Days passed after the surgery, but the situation showed little improvement. Her recovery was slower than expected.
‘It hurts so much, and it’s so hard.’
Mei let out a sigh. With no progress and nothing but pain, she wanted to give up.
She opened her phone.
There was a music video clip that the other members of Seasons had sent her.
The four-member Seasons, minus Mei.
The music video was splendid and beautiful. It was exactly as she had dreamed all this time.
Only Mei was missing.
But this song had originally been the one that suited Mei best.
Mei rubbed her streaming tears away with her forearm.
Her cell phone rang.
It was her mother.
Mei steadied her choked voice a few times and answered the call.
A voice an octave higher than usual.
“Hello, Mom? Yeah, I’m resting in the hospital room right now. The doctors here are taking such good care of me…… No, you don’t need to come. I told you, it was a really simple surgery. And it’s too far. I’ll be discharged soon, so why would you come all the way here? Yeah. No, don’t put Dad on. No…… Dad? Yeah. Once I’m discharged, I’ll go straight to the company. It’s fine. I’m debuting soon, so I have a lot to prepare. Yeah. Okay. I love you too. Make sure to tell Mom as well. Yeah.”
Silence fell the moment the call ended.
Mei pulled up her slumped shoulders and gritted her teeth.
Mei hobbled down the hallway.
***
The treatment room at Geumsan Clinic was brightly lit until dawn.
Taeho was poring over Patient Mei’s records.
The new drug was not showing significant effects.
He couldn’t just watch like this.
“Rema, analyze the new drug’s experimental data.”
—Analyzing……
—Response curve of the severe patient, safe dosage range of TNF-alpha inhibitory proteins, and interaction effects with existing biological agents have all been analyzed.
—The conclusion is that it is difficult to improve the patient’s condition in the short term with standard dosages.
—Estimated probability of complete recovery within 6 weeks: 32%
The probability of complete recovery had increased tenfold compared to before the surgery, but there was still a long way to go.
After much deliberation, Taeho thought of a slightly bolder scenario.
“Rema, calculate a simulation for when the new drug dosage is increased.”
—Calculating……
The graphs and figures Rema had calculated unfolded as a hologram.
Taeho looked at the results.
“Huh? What’s this?”
Taeho’s eyes widened.
***
Kim Seon-u, CEO of KSY Entertainment, sank deep into the back seat of a luxury sedan.
He gazed absently at the rural scenery outside the window. Colorful autumn mountains connected by gentle curves and yellowing rice fields stretched out before him.
It was a picturesque landscape that would have made any ordinary person burst into admiration, but only coldness lingered on his face.
“Ha, what nonsense.”
A low mutter slipped through his lips.
Kim Seon-u shook his head slightly and scoffed.
To think they would try to cure a disease that even the most renowned hospitals in Seoul had given up on, at a rural clinic?
It was nothing more than a ridiculous and childish claim.
Kim Seon-u was a man who thoroughly classified people by rank.
Born with the so-called golden spoon in his mouth, he had the confidence that he could mobilize the best medical staff whenever he wished.
The best only communicated with the best.
That was the rule everywhere in the world.
To him, hoping for a miraculous cure at a small, shabby clinic in the countryside felt like an absurd joke.
“Is it even possible to cure a disease that the best medical teams in Seoul couldn’t cure, in some backwater like this?”
A sneer spread across his face.
Mei of Seasons.
He had invested eight years in her since she was a child. But to think she’d come down with a skin disease right before her debut……
In this industry, the probability of raising a trainee to debut was 5–7%.
The probability that a debuted trainee would achieve moderate success or better was less than 1%.
The rest were mostly just defective goods.
It was a structure where countless prospects were nurtured, and the extremely few successful idols among them kept the company afloat.
There was no reason to keep Mei in the debut group. There were plenty of other talented candidates.
Kim Seon-u attributed his success to cold rationality unswayed by emotion.
Knowing exactly when to go and when to stop.
But Yi Hajun was the exact opposite.
To get so emotionally entangled like that.
It wasn’t bad for Kim Seon-u.
Rather, he planned to put shackles on Yi Hajun with this opportunity.
“Yes, rather, it would be better to cleanly settle Mei this time and move Hajun’s contract according to my will.”
Having made up his mind, Kim Seon-u smiled a cold smile.
Yi Hajun had placed his hopes on Mei recovering, but Kim Seon-u was convinced it was a futile wish. The reason he was going all the way to Gangwon Province now was ultimately to confirm that Mei’s condition had not improved and to make his decision definite.
As the car entered the village of Geumsan-ri, the driver spoke cautiously.
“CEO, we’re almost there.”
Kim Seon-u stared out the window without replying.
The sign reading [Geumsan Clinic] attached to the shabby wall looked pitiful.
He had deliberately chosen to visit without any prior contact. What he wanted was not a staged, scripted scene, but the unexpected, real thing.
Even if they begged and pleaded for just one more chance, it would be useless.
Today he had drawn his sword, and a sword once drawn had to be swung.
Kim Seon-u’s gaze grew cold.
The car stopped in the empty lot in front of the clinic.
As Kim Seon-u stepped out, a chilly breeze lightly shook his collar.
There wasn’t even a proper parking lot, and the building was old and small.
