Chapter 197
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 197
Chapter Title: Manual Launch Frenzy
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Kim Ju-hyeok's pain improved noticeably with each passing day.
It wasn't an exaggeration at all—it was literally true.
His condition was different every time he walked into Seongsu Clinic compared to when he left.
'What a waste of time wandering around unnecessarily!'
His dizziness gradually faded too, to the point where it no longer interfered with daily life.
No more staggering to a halt mid-step, no more anxiety about whether he could even drive.
"Ju-hyeok!"
Seeing his girlfriend after so long instantly lifted his spirits.
With daily treatments and fears of getting into another accident if he traveled far, he hadn't been able to meet her.
"Noona!"
"Sorry. I should've visited you in the hospital. I've just been insanely busy."
They only got to see each other once every two weeks to begin with.
He'd planned to take the train next week, but she'd talked him out of it, and now they were finally together.
"It's fine. I'm feeling a lot better now. Has your busy schedule cleared up, Noona?"
"......Yeah. I'm free until tomorrow!"
She'd said work had been piling up since she started her job not long ago.
Instead, Kim Ju-hyeok comforted his girlfriend and they began their date.
Dinner at a reserved restaurant, then a cozy café with a nice vibe.
It was a typical routine, but just being together made him feel better and completely forget his pain.
"Ah."
Still, he needed to take his meds.
"Is that the new herbal prescription you got?"
"Yeah. It started as something for dizziness, but now that I'm much better, they switched it to a blood stasis formula. Isn't it amazing? It tastes similar to the stuff from that Korean medicine hospital at first, but the fishy aftertaste is gone, and it actually feels good going down."
"I see. Oh, Ju-hyeok, your phone's ringing."
Kim Ju-hyeok heard the vibration too.
He glanced at the caller ID without moving his head.
Click.
He snapped his phone shut, rejecting the call.
"What's that about?"
"The guy who hit me."
Exchanging numbers with the perpetrator right after the accident might have been a mistake.
Even after telling him to go through the insurance company, the punk kept reaching out personally.
He'd answered a few calls and checked texts at first, but there was never anything worthwhile, so now he mostly ignored them.
"What does he want?"
He didn't want their date ruined, but as soon as Kim Ju-hyeok declined, texts started coming in.
[Haven't settled yet?]
This hard-earned date after days of hassle.
No point ruining a good day over it...
[Cut it out.]
[Fucking hell, why were you hospitalized for days? It was just a light bump.]
Anger surged in an instant.
If that bastard had just paid attention, none of this would've happened.
Over a week of pain keeping him from sleeping properly, trips back and forth to the hospital, constant worry about collapsing, taking sick leave at work with all the side-eye!
What? Just a light bump?
The car was sturdy, that's all— the collision and impact were massive.
He'd heard that crash himself—what the hell was this guy saying?
"It's nothing. He's just making a fuss about me getting discharged. Looks like the insurance company told him I was admitted to the Korean medicine hospital."
"What? That was ages ago."
"Right? Guess they didn't tell him about the discharge. Should I respond?"
The manager at the first Korean medicine hospital had said the treatment costs and the perp's insurance premium hike weren't connected anyway.
Once the diagnosis was in, that was it.
The guy was probably just venting blindly.
Kim Ju-hyeok replied politely.
[I was discharged from Hwangje Korean Medicine Hospital soon after. I'm now doing outpatient treatment at a clinic. I'm almost fully recovered, so treatment should wrap up within a week. I was told my treatment period/costs aren't tied to your insurance premium, so please stop taking it out on me.]
No matter how barbaric the other side acted, he couldn't stoop to their level.
Getting mad would only hurt him.
"Let me see."
He hadn't wanted to worry her unnecessarily, but she snatched the phone from his hand.
Bzzz.
Bzzz.
She must've seen his reply—two more texts came in.
"......Ju-hyeok, you should've told me about stuff like this."
Her face hardened coldly.
"Huh?"
Why was she like this?
Annoying, sure, but no need to get that serious...
"I'll handle the lawsuit, so leave it to me."
"Lawsuit? What for?"
Kim Ju-hyeok had considered it in a fit of anger.
But insurance covered the treatment costs, and he'd received them properly.
The perp's only crime was rude talk—how do you sue for that?
Then she handed the phone back.
Two new messages stared him in the face.
[You little shit, cut the crap]
[I'll kill you]
......Should he count this as lucky?
It was blatant blackmail.
"How do you put up with this when you have a lawyer girlfriend?"
No, until just now it was only 'cut it out' or 'get discharged' stuff.
Kim Ju-hyeok scratched his head.
"I'll trust you, Noona."
Kim Ju-hyeok's treatment wrapped up successfully.
