Chapter 1: The Lust Demon's Martial Arts Manual
After the morning meeting ended, the head of the physical therapy room called Baek Donghyuk aside. As soon as he sat down, a sheet of paper flew in, covered with lines drawn in red ballpoint pen.
"Baek Donghyuk-ssi, the evaluation report is terrible. Last month's patient satisfaction graph... is lower than even the interns'."
Baek Donghyuk couldn't lift his head. The uniform shirt felt tight around his body like it was squeezing him. It was a situation he'd expected, but when it actually hit him, his heart was pounding wildly.
"What the hell is this? All the other team members are doing more than their share, but why does Baek Donghyuk-ssi keep doing this? What exactly is the problem? Are you even trying?"
The tone kept rising. The criticism went beyond just work ability, denying Baek Donghyuk's very existence.
Useless.
Worthless.
No talent.
Those words sank into his mind. He wanted to say something, but his mouth wouldn't move. He knew best that there was no room for excuses. For years, no matter how hard he tried, it hadn't improved.
The treatment process that other colleagues handled easily was too much for Baek Donghyuk. It looked similar, but the patients' feedback was completely different. It wasn't about effort. Maybe he hadn't had the talent to do this job from the beginning.
"Baek Donghyuk-ssi, how many years have you been a manual therapist? What good is stacking years of experience? You're still stumbling on basic parts. I know that no matter how hard you try, some people can't do it... but if this continues, it'll ruin the entire team's atmosphere, mess up the evaluation, and ultimately damage the hospital's image. Because of Baek Donghyuk-ssi alone."
The team's words struck like a knife, sinking into his chest. The word "burden" pressed on his shoulders. The guilt towards colleagues and disappointment in himself mixed, making it hard to breathe. He wanted to run out right then. From this meeting room, this situation, and from himself as useless and incompetent. The impulse to flee everything was strong.
"Pull yourself together. This can't go on. This is the last warning. If you don't show noticeable improvement by next month, there might really be disciplinary action. Baek Donghyuk-ssi might have to be replaced by someone else."
"Sorry..."
Baek Donghyuk barely managed to part his lips. His voice trembled terribly. The team's last warning was like dismissal.
When he returned to his seat after the meeting ended, the colleagues' gazes had changed strangely. While pretending to work as usual, their eyes were fixed on Baek Donghyuk. Had he ever been the focus of so much attention before?
All afternoon, Baek Donghyuk couldn't concentrate on work properly. His fingertips trembled, and his mind was full of the team's scolding and the word "dismissal". He had to focus on the job, but he paid more attention to his own anxiety than to the patient's condition. He almost made mistakes several times, and each time, harsh words flew from the patient and their guardian.
"Baek Donghyuk-ssi, are you okay? You look a bit pale."
Around the time the consultation ended. Right behind him, his colleague's voice came.
They weren't particularly close, just occasional greetings when they crossed paths. But why was she approaching first suddenly? It must mean she looked particularly serious today. Baek Donghyuk forced a smile and shook his head.
"Yeah. I'm fine. Just a bit tired."
She was holding out a can of coffee in her hand.
"I accidentally pressed the vending machine button wrong and got two. Do you want one?"
"Ah, thank you."
"I heard everything from the morning meeting... about what the team leader said."
Baek Donghyuk lowered his head and took a sip of the coffee.
"Well, it's embarrassing, but isn't it a growth pain everyone experiences?"
"I hope so. I was wondering if I was the only one going through this..."
"It gets hardest when you feel that way. Cheer up."
The words were short, but the meaning was clear. Not too much, not too little, a gentle comfort. Baek Donghyuk tried to smile and answer, but he couldn't hide that his voice was slightly trembling. She looked at Baek Donghyuk for a moment, then turned her gaze back to her work.
Back in the consultation room, Baek Donghyuk turned his eyes back to the monitor screen. No matter how much he read the patient's chart, the words didn't register properly. His heart was still beating fast. The desperation that this couldn't go on filled his throat.
