The Physician of Traditional Medicine Returns from Murim - Chapter 11

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 11

I’m not an elementary school student, so was he suspecting that I got help from someone with my assignment?

“I didn’t ask anyone separately, it was just my own thinking. I’m glad it turned out well.”

“I see. I asked because I’ve helped student Haneul with his assignments a few times before.”

Embarrassingly, after I had put force into my eyes, Professor Lee Minseok gave a calm response.

So there was someone like an elementary school student among my classmates.

He kept calling me “hyung, hyung” and acting friendly, but it seems they were closer than I thought.

“As I mentioned before, I don’t have any Korean medicine doctors among my relatives.”

“That’s impressive.”

He seemed genuinely curious when he asked, not particularly suspicious.

“It was obvious that you thought deeply about the patient. Perhaps even more than I, the attending physician, thought about that patient’s treatment.”

“Oh, it wasn’t to that extent.”

“When I first saw the report, I thought there were too many excessive assumptions, but I was wrong instead. I reflected on it. I never even thought that patient could improve that much.”

He wasn’t just trying to give me compliments. To speak so honestly in front of a student?

“I was lucky. Thanks to the patient opening up to me, I was able to learn various things.”

“That’s exactly what’s impressive. I couldn’t get the patient to open up for weeks, but didn’t he say he would quit drinking right after meeting student Hanyewon? You’ll truly become an excellent Korean medicine doctor.”

“I’m embarrassed.”

I scratched my head while receiving excessive praise. It really wasn’t such a big deal.

“Come to think of it, what are you thinking about your career path after graduation? Are you planning to apply for Korean Internal Medicine?”

Professor Lee Minseok, who had been showering me with praise, suddenly brought up an unexpected topic.

“Internal Medicine?”

“You seem more interested in herbal prescriptions. If not, then Acupuncture or Rehabilitation?”

…So this was the main point.

I finally realized why Professor Lee Minseok had called me aside.

‘I wondered why Hwang Sanghun and Cho Haneul were being cautious.’

First, doing an internship at Korea University Korean Medicine Hospital wasn’t easy, but going through the residency process in the desired specialty afterward was another matter entirely.

There are a total of 8 specialties for Korean medicine specialists, and among them, the Acupuncture Department and Korean Rehabilitation Medicine Department are generally popular. This is because most patients who come to oriental medicine clinics or Korean medicine hospitals want acupuncture for musculoskeletal disorders.

If I had been thinking about training until now, Professor Lee Minseok bringing up this topic would have been very grateful. I could appeal in advance that I wanted to go to the Acupuncture Department.

“Haven’t you decided yet?”

Before I could even choose an answer, Professor Lee Minseok asked again impatiently.

“If there’s already a research lab you’ve talked about, that’s fine, so please tell me.”

“Research lab…?”

But his choice of words felt somewhat off. Goosebumps ran up my spine.

Was it exactly like this when Cheonma came to find me? An instinctive anxiety struck me.

“I understand that graduate school starts from the residency process after completing the internship.”

“So it hasn’t been decided yet.”

I answered carefully, but Professor Lee Minseok smiled with satisfaction.

“When I don’t even know whether I’ll do an internship or not, how could I decide on a research lab?”

“Ah, at Korea University, you don’t make contact in advance because the competition for training positions is high?”

“Did you make contact in advance, Professor?”

“Yes. I helped my supervising professor with research during every vacation since my second year of undergraduate studies. That’s how I got to know student Cho Haneul too.”

“Hmm… You must have had a hard time.”

I quietly offered comfort. But it didn’t seem like he had accumulated much resentment, as he chuckled and patted my shoulder.

“It worked out well instead. If you don’t have a decided place, I’d like you to come to my side.”

Finally, what was bound to come had come.

“That…”

“You don’t need to worry about the internship. If not student Hanyewon, who else would they pick? I don’t have the ability to push you in, but the other professors don’t have their eyes on their feet either.”

