The Physician of Traditional Medicine Returns from Murim

My connection with Seo In-ae began when I took over the current Korean medicine clinic.

Of the two nurse’s aides who worked under the previous director, one left, and Seo In-ae alone decided to stay.

“You want me to arrive by 6:30 AM? That’s perfect. I’ve always felt the morning hours were wasted.”

Come to think of it, she wasn’t ordinary from the start, was she?

When I first opened the clinic, I was burning with an abnormally high level of enthusiasm, and I thought she was just a typically passionate person.

‘Normal and passionate aren’t words that typically go together.’

Seo In-ae worked with extreme diligence.

She would arrive precisely at 6:29:59, change into her uniform, finish cleaning, and greet me.

After preparing everything in advance, she would leave like the wind at 17:00:01.

‘Up to this point, she seemed like a typical Gen Z.’

While she responded very formally when addressed about non-work-related matters, in the professional realm, she excelled in everything from daily accounting to managing toilet paper inventory.

As she made it abundantly clear that she had no desire to become friendly with me, her employer, I didn’t make any particular effort to close the distance either.

Her older sister was apparently smoking with her coworkers at the Korean medicine clinic where she worked, and Hwang Seoyoung seemed to get along very well with her colleagues too.

I wasn’t as sociable as them, and I was the type who didn’t mind working with people I wasn’t close to.

After all, I had over ten college classmates whose faces I couldn’t match to their names.

Until now, we had been content with our appropriately distant relationship.

“Think of it as an all-you-can-eat! Order whatever you like! What do you prefer? Sirloin? Ribeye?”

However, now that my interest was piqued, everything changed.

My master once said that my competitive spirit was a bit excessive. It’s good to be persistent in treating patients, but if that obsession veers off in a strange direction, it becomes unmanageable.

But regardless of what anyone says, once I set my mind to something, I act on it.

Me? I even managed to bring together the Murim Alliance Lord and the Heavenly Demon for a summit meeting!

How could I not befriend one person?

“Really? Then I’ll have the striploin.”

I spared no effort – using an employer’s power and money – to win Seo In-ae’s favor.

First, I brought her to a Korean beef restaurant, plied her with delicious food to lower her guard.

“Is work difficult? I’m sorry I haven’t been able to pay much attention.”

“Not at all. You don’t pressure me at all, and working alone is comfortable. There haven’t been any difficult customers yet either.”

“This clinic was your first job before I took over, right?”

“As a nurse’s aide, yes. Before that, I worked in a factory for a few months.”

“Oh~”

“Shall we order a beer? Do you like alcohol?”

“I’m quite good at drinking.”

I didn’t hesitate to engage in drinking and singing, activities I usually avoided.

“Karaoke? I’d prefer somewhere with a wider variety of drinks.”

“What would you like? Whiskey? Wine? Sake? Let’s order them all!”

The company dinner proceeded in a very convivial atmosphere. Somehow, we ended up going to a third round, and I found myself following Seo In-ae into a quiet bar.

And then, the inevitable progression.

We drank a lot. A whole lot.

Drinking. Eating. More drinking.

I could have secretly used my inner force to neutralize the alcohol, but faces need to redden and tongues need to slur for guards to truly come down.

“Actually, I have a second job…”

“Oh my, do you have debts?”

I drank baijiu in similar quantities to Seo In-ae, or perhaps a bit more.

“No, hic- that’s not it.”

“Then… you just want to earn more money?”

This is getting a bit dangerous. My tongue was starting to slur.

Seo In-ae shook her head.

After a brief pause, she suddenly slapped the table.

“Huuuh. You’re a silver spoon, aren’t you, Doctor? You’ll never understand how I feel!”

“I have debts too~. I barely managed to pay my tuition by tutoring throughout school!”

“Eh… really?”

Honestly, from this point on, things deviated from my initial plan.

