The Physician of Traditional Medicine Returns from Murim

“Yeowon, it’s too heavy! Put it down and start with a lighter weight…”

“Member! You’ll hurt yourself!”

I lowered my body with 100kg resting on my shoulders. I confirmed in the mirror that I had achieved a proper squat position, bending my knees to a right angle.

I had thought I could lift it effortlessly, but I felt a strong engagement in my posterior chain muscles – lower back, glutes, and hamstrings. It was heavier than I had anticipated.

Nevertheless, straightening my knees and lifting my body was entirely manageable.

“Hah!”

I rose slowly.

“Quickly, put it down… Huh?!”

“Y-you lifted it?”

Jeon Yong-jun’s face contorted, his anxious cries cut short.

Ah, I should have put it down immediately after testing my one-rep max.

Clang!

I lifted the barbell powerfully and placed it back on the rack.

“How…”

“How was my form? It was good, right?”

“Uh, ah, um.”

I asked Jeon Yong-jun, but he who had offered to check my form could only gape, his mouth opening and closing like a fish.

Was it really that surprising? I’ve seen women lifting 500kg for the big three on YouTube. Of course, their visible muscles were impressive, but still.

I’ve trained in external techniques, so I should be able to lift at least this much! The Flying Dagger style emphasizes agility, so I didn’t bulk up excessively, but what kind of martial artist would I be if I couldn’t even lift 100kg?

“I guess you didn’t get a good look. I’ll add 20kg and try again.”

I loaded plates on both sides and resumed my position.

Then I performed the squat with ease.

“Huh, huh…”

Jeon Yong-jun was still unable to hide his astonishment, but unlike before, I could clearly feel his gaze scrutinizing my form.

“What kind of training have you done? Your body doesn’t look like that of a powerlifter…”

“It’s… kendo, but my master had me do various types of training.”

I played it cool as always.

Back in my prime, I did all sorts of things. Running with heavy bracelets, moving stones.

I used to wonder why I had to do such things when my needles barely weighed anything, but they all proved useful in actual combat situations.

“I see…”

“I’ll add another 10kg.”

“…Alright. Your form is flawless.”

I eventually lifted 130kg in the squat.

I felt I could lift a bit more if I pushed myself, but I needed to be cautious since it had been a while since I’d lifted heavy weights.

I proceeded to perform deadlifts and bench presses.

For the deadlift, 170kg. The bench press fell just short at 110kg.

410 in total. Hmm, I’m sure I could have managed 600 easily in my prime.

Had I neglected my external technique training too much since returning to the modern world?

“You’re truly remarkable… With skills like these, you could teach your employees yourself…”

“Oh, come on! That’s too much praise. It’s best to learn properly from a professional!”

While Jeon Yong-jun expressed his admiration, Hwang Sang-hoon was in a daze, absently stroking the weight plates.

I appreciated Jeon Yong-jun’s compliments, but if I were to drag ordinary people into my routine, they’d all perish. We definitely needed someone who could build a proper foundation for each skill level.

“Come on, if you work hard, you can lift like me too. Start giving it your all from today!”

“Uh… okay… I’ll do my best.”

After encouraging Hwang Sang-hoon, I said,

“Please start his lessons from today. Well then, I’ll be going now~”

I left the gym, leaving behind the two men who still couldn’t close their mouths.

I planned to head to the mountains to train my external techniques while I was at it.

“Do you really think I can do it too?”

I faintly heard Hwang Sang-hoon asking Jeon Yong-jun as I left.

Of course you can! You have to!

To see 100 patients a day and boost our revenue, stamina is essential!

◆◇◆◇◆

A few days after Hwang Sang-hoon started work.

At a community center in Busan.

It had been quite a while since Heo Soon-nam had visited this place, as she had so many regular haunts.

“Oh my! My back!”

Of course, it wasn’t Heo Soon-nam who cried out in pain.

Her back was as good as new since meeting Doctor Han Yeowon.

“My whole body aches even though it’s not raining. Oh, the pain!”

The one beating her back and complaining loudly was Kim Ok-soon, the most vocal of the community center regulars.

“Why are you carrying on like that? Go to the Korean medicine clinic and get some acupuncture.”

“I went yesterday! If a few needle pricks could cure it, I’d have been better long ago! What can you expect at 70, tsk…”

“Still, go! If you keep getting treatments, it’ll get better!”

