TN: Please read my translations only on my website nyx-translation.com since I never give my permission to any site to host my translations. And if you like my translations, please support this site on Ko-fi, and join our Patreon to read up to 12 chapters ahead for this novel!
Enjoy~
TL: ALT
Chapter 22 – Adding Insult To Injury
Nak-yong’s jaw dropped.
He stared at the target, unable to believe what he was seeing.
“Did you just channel your inner qi?”
“Yes, somehow I felt I could do it.”
“Somehow, you say? Haha!”
He chuckled heartily and grabbed my shoulder.
“It seems you possess considerable talent after all.”
“Talent, you say?”
“What kind of doctor could infuse their inner qi into the dark arts in a single day?”
“Was it really that difficult?”
“Of course it was!”
I was flabbergasted.
I just put my inner qi into it, and it worked!
So, this was actually difficult?
“Among all those who’ve learned dark arts, none were as quick as you.”
“Even you, Mr. Nak-yong?”
“Of course! It took me a full day!”
Nak-yong seemed increasingly intrigued by me.
Well, of course. After all, he was teaching me martial arts, and I was quickly mastering them.
How could he not be intrigued?
“It seems there must be some secret to your constitution.”
“You mean this frail body of mine?”
“Indeed. Otherwise, your unbelievable speed of mastery would be hard to believe.”
Last time, Nak-yong said the same thing.
He suggested that my body might be something like a yin-yang constitution.
If that’s the case, could my rapid mastery of martial arts actually be thanks to this frail body?
“Anyway, you just keep surprising me.”
“I’m sorry; it wasn’t my intention.”
“Sorry? If I’d had a disciple like you, every day would have been pure joy.”
With that, Nak-yong grinned.
“For now, focus on improving your precision in the dark arts.”
“Is just repeating that enough?”
“Accuracy is the most crucial aspect of the dark arts.”
“I see. Understood.”
“Once you’re somewhat accustomed to it, try aiming at moving targets, too.”
I nodded at his words.
Targeting moving targets would definitely be harder.
That would certainly be good training.
“You truly are amazing, young master! Truly remarkable!”
“Even if you praise me, nothing comes out, you know?”
“To master martial arts so quickly is truly extraordinary!”
Nureongi was so excited that he was wagging his tail.
He must be happy about my growth.
As much as I grow?
“Because the probability of healing my body increases.”
All of this is for healing my body.
Thanks to my talent, that speed might even increase.
“Young Master, you must live a long life!”
“Of course.”
“It’s a sight to behold.”
Nak-yong chuckled softly as he watched me and Nureongi.
“I had a younger brother like that myself, you know…”
He seemed lost in thought.
But it felt awkward to probe deeper.
From the nuance alone, it seemed his younger brother had met with misfortune.
I read the room, so to speak.
“Anyway, young master, you must cherish that knowledge.”
“Of course. Nureongi is my precious family, after all.”
“Exactly! You and I are family! Hehe!”
As we were talking like that,
Drip! Drip!
Thick raindrops fell from the sky.
“Oh my! It’s already raining?”
“Let’s hurry home!”
“Right!”
Because of the sudden rain, we quickly went inside.
* * *
The next day.
The heavy raindrops showed no sign of stopping.
Because of that, Nureongi, Nak-yong, and I were stuck inside the house. Nureongi muttered as if his body were itching.
“I should be running happily through the fields right now.”
“It’s a typhoon. There’s nothing we can do about it.”
If he’s not careful, Nureongi might get blown away.
“Ah, come to think of it, is the medicinal herb garden okay?”
“No need to worry about the herb garden!”
“Really?”
“Yakseon’s herb garden can withstand any natural disaster!”
That’s for sure.
No wonder it’s called an awakening ability.
A field that can withstand a typhoon?
It’s the field that farmers dream of.
Natural disasters often ruin crops, after all.
“Are the elders all right?”
I was fine, but I was worried about the elders.
But Nak-yong smiled and said,
“You needn’t worry about the elders.”
“Why is that?”
“They’ve experienced much because they’ve lived here long.”
“Ah, true.”
The elders had surely weathered many typhoons while living here.
They must have prepared thoroughly in advance.
It was almost strange that I was the one worrying.
