Living Dangerously with a 999-Year-Old Gumiho – Chapter 101

Her gaze wavered for a moment, and her mask trembled slightly.

But soon, she regained her confidence and replied, trying to sound calm.

“Uh, well, you see… I had a nightmare—”

“No, that’s not it… I mean,”

“Perhaps it was a medical intuition?”

“So you just knew unconsciously?”

“Suddenly, a flower shape popped into my head… I thought it might relate to the patient’s condition…”

“And yet, it actually existed! Medicine is truly a mysterious field, isn’t it? Haha!”

The doctor chuckled awkwardly as they listened to her excuses.

Her words came off as nonsensical excuses, and it seemed she was aware that her explanation was a bit flimsy.

Yoonhwa was momentarily speechless upon hearing the doctor’s excuses.

Her eyes widened as she stared at the doctor, while Hyun watched the scene with a look of disbelief.

Their gazes reflected doubt about the doctor’s words and confusion about how to process the situation.

“So, you’re saying it’s… due to your… uh… whatever?”

Yoonhwa asked again in a somewhat puzzled tone.

Her voice mixed skepticism with a hint of laughter.

Hyun also smiled at the ridiculousness of the situation and nodded.

“Wow—what a remarkable intuition…”

There was a subtle sarcasm in his tone.

The doctor’s face turned slightly red at their reactions, and she frowned.

“Ah, no, I mean… it’s just something I felt instinctively.”

“That… that medicine… whatever it is…”

Suddenly, Yoonhwa stood up from her chair.

Her movement was swift and determined.

Taking a few steps, she approached the doctor and said in a strong voice.

“You’re… a monster..!!”

In an instant, Yoonhwa lunged at the doctor, gripping her neck.

Her movement was so fast and resolute that the doctor couldn’t even react.

Yoonhwa’s grip was firm, and the doctor found herself unable to resist.

Hyun, taken aback by this scene, shouted urgently at Yoonhwa.

“Yoonhwa, stop! You can’t do this—!”

His voice was laced with desperation, but Yoonhwa’s focus was solely on the doctor.

Suddenly, a magical light flashed from Yoonhwa’s wrist, and a string shot out.

That glowing string wrapped around the doctor’s body in an instant, binding her tightly.

The doctor was rendered immobile, and shock was evident on her face.

Despite Hyun’s words, Yoonhwa glared at the doctor, unleashing her fury.

“You… you’re not human, you’re a monster?”

“Why did you approach us?!”

“Is it because of the beads??”

Hyun hurriedly dashed to Yoonhwa’s side, grabbing her arm.

His action was a desperate attempt to calm Yoonhwa and control the situation.

“Yoonhwa, this isn’t right!”

“Why the heck is the doctor a monster all of a sudden?!”

Bound by the magical string, the doctor was taken aback by Yoonhwa’s sudden attack and wore an irritated expression.

“Damn… why does this dirty fox keep putting her hands on my body at will?!”

Yoonhwa froze at the doctor’s words.

The doctor calling her a ‘fox’ rang clearly in her ears.

That word made Yoonhwa feel as if her essence had been exposed, leading her to firmly believe that the doctor was a monster, not a human.

“Me, a fox? Yeah! You’re definitely a monster!”

Hyun was also taken aback by the doctor’s words. He instinctively sensed something was wrong, and his suspicions about the doctor deepened.

Without realizing it, he found himself siding with Yoonhwa’s judgment.

“So it turns out you’re a monster!”

The doctor, bound by the magical string, was flustered by the sudden change in the situation, yet her gaze grew sharper, revealing hostility.

She took a deep breath, assessed her situation, and then spoke with difficulty.

“Let me go! If you don’t, I might just kill all the humans in this town!”

Yoonhwa’s anger flared up for a moment at the doctor’s words.

Her instincts as a monster reacted intensely, and the string tightened its grip on the doctor.

“What do you mean?!”

The doctor’s voice echoed urgently outside the consultation room.

“Nurse!”

At that moment, the back door flew open, and a nurse rushed in.

The nurse had just plunged into this stormy situation.

Her eyes widened in shock as she took in the chaotic scene inside the room.

Yoonhwa was binding the doctor with a magical string, and this caught her off guard.

