A short while later, at the Geumsan Research Institute.
Taeho was huddled together with Seong Gihwan.
“We extracted gastrodin at a high concentration.”
Dr. Seong Gihwan said this as he lifted a transparent glass bottle. The pale yellow liquid inside was the essence of cheonma, extracted with the latest equipment.
Concentration measurements showed a gastrodin content a full ten times higher than the cheonma tea brewed using the method Grandma Kim Sunja had taught them.
“Good. Let’s administer it to Minsu.”
Taeho nodded and headed for the hospital room.
Ever since he had run out in the middle of the night last time, Minsu had been languishing as if all his strength had been drained. The auditory and visual hallucinations continued as well, and he would sometimes babble nonsense.
With every existing Western medical treatment having failed, cheonma was their last hope.
The first administration.
Twenty-four hours passed, but Minsu’s condition remained unchanged. The EEG results showed no particular change either.
‘Why isn’t it working?’
Taeho stared at the monitor with a puzzled expression. The gastrodin concentration was definitely sufficient, yet the effect he had expected did not appear.
“Should we change the extraction method? To alcohol extraction or ultrasonic extraction?”
Seong Gihwan suggested cautiously.
“Let’s try everything.”
Over the next few days, the two of them cut back on sleep and devoted themselves to the research. They mobilized every method modern science had to offer, from ethanol extraction and ultrasonic-assisted extraction to microwave extraction.
But the results were disappointing every time. Minsu’s condition could not move beyond a stalemate.
“Something’s wrong.”
Taeho sank into the laboratory chair with an exhausted face. He could not understand why extraction methods that seemed scientifically perfect were having no effect.
‘Let’s approach it from a different angle.’
Starting that night, Taeho began combing through the classics of Korean medicine.
“Rema, search all books on Korean medicine and find the sections related to cheonma.”
-Connection to Korean medicine database complete.
-Searching for cheonma entry in Dongui Bogam: Tangaek-pyeon (東醫寶鑑 湯液篇)······.
-Search of cheonma-related sections in Bencao Gangmu (本草綱目) complete. “Suppresses liver wind and relieves convulsions.”
-Searching Uibang Yuchwi (醫方類聚)······.
-Hyangyak Jipseongbang (鄕藥集成方): “Cheonma must be boiled in a moist state. Excessive fire qi damages its medicinal properties, so it should be kept only at a small boil.”
-Searching Mingyi Bielu (名醫別錄)······.
“Wait. Enlarge the section from Hyangyak Jipseongbang.”
-Hyangyak Jipseongbang (鄕藥集成方): “Cheonma must be boiled ‘in a moist state.’ Excessive fire qi damages its medicinal properties, so it should be kept only at a small boil.”
Taeho stared hard at the screen.
“Excessive fire qi damages its medicinal properties?”
Taeho’s eyes flashed. Until now, he had stubbornly relied only on modern methods that extracted it at high temperatures for long periods, but Hyangyak Jipseongbang was saying the exact opposite.
Taeho immediately asked Rema for an analysis.
“Rema, find out gastrodin’s thermal decomposition temperature.”
-Gastrodin decomposes into benzyl alcohol and glucose when heated at 100 degrees Celsius for more than 30 minutes.
“So that was it! If it’s boiled too long at high temperatures, the active ingredient gets destroyed instead!”
Taeho slapped his knee. In trying to extract more, more forcefully, he had actually been destroying the key component.
“Rema. Analyze the optimal extraction time for gastrodin.”
Taeho adjusted the time so that as much gastrodin as possible could be drawn out.
As soon as the extraction was complete, he ran to the hospital room.
He administered the new cheonma extract to Minsu and waited with bated breath.
One hour······ three hours······ six hours······.
“Director! There’s a change in the EEG!”
Nursing assistant Park Yeonji shouted excitedly. The EEG that had continued flat for an entire week was coming alive.
For the first time, they had a meaningful result.
“Good. But we’ve only taken one step.”
Taeho spoke calmly.
***
Two days after Minsu’s EEG had revived thanks to the cheonma extract.
The EEG had recovered, but his inflammation levels were still high, and Minsu’s consciousness had not fully returned.
Three in the morning.
Taeho sat in a chair, keeping vigil at Minsu’s side.
