Chapter 9 – Elixir
“Let’s monitor it for now.”
When the doctor spoke in a calm manner, Hahn-suhjin asked in a somewhat concerned manner.
“Will it be ok to leave it as it is?”
“The cancer went into remission within the past month even though we didn’t put you through any treatment. Since this wasn’t caused by an outside agent, it must mean that this is a result of your body’s natural immunity. If we recklessly introduce a drug as a treatment, it might wreck your immune system. It might make the situation worse.”
It was an explanation he could accept, so Hahn-suhjin was satisfied.
Truthfully, he had been worried about the doctor recommending another form of treatment. Then he would have to come up with an excuse to decline the recommendation. Hahn-suhjin had no idea if other treatments might affect the efficacy of the Elixir.
“Let’s just keep a close observation on you. Let’s schedule frequent tests. Let’s have one every 4 day.”
‘He wants a test every 4 day? That’ll cost a lot of money.’
If he combined the money we won from the lottery ticket and his retirement fund, he still had around $200,000. Still, Hahn-suhjin was hesitant. Now that his fatal disease had been cured, he was worried about his livelihood.
‘Ooh-ah. I spent 1.5 million in one sitting. Maybe I could have gotten away with giving him $500,000.’
Now that he thought about it he keenly felt the loss of the money. In the past, it was a great sum of money he would have never possessed even if he worked his entire life.
Now that he came back from the brink of death he missed the money. Hahn-suhijn smirked.
The doctor misunderstood the meaning of his smile, so the doctor also smiled.
“Congratulation.”
“Excuse me. You said you want me to get a test every four days. Isn’t that too frequent? I don’t have any money, so I don’t think I’ll be able to handle the hospital fee….”
“Mmmm……. I hope you don’t take this the wrong way.”
“Yes. Please speak.”
“It is rare to find a patient like you. To put it in another way, this is an almost a miraculous case. In the name of research, do you mind if we run some tests on you, so we can study it? Instead, we won’t charge any hospital fees.”
“Did you say research? That’s a bit…….”
Hahn-suhjin didn’t like the idea of a human research involving him. He put on a dissatisfied expression as he trailed off with his words. The doctor spoke as he waved his hand.
“Aigo. I know you are imagining strange things, but this isn’t anything like that. We are just going to test your blood and body. We’ll just take some tissue sample, check your reflexes, and take some MRI. Even if this is a research, we won’t be doing anything that would be dangerous to you. Don’t worry.”
Hahn-suhjin thought hard on the doctor’s sincere request. It didn’t look like he was lying or putting on a false front, but Hahn-suhjin would prefer not to do this.
‘It took four days to recover this much after drinking the Elixir. Won’t I be cured soon? If my condition turns for the worse, I just have to drink the Elixir again.’
He still had about 90% of the Elixir left. After he thought it over, Hahn-suhjin shook his head from side to side.
“It’s all right. I’ll just get the test using my own money.”
“Please don’t be like this, sir.”
“I’ll leave when my cancer is all gone. I have to work if I want to be able to eat and live. It seems to me I’ll be making a full recovery soon, so I don’t think participating in a research is a long term solution.”
“Then do you mind if we conduct our research until you are fully healed??”
“Until I’m fully healed…… Yes. I can work with that.”
Hahn-suhjin thought there would be no harm in allow it, so he easily agreed to it. He was also a bit curious. He wanted to know how the Elixir had treated his disease.
The doctor immediately assigned a dedicated medical staff to Hahn-suhjin. The doctor was also a professor, and he held great influence within the hospital.
“The man has an extraordinary immune system. How else could he recover from a late stage pancreatic cancer without getting a single treatment?”
“If we could study his immune system, we could make great strides in treating cancer.”
He was given a special single occupant hospital room. Hahn-suhjin was able to hear gossips from the medical personnel in attendance next to him. Most of their conversations were riddled with medical terminology, so he had a hard time understanding what they were talking about. He was barely able to come to an understanding of his situation by the casual conversation held by the nurses.
The hospital provided him with all kinds of benefits. He was given the latest computer, a variety of video game consoles and games. He was also given delicious food. They didn’t skimp on the money they spent on him. They tried very hard to ingratiate themselves to him.
“Professor. Please look at this.”
“What is it?”
“It’s a substance extracted from patient Hahn-suhjin’s blood… I’ve never seen such a substance. It doesn’t seem like a substance that is produced naturally by the body.”
