Chapter 15
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 15
Chapter Title: The First Local Patient
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August, first week.
It had already been one month since I boldly opened my clinic.
The wide treatment room, with its south-facing windows, was bathed in blazing sunlight.
“Wow~ The weather’s great!”
If only it would rain, I could blame that.
But there wasn’t a single cloud in the sky, and not a single patient’s shadow at the clinic.
“Haaah.”
I let out a deep sigh.
I’d opened with minimal expenses, but still, I’d used up 20 million won I’d saved from tutoring during university, plus a 40 million won loan. That meant, even at this very moment, loan interest and commercial rent were ticking away.
Employee salaries, management fees, gas bills, electricity, and all sorts of other costs...
‘Even now, money is evaporating.’
Aaack!
Why on earth did I make this choice?
Impulse opening? Are those two words even meant to go together?
If I’d just stuck to Hwang Seoyeong’s place doing nothing, I could’ve become a ranker with that money!
“Location... really is everything, huh.”
I shouldn’t have opened so rashly.
No, even if I did, I should’ve contacted Hwang Sanghun, who’d confidently said he’d put in a good word, before signing the lease.
Then I wouldn’t have ended up in a place like this, all the way in Busan, up on a hill.
“I didn’t even think this was a bad spot...”
When I read the earth veins, the flow of qi was excellent.
Feng shui-wise, it perfectly embodied “back to the mountain, facing the water”—a prime location.
It was great for cultivating inner energy in my spare time, so the moment I saw it, I thought it was perfect.
“Who knew five minutes without a car would be a dealbreaker.”
The moment I shared the news, Hwang Seoyeong hopped on the train with me, and she freaked out when she saw the location.
- There are apartment complexes nearby, and no other clinics, right?
- People don’t call a 0.7 km hike “nearby”!
In fact, she even had to take a break halfway up.
It was a reason I’d never imagined.
For licensing, this was practically next door.
No, I’d opened clinics in remote mountain valleys that took hours to reach, and patients still came!
But no matter how I explained, no modern person was going to casually trek a 0.7 km incline.
‘Aaah!’
I screamed silently, spinning back in my reclined chair.
Then, my eyes fell on the culprit behind my impulsive opening.
‘If it weren’t for that guy, that book!’
The autobiography of someone I’d briefly admired.
I picked it up.
Why had I read it so obsessively?
Actually, it didn’t even say to run a business like this...
“Aargh! Whatever!”
Whoosh!
I immediately set the book in my hand ablaze with the Three Realms True Fire.
It felt like that ominous thing was scaring patients away.
After erasing every trace of the autobiography, I donned my gown and transformed into the picture of a friendly physician.
“Time to circulate my qi and meditate.”
I opened the window and took a deep breath.
So what if it was slow? It’s not like I was in the red... right?
I cleared a certain someone from my mind and began meditating.
Ding~.
A short while later, I heard someone enter the clinic.
“Oh!”
I jumped up, dismissed the screensaver, and checked the chart.
‘Kim Ijin, 19 years old. Bad knee?’
The info entered at the desk popped up.
The address field showed an apartment just five minutes’ walk away.
‘Perfect! She lives nearby!’
The only patients so far had been someone who twisted their ankle hiking from out of town.
Half of them recovered completely thanks to my stellar treatment.
The other half were satisfied with reduced pain but didn’t return, with so many clinics right by their homes.
But a local patient might come back often, maybe even bring friends!
“Hello.”
A tall girl entered the treatment room, greeting in a husky voice.
Wow, I’m tall myself, but she’s got to be 180 cm?
“Hello~. Please have a seat here!”
Determined to win her over, I flashed the brightest smile.
‘Her build, posture, clear aura... something feels familiar.’
The girl, who oddly gave off a martial artist vibe, awkwardly nodded and sat in the chair I indicated.
For athletes, injuries are like fate itself, but Kim Ijin had dodged that fate for quite a while.
“Our girl’s just so tough! Haha, must be why I played basketball—to see her win medals!”
The word “tough” left no room for doubt.
Of course, she hadn’t been injury-free.
But unlike friends who suffered for weeks from a minor sprain, she’d bounce back in a day or two even after colliding with another player.
‘Ugh.’
So when she felt a twinge on landing, she brushed it off.
‘It’ll heal soon. If I rest over something like this when I can keep going, that’s not giving my all.’
Kim Ijin joined training and games as if nothing was wrong. She didn’t want to look like she was overreacting with pain relief patches everywhere.
And the pain did subside after a few days.
“I thought it was all better... sigh.”
Then it flared up again. Got better. Repeated.
“Shoot! Three-pointer... huh!?”
“...”
Then disaster struck.
Amid cheers and jeers, she clutched her knee and collapsed.
“Ijin?”
“Captain, you okay?”
It was a crucial game, and she’d messed up.
“Kim Ijin, show me that knee right now.”
