An F-Rank Veterinarian Physically Heals an S-Rank Magical Beast - Chapter 66

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 66
A desolate wind swept through the shattered ruins of the Cathedral. Now that the Lich King—the lord of plague who had dominated the Valley of the Dead—had vanished into a handful of ash, the sickly cyan mana and toxic gas that once filled this place had dissipated as if washed away.
Yet the faces of the Murim Alliance masters standing in the center of the Cathedral remained shrouded in dark clouds. The relief of escaping death’s grip lasted only a moment, for before their eyes stood a grim reaper far more terrifying than the Lich King himself, brandishing a long, lengthy parchment scroll with a flourish.
“Well then, Alliance Leader. I was interrupted earlier, so allow me to finish reciting the charges. The medical vaccine injection fees for three Huashan Sect Elders, the Beggar Sect Bang-ju, and the Wudang Sect Master—five individuals in total. Additionally, the cost of the specially formulated Ten Great Tonics detoxicant administered to prevent aftereffects from concussions. On top of that, the maintenance fees for the premium purification barrier that protected you all from the Lich King’s toxic gas, plus the special late-night house call surcharge.”
I adjusted my glasses and methodically itemized each line of the invoice. My voice was unfailingly courteous and gentle, yet the content was the very essence of ruthless capitalism that stripped the listener to their bones.
“So, if you’re wondering what the grand total comes to… a clean fifteen million gold. Ah, in Murim parlance, that would be roughly fifteen thousand taels. I prefer cash payment, but considering the Murim Alliance’s financial situation, I’ll accept goods as well. I’ll apply the legal maximum interest rate, naturally.”
“F-fifteen thousand taels! Alliance Leader! Are you truly intent on destroying the very foundation of our Murim Alliance! Even if we sold every component we tore from that dreadful Machine Empire, we wouldn’t have half of that!”
Namgoong Cheon’s hands trembled like aspen leaves. They had risked their lives on Floor 12, smashing robots to pieces just to pay off their debts, only to find themselves buried under a mountain of new ones the moment they ascended to Floor 13. And what catastrophic debts they were.
“My, my, Alliance Leader. Your words wound me. Weren’t you all just moments ago with eyes rolled back, trying to bite your comrades’ throats? Had I not administered the physical vaccine at that precise moment, the Murim Alliance would have been completely annihilated today, and you’d be rebranding as the Zombie Alliance. Fifteen thousand taels for your lives is practically a steal, wouldn’t you say, Director Ma?”
I turned back and brazenly sought his agreement. Ma Dong-tak tapped his brawny forearms and laughed heartily.
“Ha ha ha! That’s right. I cured a disease that wouldn’t be fixed even if you threw tens of millions at it. My hyung normally charges ten million won per hour for private training sessions with VIPs. You elders should know you’re getting a special discount.”
The Murim Alliance elders, touching the massive lumps on the back of their heads, became silent as stones. It was true that Ma Dong-tak’s cudgel treatment had halted the progression of the zombie virus—they had indeed received his favor. But the treatment method had been far too barbaric, and the billed amount was even more so.
“Ugh… I understand. We are indebted for our lives, so how can we refuse? But you know well, Alliance Leader, that we don’t possess such wealth at this very moment.”
Namgoong Cheon exhaled deeply and bowed his head. Here was the patriarch of the illustrious Namgoong Family, reduced to stammering like a debtor before a young doctor. Internally, I cheered with delight while outwardly arranging my expression into one of sympathetic regret.
“Well, if that’s truly the case, it’s not as though there’s no solution. I’m as generous with credit loans as I am with medicine, after all.”
My eyes gleamed like a hawk spotting prey.
“Let’s start by shaking out everything you’re currently carrying. Space-expansion pouches, secret manuals hidden in your robes, elixirs passed down through generations of your clan. Before they rot away, hand them all over to me. I’ll give you a generous appraisal.”
At my words, the faces of the martial artists turned ashen. To a warrior, secret techniques and elixirs were more precious than life itself. Yet if they didn’t settle their debt immediately, this merciless man would undoubtedly abandon them in the middle of the Cathedral and leave.
In the end, the weary, aging masters of the Murim Alliance reluctantly began rummaging through their belongings with tears of blood.
Three pills of Jade Restoration Elixir, tearfully produced by the Huashan Sect Elder. Crumpled diagrams of the Grappling Seal Technique’s forms, carefully hidden by the Beggar Sect Bang-ju. Even the secret inner cultivation manual of the Namgoong Family, offered with trembling hands by Namgoong Cheon. Martial arts manuals that would have caused rivers of blood to flow if released to the world now piled like mountains upon the cold stone floor of the Cathedral.
“Oho! Is this Seven-Leaf Qi-Gathering Herb? And this is a protective talisman made from ten-thousand-year-old cold iron. Well, well, this is quite profitable. You elders’ pockets were deeper than expected, weren’t they?”