Hyun was at a loss as he watched the chaotic situation unfold inside the consultation room.

Alternating his gaze between Yoonhwa binding the doctor and the surprised nurse, he pondered what role he could play in this monster-versus-monster showdown.

Hyun’s mind was in turmoil, and it felt like a storm was raging within him. At that moment, his head suddenly began to throb intensely.

He endured the pain for a moment, clutching his head as dizziness overwhelmed him.

The doctor glared at the nurse with an exasperated voice.

“Dream”

The doctor’s annoyed voice filled the consultation room.

The moment she uttered the strange word ‘dream,’ an odd energy swept through the room.

In that moment, the hastily arriving nurse collapsed on the spot.

“..!!”

Yoonhwa rushed instinctively to the nurse’s side and helped her up.

The nurse’s eyes were closed, and her body lay limp.

Yoonhwa carefully grasped the nurse’s shoulder and gently began leading her to a corner of the consultation room.

At that moment, the magical string binding Yoonhwa unraveled and began to dissipate.

Yoonhwa was too focused on helping the nurse to notice this fact.

Her sole thought was to assist the suddenly fainted nurse.

Seizing the moment, the doctor quickly got up from her position.

Hyun’s tension escalated within him as he watched the doctor regain her freedom.

Unable to bear the sudden shift in the situation and the severe headache, he stumbled unsteadily and collapsed.

His hands gripped his head as painful groans escaped his lips, and he bowed forward, overwhelmed.

As all this chaos and pain piled up, Hyun’s consciousness began to fade.

Once Yoonhwa gently laid the nurse down on the floor, she looked around for the doctor, but the doctor was nowhere to be found.

Then, suddenly, the doctor appeared around Hyun.

In her hand was a vial, and she approached as if to hand it to Hyun.

Yoonhwa, seeing the doctor suddenly appear around Hyun, felt alarmed.

She witnessed the doctor crouching behind Hyun and realized instinctively that something was off.

The moment the doctor attempted to shove the medicine into Hyun’s mouth, Yoonhwa became enraged and dashed toward them quickly.

Yoonhwa’s movements were as fast as lightning, and her strength was immense.

She charged at the doctor and hit her with full force.

Yoonhwa’s weight and strength slammed the doctor against the wall.

The impact left her momentarily breathless, and it wasn’t until her body collided with the wall that she sank to the ground.

However, at the moment Yoonhwa charged the doctor, the medicine the doctor had given was already filling Hyun’s mouth, slipping down his throat.

Hyun writhed from the bitter taste of the medicine that filled his mouth and the discomfort it caused.

He coughed violently, struggling to spit out the remnants of the medicine, but much of it had already gone down his throat.

Tears welled up in his eyes as his face twisted with pain and confusion.

“Cough—cough..!!”

The doctor, after being slammed into the wall, staggered to her feet and cast a cruel smile at Hyun’s agonized face.

The smile glimmering in her eyes reflected victory and satisfaction.

“You’ll feel comfortable now…”

She mocked Hyun in a sharp and sinister voice.

Yoonhwa’s anger surged as she observed the doctor’s actions and Hyun’s suffering.

She charged at the doctor, shouting fiercely.

“What did you make him eat?!”

As Yoonhwa’s fury peaked, her true nature could no longer be concealed.

Suddenly, her tail and ears showed up, fully manifesting her instincts as a monster.

Until now, Yoonhwa had maintained a human appearance, but the tension in the consultation room thickened with her transformation.

Instead of fear, the doctor showed an intrigued smile at Yoonhwa’s hands gripping her collar.

“This will be a very interesting experiment!…”

She spoke as if relishing the moment.

“Now go out of this consultation room.”

“What do you think will happen?”

Hyun grimaced at the bitter taste that lingered down his throat.

Yet, within mere minutes, he began to feel his headache gradually subsiding.

As the previous pain vanished like a lie, Hyun felt a complex mix of bewilderment and relief washing over him.

“What is happening…?”

“Is this… really medicine…?”

Meanwhile, Yoonhwa, too consumed by her transformed appearance to pay attention, decided to leave the consultation room, encouraged by the doctor’s words.

With her tail and ears still obvious, she hurried down the hospital hallway. The hospital was eerily quiet, and where Yoonhwa passed, hospital staff and patients lay collapsed on the floor.