Minsu lay there with his brow twisted in pain and his mouth open.
Taeho quietly held Minsu’s hand.
A pulse came through to his fingertips.
Small and faint, but for Minsu, it was a signal shouting with all its might that he was alive.
His chest ached.
Taeho drew in a deep breath.
Anxiety slowly tightened around his heart.
A clear, innocent face rose before Taeho’s eyes.
Jang Yuna.
Two years ago, in the intensive care unit at Seyoung Seoul Hospital.
That night, Yuna had been deteriorating with frightening speed. Taeho tried every measure he could, but it was no use.
The child slowly drifted farther and farther away before Taeho’s eyes.
The helplessness of being able to do nothing as a doctor.
Taeho could only watch as a patient’s life slipped through his fingers. The helplessness of that moment came back to life every night afterward and tormented him.
Fear pressed down on his chest. The anxiety that he might fail whispered to him.
Run away!
But at this moment, Taeho was the only one in front of Minsu. If Taeho let go of his hand, Minsu would fly far away in an instant, like a balloon from his childhood.
‘I can’t let that happen again.’
Taeho gripped Minsu’s hand tightly.
This time was different. He knew more now than he had then, and he could do more than he could then.
In the darkness, he vowed to himself once again.
He would not let go of this hand.
Taeho stood up and returned to the examination room.
Blinking his dry, stinging eyes, he drank strong coffee.
Let’s start again.
Cheonma was showing an effect, but something more was needed.
Eastern medicine had been passed down through thousands of years of clinical trials. The components of cheonma had been identified by modern science, but the people of the past had known its effects.
Wait a minute······.
Cheonma wouldn’t have been used on its own, would it?
“Rema, are there prescriptions in Korean medicine that use cheonma together with other ingredients?”
-There is a prescription called Cheonma Gudeung-san, which combines cheonma with goji berries, deungsimcho, and other herbs.
“What’s the principle behind that prescription?”
-When cheonma stabilizes the brain’s nerves, goji berries reinforce kidney function, and deungsimcho calms the heart, balancing the body as a whole.
Taeho’s eyes flashed.
“Overall balance. Rema, compare and analyze the Cheonma Gudeung-san prescription with modern medical multidrug combination therapy.”
-Analyzing······.
-An interesting pattern has been found. The ratio of medicinal herbs in Cheonma Gudeung-san shows effects similar to a combination of immunomodulators + neuroprotective agents + circulation-improving agents in modern medicine.
“Then let’s reinterpret this in modern terms.”
Taeho began to immerse himself.
“Rema, analyze Western medical drugs that can be used in combination with cheonma.”
-Analyzing······.
-Generating a list of drugs capable of interacting with gastrodin, the main component of cheonma.
Dozens of drug names appeared on the screen.
“Not simple combination use. Find a combination that can produce a synergistic effect. One specialized for autoimmune encephalitis.”
-Advanced analysis mode activated. Beginning molecular-level interaction simulation.
“Rema, run a simulation with cheonma, low-dose prednisolone, and a neuroprotective agent.”
-Simulation result: Expected efficacy 75%. Side effect risk: moderate.
“No. It’s still not enough. We need something more.”
Taeho ran hundreds of simulations. But no satisfactory result came out.
It was eight in the morning, and exhausted Taeho had just closed his eyes for a moment.
“Director, Minsu is······.”
Nursing assistant Park Yeonji’s urgent voice dragged Taeho up from unconsciousness. His eyes snapped open reflexively.
“What happened?”
“His temperature has gone up to 39.1 degrees. Pulse is 135 beats per minute!”
Taeho sprang up and ran to the hospital room. Minsu’s forehead was damp with sweat, and his lips were red and dry. His consciousness was still hazy, but delirious muttering caused by the high fever leaked from his mouth.
Fever, sudden spike in heart rate······. It was dangerous.
Taeho immediately gave Park Yeonji instructions.
“Prepare Perfalgan IV. 700 mg, mixed with 500 ml of 5% dextrose.”
“Yes, I’ll prepare it!”
Park Yeonji ran toward the refrigerator and began getting things ready.
“Start cold compresses at the same time. Not ice packs—towels soaked in cold water. Under the arms, the groin, and the back of the neck.”
