The Physician of Traditional Medicine Returns from Murim - Chapter 149

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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 149

Since I had packed the travel schedule tightly, there were many things to take care of before leaving.

Hwangseoyeong had also booked the plane tickets, and since I had more time than her being a resident, I should at least do this much!

First, accommodation.

I sent the flight schedule to Chairman Rich’s secretary.

When I said I would use the hotel according to the Rome in, Paris out flight booking, he readily assigned me a room.

Moreover, what I thought was just casual talk, Chairman Rich said he would also make time.

He must be busy, could there be some other business?

Like an acquaintance he wanted me to treat.

It might really just be for a meal, but just in case, I packed acupuncture needles and several emergency medicines in my trunk.

And tourism planning and reservations.

I searched the internet and asked travel-experienced people around me about must-visit places to plan the itinerary.

Fortunately, Min Jeong-eun said she would show me around Rome, but in Paris I would have to get around by public transportation myself.

Lastly, the most important thing, the Oriental Medicine Clinic.

I posted my vacation period inside the clinic, on the elevator, and on the blog so there would be no problems while I was away.

I told regular patients to receive good treatment from other directors while I was gone, and gave Hwang Sanghun and Lee Ahreum several points to be careful about.

“Oh my, don’t worry and have a good trip! I’ll keep a close watch to make sure no one does anything foolish!”

Fortunately, everyone cheered me on when I said it was my first time going to Europe.

There was even a patient who offered me leftover euros to use. Of course I declined.

“Please take care of things. If anything happens, don’t worry about day or night and call me!”

“Got it. Have a comfortable trip.”

“I’ll contact you right away, so don’t worry.”

Having Hwang Sanghun and Seo Inae there was very reassuring.

Without those two, I wouldn’t have even thought about leaving the clinic for over a week.

As I made various preparations like this, time flew by in an instant.

The day of travel approached.

‘I’m really going to see Europe!’

During college, how envious I was watching classmates who would brag about going somewhere during just one vacation!

I preferred the world inside computers over travel, but I think I secretly wanted to go at least once.

The fact that I pushed this forward so quickly as soon as the opportunity arose proves it.

I took a domestic flight from Gimhae Airport to Incheon Airport.

There I was supposed to meet Hwangseoyeong and go through departure procedures together.

“Wow, my heart is pounding. How long has it been since we traveled? This is the first time since we came back from China, right? Amazing!”

“Right. Haven’t you traveled separately?”

“No! I didn’t have time during my junior residency years! Ah~! How fortunate that our schedules matched like this!”

“I’m so excited too.”

Since we had quite a lot of time left, we went to eat first.

At the food court, I ordered a hamburger and Hwangseoyeong ordered soybean paste stew.

“You won’t be able to eat Korean food for a whole week when we go, and you’re already having a hamburger?”

“A week passes quickly, you know.”

But the moment I said those words out loud.

I felt a strange sense of déjà vu.

Somehow it felt like I had said something similar and couldn’t eat Korean food for a very long time…?

Soon the buzzer rang.

The hamburger, being fast food, came out first, so I went to get the food, but Hwangseoyeong was looking at her phone screen, not even noticing I was coming.

“What are you looking at? A web novel?”

Hwangseoyeong didn’t usually read many web novels. Even when I occasionally recommended martial arts novels, she was lukewarm about it. So before, I would have been happy and asked about this and that.

Maybe because Lee Ahreum had been trying to make small talk lately about reading some martial arts story, I broke out in a cold sweat first.

“Yeah. I bought a few things to read on the plane. I was looking at webtoons and came across this, and it’s really interesting?”

“Oh, not watching movies?”

“I was originally going to watch movies too, but it’s such a long series I don’t think I could finish it even by the time we arrive.”

I asked Hwangseoyeong for the title.

I don’t read much fantasy novels either, but I was interested since Hwangseoyeong recommended it.

I quickly skimmed through the beginning.