“Divine Doctor, I know you’re exceptional, but… You must let go of the idea that you have to take care of the entire world.”
“Is that how it seemed?”
“It’s a vanity most physicians experience, you know.”
“I’ll take that to heart.”
Maybe I felt like a burden after all.
People need me to look after them.
They all need my strength.
But that’s definitely wrong.
People are more capable than I thought.
“Come to think of it, young master! A letter arrived!”
With that, Nureongi brought over the letter.
“A letter? Is it about paying bills?”
It couldn’t be.
Most of those come via phone nowadays.
I opened the letter out of curiosity.
“Who sent this? It doesn’t say?”
There was no sender.
It was a very suspicious letter.
I was drawn in by its strangeness and immediately opened the letter.
Upon reading it, I froze.
“Young Master, what’s wrong? What does it say?”
Nureongi asked, peering at the letter.
Nureongi looked shocked after reading the contents, too.
“What the hell is this……?”
I left the stunned Nureongi behind and looked at the letter again.
The letter contained only one word.
Found.
The letter’s contents were utterly spine-chilling.
Even Nak-yong, who saw it, let out a wry smile.
“Who do you think you’ve made an enemy of?”
“I haven’t done anything to earn a grudge, but I suspect it might be from an old patient.”
I vanished without a word to my patients.
Those patients said they were looking for me.
Just like Yunseol, who came looking for me right away.
This person is probably one of my patients, too.
“Young master! You should hire bodyguards!”
“Isn’t that a bit excessive?”
“Do you really think so?”
“…Should I hire just one?”
I carefully folded the letter and placed it in a drawer.
I decided to erase it from my memory.
I feared it would haunt me every night if I kept thinking about it.
Then—
Bang! Bang!
I heard someone pounding on the front gate.
“Eek! They’ve come after all!”
Nureongi was scared stiff.
I swallowed hard, too.
I was afraid the sender of the letter might really be standing there.
Still, I couldn’t just stay put.
“I’ll go with you.”
“…Thank you.”
Nak-yong and I put on our umbrellas and went to the gate.
I carefully opened the gate.
There, standing before it, was someone I never expected.
“Huh, Grandma Yeongja?”
It was Grandma Yeongja standing there, soaked to the bone in the rain.
She had a desperate look on her face.
And that wasn’t all.
“Ji-Jin! Seojun is…!”
Seojun was on Grandma Yeongja’s back, covered in several blankets. Realizing the seriousness of the situation, I immediately swung the gate wide open.
“I’ll get everything ready right away.”
It seemed my ominous premonition had come true.
* * *
The typhoon was incredibly intense.
In fact, it was so powerful that it shook every window in the house.
Given the circumstances, the atmosphere felt even bleaker.
“His condition is serious.”
Seo-jun’s condition was critical.
His body burned hot, like a ball of fire.
“What on earth happened?”
I listened to Grandma Yeongja explain the situation.
“Seo-jun suddenly got a fever, and then…”
“Was he coughing, too?”
“Yes, that’s right! Jin, do you know anything about this?”
Grandma Yeongja’s expression was desperate.
Her only grandson was on the verge of passing away. From her perspective, she must feel she did something wrong.
“Did you go to the hospital I mentioned?”
“Seojun cried and said he didn’t want to go.”
“I see.”
“It’s this foolish old hag’s fault! I should have taken him to the hospital somehow!”
“No, it’s not Grandma Yeongja’s fault.”
This isn’t anyone’s fault.
If there is blame to be assigned, it lies with the one who created the illness.
That’s why I comforted Grandma Yeongja.
“Goodness, this child is…”
“That’s right.”
I used my insight.
Unlike last time, dark energy was clearly entrenched in Seojun’s heart.
“At first glance, this might seem like a simple cold.”
“But for a cold……”
“Yes, the fever is extremely high.”
Therefore, this is not a cold.
Moreover, that’s not all.
Dark energy was lodged in Seojun’s heart.
This meant there was a problem with his heart.
“Frankly, I can’t even begin to guess what disease this might be.”
Nak-yong shook his head.
Upon hearing this, Grandma Yeongja’s eyes welled up with tears.
I coldly observed Seojun’s symptoms.
“High fever, cough, and heart disease…”
Chest issues aren’t my specialty.
