I Became the Oriental Doctor for Divine Beasts - Chapter 127

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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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I became an Oriental Medicine Doctor for Divine Beasts
#127
A few days later.
Cheongju in Chungcheongbuk-do—one of the nation’s premier Bokryeong cultivation regions.
“Wow!”
I stood gazing at the endless pine forest, lost in admiration. A gentle breeze carrying the scent of pine needles brushed across my face.
And beside me stood Baek Eun-ho, looking utterly composed.
How did I end up here, you ask?
‘It all started with Lunar’s live broadcast.’
Yu Chae-young had mentioned during the stream that Bokryeong was in short supply, and she worried she wouldn’t be able to continue her herbal medicine regimen.
One of her fans saw this and contacted Baek Ho Entertainment directly.
‘A person who cultivates Bokryeong—he’s been a longtime fan of Yu Chae-young and wanted to help if he could.’
Under normal circumstances, this would have been dismissed as a prank call.
But since Baek Ho Entertainment was still thinking about the time I’d administered first aid to Yu Chae-young, they decided to verify the contact information just in case—and it turned out…
the man actually ran one of the country’s largest Bokryeong farms!
‘Thanks to that, Baek Ho Entertainment connected us directly, and here I am.’
But…
I glanced sideways at Baek Eun-ho.
“What’s your official reason for coming along? I understand my situation—I’m an Oriental Medicine Doctor here to purchase herbal ingredients—but you didn’t even bother with a disguise. Are you really okay being seen like this?”
Baek Eun-ho shrugged casually.
“I’m a potential buyer too.”
“Pardon? You’re here to purchase Bokryeong as well?”
“Do you think I’d come all this way just to buy a few pouches of herbal ingredients?”
He laughed softly.
“If we’re going to do this, we might as well acquire an entire distribution network.”
“I’m sorry?”
“This could be a good opportunity to launch a Herbal Medicine Distribution Business under the Baek Clan.”
Leaving me stunned, he continued with perfect nonchalance.
“I looked into it on the way here—Bokryeong has more added value than I expected. The dried product goes for over fifty thousand won per kilogram, or so I heard.”
“…Well, yes, that’s true, but…”
I blinked helplessly and let out a hollow laugh.
“No, I mean—you’re talking about starting a whole new business like you’re adding a Netflix subscription!”
I mean, come on.
This is the same man who offered to give me a building instead of a birthday gift. What was I expecting?
‘Let it go.’
Just then.
A middle-aged man in work clothes came rushing from the distance.
“Sorry to keep you waiting, folks!”
His face was darkened by sun exposure, his hands thick and weathered. His palms were marked with calluses earned over decades of labor.
“I’m the owner of this farm here. I’m the one who contacted you as Chae-young’s fan.”
Wait. Hold on.
A sudden hunch made me widen my eyes.
“Are you perhaps the user ‘Sangol Chonggak’?”
The man looked startled.
“Huh? How did you know that?”
“You leave encouraging comments on every one of Yu Chae-young’s videos.”
At that, Sangol Chonggak’s face flushed crimson as he scratched the back of his head awkwardly.
“Oh my… you saw all that? At my age, getting caught being a fan—it’s so embarrassing.”
I couldn’t help but laugh.
So it really was him.
Meanwhile, Sangol Chonggak’s gaze shifted to Baek Eun-ho.
“But I only contacted Baek Ho Entertainment… I never expected the successor of the Baek Ho Group to show up in person.”
Baek Eun-ho lied without blinking an eye.
“We were already considering a Herbal Medicine Distribution Business.”
“I see…”
Sangol Chonggak didn’t press further.
Instead, he turned to me with an urgent gaze.
“I heard Chae-young really needs Bokryeong—is it that urgent?”
I nodded firmly.
“Yes, it’s necessary. But why has it become so scarce this year?”
Sangol Chonggak’s expression darkened immediately.
“You know Bokryeong is a sclerotium—a fungal body that grows on pine roots, right?”
“Yes, it’s a type of fungus.”
“Normally, seedling cultures should germinate well once inoculated, but this year we had severe typhoons and erratic temperatures. The germination rate was terrible. More than a few farms completely lost their crops.”
Baek Eun-ho, who had been listening, asked a question.
“But you must have Bokryeong here, since you called us?”
I asked what had been on my mind too.
“I heard this was the nation’s largest farm. Why haven’t you released your herbal ingredients to the market?”
Sangol Chonggak hesitated, then spoke quietly.
“Well… it’s actually complicated. As they say, seeing is believing. It might be faster to just show you.”
A short time later.
Following him, we arrived not at a farm, but at an ordinary rural house.
“…?”
I whispered softly to Baek Eun-ho.
