The Physician of Traditional Medicine Returns from Murim

Park Young-gil. Gastrointestinal surgeon.

He was the doctor who performed the most surgeries at Sowon General Hospital.

He prided himself on his skills being second to none among gastrointestinal surgery professors in South Korea.

So much so that he even performed his mother’s surgery himself.

His work was generally straightforward.

Removing cancer cells, or if impossible, cutting out entire organs and suturing neatly.

‘But internal medicine doesn’t have clear-cut answers.’

He had seen countless patients complaining of dumping syndrome after stomach cancer surgery.

It wasn’t because the surgery was done poorly, but simply a random occurrence.

If a patient was unlucky, it was their burden, and if diet therapy didn’t resolve it, they were transferred to internal medicine. It wasn’t his domain.

But when it suddenly became his personal matter.

‘Damn it! There’s too much uncertainty.’

It was frustrating.

With all that modern medicine has discovered.

With skills advanced enough to cleanly connect the esophagus and small intestine after removing the stomach.

He had nothing to offer his mother who felt like she was going mad from epigastric pain.

– Are you insane?

He suddenly recalled the Korean medicine doctor’s expression upon hearing about the open-heart surgery. Of course, she hadn’t said it out loud, but it was written all over her face.

“Sigh…”

He knew.

If it were a machine, he’d open it up to examine, but there was no way a nearly 70-year-old could withstand surgery.

As a doctor, he could simply say it looks clean and be done with it, but considering life afterward, everything required caution.

“Is this really the right thing to do.”

Well, herbal medicine is probably better than performing open-heart surgery or administering narcotic painkillers.

Park Young-gil thought this, yet he kept searching endlessly.

For papers on the safety and efficacy of herbal medicine.

He had heard so many negative cases from professors during his university days, about patients being rushed to the hospital after taking herbal medicine.

He too had occasionally seen patients who discovered cancer during tests after herbal medicine proved ineffective.

‘I understand not being able to detect it. You can’t recommend tests for every slight stomachache at local clinics. But… Oh? This isn’t bad.’

So he anxiously combed through papers.

It wasn’t as bad as he expected.

It seemed even Korean medicine university curricula included basic physiology, pathology, and pharmacology.

Moreover, looking into individual cases, as Korean medicine doctors claimed, everything from goat’s blood tonic brewed at health food shops to plants foraged from mountains were all lumped together with herbal medicine in the statistics.

Of course, this was just “better than expected”.

There were too few studies done in Korea, and he couldn’t fully trust the Chinese papers he was reading through translation software.

While diligently organizing the papers, his phone rang.

“Hello.”

Park Young-gil answered before the first ring finished.

It was his Noona who lived in the same apartment as their mother and handled most of her care.

She knew it was his work hours, so it must be about their mother.

“Are you not busy?”

“I was just looking at some papers between surgeries. It’s fine, go ahead.”

“Mom keeps saying she wants to call you, I’ve been trying to stop her…”

Park Young-gil’s heart sank.

“Did something happen?”

I shouldn’t have taken such a gamble after all.

It’s reasonable to assume the Yoon Han-byeol case was just a coincidence.

I lost my mind too, thinking there might be some amazing solution by going to a Korean medicine clinic…!

His sister was silent for a moment, then.

“Young-gil, I don’t hurt at all! Isn’t it amazing?”

The voice changed to his mother’s.

She had snatched his sister’s phone.

“…You’re feeling better?”

“Yes, son. I guess the doctor you found is different! The pounding that felt like a ghost was beating me has completely disappeared, and the tightness is gone overnight!”

But the words from his mother were the complete opposite of what he had imagined.

What?

Park Young-gil was dumbfounded.

“Didn’t you say the medicine arrived yesterday?”

“Yes. I took it once last night and once this morning! I thought I slept a bit more comfortably last night, and now I feel fine! My goodness!”

She’s better? In just one day? That’s impossible.

It must be a temporary placebo effect.

That’s certainly the more reasonable assumption, but.

– It will definitely improve within a week… at most a month.

Was that confidence based on evidence?

“That’s… great.”

“It’s more than great! What if we had opened up my chest! I’m glad I listened to you, right?”

His mother was truly overjoyed.

Deep down, he knew. It was real.

