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Chapter 18 – You Say I Am a Corpse?
Nak-yong’s stern words.
That single word made Nureongi burst into a rage.
“What do you mean our young master is a corpse?!”
“Then let me correct myself. He’s a corpse with a breath of life.”
“That’s even worse!”
Watching their exchange, I sighed.
“My condition really is serious.”
The last time, Pung Yeong-do said the same thing.
He said that my body is like a corpse now.
How can I possibly be alive?
“Could you be more specific?”
“No, there’s nothing more to say.”
“…What do you mean by that?”
“Because your body cannot be healed by your own power.”
It felt like a bolt from the blue.
I was stunned by those words.
“Is that true?”
“Yeong-do only said your vital energy was twisted, but it’s actually worse than that.”
“How could it be any worse than that?”
“That’s why I said you’re a corpse. How in the world are you still alive?”
My head began to ache.
Based on what Pung Yeong-do said last time, I thought only my vital energy was twisted.
But to hear it’s worse than that…
“I suppose I could say your condition is so severe that even a physician like myself finds it difficult to assess.”
“Then what should I do?”
“Well, you’ll have to bring in a more capable physician.”
“A more capable physician…”
“There are many physicians in the martial world who are more capable than I am. For example… No, pretend you didn’t hear that.”
A physician more capable than Nak-yong?
As if I had connections like that!
Even Nak-yong was introduced to me by Pung Yeong-do.
“I regret that I cannot help you.”
“No need. It’s an illness that can’t be cured in a lifetime anyway.”
“Hmm, you have a much better character than I thought.”
“What did you think of me?”
“Doctors who master ordinary medicine tend to be eccentric and ill-tempered. But you’re not like that.”
Nak-yong looked at me as if I were a curiosity.
“By the way, was that condition something you were born with?”
“Yes.”
“Fascinating. Heaven must have had a reason for making you that way.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“Heaven occasionally bestows amusing talents upon humans.”
With that, Nak-yong walked away with a clatter.
He picked up a branch lying on the ground.
Simultaneously, he began swinging it through the air.
It traced a beautiful arc through the air, and his robes fluttered.
“You could see talents like the Heavenly Martial Body or the Taeguk* Body as examples of that.”
[T/N: A body born in perfect yin-yang harmony, capable of mastering both extremes of power.]
“But aren’t those beneficial talents?”
“That’s certainly true. But sometimes, those talents can cause side effects.”
“Side effects…”
“The simplest example is the Nine-Sound Pulse. Its yin energy is so potent that it becomes a terrifying entity that slowly consumes its master’s flesh.”
Hearing that made me think of Yunseol for some reason.
The ice skill she used.
That skill was slowly eating away at her body.
“But if the Nine-Sound Pulse absorbs an equal amount of yang energy, it can achieve the immense power of yin-yang balance.”
This story is similar.
I stimulated her blood vessels with massage to expel the yin energy.
So, as Nak-yong said, what if she absorbs an immense amount of yang energy?
“Couldn’t that completely cure Yunseol’s illness?”
That thought crossed my mind.
“…Are you thinking about another patient right now?”
“Ah, I’m sorry.”
“You’re a doctor through and through, aren’t you? Even when your own life is in danger, you’re thinking about patients.”
Nak-yong’s initially stern expression began to soften.
Was there something doctors understood about each other?
I also felt that Nak-yong’s impression had softened compared to before.
“Anyway, I suspect your illness is similar to the Nine-Sound Pulse.”
“So that means…”
“Your body is certainly in a dangerous state now, but if you can resolve it, you could grasp immense power.”
Nak-yong’s words surprised me.
“That’s a thought I’ve never even considered.”
I’d spent my entire life thinking my body was a shackle.
It was a constant, troublesome burden that only made things harder for me.
But to think it was actually a means to gain immense power?
“Meeting you, Mr. Nak-yong, feels like a stroke of luck.”
“I haven’t done anything myself.”
“No, you’ve already been a tremendous help.”
This information was invaluable.
What if I could just handle my body properly?
Then this body wouldn’t be a shackle anymore—it would become my ally.
“The most important thing is understanding my body.”
Only by understanding my body could I find a way to heal it, like with the Nine-Sound Pulse.
Therefore, understanding my body was the top priority.
“Thanks to you, I have hope.”
With that, I bowed deeply to Nak-yong.
“Then, Divine Doctor, it’s time for you to help me.”
“Do you mean you want me to treat you too, Mr. Nak-yong?”
“I’m going to try believing that Yeong-do guy for once.”
Nak-yong slowly approached me.
He unwound the bandage wrapped around his finger in front of me.
The finger he revealed was…
“Horrible.”
It was so severe that I gasped.
* * *
Nak-yong’s fingers
To put it simply, they looked like this.
“Grotesque.”
His fingers were covered in scars.
Not a single spot was left untouched.
And that wasn’t all.
Some of his fingers were twisted out of shape.
“How about that? It’s serious, isn’t it?”
“…When did this happen?”
“I injured my fingers in an incident a long time ago. Since then, I’ve tried to heal them, but no one could.”
Nak-yong said this with a look of futility on his face.
These fingers seemed to have ruined Nak-yong’s life.
I touched his fingers here and there and nodded.
“First, I’ll give you the diagnosis.”
“You figured out the cause in that short time!”
Nak-yong exclaimed in admiration.
I spoke slowly to him.
“It’s a torn finger ligament.”
“…A torn finger ligament?”
“A torn finger ligament refers to a ligament that stabilizes the finger joint and controls movement, being torn or damaged.”
I’ve treated ligament ruptures a few times before.
Not on fingers, of course.
Still, this was certain.
“Fingers handle intricate movements, so the torn ligament must have caused you significant discomfort.”