Her friend, Yoo Mal-ja, recommended visiting the Korean medicine clinic, but Kim Ok-soon insisted it was useless, continuously writhing in pain.

“Where do you go? Why don’t you try Seongsu Korean Medicine Clinic where I go?”

Heo Soon-nam, who had been quietly listening and updating herself on local news, spoke up.

She wouldn’t have interfered for any other topic, but once the Korean medicine clinic was mentioned, she couldn’t hold back.

Heo Soon-nam felt a sort of mission to inform everyone she met about Director Han Yeowon’s greatness.

“Nah, it’s too much trouble. I went to a clinic yesterday, so I’ll go again in three days or so.”

“Why wait three days? Just go every day!”

“Are you talking about that clinic again? Is it really that good?”

Kim Ok-soon waved her hand dismissively, but Son Chun-ja, who had been checking her reflection on her phone, showed interest.

“Have I mentioned it before?”

Heo Soon-nam had promoted it endlessly at her regular dance classes, swimming lessons, and hiking groups, but she didn’t recall mentioning it at the community center. It had been quite a while since she’d visited.

“You have. But we all have our own places we go to, so we haven’t tried it yet.”

“Then you should go quickly! Can’t you see how straight my back is now?”

Heo Soon-nam stood up abruptly, proudly showing off her straightened back.

Her curved spine due to spinal stenosis had always been a source of insecurity, but now she couldn’t express how joyful it was to dance with such a wonderfully straight back.

“It is quite remarkable.”

“Still, how can you go there every day? It takes forever just to get up there.”

“I might give it a try later. I wonder if it could help my shoulder too?”

“Come on, why go all the way there when you have your regular place?”

“That’s true. Wouldn’t the doctor I usually see treat me better?”

The responses came in order from Kim Ok-soon, Yoo Mal-ja, Oh Young-sook, Son Chun-ja, and then Kim Ok-soon again.

“No, I’m telling you, the place I go is really different!”

Heo Soon-nam strongly recommended Seongsu Korean Medicine Clinic, but the four women remained skeptical.

It was understandable, as they hadn’t really known how much pain Heo Soon-nam had been in or how curved her back had been to begin with.

“Come to think of it, I heard they got a handsome young Korean medicine doctor there.”

Just as the conversation was becoming frustrating, Kim Deok-bae, Heo Soon-nam’s boyfriend and another community center regular, chimed in. All four women turned their heads, focusing their attention.

“Really?”

The first to react was Son Chun-ja, the only one in the group wearing makeup and a dress.

“Ah, right. Our Doctor hired a new doctor because she’s been healing patients so well that the clinic is overflowing. Has it been about two weeks since he started?”

“So is he really handsome?”

“He was quite tall and good-looking.”

“You should have led with that!”

Son Chun-ja, who had been the most disinterested, did a complete 180.

Why on earth was the appearance of a male doctor young enough to be their grandson so important?

“Let’s go right now.”

Despite all of Heo Soon-nam’s recommendations falling on deaf ears, they suddenly jumped up and rushed to the shoe rack at the mention of a handsome male doctor.

“Shall we? I was planning to go later anyway. My shoulder and arm have been aching a bit.”

“You all should come too. What else are you going to do just sitting around?”

“Well, my back has been hurting all this time… Let’s go, let’s go!”

“If we’re all going together, call a taxi! My knees hurt too much to walk all the way there!”

Oh Young-sook, Kim Ok-soon, and Yoo Mal-ja all agreed.

Heo Soon-nam was about to say something, dumbfounded.

“Just let it be.”

But Kim Deok-bae stopped her.

His logic was that Doctor Han Yeowon wouldn’t mind new patients coming in, regardless of the reason.

After all, it would be better if these women, each with at least one ailment, got better.

In the end, Heo Soon-nam, while lamenting what kind of people these were, reluctantly joined the taxi that Son Chun-ja had called.

She had been planning to go to the clinic with Kim Deok-bae anyway.

And so, four more names were added to the list of patients referred by Heo Soon-nam.

◆◇◆◇◆

“Heo Soon-nam-nim~ Hello~”

The sound of Seol Yu-hee’s cheerful greeting came from the reception desk.

Grandma Heo Soon-nam was a regular patient well known to Hwang Sang-hoon too.

He had only had one chance to treat her, but she had criticized him for not being as good as Han Yeowon.

It was an undeniable fact, so he hadn’t taken it personally.

