“To have the ability to know what kind of person someone is at a glance.”
Elder Oh looked at his right hand.
A hand that had touched weapons throughout his life. If you looked closely, you could figure out what kind of weapon the person wielded. But grasping that in an instant was an entirely different matter.
Is it impossible? No. It’s possible. However, it’s definitely in the realm of genius that surpasses the ordinary.
“Je-gal Seol-lok. The protagonist of the Je-gal family that Ho Pil thinks about…!”
What kind of protagonist has Ho Pil created? Elder Oh, unable to calm his racing heart, turned the page.
“A prediction that guests would flock to my medical office just by setting it up turned out to be completely wrong.”
“In the life-and-death battlefield, who cares if your eyes are black or white? However, an immature little brat, who isn’t even of age in Wuhan, claiming to be a doctor made even the patients who came in clutching their stomachs turn away when they saw me sitting in the medical office.”
“Hehe! Isn’t that obvious? What a physician needs is experience. No one would trust their life to a mere kid who hasn’t even reached adulthood, no matter how much experience they have!”
Elder Oh laughed as he recalled the rookie stories of Kang Joon, who was a mere rookie in this new land, despite having survived countless battles.
“What I can do is simply prepare hard before the opportunity comes. Let’s clean the medical office thoroughly and wait eagerly for guests to come. That was my resolution, but regardless of my determination, there was someone who made me look the other way.”
It was too obvious who Kang Joon was talking about.
“Je-gal Seol-lok…”
“I wanted to ignore him as much as possible, but he was a host that was hard to turn a blind eye to.”
“Even though the protagonist has been revealed, the narrator doesn’t change. How peculiar. Just how many attempts is Ho Pil making in this novel?”
A helper observing the protagonist? He asked for the Je-gal family’s protagonist, and now he’s introducing unusual narrative methods along with abilities he’s never seen before.
“I requested proof of literary talent, and he’s showing something beyond imagination from the very start.”
Elder Oh momentarily admired the black-haired writer who was casting a shadow behind the protagonist of the Je-gal family, then shifted his gaze back to the text.
“What are you doing today?”
Kang Joon could only look at the host with a bewildered expression.
“What kind of antics could possibly make me, who has rolled in the battlefield, act this way?”
Elder Oh could find the answer in the very next line.
“Pig’s blood! I wanted human blood, but it’s hard to get that much, so I’m thinking of soaking it in a blade and swinging it around.”
“You plan to soak the blade in blood and swing it around?”
“I’ll swing it in the room, and also outside.”
“This, what on earth…?”
Elder Oh couldn’t hide his astonishment, but Je-gal Seol-lok’s antics were just beginning.
“Could you possibly find me a corpse?”
“What?!”
“If a corpse comes out of my newly opened medical office, I won’t be able to pay the rent next month!”
“It’s a pity, but I guess I have to buy a pig instead.”
“What do you plan to do with the pig?”
“Of course, I’ll hit it and chop it up!”
“If you have a mania, I’ll prescribe you some good medicine.”
“Hehe…”
Elder Oh couldn’t help but chuckle at Kang Joon’s reaction. Just what kind of work the protagonist was doing was entirely beyond his understanding. Surely, everyone must have thought the same.
“Since leaving my hometown, there are so many strange people.”
“If it were our hometown, we would have called a shaman.”
“So that’s why the silver-haired folks gather there.”
“Huh?”
“From the outside, it seems like there are a lot of crazy people. We aren’t the kind who live just to be understood, so we live clustered on the mountain.”
“Are you talking about people from the Je-gal family? I heard it’s a family that produces incredibly talented individuals.”
“Talented my foot. Idiots living for the sake of their own egos, who can’t stand being around other idiots, periodically run away.”
“Hehe! Did Hyang throw in a word? That’s undeniable truth.”
Other martial families are full of crazies obsessed with martial arts, but the Je-gal family is different. With so many skills to learn in the Je-gal family, each goes down different paths.
Each exhibits amazing talents in their fields but simultaneously carries out acts that no one else can understand.
Idiots living for the sake of their own egos.
As Elder Oh marvels at Je-gal Seol-lok’s antics, he still thinks this guy is truly someone from the Je-gal family.
“Someone is peeking in at the door. Is it someone looking for you?”
“Oh! The herbalist is here already! I’m coming out!”
—
“Is he trying to train in some sort of martial arts?”
Elder Oh tried to understand the unfolding antics of Je-gal Seol-lok. Kang Joon was not a martial artist, but Elder Oh was.
Bloodied blade. Using a pig as a corpse. There are some kids who get flustered after cutting their first person. Is he perhaps practicing not to get flustered in real situations?
“What smell! What are you doing right now?”
“Something very important is coming together.”
“If you are trying to make a drug that tortures a person’s nose, you have absolutely succeeded.”
“That’s because I specially made a bitter solution.”
“Bitter solution? What’s that?”
“Let me show you something amazing. If you spray this on clothes washed with pig blood— Ta-da! How is it!”
Je-gal Seol-lok couldn’t hide his excitement as he handed me the clothes with a beaming face. The moment a substance that makes one instinctively want to hold their nose hit the clothes, naturally, it got dirty in an instant.
“What are you talking about?”
