Doctor’s Rebirth - Chapter 157

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

Chapter 157
A Go board lay there, and Eun Wang-ya sat wearing a mask.
“How is your body faring?”
“Thanks to your treatment, the pain has lessened somewhat. But since it hasn’t disappeared entirely, it’s troublesome.”
“That is….”
“…Yes. You said it was only possible through Bushel.”
Eun Wang-ya had me sit across from her.
“I hear you have some skill at Go. Will you play a game with me?”
“I only play with my Master, giving him a handicap of a few stones. There’s nothing special about it, but how did you know?”
“Walls have ears and ceilings have eyes—how could I not know?”
For some reason, the man behind the mask seemed to be smiling.
*Tap—*
“If you won’t play, I’ll make the first move myself.”
The first stone touches the center point.
I sat across from Eun Wang-ya and grasped the white stones.
“Understood.”
*Tap—*
Black and white stones connected in winding patterns like twisted branches.
After playing a long game of Go like this, Eun Wang-ya spoke.
“It seems I’ve won this time. But seeing that I’m only ahead by one point, surely you didn’t intentionally lose, did you?”
I answered.
“How could that be? I don’t have the skill to do such a thing.”
“Tch, let’s play again.”
Dissatisfied, Wang-ya organized the Go stones.
“Let’s make a wager.”
“What would that be?”
“If I win, I’ll remove this mask. How does that sound?”
“Normally, shouldn’t you remove your mask and reveal your identity if I win?”
At those words, Eun Wang-ya laughed.
“If I did that, you’d lose again by a point or two. You don’t seem eager to know my identity anyway.”
“You know that yet still say it.”
“Even though there are already sufficient clues, even though you could deduce it, you deliberately avoid thinking deeply about it—that irritates me.”
*Tap—!*
The black stone touches the center point again.
“Since you won’t play, I’ll go first.”
“I haven’t even answered yet?”
“In war, speed is also a skill.”
I placed a white stone before answering.
*Click.*
“If I win, the next game will be with jade stones.”
“I’ve long heard of Seo Baek-ryong’s exquisite skill with the jade stones.”
* * *
We continued exchanging stones back and forth for quite some time.
Eventually, Eun Wang-ya spoke.
“Eternal life.”
In baduk, this refers to the same sequence of moves repeating endlessly, resulting in a draw between both players.
“So you deliberately wanted a draw.”
“How could I deliberately induce eternal life? It simply happened as I played.”
Jin Cheon-hee answered with feigned innocence. Eun Wang-ya clicked her tongue in response.
“I never knew Seo Baek-ryong could be so cunning. Well, it doesn’t matter. It was sufficient time to understand your nature.”
With that, she brought her hand to her mask.
As the mask slowly fell away, I immediately prostrated myself and refused to look at her face.
“Raise your head.”
“How could one of my lowly station gaze upon your noble visage?”
“…You don’t yield an inch. I truly wish to make you mine. I would be pleased if you would look at my face.”
“…”
“Your stubbornness suggests you’ve already discerned my identity to some degree. If so, you likely already know the outcome in your mind.”
Eun Wang-ya added one more thing.
“I hope you understand that there is meaning in my not using force to command you to raise your head.”
Finally, I lifted my gaze.
A handsome man with features resembling Pungju-ha.
His complexion was pale, more suited to a civil official than a military one, yet his sharp, refined features were memorable.
“I am Pung Ha-eun. Do you know of Pung Ha-geum?”
Pung Ha-geum.
The name of the Emperor of the Hua Empire.
Meanwhile, I had never heard the name Pung Ha-eun before.
Pung Ha-eun spoke.
“Pung Ha-geum is my twin. We complement each other. We are each other’s substitute, so to speak. That is why our sister Pungju-ha placed us both upon the throne.”
Two emperors.
A secret never revealed in the novel unfolded before me.
Pung Ha-eun let out a bitter laugh.
“There were few we could trust in our ascent to the throne. Our mother perished, caught in the struggle for imperial succession while protecting us, and our sister resents us for it. Yet precisely because of this, we had to be what we are. Should one of us be assassinated, the other remains, ensuring the Hua Empire does not crumble.”
‘Pungju-ha called herself a useless puppet.’
She spoke of resentment, and judging by her tone, she too harbored emotional wounds.
‘But is that all there is?’
Even now, Ju Wang protected her younger brother with unwavering eyes.
It was possible she did so simply because he was the Emperor.
Yet having observed Ju Wang for so long, both in the novel and in reality, I sensed it might be more than that.
Pung Ha-eun laughed bitterly.
“After the late Emperor passed away from illness, so many things transpired. I thought reaching the pinnacle would bring ease, but it proved to be merely another beginning.”
I slowly organized the words that the King—no, His Majesty—before me was saying.
1) The Emperor in Hwangdo is actually two twins taking turns impersonating each other.
2) Ju Wang knows this fact and placed both of them on the throne as Emperor.
3) Ju Wang’s Mother died because of the twins, so the siblings have an awkward relationship.
I asked.