‘She’ll be seeing Yeowon.’

Although it had been two weeks since he started seeing patients after getting the job, he still wasn’t fully adjusted.

He tensed up every time a patient checked in at the reception desk, only relaxing when he confirmed they were Han Yeowon’s patients.

“Hello~”

“Oh my, the interior here is so clean and nice!”

“Do we register here? The four of us are first-time patients!”

“It’s not as big as the place I usually go to.”

“Don’t you have massage chairs? Or those vibrating machines you lie on?”

Four new patients?

Hwang Sang-hoon, who had relaxed upon hearing Heo Soon-nam’s name, immediately sat up straight.

On days when they worked together, they split new patients equally. Unless specifically requested otherwise, referrals were also distributed, so he was likely to see two of them.

‘They seem like difficult patients. Will it be okay?’

Coming in and talking loudly, comparing with other clinics… They appeared to be quite challenging patients. Han Yeowon could handle any type skillfully, but Hwang Sang-hoon’s shoulders tensed involuntarily.

“I’ll register you in order. We have two directors, so two of you will see the male director…”

“Me and Deok-bae will see Doctor Han as usual, and please register these four with Director Hwang.”

Suddenly, a thunderbolt of a statement came from outside.

They were Grandma Heo Soon-nam’s referrals, yet they weren’t all seeing Han Yeowon together, but him? Specifically?

“You’ll have to wait a bit, is that okay?”

“That’s fine!”

“We have plenty of time~”

“My back is killing me, can I go first?”

“Yes, if you’ll just sit down for a moment, one by one…”

“No need. Why wait? Let’s all go in together!”

Seol Yu-hee couldn’t control them.

If it had been less busy, Han Yeowon might have come out to mediate, but she was in the treatment room administering acupuncture.

[I’ll see them all at once.]

There was no choice.

Hwang Sang-hoon instructed via messenger to let them all in at once.

They seemed ready to barge in regardless. It was burdensome, but it seemed better than continually putting the staff in a difficult position by insisting on following the system.

“Then I’ll show you all in together.”

Heo Soon-nam and her boyfriend went to the treatment room, while the four new patients entered Hwang Sang-hoon’s consultation room all at once.

“Yoo Mal-ja-nim, please sit here first, and the rest of you, please wait on the sofa for a moment.”

“Oh my, am I going first?”

Hwang Sang-hoon called the name of the first patient who had registered and pointed to the chair beside his desk.

The women, who had been loud at the reception desk about who would go first and what hurt, now followed Hwang Sang-hoon’s instructions as meekly as lambs.

‘I guess this is the authority of a doctor’s coat.’

All four grandmas quietly gazed at Hwang Sang-hoon’s face.

He regained his composure and was able to start the consultation calmly. If they stayed like this, he felt he could treat them well.

“Yoo Mal-ja-nim, what brings you in today?”

“Ah, I came because my knees hurt. It was hard even getting up here.”

“How long have you been experiencing discomfort?”

“35 years? No, it’s been 37 years!”

“Was there any injury or incident that you think might have caused it?”

“There was! My mother-in-law used to drag me to a temple up in the mountains, and that’s how it started. Back then, the monk said…”

But as Yoo Mal-ja began the 37-year saga of her knee pain, Hwang Sang-hoon started to feel overwhelmed.

“…Back then, walking on flat ground was still okay, but as I got older, my knees started aching more and more, and walking became difficult. Eventually, I had surgery on my right knee 15 years ago. The doctor said if my left knee lasted 5 more years, it would be doing well, but I’ve just been living with the pain, saying it hurts, it hurts, because I don’t want surgery!”

“We even took a taxi here today because of this sister, didn’t we?”

“Please treat her well. Nothing else has worked, but we came here as a last resort after hearing how good this place is.”

“You’re so handsome, I’m sure you’re an excellent doctor too. I’m putting all my trust in you, Director!”

To treat knee pain that no one had been able to cure for 37 years.

It was Han Yeowon who had treated Grandma Heo Soon-nam’s back, yet for some reason, they were asking this of him.

But they certainly weren’t doing this to torment him.

The four grandmas were looking at Hwang Sang-hoon with eyes full of expectation.

Hwang Sang-hoon nodded with a gentle smile.

“Of course. I’ll treat you well.”

And in his mind, he desperately called out to someone.

‘Yeowon… save me…’