002
When he first became paralyzed from the waist down, and when he had barely managed to get outside, he had suffered from maddening stress.
He had lived as a paraplegic for quite some time, but being completely paralyzed had been different from then.
But by now, it had become chronic.
Vrooooom!
As a motorcycle passed by on the sidewalk, Hajin moved aside into a corner. This, too, came from experience.
These days, delivery drivers truly didn't care about people. He had to be careful everywhere, because one wrong move could send him to his grave. There were kind people in this world, but they were truly only a small fraction.
Hajin arrived at the bus stop.
Still, these days accommodations for the disabled were well-implemented. Here and there, curbs had been removed to create passages wheelchairs could traverse, and there were also vehicles equipped with structures so that disabled people could board buses easily.
Vrooooom!
Hajin boarded the bus.
Screeeeech.
As the door closed, numerous people looked at him and whispered.
"Looks like he's completely paralyzed."
"He really is pitiful."
"He's even drooling?"
"Don't go near him, it's dirty."
He could hear their voices. There were more than enough people speaking right out in the open.
This, too, had wounded his pride at first, but now there was no pride left to wound. He was merely placing all meaning in survival.
***
Today was the day the examination results came out. Through the examination results, they would see whether there was any possibility of rehabilitation going forward.
Hajin faced the doctor with a pounding heart.
"Mr. Go Hajin."
"Yes."
"I don't know how to tell you this, but......."
"I'm fine, so please speak freely."
"Ahem! If you say so......."
Even so, the doctor couldn't easily open his mouth.
Hajin wanted to leave this place because of his anxious heart, but he couldn't.
"You have already lost all function in your spine. That you can move even your right hand is nothing short of a miracle. But at this rate, the function of your right hand will gradually be lost as well. Does your right hand sometimes go numb?"
"......It does."
"Paralysis is progressing in your right hand as well."
Hajin's face slowly contorted.
To others, it must have looked truly like a comical sight.
His head was tilted about fifty degrees, and he was drooling profusely as he twisted his face.
"Kkuuugh......."
"I'm sorry. I have nothing more to say."
In the end, Hajin received a determination that rehabilitation was impossible. On top of that, he was told with certainty that even his right hand would stiffen in the near future.
***
"Kkuuuugh."
Hajin couldn't help but shed tears the entire way home. Now, all hope was gone. He couldn't rehabilitate, and because of that, the possibility of bringing his younger sister over had vanished as well.
Then was it right to disappear from the world just like this?
Even though he had memories of a previous life as a legendary divine physician, there was nothing he could do in his current state. He needed to at least assume the lotus position to gather internal energy, but he couldn't do that.
Even supine cultivation required one to be at a certain realm for it to be possible. He thought perhaps it would be better to just die like this and gamble on the next life.
Of course, there was no guarantee that he would reincarnate again just because he died.
"Life, really."
Baaaaang!
Hajin's wheelchair, which had been going down the road, was struck by a motorcycle and overturned.
"Aaaaaack!"
He tumbled down a slope.
He had no sensation elsewhere, but feeling remained in his face and right arm.
As he rolled across the ground, screams escaped him involuntarily. He thought he might die like this. But fortunately, because the undergrowth was dense, he didn't die.
Having barely caught his breath, Hajin discovered something in the bushes at the bottom of the slope.
"Hanjuk?"
Here, Hajin discovered Hanjuk, an ingredient for the Shaolin Lesser Rejuvenation Pill.
It wasn't a common medicinal herb, so seeing it in a place like this made him indescribably happy.
"Are you all right!?"
People crowded around.
The gathering people were kind-hearted folks who wouldn't just pass by if a disabled person like Hajin fell over.
People tried to help Hajin up and move him to his wheelchair. At that moment, Hajin asked the young man beside him.
"There's a medicinal herb over there. I really need it; could you please pick it for me?"
"Of course."
The kind man picked the herb and gave it to Hajin.
'The Shaolin Lesser Rejuvenation Pill.......'
The Shaolin Lesser Rejuvenation Pill was a lesser version of the Shaolin Great Rejuvenation Pill.
