Doctor’s Rebirth - Chapter 1002

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

Chapter 1002
“No, I believe you. I do believe you… but these days, the rumors about you have become far too vicious.”
“In the Heterodox Faction, such notoriety serves as a tool. Surely you don’t believe every rumor, do you? Hyeong~”
“I don’t believe them. Especially that story about how you captured some black-robed cultivator who wouldn’t repay his debts and flayed his skin to hang it up—that’s clearly exaggerated beyond reason. Even you wouldn’t go that far. But the problem is, there are quite a few people who do believe it. Hyeon-a.”
“….”
My fur bristled on end.
‘Could that voice possibly be…?!’
I cautiously rolled my eyes to look, and there stood two extraordinarily handsome men.
One was clearly a boneless man draped lavishly in crimson silk, while the second was smaller in stature but emanated a chilling aura—a handsome young man.
‘Cough! Why are those two here…?!’
Remarkably enough.
I had brushed past Jin Cheon-hee a few times while living here.
Each time, my heart had nearly stopped.
‘If I’m discovered, I might get dragged away as a graduate student!’
Or since my real profession is cooking, I could be forcibly conscripted as one of the hundred greatest chefs under Ma Chao!
What’s certain is that this madman would never leave a K-trend person alone.
That absolutely cannot happen!
At that moment, Jeonjang-won spoke.
“It has been processed. Please stamp your seal here.”
Is this what it feels like to encounter an ancient demon god?
I forced my trembling hand to move and stamped my seal, then quietly slipped away.
It was a desperate struggle to distance myself from the author as much as possible!
If anything was fortunate.
It was that quite a few people showed similar reactions to mine when facing Jin Cheon-hee, so it wasn’t unusual.
Mostly black-robed cultivators or demon beasts, but occasionally there were those who simply grew fearful from the rumors they heard.
And wasn’t the Tae-su like the very sky itself?
From the perspective of commoners, there were many people worth avoiding.
And while it sounds somewhat amusing to say this, the ability I gained from possession wasn’t a system window, the Heaven and Earth Technique, or peerless beauty—it was this stealth ability, I’m quite certain.
‘…I’m confident in one thing: my ability to hide.’
How much further did I walk after that?
‘Phew. My heart’s racing. This is the safest city, but sometimes these events happen and my heart just won’t stop pounding.’
Whoosh, whoosh.
I had just escaped the crisis of becoming a graduate student.
So I quickly began shopping.
Baek Rin has grown so massive that delivery orders are now possible, even from places like Hangzhou or Luoyang.
I went to the egg shop and ordered egg delivery, went to the rice merchant and ordered rice.
And I also bought some ingredients for what I was going to cook.
While shopping, I suddenly spotted an extraordinarily beautiful woman.
And that beauty bore a striking resemblance to the handsome man in crimson silk I had just seen, and she was someone I already knew well.
‘It’s Sama-hye.’
She crouched before a street vendor, purchasing cheap Sichuan Tang Family ornaments.
Though every single one was crude beyond measure, her eyes as she selected them were more serious than anyone’s.
‘Hye-a, you’re adorable and healthy as always today. Not that I saved you or anything….’
Still, there’s an internal intimacy between us, isn’t there!
If I were to call out Hye-a’s name aloud, I might end up understanding why the cherry blossoms of Hangzhou are red, just as Jin Cheon-hee said.
But if I don’t say it, that won’t happen.
As I was secretly watching her like that, suddenly a song reached my ears.
“Why is everything going so well today~ I’m a hundred-man racer~”
In that instant, I blurted out, “I’m~ a hundred-man a hundred-man~”
It was truly an irresistible spinal reflex reaction.
However, thanks to my last shred of reason blocking it, only a sound like air escaping from lungs could escape outward.
No, not even a sound.
Like the gulping of a goldfish.
But even that made my chest turn cold.
‘Damn it, Ilgwang. Why did you have to sing a commercial jingle that’s so weirdly catchy!’
If I sang along with him about good oil and whatnot, all my concealment up until now would go down the drain!
I quickly locked my mouth shut and walked in the opposite direction from where the sound was coming.
‘This bastard Ilgwang doesn’t even think about hiding because he’s a possessor….’
Behind me, I heard Sama-hye’s voice.
“Wow, Eun Gong! Big brother too! Hehe! Did you two have a good time out?”
“Yeah. We did.”
Fortunately, Jin Cheon-hee didn’t seem to notice.
Could the possession perk of this body be something like ‘stealth’?
Thinking that, I tried to slip away quietly.
Suddenly, the back of my neck tingled.
Turning around at that ominous sensation—as if being targeted by a grim reaper—my vision was filled with violet eyes.
“Wh-wh-what?!”
Sama Hyeon was staring at me with an expressionless face.
Right behind me, at that.
“Hmm.”
As I jumped back in surprise as if I might soil myself, Sama Hyeon simply continued staring at me.
“W-w-w-what is the matter, Sama Hyeon?”
“Ho… So you do know who I am.”
“You’re famous, after all.”
Jin Cheon-hee only thinks of Sama Hyeon as some kind of ribbon-wearing baby Chihuahua, but there’s no one in Gangho who doesn’t know how vicious and ruthless this bastard truly is.
“Ah… I see. You were naturally mimicking my brother’s song from earlier~”
Did he figure it out just from seeing my mouth shape like a goldfish? Insane?!
Before that, it’s more surprising that when he’s with his brother, he’s not focusing on him, but observing every single person around him one by one.
‘Is he looking for pursuers or something?’
That might very well be the case.
How many people has that bastard made enemies of? Countless, surely.
But it’s fine.
I’ve already prepared an excuse for situations like this.
That eerie song from my old homeland.
