BAG 2

BAG

Posted by Mona, Released on October 12, 2025

Episode 2

The energy seated deep in his danjeon stirred softly.
A faint amount of inner power was consumed, and within a radius of one and a half meters, the air was sterilized.

“Oh!”

The once stuffy medical chamber now felt dry, clean, and fresh.
It looked no different than usual — he cleaned daily, after all — yet the feeling was unmistakable.

The amount of inner power consumed was roughly one pun, about one percent.
In his previous life, every use of this skill had drained ten percent of his mana.

“Efficient. So this is the difference between inner power and mana… No — it just means that ten years’ worth of inner power is an enormous amount by mana’s standards. Yes, that must be it.”

Mu gang, though a physician, possessed inner power.
He had learned martial arts — not for fighting, but because most of his patients were martial artists of the Sun and Ilwol Shinkyo..
Those who practiced martial arts cultivated inner power through the Twelve Principal Meridians and Eight Extraordinary Meridians, and thus, a physician treating them needed to use Qigong acupuncture, applying needles that carried inner power.

Without inner power, treating martial artists was dangerous — one could be branded a fraud, or even cut down for impersonating a physician.

“Hmm. Maybe this means I can take on more patients now?”

Qigong acupuncture consumed a great deal of energy.
With his current inner power, Mu-gang could treat only five to ten patients a day.
But if he used his skills cleverly, perhaps that number could increase—

“Head Physician! Head Physician! Emergency!”
“…What is it?”

A panicked voice came from outside.
Mu-gang stopped thinking and hurried out of his office.
Physician Geum was pacing like a nervous dog about to burst.

“A—A patient! A critical one! From the Sun and Moon Sect!”
“…! Bring them in!”

At the words Sun and Moon Sect, Mu-gang dashed out barefoot without even realizing it.
In the courtyard, several men in dark uniforms — unmistakably Sun and Moon Sect warriors — stood around a man drenched in blood.

“January—”
“Stop! There’s no time for that!”

A grim-faced warrior barked urgently.
Mu-gang froze mid-bow, understanding instantly.

“If they’re stopping even worship of their great Sun and Moon gods, this isn’t just urgent — the man’s on the verge of death.”

Straightening, Mu-gang gave quick orders to Physician Geum.
“Fetch needles, golden salve, and the hemostatic herbs. Now.”
Then he rushed into the treatment room.

The floor looked as if a festival of blood had been held there — dark and wet, soaked through.

“With this much bleeding, he should already be dead.”

But Mu-gang’s face wasn’t grim.
If he had already died, they wouldn’t have brought him here.
That meant — even by the thinnest thread — life still clung to him.
Or perhaps not all the blood on the floor was his.

His guess proved correct.

The man’s abdomen was split wide open, his intestines exposed and twitching faintly.
They weren’t moving from life — but because the body was still trying, futilely, to keep them from spilling out.
How he was even alive was a mystery.

“Everyone except the patient — leave the room.”
“What?”
“Are you insane? Do you even know who you’re talking to?”

The warriors, proud as members of the Sun and Moon Sect, shouted furiously.
But Mu-gang had dealt with plenty of loud and overbearing men before.

“This is a treatment hall! If you want the patient to live, follow my orders!”
“…Everyone, out.”
“B-but—”
“I said OUT! Or do you want him to die?!”

The grim warrior’s roar silenced the others.
They slunk out like dogs caught in the rain.
Mu-gang shut the door behind them.

Inside, two physicians were struggling to push the man’s intestines back into his abdomen.

“How is the patient’s condition?”
“What do you mean, how? Look at him! His intestines are flopping like fish out of water. Unless the legendary Hua Tuo himself has come back to life, there’s no saving him.”
“Exactly. By all rights, he’s already dead.”

Though their hands moved, their voices were detached, hopeless.
Mu-gang silently agreed.
Yesterday, he would’ve said the same.

“This man… is lucky.”

Not because martial artists were hard to kill.
Not because his organs were miraculously intact.
Both were true — but that wasn’t the real reason.

“He’s lucky because he’s in front of today’s me — not yesterday’s.”

“This time… I can save him. No — I will save him.”

The wound had been made by a blade.
By luck, the intestines hadn’t been cut, though they kept trying to escape through the open wound.
His eyes were rolled back, foam forming at his mouth — seconds from death.

Yet Mu-gang felt no hesitation.

“Head Physician!”

Physician Geum burst in, arms full of supplies.
Mu-gang glanced through them — surgical needles, silk thread, medicinal gauze, even herbal saline.

“Good. More than enough.”

He turned to the two other physicians.

“Hold him down. Tight.”
“E-Excuse me?”
“From here on, I’m leading the operation.”

His eyes darkened, calm and focused.
With memories from both this life and his previous one, he could see into the man’s body as if it were transparent.

“Hold him steady.”
“Y-Yes, sir!”
“Understood!”

The assistants exchanged quick looks, then pressed the patient down.
Physician Geum slid a pair of surgical silk gloves onto Mu-gang’s hands.
He flexed his fingers like a pianist warming up — and invoked a skill.

