Doctor’s Rebirth - Chapter 558

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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 558
‘This is going to kill me.’
I understand intellectually why dealing with Pung Ha-eun has become so burdensome. Why I’m so unsettled.
‘Because I’ve lived a life without blood relations.’
It was the same in my past life and this one.
By now, it’s become far too natural a way of living.
But then suddenly you appear, telling me I’m not alone in this world and that I’m part of the Pung clan.
That you know something of my past.
That even though your family is a mess of internal strife, it’s peaceful now, so I should come join you?
Guess whether I’m your older brother or uncle?
‘These things are only fun for the spectators.’
When they appear in dramas or novels, you think ‘oh, how interesting,’ but when it becomes your own affair, you go mad.
Because of these people, I’ve half-abandoned any thoughts of marriage. Of course, Sama Hyeon destroyed that possibility too, but I myself have no desire for such sudden revelations about my origins.
‘Cheon Hee, you’re the son of Pung… whoever? Good grief. Pointless.’
While my mind spiraled in chaos, my hands worked diligently at the facial treatment.
‘The turbid qi has definitely decreased compared to before.’
It seems Eun Wang-ya lives a very wellness-conscious life.
Experiencing little stress.
Now that the Suksin Tribe problem is resolved, how happy she must be.
After finishing the thorough facial treatment, Pung Ha-eun Wang-ya’s skin had become so smooth and supple that she was practically glowing.
“Today’s facial was particularly painful. Did you dislike it that much?”
“I’m not sure what you mean, Wang-ya. In any case, seeing how little turbid qi is being released suggests you’ve maintained your body with the precision of a blade.”
“I’ve devoted myself more deeply to martial cultivation. Speaking of which, do look after my brother as well.”
“Pung Ha-geum… are you referring to His Majesty?”
“Just call him Wang-ya as well, roughly speaking.”
“Understood. Is there any particularly serious area that troubles you?”
“Well… it’s not really serious, but…”
Pung Ha-eun furrowed her brows and spoke gravely.
“This matter is confidential.”
Gulp.
I swallowed hard, my Adam’s apple bobbing as I nodded.
‘What imperial top secret is about to emerge now…’
* * *
“It’s a cavity.”
“What?”
After examining Pung Ha-geum, having him open his mouth and peering inside for a long while, repeatedly probing with something like saliva, I reached my conclusion.
“It’s quite decayed. Two spots on the inner side of the molars. The location is here.”
Then I pulled out a Sama Hyeon-style silver mirror from the Eun Blood Chamber and showed him inside his mouth.
“You see? This black spot is a cavity.”
A cavity.
In this world—as is true even in modern times—cavities are among the diseases that drive people to madness.
In fact, even in modern times, the extent of treatment amounts to filling teeth, extracting them, placing crowns, or performing root canals; regenerating teeth remains impossible.
Especially in this world, extraction is the default.
People endure until they can’t anymore, then they simply have the tooth pulled.
Didn’t medieval barbers also extract teeth?
There’s no difference here.
The idea of filling dental cavities with gold emerged from the late fifteenth century onward.
The so-called dental prosthetic casting technique for “filling teeth” developed and came into proper use only from the early twentieth century.
But anesthesia techniques were inadequate, and there were no smooth electric dental drills like those of today—it was simply a symbol of agony.
Patients often died during extractions.
Modern dentistry as we know it emerged from the eighteenth century onward, which says everything.
Pierre Fauchard’s treatise “The Surgeon Dentist” marked the beginning.
Of course, some dubious theories were included and used (such as the notion that one must hold urine in one’s mouth to alleviate toothache), but by the standards of that era, this was acceptable.
Still, the five instruments necessary for prosthetics and extractions.
The reason unqualified practitioners must be strictly forbidden from performing dental procedures.
Proposing that patients be seated in comfortable chairs rather than laid down for treatment, or establishing foundational concepts regarding orthodontics.
These laid the groundwork for dentistry.
‘And cavities form even without sugar.’
Humans can consume sugars through honey, fruit, and malt.
Didn’t cavities exist even in ancient Egypt?
In the historical records of this world’s Joseon Dynasty, there’s an account of King Seongjong suffering from toothaches from his twenties onward.
Indeed.
