a bitter taste in his mouth, he turned the page to confirm his end.
Jin Gwang-ryeol dreamed. It was a terrible nightmare where pitch-black darkness swallowed everything. A thick, toxic energy, sharp as needles, spread like mist. He couldn’t move a finger, as if pinned down by a giant rock, and could only stare helplessly into the void.
“Strange. I don’t think I’ve met this child before?”
A woman whispered from the void as she descended. Her skin was so pale it turned blue, and her lips were red as if smeared with crushed blood. With long, flowing silk robes, she felt infinitely noble, yet her beauty was cold and devoid of life.
“Child, have we met?”
Jin Gwang-ryeol could not answer. He knew who she was. The indifferent gaze, like looking at a bug on the ground, the purple toxic energy wafting out with every breath—his intuition as a physician, warning him that answering would mean death, desperately sealed his lips.
“Can you not hear me, or are you not answering?” She showed a fishy smile and reached out a hand as pale as white jade to stroke Jin Gwang-ryeol’s cheek. Was this the smile of a child tearing off the wings of a dragonfly or the legs of an ant? The gaze of an absolute being, infinitely curious yet sometimes indifferent, scanned his entire body. Just as a scream was about to escape him, unable to withstand the toxic energy, she pulled her hand away and said, “Since you cannot hear me, you are a lucky child. Oh, the fun was over too soon.”
She returned to the void. Jin Gwang-ryeol bit his trembling lips and watched her back. When time passed and not even a hem of her robe was visible, he finally let out his held breath.
“Haaah!!!”
“Are you awake? Physician!! Physician!!”
“Oh... where am I... Who are you...?”
“It is I, No Min-guk!! Physician, you have survived! I watched over you for three nights and days, and you did not progress past the ‘Haegi’ stage. Your symptoms were closer to a common cold than Mama, and the red spots have all faded. The hypothesis was correct!”
“I knew it!!”
Exactly. It was a flawless assumption. All that remained was conviction. Now, he even had that. Yes, once he finished reading this book and entered the palace, he would bring horses from the Saboksi. Just as Jin Gwang-ryeol did, he, Heo Jun, would accept Mama himself and prove it to the world. It was time to let the eight provinces of Joseon know that Mama was no longer an incurable disease. Having made his resolve deep in his heart, Heo Jun turned the page. He had to see the end.
...Jin Gwang-ryeol left the palace. He threw away the power and fame of the Royal Physician and returned to the countryside as a humble doctor who sucked the pus from the wounds of the sick.
“Hmm, in Mokpo, they use forsythia fruit for a common cold?”
“No, in Hamheung, they grind balloon flower roots for boils?”
Collecting and organizing the medical knowledge scattered across the eight provinces of Joseon was a new and joyful experience for Jin Gwang-ryeol.
...Jin Gwang-ryeol arrived at an unnamed village in the Great Country. A funeral was in full swing, and the weeping of those who appeared to be family could be heard. “Who died?”
“Yes, the herb gatherer who lived at the edge of Gaegolsan died of an illness. The doctor said it was malaria, but he couldn’t last a few days.”
“Did you say malaria? Then what about the other patients?”
“Yes? What are you talking about? There are no other patients.”
“What? How can that be? You said it was malaria.”
“How can this be? Even if it’s not as bad as Mama, isn’t malaria a rapidly spreading epidemic? If it were a malaria virulent enough to kill a man, the whole area should be devastated. What on earth...”
Heo Jun fussed over the appearance of new knowledge and turned the page. The first sentence of the next page was surprising.
“Our village rarely has epidemics. Even if someone catches it, only one person does, and most are fine.”
“Is that true? How can that be?”
“Well... do you know Hwang-ol-gye (Yellow Chicken)?”
“Hwang-ol-gye?”
“Yes, it is a dish made by a Joseon woman who received the title of ‘God of Cooking,’ and it is truly delicious.”
“Does eating that prevent one from catching the disease?”
“No. You take the oil left over from eating Hwang-ol-gye, add ash powder... Ah, she is coming over there. It would be faster to ask her directly.”
“Hwang-ol-gye?” He remembered. It was a dish that appeared in the first novel written by the child named Heo Gyun. Its taste was so exquisite that the gisaeng houses of Hanyang had been in an uproar once. But what on earth did that dish have to do with epidemics? Heo Jun could not suppress his curiosity and immediately turned the page. A truly humble sentence greeted him.
“I am the Joseon physician Jin Gwang-ryeol. Are you the woman who made the dish called Hwang-ol-gye?”
“Yes, I am Dae Jang-geum.”
“I have but one question. They say that through that dish, one does not catch the epidemic; can you tell me how that is possible?”
“That is...”
...Jin Gwang-ryeol also returns as the Jang-geum of the Food Wars...
...To be continued in the next episode...
Heo Jun also shouted at the top of his lungs.
“The next episode!!!”