Doctor’s Rebirth - Chapter 913

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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 913
051. Baekrin Medical Guild’s Modern Times
Sama Hyeon departed, saying something had come up in Hao-mun.
It seemed connected to how the branch manager of Hong Lu-gak in Qingdao had been a Goe-eo-in.
Before leaving, Sama Hyeon had said something.
-When I come back, you’ll play around with me like before, right~?
‘After all, he noticed.’
I thought I’d treated him exactly as I had before the regression, but it seemed my behavior had shown through regardless.
Though time had been rewound and those events no longer existed, for me they were still things that had actually happened.
Even with so much time having passed, it remains difficult to look directly at Sama Hyeon’s hand.
Because the hand that was severed back then keeps overlapping with his hand now.
It took quite a while to move past Yeo Ha-ryun’s severed neck as well, didn’t it?
‘Even now, I haven’t completely moved past it.’
Certain kinds of ‘death’ leave their marks.
Even if they are now events that never occurred.
I let out a small sigh.
I sent Hyeon off with a smile, pretending to know nothing.
Cheonwoo also departed, saying he had business at the Mudang Faction.
-As soon as I reach Mudang Mountain, I’ll send you some decent medicinal herbs. Hyeong.
This fellow had also sensed something.
But he didn’t throw a direct question.
That was Cheonwoo’s way of showing consideration.
A subtle way of sending someone off without burdening them.
Seeing this, it seemed Cheonwoo had matured before me.
After sending off Gwon Je, both his inner and outer self had grown considerably.
It seemed I’d soon be able to accept the medicine Cheonwoo sends.
‘It seems the Mudang Faction is also interested in this Goe-eo-in matter.’
So it appeared Cheonwoo intended to hear the story from back then directly.
And so I was left alone.
Normally, after finishing a major task, I should rest without doing anything for half a day.
But if I just lay still like that, it felt like the Heart Demon would come, so I deliberately kept moving.
To the point where my breath smelled sweet.
‘I need to handle the follow-up work for the agricultural settlement project I was working on before.’
That was it.
That was the biggest problem.
New agricultural villages had been established in Baekrin County to solve the food shortage, but who would there be to command them anew?
‘That person is me….’
I wiped away tears sorrowfully, working like an ox.
For some reason, my Master hasn’t returned.
I don’t even know what he went out to do.
‘Surely he didn’t go to some neighboring district to develop new sales channels.’
If it were something so straightforward, constructive, and transparent, wouldn’t he have at least written down the destination?
This puppy of a disciple has no younger siblings to keep him company, so all I can do is sit quietly and wrestle with paperwork. Woof woof!
And now.
Muyue arrived carrying a report.
“Soggakju, the biggest problem is iron, as expected.”
Ou, looking at the height of these documents…
Today’s going to be rough, this is.
And as I flip through the front pages, it’s nothing but numbers and talk of money.
“How much iron are we short on?”
“We lack enough iron to even manufacture farming implements.”
This economic boom is the problem.
From construction to agriculture, as industries accelerate, all material costs rise.
In capitalism, rising material costs also means materials are in short supply.
After all, prices are ultimately determined by supply and demand.
Sure enough, iron ore prices are skyrocketing in a steep climb.
“Hmm, if I were to melt down the dark ore iron from those Goe-eo-in helmets we purchased this time…”
“…Have you lost your mind?”
Damn it.
It really would be wasteful to melt down iron meant for forging new weapons and use it for that.
‘Iron, huh…’
This martial world has roughly the civilization level of the 12th to 14th centuries.
The two-hundred-year difference exists because this world’s history differs from Earth’s, and there’s that peculiar thing called martial arts.
‘Iron-working technology in an era like this is typically just the usual process.’
a. Smelt iron ore in a forge.
b. While striking the well-melted iron, remove impurities from the ore. Create pure iron.
c. Use this pure iron to make whatever you need!
d. Profit!
In old fantasy movies, blacksmiths hammer away at weapons while pouring moonlight, starlight, and lightning into them—whoosh whoosh whoosh—to forge weapons.
It’s roughly similar.
‘Ah, sci-fi movies do it that way too. In a world where warp travel exists, yet weapons are still handcrafted.’
In modern times, machines striking is better than human hands, but in the mubie world it seems somewhat different.
Now then, how does the Gangho world work?
Here, each individual forge operates according to its own methods.
It’s treated as a kind of secret technique.
