Doctor’s Rebirth - Chapter 686

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

Chapter 686
“Seven, six, five…”
No, this wasn’t even a child’s game—what kind of mischief was this?
Jin Cheon-hee cried out urgently.
“We’re opening a specialized Medical Guild division in Yeonmu City!”
My Master paused at that point. Was he satisfied with the answer?
“Hmm… So you intend to cultivate doctors who wield sword energy…? Is that what you’re saying?”
“Yes! Medical training will begin from the start within Yeonmu City’s formation.”
“That’s fine, but who should handle this task? We haven’t even finished organizing the Skin Faction yet.”
For now, Yoo Ho was unusable.
From surgical razors to surgical loupes—I needed to test the limits of Yoo Ho’s capabilities first.
(Unofficially) I had to use this non-human creature to the fullest extent possible.
I needed to see if Yangsan could create plausible items without even daring to imagine mass production.
Muyue was also difficult.
Once the Skin Faction was established, Muyue would be ground down like flour on a grater in that process. Or rather, he was already being ground down.
“I shall do it.”
“Your judgment is swift. Yes, there’s no one but you.”
Jin Cheon-hee exhaled with relief.
My Master constantly tested his disciples.
So that one day each disciple could grow into a true Medical Guild Master.
The Acupuncture Guild Master said instead:
-It’s simply because he has a bad personality. The Soggakju and I just endure it.
‘My Master is easily misunderstood. No one recognizes his deep and profound intentions.’
“In any case, we’ve decided to merge one more district this time. It’s a district with approximately twenty thousand households. Combined with that, it officially reaches sixty thousand households… You’ll need to handle this matter as well.”
“Gasp?! Sixty thousand households?”
When did it grow so much? Wasn’t it eight thousand households before?
“As the population flowed in from all directions, it had already grown to forty thousand households. Add another twenty thousand household district to that, and naturally it becomes sixty thousand households, doesn’t it?”
My Master watched with amusement as Jin Cheon-hee’s face slowly grew pale.
“How strange. Normally one should be delighted at such good fortune. Yet you seem worried instead.”
It was indeed good fortune.
Such prosperity was rare even throughout the entire empire.
“Can I… can I truly be responsible for all these people?”
“Yes. Now that’s what I call my disciple.”
Instead of answering, my Master threw documents at me like drawing a sword.
I accepted the ledger and flipped through the pages in an instant.
Though it was a thick bundle of over a hundred pages of paper, with dynamic vision that could track bullets and the Hyeonwon Jeondan Singeong technique—
Combined with my administrative processing abilities from my past life, I could verify everything in less than a moment.
“The problem is really the people, isn’t it?”
“For administrative work to run the way you envision it, that’s how it is.”
The kind of administrative work Jin Cheon-hee desired.
This meant 1,000 households of fiefdom with 20 administrative personnel.
It was a system I had devised using extremely modern methods from my home world.
In the past, I had become acquainted with relevant government officials due to work related to house calls in poor neighborhoods.
Due to insufficient manpower, everyone was drowning in stress and fatigue, yet despite this, they were genuinely good people.
I would sit and listen to all sorts of things.
From what I heard back then, during that period, the district offices in Seoul had an average of 1,500 civil servants per office.
The staff at community centers (what they recently call resident centers) numbered roughly 30 to 60 people coming and going at each location.
Therefore, I had established rules to secure smooth administrative capacity.
Let me deploy 20 administrative personnel for every 1,000 households of fiefdom!
In truth, even compared to my home world, that was quite a small number, but in this medieval martial world, it was a far more difficult undertaking.
Compared to my home world, the population was desperately insufficient!
When one speaks of a magistrate, martial arts novels depict them as an extraordinarily corrupt official.
‘By modern standards from my home world, they’d be at best a district chief, or at most a city mayor.’
Administrative personnel often numbered fewer than thirty.
As for the security forces—the guards—their numbers were also sparse compared to my home world.
Of course, they were more numerous than administrative personnel.
Under such circumstances, those with some hand in the empire’s administration were horrified by my strategy of deploying 20 administrative personnel for 1,000 households of fiefdom.