I, Jin Cheon-hee, have found myself in this world treating cavities—something never written in my fate.
My standard approach involves scraping away the decayed portion and capping it with gold, while compensating for this era’s insufficient metalworking techniques with sword qi.
If extraction becomes necessary, I’ll extract, but I use acupuncture for anesthesia in such cases.
It’s not comparable to modern advanced dental hygiene, but it’s far better than the crude extractions performed in some roadside inn.
Scraping away decayed tooth matter requires the skill of a supreme master.
Without an electric drill, I carefully shave away the decay bit by bit using ultra-fine sword qi.
This differs from skin abrasion, but to preserve even the slightest amount of tooth structure, I use a martial artist’s heightened senses to carefully carve away the decay.
Naturally, many have stared at me with expressions questioning whether a supreme master is truly poking around in someone’s teeth.
Not a part-time job. For real.
Only those who’ve experienced toothache understand its torment.
True salvation of life emerges here!
Learning martial arts to shatter someone’s teeth versus treating someone’s teeth.
If you ask which constitutes true salvation of life, it’s undoubtedly the latter.
“Kehehehe!”
A frivolous laugh bursts forth. Glancing to the side, I see Eun Wang-ya clutching her belly, rolling about with laughter of the utmost frivolity.
‘Wow… this.’
Until now, even when joking, Eun Wang-ya had been stern, solemn, and serious.
He was always a man from whom grace flowed abundantly, and one who had always emanated a subtle pressure that made one feel compelled to kneel.
But now, he was a true brother who genuinely delighted in his sibling’s misfortune.
‘Though occasionally, such behavior does slip out even in front of Ju Wang-ya.’
Pungju-ha, Pung Ha-geum, Pung Ha-eun.
They maintained their dignity when others were watching.
But without an audience, they reverted to ordinary brothers like any you’d see anywhere.
“Fortunately, at this level, we won’t need to extract it. Just a gold crown will suffice. How fortunate that I am a master of the Sword Inspection Realm.”
“…So only masters of the Sword Inspection Realm can achieve this, it seems.”
“Krahahahaha!”
Geum Wang-ya glared coldly at Eun Wang-ya.
Ah, I still wasn’t used to this.
Two men with identical faces engaging in a battle of wills—it was enough to make one’s head spin.
‘And both of them are Emperors. My goodness, my doctor’s nerves are fraying.’
Still, showing any sign of weakness could result in being swallowed whole in an instant, so Jin Cheon-hee spoke with composure.
“That’s not quite right, but… still, since it’s an important part of the mouth, it’s better to have the master of the Sword Inspection Realm handle it.”
“Hoho, I see. If I have a gold tooth crown fitted, can I then have that bastard’s molars extracted in the exact same pattern?”
“…?!”
In that moment, both Jin Cheon-hee and Eun Wang-ya’s thoughts froze.
Geum Wang-ya spoke calmly.
“Listen well. We are two, yet one. Therefore, if my molars must be extracted and crowned with gold, the other half must also receive identical gold teeth.”
At the mention of extracting natural teeth, Eun Wang-ya spoke.
“You’ve gone mad. When I had my ribs broken, did you demand yours be shattered identically?”
“That can be hidden by clothing. And with the scar-concealment technique applied, the marks are nearly invisible. But molars are different. If gold teeth appear and disappear every time you speak, what will the court officials think?”
“Now that they know I’m alive anyway, isn’t trying to hide it just burying your head in the sand?”
That was true.
Geum Wang-ya wanted to grind down the twin’s natural teeth, while Eun Wang-ya insisted not a single blade’s edge touch his teeth.
Jin Cheon-hee felt a chill run down his spine.
‘I see now. To survive in the imperial palace, ordinary temperament won’t suffice. One needs this lightning-fast intellect and the sheer determination to feed someone a bitter pill, no matter the cost.’
Brothers, by nature of being born from the same womb, are always each other’s greatest rivals and competitors.
It was like a program hardwired into humanity.
The reason Gongseon Hyeon and Gongseon Yeong could be affectionate toward each other was perhaps only because they were cousins, not true sisters.
Most siblings, like the Hwangbo siblings of old, resort to fists first.