“A drug?”
Professor Kim-jahong searched his thoughts as he furrowed his brows. He’d never heard of such a drug being in development.
“He’s never received any medication for treatment. Patient Hahn-suhjin’s immune system must have developed a natural resistance.”
“Still, I’ve never seen such a thing.”
“This might be a unique immune system only possessed by our patient, Hahn-suhjin. So, is that all you have to report?”
“No. I’ve discovered something incredible.”
“What is it?”
“I applied this substance on a cancerous tissue sampled from a different patient. Surprisingly, the cancerous cells were eradicated. Moreover, the normal cells were unaffected.”
Professor Kim-jahong slapped his knee then he stood up.
“That’s it! How much more of this substance do you have left?”
“It’s all gone. Only a minute amount could be recovered from the blood… I applied it to the cancerous tissue on a hunch.”
Kim-jahngho’s complexion darkened along with his.
“This……. Our work will become much harder.”
It had been one week since he was admitted to the hospital.
Hahn-suhjin felt something was amiss. His senses told him he was all better, yet the physicians insisted there were still some cancerous cells left. So he wasn’t given a clean bill of health.
‘The cancerous cells were 90% exterminated within 4 days, yet the 10% remained steady for the next week? How strange……. Maybe the efficacy of the Elixir dropped off?’
He couldn’t hold back his boredom, so he decided to come back after visiting his home. He changed out of his hospital gown. The nurse, who had entered at that moment, was surprised.
“Uh-muh. Where are you going?”
“I want to go home for a little bit.”
“You can’t. I haven’t been informed that you are being discharged.”
“I’m not trying to be discharged. I’ll be back in no time. I just have items I want to bring from my house.”
“Then please wait a moment. I’ll go send a message to the professor.”
When he heard Hahn-suhjin was about to leave, the professor, who had diagnosed him first, came running right away.
Professor Kim-jahong quickly tried to dissuade his course of action.
“You shouldn’t recklessly move around yet. You aren’t completely healed yet.”
“I’m not trying to discharge myself. I just want to visit my home for a brief moment. I have some things I want to get. I’ll be back soon.”
“Huh-uh. Still…….”
He acted as if Hahn-suhjin wouldn’t come back if he exited the hospital. Professor Kim-jahong kept trying to stop him. In the end, he couldn’t override Hahn-suhjin’s decision, so he raised both hands in surrender.
“Understood. You have to come back tomorrow. Your complete recovery is right around the corner, but you aren’t healed all the way yet.”
“I understand.”
Hahn-suhjin was able to fend off their attempts to get him to stay.
He had returned after 10 days, but his one room was still in the same condition. The Elixir was still stashed within his desk.
“Did the efficacy of the medicine decrease? I’m not even sure how much I should take this…”
Hahn-suhjin looked at the blue sapphire-like Elixir for a moment. He opened the top then he poured it into a cup. He poured about 1/3 of the amount he drank last time.
The warm energy was gulped down his gullet.
‘……?’
Hahn-suhjin paused as he felt something was amiss.
‘It feels much different than before…….’
When he previously drank the Elixir, it felt as if a hot energy had settled within his stomach. It hadn’t been painful. The pleasurable warmness felt as if it was heating up the inside of his body.
However, that sensation was completely missing now.
“……perhaps.”
Hahn-suhjin’s face hardened. After stashing the Elixir in his desk, he once again left his one room.
Then he went to the second hospital where he was diagnosed. The doctor greeted him as the doctor recognized him.
“I’ve heard from the hospital I was diagnosed first that my cancer has turned for the better. This is why I want a thorough test.”
“Your condition has improved? How fortunate. I understand. I’ll immediately run some tests.”
The doctor thought Hahn-suhjin had a partial remission, so he didn’t put too much importance on the tests he was performing. However, as the test progressed, his face started to stiffen.
After the several hours it took to complete the test, the doctor spoke as if he couldn’t believe what he saw.
“It’s a miracle. You are completely cured of cancer. No, I don’t know how this is possible…”
“Completely cured?”
“Yes. There is no trace of any cancerous cells. You have a clean bill of health. What kind of treatment did you try?”
Full recovery.
When he thought about Professor’s Kim-jahong’s desperate expression, Hahn-suhjin’s eyes grew cold.