“Can’t you see what’s right in front of you!? The part that had blood on it is turning bright red again!”
“It’ll likely get a bad reaction. Last time, the clothes soaked with pig blood were cursed at for ages.”
“I could only be baffled by Je-gal Seol-lok’s reaction. To be proud of dirty clothes… I had never worn a face like that since the time I dirty the clothes of a childhood crush to claim her as mine. I had no idea how to respond.”
“Sometimes, in order to achieve a significant feat, someone must suffer! Yes! It’s a success! A success!”
“While Je-gal Seol-lok was babbling about this bitter solution, rather than focus on the incomprehensible antics, I chose to reminisce about the childhood love that suddenly came to mind.”
“Is he practicing martial arts? What in the world is he doing?”
Elder Oh, too, had no idea why the protagonist was acting this way.
—
“Perhaps it’s not his abilities that make him known as a freak. No, it’s certain. It’s not that my rent is ridiculously cheap; it might be reasonable. Just to stop his antics, I decided to give him some advice. No matter how I looked at him, a man who seemed jobless, I spoke up.”
“In our village, there’s a saying that one should not eat if they do not work.”
“You’re the worst because you work and still don’t earn any money.”
“…I’m sure guests will come eventually.”
“Work hard. Because while you work, you’re the one supporting me.”
“His words were not sarcasm. Having conversed for almost a month, I knew that Je-gal Seol-lok did not care about the feelings of others. He probably answered well when I said I had lost my parents, because of that same reason.”
“The more I tried to understand his world, the more I found myself entangled in his antics. With a hidden question I had been too afraid to ask, I cautiously spoke up.”
“I can tell you’re someone impressive. But even impressive individuals must have something they do, right? You don’t seem like one to be studying literature.”
“Those engaged in trivial tasks may work hard every day, but a true important weapon waits its whole life to swing just once.”
“In our village, someone saying that is usually a sloth.”
“Hahaha!”
Elder Oh looked at him, stunned. Are all Je-gal family members like that?
“What do you usually do?” Please, I’m curious to know about Je-gal Oh Hyun; all I know is that you’re brilliant with the Seven-stringed Instrument and sometimes smoke all day long.”
Elder Oh, taken aback by the unexpected description, couldn’t help but brighten.
“Wow, you’re good with the Seven-string Instrument! Ho Pil knows a thing or two. Indeed! The Je-gal family excels in the Seven-string Instrument! Kids today are all about playing the violin! Just fads! Tsk tsk!”
When you talk about the Je-gal family, it’s all about the Seven-string Instrument.
Unlike today’s youth, knowing the value of the old is commendable. Truly worthy of being a son-in-law respected by the great Je-gal Gong-myeong.
Elder Oh’s fondness for the black-haired writer grew stronger with the unexpected setting.
“Are you so curious about what I’m doing on a daily basis?”
“It’s hard not to be curious!”
Je-gal Seol-lok looked at Kang Joon, who was filled with curiosity, and opened his mouth.
“I’m practicing hearing ghostly voices.”
“Huh?”
“What’s he talking about?”
“I’ll show you when the opportunity arises.”
Had he just foolishly accused him of being a sloth? Kang Joon couldn’t shake off the bad premonitions swirling in his mind.
—
“A chance to see his true colors would soon come.”
“Is there anyone in the mansion?! If there’s someone, come out!”
At dawn, as light began to break, Kang Joon hurried to open the door at the sound of someone knocking urgently, fearing it was a seriously injured patient.
“Who is it?”
The person standing at the door was not a patient but a military officer.
“A servant? I came to consult the detective.”
“Detective?”
“Je-gal So-hyup. He asked to be called detective, so I’m doing just that.”
“How very much a young person.”
“There’s no need to bring him. It’s been a while, Officer Jung.”
When did he come so close? Je-gal Seol-lok appeared suddenly behind Kang Joon.
“Je-gal So-hyup!”
“What’s going on?”
“There’s been a problem!!!”
“What could it be? I watched as those two began a conversation from afar. His face that constantly appeared bored began to show signs of vitality. As time passed, he approached me with more enthusiasm than ever.”
“Kang doctor! Let me carry my luggage. Come with me.”
“Huh? Where are you going? I need to prepare the medical office!”
“This month it looks like I won’t have any guests, so how about working in exchange for rent?”
“What luggage should I hold?”
“I willingly decided to hold his bag for him, not because I was worried about rent this month, but because he was the first to call me a doctor since I had never examined a patient in Wuhan.”
“Hehe! The conversation between the two of them is quite interesting. It’s truly fascinating, but seriously, what kind of work does the protagonist do? What purpose does he have? I totally have no idea.”
A protagonist with strange abilities who conducts bizarre antics.
He’s not a martial artist capturing Color Demons like Tang Jung. He’s not a martial artist embarking on a joint venture like Un-hyeon. What kind of protagonist could he be?
What is going on now? Just as curiosity reached its boiling point, Elder Oh couldn’t tear his gaze away from Je-gal Seol-lok’s words.
“Kang doctor. Let’s go.”
“But what’s the reason for heading out so early?”
“I’m going to see some ghostly voices.”
“Huh? What are you talking about?”
“A ghost ship has been spotted on the Yangtze River.”