If it were going to improve with placebo, it would have happened long ago. How many medicines had they tried?

“That’s… really great, but it could be a temporary improvement for now, so please take your medicine diligently. Be careful with your meals too, even though you’ve switched to a regular diet.”

“Of course! Do you think I’m a child who would eat recklessly just because I feel better? I’ll eat just enough to feel it, and I’m about to go to the Korean medicine clinic!”

“Yes. Be careful on your way.”

We wandered for two whole years.

I thought even claiming to solve it in a week was far-fetched.

In just one day?

It was too fast, even if it was quick.

It was absurdly simple.

“……”

Park Young-gil closed all the papers he had been frantically searching through.

He just stared into space for a while.

Then he made a call.

◆◇◆◇◆

“Argh, there’s no content!”

I became a veteran player without even enjoying the game for a few months!

The excitement of jumping around every time a mythic item dropped was only in the beginning.

After countless raid runs, I was decked out in mythic gear from head to toe, including accessories.

There was absolutely nothing left to fight until the next update.

So what’s left? Only collection.

I was fishing to fill out my compendium and gain a bit more combat power.

Tap. Tap. Thwack!

A mini-game of pressing the spacebar at the right moment as fish enter the frame.

It had a reputation for being quite difficult, but for my reflexes, this level…!

Bzzzzt!

“Seriously, does this guy listen with his nose? I told him not to call!”

The fishing was ruined anyway.

I answered the phone.

If I hadn’t picked up in the first place, that’s one thing, but if I rejected the call now, I’d go crazy with curiosity until tomorrow.

“I told you to contact the clinic, didn’t I?”

“I did, but they said it’s closed today.”

“Then you should come tomorrow, right? Never mind that, what’s the matter? Has the medicine not arrived yet? Is she experiencing any discomfort after taking it?”

“That’s not it.”

Then what is it? Get to the point.

I asked bluntly what he wanted.

“She’s only taken two doses, but my mother says she doesn’t hurt at all. What exactly did you do?”

Ah, is that all? You called in such a hurry and surprise for that?

I leaned back in my chair and smirked.

“It’s a medicine called Chijasi-tang. Keep the ingredients secret from the patient, as knowing them could lead to a reverse placebo effect.”

“Chijasi-tang…”

TN: Chijasi-tang (치자시탕 / 梔子豉湯) is a traditional herbal formula used in Korean and Chinese medicine primarily for clearing heat and relieving irritability. This formula is often prescribed for conditions related to internal heat, such as fever, restlessness, insomnia, and irritability. It’s commonly used when symptoms involve heat accumulating in the chest, leading to feelings of discomfort, frustration, or a tight sensation in the chest.

Ah, even if I say it like this, modern people won’t understand.

“It only contains two ingredients: gardenia and soybeans. The ‘si’ in Chijasi means fermented soybeans, which we call Hyangsi as a medicinal ingredient.”

“Gardenia as in the gardenia flower I know?”

“The fruit of that flower, yes.”

“…And that cured my mother’s two-year-old illness?”

“Yep.”

Impressed? Amazing, right?

Praise me.

I almost fainted when I first saw my master using ancient prescriptions too.

Can this really cure anything? I was amazed like that.

“Ah… my God. I can’t believe it could improve like this.”

Park Young-gil gave exactly the reaction I expected.

“It would have been terrible if we had done open-heart surgery, right?”

“…Yes. Really, truly.”

Park Young-gil took a deep breath.

Is he happy? Or what, does he feel defeated?

“Thank you. Thank you so much. As you said, if we had done the surgery, she wouldn’t have survived. You’re the savior of my mother’s life.”

…Is he crying?

“Sniff, I’m truly grateful. How fortunate we were to meet you.”

He really is crying.

Seeing this rude man in his late 40s cry was extremely disconcerting.

I wouldn’t have been surprised if he had thrown a fit asking how it could work so quickly or what I put in it.

“I’m glad she’s feeling better.”

I couldn’t even bring myself to mock him about what he said before, given how sincerely grateful he was being.

Anyway, it’s fortunate that a patient who was in such excruciating pain has recovered, and her worried children must be relieved too.

“Still, please take the full month’s prescription. It would be even better if you could come for acupuncture treatments too, since you’re close by.”