‘Oh, this is a rare authentic fantasy!’

A knight story starting from the bottom.

No regression, possession, or reincarnation, and it strongly gave off the atmosphere that there would be lots of wars and political strife ahead.

In the midst of that, the comedy code matched well too…

This would be more than enough to read on the plane!

Like Hwangseoyeong, I purchased and downloaded the entire series.

“At least it won’t be boring on the way.”

“Right? It’s really interesting. I’m reading chapter 40 now, so hurry up and catch up.”

“Okie okie.”

Even after getting on the plane, we frantically read the novel.

Wow, the world setting is so cruel? The protagonist is really going through hell.

It would be terrible to fall into a world like this.

For some reason, I got goosebumps on both arms.

‘Ugh, it’s okay! I’m in South Korea, I’ll be back soon!’

Alternating between reading the novel and chatting, time passed quickly.

After eating, the lights soon went out.

“Oh, they’re already turning off the lights?”

“Time flies. We’ll arrive in the morning, so let’s get some sleep.”

So I turned off my phone to get some rest.

– Is that really so interesting?

– Yes! Do you want to read it too? It’s newly released…!

Back then too, it was definitely a novel…

Another old déjà vu brushed past me.

About 20 years ago, on a flight to China, to be exact.

Back then, I was the one making recommendations.

A martial arts novel whose title I could barely remember now.

No way, that can’t be it.

It must be a coincidence.

I shook off the unsettling feeling and closed my eyes.

* * *

After having a bizarre dream about becoming a knight and fighting on battlefields with martial arts, I found myself in Italy.

Phew, what a terrible dream that was.

Looking at the sparkling advertisement boards on the airport walls, I felt relieved.

“Wow, Rome! We finally made it.”

The airport wasn’t much different from others, but stepping on European soil felt refreshingly new.

I had traveled all over the Central Plains, but this was my first time outside East Asia.

“Clinic Director~! I didn’t expect to see you again so soon! It’s great to see you!”

Min Jeong-eun came to meet us at the airport.

“How have you been? You haven’t had any stomach problems since coming to Italy?”

“No! I was worried about that, but I’ve been fine! Once I cut out milk and cheese completely, there were no problems at all!”

“That’s a relief. I hope I’m not bothering you when you’re busy…”

“Not at all! I haven’t even found a new job yet since I just got here! I have plenty of free time, so it’ll be fun to explore together! Leave the guiding to me!”

“Thank you so much~ I hope it’s okay for me to impose too~! I’m Hwangseoyeong, nice to meet you!”

After Min Jeong-eun, Hwangseoyeong, and I exchanged greetings, we moved to another location.

Thanks to Min Jeong-eun bringing a car, the trip downtown was very comfortable.

“Where do you want to go first? For today, I’ve made reservations for the Pantheon and Colosseum!”

“We should go wherever fits with the reservation times and route, right?”

“The tourist sites aren’t that far from each other, and they’re flexible with timing. If you’re hungry, we can eat first, and if there’s somewhere you want to go, we can start there!”

“Then let’s start with the Colosseum!”

Today we’d tour downtown Rome, tomorrow would be Vatican sightseeing and night views.

And the day after, we were scheduled to meet Chairman Rich for dinner.

“I’ll drive safely, so feel free to rest your eyes for a bit!”

Min Jeong-eun was being considerate, but I wasn’t sleepy since I’d already slept well on the plane.

More importantly, we arrived at the Colosseum before there was even time for that.

“It’s not as bad as the train stations, but there are quite a few pickpockets at tourist sites too, so be careful. When I first got here, I had my phone stolen once.”

We got out of the car carrying only our phones, minimal cash, and cards.

“Wow, it looks exactly like what I saw in textbooks.”

That was my first impression upon seeing the Colosseum.

“Right? That’s exactly what I thought too.”

Min Jeong-eun and Hwangseoyeong nodded in agreement.