Lunchtime came, and the staff cafeteria quickly filled with people. While lining up with his tray, Baek Donghyuk's whole body prickled because of the gazes around him. The rumor from the morning meeting had spread like wildfire.
"I heard the team leader scolded him badly."
"Yeah, his evaluation is really at the bottom lately."
"Probably quitting soon, right?"
"It's a shame, though he's been here for a while."
The whispers of the colleague therapists dug into his ears. Hard to tell if they were meant to comfort or mock. But in the end, all those words seemed to converge on one: someone who would quit soon. That word pierced like a thorn. The colleague's small comfort meant nothing.
Baek Donghyuk roughly scooped rice and side dishes onto his tray and sat at the table in the corner of the cafeteria, the most inconspicuous one. Eating alone was familiar, but today it felt unusually lonely and pathetic. His hand holding the spoon trembled.
Clack, he set the tray on the table and took out his phone. He thought he couldn't collapse like this. The team's words about the last warning and having to find another way echoed in his ears. No talent? Really? No, he couldn't give up yet.
He searched in the search bar for manual therapy, rehabilitation medicine, muscle science, etc. He browsed the latest books and expert-recommended book lists and added a few to the cart. If it were the old days, he'd have gone to the bookstore and looked at the books... But now, no time or strength for that. He quickly completed the payment and turned off the phone screen.
The food on the tray was almost the same. He forced himself to take a few spoonfuls, then left. Feeling the colleagues' gazes still stuck on his back, he hurriedly left the cafeteria.
***
The next day after work, Baek Donghyuk found a delivery box in front of his house. It seemed the books on manual therapy he'd ordered yesterday had arrived. With a heavy heart, he carried the box inside.
At the entrance, he set the box down and cut the tape with a knife. Carefully, he inspected the inside of the box. The three ordered books were there side by side. But below them, something else was wedged in.
Strange. He definitely ordered only three books. Was it misdelivered? Baek Donghyuk took out the receipt from the box. The receipt had exactly the list of the three books he ordered and the amount. No mention of an additional book.
Baek Donghyuk alternated between the receipt and the mysterious book. It seemed like a book from a different field than the manual therapy books he was used to. He picked up the book and examined the cover closely. The worn cover design and unknown title. And the strange sense of otherness from the book.
'...This feels really creepy.'
Was the chill on his body just his imagination? Baek Donghyuk held the mysterious book in his hand and hesitated for a long time. Unable to resist curiosity, he finally turned the old cover.
Inside the book were pictures rather than text, filled with bizarre images. Human figures twisted and bent, taking actions that seemed impossible with normal human anatomy. Next to them were densely written unknown characters. It looked like an old martial arts manual or a spellbook.
Baek Donghyuk started flipping through the book while tilting his head at the incomprehensible content. But then something weird happened. The pictures and text he skimmed through were strangely imprinted clearly in his mind. Like someone directly inputting content into the brain, the bizarre movements in the pictures were engraved on his body, and the meaning of the unknown characters vaguely approached. His head throbbed, but he couldn't stop.
When he reached the last page, Baek Donghyuk's eyes widened. Unlike the unknown characters on other pages, the last page had relatively familiar Korean characters.
Lust Demon's Martial Arts Manual
...The lust demon that often appears in wuxia novels? What kind of book is this? I ordered manual therapy books, but I don't know why this came with it. A martial arts manual. Even the content was forcibly imprinted in his mind. Is this possible in reality?
In the midst of confusion, faint light began to seep out from the book. The light grew stronger, and the paper in the book started rustling and drying. Baek Donghyuk, startled, tried to pull his hand away, but the book was already losing shape rapidly in his hand.
In an instant, the book turned into gray dust and flowed between his fingers. The book disappeared without a trace, and the bizarre sensations remained clearly in his mind. Baek Donghyuk stared blankly at his palm. He couldn't tell if what had just happened was a dream or reality.