The Physician of Traditional Medicine Returns from Murim - Chapter 361

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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 361

A manga magazine supplement.

I don’t go as far as buying magazines published in Japan to read them, but I do remember seeing author interviews or afterword comics printed at the back of standalone volumes.

I think I’ve also seen stories about which body parts hurt and caused suffering while writing certain parts.

“I don’t mind at all. But won’t this interfere with your travel schedule?”

“We’re the ones asking for a favor, so it’s only right that we don’t cause any inconvenience!”

Since it wasn’t a difficult request, I readily agreed.

“Then would you like to come to the clinic around my closing time?”

“Thank you so much!”

After making the appointment, the two of them paid with satisfaction.

Looking over the chart, since they were foreign tourists, health insurance didn’t apply, so even though I only prescribed acupuncture and herbal medicine, the cost was quite substantial.

Of course, only I was startled while Kawasaki didn’t seem to mind.

After the two left.

I looked through the manga volume whenever I had spare time between treatments.

I was just preparing for the interview, but reading a manga at the clinic felt like I was slacking off.

Since I couldn’t read Japanese comfortably, I just flipped through the pages quickly to grasp the general flow.

I’ll have to buy the translated version when it’s officially released later.

‘It’s not martial arts, not Japanese-style samurai and ninja either, but some kind of original worldview.’

The title felt like a light novel, but when I actually opened the book, it was quite a serious Eastern-style steampunk fantasy.

It also had an apocalyptic feel, with the setting that the Old City on the surface was contaminated and most of humanity lived in an Aerial City.

The airflow technique learned in the Aerial City involved drawing circuits on swords or machines and imbuing them with energy.

The protagonist Cheonghong seemed unable to control it.

When she unintentionally went berserk, part of the steam facilities were destroyed.

Cheonghong was framed as part of the Rebel Forces and exiled to the Old City.

In the Old City and the lands beyond, black energy beasts? Monster-like creatures created by contamination threatened humanity.

At first she faced mortal danger, but like a true protagonist, she somehow overcame the crisis and was rescued by the real Rebel Forces.

While evading the black energy beasts and continuing to survive, she finally awakened during a crisis involving a child she had been living with.

Energy burst forth from her body, and she threw her mother’s keepsake hairpin to defeat the black energy beast in one strike.

The protagonist rejoiced at controlling airflow for the first time.

But the character who seemed to be the Leader of the Rebel Forces was shocked.

Cheonghong hadn’t failed to control airflow – she had possessed so much energy that circuits couldn’t handle it.

This was the content of volume 1.

If this were a modern web novel, she would have awakened right in chapter 1, but even for a manga, it progressed slowly while showing the worldview.

Nostalgic memories of reading The Mage of White Silver in childhood and feeling thrilled came back, making my heart feel warm.

“Sensei! I read through it during breaks!”

Since Kawasaki and Takahashi returned right at closing time.

I let the staff leave first, then called the two back into the examination room.

“Eh, really? I tried interpreting and expressing the Clinic Director’s treatment in my own way, but I’m not sure how you saw it.”

“Huh…? Interpretation? Well. I don’t really know about treatment, but anyway, it was purely entertaining.”

There have been several people who said they received inspiration after receiving treatment from me.

Except for Melon Soda Horizon, whose lyrics were extremely explicit, everyone else created normal works.

Perhaps…

Maybe they thought they received inspiration because their mood was elevated as their painful and difficult situation improved?

“If you’ve read it, the conversation will go faster. Could you share your impressions first?”

While Kawasaki was embarrassed for some unknown reason, Takahashi asked a question.

I answered with exactly the thoughts I had while reading the manga.

“I like how the protagonist has a refreshing personality. She just awakened but seems like she’ll gradually become stronger.”

“I modeled her after you, Clinic Director!”

“…Hm? Yes, I’m also curious about how she’ll defeat the black energy beasts going forward, and how the relationship with the Aerial City that exiled her will progress. Looking at the title about being humanity’s only hope, I wonder if the city might fall… I’m also looking forward to how the worldview unfolds.”

“That’s right, the title! What do you think about the title?”

Takahashi asked another question.

For his treatment, it would be better not to think about it, but just saying ‘forget it!’ wouldn’t make it go away.

Perhaps if this supplement provided some explanation, it could resolve his frustration?

“There are parts that make you anticipate future developments, but… considering the work’s atmosphere, it does feel somewhat out of place. I offer my condolences to the editor who truly did their best to dissuade you.”

At my honest answer, Takahashi’s face brightened considerably.

Conversely, Kawasaki pouted slightly as if feeling a bit hurt.

“What would you have titled it, Clinic Director?”

Takahashi asked me.

Hmm… it was a difficult question.

It would be easier to answer how I treated his headache.

Still, since he asked, I thought hard and came up with several ideas.

“Blue-Red Flying Blade? Infinite Airflow? Oh, since she shoots airflow into the sky, how about Heavenly Flow Flash?”

It started with a hairpin, but she’ll probably develop throwing techniques soon, right? It might be okay to call them flying blades.

Still, would it be better to include ‘airflow’?

“Ugh!”

For some reason, Takahashi cried out in anguish.

Just like when Kawasaki first mentioned the title, he held his head and suffered.

“It doesn’t feel quite like a Japanese manga title, but it’s cool. I’ll use them as reference for technique names.”

Well, I suppose it is too martial arts-style?