The manufacturing methods for the Shaolin Great Rejuvenation Pill and the Shaolin Lesser Rejuvenation Pill were quite similar, but the production of the Lesser Rejuvenation Pill omitted expensive ingredients like Ten-Thousand-Year Snow Ginseng or Ten-Thousand-Year Fleeceflower Root. Of course, even so, the ingredients needed to make the Shaolin Lesser Rejuvenation Pill were not easy to obtain. Hanjuk was one of them.
It was only natural to be happy, having discovered Hanjuk by chance below a slope on the road he had taken to and from the hospital.
Hajin clutched the Hanjuk preciously.
'You never know what will happen in life.'
When he discovered the Hanjuk, he had been able to harbor hope, if only for a moment, but he couldn't help but seriously worry about how he would live from now on.
***
Hajin, having returned home, got down from his wheelchair with Jeong Sunja's help. But he didn't let go of the herb he was clutching tightly in his hand.
"What is it, holding onto something like that?"
"......."
Hajin didn't reply.
Even when he had lived in the Central Plains, Hanjuk had belonged to the rare class of medicinal herbs. It could also be traded at a high price here. Perhaps he could even make the Shaolin Lesser Rejuvenation Pill.
"What is it, I said?"
"......."
"Open your hand, I said!"
Hajin didn't react to Jeong Sunja's words, clutching the Hanjuk in his hand.
He didn't want to let this be taken away from him.
"Let go!"
"......."
Thud, thud, thud, thud!
"Can't let go?"
"......."
For the first time, Hajin refused.
"I said let go!?"
"Kkuuuuugh!"
A savage beating followed. But Hajin held onto the Hanjuk like it was his lifeline.
Hajin's face twisted in pain. Hajin clenched his teeth.
If his relationship with Jeong Sunja turned sour right now, he could face the worst possible situation.
However, Hajin, who had awakened the memories of his previous life as Hua Tuo, was no longer the person he had been before. The savage abuse he had suffered until now flashed through his mind.
In the end, Hajin's rage exploded.
"I can't let go! You bitch! Just get lost! Before I report you for sure for assaulting a disabled person! You wench, you hit me again and I'll sue you? No! I'll sue you right this instant!"
Perhaps because she was dumbfounded, she stopped the beating.
Hajin's breathing became rapid.
He wondered if he had ever let his emotions explode like this before. Whether because she was shocked by the sudden situation, she went straight back into the house.
"Haa, haa."
His rapid breathing slowly subsided.
He opened his hand.
It was slightly crushed, but fortunately, the Hanjuk maintained its original state.
Hajin placed the Hanjuk by his bedside and closed his eyes.
Perhaps because he had gone through so many things today, fatigue washed over him.
***
The next morning.
Hajin got into his wheelchair with Lee Inhye's help.
"I'm going out for a bit."
"Will you be all right?"
She meant to ask if it was all right that she didn't go with him.
Hajin nodded his head.
"Please don't worry about me; if you have business to attend to, you may see to it."
"All right. Then I'll be going."
Perhaps because she was busy, she headed elsewhere.
Lee Inhye looked after the disabled people and elderly living alone in this village. Because of that, even when it wasn't Hajin, she was always busy.
Vrooooom!
When he came outside, the weather was slightly chilly. It was early spring now, and because it was surrounded by sea on all sides, the wind blew frequently. Of course, Hajin was in a physical state where he couldn't feel the cold in any part of his body except his face.
"Hey~! If it isn't Hajin?"
"Hello, Mr. Kim."
"Where are you off to?"
"I came out for a stroll."
"I see. Take care."
A local greeted Hajin as he passed by.
Hajin was quite a well-known figure even on Udo. It was natural that people took notice since he suffered from such a severe disability.
Of course, the majority were not like that.
Vrooooom.
Hajin diligently moved his wheelchair.
The reason he had come out like this was precisely to obtain ingredients for the Shaolin Lesser Rejuvenation Pill.
He thought that medicinal herbs precious in the martial world might be treated as weeds here.