I hummed contentedly as I appraised each item scattered on the floor one by one, sweeping them into my boundless spatial inventory. The martial artists wailed and beat their chests as their sect’s treasured heirlooms vanished into my bag.
“Now then, all of these combined, I’ll value at roughly five million gold. That still leaves ten million gold outstanding. The remainder will be collected through withholding taxes each time you hunt monsters on the next floors. Oh, and the interest compounds. You agree, yes?”
“You… you demon! A bloodsucker masquerading as a physician!”
The Huashan Sect Elder cried out as if coughing blood, but I merely shrugged.
“The bloodsucker is Hong Ryeon, the one bound over there in the corner. I’m a righteous clinic director applying legitimate medical fees. Now then, let’s set the debt settlement aside. Shall we move on to the truly profitable organ extraction?”
My gaze shifted toward a heap of ashen bones piled in one corner of the Cathedral—the Lich King’s remaining remains. I had already extracted the life vessel, the tumor, but the Lich King’s very bones, tempered and infused with dark magic over centuries, were themselves extraordinarily valuable alchemical materials.
“A physician wastes nothing. Director Ma! Chun-sam! Scrape up all those bones over there!”
“Okay. Should I just shove them in the bag?”
Ma Dong-tak rolled up his sleeves and approached. I shook my head.
“No, they’re too voluminous and take up too many inventory slots. Besides, for alchemical materials, they need to be ground into powder. Director, let’s give the mortar a try.”
At my instruction, Ma Dong-tak looked around, then casually lifted an enormous marble pillar that had collapsed near the Cathedral’s entrance. It was thick and massive enough that three grown men would need to encircle it, yet Ma Dong-tak hoisted it with one hand as easily as if wielding a baseball bat.
“Ha ha ha! This is perfect for a pestle. I like it. Everyone gather those bones. I’ll grind them all to dust.”
Kim Chun-sam used the Nightmare Beast’s front paws to gather the Lich King’s bones toward the center, stacking them into a tower-like formation. Skulls, shattered vertebrae, and rib fragments came together to form a rather impressive tomb-like structure.
“Here we go! Activating the Ma Dong-tak brand custom crusher!”
Ma Dong-tak drove the marble pillar straight down with a shout.
Boom! Crunch-crunch-crunch!
The entire Cathedral shook as if struck by an earthquake. Each time the pillar struck the ground, a tremendous shockwave erupted, and the Lich King’s bones began shattering into fragments.
“Finer! Make it into even finer particles! That increases the absorption rate!”
I clapped enthusiastically in encouragement. Ma Dong-tak, energized, pounded the marble pillar up and down like a man possessed, as if operating a rice mortar.
Crash! Boom! Crunch!
Bone shattered with a sickening sound, and pale bone dust rose like mist. Beris watched the spectacle and grimaced, retreating dozens of meters backward before layering up defensive barriers.
“Kyaaaah! Disgusting! You’re scattering corpse powder everywhere! Hey, Kang Jin-hyuk! You’re a truly nauseating deviant! Why are you grinding that up?!”
Ignoring Beris’s protests, I watched contentedly as the bone dust was ground into a fine powder, my mask firmly in place.
“You mages have no sense of economics. You think that’s just corpse dust? It’s premium-grade calcium supplement concentrated with the magical power of a centuries-old undead lord. It’s a miracle cure I can sell at premium prices to those suffering from mana depletion or osteoporosis. Luna, bring the glass bottles!”
“Yes, Jin-hyuk! It’s been ground into such a fine powder!”
Luna came running with dozens of transparent glass bottles from who knows where. She summoned a spirit’s breeze and neatly sucked all the scattered bone dust into the bottles. In an instant, roughly a hundred luminous silver bottles tinged with cyan magical power were complete.
[Item: ‘Lich King’s Magical Bone Powder’ acquired.]
[Description: A magical amplification agent made by finely grinding the bones of the Lord of Death. Temporarily restores tremendous mana upon consumption, but carries a risk of stomach upset.]
I swept up the glass bottles with satisfaction. It was a perfect accounting—I’d thoroughly stripped every resource from Floor 13, from bone to flesh.
“Well, I think we’ve collected everything we need….”
As I was stretching and surveying the area, I noticed Kim Chun-sam sniffing around near the Cathedral’s altar. It was near the massive skull throne where the Lich King usually sat.
“Hey, Chun-sam. What are you doing over there? Did you find some dropped coins?”
“Master, come over here! There’s something amazing left!”
At Kim Chun-sam’s urgent call, I approached. In the center of the throne, where the Lich King had turned to ash and vanished, a fist-sized cyan flame hovered in the air, flickering gently. It had no heat, no burning properties—just a strange flame that seemed like pure condensed soul.
