From Today, I'm a Player

Chapter 87: Hua Tuo Pt. 5

As Jeong In-Chang was being cheered by the giants, Lee Jun-Kyeong was mired in the complete opposite situation.

“...”

Jeong In-Chang had gone out to find food, but had returned triumphantly after defeating the attacking Nar.

‘It looks like there aren’t any stragglers, at least.’

On the other hand, Lee Jun-Kyeong had gone out specifically to hunt the Nar, but was now returning without having been able to spar against them properly due to Thrymr’s appearance.

The footsteps of the returning giants were heavy, and the expressions on their faces heavier still.

‘But Thjazi didn’t do anything wrong.’

If anything, Thjazi’s behavior had been surprising considering the tendencies of the warlike, battle-loving giants.

Thjazi was in no way lacking in comparison among these giants regarding his skills as a warrior, but he, of all giants, had decided to retreat in order to preserve the lives of the warriors.

‘Of course…’

Lee Jun-Kyeong had thought that the battle would have begun when the giant had thrown the axe. It seemed as though it had been the last expression of Thjazi’s pride.

Still, in the end, the giants had returned with heavy footsteps.

While he mused over Thjazi’s actions, he silently hurried his steps.

“...”

‘What sort of relationship do they have?’

It definitely seemed as though Thjazi and the chief of the Nar, whom they called Thrymr, had some sort of a relationship. It wasn’t because they were of the same race, but rather because it felt like there was something different between them.

Lee Jun-Kyeong was curious about what was going on between them.

“Grr.”

“Sorry,” Lee Jun-Kyeong said as he stroked Fenrir’s hair.

The wolf seemed to have been excited by the prospect of finally being able to run around for the first time in a while, but seemed dissatisfied when they had turned around in vain.

“It’…s fine…”

However, Fenrir responded to Lee Jun-Kyeong’s apology in Korean, which he had been practicing a little. The Hunter patted the boy’s head again.

Lee Jun-Kyeong was about to turn away, but his eyes widened suddenly, almost tearing at the seams.

“...!”

‘Is that a person?’

A man stood within the path of the giants, seemingly not minding the procession of the giants around him, as if he was absorbed in something else.

Lee Jun-Kyeong looked over at Thjazi.

“...”

Although he had just wanted to see if the giants had seen the man as well, it seemed as though the giants already knew him. Even though the giants clearly saw the man, they hurriedly walked around him without saying a word.

“Thjazi.”

Eventually, Lee Jun-Kyeong called out to Thjazi.

"Who is that person?"

It felt awkward asking questions due to the despondent mood, but he had no choice but to ask.

"Ah."

Thjazi relaxed his furrowed brow for a moment at Lee Jun-Kyeong’s question.

"A mercenary warrior."

"A warrior?" Lee Jun-Kyeong responded.

Thjazi nodded his massive head.

“He is similar to you. He’s been helping Utgard.”

Lee Jun-Kyeong’s eyes were fixed on the man. As the man got closer, the outline of his face became visible.

The man was young and seemed to be digging through the ice, looking for something.

"Heads up,” Thjazi called out as he waved his hand, having noticed Lee Jun-Kyeong’s curiosity.

The man soon looked up and over at them, nodding a greeting.

"Are you looking for medicinal herbs again?" Thjazi asked.

'Medicinal herbs?'

Lee Jun-Kyeong's eyes lit up.

"Yes," the man answered quite simply.

“The Nar are nearby. It could be dangerous, so what do you think about returning with us?”

The man nodded in response before replying, “I couldn’t find what I was looking for anyway, so I was going to head back soon.”

He then also joined the procession of giants, seemingly having decided to return at that time as well. Soon, he came face to face with Lee Jun-Kyeong.

The man looked over at Lee Jun-Kyeong with a sparkle in his eyes, and Lee Jun-Kyeong looked back with the sparkle in his eyes even more brilliant than before.

They stood, matching each other’s gaze, observing each other for a long while.

“This guy is Ju Gyeung. He’s a new mercenary warrior of Utgard.

Thjazi looked back and forth between the two of them and continued, “And this is Ha Ta. A mercenary warrior and also a physician.”

A smile formed on Lee Jun-Kyeong's lips.

'I found him.'

It was clear that he was the person Lee Jun-Kyeong had been looking for.

***

"Have you returned?"

Lee Jun-Kyeong had arrived at Utgard. Jeong In-Chang had returned first and had been waiting for him.

“Something good seems to have happened?” Lee Jun-Kyeong commented.

Jeong In-Chang greeted Lee Jun-Kyeong with a smile as if something good had indeed happened to him.

“I completed an incredible task today. While we were hunting, we were attacked by the Nar, and they were forced to flee due to my actions,” Jeong In-Chang said as he shrugged.

