The Physician of Traditional Medicine Returns from Murim - Chapter 237

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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 237

Of course, there are also patients who find flashy, luxurious interiors burdensome.

They get scared first, thinking expensive non-covered treatments might be recommended.

So there are people who use this as an excuse not to spend money on interior design… but still, I think signage is different.

Compared to the neighboring clinic, Jeongjungje Oriental Medicine Clinic was sorely lacking in visual appeal.

“It’s been a little over 10 years. Actually, even when I first opened, I thought it wasn’t noticeable after doing it cheaply, but now that there’s competition, it seems even more obvious by comparison.”

Only then did Jang Jungjae realize and nod his head.

When I asked if no one had pointed this out, he said no one except his gaming friends had ever visited the clinic.

He said he had no sense for such things, and even though he tried to pay attention to his game character’s fashion, he was told it looked bland.

“That can happen. This time, get help from a professional and make it properly.”

“Yes, yes. Thank you.”

Jang Jungjae agreed to the first suggestion without any resistance.

And now for the second.

“The second is naturally about treatment methods. Your acupuncture skills are excellent, but honestly, acupuncture alone has limitations both in treatment speed and performance-wise.”

Unless you can channel energy to heal immediately, that is.

Even I, who can do that, utilize every treatment method available with a Korean medicine license.

Patients like seeing lesions with their own eyes through medical devices like ultrasound, and there are treatments like herbal injections, thread lifting, and chuna that have advantages in providing noticeable improvement.

Of course, some machines are too expensive and difficult to manage, but something like herbal injections would be worth trying, right?

“Do you really think my acupuncture treatment is okay?”

Jang Jungjae’s eyes wavered.

“It’s excellent. I didn’t come all this way to give you empty compliments. While new patients are extremely few, your return patient rate is definitely not bad. You can say you’ve sufficiently satisfied the needs of patients who just want acupuncture.”

The current situation is that he’s captured all the elderly patients who want to consistently receive just acupuncture for 1,900 won.

If his acupuncture skills were poor when new patients had dropped this much, even these patients would have fled, and it wouldn’t just be a break-even situation but actual losses leading to bankruptcy.

“I see. Thank you.”

This isn’t the time to be grateful!

It’s not a world where just being good at acupuncture is enough.

Director Seon Nayeon at the Gwangju branch couldn’t adapt to trends after taking a break for childcare, but what’s the plan if you stay in the same place while continuing to work?

Even if being a professional is a lifelong career, if you continue like this, there’s no way to compete with young directors who keep graduating and opening new practices.

“Look here. Your basic attack power is high.”

“Pardon?”

When I suddenly brought up gaming terminology, Jang Jungjae’s eyes widened.

“But there are monsters with specific skill mechanics, right?”

“Ah…”

Understanding what I was trying to say, Jang Jungjae’s face darkened.

“You really only do the basics. You need to learn skills, and most importantly, you need some ultimate abilities.”

“Haha… Yes… That would be the case.”

He clicked his tongue bitterly and scratched his head.

He probably suspected that just doing acupuncture wouldn’t be enough.

As I mentioned earlier, he would have known it himself. That’s why he would have considered expanding other treatments or purchasing physical therapy equipment.

“In martial arts terms, you’re currently just endlessly practicing the Three Calamities Sword Technique. Can you become a supreme master that way? Eventually, there comes a time when you need to learn advanced martial arts to grow.”

Since we play martial arts games together, I used an analogy that was comfortable for me.

Sometimes there are protagonists who break such clichés, but 99% learn advanced martial arts.

“I understand. Even if it’s a bit troublesome, I should introduce herbal injections and learn chuna therapy too. You think that’s better than physical therapy equipment?”

“Yes. That’s what I think. When machines break down occasionally, that becomes a bigger problem. Patients get angry asking why the fees are similar when you were providing something but now you’re not… But what’s troublesome about herbal injections? Inventory management?”

I acknowledge that chuna is difficult.

Being a large-built man is generally an advantageous condition, but Jang Jungjae looks like someone who doesn’t exercise at all and just plays games at home.

But herbal injections… don’t you just administer them?

Of course, there are several procedures like ordering so they don’t run out, refrigerated storage, and checking expiration dates, but it’s not unusable.

Is recommending them difficult? Is charting bothersome? Confusion during billing?

“Inventory management is one thing, and drawing the herbal injection from ampoules into syringes is also troublesome, isn’t it? Actually, I used them briefly a few years ago, but the staff I had then really hated doing that. Since I wasn’t using them often anyway, I got rid of them completely.”

“Oh?”

“And it would be awkward for me to be drawing them myself… Well, it might be okay now when it’s quiet like this…”

“That’s naturally included in the job responsibilities, so give firm instructions.”

“Ah, that’s true. I’ll go with doing it… If patients increase, I’ll need to hire one more person.”

Hmm, is this commonly considered troublesome work?

Since Seo Inae had always prepared herbal injections adequately from the beginning of my practice, I didn’t even know this was among the tasks staff found bothersome.

It made me newly appreciate the value of our staff.

“But what’s the third one?”

Jang Jungjae asked.

The third suggestion. Perhaps this is the key.

He had something he was good at.

Although it wasn’t related to treatment, it was a field where he could form his own specialized area.

“Let’s try utilizing those.”

I pointed to the figures in the waiting room.

“Pardon?”

Jang Jungjae blinked his eyes as if he had no idea what I meant.

“Write something on your blog. If you don’t have time, even once or twice a month is fine. Take pictures of the inside of the clinic, your figures too, and write about visiting pop-up stores. Of course, I’m not saying to make it a completely personal blog, but mix it appropriately with professional content.”

