The Physician of Traditional Medicine Returns from Murim - Chapter 63

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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 63

No matter how much he screamed inside, Hanyewon couldn’t read his mind.

Hwang Sanghun wrote down Yu Malja’s words with the feeling of wanting to cry.

“…Yes. I understand well. Let me switch seats for you. Oh Yeongsuk.”

Nothing remained in his head, but the examination had to continue.

“My right shoulder and arm hurt.”

“Are you doing anything strenuous?”

“I’m always overworking myself. I work at a restaurant. Oh my, really. I shouldn’t have believed my husband when he said he wouldn’t let me get my hands wet. After marrying that man and coming down to Busan, I’ve been washing dishes, chopping on cutting boards, washing vegetables for 40 years….”

Following the 37-year history of knee pain changes came a 40-year shoulder medical history.

Still, being the second patient, he had gained some ability to select and write down necessary information. Since roughly 80 percent was complaints about her husband, there wasn’t much content related to the shoulder.

“Next, let me see Son Chunja.”

“Yes~.”

The third patient sat down with a bright smile.

The other three were also glancing at his face, but Son Chunja was more blatant about it.

“Where does it hurt?”

“Oh~ I don’t have anything particularly wrong.”

“…Excuse me?”

“Say something! The doctor is troubled!”

At least with Yu Malja’s comment, Son Chunja thought of a place that hurt.

“Ah, my shoulders and back are always stiff.”

“Since when… No, never mind. I’ll treat you well.”

“Yes. Thank you! Oh my~ you’re so handsome.”

“…Yes….”

“You’re as tall and handsome as my son!”

“Thank you.”

And finally, the last one.

“Kim Oksun, where are you uncomfortable?”

“Everything hurts.”

“Could you tell me one by one?”

“My back, shoulders, knees, heels, calves, upper arms, knees….”

Kim Oksun was the final boss. She said everything from head to toe hurt.

Fortunately, there had been several such patients when observing Hanyewon.

Separate from his mind that felt like it would burst, natural comments flowed from his mouth.

“It would be difficult to treat everything at once. Where does it hurt the most?”

“My back. I went to another traditional Korean medicine clinic yesterday and got acupuncture, but it didn’t get better.”

“Let’s treat your back first and do it sequentially.”

Hwang Sanghun’s mental strength was completely depleted after barely finishing the consultation.

After sending the four people to the treatment room, he sat there blankly looking at the chart he had frantically scribbled down.

‘…What should I do.’

He felt completely lost.

If Hanyewon had seen those patients instead of him, could she have ended the pain they’d suffered for 40 years?

Hwang Sanghun had no confidence at all that he could do better than the other traditional Korean medicine clinic that some of them had visited the day before.

Since he had become the attending physician, he had to provide treatment somehow….

Knock knock.

The sound of someone knocking on the examination room broke his thoughts.

“Yes, please come in.”

“Yes~!”

The person who cheerfully opened the door and entered was none other than Hanyewon.

“How did you bring four designated patients all at once?! You did so well!”

Hanyewon, completely unaware of Hwang Sanghun’s inner turmoil, smiled brightly and praised him.

“I roughly heard the consultation from outside. Even though four patients must have been burdensome, you handled it calmly and well!”

She was outside?

Unable to empathize or comfort them. Unable to set up treatment plans with charisma like Hanyewon. Just stupidly listening?

Hearing those words, he felt something welling up in his chest.

“…Yewon, what should I do?”

Hwang Sanghun put strength in his eyes and barely held back the tears that were about to flow.

* * *

While exchanging conversation with patients in the treatment room, I kept my ears wide open to Hwang Sanghun’s examination room.

‘How is he so good at this? When I first opened my clinic, I was flustered and struggled when martial artists caused trouble.’

Thinking about my first and second year days still makes me dizzy.

In the world I had fallen into, I wasn’t a noble family’s young lady, or even a maid. In a place where I knew no one, the only things I could do were making medicine and acupuncture.

Would it have been better if I had experience in the modern world? Young me, who started my first career in the martial arts world, was at a loss among patients full of personality.

But Hwang Sanghun handled things efficiently as soon as I assigned work to him, and even brought in new patients without being asked – how excellent!

…Or so I thought.

Contrary to the calmness he showed on the outside, it seemed he had been quite troubled inside.

“Don’t feel too burdened. Those patients know that a 40-year-old condition won’t be cured in one session anyway.”

