I Became the Oriental Doctor for Divine Beasts - Chapter 57

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

He had become a doctor to Divine Beasts.
#57
Won Jun stared at the Eyeglass Frames resting on the workbench, his mind reeling.
Delicate curves in thin metal wire.
Not a single unnecessary bend—the form achieved perfect balance.
“This is…….”
Clan Patriarch Won Young-ok picked up the Eyeglass Frames.
Her weathered hands traced it slowly, examining every detail.
“The curves… flawless.”
The Workshop craftspeople around them stirred with excitement.
“Won Jun made that?”
“His skill wasn’t like this even yesterday!”
“It’s a completely different level!”
While the astonished Won Clan members whispered among themselves, Won Young-ok suddenly lifted her head.
Her voice dropped low.
“Won Jun. How on earth did you do this?”
Won Jun couldn’t answer right away.
He only looked down at his own hands, slowly closing them and opening them again.
‘……What’s happening?’
While working, his hands had moved with the smoothness of flowing water.
Completely different from before.
‘Just last night, my hands wouldn’t obey me at all.’
Even when he calculated angles, his hands would slip; even when he tried to control his strength, it would be subtly off.
And his mind was always cluttered.
Should I do this? Or that first? Forcing his fatigue-laden brain to work only tangled his thoughts further.
It was like moving through fog.
‘But just now, my mind was crystal clear.’
Not a single stray thought.
He’d made his plan with the certainty of someone who’d seen the answer key, and his hands executed it perfectly. Mind and hands in flawless harmony.
‘To think such a day would come for me…….’
His chest swelled, and Won Jun bit his lip.
Ever since becoming the next heir, he’d thrown himself into practice day and night like a madman.
The only thought consuming him was that he had to quickly fill the void his father left behind.
That burden had left him no time to properly mourn his father’s death, no space for genuine grief.
─ “The Won Clan is responsible for all Divine Beasts’ Spiritual Materials. So I have to grow stronger, faster.”
His grandmother was still impressive, of course, but age had taken its toll.
That’s why he couldn’t stop.
Behind a carefree, playful exterior, he’d hidden his desperation and pushed himself through sheer volume of practice.
Yet he’d always heard he wasn’t enough—until just now—
“Jun? Won Jun!”
His grandmother’s voice pulled him from his confusion.
He snapped to attention and looked up to find her frowning deeply at him.
“I asked you how you did it.”
“That’s, that’s…….”
I really have no idea myself?
The only thing different was that Go Yeon-hee gave me a Gong Jin Dan before I started working…….
‘Wait. Could it be?’
Scratching the back of his head, he let the words spill out thoughtlessly.
“Was it because of the Gong Jin Dan that Yeon-hee gave me?”
“What?”
Won Young-ok’s eyebrows twitched.
Now that he’d said it impulsively, even Won Jun hesitated.
Does that even make sense? What kind of nonsense just came out of my mouth?
‘But… after taking that, my hands loosened up and my mind cleared…….’
He rested his chin on his hand and murmured.
“No, really. After taking that, the fatigue just vanished, my mind got sharp, energy came back… it just went well.”
“…….”
Won Young-ok closed her mouth in disbelief, then shot back.
“Don’t be ridiculous! You’re telling me that half-breed Purifier’s Gong Jin Dan is this effective?”
Won Jun shrugged.
“I don’t know the details myself. If you’re curious, why not ask her directly?”
Just as Won Young-ok was about to say something more in response to his casual tone, the Workshop craftspeople laughed brightly and stepped in to mediate.
“Regardless, that’s remarkable!”
“Good results are good results, aren’t they?”
“Such rapid improvement… at this rate, he’ll inherit the Patriarch’s position in no time!”
The way the cadet branch members looked at Won Jun had completely changed.
The disdain and pity from before had vanished, replaced now by hopeful anticipation and respect.
“Huh, really. What in the world is going on?”
While everyone rejoiced, Patriarch Won Young-ok’s expression remained shadowed.
Her eyes held a look of disbelief mixed with grudging acceptance.
“A Gong Jin Dan, you say…….”
She murmured softly to herself.
Then she cast a complicated gaze toward where Go Yeon-hee was.
* * *
Above Won Young-ok’s workbench.
The Myoanseok Necklace glowed with a soft light.
Won Young-ok held her tools, then stopped for a moment. Her concentration had been scattering ever since earlier.
“Tsk.”