Young scholars who had heard information from somewhere even submitted a memorial to the Emperor.
-We must verify whether officials are recruiting personnel or actually cultivating private armies!
This went too far. They even used language hinting at treason.
If investigated and found false, it meant losing one’s hand, yet the youngsters were fearless in their ignorance.
-In the past, a magistrate falsely registered personnel appointments and embezzled state funds. We humbly request Your Majesty to investigate and restore proper order to the empire.
This was a fairly well-known embezzlement method.
There had been many instances where magistrates would record numerous guards and officials in the ledgers and pocket the funds, only to lose their heads.
‘Ah, building trust in society is truly difficult.’
In the end, I had to write and send additional memorials to the Emperor and reports to the Six Ministries.
It was infuriating.
However, as a result.
The Emperor declared.
-Listen, my officials. This fellow has embezzled some state funds, but not excessively, yet he’s doing it in strange ways. Yet the people’s sentiment toward him is favorable.
He expressed this in elegant political rhetoric.
What I had done was nothing extraordinary.
Previously, when my fiefdom was 2,000 households, I had simply established one magistrate’s office and left it at that.
But when my fiefdom expanded to 8,000 households by incorporating neighboring areas, I had already divided the region into east and west, establishing an eastern and western magistrate’s office.
And I established a central magistrate’s office in the central region.
Then, as the population grew, I named each village with the character “dong” (洞) and installed community centers.
‘Community centers are necessary! Why doesn’t everyone understand the greatness of community centers!’
The resident staff at each community center varied according to the village’s population, but through this, administrative work evolved from a wooden boat to a motorboat.
It meant everything was efficiently organized.
Tax collection became thorough, corruption was eliminated, and with the revision of measurement standards, everything fell perfectly into place.
‘Without electricity or telephones, how can we manage the population without even a community office?’
And after I withdrew my hand.
The population increased to approximately 40,000 households of stipend land.
With an additional 20,000 households of stipend land about to be added.
Currently, following the policies I insisted upon, the administrative staff of Baek Rin County exceeds 600 and approaches nearly 700.
So what becomes of the additional personnel needed?
“By simple calculation, we just need to gather 400 scholars. In truth, gathering that many people isn’t particularly difficult.”
“The problem is that we must distinguish the genuine from the worthless.”
“Right. You always place character above all else, don’t you?”
Character. Or integrity.
Fundamentally, even if one merely pretends to be virtuous, it prevents corruption while working, so I conducted thorough personal investigations of the scholars I employed.
I even requested investigations from Hao-mun and Gaebang!
Conducting background checks this thoroughly would be highly problematic by Earth’s ethical standards, but in this martial world, it was strongly encouraged.
Who in Gangho can you trust!
Aside from conspiracies being secondary, it was only natural in a world where so many people with shattered character dominated.
“So. Can you manage it?”
“I must succeed.”
My eyes blazed with the most brilliant azure light.
Seeing this, my Master smiled with satisfaction.
This difficult task would bind my disciple to this place for at least a year.
So he added one more thing.
“Ah. And I heard there’s talk of water and sewage systems in Ju Wang’s domain.”
A year plus six additional months!
I was so satisfied I felt full without eating.
Yoo Ho watched this satisfied expression from beside me with keen interest.
* * *
“I can do this! Let’s go!”
I encouraged myself and stepped outside.
What was the first thing I needed to do? What was the most urgent matter?
Dermatology? Or administrative management?
Obviously.
Administrative management!
While dermatology certainly improves quality of life, it’s not immediately fatal if neglected.
It’s life-saving work, but not emergency room work.
However, administrative paralysis affecting nearly 100,000 people belonging to the newly acquired 20,000 households of stipend land is a critical situation.
What if an epidemic spreads due to poor administration?
What if a sudden drought strikes?
I must take control! Faster than anyone else! And more thoroughly than any other person!
Goal: Secure 400 additional administrative personnel!
“Muyue! Muyuuuuue! Emergency meeting! Emergency meeeeeting!”
I rushed to find Muyue, the Chief Manager of the outer sect, with urgency. And when I arrived at his location….
