The Physician of Traditional Medicine Returns from Murim - Chapter 188

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

Chapter 188

A monster lives under Lee Sinbi’s bed.

‘It’s because of me.’

It was a very terrifying monster that had come to her house because Lee Sinbi had done something wrong.

‘If I make even one mistake, it’ll devour Mother and Father too!’

It was two months ago.

Around that time, which felt like ancient history, Lee Sinbi was obsessed with flash animations.

“Mother, I finished everything! My phone!”

Since Lee Sinbi’s mother disliked her daughter looking at smartphones too much, she could only watch YouTube after completing all her worksheets.

“Mother has things to do~. Use Father’s phone to watch just one episode and put it back~.”

She could do anything to watch videos.

She solved worksheets in an instant and even ate broccoli she didn’t want to eat.

But such opportunities didn’t come often.

“Okay!”

Though she promised to watch just one episode.

Watching as much as possible without Mother noticing was her daily routine.

A leisurely Sunday afternoon.

Mother was busy doing something on her phone, and Older Sister was at a friend’s house.

Taking Father’s phone while he napped in his room, Lee Sinbi anticipated a very happy weekend.

‘I’ll just watch one more episode!’

After watching one episode, she quickly watched two.

Then she slightly opened the door crack to check on Mother…

‘Yes!’

Mother was sleeping.

Complete freedom!

She could watch to her heart’s content and just put the phone next to Father before her parents woke up, right?

Such opportunities were really rare.

Lee Sinbi freely explored the YouTube world.

‘Huh?’

But something was different from when she watched on Mother’s phone.

Unlike Mother’s YouTube screen that was full of colorful animations on the main page, Father’s phone had many videos like news that looked completely boring.

[What Happens When You Don’t Follow Rules]

Lee Sinbi, who had been scrolling down, hesitated.

Because she was doing something else without following the rules Mother had set.

‘Ugh…’

What happens?

She clicked on the video with curiosity.

‘Gasp!’

And soon, she became absorbed as if enchanted.

The video’s setting was an elementary school.

A newly enrolled student receives 10 rules from the teacher.

1. Do not talk during class.

2. Do not get up from your seat during class.

3. Do not respond to friends who talk to you during class.

4. Do not run in the corridor.

5. Always answer the teacher’s questions.

6. Do not lie.

And so on…

They weren’t particularly difficult rules.

Basic content that applied to kindergarten classes too.

But the child who was the video’s protagonist breaks the rules.

– Ji-yun! Ji-yun!

– Yes?

She had responded to a friend who talked to her during class.

– You can see me?

At that moment, the friend’s mouth tore wide and transformed like a ghost.

“Aaah!”

Lee Sinbi screamed without realizing it.

Does this happen if you break rules at elementary school? How does Older Sister attend school?

She just needs to follow the rules well, right?

‘I’m not going to school yet, so I’m fine.’

While Lee Sinbi gulped, the next video automatically started playing.

– Shiiiiiiiiiiik.

Lee Sinbi’s body trembled at the extremely chilling sound.

‘This is like a foreign movie?’

Was this connected to the previous one? Without time to think, she was once again absorbed into the video.

The protagonist was Tommy, a foreign young boy around Lee Sinbi’s age.

One day, a chilling sound suddenly came from under his bed, and the story began.

– Hissssss─

What is this!

Lee Sinbi was startled and clutched her blanket.

– Wh, who’s there? Who is it?

– Hello, friend?

Sometimes it made strange sounds, sometimes it spoke to him.

– This is my home! You’re not my friend!

Tommy ran to his mother and told her about it, but.

– What are you talking about? A monster? There’s no such thing.

Mother didn’t believe him.

– If anything breaks in, Mother will shoot it dead with a gun, so don’t worry and go to sleep.

But there was definitely something under the bed.

When he looked underneath during daylight, there was nothing, but every night it would speak to him and tempt him.

– Come here, friend. Let’s play together.

Even after Tommy told his mother, the voice continued to be heard.

– Want to change to bigger prey?

This time it passed because Mother didn’t believe him, but the monster threatened Tommy that if she found out about its existence, Mother would die first.

The moment one recognized the monster’s existence, they became its target.

– Aaaahhhhh!

He tried blocking the space under the bed and even ran away from his room to sleep at the dining table, but it was useless.

– Hissssss!

The more scared Tommy became, and the more he responded to its words, the stronger the monster grew.

– Aaaahhhhh!

– I told you there’s no such thing as monsters!

– But, Mother! H, here!

One late night, Tommy looked under the bed with his mother to prove his words.

– Kehehehehehehek!

The mother and child were devoured by the monster side by side.

– I’ll come visit you soon, friend?