The coach, sensing something off with her landing form, grilled her.
“When did this start?”
“...I don’t remember exactly.”
“The captain hiding an injury!”
It wasn’t like she desperately wanted to play this game. But the coach blew up.
“It doesn’t even bend properly. No training until treatment’s done!”
Only then did she realize her knee was in bad shape.
‘...I should’ve treated it right away.’
She was banned from club activities and got an earful from teammates.
Time for the hospital.
She told her dad everything.
“It’s not malingering, right?”
Her grit-loving father, half-suspicious, half-worried, took her to a big hospital in the district.
The whole building was orthopedics. Three floors of inpatient rooms, rehab facilities straight out of TV.
They waited ages, got examined, shot X-rays and CT scans as ordered.
“To check the ligament precisely, we’d need an MRI, but it looks like an ACL tear.”
“What?!”
The doctor pointed at the screen. She couldn’t make sense of the black-and-white image.
Except that it was serious.
“Let’s schedule surgery. Old folks might just live with it, but you’re young—ligament reconstruction is the way.”
Surgery made her head spin.
Dad asked a few questions, but she had only one.
“Um, can I exercise right after surgery?”
“Absolutely not. Minimum three months, up to six, focusing on rehab.”
The father-daughter duo left without booking.
Dad was furious.
“They’re pushing unnecessary surgery for over-treatment and big bucks!”
Led by her father, she saw a small local ortho next.
“Hmm? Not fully torn. Partial tears don’t always need surgery—those big hospitals, tsk. Let’s try conservative treatment first.”
The elderly doctor there prescribed muscle relaxants and painkillers, plus physical therapy, and observe.
Dad was thrilled, and Kim Ijin relieved.
For nearly a month, she went daily for therapy.
Four cup-like things on the knee, sending zapping currents.
“Huh? You were here yesterday too? You’re so young—what’s wrong?”
One day, a grandma who came daily like her struck up a chat.
“Hurt my knee playing basketball.”
“Aigoo! Why’s a young thing doing such intense sports?”
“It just happened. What about you, ma’am?”
“Grandma’s had it since 40 years ago! Started after my fifth kid. Farming, business—makes sense.”
“You’ve been through a lot... Getting better with treatment?”
“At 70+? Not expecting miracles. Just come ‘cause nothing else to do.”
Kim Ijin looked around.
Half the beds full, all 60+ elders. She hadn’t scrutinized faces, but the regulars looked much the same.
Hadn’t seen the doctor since day one. Her knee showed no improvement.
‘...It’ll get better. I’m tough.’
Just then, her dad’s pro athlete friend visited.
“Coach is discriminating against our girl. Knee’s just a bit hurt—what’s the big deal? Kept her out a month!”
“ACL injury needs treatment. Could get worse.”
“She’s been fine without babying it. What if her fire dies?”
“Hey, don’t say that. Send her to a Korean medicine clinic. I go for every ache—works great.”
Korean medicine clinic?
She recalled one she’d seen walking the back hill.
‘Seongsu Clinic. Korea University Korean Medicine grad. Teacher from Seoul, maybe.’
Not as pricey as the first place? With mild worry, she entered.
“Yes, Kim Ijin. Knee issues. How’d you hear about us?”
The desk greeted warmly.
Inside looked like any other clinic she’d been to.
“Just had a good feeling, so I remembered.”
Yet a strangely refreshing aura emanated from within.
After registering, she was shown straight to the treatment room, no wait.
“Hello~.”
A female doctor? She relaxed a bit.
Unlike the aloof previous docs, this director greeted her with a beaming smile.
“When did it start hurting?”
“Not sure exactly. Think it was from basketball...”
“Whoa, that’s so cool! An athlete?”
“Ah, yes.”
“Precious knees—must’ve been so worrying!”
The doctor asked in detail: how she hurt it, what treatments she’d had.
Unlike the first doc repeating “surgery” while staring at the computer, or the curt second one.
“Bet you’re dying to get back to sports.”
“Yes. Last high school tournament... I want to play.”
Saying it, something swelled in her chest.
She’d thought she was fine. Kept telling herself therapy would fix it, but anxiety and frustration lingered.
‘I want to heal fast. I want to play basketball.’
The director nodded with a gentle smile.
“I’ll do my absolute best to make that happen. Let’s start with some checks.”
Nothing done yet, but relief washed over her.
I smiled brightly.
‘No wonder she has that daoist aura—she’s an athlete.’
From the moment Kim Ijin entered, she reminded me of Mount Hua or Wudang daoists. That pure, untainted immortal qi from those raised in the mountains on cultivation alone? Her demeanor was blunt, like a junior disciple new to the outside world.
I approached carefully, drawing out her story.
‘Got her!’
Seeing the spark in her eyes as she talked sports, I raised the corner of my mouth.
‘This girl’s my patient now.’
I had her lie on the bed and began the examination.