I Became the Oriental Doctor for Divine Beasts - Chapter 91

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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 had become a physician of Traditional Korean Medicine for Divine Beasts.
#91
Jo Mi-so lifted my handwritten appointment ledger with an expression of utter disbelief.
I found myself avoiding her gaze.
“Why……? Doesn’t everyone do it this way……?”
“What are you talking about?!”
Jo Mi-so’s voice shot up an octave.
She covered her face with both hands.
“Director……!”
The expression on her face screamed exasperation with the world.
“Who does this anymore!”
“Is that… so?”
“Of course it is!”
She flipped rapidly through the ledger.
“Write it down when calls come in, erase it when appointments change, draw a line through it when they cancel…… This is completely twentieth-century methodology!”
……
Twentieth century? Is it really that bad?
I mumbled defensively.
“But… the clinic has been running fine until now.”
“That was only when you didn’t have so many appointment requests!”
Jo Mi-so shot back immediately.
“But that’s not the case anymore. The appointments are backed up months at a time!”
Ugh……
“Other hospitals all use Naver reservation systems, Kakao Talk consultations, automatic text confirmations—they all do it.”
“Naver? Kakao Talk? What’s that?”
A silence fell between us.
Jo Mi-so stared directly at me.
“You’re joking, right? You can’t possibly not know?”
……
“No, Director!”
When I tried to deflect, her eyes grew increasingly serious.
“You’re at least managing the website and search engine visibility, aren’t you?”
“No?”
I answered honestly.
“I’m supposed to do that too?”
This time Jo Mi-so genuinely gripped her head in her hands.
“Good heavens. How have you even survived in this competitive world, Director?”
“……With skill?”
“Okay, fair point.”
Still, I had my own defense.
“Actually, my mother didn’t do any of that either. I only ran things the way she taught me.”
In the first place, because patient numbers were never that high, there was no real need for a reservation system.
It’s absolutely not the case that I’m weak with modern technology.
……Probably.
But despite my explanation, Jo Mi-so still looked genuinely worried.
“My goodness, Director. Don’t you know hospitals these days market themselves harder than restaurants?”
“Really?”
“Yes!”
She nodded firmly.
“The orthopedic clinic I used to work at hired people to manage their blog and Instagram. It was all for search visibility.”
“Seriously? Do hospitals really go that far?”
I was genuinely surprised.
Wasn’t the job of a doctor just to see patients well?
Seeing my expression, Jo Mi-so let out a deep sigh.
“This won’t do. From now on, would it be alright if I handled these things?”
“Yes, of course!”
I nodded almost reflexively.
If anything, I was grateful.
This was completely beyond my understanding.
“I’m placing my trust in you.”
“Leave it to me.”
Jo Mi-so smiled with confidence.
And.
From that day on, Baek Myodang began to change noticeably.
She was genuinely skilled at what she did.
She completely reorganized the reservation system, connected online booking, and systematically overhauled how inquiries were managed.
She even set up automatic appointment confirmation texts.
“Wow……”
I marveled at the newly created reservation screen.
“All of this happens automatically? The world really has gotten amazing.”
Jo Mi-so giggled.
“Director, you were just too analog.”
“……Really?”
I wanted to deny it, but honestly it rang true.
In any case, thanks to her efforts, the efficiency of patient care improved dramatically.
I could now devote the time I used to spend fumbling with phone calls entirely to treating patients.
I was certain of it once more.
‘I really made a great hire!’
Baek Myodang’s first employee hire was a tremendous success.
Even Alfred had completely fallen for Mi-so.
At first he’d been wary, slipping away whenever she got close.
But after getting Churu a few times and being petted on his lap, he’d surrendered completely.
“Meow~”
Alfred stuck himself to Jo Mi-so’s feet, his tail swishing contentedly.
Mi-so bent down with the ease of practice and stroked his head.
“You’re such a cutie.”
Purr~
A satisfied rumble emerged from Alfred’s throat.
Watching the scene, I let out a wry laugh.
“Alfred. You’re really an easy cat, aren’t you?”
Alfred replied rather huffily.
Of course, Mi-so could only hear him meowing.
[Hmph. Don’t misunderstand. I’m merely observing from her side to see if this human is trustworthy.]
“Is that what easy means?”
[No. I haven’t fully opened my heart. Absolutely not swayed by Churu!]
Jo Mi-so laughed without understanding a word.