I try my best to cure them somehow, but the patients actually know which diseases can be cured and which cannot.

In fact, after several decades, it becomes a matter of management. Such patients receive treatment with the purpose of reducing pain even slightly, and when a new hospital opens, they come to try it out just in case.

And if they get better? Of course, that’s a jackpot. No need to spend money on advertising.

“But you can treat them. You cured patient Heo Sunnam too.”

“That’s… true.”

It’s been less than a month since he started independent practice after only doing internships, so comparing him to me is too much!

“You can just ask me and take it slowly. Those ladies will probably come tomorrow and the day after too.”

“…But I couldn’t give them confidence that I’d cure them?”

“You can go into the treatment room now and give it to them.”

Actually, even if he just put 10 needles in the painful areas and left, they’d probably show up tomorrow, but there was no need to dampen Hwang Sanghun’s enthusiastic motivation.

I instructed the desk via messenger to notify me when my patients arrived, then sat down next to Hwang Sanghun’s desk.

“You’re going to help me?”

“Of course. Otherwise, why would there be a director? Ask me anything, anytime. I’ll teach you everything I know.”

I had him open the charts and made treatment plans for each person one by one.

“First, Ms. Yu Malja.”

“Ah, this person said her knee started hurting 37 years ago when she went to a temple with her mother-in-law…”

“That has absolutely nothing to do with treatment. It’s probably not even the real cause. But if you write it down in the memo section and mention it, she’ll be thrilled that you remembered.”

“Ah.”

Hwang Sanghun exclaimed briefly as if he had realized something.

“How should I treat her?”

I asked.

Though he was flustered by the rush of talkative patients, he definitely already knew the treatment method.

“…I was so busy taking notes that I didn’t properly examine her condition. I should go to the treatment room and check her range of motion and pressure points as usual.”

“Right. Press all the painful areas – quadriceps ligament, patellar tendon, pes anserinus, iliotibial band, medial and lateral collateral ligaments, etc. – and put herbal injections in the most painful spots. For acupuncture, just put needles everywhere. Oh, and check her pelvis too.”

“Okay.”

“There’s no special method. If you do it consistently, it will definitely improve. You’re just scared because you’ve never treated chronic patients before. Trust me.”

Hwang Sanghun nodded seriously.

He must have realized that when you break it down piece by piece, it’s nothing special.

“For Ms. Oh Yeongsuk’s shoulder and arm, just check the joints and muscles and treat accordingly.”

“Okay, okay.”

“For Ms. Son Chunja… loosen up her shoulders, back, and major muscles, then touch the meridians at Hegu and Taichong points.”

“Right. And while treating her, she’ll probably complain about other places hurting too.”

There’s really only one patient whose treatment method is truly puzzling.

“What about Ms. Kim Oksun who says her whole body hurts?”

“You can’t cure that with acupuncture.”

“…What?”

I’ve tried everything to cure patients like that before, but most cases ended without results. No matter how much I stimulated acupoints that are supposedly good for joints and muscles, there wasn’t much effect.

“If you ask her, she’ll say she has no appetite and can’t sleep properly either. If you really want to treat her, you need to use herbal medicine. Find an opportunity to tell her once that she needs to take medicine to get better, and if she seems unwilling, just rotate acupuncture treatments on the painful areas. At least the pain will be slightly reduced.”

“Ah…”

“The important thing is, don’t have patients like that come every day. Most people who complain about feeling dizzy or drained after acupuncture are those weak patients like her. If you treat them beyond their recovery capacity, it could be harmful.”

“As expected, very clear. Thank you for explaining so well.”

Hwang Sanghun nodded repeatedly while taking notes of my words.

I patted his shoulder and stood up from my seat.

“Really, you don’t need to feel burdened. There’s a high chance they just came to try it once because of Grandmother Heo Sunnam. If they don’t come back, think that they’re getting good treatment elsewhere, and if they keep coming… when people like that become fans, they’re very reliable. And if things go wrong? I’ll handle that for you, so don’t worry!”

“I’ll do my best.”

The moisture completely disappeared from Hwang Sanghun’s eyes.

Only burning passion and confidence were shining brightly.

“Oh my~ Thank you! The doctor is so kind~.”

As expected, the four grandmothers made a fuss and welcomed Hwang Sanghun’s treatment.

* * *

And the next day.

“Hello, Director~.”