“...”

As if he wasn’t focused on whether Lee Jun-Kyeong was paying attention to his words or not, Jeong In-Chang took off his ice troll leather clothes and hung them over the bed.

“And it must have been something, as you should have heard how the giants praised me as they chanted my name! It was so much that it was a little embarrassing. Right, princess?”

“Goongje.”

“See? It was. Huh? Mr. Lee?”

Jeong In-Chang, who had been excitedly talking to himself, had finally realized that Lee Jun-Kyeong’s expression wasn’t very good and called out to the Hunter.

“Was there anything special about today?” Lee Jun-Kyeong asked.

Jeong In-Chang pondered for a long time and talked about the thing that he thought Lee Jun-Kyeong would have been curious about.

"There was a human in the group of Nar that attacked us."

“A human?”

And lo and behold, the response he had been looking for had arrived.

“Yes. He looked like he was Chinese, but he also was someone who could casually block my greatsword. Also he used the spear, the same as you Mr. Lee, but it was a long, strange-looking spear."

Lee Jun-Kyeong’s eyes lit up.

‘Ha.’

Jeong In-Chang couldn’t decide whether to laugh or cry at the Hunter’s honest reaction. He then snorted at Lee Jun-Kyeong’s attitude as the Hunter was seemingly completely disinterested in his own escapades.

"So?"

“What do you mean, so?”

However, at Lee Jun-Kyeong’s subsequent question, Jeong In-Chang seemed frustrated to the point of tears.

“I had wanted to ask some questions to the giants and also to the residents here, but I just can’t understand… I couldn’t do anything and just returned home and rested.”

Lee Jun-Kyeong looked up toward the sky.

‘Why aren’t you giving him language skills?’

<The Prince on a White Horse> was usually extremely generous with its sponsorship, so Lee Jun-Kyeong couldn’t understand why the Sponsor didn’t just give the language understanding skill to Jeong In-Chang.

However, soon, a hypothesis came to his mind.

‘There’s no way.’

Lee Jun-Kyeong's face hardened as he muttered, “Does that mean he’s so stupid that he can’t learn language skills…”

“Wha… what did you say?” Jeong In-Chang interjected.

"I didn't say anything."

Lee Jun-Kyeong quickly realized he had accidentally said that thought out loud and quickly changed the topic.

“I also found something as well.”

“What do you mean?” Jeong In-Chang asked.

“The person I was looking for.”

Jeong In-Chang clapped his hands and grinned. "How great."

Lee Jun-Kyeong interjected, "However…”

“Is there something wrong?”

Lee Jun-Kyeong shook his head at Jeong In-Chang’s question.

“No. I’m just worried that I might be disappointed again. I’ll be back after I meet that person. Considering we had just returned together, I was thinking I should go have a conversation with him. Would you like to come with me?"

Jeong In-Chang shook his head as he mournfully replied, “Even if I went, I wouldn’t be able to understand anything…”

Lee Jun-Kyeong laughed a little, removed the necklace around his neck, and placed it on Jeong In-Chang.

“Then would you like to do something else? If it's you, Mr. Jeong, whom the giants favor so much, then you would definitely be able to accomplish it.”

Merlin’s necklace would be able to help Jeong In-Chang converse, so after having explained the situation and giving the Hunter the necklace, Lee Jun-Kyeong left the house.

“Ha…”

Jeong In-Chang sighed to himself as he was left alone.

It was because of what Lee Jun-Kyeong had said.

‘If it’s you, Mr. Jeong, whom the giants favor so much…”

Why? Just why.

“Why am I popular with everyone except for women?” he wailed.

He couldn’t understand it.

***

Knock knock.

Lee Jun-Kyeong knocked on the door in front of him and opened it immediately.

"Hua Tuo! Hua Tuo!"

"Help me!"

"Aghhhhh!"

Beyond the door was pandemonium. Thousands of people were screaming inside Hua Tuo’s house, desperately searching for the physician.

“Endure it for a little longer!”

Then there was the Hua Tuo from the royal palace he had seen previously.

And.

“You will be fine soon.”

There was another Hua Tuo there.

The man he had met as they had returned to Utgard with Thjazi and his party.

Surprisingly, the man had also been another Hua Tuo.

‘To think Hua Tuo wasn’t a title.’

Lee Jun-Kyeong had definitely thought that Hua Tuo would have been a Hero’s title.

However, Hua Tuo was both a title but yet not a title at the same time.

‘In China, any physician with excellent medical skills is called Hua Tuo.’

That described the old man. That was why the old man Lee Jun-Kyeong had seen at the royal palace had been called Hua Tuo.

As for the man he had met.

"Please wait a little longer.”

The man who had spoken to him with a dull expression was a Hero with a title.

