CLS-Chapter 98

Chapter 98

Ha Dae-bung had precisely hit the blind spot that physicians possessed. Jin So-ah was the same—physicians were all single-mindedly obsessed with improving their own medical skills.

This was because of their belief that if their medical skills were high, patients would naturally come to them.

However, most patients didn’t want a divine physician with high medical skills, but rather just sought a trustworthy doctor.

While it would be nice to entrust one’s body to a divine physician with high medical skills, that would naturally cost a lot of money, and most patients didn’t have enough money to lavishly spend on physicians.

Therefore, if one promoted a reasonably trustworthy reputation and affordable treatment fees, patients would inevitably gather.

Ha Dae-bung’s perspective of viewing a clinic not as a sacred place for healing people, but as a business, had won out.

“Now we just need to stabilize things.”

“What particular trouble could there be? I’ll do my best.”

“Well, who knows. Perhaps robbers might break in tonight.”

“Haha, surely not.”

Wei Yan-ho smiled brightly.

***

“Why isn’t there a single patient today!”

U-myeong, the owner of the Sacred Hand Hall, raged as he looked at the completely empty courtyard.

It had already been more than a shijin since they started treatment, but having no customers at all was a first since opening.

“Th-that is…”

One physician flinched at the scolding and opened his mouth.

“A new clinic opened across the street. Today is their opening day, so everyone flocked over there…”

“What?”

Blood vessels bulged on U-myeong’s face.

“A new clinic opened? You just stood by and watched this happen!”

“It happened so quickly…”

“You idiots!”

U-myeong groaned.

“Even so, for all the patients to flock there! Does this make any sense?”

“The newly opened clinic calls itself Sacred Hand Hall.”

“Sacred Hand Hall?”

U-myeong muttered “Oh no.”

“There’s no Sacred Hand Hall master, so how can there be a Sacred Hand Hall? What on earth is going on?”

“That young son of the Sacred Hand Hall is said to have opened the clinic.”

“Grrrr.”

U-myeong waved his hand.

“Cold water! First bring me a cup of cold water!”

“Yes!”

U-myeong gulped down the cool water the servant brought and sat on the wooden floor.

“Sacred Hand Hall…”

Although they too were cleverly using the name Sacred Hand Hall, if the real one had returned, it made sense that people would flock there.

“This is why I said to crush them thoroughly!”

Everything had been going well since they made the Sacred Hand Hall master fall into gambling addiction and ruined the Sacred Hand Hall, but who knew problems would grow this way.

“What should we do?”

“What do you mean what should we do.”

No matter what methods they used, there was no way a fake could compete with the real thing. Moreover, having used their monopolistic position to earn quite a bit of resentment, even at the same price, far more people would seek out the real Sacred Hand Hall.

“This is a task entrusted by the young master. If something happens while the young master is away, everything will become my responsibility.”

“But isn’t there no way? If we had known in advance, we could have somehow prevented it with money, but now that’s impossible too.”

“Hmm, it’s tragic.”

“…Pardon?”

“For the young physician of the Sacred Hand Hall that barely got back on its feet to die a tragic death from robbers who broke in last night—how tragic is that? Make sure to give generous condolence money at the funeral.”

The physician bowed his head and answered.

“I’ll ensure those who suffered misfortune won’t feel slighted.”

“Yes, that’s what makes one human.”

U-myeong smiled brightly.

***

“Oh, I’m dying.”

Jin So-ah sprawled out on the bed.

“Oh, I’m really dying.”

The number of patients he saw today seemed to easily exceed a hundred. Rather than patients rushing in as soon as he sent one out, the next patient would come in and wait while he was still seeing the current one, making his heart pound and cold sweat break out all over his body.

“You’ve worked hard, Hall Master.”

Ha Dae-bung was constantly smiling, seeming very pleased about something.

“…Will this many people come tomorrow too?”

“About a hundred people left without receiving treatment because it got too late today. They’ll come rushing back in the morning, so you should rest in advance.”

“Oh my.”

Jin So-ah’s eyes rolled back.

“I have to keep doing this?”

“After about half a month, the crowd will thin out somewhat. Right now, patients who aren’t that sick are also flocking here because of the reputation, but later those kinds of patients should decrease somewhat.”

“Are-are clinics originally like this? The physicians I knew seemed more leisurely…”

“They were well-fed.”

At Ha Dae-bung’s cold words, Jin So-ah shuddered.

“But-but you’re saying that after half a month, things will become somewhat easier.”

“That’s not the case.”

“Why not?”

“When patients decrease, we’ll have to reduce physicians too. The foundation of all business is investment and economy. We’ve made all the investments we need to, so when patients decrease, we must reduce physicians to cut labor costs. In conclusion, the number of patients the Hall Master must see won’t decrease.”

Ha Dae-bung’s words boring into his ears gripped Jin So-ah’s heart.

“Urgh.”

Watching Jin So-ah, who half-fainted and collapsed, Ha Dae-bung smiled slightly and went outside.

“More patients are flocking here than expected.”

Though it was a business plan he had devised, the response exceeded his expectations. This meant there were that many people who hadn’t received proper treatment.

If things continued this way, it would be good, but the physicians could become overloaded right now.

“Hey, is anyone there?”

“Yes, General Manager!”

“Tell the pharmacy manager to prepare tonics for the physicians to consume. Tell him to spare no expense with the ingredients.”

“Understood.”

“They can’t collapse.”

Ha Dae-bung chuckled.

Each one was like a gold nugget earning money. He absolutely couldn’t watch such people collapse without earning money.