My Eyes of Divine Insight scanned the flame’s true nature.
[Flame of the Dead]
[Description: A crystallized essence of tens of thousands of wronged spirits compressed by the Lich King’s magical power. If used as a power source, it can produce nearly infinite output, but carries the risk of contaminating the user’s mind.]
“Huh. This is basically a natural infinite battery, isn’t it? Not quite on par with a Deus Core, but perfect for a sub-engine.”
My eyes gleamed.
“Master! Can I consume this? If I install this in my nightmare centaur form’s lower engine, I could run all the way to the end of hell without worrying about fuel efficiency!”
Kim Chun-sam pawed at the ground eagerly, drooling. His centaur form had excellent destructive power, but the drawback was that it consumed mana at an extreme rate, making it difficult to maintain for long. Absorbing this flame would completely solve that problem.
“Well, you’re just a hollow metal can without a soul to corrupt anyway, so you won’t have side effects. Fine, let’s do the tuning. Turn around.”
I pulled out a scalpel and wrench simultaneously, approaching Kim Chun-sam’s back—specifically the spine line where his robot upper body connected to his nightmare centaur lower body.
“I’ll insert it in one smooth motion so it doesn’t hurt. Hold on tight.”
I grabbed the floating Flame of the Dead with my bare hand. The flame thrashed, trying to burn my hand, but it couldn’t escape my grip, which was wrapped in the aura of holy water. I opened Kim Chun-sam’s engine cover and forcefully shoved the cyan flame inside.
“Aaaaaaah! Master! My butt! My butt is freezing! No, it’s burning! Something feels weird!”
Kim Chun-sam began bouncing frantically, glowing brilliantly. The red hellfire that had burned in his nightmare centaur lower body instantly transformed into a brilliant cyan light. Black and blue patterns etched themselves like tattoos across the robot’s silver armor, and Kim Chun-sam’s form became even more massive and imposing.
Uuuuung— Kwaaaang!
A heavy, ferocious engine sound reminiscent of a motorcycle’s exhaust roared from Kim Chun-sam’s body.
[Kim Chun-sam’s engine has been upgraded by absorbing the ‘Flame of the Dead’!]
[Kim Chun-sam’s centaur form evolves into ‘Ghost Rider Mode’!]
Having completed his transformation, Kim Chun-sam reared up on his front legs and roared. Cyan light blazed from the visor covering his eyes. Blue flames shimmered like heat haze from every joint in his body.
What was surprising wasn’t just his appearance. His entire demeanor had become subtly delinquent.
“Vroom vroom! Kahahaha! Master! The output is absolutely insane! I’m dying to smash through those walls right now and ride! Come on, brothers! Let me take you all straight down the road to the afterlife!”
Kim Chun-sam made a gesture of twisting an imaginary motorcycle throttle, his chin raised in a thuggish manner. The already loose-tongued creature, having absorbed the resentment of the dead, had completely transformed into a reckless, delinquent motorcycle gang centaur.
“Tch, that tin can got a little performance boost and already he’s getting cocky.”
Ma Dong-tak clicked his tongue in exasperation. But I patted Kim Chun-sam’s now-sturdy back with satisfaction.
“Excellent. Those specs are overkill for pulling a cart. Now we can ditch the trailer and ride him directly. The elders can just run along on their own.”
At my words, the faces of the Murim Alliance masters turned ashen once more, but they couldn’t bring themselves to voice their complaints. Having just witnessed the Lich King’s bones ground to dust while burdened with tremendous debt, they were thoroughly demoralized.
“Well then, our business on Floor 13 is concluded. Let’s close up the Hospital and clock out. Time to move to the next ward.”
I tapped my medical bag and took the lead. Beyond the collapsed wall behind the Cathedral, in the direction I pointed, a colossal dimensional gate yawned open, leading toward the 14th Floor.
It was utterly unlike the dreary, oppressive atmosphere of Floor 13. From beyond the gate came a wave of hot, humid moisture, the roars of beasts, and the thick stench of insects—as if an enormous Primitive Jungle awaited us.
“The next floor is… a botanical garden? The air’s absolutely drenched with humidity.”
I drew a deep breath before the gate.
Kang Jin-hyuk, the unscrupulous doctor who had thoroughly plundered Floor 13—the realm of death and dark magic. Before me stretched the 14th Floor, a jungle of survival and predation, its savage maw gaping wide as it awaited fresh prey.
Of course, who was the predator and who was the prey remained to be seen.
“Let’s move out, Kim Chun-sam! Lead the way!”
“Roooaaarrr! Leave it to me, Master! Time to go roadkill hunting!”
With the delinquent centaur robot spewing blue flames at the vanguard, the world’s strongest physical therapy party marched fearlessly into the Primitive Jungle of the 14th Floor.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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