The Physician of Traditional Medicine Returns from Murim

I hadn’t reprimanded Chu Mi-young for her rash decision, thinking I might resort to this method if necessary, and I didn’t feel particularly threatened.

Still, I had hoped to keep it sealed away… But I suppose seals are meant to be broken.

With them going to such extremes, we couldn’t just sit back and act noble.

“Would it be alright if I posted our photo together on Instagram?”

I contacted Hyun Ju-mi to ask for permission.

While Park Se-sun had asked to keep her herbal diet medicine a secret, Hyun Ju-mi had left a photo and autograph without me even requesting it.

She had even given permission to display it in the clinic if I wanted.

But I hadn’t bothered to hang it up. After all, the Busan main branch already had plenty of patients.

“Of course it’s okay! That’s why I took the photo with you! But is something wrong?”

I briefly explained what had happened in Daegu.

“Oh my, if that’s the case, I should lend a hand too. Just a moment! Is this the right Instagram ID? sung…”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

After hearing the story, Hyun Ju-mi quickly found the clinic’s Instagram.

There was only one Instagram account for Seongsu Korean Medicine Clinic, managed by Chu Mi-young. Kim Chun-sik and I were barely involved, occasionally appearing in posts about business hours and our backgrounds.

So posting here would draw attention to the Daegu branch.

“Hehe, look forward to it! I’ll make sure to repay you properly!”

A few hours later, Hyun Ju-mi posted on her own Instagram, tagging Seongsu Korean Medicine Clinic.

“A lawsuit?”

Since she said she’d help, I thought she might post a photo of us together or an image of the clinic.

But what she posted was far more attention-grabbing than a typical advertisement.

She shared a story about how she had debuted at a young age and struggled with malicious comments without realizing how hard it was, only understanding the severity when she began experiencing panic symptoms.

Then she wrote about how she met me, received Korean medicine treatment, and regained her health and the courage to file lawsuits.

“Oh…?”

This seems like it might go beyond just saying the treatment was effective.

“Doctor, we’re getting constant DM inquiries. What should we do? I guess we should tell them to come in for a consultation, right?”

While Chu Mi-young was an influencer in her own right, the impact of Hyun Ju-mi, with her millions of followers, was on a different level.

As soon as the post went up, numerous internet articles appeared, seemingly copying the content verbatim.

There was an overwhelming amount of interest, with people saying they didn’t know these circumstances were behind her recent lawsuit announcement.

Of course, most people were more interested in Hyun Ju-mi than the clinic, but it was enough to flood us with inquiries from patients desperate for treatment.

“Ju-mi-nim, is it really okay to reveal this?”

“Of course! My manager said it was a good idea too!”

And Hyun Ju-mi wasn’t the end of it.

Even Park Se-sun unexpectedly posted a photo of us together on her Instagram.

[The doctor who’s always helping me~]

With a tag, of course.

“But didn’t Se-sun-nim ask to keep her diet a secret?”

Feeling uncertain if this was okay, I called her.

“It’s fine as long as the diet part remains a secret, right?”

She said it didn’t matter if people knew she had visited the clinic.

Park Se-sun didn’t have as many followers as Hyun Ju-mi, and her story didn’t tug at people’s heartstrings in the same way.

But it was quite well-known that she was a member of a chaebol family.

Patients started coming from far and wide, seeking treatment for various issues or requesting tonics.

To all three branches: Seoul, Busan, and Daegu.

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“Kim Yijin-nim, Jo Mi-ran-nim, Heo Soon-nam-nim, please come to the treatment room! Lee Jung-in-nim, please enter consultation room 1~”

“Son Chun-ja-nim, please come to consultation room 2! Kim Ok-soon-nim, please wait a moment~. There’s no space in the treatment room yet!”

“How much longer do I have to wait? This is Jeon Il-yang.”

“I’m sorry! It looks like you’ll have to wait about an hour and a half for an initial consultation!”