The present era was dominated by modern medicine, and accordingly, herbology had declined. Thus, he hoped that wild toxic herbs outside people's notice might be easy to obtain. Moreover, most people on Udo made their living through fishing, and since no herb gatherers lived there, medicinal herbs were not infrequently seen.
It was a pity he couldn't climb the mountain, but he felt grateful that he could at least harbor hope like this.
Vrooooom!!
While slowly ascending a steep incline, Hajin discovered Saducho on one side of the hill. He tried with all his might to grab the Saducho with his right hand, which still had some feeling.
"Uaaaaah!?"
Hajin tumbled straight down, but he was able to grab the Saducho. Although his head was cracked from falling out of the wheelchair, the joy of discovering the Saducho outweighed the pain.
'Perhaps this isn't a dream.......'
Hajin's belief that he could manufacture the Shaolin Lesser Rejuvenation Pill rose by one level.
He began to harbor the hope that if he gathered the ingredients for the Shaolin Lesser Rejuvenation Pill like this, even just one per day, he might one day be able to make it.
"Mr. Hajin!"
Lee Inhye came running from afar.
"Ms. Inhye."
"What happened!?"
"I fell by accident."
"Your head is bleeding!"
"I'm fine."
Hajin answered as if it were no big deal.
Since the sensation in his head was already dulled anyway, it wasn't greatly painful.
"What is that?"
"It's nothing."
"In any case, let's go back home. What am I going to do about this."
She was worrying as if she were the one who was injured.
Today, Lee Inhye felt more beautiful than ever. But Hajin quickly cast away the thoughts in his heart and looked at the Saducho in his hand. He wouldn't dare. What was more important than thoughts of her was manufacturing the Shaolin Lesser Rejuvenation Pill even a day sooner.
2. Everyday Life
A week had passed since he began gathering the ingredients needed for the Shaolin Lesser Rejuvenation Pill.
Hajin had learned one thing in this place.
Medicinal herbs treated as extremely important in the martial world were regarded as trivial here.
Of course, those things that had been received as expensive, rare medicinal herbs in the martial world were the same here as well.
However, the toxic herbs Hajin wanted were outside the interest of ginseng diggers and herb gatherers, so they were easier to obtain than there.
Hajin had already obtained seven out of the ten ingredients needed for the Shaolin Lesser Rejuvenation Pill. He thought perhaps time would resolve the remaining three.
While all sorts of thoughts were not leaving his head, Lee Inhye came to Hajin's house.
"Mr. Hajin, there's somewhere I need you to go with me today."
"Where?"
"The disabled welfare event center. You've been specially invited, Mr. Hajin."
"...I see."
It was surely a fortunate thing.
Hajin's bank account balance was only around a few ten thousand won. It was clear he wouldn't be able to last long like this. Perhaps because she knew this fact, it seemed Lee Inhye had recommended Hajin.
If one attended the disabled charity fundraising event, they gave a certain amount of money as a charity fee; when it was a lot, it amounted to several hundred thousand won, so for Hajin, whose pockets were not deep, it was no different from a welcome rain in a drought.
However, he couldn't hide the bitterness of receiving money in that manner.
"Do you not want to?"
"How could that be? It is surely a good thing."
Hajin erased his thoughts and answered Lee Inhye.
"Then please get ready so we can depart. The event center is in Wando."
Hajin decided to head to the event center with her.
***
The disabled event center was established in the center of Wando. Because of that, they had to take the bus, and everywhere they went, they attracted people's attention.
"Tsk, tsk. Such a waste for a young lady. Is he your older brother?"
"Yes. He's my brother."
"How did he end up like that?"
"By an accident....... But he really is a good brother."
"I'm saying this because your life is pitiful, miss."
Hajin simply closed his eyes and turned his head away.
This was a common occurrence.
He counted himself fortunate that they weren't openly showing contempt. Today of all days, he had never resented his left-twisted mouth so much.
Screeeech.
As the grandmother got off the bus, Lee Inhye wore a bitter smile and spoke.