Especially places like the Sichuan Tang Family treat master blacksmiths with the same regard as first-rate warriors, showing them utmost respect.
A first-rate master blacksmith receives treatment equal to a first-rate warrior, or even greater considering their rarity.
Perhaps the Sichuan Tang Family’s advancement in hidden weapons is partly due to this culture.
Even if hidden weapons are recycled and reused, they wear out faster than swords, so they remain consumables that must be continuously produced.
Thus, craftsmen become all the more essential.
The first blast furnace for iron production was developed during the Spring and Autumn period, or so the records claim.
While metallurgical and iron-working techniques steadily advanced thereafter, the problem was that such progress occurred only at the workshop level.
Because of this, as mentioned earlier, each blacksmith’s forge possessed different secret knowledge, making the techniques far from universal—quality varied wildly, and mass production?
Not even a dream.
Eventually, around the 14th century, large-scale mass-production blast furnaces were developed in Germanic regions, and from that point onward, iron production skyrocketed.
Indeed, from the 14th century onward, Europe began to pull decisively ahead in metallurgical and blacksmithing techniques….
‘As expected, the Gangho world mirrors this pattern.’
The blacksmith forges all operate independently.
The purity of iron in Gangho isn’t particularly high to begin with.
‘The very process of smelting iron from ore is just backbreaking labor.’
No matter how many piston-driven bellows are invented or high-temperature reduction methods devised, what ultimately matters is human muscle and sweat.
‘And in Gangho, each major family maintains their own master blacksmiths.’
Those blacksmiths capable of forging divine weapons cannot move freely beyond their family’s control.
People from Earth might find this absurd, but these divine weapons can cleave mountains and unleash bloodstorms across villages—in a sense, aren’t these blacksmiths strategic weapons manufacturers?
You could say they’re like NASA scientists during the Cold War era.
This is why, despite Gangho’s vast expanse, encountering a master blacksmith capable of forging divine weapons is extraordinarily difficult.
You’d have better odds of finding a secret manual lying on a distant cliff.
Moreover, such individuals tend to be eccentric, making them even less inclined to forge weapons for just anyone.
Fortunately, what we need are farming tools.
Common farming tools found in any village.
“In truth, the Empire is vast, and blacksmith forges are as numerous as stars. Therefore, if we procure iron farming tools in bulk from external sources, the time issue can be resolved.”
Muyue spoke, and I responded.
“However, the more urgently we acquire them, the greater the budget required for purchasing iron farming tools becomes—a problem indeed. Looking at the report, it seems costs could spike as much as tenfold? That would be putting the cart before the horse.”
‘He grasps the report so quickly.’
Particularly that tenfold figure—I derived it myself based on the report’s data.
How many superiors could perform such calculations in an instant during conversation?
‘Truly the finest superior.’
The only problem is that he works me like a dog while he himself labors like an ox.
I spoke.
“With that money, we’d be better off buying grain instead. Hmm….”
Tap, tap.
My fingers drummed against the desk several times.
‘Now that I think about it, I once saw a YouTube video on building blast furnaces—a large-scale, mass-production model at that.’
I pushed my chair back with a scrape.
“I’ll handle this. A brilliant idea has just occurred to me.”
* * *
Several days later.
I finally completed the blueprints and sat alone, lost in joy.
“Yes! It’s done!”
Using the power of the Hyeonwon Jeondan Singeong, I succeeded in reproducing exactly what I’d seen on YouTube.
That was it.
A 14th-century hydraulic bellows blast furnace scaled to massive proportions!
A terrifying contraption standing fifty feet tall—fifteen meters of sheer height!
“Excellent, this is perfect!”
The electric thrill of accomplishment faded quickly as my mind immediately pivoted to the next question.
‘Hmm, ultimately, to mass-produce high-purity iron, the critical factor is maintaining elevated temperatures for extended periods, isn’t it?’
Of course, this design would make it possible.
‘It’s a system that uses hydraulic-powered bellows to sustain high heat.’
But couldn’t we achieve even higher temperatures here?
The Gangho has the Jeon Dan method, doesn’t it!
My Master didn’t ignite fires with the Jeon Dan method for no reason.
‘So I don’t necessarily need to burn down a family using the parasitic Jeon Dan method. I could develop a blast furnace that maintains even higher temperatures using this firepower.’
My Master’s kindness.
Even the genius Jegalling wouldn’t have taught this, but I was grateful to my Master for Ilgwang’s sake.
‘Of course, I need to be careful.’