“I’ll go eat lunch and come back within an hour. Please call me if it’s my turn. I’ll come right away.”

The clinic was absolutely packed with patients.

While it hadn’t exactly been empty before, I had managed to keep up thanks to my quick acupuncture skills.

Even at the busiest times, patients never had to wait more than an hour.

But now, there wasn’t even enough seating in the waiting room, with people standing outside.

‘Somehow… I feel like I wanted to see patients at a more relaxed pace? Isn’t that why I switched to four days a week?’

How did it end up like this?

Not only on the two days I went to Daegu, but also during the four days I worked in Busan, there was no time to rest.

If it had just been Park Se-sun’s photo, people might have assumed I was just a Korean medicine doctor she was personally close with. But Hyun Ju-mi’s post really struck a chord with people.

While most patients came to see me in Busan or Daegu, the other doctors in the Seongsu Korean Medicine Clinic network also saw an explosive increase in patients.

It was thanks to Chu Mi-young posting extensively on Instagram, saying we should strike while the iron is hot.

She posted about how all four doctors were skilled and each had their own strengths, resulting in quite a few patients specifically requesting Chu Mi-young or Sang-hoon.

“Hohoho. We’ll soon hit three digits!”

Kim Chun-sik’s face was beaming every time we had a video conference.

It must be because Seoul has the largest population. Many Seoul patients interested in Seongsu Korean Medicine Clinic chose to visit the Songpa branch rather than traveling to other regions.

In fact, if you look at their backgrounds, the combined experience of the other three doesn’t even amount to half of Kim Chun-sik’s.

It’s impressive, right? As a former professor, he naturally has a Ph.D. He has countless publications and papers. And of course, he’s genuinely skilled too.

“Meeting Doctor Han has truly been the greatest stroke of luck. I’ve thanked Professor Lee Min-seok several times over.”

He had originally not offered evening consultations, but now he even extended his hours, determined to accommodate all patients.

I was worried about how he’d manage without staff, but apparently his wife has a nursing license? That was fortunate in many ways.

And then there’s the Seongsu Korean Medicine Clinic Daegu branch, which started this whole situation.

As the branch that primarily operates through Instagram, it saw an influx of patients on a completely different scale compared to the other two branches.

“Our daughter doesn’t seem to have any particular stress, but I don’t know why she can’t sleep and feels so depressed. We even had her quit her job, so now she’s just resting and not doing anything.”

“While the outward symptoms may be similar, there can be various causes. Your daughter is too thin, so she lacks energy overall. For treatment to be effective, her appetite needs to improve, and she needs to gain a bit of weight. Nutrients from food need to reach the brain, and hormones need to normalize.”

“But I don’t want to gain weight…”

“Let’s aim for just 5 kilos. I’ll help you stop at the right point. Your overall health will improve significantly. If you take the medicine, exercise, and gain just 5 kilos, you’ll see a clear improvement in your appearance too.”

“Alright, let’s do as you say, doctor!”

Perhaps due to Hyun Ju-mi’s experience with panic disorder, we saw a particularly high number of patients complaining about mental health issues.

“Can I ask what Park Se-sun took? It was a tonic, right? Please prescribe the same for my father.”

“Patient information is confidential. We need to prescribe a tonic based on your father’s specific symptoms. Is there anything bothering him?”

“It’s not too severe. My son kept insisting I come. I just feel a bit weak and dizzy.”

“I see. Let me ask you some detailed questions. How’s your appetite and digestion…”

We also occasionally saw people interested in the tonics taken by chaebols.

Although we never mentioned anything about dieting, some patients deduced that Park Se-sun had taken diet medicine by comparing her photos from several months ago on Instagram.

“Wow, we prescribed twenty batches of medicine today.”

“This is insane. How can the graph jump like this? Oh, that patient just left a review too!”

Since many of our patients were active on social media, they often left receipt reviews without us having to offer any incentives.

As patient numbers kept growing, the café on the first floor of our building became filled with people waiting for their appointments at our clinic.

