Yuseong opened his eyes.
Hardly any time seemed to have passed, as Jin Eun-seon was still staring at him with the same intense gaze.
'Thankfully, it seems I didn't fall asleep. Wait a minute...?'
Yuseong sensed an abnormality in his body.
In the center of his chest, a warm energy had suddenly seeped in.
It felt as if a red flame was spreading with every beat of his heart, and a gentle heat began to flow to the tips of his fingers and toes.
It was like something that had been in a long slumber was awakening.
Though it was incredibly faint, it was the same sensation Yuseong, who had lived as a Healer in Virtual Fantasy—a game that perfectly replicated sensations—had felt every single day.
'Divine power! It's divine power!'
The divine power that had been so abundant that he would feel a sense of emptiness upon logging out of Virtual Fantasy.
'I never thought I'd feel this again.'
He realized instinctively that he could now use the Healer's basic skill, [Heal].
Heal was a skill that could cure diseases and injuries.
It wasn't effective on wounds that would leave a permanent disability, but since it utilized the power of a god, it could wash away illnesses as if they were never there.
Joy welled up inside him.
Perhaps he could even heal his dantian again.
No, even if he couldn't right now, if he accumulated divine power and gained access to higher-level skills, he could definitely heal it.
He could either clear the game and return home, or even if he couldn't, he could use his cheat-like traits to live a life in this world that no one could envy.
"Alright, Eun-seon. Stop by tomorrow, and we'll check your condition."
"Yes, I will take my leave."
After Jin Eun-seon left, a servant informed him of the situation outside.
"Doctor Baek. Shall I let the next patient in?"
"Please wait just a moment."
"Yes, Doctor. Please let me know when you are ready."
Thanks to the incident just a while ago, a great number of people were lined up in front of Baek Yuseong's office.
The long line, almost rivaling Doctor Yang's, lifted his spirits, but right now, checking his dantian was the most urgent matter.
Using the Heal skill was simple.
He just had to place his hand on the afflicted area and decide to use Heal. The duration of the Heal would then be determined by the amount of divine power he possessed.
Divine power poured out from Yuseong's hands as he placed them over the location of his dantian.
"...!"
Perhaps due to his experience in practicing martial arts, he could vividly feel the divine power moving from his chest.
The surprising part was that he could use his meridians.
As the divine power traveled through the paths he had cultivated while learning martial arts, it flowed from his chest to his shoulders, down his arms, and out through his hands with almost no loss.
He could even feel the divine power emitted from his hands passing through his abdomen and reaching the vicinity of his dantian.
It was a strange experience.
Before, when he used divine power, he had only felt it manifesting through his hands.
Yuseong now focused on the changes occurring near his dantian.
Having only heard about it from Doctor Yang and being unable to inspect the area of his dantian after losing his internal energy, Yuseong was finally able to see what had become of his own dantian through his divine power.
And.
'So this is why Doctor Yang compared it to a shattered and lost porcelain bottle.'
The divine power enveloped the shattered fragments of his dantian, but the pieces didn't budge under Heal.
'I need a higher-level skill than Heal.'
Even with just a moment of healing, his divine power was nearly at rock bottom.
Though disappointed that he couldn't heal it right away, Yuseong withdrew his divine power.
What he had to do was now clear. He needed to increase his divine power.
'I know how to increase divine power. But whether it will work here is another question. Let's try it first.'
Yuseong corrected his posture. He knelt, clasped his hands, and assumed a pious pose.
Based on his experience, this was the posture that yielded the most divine power.
'Goddess Gaia, your faithful servant offers you this prayer of thanks. Please bestow your grace upon me.'
The class he had played in 'Real Mode' in Virtual Fantasy was Priest.
There was a reason it had taken him 50 years of in-game time to see the ending.
Accumulating divine power was extremely difficult.
By offering prayers to the goddess in this pious posture every morning and evening, his divine power would increase by a minuscule amount.
Frustrated by the abysmally slow increase, Yuseong had looked into various ways to increase divine power within the game.
He had despaired when he learned the method.
A god increases their divine power by receiving the prayers of their followers.
They then return a portion of it to the followers who prayed.
However, it was a mere tenth of the divine power the god earned.
He remembered how much he had cursed upon learning that only about 10% was returned to the followers.
This time, it wouldn't even take 50 years. He wasn't trying to see the ending as a Healer.
Once he healed his dantian, he would be able to quickly become a martial arts master with his cheat-like traits.
However.
There was no change in the absolute amount of his divine power.
Yuseong, who could now detect even the slightest movements he wouldn't have noticed before due to his experience with martial arts, felt nothing at all.
He only felt the natural recovery of the divine power he had used.
'Lady Gaia?'
"Lady Gaia?"
He tried changing his posture several times and called out the name of the goddess he had served, but there was no change.
A major snag had appeared in Yuseong's plan.
'I don't know any other way to increase divine power besides praying...?'
He needed his divine power to increase to learn new skills. This was a huge problem.
"Um, Doctor. Will you be long? Someone from the Murim Alliance has been waiting for a while."
"I'm fine. I'll wait."
The servant's question from outside the office and the voice of a woman brought Yuseong to his senses.