Handling such heat came with its own dangers.
‘Is it possible… could it work?’
My blue eyes fired off questions rapidly.
My thought process branched like a tree, spreading in all directions, until finally one branch tip glimmered faintly with light.
If that light could be called inspiration, then I needed to bind that inspiration to theory and attach it.
My blue eyes extended my thoughts again, spreading further.
Before my eyes, the blast furnace and Jeon Dan method rose and shattered repeatedly, like modern computer graphics.
Finally, I created a perfect design suited to Baekrin Uiseon.
‘Oh, it’s possible?!’
* * *
Some time later.
Muyue stood waiting behind the dormant volcanic mountain of Baekrin Uiseon.
At the end of his gaze, Jin Cheon-hee wore a yellow hard hat, directing construction work.
Twenty days had already passed since construction began.
With Yoo Ho joining in, the pace was incredibly fast.
They utilized one valley in the dormant volcanic region, installing the Jeon Dan method using its earth veins.
Almost simultaneously with installing the Jeon Dan method, they built the blast furnace.
‘Normally, you build the house first and then create the formation. But this is being constructed with the formation in mind from the very beginning.’
How difficult and complex that process was.
Even the geomancers belonging to the Medical Guild were shaking their heads in disbelief.
The stonemasons and carpenters likewise spoke in bewilderment.
“What exactly is the Jegalling Family trying to build…?”
“Is this really supposed to function properly?”
It was the work of the Jegalling Family’s genius.
There wasn’t a single craftsman who refused to participate.
If what they’re constructing isn’t madness but truly something revolutionary.
The knowledge gained simply from building it.
Its value would be boundless.
Muyue spoke.
“I cannot claim certainty, but I believe it remains possible.”
“I’ve heard that even the Research Division’s Doctor undertakes such massive projects, yet sometimes they collapse. Is this another such case?”
He didn’t deny it.
My research endeavors are truly endless.
Many projects have failed during the research phase or been abandoned due to poor profitability.
‘Well, I hope it works out.’
This time, the costs were substantial.
No, the costs were extremely substantial.
Actually, let me be honest.
The costs were absurdly, impossibly, mind-bogglingly astronomical.
If this failed, Baekrin Medical Guild would certainly falter, but the expenditure was enough to shake even my and my subordinates’ foundations.
The blast furnace stood a full fifty feet high.
Its scale was immense.
“Can you truly extract pig iron in such vast quantities from iron ore?”
Pig iron.
The raw material for steel.
Other workshops could produce it as well.
But it consumed enormous amounts of time, labor, and capital—therein lay the problem.
What mattered here was the attempt to extract pig iron continuously with this single furnace.
That was it.
‘If it succeeds, it would become a veritable money-printing vessel.’
Thus, I selected only the most tight-lipped craftsmen.
Those who themselves or whose families had received favor from Baekrin Medical Guild—craftsmen who would walk into hellfire at my command.
‘Even so, one can never truly know another’s heart. Even if someone betrayed us and leaked information, the formation principles we employ remain unknown even to me. Should another family discover it, they’d only grasp the shell.’
The geomancer assisting us couldn’t even interpret the formations, merely following instructions—what could possibly be stolen?
But if it fails, the money… the money…?
Muyue watched with a prayer in his heart.
‘Yes. Come to think of it, even if such an attempt fails, it might not be entirely bad.’
A blast furnace extracting pig iron endlessly with less than a tenth of the effort other workshops required.
Wasn’t that preposterous?
‘Yes. If we can use this failure as a stepping stone and later achieve even a third, or perhaps half the output, that would be a tremendous success.’
His reason spoke thus, yet Muyue’s heart still prayed.
So much money. Far too much money had been spent.
“Oh, Muyue. Your expression looks rather strange.”
I approached Muyue and spoke.
My peculiar manner of speech.
And in his mouth was a long, slender honey stick.
Crunch—
The scent was sweet and nutty, so fragrant that saliva pooled in my mouth just from the aroma.
“Would Muyue like one as well?”
Soggakju remained utterly composed.
Unaware of how quickly the Chief Manager was burning up inside.
“…Ahem, I’ll take one, please.”
Muyue reached out with trembling hands to accept the honey stick, but something felt decidedly off.
It was far too long and far too thin.
I had never seen a honey stick like this before.
“What exactly is this?”
“Ah, honey Pepero.”
“Pardon?”
What on earth had he brought to this situation?
This gentleman.

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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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