“Of course we will.”

Suddenly, I remembered something.

I don’t hide the ingredients if asked, but when I do tell them, I always have to give a warning along with it.

Especially with something like Chijasi-tang, which has few ingredients and is easy to obtain.

“Just in case, let me say this: after taking the full month’s worth, don’t try brewing gardenia at home to save money, okay? Next month’s prescription might need to be completely different.”

There are always people who try to obtain and brew the ingredients themselves.

Though it probably won’t be many nowadays, since people don’t keep herb decoction pots at home.

“Of course not. You practically saved her life, how could I possibly begrudge that cost? You can’t just pay for the scalpel and expect surgery. I don’t think of it as just paying for herbs.”

It was an unnecessary worry.

Perhaps because he’s in the same field, he did have respect for the skill involved.

“I’ll make sure my mother gets acupuncture treatments too, and I’ll visit with her next month. Thank you so much, and… I won’t contact you by phone again. I apologize.”

And with that, the call ended abruptly.

Geez. Would it kill him to hear me say it’s okay before hanging up?

I was going to offer some well-wishes for good health anyway.

Still, receiving an apology didn’t feel too bad.

No, in fact, I felt quite proud.

‘Hmph.’

It was an incomparable thrill to filling out a fishing compendium or getting a first raid clear.

◆◇◆◇◆

“Doctor! I don’t hurt at all! The tightness that was pressing down here is completely gone!”

Moon Young-hee reported her progress with several times more fuss than Park Young-gil.

“That’s great. Have you been eating well?”

“Yes. But I feel a bit bloated, probably because I suddenly ate a lot after eating only tiny amounts.”

“I see. We’ll continue treating the heart pulse instability and look after your digestive system too.”

“Thank you!”

After that, she came diligently for acupuncture on every day I worked.

Like all elderly patients her age, she had many aches and pains even if not the deathly painful epigastric pain.

Most treatments were for managing her digestive system, but occasionally I’d give her acupuncture for her knees, shoulders, or back.

“Because of this, I was so uncomfortable that I didn’t even realize my back was bad!”

“Disc issues need to be viewed long-term. Let’s treat it slowly.”

Then one day.

I encountered an absurd scene.

“No, Doctor Han is better! She cured what I’ve been suffering from for over two years!”

“Two years? That’s nothing. Director Hwang cured my knee that had been hurting for three years!”

“What are you talking about? If we’re counting from when my back first started hurting, it’s been 40 years!”

In order, it was Moon Young-hee, Yoo Mal-ja, and Heo Soon-nam.

Of course, Oh Young-sook, Son Chun-ja, and Kim Ok-soon were also with Yoo Mal-ja.

‘Why is she mixed up in this?’

I’d seen Grandma Heo Soon-nam occasionally bicker with Hwang Sang-hoon’s Four Heavenly Kings, but I didn’t expect Moon Young-hee to join in too.

Was Park Young-gil the only one setting the tone? Come to think of it, Moon Young-hee is around that age too.

‘They say you become childlike again when you get older.’

The sight of four grandmas with an average age of 70 arguing like 7-year-olds about who’s better.

I shook my head and knocked on Hwang Sang-hoon’s consultation room door.

“Dr. Hwang~ I have a favor to ask~”

“Sorry. I’ll caution them.”

The Four Heavenly Kings don’t listen to me.

In fact, Grandma Heo Soon-nam doesn’t listen to me either.

If I asked them to refrain because it’s embarrassing, she’d likely get upset, saying those who don’t understand how amazing our Director is are pitiful.

“Ma’am, while I appreciate your words…”

“Oh my~ Dr. Hwang! Were we too noisy? We’re sorry!”

At least they listen to Hwang Sang-hoon, which is something.

We barely managed to calm the commotion before starting consultations.

And a little while later.

In the middle of busy work, Seo In-ae knocked on my consultation room door.

“Doctor, a fax came in.”

“What? Who’s it from?”

A fax? There shouldn’t be any coming.

“It’s from Sowon General Hospital.”

That’s Park Young-gil’s workplace. Why would the hospital send me a fax?

I immediately took the paper Seo In-ae handed me and read the title.

“…Proposal for MOU as Cooperating Hospital?”

What’s this about now?