The house was overflowing with screams and patients, and the two Hua Tuo were busily treating the patients.

‘But why?’

It was the first thing he had felt as he entered the house.

‘Why are there so many patients?’

He had thought when he entered his residential area that there were fewer people than he would have expected, but now he felt as though he knew why.

It was because there were so many patients lying on these beds that it seemed as though there were fewer people than expected.

‘Jang Si-Eon also said that her mother was sick.’

It was clear that there was some sort of unknown issue going on in this place. Lee Jun-Kyeong stood still for a moment and watched them quietly.

“Excuse me… Hua… Mr. Hua Tuo…?” Lee Jun-Kyeong said, hesitating for a moment at the awkward title.

“Over here! Quickly!”

“Please wait a moment!”

Both of the physicians were very busy. Lee Jun-Kyeong stopped trying to call them and just walked over.

Then, he took out something.

“It's a potion.”

It was a potion. He had an inventory full of them, so he handed it over to the physician.

A question appeared on Hua Tuo’s face as the man held the bottle.

“I just thought that it may be of some help… you are free to use it however you wish.”

"Thank you."

Hua Tuo did not refuse, and began to indiscriminately treat the patients around him using the potion.

"Sorry to keep you waiting."

Due to the rapid treatment, the patients in the house quieted down, and Lee Jun-Kyeong was finally able to converse with the physician.

“It was no trouble.”

“My name is Won-Hwa,” the Hua Tuo in front of him said, introducing himself, as he extended a hand.

They had been unable to converse on the way back because of the giants that surrounded them. Lee Jun-Kyeong looked over at the old man after he had heard the name of the younger Hua Tuo.

“My name is also Won-Hwa. It’s a coincidence, so don’t think anything weird about it.

The old man spoke with a grateful expression, perhaps due to the potion that Lee Jun-Kyeong had given earlier.

He then suggested, “Should we talk outside?”

Lee Jun-Kyeong nodded.

“Come back after you rest for a bit. I’ll look after the patients."

"Understood."

Lee Jun-Kyeong and Hua Tuo left the house and briefly wandered through the dark streets of Utgard.

“...”

Lee Jun-Kyeong didn’t say anything and just waited for something to happen.

"If it's not rude."

Finally, he was hearing what he had been waiting for.

"Do you mind if I take a look at your pulse?”

Lee Jun-Kyeong made an expression as if showing he couldn’t understand Hua Tuo’s reason and then said innocently, “Why do you ask?”

“I thought there was something weird from when we interacted before. Not only that, but I definitely also felt something strange when we shook hands… Don’t worry; that wasn’t an accurate diagnosis. I just wanted to confirm something, just in case.”

This man truly was the Hua Tuo that Lee Jun-Kyeong had been looking for.

He was sure of it this time.

Lee Jun-Kyeong held out his hand, filled with the excitement of having finally found who he was looking for.

“All right."

Hua Tuo’s expression shifted at every moment as he read Lee Jun-Kyeong’s pulse.

Eventually, Hua Tuo asked another question, seemingly having found something strange in the initial read.

"It may be a little painful, but… would it be okay if I check a few things?"

Lee Jun-Kyeong nodded.

Glow.

A weak blue light began to emanate from Hua Tuo’s body, soon migrating over to his hand and flowing into Lee Jun-Kyeong.

“...!”

Lee Jun-Kyeong widened his eyes in surprise. The physician’s use of mana was very natural.

Hua Tuo was now poking around Lee Jun-Kyeong’s body with his mana and using it to understand the Hunter’s condition.

However, Hua Tuo’s mana control wasn’t the only reason why Lee Jun-Kyeong was surprised.

‘There isn’t any rejection…?’

Taking in another person’s mana wasn’t an easy task. Even if the original mana within one’s body allowed the other mana to enter, it would still be a burden on someone’s mana pathways to be infused with someone else’s mana.

That was why Jeong In-Chang had felt so much pain before.

However, the mana that Hua Tuo had infused him with was coursing through his body without any hesitation. It almost seemed as if the mana that Lee Jun-Kyeong had been infused with was originally his.

“..."

Surprisingly, Hua Tuo was similarly astounded.

“How…”

“How…”

Lee Jun-Kyeong and Hua-Tuo looked at each other. Somewhere along the line, Hua Tuo’s hand dropped from Lee Jun-Kyeong’s wrist.

The two faced each other and spoke at the same time.

"Have you learned internal qigong?"

"Have you learned mana stream?"

1. The names of Lee Jun-Kyeong and Hua Tuo are written modified, subtly representing the giant’s unfamiliarity with human language.

2. Quite a few historical texts refer to the spiritual leaders of the Hwarang as the Won-Hwa. There are often two portrayed as their teachers, guiding the youths into becoming one with both nature and each other.