The Physician of Traditional Medicine Returns from Murim - Chapter 324

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

Chapter 324

The game against France had a different atmosphere from the start.

“Don’t let their looks fool you – they’re a championship contender team.”

“Ah…”

The previous two teams were also strong, but France was one of the world’s strongest nations that had won medals multiple times.

“That player’s name was Allin, right?”

“Yes, Alain Carong.”

Alain Carong, who had been running his mouth and provoking earlier, was surprisingly skilled.

He was tall with good jumping ability, and his timing was excellent, so he inevitably gained the upper hand in height competitions.

Whenever multiple players reached for the ball, Allin grabbed the opportunity almost every single time.

‘Well, if he was mediocre, neither Lee Sora nor Jang Mingyeong would have paid him any attention.’

Maybe because French sounds so elegant, I had imagined flowing swordplay… no, smooth and flowing gameplay.

But the French team was not only skilled at provocation – their playing style was also very rough.

“They’re incredibly violent.”

“I know, right. They’re acting strange today. They’re not usually this rough.”

“They must be anxious since they’re on the verge of elimination from the preliminaries.”

Listening to what the coaching staff was saying, it seemed they weren’t normally like this.

Indeed, the opposing team players’ faces were filled with impatience.

The Korean National Team’s specialty was originally fast breaks.

With Kim Ijin not being afraid of physical contact at all and charging in, the game became increasingly intense.

Tweet—!

Tweet!

Multiple fouls were called in just one quarter.

Of course, basketball allows up to 5 personal fouls per player and 5 team fouls per quarter.

There was still room to spare.

But since the atmosphere was different from previous games, it felt strangely precarious.

‘Will they be okay?’

Since injuries tend to happen at times like this, I kept a close eye on the five players on the court throughout.

“We used a lot of energy from the first quarter. Let’s maintain our pace.”

We were ahead by 4 points at the end of the first quarter, but our players’ faces showed no ease.

Except for Kim Ijin, they were all quite exhausted physically.

“Yes, Older Sister!”

“Unlike them, we already have 2 wins. Our starting point is different, you know?”

Still, veteran Jang Mingyeong mimicked Allin’s provocation to ease the atmosphere, and the players giggled and relaxed their tension.

“Lee Jini, aren’t you tired?”

“…Since some point, I don’t really know what being tired means anymore.”

I casually asked about her condition, and Kim Ijin said something chilling again.

Her teammates thought the youngest was joking and burst into laughter, but only I could tell that Kim Ijin was 100% serious.

Anyway, thanks to that, the players immediately regained their pace in the second quarter.

Regardless of whether the other side was in a hurry or not, Kim Ijin dominated the court, freely entering and exiting the battlefield while breaking down the forwards.

Lee Sora led the overall flow, Kim Yuha steadily accumulated 3-point shots, and Jang Mingyeong calmly secured rebounds.

The score gradually widened that way.

Clang-.

A ball thrown by a French player hit the backboard and bounced out.

“Rebound!”

Jang Mingyeong caught it and passed to Lee Sora.

Since this situation had occurred several times already, I followed Kim Ijin with my eyes.

Smack-!

But this time, Allin stole the ball.

Allin immediately dribbled and charged straight to the basket, attempting a shot.

Of course, our players weren’t the type to just watch points get stolen.

Kim Ijin, who had already rushed to the defensive zone, jumped up to block it.

Unfortunately, she couldn’t steal the ball completely, but it touched her fingertips and the trajectory was altered.

“Rebound again-!”

The ball that hit the rim bounced upward.

Jang Mingyeong jumped at the perfect timing to catch it.

Allin reacted too.

Since it was a fight under our basket, Jang Mingyeong wanted to knock the ball far away, while Allin would want to push it right in.

Though a step late, Allin extended his arm while pushing into Jang Mingyeong’s side.

‘Huh?’

It was a momentary contact.

It was just a very slight brush against her side, but unfortunately Jang Mingyeong wasn’t in a vertical jumping position either.

With her body slightly twisted, the impact that wasn’t really an impact caused her to lose her center of gravity in mid-air.

Thud!

The accident happened in an instant.

Jang Mingyeong, who couldn’t properly control her legs, failed to land.

“Ah…!”

She cried out in pain and clutched her knee.

Tweet-!

Along with the whistle sound signaling a foul, Allin raised both hands.

“Sorry.”

She apologized cleanly, and Jang Mingyeong waved her hand saying she was fine.

Of course, I’d have to check whether she was really okay.

The players gathered around Jang Mingyeong, and I also rushed onto the court to examine her condition.

“Don’t move right now! Tell me where it hurts.”

Jang Mingyeong felt around the areas where she was hit and told me each painful spot one by one.

“My knee and back… don’t seem to be twisted. I think it’s just some impact from falling. Ugh, maybe I tensed up wrong, but my calf is cramping too.”

Even without a major twist, the impact to her back could cause a sprain.

I thoroughly checked Jang Mingyeong’s knee ligaments, lumbar spine, sacroiliac joint, and hip joint.

“Does it hurt when I pull like this?”

“No, no.”

Fortunately, there didn’t seem to be any major problems with her back.

“Are you feeling better now than right after you fell? Or is it getting more painful?”

“Resting even for a moment feels comfortable. Ugh, should I substitute out and come back in?”

“That would be good, right?”

“Rather than pushing yourself, wouldn’t it be better to rest today?”

Jang Mingyeong asked for my opinion, and the director and coach also looked at me.

“Wait a moment. Let me check your calf before we decide.”

“Ah, yes. This area wasn’t even hit, but it’s strangely burning. Should I get acupuncture to loosen it?”