The pain was completely gone, and no symptoms recurred during the observation period just in case.
"You're good to end treatment now. Glad you recovered without any aftereffects."
"Thank you so much. I really thought I was losing my mind for a while there. I'm relieved too. Next time something hurts, I'll come straight here without wandering."
He'd followed the treatment perfectly to full recovery. I declared it done.
The mess with the accident perp seemed resolved too.
Maybe because I'd talked to Hwang Sang-hun, but he even got an apology from the Busan branch where he'd first been admitted.
Hwang Ji-hoon must've taken some action?
Either way, with all the pain gone, Kim Ju-hyeok wasn't upset anymore.
"Next patient."
Kim Ju-hyeok left the exam room, and soon another patient rushed in.
With one less doctor, the workload had definitely increased.
'Still, it's not as bad as I thought.'
We'd only worked four days a week anyway, and I'd been handling other tasks, so it felt similar.
Lee Ah-reum more than pulled her weight, so on days we both worked, there were even breaks.
Hwang Sang-hun might actually be busier?
'He had way too many non-clinical tasks lately...'
A while back, going back and forth to Gwangju for Seo Na-yeon's case had eaten up tons of time.
After that, I'd buried myself in finishing papers and books.
Yu Kyung-hoon's case report got through peer review and published smoothly.
Spurred on, Hwang Sang-hun showed real enthusiasm too.
Even with the Changwon Hwangje branch swamped, he was pushing forward.
'Maybe a real RCT soon...?'
I'd thought it impossible, but if we kept scaling up like this, it might work.
Anyway, papers aside.
The manual and study compilation book was finally, truly done.
Seo Na-yeon's help boosted the quality a lot.
[Seongsu Clinic Treatment Manual]
[Han Yeowon Picks: 100 Prescriptions]
The rough draft was quick.
I'd started the manual with Chu Mi-young and updated it whenever new people joined the network.
I'd organized it for readability, hoping it'd help junior Korean medicine doctors.
But publishing externally meant scrutinizing everything.
The prescription list was fine, but the manual bore the clinic's name?
Worried about blowback on other branch directors, I reviewed it endlessly.
'No wonder others keep manuals under wraps.'
Some big networks published openly for anyone, others banned leaks entirely for internals.
I went middle ground.
No formal publishing—just pre-orders via the Korean medicine community, printed on demand.
Pay via secret comment with name, contact, address; shipped by set date.
Not manuals, but folks shared books this way sometimes.
'Whatever. Questions? Answer 'em! Errors? Fix 'em!'
Not for profit anyway.
Priced at print cost plus 10,000 won.
"Good enough. Posting today!"
Prep was solid.
Branch directors had all okayed the announcement post.
I uploaded the table of contents, preview pages, and a short intro.
"Director, treatment room..."
"Coming."
The second I hit post, a call from treatment room—like clockwork.
I treated patients post-physical therapy in order.
Back to exam room for charting.
'Any comments yet?'
Reached for phone to check the site.
"Huh?"
Battery was strangely drained.
When did it die?
'Nah, just check on the computer.'
Grabbed phone reflexively, but I'd posted from PC anyway.
Unplugged charger, replugged, logged into community.
'Time for a new phone. It glitched running five games back then. But still, discharging faster than charging... Huh?'
Post was pinned at top, unchanged.
Something off though.
'Why so many comments?'
Double-checked title—not another post. Mine, the pre-order.
671 comments. No, 673, 678, 681...
Refreshing spiked it live.
'......!'
That's why the phone died.
New comment notifications on auto—vibrated to death.
'Screwed.'
Totally misjudged demand.
Thought simple sharing, comments for orders.
Formal site 'books' menu felt awkward for non-official.
But now, 671—no, over 700 personal infos via comments...
'Gotta manually Excel all this?'
Should've used site orders!
Or surveyed demand first!
[Ooh, the hot network these days? Welcome the talent donation lol.]
[Hot?]
[Actress Hyun Joo-mi posted about it before, and now melon soda too...(link)]
[Whoa, insane]
Was I that famous?
[Director, thank you!!!! A ray of light and salt for this noob Must've been a tough call, but I'll study it hard!!!!]
[Is it okay to sell this cheap?]
[20-year director here, but this'll help a ton.]
No, if you're 20 years in, do you really need it...?
Nothing super special inside?
[Any lectures planned?]
[Even a one-off launch event~ Would love to meet you!]
Lectures? Out of nowhere! Book was hard enough—curriculum now?
I took a deep breath first.
Way more buyers than expected.
I'd given my all so far, but now a heavier responsibility to meet expectations.
For that, first things first.
[No more comments—please use the order form! Sorry!!!!!]
......Gotta prevent shipping screw-ups.
I hastily edited the post in bold red.