The monster that swallowed Tommy grew larger and larger, taking the form of a snake.

And it spoke to Lee Sinbi.

– You heard my voice, didn’t you? I’ll visit tonight.

Lee Sinbi quickly turned off her phone.

‘Hissssss.’

But it was already too late.

Under her bed, the creature had already arrived.

‘I, it came to our home too!’

She was scared.

So very scared.

‘I mustn’t acknowledge it!’

Lee Sinbi froze in place.

Even if it spoke to her, she mustn’t answer. If she answered, the monster would notice and grow stronger.

If she just stayed still, the monster wouldn’t be able to move from under the bed.

‘Mother and Father don’t know.’

What if she spoke carelessly and the target changed? What if Mother got eaten?

Though she was so scared, she couldn’t drag her beloved family into this.

“Huuung! Uuuung!”

She tried to endure and hold back, but tears kept flowing.

She wanted to run away. She wanted to tell Mother and Father everything.

“Why are you crying? Did you have a bad dream?”

“Nooo.”

“Tell me about it.”

But she couldn’t do that.

“Sob, sniff.”

She couldn’t tell lies either.

Wouldn’t that be breaking the rules?

Lee Sinbi just cried endlessly.

If she just followed the rules well, if she just pretended not to know!

“Hehehe.”

When she went to kindergarten as if nothing had happened, there was no monster there.

“Sob, sniff.”

But at night, Lee Sinbi secretly swallowed her tears.

“Be quiet!”

When Older Sister yelled, she actually felt relieved.

‘Shiiiiik.’

Older Sister can’t hear that sound.

“Now, this is treatment to strengthen your heart. Even if scary things happen, if you just get these needles, you’ll become strong and be able to overcome everything.”

It had been two months since the monster had settled in Lee Sinbi’s house.

Mother took her to the traditional Korean medicine clinic.

Poke. Poke. Poke.

She received stinging acupuncture, and before bed she had to take medicine.

When she took the medicine, her pounding heart calmed down a little, and she could sleep well.

Even though the monster was right below, she could forget and sleep well…

“Aaaaah!”

Some nights she fell asleep, but other nights she couldn’t bear the fear and screamed.

“Will I really become strong?”

Lee Sinbi, who had been keeping her mouth tightly shut while receiving acupuncture, suddenly asked Teacher.

Until now, he had said things like it would relax her body’s tension, let her troubled brain rest.

But strengthen her heart?

“Of course. Teacher also became incredibly strong while receiving acupuncture.”

Lee Sinbi blinked her eyes.

Is he that strong? He seems stronger than Mother and Father, but could he beat the monster too?

“Mm.”

Lee Sinbi liked Teacher.

Getting acupuncture hurt a little, but when she saw Teacher’s smile, she just felt good.

She wished he would smile a little more, and she felt like she wanted him to ask her about this and that.

‘No. I can’t do wrong!’

But she kept her mouth tightly shut.

The monster had already come to her house because she did something wrong, so what would happen if she became a burden to Teacher too?

“Teacher caught many monsters together with friends.”

“…!?”

“Monsters…”

You know about them?

Lee Sinbi’s mouth fell wide open.

Teacher knows about them too? Has one ever come to Teacher’s house?

“Gasp!”

But she didn’t speak carelessly.

‘It was listening to my voice?’

What if it said that and then ate both Lee Sinbi and Teacher together?

“Are you scared Teacher might get hurt by the monster too?”

“…!”

Unlike Lee Sinbi who was trembling, Teacher mentioned the monster as if it was nothing.

‘But, but, it’s okay…!’

Lee Sinbi’s mouth moved slightly, but Teacher calmly looked into her eyes.

“Or are you worried that Teacher might be a monster?”

“That can’t be!”

Lee Sinbi answered immediately.

That can’t be.

There’s no way a monster could look as kind as Teacher!

If it was wearing a disguise, it would have changed by now.

“Then tell me. Where did you meet the monster?”

“…”

“You have to answer Teacher’s questions, right?”

“Oh.”

Should she tell him?

But, but.

His head turned completely white.

“You don’t need to be scared. When it appears, I can defeat it in an instant. I’ll tell our Sinbi to protect you too.”

“Protect me?”

The teacher immediately pulled out all the needles and brought her to the examination room.

“Look here, Teacher’s Master’s Flying Squirrel.”

I was startled when he held out his phone.

– Kyuuk!

“A chipmunk?”

“It’s a flying squirrel.”

What appeared in the video was a very cute flying squirrel.

An ordinary animal crunching on nuts that a person offered.

“Wow!”

“Cute, right? This friend will protect Sinbi.”

“Uh, but this one…”

Looks weak?