“That won’t be possible.”
Muyue stood before me, emanating a chilling coldness like a frozen sculpture.
‘What… his inner strength… thirty years of cultivation? And what is this? Why has he become so powerful?’
Since Muyue was from Hao-mun, it was natural that he had learned martial arts. But his level had never been particularly high.
At best, he was a master at the peak of perfection.
Of course, even reaching the peak of perfection required grinding one’s bones, but it was nothing compared to now.
In the past, he could use sword energy, but that was all. His inner strength was barely over half a cycle of thirty years.
Of course, even that much was enough to be superhuman. But Muyue, whom I hadn’t seen in a long time, had suddenly become an absolute master.
And he was cold.
His face was cold.
“Um… Muyue. You’ve changed so much… haven’t you?”
“It was unavoidable if I wanted to survive.”
“Ah. Aah….”
Cold sweat dripped from my forehead.
Seeing this, Muyue thought to himself.
So Eun Gong does have some conscience after all.
“I owe Eun Gong a debt of life. That kindness still dwells in my heart. However… there were times when I harbored resentment. Then the Patriarch proposed something to me.”
“M… Master?”
“Yes. He asked if I would like to receive a special supreme technique. Since it seemed I would die from overwork at this rate, I begged him every day, and this is the result. Truly, the Patriarch is remarkable. I never thought someone as insignificant as me could reach such heights….”
“And spirit medicine as well?”
“Hehehehe, what is there to hide? I kept drinking medicinal broths whenever I felt like I was dying, and it became like this.”
Combined with the supreme technique, it seems to have created a synergistic effect.
The secret method of creating corpse puppets. Jegalling possesses various supreme techniques and experimental results.
Most of them are things the Master directly tested on his own body in the past.
To think he would use those to achieve this…
“Of course, the supreme technique and spirit medicine alone would be impossible. I also received direct martial arts instruction and underwent countless real battles. And whenever heart demons arose, I would train, and enlightenment came to me.”
“Do you have time for that?”
“…As long as I’m not working, anything is possible.”
A glimpse of hell flickered in Muyue’s eyes.
Soon he exhaled deeply and slowly opened his eyes.
Vitality returned to his gaze.
“Thanks to this, lately I feel like I might actually live. I even have time to visit my sister….”
“Th… that’s fortunate? Congratulations?”
“Of course. It’s all thanks to Eun Gong and the Patriarch. Indeed. Who else would it be thanks to?”
And he smiled with the detached feeling of someone transcending worldly affairs.
His eyes were soaked with fatigue, but his skin was supple.
That was right.
He had become an absolute master.
“If you break wooden dummies with your fists every day, somehow it works out. As for real combat, he said my body had suffered greatly compared to the inner strength I possessed, since I had experienced far too much during my time at Hao-mun.”
As expected of Muyue. A man who crawled out of hell itself.
Yet perhaps it was because he sold his soul to my Master to survive.
There’s something about him that feels like Master MK. 2.
Just as Sama-hye had come to resemble me, Muyue too had come to resemble my Master.
The coldness that had set in—I could sense the distinctive aura of one who had walked the path of Asura.
“I owe all of my ascension to the Absolute Realm to Eun Gong.”
Even now, Muyue expressed his gratitude to me.
Though he had reached the Absolute Realm through a mad process, an Absolute Master was still an Absolute Master.
How many in Gangho had ascended to the Absolute Realm?
The Heterodox Faction’s Hao-mun, and especially one from Hong Lu-gak—that was a needle’s eye indeed.
Not through demonic arts or heretical techniques, but through proper martial arts to reach such heights—this was a blessing of a lifetime.
Though unlike other martial artists, there was something distinctly strange about him.
Having resolved himself for death(?), receiving the Great Dharma and spiritual medicine(?) and teachings(?), and then overcoming the Heart Demon(?) and attaining enlightenment(?)—had he not done all this?
Eun Gong.
Muyue’s words carried gratitude.
However, I, who did not understand the human heart, asked calmly.
“Hmm… I appreciate the sentiment, but then why doesn’t it work?”
Did my Master do something after all?

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