And when we went inside the Colosseum.

“The audience stands are smaller than I expected?”

“I know, right. The Romans used to… huh? Hanyewon, are you feeling sick?”

The interior was no different from the circular arena I’d seen in photos and movies.

As Hwangseoyeong said, seeing it in person, the audience stands were smaller than expected, but that was the only difference.

And naturally, the people inside were all tourists.

– Waaaah~!

– Kill him, kill him!

– Damn it, I bet my entire fortune!

For some reason, I seemed to hear phantom sounds of the gladiatorial arena from the novel I’d been reading on the plane.

“Oh, it’s nothing. The path is just narrow.”

“You don’t have claustrophobia, do you?”

“No. Nothing like that at all. Let’s hurry and take pictures.”

“Sure. I’ll take them for you. Say cheese!”

The next stop was the Pantheon.

A temple dedicated to all the gods of Rome.

Though not as much as the Colosseum, this place’s exterior also gave me a strong sense of familiarity.

“But wasn’t there a temple like this in the novel you were reading earlier?”

“Right? I heard it borrowed a lot from Italian history.”

“What?”

I was startled, but Hwangseoyeong calmly pointed to the ceiling.

“Wow, look at that ceiling. How did they paint that?”

“It’s not for nothing that this building was designed by an angel.”

Min Jeong-eun introduced us to several stories written in the guidebook.

Once again, I shook off the déjà vu and focused on her story.

Fortunately, there were no auditory hallucinations of the twelve gods.

Having toured two places, the next course was a meal.

We headed to a restaurant near the Trevi Fountain.

“I found a delicious pizza place! It’ll suit both of your tastes too.”

“You said you can’t eat cheese, is that okay?”

“I can just have oil pasta, so don’t worry about me! You came all the way to Italy, you have to eat pizza!”

Hwangseoyeong was worried, but Min Jeong-eun laughed heartily.

True to her bold declaration that we absolutely had to eat it, the pizza was also very delicious.

And finally we went to the Trevi Fountain.

“Why are there so many people?”

Min Jeong-eun frowned.

It was packed to bursting with people. There were many people at the Colosseum and Pantheon too, but unlike those two places where we bought tickets to enter, the area around the Trevi Fountain was surrounded by tourists to the point where nothing was visible.

“Ah… When I take evening walks here it’s quiet, so I didn’t even think about it. I had no idea there would be this many people.”

Min Jeong-eun looked very troubled.

But she wasn’t a professional guide, and even if she were, how could she know the times when people coincidentally crowd together?

“Should we go to a cafe for a bit?”

“Oh, there’s a place with delicious gelato here! Let’s get some and take pictures when those people thin out a little!”

We temporarily moved to a gelato shop that was supposedly 5 minutes away.

This place was quite famous too and had many people, but it seemed like we could get through if we waited in line for a few minutes.

After our whole group joined the line, we looked at the menu to decide which gelato to choose.

“Hey, Hey! Where are you from? Are you thinking about which gelato to eat?”

Just then, some child spoke to us in English.

A tourist? A local kid? What’s this, trying to recommend gelato?

‘At least I can understand this much.’

I was admiring my English ability that hadn’t completely disappeared, when Hwangseoyeong answered fluently.

Actually, I couldn’t understand her side…

The child’s side also seemed like English wasn’t their native language, as they blinked after asking their own question.

What would I have said?

I was pondering that when.

“Ehi, borseggiatore!”

An urgent voice from a man at the shop was heard.

“Clinic Director, he’s saying pickpocket…!”

Ah, so that’s what it meant.

“Ahhhhh!”

The moment Min Jeong-eun translated the man’s words.

Snap.

I grabbed the wrist of the young boy who had reached for my wallet.

I’d been sensing some strange presence around us, wondering what it was.

I thought they were just trying to cut in line, but it was a pickpocket with accomplices acting as lookouts.

Ah, Italy is scary indeed.

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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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