Pung Ha-eun and Pung Ha-geum had kicked at each other even in the womb, and though now they lead the Hwa Empire as a unified destiny, they still occasionally feed each other bitter pills when the time comes.
If they mistakenly tried such tricks on their older sister Pungju-ha, she would repay them with her fists, so they had to exercise restraint.
‘I’m… a little envious.’
To feel such an emotion while watching blood relatives fight.
It felt oddly hollow.
Still, I didn’t let it show on my face.
If I had, they’d say, ‘Indeed, nothing beats true blood relations!’ and the Eunuch General would appear from somewhere, binding me with a gold cord embroidered with dragon patterns, proclaiming loudly from every direction:
‘The newly crowned Pung Cheon-hee Wang-ya has arrived~ Make way~’
Just thinking about it made me dizzy.
The two of them bickered back and forth about the gold teeth. I fell into deep thought.
‘If I’m going to replace the gold, reinforced resin or zirconia would be ideal… but we don’t have those.’
Wait, there is one option.
In that moment, a flash of inspiration struck me.
“There is one method… but it’s extraordinarily expensive….”
“Hmm?”
“You could… coat it with an elixir.”
It was one of the techniques I’d used in the past to treat my Master’s Nine Yin Meridian Severing Poison.
“Depending on the type of elixir, if processed correctly, it can match the tooth color while possessing a strength comparable to gold. If we coat it with that, there shouldn’t be much visible change. However, the prerequisite is finding an elixir that suits it. And that’s essentially impossible.”
It would be better to just use gold—what madman would use an elixir just to match tooth color?
Eun Wang-ya answered immediately.
“Is it a beast-type elixir, an insect-type elixir? Or perhaps aquatic?”
“I’m sorry?”
“Tell me at once.”
“It’s extremely expensive, and even with money, if the timing isn’t right, it might be impossible to obtain.”
“We have sufficient elixirs. How many do you need?”
Ah, so it really is the imperial palace.
* * *
I used the dental microscope to remove the decayed portion.
The important thing was to grind the tooth as gently as possible.
After grinding, the damaged area became visible, and from there I carefully removed it using the dental microscope.
And I said what dentists always say.
“Even though I’ve applied numbing pressure, the nerve is close by, so it might feel a bit sensitive. If it hurts, raise your hand, Geum Wang-ya.”
She doesn’t seem to like being called “Your Majesty,” so I’m treating her the same way I do Eun Wang-ya.
“I understand.”
“If it’s decayed deeper than what I detected during the pulse examination, we’ll need to extract it.”
“Extract hers too.”
Saying so, she pointed at Eun Wang-ya with a finger, her eyes full of malice.
Eun Wang-ya spoke up.
“That shouldn’t be the case. There’s no pain level that would require it.”
Cold sweat ran down Eun Wang-ya’s back.
“Ah… yes. For now, it looks like extraction won’t be necessary.”
After completely scraping it clean, I applied adhesive. Instead of hardening it with UV light, I hardened the adhesive using the Five Elements Divine Art.
I applied a base to reduce any stimulation to the tooth nerve.
Of course, I couldn’t create as many varieties of base as in modern times.
What we’ve produced in the research facility now is at the level of extracting components from seashells and reprocessing them for use as dental cement.
Depending on the water concentration and powder ratio, it becomes either a base or an adhesive.
Still, it’s better than nothing.
‘This time, since we had excess elixirs, I ground them up to make it.’
I ground up the Millennium Elixir, said to have lived for a thousand years.
I wonder if this counts as extravagance, but then again, you are the Emperor.
I insert the base material to protect the tooth structure.
Then I bond it again.
I refine it once more with a dental file.
I prepare dental cement.
This dental cement is also the Millennium Elixir, just like the base material. The viscosity is simply different.
‘Wow… how luxurious. Truly luxurious.’
Here I am using a legendary elixir that would supposedly grant immense inner strength just from consuming it, and I’m filling cavities with it.
The martial artist and modern person within me yearned for death.
“Next, I will take an impression, Your Majesty.”
The impression material was made from rubber tree sap.
For some reason, this tree, which only grows in the southern regions, was flourishing abundantly in the Imperial gardens.
Of course, it wasn’t extracted from there—I had procured it from the Baekrin Medical Guild.

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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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