“No, I…”

“You don’t need to be so obsessed with connections. Publishing decent papers is much more important. Didn’t I, a Wumyeong University graduate, also become a Korea University professor?”

“I’m sorry, Professor! I’ve completely given up on the idea of internship! Graduate school isn’t in my plans for the next 20 years either!”

Faced with scouting enthusiasm rivaling that of a Martial Arts Alliance leader, I had to rudely interrupt the professor’s words.

If I had heard such words before going to the martial arts world, I might have been moved, but the current me has made a decision.

I have no regrets about training.

What’s most important to me is sufficient sleep time and three non-nutritious meals a day. I have absolutely no intention of spending 4 years unable to sleep and overwhelmed by work. I’m going to order delivery food every day and play at home!

And what? Professor Lee Minseok’s research lab? It was obvious that when others sleep 6 hours, I’d have to sleep 2 hours and do research while writing papers.

A happy life of enjoying games day and night is waiting for me. Why would I walk into such hell with my own feet?

“Did you have somewhere that called you? Hwangje Korean Medicine Hospital or… do you have a separate master you serve?”

Not at all.

I have no intention of asking Hwangseoyeong to let me go to Hwangje Korean Medicine Hospital, and the master I served is in that other world, so I can never meet him again.

‘What should I say?’

I couldn’t bring myself to tell Professor Lee Minseok, who was praising and elevating me beyond compliments, that I planned to just play around and eat.

I thought for a moment and then said.

“I did think about training, but actually my heart leaned toward opening my own practice.”

“Opening a practice? Right after graduation?”

Professor Lee Minseok’s eyes widened.

While mature students who entered in their 30s and 40s occasionally opened their own clinics immediately after graduation, students who entered as current high school graduates or after one gap year and graduated in their 20s mostly went through residency or worked as associate directors.

“Yes.”

“Hmm.”

Professor Lee Minseok looked me up and down with a strange expression.

Was he going to try to persuade me by saying many classmates had already failed after rashly starting businesses at a young age? Or tell me to study more before opening a clinic?

“It doesn’t seem like a bad idea.”

I was prepared to respond to whatever he might say.

Professor Lee Minseok tilted his head and muttered.

“I think you would do well. You have no hesitation when it comes to treatment or dealing with people. That’s actually more important. As for studying, well, there are plenty of translated books available. Talking about mentorship in this day and age – I was being old-fashioned.”

“Oh… you’re not going to stop me.”

“How can I stop someone from making money?”

“It’s not just about the money.”

“It’s fine. I understand. I felt like you were in the same field as me, but I think you’ll be very successful not only in research but also in practice.”

Hmm, was he disappointed?

The workload was much more of a problem than money, but any excuse would sound equally lame.

What mattered was that Professor Lee Minseok had given up on dragging me into graduate school.

“You don’t need to be so tense. I’m just a bit disappointed because I think it would have been fun to research together.”

“Thank you for your kind words.”

“It’s not excessive. Just look at patient Jeong Gwangsu – he’s gotten much better thanks to student Hanyewon. Please provide your medical skills to many patients on the front lines.”

“The patient’s improvement is thanks to your excellent treatment, Professor.”

Opening a clinic or whatever – I was only thinking about living leisurely.

But I humbly accepted the praise.

“If you ever change your mind, let me know. Even ten years from now, if you develop an interest in academia, anytime.”

I declined quite naturally, and Professor Lee Minseok sent me off with a meaningful smile.

* * *

Time passed quickly.

My classmates, who had been extremely tense during every class, gradually got used to Professor Lee Minseok’s assignments and began submitting assignments of reasonably good quality. All of them were confident they wouldn’t be surprised no matter what kind of extraordinary exam he might give.

But quite unexpectedly, he declared that he would give the same type of exam as the previous professor.

Then there was no need for special preparation.

For me, who had reviewed all the meridian points and finished preparing right after the semester started, placing needles in designated spots was as easy as pie.