According to the agreement, unless there was an emergency patient, members of the Murim Alliance had priority over others for treatment.
'There's no obvious solution for now. I'll finish my work for today and keep looking into it.'
"My apologies. Please send the patient in."
"Yes, Doctor."
Yuseong was startled when he saw the woman who entered.
The woman in the scholar's robe and sword, with whom he had briefly locked eyes, came in.
The dark shadows under her eyes made her look quite tired, but her clothes were neat and without a hint of disarray.
"I am Zhuge Yeong-yeong, of the Murim Alliance."
"Are you not the Chief Strategist?"
"So you knew. I thought you might not, being new here."
He didn't know her face, but he had memorized the names, positions, and common ailments of key figures.
Her age wasn't written down, so he had assumed the Chief Strategist of the Murim Alliance would be a rather old person. A young woman like this was unexpected.
For her, who he knew often received headache medicine through Doctor Jo, to come seeking treatment from him...
"Ah, you must have come to me because Doctor Jo is off today."
Zhuge Yeong-yeong opened her mouth, her voice calm.
"I knew Doctor Jo was off. I was planning to see Doctor Yang, but I saw an impressive scene and changed my mind, thinking I'd like to have a brief word."
It seemed the way he treated the heart attack had been impressive. It was best to be modest here.
"Thank you for seeing it in a positive light. However, the Divine Doctor or his disciple, Doctor Yang, would have figured out a way soon enough."
"That's not what I meant. Your decisiveness in freely sharing such a secret method with everyone was more impressive. All skilled doctors have their own treatment methods, but I've rarely seen them taught to unrelated people."
In the world Yuseong had lived in, CPR was widely taught because it was easy to learn and anyone nearby could become a victim.
With such values ingrained in him, he had no hesitation in teaching it to others.
Feeling somewhat embarrassed, Yuseong changed the subject.
"Is that so. In any case, what brings you here today?"
"Ah, I've taken too much of your time. It's because of a headache. My head is throbbing even now. Perhaps because of it, my work efficiency has dropped a lot recently. I've been seen by Doctor Yang, and lately, I've been seeing Doctor Jo frequently, who always prescribed headache medicine. The medicine makes it bearable for a short while."
After taking her pulse, Yuseong examined Zhuge Yeong-yeong's face.
Her dark circles were deep. No matter how he looked at it, it was a symptom of chronic fatigue. Medicine could temporarily alleviate the symptoms, but it could never be a solution.
Rather, using the same medicine for a long time could lead to tolerance, which was not good.
"Do you have any idea what's causing the headaches?"
"It must be lack of sleep. I can't sleep at all. My head is foggy from exhaustion, and I end up reviewing the same documents multiple times, which takes even more time. It's a vicious cycle."
"You seem to know the cause well. Then you must also know that sufficient rest is the only complete solution. Even if we treat it temporarily, the fatigue will just build up again."
Yuseong clearly saw a flicker of worry cross Zhuge Yeong-yeong's expression before disappearing.
"I wish I could, but my circumstances don't allow it. I can't say more as it's confidential, but I would appreciate it if you could prescribe some medicine. Or, if you have a novel treatment method like the chest compressions you performed, could I receive it?"
Though temporary, Yuseong knew a way to treat Zhuge Yeong-yeong's headache.
'One shot of Heal would cleanly cure a headache of this level. Of course, it would come back if she continues her current lifestyle, but it's worth a try.'
But there was a problem.
A moment ago, he had used up most of his already meager divine power to treat his dantian.
Some of it had naturally recovered while they were talking, but the amount was extremely small.
The effectiveness of divine power decreases rapidly the larger the afflicted area and the deeper it penetrates into the body.
To treat a headache, he would need to use divine power deep inside the head, and the amount he currently had was far from enough.
'What a shame. If my divine power were fully recovered, I could have healed her headache.'
Just as Yuseong was about to prescribe only medicine this time and have Zhuge Yeong-yeong come back later, a thought crossed his mind.
'Wait, I can feel divine power much better than before, can't I? I might even be able to control it as if I were handling ki.'
Yuseong glanced down at the acupuncture needle case on one side of his desk.
Before losing his martial arts, he had been a peak master capable of forming sword ki. He arrived at the hypothesis that he might be able to precisely channel divine power through a needle.
Coincidentally, Zhuge Yeong-yeong herself had offered to try a novel treatment.
'Placing a needle isn't something that would look particularly strange. And there's no way divine power would have a negative effect. It's definitely worth a try. If it's not effective, I can just prescribe medicine then.'
Fiddling with a thin needle, Yuseong discreetly infused it with divine power and was satisfied with how smoothly it moved through the needle.
'I can control it freely. There's a good chance this will work. It would probably be best to go through the Baihui point.'
Since the Baihui point was an important meridian for martial artists, it was best to explain the treatment method beforehand to avoid misunderstanding.
"If you say so, would you like to try a treatment?"
Zhuge Yeong-yeong looked at the needle in Yuseong's hand.
"Is that acupuncture? Where will you place it?"
"I will place it on your Baihui point. It's not dangerous, so please don't worry."