When I said that, Nak-yong nodded, his eyes slightly reddened.
“Just as you say.”
As he said this, Nak-yong stroked his own finger.
Very gently.
“I used to practice hidden weapon techniques…”
“Hidden weapon techniques!”
“But with my fingers like this, I can’t use them anymore.”
I sighed at his words.
Hidden weapon techniques are a form of martial arts involving the flinging of dagger-like objects with the fingers.
What if someone tore their finger ligaments?
“That’s a death sentence.”
Precision of movement is the lifeblood of hidden weapon techniques.
Therefore, with his finger ligaments torn, Nak-yong’s hidden weapon techniques were useless.
“Unable to use the techniques, I was treated like a thorn in the side by my family.”
“Did your family refuse to treat you?”
“The family physicians… all of them shook their heads.”
Well, of course.
Treating a ruptured finger tendon in the martial world couldn’t have been easy.
He must have lived with this injury for a long time.
“So I studied medicine myself to heal my finger, but…”
“You must not have seen any improvement.”
Nak-yong was similar to me.
He became obsessed with medicine to cure his own illness, too.
Because of that, I found myself empathizing with him even more.
“I spoke inappropriately to you. You should just forget it.”
“No.”
“Even someone like you couldn’t heal a dead finger. I seem to have burdened you needlessly.”
Nak-yong nodded to himself.
No physician had ever healed his finger before.
He was certain that this time would be no different.
“What did you just say?”
I asked back.
Nak-yong paused briefly.
“Even you couldn’t heal this finger…”
Nak-yong’s voice trembled.
I shook my head at those words.
“That finger can be healed.”
I said it with a voice brimming with confidence.
“…Don’t joke about something like that.”
“I’m not joking.”
When I said that, Nak-yong’s eyes widened.
Was it hope that filled them?
I could feel the surge of emotion radiating from him all the way over here.
Then, I gave Nureongi a look.
“Nureongi, you know the usual line, right?”
“Y-yes, sir!”
Nureongi stood before Nak-yong and shouted,
“Trust only the legendary Divine Doctor, who is said to be able to revive even the dead!”
I grinned at those words.
* * *
There are three stages of a torn finger ligament.
The mildest is a first-degree injury.
At this stage, the ligament is stretched or has a minor tear.
At this stage, the joint is still considered stable.
Next is a second-degree injury.
In this stage, the ligament is partially torn.
There is severe pain and swelling, and the joint is under strain.
And finally…
“Mr. Nak-yong has a third-degree injury.”
“Third degree?”
“The ligament is completely torn and the joint is dislocated.”
“Well, I can see it’s serious.”
“A third-degree injury means the joint is severely damaged and may require surgery.”
But I can’t perform surgery.
Likewise, I can’t send him to a hospital.
Nak-yong isn’t a Korean citizen.
In fact, it’s fortunate that he hasn’t been arrested as a stateless person.
“Then what should I do?”
“Under the current circumstances, we don’t have the conditions for surgery. So…’
I said as I put on my coat.
“We’ll go for the long haul.”
“The long haul?”
“For the next six weeks—no, six or seven days—Mr. Nak-yong must stay here.”
Honestly, I wondered if this was even acceptable.
It was unusual for a guest of the dimensional gate to stay for six weeks.
But it was unavoidable to treat Nak-yong’s finger.
I couldn’t find the right recipe in the Yakseon’s notebook either.
What if I used the potion effect buff I possessed and combined it with acupuncture?
He would definitely recover.
“Would it be all right with you to spend a long time here?”
I asked as soon as I thought of it.
[You have offered hospitalization to the patient from the dimensional gate.]
[The longer the period, the more points you earn.]
[If you hospitalize the patient, you can receive a new patient through the dimensional gate.]
[Current available hospitalizations: 0/1]
That message appeared.
“So this counts as a hospitalization.”
Moreover, it wasn’t just about keeping them here long term.
The longer the period, the more points they’d give.
On top of that, I could continue to receive patients through the dimensional gate.
I quietly waited for Nak-yong’s decision.
However,
“Well, if the Divine Doctor says so, I suppose I must follow your lead.”
Nak-yong’s decision was swift.
“Are you sure you’re okay with this?”
“I’m used to life in foreign lands, so don’t worry.”
“That’s a relief.”
“Besides, if you can heal this finger, I can’t help but feel hopeful.”
It was as if his finger were already healed.
Nak-yong looked at me and smiled like a child.
My words must have sounded hopeful.
“I suppose I owe you a great debt.”
“I received help, too.”
I learned something about my body.
That alone is a huge help.
This information will be very useful to me in the future.
But Nak-yong shook his head.
“Don’t say that.”
He looked me straight in the eye.
He poured out his true feelings.
“No doctor has ever said they could heal my fingers. You know how hopeless the situation is, don’t you?”
He was right.
Until now, no one had ever said they could heal my body either.
It truly felt like walking through darkness without a single ray of light.
“You gave hope to someone like me. That’s an undeniable fact.”
I fell silent at Nak-yong’s words.
It would be rude to deny it any longer.
After all, I had indeed been a great help to Nak-yong.
Then, Nak-yong spoke to me with a refreshed expression.
“Did you say the treatment would take six or seven days?”
“Yes.”
“Then it means I’ll be spending six or seven days with you, too.”
Nak-yong nodded, lost in thought.
Then, he looked straight at me and said,
“You’ve been a great help to me, and I want to repay you properly.
“But the treatment hasn’t even started yet.”
“That’s how much I trust you. So then…?”
Nak-yong spoke with a solemn expression.
“While I’m here, I’ll teach you the hidden weapon techniques passed down in our Dang family.”
I had just received the dantian from Pung Yeong-do.
This time, I was about to learn martial arts.
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