‘Anesthesia.’

His inner power stirred and flowed outward.
The Anesthesia Skill activated.
Unlike ordinary anesthetics, which could harm the lungs or heart, this one caused no side effects — it merely erased pain.

“That’s one of the advantages of skills.”

“Saline.”
“Yes.”

Mu-gang poured the herbal saline gently over the wound.
The blood washed away, exposing clean flesh.
The intestines bulged outward again, but his eyes were already scanning the edges of the incision.

“This isn’t a slash — it’s a clean cut. A master’s blade.”

He didn’t know much about swordsmanship, but even he could tell the wound was made by an expert.
It was a blessing, in a way — clean cuts were far easier to mend.

“Now then… let’s begin.”

“Sutures and silk thread.”

“Yes, Head Physician.”

Geum, the assistant physician, threaded the silk through the surgical needle and handed it over.

Before starting the operation, Mugang asked him quietly.

“Do you know where each organ belongs?”
“Yes! I do!”
“Good. You’ll start suturing at the same speed I return the organs to their place. Not a single mistake is allowed, so stay sharp.”
“Yes, sir!”

Mugang took a deep breath and closed his eyes.
When his concentration reached its peak, his eyes snapped open.
As Geum began placing the organs back inside, Mugang’s hands moved.
He began stitching the torn flesh with the surgical needle.

‘First, the peritoneum.’

It was not an easy surgery.
But at this very moment, Mugang’s past-life memories fully awakened.

He had absorbed every ounce of knowledge from the Mad Doctor.

“Geum, faster.”
“Yes, sir.”

The silk gloves were soon dyed red.
White robes bloomed with crimson petals.

Keeping pace with Mugang’s stitching speed, Geum rinsed the wound with saline solution.
As he set the basin down and turned to resume work, he froze.

Mugang’s hands were moving with a divine precision—each motion fluid, perfect, inhumanly fast.

Geum’s eyes widened.
A scream of awe nearly escaped his throat.

Then Mugang’s face twisted into a demonic scowl.

“Not focused? If you’re going to act like that, quit medicine and go till the fields instead!”

Thud! Mugang’s foot struck Geum’s shin—since his hands were occupied, he used his foot.

“I—I’m sorry!”

Geum stammered, unable to even feel humiliated.
He was too overwhelmed by the sheer brilliance before him.
Quickly regaining his focus, he straightened up and resumed his task, sneaking glances at Mugang’s moving hands.

The moment the organs were back in place, Mugang’s needle flashed without hesitation.
He didn’t even bother to check his work—there was no need.
He knew every stitch was flawless.

‘Was the Head Physician’s skill always this incredible?!’

Time passed quickly.
After an hour of continuous motion, Mugang’s blood-stained hands finally stopped.

Silence filled the operating room.
The three observing physicians could only watch, breathless.
Their heavy breathing echoed in the still air.

Inside their hearts, a storm raged.

‘What did I just witness?’

They had known Mugang was skilled.
Otherwise, he wouldn’t have become Head Physician.
But what they just saw—
defied everything they knew about medicine.

A wound that exposed internal organs—
should have been fatal.

And yet, right before their eyes, that absolute rule was shattered.

The scene was so unreal, their minds went cold.

‘I want to see that again… just once more.’

The physicians swallowed hard.
They had thought there was nothing more to learn from Mugang—
but now, they realized how wrong they were.

It was as if the legendary healer Hua Tuo himself had returned to life!

As they tried to replay the scene in their minds, Mugang spoke.

“What are you standing around for?”
“…What?”
“Excuse me?”
“Clean up.”
“…!”
“Y-Yes, sir!”

They bowed their heads hastily.
They longed to see that breathtaking scene again,
the miracle that had just unfolded before their eyes.

Mugang removed his silk gloves and stared into empty space—expression unreadable.

‘Does he look like that because he’s certain he can do it again… any time?’

It felt as though he had become a completely different person overnight.
But Mugang wasn’t staring into nothing.

Before his eyes floated a translucent message.

[Level Up!]
[Skill Acquired: Perfect Suture Technique (S)]

‘The surgery was a success.’

Without looking back, Mugang walked out of the room.

* * *

Since the wounded warrior had been carried into the clinic, unrest had spread through the village.
People whispered anxiously wherever they gathered.

“Aye, the warrior from the Divine Sect who protects our village…”
“The injury looked serious…”
“Can the Mugang Clinic really treat something like that?”
“No matter how skilled they are—it’s too much.”

Though Mugang’s clinic had capable doctors,
it was still a small village.
In larger towns, there were physicians far more famous.

So people doubted the warrior would survive.

They passed the clinic and peered through the gate,
watching the restless guards pacing outside.

The village grew darker with worry.

“I heard the Head Physician is operating himself.”
“Oh heavens… if the patient dies—”
“Hush! Watch your mouth. Walls have ears. Do you want trouble?”

An elder scolded the gossipers,
and they quickly dispersed, uneasy.

Then—after what felt like an eternity—

Creak.

Mugang stepped outside.