Somehow, I found myself rambling about losing my parents early, growing up mistreated at my aunt’s house, and leaving home empty-handed as soon as I got into university.

“Sob, I was, really. In college. So miserable. Some people’s grandfathers owned multiple hospitals, and others were offering ten-million-won bottles of alcohol!”

Her reaction to my heartfelt story was:

“But how can you run a business like this?!”

She got angry.

Did she think I was running the clinic as a hobby until now? I’m 100% doing this for a living, you know?

If I had money! Well… I’d still practice medicine. But much deeper in the mountains.

“Aren’t you barely avoiding a deficit? Paying rent, my salary, and using top-quality herbs even though acupuncture needles aren’t that expensive!”

“Come on, our patient numbers are growing. It’ll be bustling in no time.”

“I can tell you’re an incredible doctor. If you’d taken out a bigger loan and opened a clinic in front of the station, you could be making millions a month!”

“You have a point.”

Given that she tried to hide the Smart Store management screen, she must be running a business, right?

She had a much keener sense of economics than me, who had lived outside the capitalist system for 20 years.

“By the way, what’s your second job?”

I asked, downing another shot.

I was itching to ask about the vending machine, but I started by carefully steering the conversation back.

“Ah, about that…”

“We don’t have a non-compete clause in our contract, so what’s the problem?”

“To be precise, it’s not a second job, but a four… no, now it’s a five-job situation.”

“…Pardon?”

For a moment, I was at a loss for words, my mouth hanging open.

“Well, honestly, even though you’ve raised my salary significantly, there’s a limit to what a nurse’s aide can earn. I need to buy a house, a car, and prepare for retirement.”

Sufficiently drunk, Seo In-ae continued her story without needing any prompting from me.

“So I started with a night shift at a convenience store after the clinic. But even with 1.5 times the salary, it was still far from enough. So I wondered how I could earn more money, and while watching NewTube, I saw that Smart Stores were trending. I started one right away.”

Oh… oh… Her execution skills are no joke.

“I started a blog for promotion, and as I got into it, I became interested in ad revenue and grew it a bit. Once I saved some money, I began studying real estate auctions, and the people I met there were running share houses and vending machines.”

“I see…”

“As luck would have it, there was a public auction for the high school right in front of our workplace, so I thought I’d try installing a vending machine. I bid and unexpectedly won.”

What on earth am I hearing?

I never imagined she was living such an industrious life.

Not just an ordinary Gen Z, but what do you call it, a multi-job worker?

“I thought I’d just need to restock a few times after work, but the students eat more snacks than I expected. Hehe…”

“So your five jobs are the clinic, convenience store, blog, share house, and vending machine?”

“I’m not doing the share house yet. Still looking into it!”

“Then what’s the last one?”

“NewTube. I’ve just reached 500 subscribers! Just a bit more watch time and I’ll meet the monetization requirements!”

Seo In-ae sprang up from her seat and played a video.

So her NewTube channel was still in its infancy.

The NewTubers that appeared in my algorithm during my unemployed days had at least 100,000 subscribers as a baseline.

“There’s nothing that really grabs attention. I have many multi-job subscribers on my blog, but their occasional views aren’t enough.”

Something to grab attention, huh.

Before I knew it, I found myself brainstorming NewTube ideas with Seo In-ae.

She had videos about a multi-job worker’s daily vlog, reviews of her past part-time jobs and workplaces, nurse’s aide exam preparation, and how to start a vending machine business, but most had only double-digit views. The occasional spike barely surpassed a thousand views.

“Hmm.”

Was I too drunk?

“Want me to show you something interesting? Pick up the camera.”

I just wanted to be of some small help to Seo In-ae.

She’s close to reaching 3,000 hours of watch time in a year, right?

“Huh? Are you going to show me a magic trick?”

“Something like that.”

From end to end of the bar, it’s probably about 3 sections… 10 meters? That’s too small.

“Let’s go outside.”