Her back really seemed fine.

She tried to sit up and massage her calf.

“Ugh.”

But she couldn’t straighten her leg properly and her toes twitched.

Of course, similar reactions could occur when suddenly getting a cramp, but something felt off.

“It doesn’t seem like a simple muscle spasm. Let me press on it.”

After warning Jang Mingyeong, I immediately found the tender point on her calf.

If it was just tension, I could release it right away with acupuncture or manual therapy.

The spot Jang Mingyeong pointed to as painful was the belly of the gastrocnemius muscle. In terms of acupoints, it corresponded to Chengjin (BL56) of the Foot Taiyang Bladder meridian.

“Ah!”

As soon as I pressed that spot, she screamed in extreme pain.

“How about here?”

Then I pressed Chengshan (BL57), the area where the gastrocnemius muscle transitions to tendon.

Jang Mingyeong’s face turned pale.

“When you jumped or fell, did you hear a ‘pop!’ sound like something snapping or a ‘thud!’ like something bursting?”

At this point, it wasn’t a guess but a certainty.

When I asked with a specific diagnosis in mind, Jang Mingyeong bit her lip and nodded.

“Yes…”

Unfortunately, this wasn’t a situation that would heal quickly.

“It’s a gastrocnemius rupture.”

I made a definitive diagnosis.

“Ah… so that burning sensation…”

“Oh no.”

Lee Sora let out a sympathetic groan upon hearing about the rupture.

The other players also grimaced.

The gastrocnemius is a large muscle at the back of the calf, and during intense movement, if it suddenly contracts or stretches, it can rupture even without direct impact or contact.

Especially when soccer or basketball players change direction, the load on the calf increases, making it prone to injury – it was a symptom other players might experience at least once.

“I’m really sorry…”

Allin, who had been hovering nearby, bowed her head and apologized once more.

Jang Mingyeong wiped her sweat with her arm and just sighed.

“It’s fine, it was just bad luck.”

That was true. It’s just usually hard to accept it that way.

The contact with Allin was at her side, and from what I saw, there was absolutely no intent to cause injury.

Normally, even a hard hit to the side wouldn’t cause a calf rupture.

“Clinic Director, would it be difficult to get some amazing acupuncture and return to the game right away?”

Jang Mingyeong looked at me with a glimmer of hope.

“Hmm…”

If it had been just muscle tension as she initially suspected, I would have naturally done that for her.

But a rupture was a slightly different story.

No matter how skilled I am, I can’t instantly mend torn muscle with acupuncture needles.

“It’s difficult. You absolutely must rest now. Acupuncture will reduce the pain, but if you keep running like this and it gets worse, you won’t be able to run for a year.”

“Ugh.”

With partial ruptures, combining rest and acupuncture treatment usually heals them in less than a month, but if the rupture becomes more severe here, there’s no telling when it will heal.

I immediately applied icing and compression while checking the extent of the qi stagnation.

I was planning to roughly tell her how severe it was.

“It would be best to go to the hospital right away. The outside isn’t very swollen, but internal bleeding has occurred as the muscle ruptured.”

With this much blood stasis, internal bleeding must have occurred.

At those words, not only Jang Mingyeong but also the other players, the director, and coaches were startled.

“What?”

“If left like this, a hematoma will accumulate in the fascia. Let’s go to the hospital and start with drainage treatment.”

“Ahhhhh…!”

The judgment that she needed to be transported to the hospital immediately.

Jang Mingyeong couldn’t quite believe it and kept touching her calf, but she would know soon enough once examined.

“Will you substitute her?”

“Yes.”

Having just heard my diagnosis, our team’s director naturally answered that way.

“Don’t be unnecessarily stubborn and focus on treatment. Your athletic career is still long.”

“Hey, I’m not thinking of being stubborn. I really just asked just in case.”

Dropping out from the Olympic preliminaries.

It would be a lie to say it wasn’t disappointing, but she smiled as brightly as possible while wiping the sweat from her forehead.

“If the Clinic Director hadn’t checked, I would have just thought it was a cramp. Thank you.”

After bowing to me.

“Ah.”

She looked around searching for someone.

“If I’m out, Seonju will take center, right?”

“That’s how it’ll be.”

Myeong Seonju, who had been worrying without knowing she would be called up, was startled.

I see. If Jang Mingyeong is out, Myeong Seonju, who plays the same position, would have to play as a starter.

“Senior…”

Myeong Seonju felt even more sorry than Jang Mingyeong and her eyes welled up with tears.

“Why are you crying? This is already my third Olympics, so it’s nothing special, right? The calf muscle rupture will heal quickly with proper treatment. Right?”

“Yes, it usually takes 3 to 6 weeks. I’ll make sure you heal without any aftereffects.”

“See, you heard that?

Jang Mingyeong instead grinned and encouraged Myeong Seonju and the other players.

“I’ll watch the broadcast on my way to the hospital. Just do what you’ve been doing.”

“Yes…! I’ll do my best to fill even a little of senior’s absence!”

“This will be a stage for the juniors. You’ll do better than me. Make sure to give them a good hit.”

Unfortunately, there wasn’t time for a longer conversation.

Jang Mingyeong threw a punch into the air once.

Whoosh.

Kim Ijin also clenched her fist following her.

…Clearly when Jang Mingyeong threw hers, it was just an ordinary fighting spirit.

But Kim Ijin’s fist looked like it could unleash Baekboshingyeon.

“I’ll give you acupuncture after you get the drainage treatment. See you later.”

And so Jang Mingyeong headed to the hospital.

Tweet-!

Kim Ijin and Myeong Seonju entered confidently.

The game continued.

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