Somehow squeeze them out…

“What kind of bastards are these!”

“Huh?”

When he turned his head toward where the sound came from, he saw a group of people in black night clothes jumping over the wall and entering. Their appearance—holding swords in one hand and wearing night clothes—clearly indicated they weren’t jumping over the wall with good intentions.

“Grrrr…”

Seeing that scene, Ha Dae-bung sighed deeply and took out a money pouch from his sleeve.

“One nyang.”

“Grrrr.”

Ha Dae-bung opened the money pouch, took out one nyang of silver, and threw it toward the roof.

Thump.

A hand reached out from beyond the roof and grabbed the glittering silver.

“See, I told you they’d come today.”

“Grr, I thought it would take at least three days, but they’re too impatient.”

Don’t they know the saying “know yourself and your enemy, and you’ll never be defeated”? If you’re going to attack an opponent, you should at least investigate them first!

What general who just charged in yelling “attack” without thinking was ever successful?

“Grr.”

Normally, even when infiltrating, wouldn’t one secretly infiltrate or attack after people had fallen asleep? Seeing them openly jump over the wall while people were still moving around the courtyard, he could tell how impatient they were.

Or perhaps they planned not to leave a single person alive inside tonight.

“Since you predicted it, you must have prepared for it too.”

Wei Yan-ho jumped down from the roof.

“Hehe.”

Wei Yan-ho, who had slightly lowered his head, began to laugh.

“How dare they try to touch my source of income!”

Wei Yan-ho’s eyes blazed with fire.

Just how much had he invested in this business, and they were trying to mess with it from the very first day?

“Didn’t those bastards even hear about the Golden Flower Hall incident?”

Ha Dae-bung shook his head.

The ones who had jumped over the wall saw Ha Dae-bung and Wei Yan-ho standing there and spoke ominously.

“Hehe, today is tragic…”

At that moment, Wei Yan-ho grabbed a broom and charged at the masked men.

“Ah, wait! You should give them a chance to speak!”

Not happening.

“Oh dear.”

Ha Dae-bung clicked his tongue.

If what was flying up there in the sky were birds, it would have been a beautiful sight, but since they were people, it couldn’t help but be a tragic sight.

Having demonstrated the miracle of making wingless humans fly through the sky, Wei Yan-ho was now demonstrating the miracle of making humans—not hoops—roll across the ground at tremendous speed.

“Kyaaaaaah!”

Good sound.

Ha Dae-bung had no choice but to contemplate what humanity really was as he watched the feast of humans rolling wildly across the ground, leaping into the sky, and constantly crashing into walls.

“…They should have gathered information before coming.”

If they had known that Wei Yan-ho had single-handedly defeated the Black Paper Workshop, they wouldn’t have dared to think of jumping over the wall of the Sacred Hand Hall where Wei Yan-ho was.

“Well, I suppose.”

That’s not something that would come out even if investigated.

While Wei Yan-ho’s rampage at the Golden Flower Hall became known as the “Golden Flower Hall Incident” and became a famous story in Hubei, since no one directly witnessed the Black Paper Workshop’s collapse, it wasn’t known to be Wei Yan-ho’s doing.

So perhaps it was inevitable.

However, it was only heartbreaking that they couldn’t wait even one day and came jumping over the wall tonight, causing Ha Dae-bung’s precious silver nyang to fly away.

“Kyah!”

“When the last night infiltrator let out a strange scream and fell, Ha Dae-bung shook his head and approached Wei Yan-ho.”

“…You’ve worked hard.”

“How dare they!”

Seeing Wei Yan-ho filled with anger made him feel somewhat sad. This gentleman who usually hated even stirring slightly was so quick when money was involved, making him inevitably contemplate what humanity really was.

“Urrr…”

Wei Yan-ho grabbed the head of the night infiltrator he had laid out in front.

“Ow ow ow! Hair, hair!”

“Huh? This mask won’t come off?”

“Hair! Hair! You grabbed my hair, ow ow!”

“Uh, it’s not working well?”

“I’ll take it off! I’ll take it off!”

“…Why are you getting angry?”

When Wei Yan-ho, slightly sulking, stepped back, the masked man grabbed his mask, tore it off, and threw it on the ground.

“We meet again?”

“…Do you know me?”

“I’ve seen you once before, Sacred Hand Hall Master.”

“Grr.”

Sacred Hand Hall Master U-myeong collapsed heavily on the ground, thinking everything was ruined. This monster-like fellow had made all the martial artists he had carefully cultivated unable to even serve as a single guard, rolling on the ground.

The guy who went up to the sky to look at the moon earlier—it was questionable whether he’d even be able to walk on his own feet in the future.

“We are…”

“Ah, never mind.”

Wei Yan-ho yawned extensively and waved his hand.

“I’m not particularly curious about what circumstances or who sent you.”

“Still, it would be proper to explain this…”

“Never mind. I’ve contacted the authorities, so go get investigated there. That’s the authorities’ job, not mine.”

The servants tied up U-myeong, who had become like a mute who ate honey, tightly with rope.

“This roughly wraps things up.”

“You’ve worked hard.”

Ha Dae-bung and Wei Yan-ho looked at each other and smiled. Now all that remained was to sweep up all the money in Hubei.

“But even with all this commotion, he’s not waking up?”

“…He must be taking after the Grand Hall Master.”

Wei Yan-ho clicked his tongue looking at the firmly closed door of the Hall Master’s room that wouldn’t open.

Jin So-ah was deeply asleep in his dreams, unaware of anything.