Not only compared to the monster, but it was smaller and cuter than Lee Sinbi herself.

– Hissss!

Right then, a snake appeared on the screen.

“Waaaaah!”

Lee Sinbi was startled and stepped back, but.

– Kyup! Kyuuuk!

The flying squirrel in the video instantly beat up the snake.

“Huh?”

Tadadadadat!

The flying squirrel was overwhelmingly stronger. It attacked the snake wildly with both hands and even headbutted it.

It moved back and forth between trees at incredible speed, even throwing pinecones from a distance.

Whoooosh!

The pinecone thrown by the flying squirrel flew like a bullet and knocked out the snake.

“H-how…”

“…It received training from Teacher’s teacher.”

“Training? Really?”

“Of course, it’s real? Thanks to that, both Teacher and the flying squirrel friend became this strong.”

The Korean Medicine Doctor smiled gently.

If it was this strong, if it could use such techniques, monsters would be nothing!

“Then Teacher can do this too?”

Lee Sinbi asked urgently.

“Of… course.”

The teacher answered with a bright smile.

“Tonight, leave your window slightly open. Then the flying squirrel will come and catch the snake monster.”

“…!”

“I’m telling you this specially. Secret?”

“Yes, secret!”

“Don’t worry anymore. There won’t be any monsters from tonight.”

“Yes…!”

Lee Sinbi nodded vigorously.

Since the monster didn’t appear even after talking about it this much, it must not be able to come out in front of Teacher, right?

Since the animal friend will protect me, I’ll be safe at home now too!

“Thank you, Teacher. Really, really?”

As her mind was put at ease, tears streamed down.

“It’s a friend who trained to protect young and weak friends. From today, don’t be scared and sleep well. From tomorrow, it’s okay to look under your bed. There won’t be anything there.”

“Uuuung… Hwaaaang!”

Lee Sinbi finally burst into loud tears.

“Take your medicine well and keep coming for acupuncture. Now, there’s nothing scary.”

She finally completely let her guard down.

She hugged the teacher tightly and soaked his gown.

And she poured out all the stories she couldn’t tell anyone until now.

* * *

– I never thought this would actually work.

Seon Nayeon laughed helplessly from beyond the screen.

“The operation was a success.”

The operation that the three of us – me, Seon Nayeon, and Kim Shinyoung who was Lee Sinbi’s guardian – had worked hard to devise had worked perfectly.

– But how on earth did you film such a video? Clinic Director, do you know how to handle AI too?

I don’t know much about the advancement of AI technology, but wouldn’t it be difficult to create something like this from start to finish?

– It’s something similar to that, haha.

Since Seon Nayeon didn’t seem to know much about it either, let’s just go with that.

I made up something appropriate.

This would be more credible than saying I had enticed the spirit chipmunk with energy-filled snacks to do me a favor.

– I was worried Sinbi might laugh when we talked about monsters, but she’s only showing amazement.

Indeed, it had been a difficult operation.

Even when Seon Nayeon asked her son about popular ghost stories these days, I had no idea things would work out like this.

– There’s nothing really like that?

– What about scary dreams? Our Jaemin is all grown up now, but he used to have nightmares just a few years ago, right?

– Hmm.

Her son said that he used to be so scared of a spider monster from a comic that he couldn’t open his windows.

– Well, kindergarteners cry when they see stuff like this!

He also showed her some comic books and YouTube videos that were supposedly popular these days.

Seon Nayeon consulted with Kim Shinyoung once again.

– She sleeps well on days when she takes the medicine, but once she wakes up, the whimpering is the same.

– By any chance, has the child seen any insects, dinosaurs, monsters, or movies like that that might scare her?

– She hasn’t watched any movies recently. YouTube is also set to kids mode, so she shouldn’t see anything too scary… Ah!

As Seon Nayeon suggested several possibilities, Kim Shinyoung remembered.

The fact that around that time, she had given her father’s phone to the child.

– This is it! This must be it!

They found the cause while checking the viewing history.

But everything was still delicate.

Though they didn’t know how her thinking had formed this obsession, she was a child who had said nothing until now and smiled during the day.

If they scolded her saying it was all made-up stories, she might shut her mouth before they knew it.

– What if we give her a talisman and tell her it will protect her?

– I don’t think she’d know what a talisman is…

While Seon Nayeon was gradually opening her heart and approaching the child.

“I have a good idea.”

I suggested an idea.

“Tell her this one is going to protect her.”

Seon Nayeon, who received the link, was genuinely flustered.

– …Will this really work?

“It will definitely work. It looks way stronger than that pathetic snake monster from a cheap horror movie, doesn’t it?”

I had made that bold promise.

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