Kawasaki took notes of my ideas in her notebook with interest.

In contrast, Takahashi, who had asked the question, shuddered and changed the topic.

I wonder if this had a negative effect on his headache.

“I’m also curious about the connection between the Clinic Director and the author. I heard from the author that you came to see the 【The Mage of White Silver】 Korean art exhibition in South Korea. Did you meet there?”

Kawasaki answered this question first.

“No, that’s not it. The gallery owner who handled the art exhibition introduced us. I did something like a guerrilla signing event at the art exhibition, so I overworked my arms a bit… But I heard that coming here would miraculously heal me, so I came to visit.”

“So you came to the Oriental Medicine Clinic and were cured after receiving divine acupuncture?”

“I remember the symptoms weren’t that serious to begin with. I received ordinary treatment, but Korean acupuncture emphasizes deqi more than Japanese acupuncture, so the teacher seemed to feel it was more special.”

When I explained the differences between Korean, Chinese, and Japanese acupuncture methods that I had told Kawasaki about before, Takahashi wrote it down, saying he should add this as a comment.

Kawasaki shook her head, saying it wasn’t simply that degree.

“There was a sensation of energy flowing in with a ‘pop’ along the meridians. That became the motif for my work. I thought it would be really cool if I could shoot out that energy overflowing inside the body. After that, I gradually started studying the concepts of meridians and qi in Traditional Chinese Medicine…”

“Ah, so that’s what you meant by interpreting the treatment in your own way.”

Well, that part.

The qi that martial artists talk about and the qi that doctors talk about don’t match 100%.

It’s perfectly fine to freely set it up within the work.

“Your treatment of Mr. Takahashi today was also very impressive. Would thinking of fire qi as an attribute be too manga-like an interpretation?”

“Hmm, it’s a bit different from attributes. Rather than having fire-attribute energy to begin with, the stagnant energy from suppressed stress, irregular lifestyle, etc. turned into heat and surged upward as heat. With acupuncture, I changed the flow of energy and released the heat.”

“Ooh.”

“It’s fine to think that medicines have their own unique properties instead. The gentian, scutellaria, and gardenia in this prescription have cold properties that cool down heat.”

While I was at it, I explained the treatment and prescription in a bit more detail.

There probably isn’t enough space in a manga magazine to write all this content in detail.

But since Takahashi was secretly curious, I answered in detail about the medicinal ingredients too.

“But can I ask a question too? The Mage of White Silver is…”

Even though it was an interview, I thought it would end quickly since we were just briefly talking about the comeback opportunity.

But as we chatted, the conversation got quite long.

Time kept getting later, so we moved to another place and even had a meal.

Even the comments displayed at The Mage of White Silver art exhibition were interesting.

But talking directly and hearing the behind-the-scenes stories that the editor shared made my forgotten fan heart grow abundantly.

“The medicine is quite bitter, isn’t it?”

“Ugh… But I have to get better.”

After the meal ended, I made sure to watch Takahashi take his medicine.

The famous bitter three yellows.

Since it contains scutellaria, one of the three – scutellaria, coptis, and phellodendron – Yongdamsa Gantang is one of the most unpalatable formulations.

But it’s definitely effective for the current symptoms.

Today’s interview concluded as I urged him to take it properly.

“Thank you so much for agreeing to this. I’ll officially send you the magazine with this supplement as soon as it’s published.”

As I felt when I first met him, he was indeed a person with very thorough manners.

Takahashi bowed 90 degrees and offered a handshake.

I awkwardly took his hand.

* * *

As soon as I came home after parting with the two, I entered the group message room where the guild members were.

There hadn’t been any talk since yesterday due to no particular issues, but when I showed off by posting a photo of the book with a handwritten signature, it immediately caught fire.

[Why! Why wasn’t I invited?]

[Haha, they came without notice, how could I invite you?]

[ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ I want to get an autograph too ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ]

Young Master Chungpung especially envied me like crazy.

Even Kkyu Kkyu, who had been lukewarm when The Mage of White Silver came up before, became interested in Kawasaki’s new work.

Surprisingly, Young Master Chungpung already knew about the new work’s release.

He had been consistently purchasing the magazine as an e-book to follow the serialization in real-time.

His Japanese skills probably weren’t much different from mine, but his determination to translate and read everything was really tremendous.

[But isn’t the title really crazy? The editorial department’s sense…]

[Ah… That wasn’t the editorial department, the author came up with it directly.]

[…]

Young Master Chungpung had nothing more to say.

Probably when the supplement is revealed and the misunderstanding is cleared up, Takahashi’s heart will feel much more at ease too.

* * *

Some time after that.

A little less than a month after thoroughly stoking Young Master Chungpung’s jealousy, the supplement was finally published in the magazine.

Even before Takahashi sent me the magazine, Young Master Chungpung, who follows along with the e-book every week, sent me a link and I found out about it.

[Is this Divine Physician our Divine Physician?]

[? Did I appear in the supplement?]

I had arranged to receive this issue of the magazine separately.

Since I was planning to buy and read the content in the Korean official release anyway, I had no intention of purchasing the e-book.

[‘Kawasaki Yumi Gets Inspiration from Meeting South Korea’s Divine Physician!’, the supplement has this kind of title…]

Hearing Young Master Chungpung’s words, heat rushed to my face.

No way, Mr. Takahashi!

You complained so much about the title that Kawasaki and I came up with, but you come up with this kind of title yourself?

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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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