However, as a doctor, it’s important to be familiar with diseases outside one’s specialty.
Of course, it’s difficult.
I knew about this disease, though.
“Seojun seems to have endocarditis.”
“E-endocarditis?”
“Endocarditis is a disease where a bacterial infection causes inflammation inside the heart.”
“Th-that can’t be!”
“We’ll need to go to the hospital to be certain, but it’s almost definitely that.”
I let out a deep sigh.
“Then we can’t linger here.”
“What do you intend to do?”
“Endocarditis is beyond my ability to treat.”
It can’t be solved with medicine or acupuncture.
It’s a disease that can only be treated with surgery.
Moreover, it’s a disease where not a single moment can be wasted. In fact, Seojun was literally dying in real time.
“I have a car. Let’s go to the hospital in it.”
I took out my car keys, but…
“Oh dear, what about Seojun? The road to the hospital is blocked right now.”
“Huh?”
“Jin, what should we do? The roads are blocked because of the typhoon.”
The situation wasn’t helping.
Since we were in the countryside, there were many mountains nearby.
It seemed a landslide had occurred because of the typhoon.
Because of that, the road to the hospital was blocked.
“So that’s why you came to me.”
Grandma Yeongja must have headed to the hospital first.
But it seemed the landslide had brought her to me instead.
In this desperate situation, I let out a sigh.
“Endocarditis is a disease where time is critical.”
If Seojun had been diagnosed at the hospital while he was still healthy,
It wouldn’t have been too late.
It could have been treated with specialized medication.
But lying sick like this with a high fever and cough?
That meant the situation had already become serious.
“Jin, what should we do? What should we do about Seojun?”
Grandma Yeongja wept in despair.
In that moment, I coldly considered my options.
“Going to the hospital is impossible, and the medicine I have won’t help.”
What could I possibly do?
Lost in thought, one method came to mind.
[Yakseon's Notebook]It was Yakseon’s notebook.
I had used the recipe preview feature last time.
Thanks to that, I could see the recipe name on the fifth page in advance.
“The name of the fifth recipe was definitely…”
[Recipe for a Herbal Medicine Good for Heart Inflammation]It might be the recipe needed for the current situation.
But there was a problem.
I hadn’t conquered the fourth floor of the tower yet.
“I need to conquer the fourth floor of the tower…”
But there was no way.
Unless a guest arrives at the dimensional gate right now.
“Divine Doctor, process it as if my treatment is complete.”
“…What do you mean?”
“Don’t you need to conquer that tower now? Then…”
“That’s impossible.”
Process his discharge so that Nak-yong can conquer the fourth floor of the tower.
Then there would definitely be progress in saving Seojun.
But Nak-yong was the problem.
And rightly so.
[Discharged patients cannot receive treatment for 30 days.]That restriction exists.
Saving Seojun would severely delay Nak-yong’s hand treatment.
Nak-yong was someone who shed tears just at the thought of having his hand treated.
Delaying treatment for someone like that?
It was absolutely unthinkable.
“Young Master! Then what exactly are we supposed to do?”
Nureongi whispered to me.
It was a truly agonizing situation.
I had to abandon one of them here.
But as a doctor,
The idea of abandoning a patient was unacceptable.
Therefore, the choice I made was…
“I will raid the tower myself.”
I was going to the fourth floor.
“Young Master, are you out of your mind?”
“There’s no other way. Besides, I recently learned the dark arts.”
“Think of your condition! How can you fight in that state?”
“I agree! Your body isn’t fit for battle!”
Nureongi and Nak-yong pleaded.
But I saw Grandma Yeongja weeping before me.
The thought of her grandson dying must have terrified her.
Seeing that, I steeled my resolve.
[Proceed into the tower!]I nodded at the message.
“Proceed.”
I held the box containing my father’s needles.
If you like my translations, please support me on Ko-Fi and subscribe my Patreon to read up to 12 chapters ahead for this novel!
Demons run when a good man goes to war,
Night will fall and drown the sun,
When a good man goes to war.
Friendship dies and true love lies,
Night will fall and the dark will rise,
When a good man goes to war.
Demons run, but count the cost;
The battle’s won, but the child is lost.
LikeLike