‘This is supposed to be a real clinic?’
He moved slowly toward the building with displeasure.
***
Kim Seon-u opened the entrance door and stepped inside.
There wasn’t a single person at the reception desk or in the waiting room.
‘As I thought, the operation is a mess too.’
He was so dumbfounded he couldn’t speak.
Then, music was heard from the end of the hallway.
Kim Seon-u quickened his pace, and his eyes saw dozens of people gathered. They were all looking in one direction.
‘What is it?’
Pushing through the crowd, he saw the figure of a girl dancing to the music.
The sunlight streaming through the window illuminated the girl as if she were under a stage spotlight.
Graceful yet powerful movements. Her arms and legs flowed as naturally as water, and her expression overflowed with vitality.
That dance was not mere movement; it seemed to express the joy of living. Beads of sweat on her fresh skin sparkled like tiny droplets of light.
“That’s Mei?”
Kim Seon-u held his breath and gazed at that beautiful being.
Mei, finishing her final move, caught her breath lightly and bowed her head with an elegant gesture.
“Wow!”
“You’re amazing!”
“So cool!”
The people gathered in the hallway burst into cheers.
In that moment, Mei was shining brilliantly like the brightest star in the world.
“What in the world……”
Kim Seon-u couldn’t close his mouth.
Just a few weeks ago, she hadn’t even been able to stand properly, yet here she was dancing with a vibrant, lively appearance.
Mei caught her breath and wiped the sweat from her forehead.
Then, she saw CEO Kim Seon-u watching her from among the crowd.
Mei’s eyes widened as if flustered.
“CEO……? What brings you here?”
Kim Seon-u looked at her, unable to say a word. Complex emotions were tangled in his heart.
An unbelievable reality.
The plans he had calculated all this time were vanishing like foam.
Kim Seon-u barely managed to open his mouth.
“What happened? Are you all better?”
“CEO!”
Turning at the voice calling him, he saw Yi Hajun standing there with a bright smile.
“I was planning to be discharged this afternoon; how did you know to come? This is Director Gang Taeho of Geumsan Clinic.”
Kim Seon-u looked at Gang Taeho.
Was it an optical illusion that a halo seemed to shine behind his head?
“Ah…… Was treatment like this really possible?”
Kim Seon-u asked, reeling from shock.
Taeho looked at Mei and replied calmly.
“Mei worked hard at her treatment, and Hajun also played a big role. She has improved greatly. Of course, she’ll need consistent management going forward.”
Kim Seon-u suddenly extended his hand to Taeho like a man brought back to reality.
“I’m Kim Seon-u, CEO of KSY.”
“I’m Gang Taeho, Director of Geumsan Clinic.”
“To be honest, I looked down on it as a rural hospital at first. I didn’t know you possessed such skill.”
Hajun looked at Kim Seon-u with a satisfied smile.
“You were surprised too, right? I told you for a reason to trust Director Gang Taeho.”
A look of victorious joy rose on Hajun’s face.
Kim Seon-u’s face flushed slightly, but he soon returned to a serious expression.
Even in a bewildering situation, his instinct for swift calculation activated thoroughly.
Kim Seon-u said to Taeho.
“If any of our company’s children develop serious health problems in the future, may I entrust them to you? If this is the level of your skill, I feel I can truly trust you with them.”
Hajun was surprised by Kim Seon-u’s sudden change in attitude.
Kim Seon-u looked at Taeho once more with sincere eyes.
“I didn’t know you possessed such excellent medical arts. I hope you’ll continue to be a great help to our company family members’ health.”
Taeho answered with a smile.
“Of course. I will always do my best. Mei’s current condition requires health management as the top priority. Please give her sufficient rest and recovery time before performances or practice schedules for the time being.”
“Yes, of course we will. Thank you so much, Director.”
Kim Seon-u nodded with a smile.
***
That night, Rema delivered good news.
—Gang Taeho-nim. Patient Mei’s treatment and surgery have been successfully completed. The achievement has been recorded in the system, and your medical grade score has been updated.
Soon, a hologram screen appeared.
[Medical Arts Achievement System]
—Severe Hidradenitis Treatment Achievement: +80 coins
—Current: 195 coins
—Run vigorously until you reach the Bronze grade!
“Wait a minute……”
Taeho tilted his head and asked.
“Can I reach Legend before I die?”
—Of course it is possible.
Rema answered brightly.
“How? Looking at how coins are stacking up now, it would be hard to reach Legend even if I treated patients for another 100 years.”
—The higher the treatment difficulty, such as with severe and rare diseases, the more coins accumulate.
“Unless I treat those kinds of patients on a large scale all at once, how am I supposed to accumulate a million coins?”
—You can overwhelmingly earn coins by performing surgeries of world-class difficulty, achieving feats that would be recorded in the international medical community, or at sites of large earthquakes or disasters.
“No, not like that. You should tell me what I can do with the conditions I have right now.”
—I will search. Analyzing……
“And here I thought you were smart because you’re an AI. You’re actually pretty dense.”
Taeho clicked his tongue and shook his head.
A moment later, Rema presented the results.
—If you develop a new drug and use it directly in treatment, you can acquire the highest amount of coins currently possible.
Develop a new drug?