How many times have I feared that one day, overcome with homesickness, I might find myself singing along to it!
Sure enough, Jin Cheon-hee, who had been conversing with Sama-hye, turns to look this way.
At this rate, I’ll be dragged off to graduate school!
A chill runs down my spine.
“I’ve heard it… quite often.”
“You’ve heard it often?”
“Yes. Since Lord Tae-su travels around frequently.”
“Hmm. I see.”
Does he believe me?
Please, let him believe me.
Otherwise, I’ll be dragged to hell and, simply because I’m a fellow Korean from this world, squeezed dry to serve the commoners down to my very bones.
To achieve the dream of becoming a landlord in this other world, only to meet such an ending—isn’t that too cruel?
Then Jin Cheon-hee spoke.
“Hyeon-a. What are you doing? You’re not trying to scare this person, are you?”
“Oh my, Gaga, you’re too much. This person dropped something, and I was just picking it up for them~”
Saying so, she brushed my shoulders clean and slipped something into my pocket.
“Here, this is for keeping quiet~”
The pocket feels heavy.
I can see a golden gleam.
‘Surely not silver coins… but gold coins?’
This madwoman.
She’s giving gold as hush money just to maintain her image in front of her brother.
But I understand what it means.
If I were to spread rumors about his shameful nature to his brother after this, then the interest on this gold would be… considerable.
My life as the interest!
“Oh my! I must have dropped it! Thank you so much!”
How could I ignore someone scattering gold coins?
And… this is the only way to leave safely.
As I make a fuss, that demon Jin Tae-su finally relaxes his gaze.
Sama Hyeon waves his hand to send me off.
At least his smile is angelic. At least that much is.
But knowing how many skulls those hands have crushed, I flee as far as I can.
I survived.
I’ve survived another day.
* * *
On the way home, the three scholars walk along, shooting palm strikes with their hands—though ones so gentle they’re barely distinguishable from a breeze.
On the other side, a tattooed Shaman named Saeoe was walking in the opposite direction.
The Three Scholars and Jasi.
Notably, Jasi’s robes were weighed down as if a small creature had climbed upon them, and that section didn’t flutter even when the wind blew.
It appeared the spirit Isha was perched on his shoulder.
A handsome young man of indeterminate age approached Jasi and greeted him.
It was Muyue.
Muyue conversed with Jasi before suddenly slipping into an alley.
‘He stands out so obviously, yet why is he hiding…?’
Was someone unpleasant coming?
Then.
From very far away.
Two enormous handsome men were walking down the street.
One had hair that held the light of the sun, while the other had hair that seemed to contain the glow of the moon.
‘Damn it! Is that Yoo Ho and Hyeolrin Gwangssal!’
Indeed.
During their free time, both Muyue and Jasi had fled to avoid seeing their superior.
‘Cursed… should I sprinkle salt?’
I carefully headed toward the alley where my shop was located.
As someone who ran a shop as a hobby, my establishment was positioned in quite a secluded spot.
Sure enough, despite being in such a remote location, several Kang Ho-in were already looking at me with desperate eyes, asking if we weren’t doing business today.
They seemed to have waited outside the shop for quite some time.
‘Sigh, I was planning to just do lunch service and rest for a week.’
If I hadn’t seen them from the start, it might have been different, but I couldn’t bring myself to turn away someone who had even skipped meals to come here.
“Please, come in.”
Yes. Let me think positively about this.
After all, I hadn’t decided from the beginning that I wouldn’t work through dinner service.
Reminding myself of this, I went inside and received my first customer.
‘I’ll just serve this customer and close up. That’s it.’
The moment I was testing my resolve, another new customer entered.
Ding—
“Welcome!”
I reflexively offered a greeting, then looked ahead…
There stood Jegalling, Yoo Ho, and Jin Cheon-hee.
These three were walking in?
‘No, why are you coming in here too?!’
Weren’t you just fooling around with your younger sister moments ago?
Now you’re dining out with Jegalling and Yoo Ho?
Even if I had three bodies, it wouldn’t be enough.
And on top of that.
“Ahem, well, I happen to be quite full actually.”
“Ah, my aching back. My back. I think I should be heading out soon.”
“That was delicious! Owner, I’ll leave the payment on the table!”
The other patrons, upon catching sight of Jegalling, began slipping out one by one!
Damn it.
‘I’ve been running this establishment in Baek Rin for quite some time, yet he’s never once set foot here until now?!’
It made perfect sense.
Because this bastard was absolutely obsessed with dumplings and dongpo pork whenever he ate out.
When dining away from home, he’d seek out renowned restaurants, but near his residence he’d either hunt for those two dishes or make the rounds of large, famous inns to study their culinary techniques.
But usually, he simply prepared everything himself.
After all, Korean cuisine couldn’t be found anywhere else!
So when I set up shop here, I deliberately excluded dumplings and dongpo pork from the menu.
I even chose the smallest, most remote location possible.
I only sold fried rice as a single-item menu!
‘Yet he managed to find his way here anyway!’
What was I supposed to do?
My mind went blank.
I wasn’t some monster like Cheonmyeon Hori, after all—I was just an ordinary commoner and an Earthling.
That’s when Jegalling spoke.
“Hope. You’re eating garbage food again.”
“Master, Hyeon said this place was incredibly delicious! He even guaranteed that everyone’s tastes would be satisfied.”
Sama Hyeon?!
He’s the one who called him here?
Wasn’t that the same person who just gave me a single coin and called it even?
Just because we sang one song together, he’s causing me this much suffering?
‘That persistent bastard… No wonder everyone in the Central Plains points fingers at him as the most vicious one.’

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