“It seems odd. Is it really okay if we go into that house…?”
Baek Eun-ho let out a soft laugh.
“Don’t worry while you’re with me. There are security personnel nearby. The Jade Bracelet and Miao Eye Stone aren’t reacting, either.”
I looked down at the necklace and bracelet. Sure enough, there was no reaction at all.
“You’re right. Let’s go in.”
And shortly after.
Sangol Chonggak, who had led us inside, stopped in front of a door.
“Here it is. Take a look.”
“Oh, this is…?!”
The door opened, and I drew a sharp breath.
The room was arranged like a small incubation lab.
Thermometers, hygrometers, fans, cultivation racks—every plastic container showed traces of attempts to cultivate Bokryeong mycelia.
But.
‘The Bokryeong did grow, but the shape is inconsistent and the size is far too small.’
It looked nowhere near ready for sale as a product.
Sangol Chonggak laughed sheepishly.
“To be honest, I’ve been trying to artificially cultivate Bokryeong for years now. But selling this? The commercial value is just… well. So I was planning to keep quiet about it, but when I heard Chae-young really needed this, I decided to reach out…”
“…”
Baek Eun-ho didn’t speak either, but disappointment was written all over his face.
But then.
Staring at that Bokryeong, a sudden thought came to me.
‘Bokryeong is still a living fungus, after all. So…’
I spoke carefully.
“Would it be possible for me to take this and try cultivating it myself?”
“Huh? You, Director?”
Sangol Chonggak’s eyes widened, then he waved his hand.
“No, no—this isn’t easy at all. I even brought in overseas experts and studied for months, spent years on it, and still couldn’t make it work.”
“Still, I’d like to try. I happen to be quite good at raising plants and animals.”
When I insisted, Sangol Chonggak chuckled—a laugh completely devoid of expectation.
“Well then, take it with you.”
And so, the Bokryeong mycelia passed into my hands.
A few days later.
“No, Director!!”
The man who called me—Sangol Chonggak—
“How in the world did you do it?! I brought in overseas experts and worked at it for years, and it never worked!”
He was practically shrieking from the first word.
* * *
Thanks to my Purification-type Trait, whatever I raised always seemed to grow remarkably well.
This was no exception.
In the Bokryeong cultivation boxes I’d brought from Cheongju, I’d spent several days lightly spraying them with Spiritual Energy-Infused Water using a spray bottle.
And then.
“Oh, wait…”
Just days later, the Bokryeong transformed noticeably.
The color brightened, and the sclerotia began growing far more firm and uniform.
It was explosive growth compared to how they’d looked at first!
“…”
Even I was momentarily at a loss for words.
“Is this really working?”
I’d expected something, but not to this degree.
But then another concern arose.
“Wait. How do I explain this to him?”
I couldn’t exactly say I’d infused it with Spiritual Energy. I needed some plausible excuse that ordinary people would accept.
‘Hmm. What if I did this?’
After deliberation, I began meticulously recording every aspect of the cultivation environment.
Temperature, humidity, incubation period, and so on.
Moreover, during the process, I isolated only the seedling cultures with the most superior growth and propagated them as Premium Seedling Culture.
‘The Spiritual Energy is just there to help get cultivation started, after all.’
With this know-how and these seedling cultures, ordinary farms should be able to achieve stable production later on.
A few days passed.
When Sangol Chonggak saw photos of the Bokryeong I’d sent, he called me directly and practically screamed.
– No! Director! How did you even do this?! This is completely beyond common sense! My whole world just fell apart!
“Is it really that remarkable?”
As I laughed awkwardly, Sangol Chonggak spoke excitedly.
– Of course! Being able to produce premium seedling cultures means we can now mass-produce high-quality Bokryeong on a stable basis!
– This isn’t just good for our farms—it could change the whole industry!
His words were no exaggeration.
Not long after, the Bokryeong story became such a hot topic that it was covered on evening news broadcasts day after day.
The anchor on television spoke with a solemn face.
“This development of premium Bokryeong seedling culture is expected to significantly boost the competitiveness of Korea’s herbal medicine ingredient industry.”
“Analysts predict that if domestication of Bokryeong—currently heavily dependent on imports—becomes a major initiative, economic effects exceeding hundreds of billions of won could be anticipated.”
That wasn’t all.
“A patent? For me?”
“Of course! Isn’t this superior seedling culture that you developed?”
As the rights related to seedling culture development were formally recognized, I received far greater Patent Revenue than I’d anticipated.
And then… something even more surprising happened.
“It was half a joke at first.”
Baek Eun-ho laughed softly.
“But it’s become a real business.”
It was true.
The Baek Ho Group had truly decided to enter the Herbal Medicine Distribution Business.
And with me as one of its core members…!

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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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