“Then the other brother is currently in the Imperial Palace?”
“Precisely. That fellow possesses an innate ability specialized in reading and manipulating the memories of others, so he would be more suited to playing the role of Emperor than I am.”
It was an excellent ability for seizing power.
One handled memories while the other handled actions.
“If the two of you combine your strength, it would be formidable indeed.”
At my words, Pung Ha-eun burst into laughter.
“Just as you guessed.”
I rubbed my chin.
Pung Ha-eun continued speaking.
“Our twin abilities don’t work on our sister. She knows how to counter them—or rather, it’s a method that only she can use anyway.”
“…?”
“Such things exist. In any case, our sister made a covenant when she placed us on the throne. If our rule proves insufficient, she swore to take our heads at any moment.”
He chuckled softly, then narrowed his eyes and gazed at me.
“But seeing as she even summoned a doctor, it seems my rule is not lacking after all.”
He let out a bitter smile.
“I don’t understand why you’re telling me all this.”
“If I’m going to make you one of my people, I thought it better to hide nothing. Besides, you kept slipping away like a loach, so I decided I needed to grab hold of you and drag you deep into the mire. In all my years, I’ve never seen anyone use even Eternal Life to escape me.”
He fingered a go stone.
“I’ve played countless games, yet I’ve never seen Eternal Life appear before. I’m dying of curiosity as to why it appeared now.”
I answered calmly.
“I believe it to be an auspicious sign.”
“Eternal Life is auspicious, yes. There are scholars who accept it as such. But why has such an auspicious sign come only now?”
“….”
In the silence, only the sound of go stones clicking against each other echoed.
Clack, clack—
“Whether it was a trick you performed or not, it means you’re a talented person of such brilliance, and even if you merely witnessed Eternal Life by chance, that too would be auspicious, would it not?”
He was arrogant. He was one who sat at the apex of the empire, with everything moving around his center.
I regarded the Emperor before me with a somewhat different sentiment.
In the novel, he had been mentioned as an Emperor of virtue. Not greedy, not lazy.
That was why Ju Wang helped him become Emperor, it was said.
The words written in the novel had never been false.
But in places where nothing was written, different truths had often revealed themselves.
Since it was said he had no backing, he must have been exposed to countless conspiracies, and the fact that he survived meant his intelligence was exceptional and he never let his guard down.
‘And with such abilities, people would find it difficult to approach him.’
An Emperor with the power to manipulate actions and read and manipulate memories.
I would filter out the corrupt and suppress rebellions efficiently, yet it was as clear as day that fear and wariness would be equally great.
‘Truly a difficult position.’
I had finished my assessment.
“I understand that Your Majesty has governed the Hua Empire with utmost dedication.”
The Hua Empire I had observed was indeed like that.
Of course, there were gaps in security and irregularities existed. Yet wherever one went, food was not difficult to find, and people trusted the Gwana.
This was rare even throughout the entire human history of the Earth I came from.
Especially the fact that people no longer feared starvation was an extremely small portion even across all of human history.
To have achieved this with such a level of technology meant he had done all that was possible for a human body to accomplish.
“However, I am merely a doctor and know nothing of the imperial palace’s difficult circumstances. If you wish treatment, I will help. If you refuse, I shall depart.”
“Hehehehe. How bold. You draw a clear line yet fulfill your duty as a doctor.”
He chuckled softly before putting the mask back on.
“In this place, address me as Eun Wang-ya.”
“Understood.”
“I shall entrust my treatment to you.”
I bowed deeply. Eun Wang-ya spoke.
“Would you not consider becoming the imperial physician? All the power in the world would turn toward you.”
“Sharks must live in the sea, and frogs must live in ponds. Throw a frog into the sea and it will not survive even a day.”
“In all my years, this is the first time I have seen someone kick away the position of imperial physician.”
“Hahahaha.”
“Even making jokes. How something.”
He clicked his tongue, regarding me as though I were a strange creature.
It was understandable.
Since ascending to the throne, he had encountered only two types of people.
Enemies, or allies.
Either way, they were all desperate to win the Emperor’s favor.
The allies would naturally wish to gain some position under the Emperor, and the enemies would find it easier to drive a blade the closer they got to him.
I had said the Hua Empire pleased me.
I had acknowledged that he had worked hard.
Yet I had drawn the line clearly nonetheless.
“You see me as a patient before you see me as Emperor.”
“I apologize.”
“Indeed. Because you are like this, my sister was so desperate to have you.”
He gazed at the snow falling outside before speaking thus.
“I have heard there are many eccentrics in Gangho, but you are the finest among them.”

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