Doctor’s Rebirth - Chapter 493

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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 493
Pustules covered his face densely.
Ha Uiwon tried not to look at the child’s face. It must have been because it was grotesque.
Even if the child recovered now, he could never return to his former appearance.
Smallpox stimulated humanity’s primal fear and was a disease that created discrimination.
‘If he were to continuously cultivate the secret techniques to erase scars through inner strength from childhood, like Cheonwoo did, it would be possible… but.’
I didn’t know.
‘Don’t think too deeply about it. Saving his life comes first.’
With both parents and grandmother already deceased, and now his face disfigured, I couldn’t predict what future awaited this child.
Just as I had once saved a suicidal person on Earth in the past, perhaps one day he would resent me for saving him.
Yet there was no other way, was there?
This was my duty.
All I could do was hold the child’s hand and continue infusing my inner strength into him.
The disease was fierce, and human medicine was so utterly powerless in the face of it.
But that didn’t mean we could do nothing.
* * *
“Oh, the fever broke. Good, good.”
Several days later, the child’s fever subsided.
Since his face remained disfigured, I made sure he avoided mirrors as much as possible.
“Father? Father, where are you?”
I’d heard the child knew his entire family had passed away, so why couldn’t he remember it?
Or perhaps the shock was so great that he simply buried the memory.
Another Sang Ui-won spoke up, trying to sound cheerful.
“Shall we wash up? Let’s go get cleaned up~”
“Soggakju, you should rest too. You’ve been nursing him all night. He’s saved, so that’s enough. Why are you looking so grim?”
“Yes, ah… you’re right.”
“I should have told you to have more younger brothers if I’d known it would be like this.”
“Ah, that one has his own work to do. We can’t keep him here forever.”
Once the Bunta building was completed, I deliberately sent him away harshly, yet the doctors seemed to miss Cheonwoo.
And understandably so.
Cheonwoo had been very helpful.
He was strong and surprisingly good at social interactions.
Diligent and of good character, many of the Uigak-won had relied on him.
‘If he’d stayed longer, I might have actually wanted to keep him here permanently.’
But that couldn’t be.
I shook my head firmly.
‘I need to wash, change clothes, and see the next patient.’
I continued to increase vaccinations.
I’d expected wealthy aristocratic families to seek it first, but surprisingly they were skeptical, while people from the slums competed eagerly to be vaccinated.
It was a strange thing.
That was when it happened.
“Soggakju! The Patriarch! The Patriarch has arrived!”
“What?”
“The Patriarch has rushed all the way here!”
Hm?
My Master came all this way?
* * *
“The smallpox outbreak isn’t as widespread as I expected.”
My Master received a briefing on the current situation immediately upon arrival.
“Yes, surprisingly many people are getting vaccinated, so things are improving.”
“I hear it’s mainly the poor who are receiving it?”
“It is rather curious.”
“Perhaps. But I find it quite natural, actually.”
My Master opened his fan and slowly waved it, lost in thought.
My Master, who rushed here without looking back at the mere mention of smallpox.
Behind my Master, Yoo Ho gazes with an exhausted expression.
When my Master turned around, Yoo Ho quickly shifted to his usual composed demeanor.
“….”
“Um… Master, wasn’t bringing Yoo Ho along unplanned?”
The moment I finished speaking, my Master narrowed his eyes and regarded his disciple briefly.
Behind him, Yoo Ho sighed, shook his head, and made a throat-cutting gesture with his hand.
What, what is this?
When did Yoo Ho learn such a gesture?
As I stood there bewildered, the temperature around us seemed to drop considerably.
“M-Master?”
“Haha, I thought you’d be out crushing heretical swordsmen, yet I never expected to hear of smallpox. It’s been quite some time since I’ve been so flustered.”
“Well… please calm yourself. If you’d just have some of this candied fruit skewer I made…”
I hastily produced the tanghulu I’d set aside and offered it.
I’d made it to comfort the children during treatment.
My Master took it, popped it into his mouth, chewed silently for a moment, then said nothing.
That silence was terribly uncomfortable.
“Smallpox… also called mama, a plague deity for which no cure exists. When mama appears in a place, all travel is forbidden, and the afflicted are left to die. Even those who survive are treated as plague-cursed, forced to live out their remaining days in misery.”
Since there was no cure, that was the best this era could do.
It was neither ethical nor humane, but such ethics and humanity could only develop with advances in technology and science.
“Yet you’ve taken on such a disease. Remarkable.”
Jegalling strives to cultivate his disciple like a weed in a garden.
He simply lost his mind and rushed across mountains and rivers upon hearing that his disciple was directly treating smallpox patients.
“The distance isn’t so great that it was unreasonable to come.”
Yoo Ho regards me with an expression of utter exasperation.
I gesture to Yoo Ho as if to say ‘why is this my fault’ and continue speaking to my Master.
“…I see. And, and we’ve also dealt with a considerable number of black swordsmen.”
“Good. You’ve handled that steadily.”
My Master had immediately pivoted to preventing plague after completing the task he’d given me.
‘He never rests. This man….’
Subjugating Hangzhou itself was good.