The park was right outside anyway, and there were hardly any people around.

“That’s perfect!”

There was a statue of a peeing boy on an unused fountain.

I ran in the opposite direction, moving busily.

“Keep filming over there~”

First, I ripped open all the acupuncture needle packets I had and tucked them into my sleeve.

Thicker needles would have been better, but… burning a bit of inner force should do the trick, right? Hehe.

“Zoom out! Just enough to barely see my hands! Okay?”

“Okay~!”

Though she had no idea what I was about to do, she obediently held up her smartphone.

No people around, good target.

Good thing I always carry a handful of needles in my bag!

Excitedly, I threw a needle towards the center of the fountain.

“Wow!”

It lodged precisely in the center of the statue’s forehead.

Before Seo In-ae’s exclamation had even ended, I had ten needles between my fingers.

“That’s amazing!”

The thoroughly drunk Seo In-ae cheered me on. Encouraged by her excitement, I threw all ten at once.

The hidden weapons… no, the needles I threw traced a perfect arc in the air.

They embedded themselves in order along the Ren meridian, piercing through the center of the body.

Thwack!

Every single one, without fail. Simultaneously.

From then on, I mixed various types of needles of different sizes. Placing a long needle in the center, dozens of needles scattered around it, forming a flower pattern.

“Uh, uh, uh…!?”

Whoosh!

A speed that Seo In-ae’s eyes couldn’t follow.

“How… is this… possible?!”

Worried that the extremely thin needles might not show up on camera, I actually let my inner force glow green.

Using the Shadowless Blood Poison Step, I circled the fountain, scattering dozens, hundreds of needles that shattered the laws of physics. The needles flew in impossible trajectories.

The flowers that bloomed from my hands danced to their own rhythms as they ascended, then fell like rain with perfect timing.

“…Incredible! What is this? The Rain of Ten Thousand Flowers from webtoons?”

TN: I believe this is a reference to mahwa called “Master Villainess the Invincible!” .See ch. 59 of the mahwa.

You read martial arts webtoons despite being so busy?

Hehe, how could one not be amazed at the sight of needles striking all 365 acupoints of the human body?

Seo In-ae clapped her hands in delight.

“Ah, I can’t reveal secret techniques to outsiders. Let’s call it 20% Rain of Ten Thousand Flowers?”

“I see!”

Amazing, wonderful, where did you learn that, how can needles pierce stone?

Seo In-ae showered me with praise and chattered on.

What did I say in response?

Coincidentally, I couldn’t remember.

“We’re close now, right? From tomorrow, we’ll chat more?”

“Of course! We’re totally besties! You’re the best, boss!”

All that remained in my head were blurry shapes and voices.

◆◇◆◇◆

“Ugh, I drank way too much…”

Seo In-ae, who lived in a gosiwon to save money, woke up with her upper body draped over the toilet.

TN: Gosiwon (Korean: 고시원) are a kind of single room occupancy class of building found in South Korea. Originally designed for students preparing to take exams, they are characterized by low rent, shared bathrooms and kitchens, and very limited private space.

How did I get home?

Did the doctor bring me? Oh no, did I tell the doctor everything about living here and working multiple jobs?

“You’ve lost it, Seo In-ae!”

She cried out, slapping both cheeks with her hands.

Even if she was drunk, how could she have spilled all that information? What boss would be happy to hear that their employee has side jobs?

‘I won’t get fired, will I? There’s no other job as sweet as this one.’

Where else could she find a place that pays well for long hours while allowing so much free time for other work in between?

Seo In-ae washed her face, worrying about what to say on Monday.

‘I should say something…’

It feels odd to apologize outright. An excuse? Hmm…

As she tapped her fingers, pondering what to say, she unconsciously pressed the ‘+’ icon in the bottom left corner.

“Huh?”

And she discovered something strange.

“What’s this video?”

There was a video on her phone that she had no memory of recording.