The Physician of Traditional Medicine Returns from Murim - Chapter 88

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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 88

“Do you know what Mother regretted most after things turned out that way?”

“…What was it?”

“That I made the wrong wish!”

Gong Nari imitated her mother with an exaggerated tone.

“That was her biggest regret. So now she’s praying for coins to do well.”

“…”

“They say gambling addiction can’t be stopped even if you cut off your hands. Father was well-behaved for a few months too, but as soon as he heard that a member from that group chat who bought bio stocks made twice the money he lost on coins, he immediately opened an account.”

“And now he’s pouring his entire salary into it.”

“That’s right. At least he can’t do anything big because he has no money. We already sold the house, and first-tier financial institutions won’t give him any more loans. Fortunately, he seems to know private loans are scary.”

She continued speaking while chuckling.

“Father says that people who are good at coin futures can turn 100,000 won into 100 million, even 1 billion won?”

“There must be people like that somewhere.”

Don’t tell me he’s using high leverage with futures? It’s probably just random coins, right?

“Right, we know our father isn’t one of them. But it’s better that he believes he can do it and spends a little pocket money from his salary than borrowing from loan sharks and losing it all.”

“I see.”

“When I say this, Mother gets angry saying I keep being negative because I don’t truly believe. Then when she runs out of money, she smiles sweetly as if she never got angry and goes, ‘Nari~ we’re out of bottled water~ what were you doing not buying any~?'”

Gong Nari gulped down her canned beer.

Even though the air was getting quite cold, her face turned red.

Was it from anger? Or from the low-alcohol beer?

“Our parents are really hopeless, aren’t they?”

“They are.”

I nodded without hesitation.

“I’m frustrated too, right? Like Teacher Inae said, I should just leave! Tell them to take care of themselves!”

“Teacher Inae is amazing. It’s easy to give advice from a third-party perspective, but when it becomes your own problem, emotions take over. I understand.”

Still, I empathized with Gong Nari for now.

Then Gong Nari’s face trembled. She seemed to be holding back tears.

“I want to live just looking out for myself too. But what if they really can’t pay next month’s rent? I’m scared Father might become completely credit-delinquent from not paying interest, and even turn to private loans. And I have to pay for my younger sibling’s college tuition too!”

She poured out words as if vomiting the congestion that had been building up inside.

“Is your younger sibling starting college this year?”

“Yes. Despite our family situation being such a mess, they studied hard and got into a national university. I’m so proud.”

Only when talking about her younger sibling did Gong Nari smile brightly.

“Teacher Nari is admirable too.”

“Hehe…”

“And.”

Craaack.

I placed both hands on Gong Nari’s shoulders and squeezed her trapezius muscles hard.

“Ahhh!”

Gong Nari screamed from the sudden assault.

“Your shoulders are too heavy.”

“Is, is, is that so?”

“How many people’s worth are you carrying on these shoulders, four people including your younger sibling?”

“Ugh, that’s how it turned out.”

I pondered what story I should tell her as we walked through the park.

Then by chance, I met Gong Nari’s mother. Perhaps I should call it luck? I was able to see with my own eyes what kind of person she was.

‘I don’t know what religion it is, but… she doesn’t believe in it at all.’

Gong Nari’s mother told both me and Gong Nari to believe.

That if we truly believed, it would surely come true.

But so far, her wish for her husband to succeed with coins hasn’t come true.

Still, she continues her religious activities, changing gods. To truly believe.

The truth is, she knows.

That nothing will change by doing this.

That the money for food and shelter comes not from faith, but from her daughter’s wallet.

I could be certain because I had seen true fanatics who would burn their lives for Cheonma.

Both Gong Nari’s mother and her father, who hadn’t touched private loans, still had some rationality left.

They just still had somewhere to stretch their legs.

“In modern martial arts novels, you know, the theme of saving a ruined sect or family is popular.”

“Huh?”

She was confused when I suddenly brought up novels, but upon hearing “ruined family,” she soon realized I was trying to make some analogy.

“It’s a cliché where the world’s greatest martial artist who failed to save the world once regresses to the past, or a master who saved the world but couldn’t protect his family goes to the future to raise his descendants. Sounds interesting, right?”

“Yes.”

She looked at me like she was looking at an otaku, but I didn’t mind and continued the story.

“An ordinary disciple or successor could save the family, so why do you think this setting is attached?”

“Um… because they can’t do it?”

“That’s right. You don’t think it would be easy to do. It’s too heavy for an ordinary person to carry on their shoulders, and it seems like you’d need to be at least the world’s greatest martial artist to make it possible.”

Gong Nari brushed her hair back and chuckled.

It was like saying she didn’t have the ability to save her family, but the absurdity of the analogy was probably more significant.

“Moreover, those protagonist friends also focus on building their own martial prowess first before seriously developing their sect. They somehow find elixirs and even go into secluded training for a while. They need to become strong enough to protect their sect from the worldly storms that would try to keep them in check.”

“Ah.”

“But… there are also much more realistic novels like this. The protagonist is neither a regressor nor a reincarnator. Their talent is slightly above average, but they haven’t yet mastered qi or opened their Conception and Governing Vessels – they’re just a second-rate martial artist. What would happen if such a person tried to shoulder a family that’s ruined and buried in debt?”

“Uh… they couldn’t do it, right?”

The last example was actually a case I had seen in reality.

Sect destruction happens just as easily as in all those sect-building martial arts novels. The Central Plains are vast, and conflicts between orthodox factions occur countless times.