“For now, with the vaccination method, the people in the slums will rush to receive it thanks to everything you’ve been doing in Hangzhou.”
“Hehe. That’s really fortunate.”
“You tend to underestimate gratitude. Those whose families were saved aren’t demanding repayment, and when someone offers an alternative way to survive, who would refuse? Especially when it comes from someone called the Divine Physician.”
“But…. The gentry class….”
“Simply raise the price of the vaccination.”
“Pardon?”
“Set the price at a level that would make the gentry hesitate slightly, then turn away a few people saying the preventive needles are in short supply and unavailable. After that, they’ll come directly.”
“They become more expensive and harder to obtain, yet they desire it more than before?”
“Yes. And make the form of the preventive needle look a bit more refined. Then not only the slums but the gentry as well, and the middle class working beneath them, will all want to receive it.”
‘No…. Raise the price higher. Not lower it.’
I couldn’t understand the psychology of wealthy people at all.
But it was my Master who said this.
No one could match my Master in psychological warfare, so perhaps it was correct… perhaps…?
* * *
A few days later, I raised the vaccination price while half-doubting my Master’s clever scheme.
“What, it’s become that expensive? Is this not disrespecting the master?”
I spoke calmly.
“You only said you’d inquire, not that you’d receive the vaccination. Our preventive needle supply isn’t running smoothly either, so this is unavoidable.”
“Hmph.”
“Even if you offered that money, we couldn’t guarantee whether vaccination would be possible.”
“What is this….”
His discomfort was obvious.
‘My Master told me to be even more cold about this.’
I spoke firmly.
“Please leave. Whether to receive the vaccination or not is your choice, not something this Medical Guild can help with.”
“No, wait, wait….”
“Chief Manager Yoo. Please show him out.”
“Yes.”
“How can this be! I’ll tell the master exactly about this insult today, and I won’t be coming back to Baekrin Medical Guild!”
The servant was coldly escorted out by Yoo Ho’s hand.
Glancing back, I saw my Master nodding from a distance.
‘Won’t we face retaliation? Treating them this way, yet they actually come back for vaccination? How is that possible?’
If it fails, I’ll figure something out then.
Either way, I couldn’t just sit idle like this.
So I sent out several more servants without mercy.
Two days later.
The servant I’d driven away returned with a flushed face and shouted.
“My master will come in person!”
“What?”
“And… might I also receive treatment?”
When he’d left, he was the one screaming that he’d never receive treatment at the Baekrin Medical Guild again, cursing the entire guild to collapse.
He said.
“Since I’ve decided early… there should still be vaccination supplies remaining, yes?”
It was time to move into Phase Two of the operation Master had outlined.
“Wow, you’re quite fortunate! If you come now, you can receive it immediately.”
“Ooooh!”
“This sort of thing doesn’t happen often—you’re truly blessed.”
Thus I was able to vaccinate the gentleman, his entire family, and all his servants.
Soon after, two servants from other prominent families in Hangzhou arrived, then three more came.
By evening, Master was shaking his head from a distance.
‘Ah, that’s the signal—no more vaccinations.’
Following Master’s signal, I spoke.
“We have none left now.”
“But… it’s not even that late.”
“My apologies. We’ve run out of supply.”
“What? Then what are those commoners receiving?”
At those words, I moved into Master’s Phase Three operation.
“That is somewhat different from what the distinguished families receive. Would you like that instead?”
In this hierarchical pyramid society, those of high status never wish to mingle with commoners.
“Ahem, how could that be? Would it be possible if I came tomorrow?”
“I cannot say for certain… but if you come early, it might be possible.”
“Hmm. I understand.”
“Oh. But the price may increase.”
“With everyone wanting it now, there’s no help for it. I’ll relay this to my master.”
With that, he departed.
‘Why is it that when they could easily receive it, they refuse, yet now that I say there’s truly none left, everyone rushes to get it?’
The ordinary commoners hadn’t eagerly sought it out.
But now that it’s becoming more expensive and scarce, they’re desperate for it.
I couldn’t fathom this psychology at all.
When I asked Master about it, he laughed while fanning himself.
“Hmm, it would be difficult for our Hee to understand that. Indeed.”
“Do you understand, Master?”
Jegalling answered.
“Of course I do.”
“Why is that?”
“It’s simple, really. The more humans accumulate, the more holes appear in their hearts.”
“I beg your pardon?”
“Up to a certain point, it’s manageable. But once you surpass that threshold, the value of material goods shifts—money becomes secondary to other things. Recognition, perhaps. Or rarity. Or….”
I rubbed my chin and answered thus.
“…So it’s that psychological impulse—’it must be something special if it costs this much,’ isn’t it?”
“Something like that.”
I felt as though I understood, yet it remained difficult nonetheless.
Jegalling spoke.
“Tomorrow, even more noble families and merchant clans will arrive. We should prepare in advance.”
“Really? How many more?”
“Hmm, it’s hard to say. I’d wager at least double.”
Double?
Yet I was no disciple to doubt my Master’s schemes at this point.
And the next day.
Servants from merchant clans arrived—three times as many as before.

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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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