“You want me to post figures…?”

“Just having a blog makes young people who are familiar with digital feel comfortable. It’s good for letting them see the inside of the clinic in advance, and also signals that the director manages it personally.”

This was something I hadn’t considered at first either.

I learned about it because Seo Inae and Chu Miyoung recommended it.

And later when I asked patients I’d become close with.

They said they don’t specifically search for disease information that nearby hospitals post online, but when they decide to go to an oriental medicine clinic, they check the blogs and Instagram of places that show up on the map and choose ones they like.

If there’s nothing there or if posts have been cut off for years, they get confused about whether the clinic is even operating.

If the director manages it personally, they get the impression that they’ll receive sincere care.

So I can’t help it when I’m busy, but when there’s a timing with no patients, I manage it personally little by little.

“Is that so…?”

Jang Jungjae nodded, finding it fascinating.

He hadn’t done that himself, but since young people said so, he accepted it.

“Should I write disease explanations and daily stories in about a 3:1 ratio? I actually do have plenty of time.”

Since he had the desire to try something, he accepted the last suggestion too.

“Yes, start with common things like disc problems, wrist disorders, and so on. You can try various things and then increase focus on areas that get a lot of search hits, but initially you could start with places where gamers often get pain.”

If Jungwon Yeobo says it’s okay, it would be good to write about guild members visiting.

Of course, that friend would probably gladly give permission.

“Ah, should I do that?”

The Mulchippaengpaeng 365 Oriental Medicine Clinic next door seems to use a company and always post similar articles.

That’s better than having nothing, but having the director write occasionally might actually give more of a friendly feeling.

“Don’t get too absorbed in it at home, just do it at the clinic.”

“Yes, understood. Besides Yeo Po, other guild people have come and gone, so it should be fine to write about treatment cases. In our guild there’s Namgung Byeongari and…”

“Oh? That’s right. That person was there?”

Namgung Byeongari was a streamer and YouTuber for Jungyeon Online.

I don’t watch game streaming, but I remember seeing his strategy videos a few times.

“I asked that friend once if he’d promote us, but he said no.”

“Ask him next time he comes. It wouldn’t be easy for his YouTube subscribers to come all the way here, but if you link it on your blog, people nearby whose wrists got bad from computers might think this is a place even a YouTuber visited. You could make it seem like a place specialized in musculoskeletal treatment.”

“Ah, that’s convincing! Thank you!”

Jang Jungjae clapped his hands in delight.

He had accepted all three suggestions.

If new patients increase to just 3 or 4 per day like this, it will gradually accumulate.

If he raises treatment fees slightly and gets an average of 30 patients, there won’t be major worries.

“I think since this isn’t an office district, evening hours aren’t essential. Use your blog to increase new patients, try herbal acupuncture, and if that still doesn’t work… just do morning hours on Saturday. If it’s hard, you can rest on Thursday or change to afternoon hours.”

“Thank you. I’ll try that. Really, thank you! Ah, it feels like I’ve seen a raid strategy guide for something I kept trying but couldn’t clear.”

Jang Jungjae kept bowing his head to me.

I didn’t think these were particularly special methods.

In games too, there are sometimes people who have all the combat power and specs but can’t clear without a strategy guide… this person seemed to be that type of case.

“Phew, I’ll stop blaming the clinic next door and work hard. Thank you so much for coming!”

“It’s frustrating, but that person is also doing it with their own capital and risk. Rather, think of it as an opportunity for you to develop by competing instead of becoming complacent.”

A high-capital opening costing hundreds of millions.

There’s no way to stop them from offering cheap services with machines they bought with their own money.

Cursing together wouldn’t change anything, so I focused on mentioning improvements Jang Jungjae could make.

But honestly, it was annoying since they came in planning to take over the entire commercial area and make nearby clinics go out of business.

‘If they can’t establish themselves like that, they’ll just be paying off debt for over ten years.’

It would be nice if there was a way to coexist appropriately.

Well, I can’t save everyone in the world.

In any case, I came to support Jang Jungjae, connected through playing the same game.

“Yes. I was too comfortable until now, but honestly this is how it is everywhere these days. I’ll try to overcome it from where I am!”

“Fighting.”

I encouraged Jang Jungjae, whose eyes were shining as he burned with motivation, telling him he could do it.

I hope things go well for him.

* * *

Since half of lunch time had passed while talking, we had to finish our meal quickly.

“It would be nice if I could treat you properly for dinner…”

“Haha, it was delicious. Let’s do a raid together next time.”

After getting a free meal, I headed straight down to Busan.

After about 5 hours of pleasant driving, I looked at my watch and it was 7 PM.

Our oriental medicine clinic would still be doing evening hours.

‘Today is still my vacation, but hmm.’

I could go straight home, but I suddenly wanted to take a quick look at how things were running without me.

A surprise visit from the CEO would probably be burdensome, right?

‘I really should just take a quick look and leave.’

I completely hid my presence and entered the clinic.

“That’s 13,800 won. Thank you. Have a safe trip home.”

But Seo Inae’s voice as she handled the payments didn’t sound good at all.

‘Huh?’

Her complexion looked terrible too.

I asked her with concern.

“Teacher Inae, you’re breaking out in cold sweat. Are you okay? Do you have a cold?”

“Hiiiiiik!”

Then Seo Inae let out a scream.

Had she become so weak-spirited that she’d be this startled?

“Wh-where did you come from?”

…Ah, this is my mistake.

I should have made some noise to announce my presence.

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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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