– Waiguan, Baihui, Sanyinjiao, Taibai

About 4 at once – I could hit them even if I threw them! …But I slowly inserted them one by one into my partner’s head, arms, and legs.

“Perfect.”

“Thank you.”

“Don’t go home, wait in the classroom for a moment.”

“Yes.”

After finishing the exam, I returned to the classroom.

The classroom was full of students, as if he had given the same instruction to everyone, not just me. He wasn’t planning to lecture even on exam day, was he?

“Well, this looks like everyone will get 100 points.”

Hwangseoyeong, who was already seated, said triumphantly.

Of course, the questions didn’t completely overlap with past exams, but given what Professor Lee Minseok had done so far, no student had been careless enough to just memorize past exams. Hwangseoyeong had stayed up two nights to memorize all 365 acupoints.

The other classmates also looked bright, having somehow managed to cram successfully.

“Kang Jiwon~.”

Not long after, the front door opened.

“Yeah?”

“Starting from number 1, come get your score sheets!”

“But the exam is over now?”

“In order: Herbal Medicine 1st exam, 2nd exam, Medical Law exam, Acupuncture assignment score, and the Acupuncture practical you just took~. If you have objections, don’t tell me – go find the professor directly!”

Fortunately it wasn’t a lecture, but… boos erupted at the appearance of grade reports.

“The herbal medicine score is crazy!”

“There’s no failing, right? Please?”

“Ah, what? Did I just get points deducted? 20 points? For being off by 1cm?”

“Please speak quietly~. Choi Sumi, Hanyewon, Hwang Sanghun, Hwangseoyeong, done!”

Everyone with surnames starting with ‘H’ had received their score sheets. I narrowed my eyes and checked my grades.

– 43. 100. 100. 98. 100.

The exam I just took was naturally a perfect score, and I only lost 2 points on the assignment. The Medical Law exam wasn’t much different from previous years.

The problem was Herbal Medicine, which we had tested on the first day of the semester.

“I talked big both here and there…”

I muttered while holding my head. I had loudly declared to both Cho Haneul and Professor Lee Minseok that I ‘wouldn’t’ do an internship, but how embarrassing would it be if I ‘couldn’t’ go?

43. 43 points. Out of 100?

I had messed up too badly.

Only the graduation exam remained after this. Of course, all subjects would be tested in the graduation exam, but it was dizzying to think that all grades would be determined in just two days.

“There’s no retake for herbal medicine, right?”

“What’s your score?”

I leaned over and sneaked a look at Hwangseoyeong’s score as she lamented.

“68 points? What, you did well.”

“You probably got almost everything right!”

Hwangseoyeong grumbled. I silently revealed my score sheet.

“…Did you write it carelessly?”

“Let’s go study.”

It wasn’t particularly difficult at all. I just understood the fact that I alone had failed miserably.

Even so, spilled water.

What could I do? I had no choice but to cover it by doing really well on the graduation exam.

“Lee Minseok, this guy really!”

Whether fortunately or unfortunately, Cho Haneul also seemed to have a hole in either the acupuncture assignment or exam.

“Hey, Hwang Sanghun! Let’s study at your place starting today.”

For a moment, Hwang Sanghun looked back at me with a tired face, then smiled toward Cho Haneul again.

“Should we.”

He’s not stupid, so could it be that he can’t refuse?

“Yeowonaaaa~. What if I fail the graduation exam? Let’s study together, okay?”

As soon as I thought that, Hwangseoyeong grabbed my right arm.

“You’ve been studying only at the library lately, so I’m lonely! Let this senior get on the bus too!”

Even Senior Student, who I hadn’t studied with for ages, grabbed my left arm.

Shaking off two women would be nothing…

“Alright, let’s do it together at the dormitory today.”

I too made a foolish choice. They were among the few friends who cared about me, and I felt like I had been too cold to them lately.

I pretended to give in and headed to the dormitory with Senior Student and Hwangseoyeong.

And so the graduation exam season began.

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