But there are almost no cases of successfully reviving a family that has once fallen greatly. That would truly require a genius of unparalleled talent.

“If you absolutely had to do it, what should you start with?”

“If it’s a martial arts novel… you’d need to become stronger, right?”

But I had seen someone succeed despite all odds.

“That’s right. You’d need to learn martial arts manuals, embark on a wandering journey to gain experience and become stronger.”

“Yes…”

“If you don’t leave, opportunities won’t appear. If the protagonist stays home trying to feed their family without actually training, nothing would happen.”

That guy had let go of everything and embarked on a wandering journey.

He didn’t discover any manuals in caves, but he returned as a peak master with a respectable title.

“Then what happens to the family members left behind when the protagonist leaves?”

“They sell their assets to settle debts, open a small martial arts school to teach children and make a living. They put down titles like ‘Elder’ or ‘Clan Head’ and each found their own way to survive.”

That skill and reputation alone was enough to revive a small sect.

The children who had casually attended the martial arts school became disciples of a peak master, and one of them even rose to become the Vice Leader of the Martial Arts Alliance.

“Haha, that’s right. That works then.”

“You understand what I’m trying to say, right?”

“Really, I only understood because I happen to be reading a martial arts webtoon.”

Anyway, it was good that she understood.

It seemed my intended message was conveyed well.

“Let it go. Even if Teacher Nari doesn’t struggle, your family will be fine. They’ll probably spend exactly as Teacher Inae said, leaving just enough for food… and even if they cross the line, our country’s welfare system is better than you think. They won’t let people freeze to death on the streets.”

“Do you think so?”

I quietly nodded my head.

“If it were truly an unavoidable situation, like needing continuous money for cancer treatment, I would have considered helping. But this won’t be solved even if I give hundreds of thousands, millions, or even tens of millions of won more.”

“…That’s true.”

“Either your parents will come to their senses and each do their part, or they’ll really hit rock bottom and end up on the streets, then the country will somehow take care of it. If we keep giving money to maintain this situation, we’re only delaying the solution.”

Gong Nari also nodded vigorously.

It seemed she was convinced that this situation shouldn’t be maintained.

What remained was a concrete plan.

“Teacher Nari. You didn’t spend all the incentive you received last month, right? You saved it to give to your younger sibling for tuition, didn’t you?”

At my words, Gong Nari’s eyes widened.

“How did you know?”

“If you really didn’t have any, you would have mentioned something unavoidable like getting an implant last month. You have ways to hide chocolate, so why couldn’t you hide money?”

She said she didn’t just hand over her entire salary like Seo Inae’s sister used to.

She was trying to manage things in her own way and had priorities.

And since she thought fondly of her younger sibling, the reasoning wasn’t too difficult.

“Don’t give that to your sibling, and get your own place like Teacher Inae said. They can get student loans and work part-time jobs. Just like Teacher Nari did when you were twenty.”

“…”

“Did your sibling ask for help?”

“No! Absolutely not. My sibling said there’s no need to give money, that they’d apply for student aid themselves.”

Gong Nari waved her hands, saying absolutely not.

She said her sibling was different from their parents, and it was just her own desire to let at least her sibling live comfortably.

“I said earlier, right? Desires should…”

“Be indulged only when you have the ability. Sigh, Clinic Director, you’re completely right. I’ll talk to my sibling about it too.”

I had deliberately avoided direct expressions, but Gong Nari grasped the essence.

I added one more word out of concern.

“I’m not saying to cut ties forever with your sibling, or even your parents. Family bonds can’t be severed just because you want to cut them. Still, don’t give them your home address, and if you want to see them, meet outside.”

“Yes!”

“Never give them money. Not until Teacher Nari can handle four people’s worth.”

“Ahaha, four people’s worth? I don’t think I’ll ever be able to do that.”

“If you have the desire, you’ll keep looking for ways like Teacher Inae does, and if you don’t, just doing one person’s worth is enough.”

“That’s right!”

Gong Nari shook the empty beer can thoroughly.

Even though she had finished the entire can, the redness that had risen to her face when she first started drinking had completely disappeared.

The smile she had been forcing while hiding her sadness and anger had also vanished.

She suddenly stood up from the bench.

“I need to start preparing right away. Thank you so much for telling me all this, Clinic Director!”

Then she bowed with a much more refreshed expression.

“Fighting. I’m always on Teacher Nari’s side.”

“Hehe.”

“And if you really have nowhere to go, you can sleep at the clinic.”

“Clinic Director, really, what a joke!”

Was that such an unreasonable suggestion?

This time I was serious – there was actually someone who lived there for a month.

Come to think of it, including Hwang Sanghun and Seo Inae, more than half of the staff have left home.

This has unintentionally become a company that encourages leaving home.

* * *

Gong Nari, who arrived home in an instant, knocked on the door.

Although they lived in a two-room villa and shared a room with her younger sibling, they always considered each other and never forgot to knock.

“Maru, are you in your room?”

“Yeah, come in.”

All that was in the room was a bunk bed, one desk, and a wardrobe.

Her younger sibling got up from the desk where he had been sitting and greeted Gong Nari.

“The exams are over, so what were you doing?”

“Ah… I wanted to apply for the dormitory, but it seems like people living in Busan rarely get accepted.”

Dormitory? It’s about an hour one-way, so commuting is possible, right?

Gong Nari, who hadn’t thought that her younger sibling would leave home, hesitated for a moment.

And soon a better idea came to mind.

“Then would you like to move out and live on your own with your sister?”

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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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