But this wasn’t the end of it.

“Oh my, is this all a waiting line?”

Hyun Ju-mi herself appeared at the Daegu branch.

“Wow, can I get your autograph?”

“Sure~. Just a moment, let me check in first!”

Click. Click. Click.

“Hey, don’t take photos while I’m checking in! Everyone, please delete those! I’ll pose for one minute now, so keep the prettiest ones, okay?”

She had already pushed through the crowded people to complete her check-in.

Then she obliged all requests for autographs and photos from patients waiting inside the clinic and in the first-floor café.

“Is there some event going on here?”

“I heard a celebrity came…”

“A celebrity? Who?”

“Looks like Hyun Ju-mi goes to this clinic?”

Naturally, the area in front of the clinic became packed with a mix of waiting patients and people who had just come to see the celebrity.

Patients coming to the Haneul Korean Medicine Clinic in the next block couldn’t help but notice what was happening.

“This way please~ Haneul Korean Medicine Clinic Daegu branch offers 365 days of night consultations~.”

Lee Han-sol tried to attract patients by handing out flyers, but none of the people waiting for Seongsu Korean Medicine Clinic went over there.

They came from far away to see me, after all.

The offline buzz naturally spread online.

Mentions of Seongsu Korean Medicine Clinic started appearing one by one on the mom cafés where Haneul Korean Medicine Clinic had been active.

[Did you see the crowd at Star Café in Dongseongno? I think it’s because SS Korean Medicine Clinic is where Hyun Ju-mi goes?]

└ [Seems so~ I got her autograph while passing by! (photo)]

└ [I heard it’s actually the Busan branch, but that doctor is in Daegu now!]

└ [Really? Should I go before he leaves? I was planning to get a postpartum tonic!]

└ [The main director who’s usually there is good too~. I’ve been getting regular Chuna treatments from Dr. Chu!]

[Does anyone know from what age newborns can take herbal medicine?]

└ [I heard it’s okay after they turn one! Why don’t you call and ask~.]

There were over ten posts mentioning Seongsu Korean Medicine Clinic, with stories about seeing a celebrity and waiting in line to visit the clinic.

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In the midst of this upward trend…

[Guild Leader, I found something interesting!]

Out of the blue, I received a message from Yoon Han-byeol.

He hadn’t logged in once since saying he’d take a break from the game while doing six-day consultations… What’s this about?

Even if there was an update, I don’t have time to play right now.

[If we reveal this, we can definitely send them to rock bottom!]

Yoon Han-byeol sent a screenshot of the advertisement Lee Han-sol had posted on the local café before. Since I had explained the situation to the engineering students from the beginning, it seems he had captured it before it was deleted.

What was he planning to do with this…?

[Twelve accounts took turns slandering, and you can make three IDs per person here. Looking at it closely, it’s Lee Han-sol, his wife, and the two Deputy Directors.]

Yoon Han-byeol then presented several pieces of evidence.

First, Lee Han-sol.

Ridiculously, two of his IDs started with ‘lhs’. Anyone could see they were his initials.

Although he had deleted all the defamatory posts for fear of being sued, there were records from months to years ago where he had answered “Haneul Korean Medicine Clinic” to posts asking for clinic recommendations.

Second, Lee Han-sol’s wife, who had boldly shown her face.

Yoon Han-byeol had googled her nickname and ID to find her real name and alma mater, and somehow tracked down her wedding photos with Lee Han-sol using that personal information.

“…What have you done?”

But it didn’t end there.

The third was the funniest – they hadn’t set the link from their café to their blog as private.

Yoon Han-byeol had spent days commenting on her blog, pretending to be friendly… and succeeded in becoming mutual friends.

[Our director is such an idiot lol. Makes us do all sorts of things.]

And there, plain as day, was content badmouthing Lee Han-sol.

“Let’s reveal it.”

The next day, Yoon Han-byeol dropped a massive meteor on the local café.