They all appeared to be in a peaceful slumber, snoring as if lost in deep sleep.

Yoonhwa was deeply shocked by this scene.

“What on earth…?”

She couldn’t understand why everyone in the hospital had suddenly collapsed all at once.

She looked around, trying to find someone who was awake, or anyone in a normal state like herself or Hyun.

Yoonhwa gazed with confusion in her eyes.

The doctor didn’t lose her smile.

Her gaze seemed satisfied with the situation she had created.

“Look, all the humans who come to this hospital rely on my medicine!”

“I am an essential being to them!”

“When they take this medicine, they feel happiness and can escape the pain of reality…”

Yoonhwa’s anger grew further upon hearing the doctor’s words.

“How is that happiness…?”

“You’re just making them forget reality by trapping them in your illusions!”

Despite Yoonhwa’s reaction, the doctor continued to smile.

“Ahh—this is perfect for fragile humans; they crumble easily with just a little nudge…”

“Let’s have monsters live among each other!!”

Hyun increasingly felt uneasy as he listened to Yoonhwa and the doctor’s conversation.

He wondered what exactly the medicine he had taken was, and if the doctor’s words were true, what effect that medicine would have on him.

The headache had subsided, but he worried about whether he’d lost something in return.

“I— I might end up like those people…”

While Yoonhwa was busy holding onto the doctor in rage, the doctor took an unexpected action.

Despite Yoonhwa’s fury, the doctor didn’t struggle to break free from her grip.

Instead, she swiftly moved in front of Yoonhwa and gently lifted her bangs.

On Yoonhwa’s forehead was a delicately etched flower-shaped mark.

As the doctor’s finger touched that mark, Yoonhwa slightly shuddered.

The doctor’s touch was unexpectedly gentle but conveyed an uncomfortable awkwardness as if she was trying to peer into Yoonhwa’s inner self.

The doctor touched Yoonhwa’s mark and spoke in a surprised voice.

“I didn’t expect it to get so faint this quickly; that’s a bit impressive.”

Feeling baffled by the doctor’s actions, Yoonhwa pushed her hand away.

“W-what are you doing?!”

The doctor gazed at Yoonhwa and sighed with pity.

“If it’s become this faint, it seems what I prepared might not work anymore… What a shame.”

The doctor lowered her head for a moment at Yoonhwa’s reaction, then smiled and looked at Hyun.

“I’ll—make you happy!!”

“Shallow humans are suited for dreams.”

“Good dreams.”

As soon as the doctor finished her last sentence, Hyun’s body suddenly lost strength.

His vision blurred, and his body felt heavy as he slowly began to tilt toward the ground.

“Hyun!”

Yoonhwa, alarmed by Hyun’s collapse, hurriedly rushed to his side.

She quickly supported Hyun’s body, cradling him.

Hyun’s body was limp, and his eyes were closed.

“What is happening…?”

“Hyun, are you okay..???”

Yoonhwa anxiously shook Hyun, hoping he hadn’t lost consciousness.

But Hyun showed no response.

The doctor watched Yoonhwa helping Hyun, seemingly enjoying her panic.

She smiled once more at Yoonhwa and said.

“Don’t worry, that human has gone to the world of dreams!”

“He’ll find happiness in the special dream I created.”

Yoonhwa’s anger intensified at the doctor’s words.

While holding Hyun, she glared at the doctor, shouting as if she couldn’t tolerate her actions.

“What have you done?!!”

“Wake Hyun up…!!! Right now!”

Carefully laying Hyun down on the floor, Yoonhwa charged at the doctor and threw a powerful punch at her face.

The impact made the doctor shrink back, groaning in pain.

However, Yoonhwa’s wrath didn’t easily subside.

Her fist flew toward the doctor once more.

“Don’t hit me! You little—!!”

Annoyed with Yoonhwa’s relentless attacks, the doctor shouted back.

She barely blocked Yoonhwa’s blow by raising her arm, struggling to shake off Yoonhwa’s grip.

“Get your filthy hands off me!”

“You can’t kill me…”

“If you kill me, that human won’t ever wake up.”

The doctor established her position firmly and challenging Yoonhwa.

Her eyes were filled with confidence, and her voice carried a sense of superiority.