She clicked her tongue briefly and tried to resume work, but the intrusive thoughts wouldn’t fade.
‘That boy Jun, he really achieved all that just from eating one Gong Jin Dan?’
Normally, once Won Young-ok entered her work, nothing else registered in her mind.
As if the universe contained only her workpiece and herself.
But now.
‘Purifier Go Yeon-hee…….’
That name kept surfacing, making it impossible to focus.
Frankly, Won Young-ok disliked the Purifier brought by the Ho Clan.
The fact that the Won Clan was closer to the Dragon Clan than to the Ho Clan was one source of her dissatisfaction, but there was a deeper reason—the regret of a master craftsman.
‘Even with the same Spiritual Material, the results change completely depending on who uses it.’
Pure bloodline, abundant Spiritual Energy, varied experience.
Divine Beasts with these qualities utilize Spiritual Materials far more effectively, even the same ones.
But.
‘That Purifier is a half-blood with a human father, isn’t she?’
And Go Yeon-hee was still new to this Divine Beast world.
‘She barely has Spiritual Energy, let alone experience.’
The thought of such a person using the Spiritual Materials she’d strengthened was unbearable.
Others might not understand it.
But.
To a craftsman of Won Young-ok’s pride, this was a serious matter.
It was like a renowned designer not wanting to see their carefully crafted clothes on just anyone.
“Sigh.”
Unable to recover her focus, Won Young-ok exhaled sharply and shook out her wrist.
“I’m getting old, that’s for sure.”
Even a little work left her exhausted quickly.
Her wrists ached, her eyes blurred easily. Her lower back, neck, and shoulders throbbed so much that simply sitting at the workbench had become difficult.
And that wasn’t all.
‘These days my chest feels tight, my face gets hot, and my head aches constantly.’
Won Young-ok’s lips tightened.
She’d hidden it from the Workshop people, but she was feeling the weight of her years.
‘If only my son had been by my side at times like this…….’
Her gaze drifted naturally to the corner of her workbench.
There sat a small photograph frame.
In the image, her young son and daughter-in-law, along with little Won Jun, smiled brightly against the backdrop of the Sokcho sea.
“…….”
Won Young-ok’s eyelids trembled as she looked at the photograph.
He had been her one and only precious son.
Perfect as a craftsman, as a son, as an heir to the Clan Patriarch.
Bright and cheerful, and above all, he loved this work. What a dependable, admirable successor he’d been.
And yet—
That gift from heaven, her son, had disappeared from her side far too easily.
Won Young-ok brushed her eyes with the back of her hand.
“Ugh. An old woman getting sentimental.”
And she tilted her head up to keep the tears at bay.
Then, something on the shelf caught her eye.
The Eyeglass Frames that Won Jun had made.
The conversation with her grandson came back to her.
─ “So you’re saying after eating that Gong Jin Dan, your energy surged and your focus improved?”
─ “Yes! So Grandmother, stop being stubborn and get some treatment yourself. The Purifier doesn’t come every day, I’m telling you!”
─ “…….”
The Eyeglass Frames were certainly something special.
They were the closest to flawlessness among Won Jun’s works yet.
But the secret was just a Gong Jin Dan?
It seemed absurd, but she couldn’t deny the tangible results before her eyes.
Click.
Finally, Won Young-ok set down her tools completely.
Then, with a resolved expression, she rose from her workbench.
‘Tsk. If I can’t focus on work and keep dwelling on this, I might as well just ask directly.’
She would seek out the Purifier, Go Yeon-hee, somewhere in the Workshop.
* * *
The break room tucked away in the corner of the Workshop.
“So, how did you do it?”
I’d been happily absorbed in a web novel on the sofa.
At the sudden, gruff voice, I looked up with a start.
“Yes?”
Before me stood Clan Patriarch Won Young-ok, both hands shoved into her overalls pockets.
Her typical blunt gaze fixed directly on me.
“What did you give to Won Jun?”
“Ah.”
Now I understood what this was about.
I smiled slightly.
“Jun did pretty well, didn’t he?”
“!”
Won Young-ok’s eyebrows twitched subtly.
She paused for a moment, then cleared her throat.
“Well, yes… honestly, I was surprised. It’s the best result he’s produced so far.”
After a brief pause, the Patriarch opened her mouth again.
“That’s why I’m asking.”
Her gaze sharpened as it bore into me.
“These days young people get pills from psychiatrists to study better. You didn’t give my grandson some strange drug like that, did you?”

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