Taeho checked the monitor measuring Minsu’s heart rate again. The numbers continued to fluctuate wildly, and unstable ECG curves filled the screen.
‘This isn’t a simple high fever. The immune system is going berserk again.’
Taeho shouted.
“We need to use steroid pulse therapy. Methylprednisolone, 1 g. Prepare it for intravenous administration.”
“Yes!”
Park Yeonji ran toward the medicine cabinet.
Taeho muttered.
“Rema, analyze the risk of increased intracranial pressure. ICP values, even if they’re estimated.”
-Measuring······. Risk of cerebral edema: 42%.
Taeho clasped Minsu’s hand tightly. Minsu’s hand was terrifyingly hot.
Taeho whispered in a low voice.
“Minsu. You have to hold on.”
Park Yeonji handed him a syringe.
Without the slightest hesitation, Taeho took the syringe, found Minsu’s vein, and inserted it.
“Yeonji, keep up the cold compresses and check his temperature every five minutes. If there’s no drug response within thirty minutes, we need to be ready to switch to mannitol.”
“Yes, understood, Director.”
Park Yeonji’s eyes reddened. She pressed her lips tightly together to stop a sob from escaping and did not let her hands stop moving.
A little while later, Taeho took one step back and looked at the monitor. The numbers were gradually finding stability.
It was not yet enough to feel relieved, but they had overcome the immediate crisis.
Just then, Taeho suddenly remembered when he had treated Mei.
“Wait······. The TNF-alpha inhibitory protein I developed when treating Mei!”
Taeho turned and ran to the examination room.
“Rema! Emergency analysis mode!”
Taeho nearly shouted.
“Find a triple combination therapy using cheonma, TNF-alpha inhibitory protein, and a microdose immunomodulator. Determine the optimal mixing ratio!”
-Beginning ultra-high-speed analysis······.
-Simulating 15,000 combination scenarios······.
Numbers flashed rapidly across the screen.
-Optimal combination found: Cheonma extract 15 mg + TNF-alpha inhibitory protein 0.3 mg + ultra-low-dose dexamethasone 0.1 mg.
-Predicted efficacy: 94%. Side effect risk: minimal.
“Ninety-four percent!”
Taeho shouted. But soon his expression turned grave.
No one had ever attempted this combination before. If Minsu’s body could not withstand it, it could be dangerous.
Taeho looked at Minsu. The child’s temperature was still rising. There was no time.
“Rema, analyze every side effect scenario too.”
-Analysis of all possible side effect scenarios complete.
After checking the scenarios, Taeho drew in a deep breath.
“Let’s do it.”
The research institute staff, called in from the morning, prepared the drugs according to the exact mixing ratio. Not a single drop of error could be allowed.
With excellent personnel focusing on one thing alone, the combination drug Taeho requested was ready in two hours.
“Cheonma 15 mg, TNF-alpha inhibitory protein 0.3 mg, dexamethasone 0.1 mg.”
Taeho held up the syringe.
It was a perfect drug combination based precisely on cheonma extract.
However, Minsu’s condition was heading toward the worst. His blood pressure and body temperature, which they had forcibly lowered a few hours earlier, were rising again.
“Minsu, please hold on.”
Taeho administered the drug into Minsu’s vein.
Everyone held their breath and stared at the monitor.
Park Geumja, who had gone home last night after staying up for several nights and then returned, clasped both hands together and prayed, her eyes sunken deep in her face.
‘Please, if there is a god, protect our Minsu.’
In the tense silence, one minute passed, then two······.
Minsu’s temperature slowly began to fall.
“His blood pressure is stabilizing too!”
Park Yeonji shouted. Park Geumja covered her mouth with both hands and burst into tears.
“Minsu, Minsu······.”
Slowly, Minsu’s eyelids began to move.
“Mo······ Mom?”
Minsu opened his eyes and spoke in a hoarse voice.
“Minsu!”
Park Geumja burst into sobs.
Rema’s diagnosis appeared before Taeho’s eyes.
-Life-threatening stage escaped.
-Encephalitic inflammatory response rapidly decreasing.
-Entering initial stage of consciousness recovery.
It worked!
Taeho’s knees gave out, and he collapsed into a chair.