Chapter 29

Episode 2

Tremble.

After waiting still for about 1 hour and 30 minutes, Jaeha felt the chairman’s body tremble and tucked the cell phone he’d been watching into his pocket. Then he rose from his seat and approached the chairman.

Carefully gripping the needles with his hand while examining the condition, Jaeha sensed something was off. Keeping his hold on the needles, he channeled his mana into the chairman’s head and began to assess the situation. Before long, Jaeha could tell that the gu poison in his head was going berserk.

‘What the hell. It managed to withstand the power of the Great Cycle Pill? No matter how long the gu poison has been in his head, it endured roughly sixty years’ worth of energy?’

The reason a powerful elixir was needed in this process was to use a large amount of mana to immobilize the gu poison. But right now, the gu poison was overcoming the Great Cycle Pill’s energy, shaking its body little by little as it raged.

“How?”

Waiting a moment while observing the situation, Jaeha realized the reason.

‘I said this person ate the pill I made.’

This man was also the one who had purchased and consumed the Hua Tuo’s pill that Jaeha had first listed at the Auction House, and Herb Gramps had said he’d been giving him Jaeha’s Hua Tuo’s Elixirs from time to time since then.

‘Hua Tuo’s elixir restores vitality—that is, innate true energy. And the gu poison is a gu poison that feeds on that innate true energy to survive. It seems this bastard sucked up all the innate true energy generated by the elixirs and grew stronger.’

With that, Jaeha realized the gu poison’s power was far greater than he’d anticipated. Thinking this wouldn’t do, Jaeha gripped the needles and poured his energy through them, trying to subdue the gu poison. But the gu poison, saturated with innate true energy, couldn’t be easily suppressed.

‘Suppression with raw energy alone is impossible.’

With that thought, Jaeha began to deliberate. If he let the gu poison keep rampaging like this, Chairman Ju’s life couldn’t be guaranteed. Even if he managed to fully subdue the gu poison and save his life, there was a high chance he’d end up a vegetable. Jaeha kept thinking, searching for a way out. Then a window appeared before him.

[If the issue is not resolved within 30 minutes, the secret acupuncture technique will be halted.]

“30 minutes?!”

Since he’d had to wait anyway while the treatment was underway, he’d sat still for about 1 hour and 30 minutes resting. But that time was now coming back to poison him.

‘30 minutes. I have to subdue the gu poison within 30 minutes.’

Jaeha, deep in thought, scoured both his herbcraft and acupuncture knowledge, but couldn’t find anything usable in this situation.

‘15 minutes left now. Damn it! If only I hadn’t been staring at my phone……’

As he agonized, Jaeha’s eyes suddenly flew wide open.

“Right. 15 minutes is enough……”

Jaeha pulled out his cell phone. He immediately opened the MuTube app and started searching for videos. After scrolling through videos for a while, he found one.

‘[Mana Conduction].’

It was a skill used by certain Mages. A skill that transfers one’s mana to a specific object or person, most commonly used to pass mana to others.

However, this skill was mostly used by healers. The reason was that healers’ mana inherently carried healing properties. So hospital-based healers or physician healers would use it to treat illnesses, or when conditions like perforated organs occurred, they’d use Mana Conduction to heal them.

‘What if I use this?’

Jaeha immediately played the video. It was 13 minutes long.

‘It’s a gamble.’

He hesitated for a moment, but then shook his head.

‘There’s nothing else that comes to mind.’

Deciding he had no other option, Jaeha focused on the video. Twelve minutes passed, and the skill was born.

[Mana Conduction]

[Rank: Advanced]

[Transfers mana to another person.]

[Mechanism: Total Ability × 200 (conduction rate)]

[Proficiency: 100%]

After confirming his Proficiency was 100%, Jaeha immediately used the skill. His mana began flowing directly into Chairman Ju’s head.

Starting the Mana Conduction, Jaeha immediately used his mana to search for the gu poison. He checked the time as he did.

[1 minute 32 seconds]

‘Damn it.’

Pouring out his mana as he hunted for the gu poison, Jaeha suddenly checked his remaining mana.

‘At most, I’ve got 10 Ether left.’

To subdue the gu poison, he needed at least 5 Ether. Jaeha’s trait was that of a ranged dealer. That meant his mana carried an offensive nature. No matter how much Origin Energy the gu poison had absorbed, 5 Ether should be enough to kill it.

So Jaeha kept 5 Ether in reserve and poured out the rest of his mana. At the moment when he was precariously down to exactly 5 Ether, Jaeha finally located the gu poison.

‘Found it.’

He immediately poured all 5 Ether into it. But the gu poison flinched—yet didn’t stop moving.

‘A bit short on mana.’

Jaeha checked the time.

[33 seconds]

After a moment’s thought, Jaeha pulled a Summoning Pill from his Inventory and swallowed it on the spot. Then, with less than 10 seconds remaining, he poured every last drop of his mana into the gu poison. With the change in mana volume, the gu poison couldn’t hold out much longer and died. The moment it perished, Jaeha withdrew his hand from the Chairman’s head.