“Director, are you talking to Alfred again? What’s he saying?”
“He says he’s not an easy cat. He says the Churu absolutely didn’t win him over.”
Heh.
Mi-so and I laughed in unison.
Alfred flicked his tail dismissively in protest.
Watching him, my lips curled up on their own.
‘I gained one new family member.’
Strangely, Baek Myodang felt far more stable than before.
* * *
After the Doctor Inside broadcast, Baek Myodang entered days of absolute chaos.
The appointment book remained perpetually overbooked.
Jo Mi-so was occupied every day handling the large and small affairs of the clinic.
Go Yeon-hee saw patients from morning until evening without a moment’s rest.
Then one day.
“Ah, another exhausting day.”
After finishing her consultations, Yeon-hee climbed the stairs to the second-floor room as had become her habit.
It was already late August, and the oppressive heat had begun to break.
Yeon-hee gazed absently at the calendar hanging on the wall. Then she reached out and flipped the page.
Click.
The characters for September appeared.
At that moment.
Yeon-hee’s hand froze in mid-air.
The faint smile that had graced her face just a moment before vanished.
……
She stared at the numbers on the calendar for a long while, then quietly looked away.
It was from that day onward.
On the surface, Yeon-hee seemed no different from usual.
But.
Sometimes she’d stare blankly out the window, or trail off mid-explanation while talking to a patient.
On nights when she used to fall asleep easily, she found herself tossing and turning more often.
One day she turned on the television, only to put down the remote not long after.
On the screen, a Chuseok-related advertisement was playing.
『Premium songpyeon gift sets made with care! Chuseok gift reservations now open!』
Click.
Without a word, Yeon-hee switched off the television.
For a long while afterward, she sat on the sofa in silence.
A few days later, in the yard of Baek Myodang.
Jeong Ra-bit, who had come to visit, sat on the veranda eating fruit when she glanced up at the second-floor window.
She could see Yeon-hee sitting by the window, gazing blankly outside.
Ra-bit asked the cat on the deck with a worried voice.
“Alfred. Why is your sister like that these days?”
[Chuseok approaches, does it not?]
“Chuseok?”
Ra-bit tilted her head in confusion.
Then something seemed to occur to her, and her eyes widened.
“Ah……”
A small sigh escaped her lips.
Ra-bit’s ears drooped.
“Right. Yeon-hee’s mother……”
Ten years ago.
Go Yeon-hee’s mother had disappeared on the Chuseok holiday itself.
Since that day.
For Yeon-hee, Chuseok was not a joyful festival when families gathered.
Ra-bit murmured with a pained expression.
“It makes sense that it’s hard for her……”
Yeon-hee had never had much family to begin with.
Her father had passed away long ago.
And her mother, her only family, had suddenly gone missing one day, only to be confirmed dead later.
Alfred looked up toward the window and spoke quietly.
[It’s the same every year. When Chuseok approaches, that child always becomes like this.]
Ra-bit closed her mouth quietly.
Alfred sighed softly.
[She pretends nothing is wrong on the surface. But at night she can barely sleep, and she spaces out alone, lost in her own thoughts.]
……
Ra-bit’s nose tingled and she sniffled.
“Your sister is so pitiful……”
Alfred spoke matter-of-factly.
[Yet perhaps things may be different going forward.]
For nearly a decade, Go Yeon-hee had lived believing her mother had abandoned her.
But.
Now at least she harbored hope that perhaps her mother had her reasons.
Ra-bit seemed to understand the meaning and nodded quietly.
“That’s right.”
She managed a small smile as she spoke.
“We’ll surely find some trace of your sister’s mother.”
A breeze blew from afar.
The early autumn wind rustled the leaves in the Baek Myodang yard.
And by the second-floor window.
Go Yeon-hee gazed quietly at the sky for a long time.
* * *
After September began, I found myself moving through my days with my mind somehow adrift.
When I was seeing patients, it was manageable enough.
But whenever I was alone, my thoughts grew heavier.
‘The month with Chuseok always feels like this.’
This was the tenth year of it.
Yet I couldn’t simply surrender to melancholy.
I forced myself to move about busier than usual.
Passing through those frantic days, I came to a certain weekend.
“Director, are you really coming with me? Thank you so much!”
“Of course. We promised before, didn’t we?”
I was going to volunteer work with Jo Mi-so.
The destination was the Orphanage where Mi-so had grown up.

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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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