“We’re here again!”

The foursome arrived even earlier than Grandmother Heo Sunnam, and even earlier than Seo Inae who comes to work at 6:30.

“…You’re here early. Please wait in the waiting room for a moment.”

“Of course~. Take your time getting ready!”

If Hwang Sanghun, who stays overnight at the clinic, hadn’t opened the door early, they would have had to keep standing in front of the door.

“How are you feeling today?”

“My knee is much more comfortable, so I came again.”

“Yesterday it was a bit softer, but after working in the evening, it started hurting again.”

“Oh my~ Coming in the morning, I can see the doctor wearing a dress shirt too~!”

“Please put some needles in my back today.”

According to Grandmother Heo Sunnam who appeared in the afternoon, they seemed to be thinking of completely switching from their original clinic to this one.

“At ages 60 and 70, there’s no foolishness like this! As soon as they left the clinic, they were so noisy talking about how handsome Dr. Hwang is!”

“For whatever reason, it’s good if they come frequently for treatment and get better.”

“Ugh. Our director is the best! I told them to get treatment from our director! They don’t listen to me at all!”

“Dr. Hwang is excellent too~.”

Grandmother Heo Sunnam was indignant, but if everyone only looked for me, what would be the point of hiring an associate director?

I was very satisfied with Hwang Sanghun, who was fulfilling a role that easily exceeded that of one person.

“Clinic Director~ I brought our older sister too~.”

Indeed, these elderly patients had high loyalty. As I expected, the group of four brought a new referral patient just two days after their initial consultation.

“Thank you for entrusting her to us. I’ll take good care of your sister and treat her well.”

Moreover, Kim Oksun and Son Chunja expressed their intention to get herbal medicine prepared within a week.

“You’re right, Clinic Director. I have no energy at all. Please prepare some good tonic medicine for me.”

“Me too! I get all droopy during seasonal changes. Do I need to make one each spring and fall?”

When it came time to actually prepare the medicine, Hwang Sanghun fell into confusion once again… but of course, he overcame it well with my help.

“Thank you, Yeowon. I don’t know what I would have done without you…”

Unlike before when I unconsciously avoided banking apps, watching the steadily growing balance had become my recent hobby.

* * *

A month later.

A month later.

Hwang Sang-hoon settled his lodging expenses at the oriental medicine clinic as soon as he received his first paycheck.

“…I understand.”

The community center group of four had earned the nickname “Four Kings” from the regular morning patients and staff.

“Thank you~! They just won’t listen to us at all.”

“Thank you~! You just wouldn’t listen to us at all.”

Indeed, you have to roll around in slightly higher-level dungeons for the newbie zone to feel comfortable.

At first, perhaps because he was somewhat awkward at dealing with people, he got swept up in the grandmothers’ pace, but before long he developed the mental fortitude to not be flustered by most situations.

She still spent three to four hours on weekends reviewing treatments, but unless unusual patients came requiring my advice, she could handle things on her own.

“Now there shouldn’t be any worries for a while. I can take it easy until I save up more money to expand or until Sanghun completes his year and becomes independent.”

With that thought, I opened the YouTube app for the first time in a while.

The algorithm first led me to Seo Inae’s channel.

With that thought, I opened the YouTube app for the first time in a while.

The first place the algorithm led to was Seo In-ae’s channel.

She was still uploading lifestyle vlogs and earning a modest income from them.

‘This kid is really diligent, I tell you.’

Then I browsed through gaming channels looking for something new to try.

“The inflation is too severe to return to games I used to play… Huh?”

Just then, an unbelievable word caught my eye.

‘Jungyeon Online?’

This came out?

A martial arts worldview I loved dearly, with stunning graphics and high degrees of freedom.

Originally scheduled to be released three years ago, but due to various circumstances, it kept getting delayed and received criticism questioning whether it was actually still in development.

This came out?

24 years… In modern time, it was 4 years ago when I first saw the PV, and it was a game I had been waiting and waiting for ever since.

The martial arts world I’ve always loved, with stunning graphics and high freedom.

I immediately jumped up to download the game.

But I didn’t have a computer.

“…”

There’s no way it would run on the clinic computer.

I immediately jumped up and tried to download the game.

But there was no computer.

There’s no way I’m going back to the oriental medicine clinic’s computer.

I immediately ordered a gaming computer with the highest-end specifications.

‘This is what makes earning money worthwhile.’

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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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