“Hooooo!”

As the gu poison died, Jaeha pulled his hand away and let out a deep breath.

“Damn it.”

He’d succeeded, but the process and the result left him far from satisfied.

* * *

Once the Arcane Acupuncture was finished, Jaeha removed all the needles embedded in Chairman Ju’s head. He gathered them neatly in one place, then channeled the very last remnants of his mana into Chairman Ju’s head.

The Chairman’s eyes opened immediately. He looked at Jaeha without saying much of anything. Feeling his gaze, Jaeha spoke.

“I’ll bring your son in. Please wait a moment.”

Stepping outside, Jaeha looked at Ju Jinryong and Herb Gramps, who had been waiting by the door, and said:

“It’s done. The Chairman is awake. Come in and explain things to him.”

“I— Is that true?!”

Without much of a reply, Jaeha went back into the operating room. Herb Gramps and Ju Jinryong followed him in and found Chairman Ju, having come to his senses, sitting up in bed.

“You crazy bastard. I told you to be careful.”

“I see. I thought my son alone wouldn’t be enough. You helped him.”

“Hmph.”

“Jinryong, how long has it been?”

“It’s been over a month and a half since you last regained consciousness, Father.”

“Is that so. Lying around like that, you lose all sense of time.”

With those words, Chairman Ju slowly rose to his feet.

“My body doesn’t seem to be back to normal yet.”

“The gu poison is dead, but the poison it produced over time likely still remains in your body.”

“I see.”

At Jaeha’s words, the Chairman nodded. Then, looking at Herb Gramps standing before him, he said:

“Ji Cheolmin. Was it this young man who treated me?”

“Yeah.”

“Oh ho. Your name is Ji Cheolmin, Elder?”

“Did I never tell you?”

“No.”

“Well, you know now, so that’s that.”

Watching him brush it off so casually, Jaeha smiled.

“First, I should thank you for treating me. I’m truly grateful.”

“Not at all. I agreed to do this because I’m getting something in return. You don’t need to thank me that much.”

“Work must be rewarded. Tell me what you want.”

“No need. I have something coming to me from Elder Cheolmin.”

“Hm, is that so?”

At that, the Chairman nodded.

“Then I’ll let it go. Can you tell me about my condition?”

“Yes. I’ll keep it brief.”

“That’s fine. It’s already been treated.”

“First, the gu poison that had taken hold of your brain is dead.”

“Gu poison. Is it the one I know of?”

“Yes. The gu poison in your brain is completely dead, but your body won’t be back to normal yet. The gu poison has been causing all sorts of mischief throughout your body all this time.”

“My body doesn’t obey me well, but at least my mind is clear. That’s a relief.”

“And don’t go eating all sorts of things to try to improve your condition.”

“Why?”

“It’s true the gu poison is dead, but the gu poison’s corpse still remains inside your brain.”

“Oh? Is that so?”

“Yes. And the amount of energy the gu poison has been draining from you all this time is beyond imagination. It took real effort to suppress it. More than half of the energy the gu poison absorbed has likely already been converted into poison, but about half of it should still remain in that body.”

“In the corpse?”

“Yes. And as time passes, energy will leak out from the gu poison’s corpse. That energy will seep through your brain and into your body.”

“Oh? How fascinating.”

“So please, just avoid taking any other medicine that might interfere with absorbing the energy the gu poison holds. The energy the gu poison feeds on is innate true qi — the purest and most powerful energy in the world.”

“I see. Understood.”

“Haha. Never thought I’d see the day Father listens to a doctor this well.”

“Well, this young man doesn’t seem to be a doctor, for one. And even if he were, a doctor capable of eliminating a gu poison from someone’s brain is someone whose words deserve to be trusted.”

“Yes. You’re absolutely right.”

“I’ll prepare some medicine or a prescription for you later.”

“Then I’d be much obliged.”

“There’s still a great deal of poison left in your body, sir. So please refrain from strenuous activity.”

“Why? If there’s poison in the body, shouldn’t you exercise or do something to cure it?”

“That poison was created by the gu poison specifically to suit your body. It’s the most effective and efficient poison for killing you.”

“I see.”

“So there’s no need to move around actively and let the poison seep deeper into your system. At most, the gu poison’s energy will spread through your body within a few days. Once that happens, the poison will all disappear as well. Just stay in bed for a few days. At most, it should take anywhere from two weeks to a month.”

“Understood.”

“Then I’ll be on my way.”

“Leaving already?”

“I have…… something I need to take care of.”

“Hmm. I see.”

At that, Jaeha spoke with a smile.

“Once you’re feeling better, please reach out to me through Elder Cheolmin. I’ll make you some medicine that’s good for your health.”

“I look forward to it.”

“Then I’ll take my leave.”

With that, Jaeha stepped out of the operating room.