The Physician of Traditional Medicine Returns from Murim

The Korean professional basketball draft operates on a lottery system.

The six women’s professional basketball teams in the country are assigned marbles based on their previous regular season rankings. The first-place team gets 6 marbles, the second-place team 5, and so on down to the last-place team with 1.

Then all the marbles are placed in a machine and spun.

The team whose marble comes out first gets the first pick in the draft.

This year, the team that won the first pick was Busan BUK, who finished third in last year’s league.

“Kim Yijin, welcome!”

They selected Kim Yijin, considered the top high school basketball prospect.

Incheon IKB, who got the second pick, chose a player from a high school in Suwon, and the third pick went to a player who had skipped last year’s draft to attend university.

After the first round, picks 7 through 12 go in reverse order. The team that picked 6th gets the 7th pick.

Then back around again.

“We select Myung Seon-ju.”

Myung Seon-ju joined the professional basketball team as the 12th overall pick and Busan BUK’s second pick.

“Busan BUK has the 13th pick as well.”

“We’ll pass on our next pick.”

From the third round, some teams still made picks, but more passed, and no team took more than four players this year.

Only 15 players were drafted in this rookie draft. Being included was already a great achievement.

Of course, Myung Seon-ju was happy. Extremely happy.

“Haha, we’re so fortunate Myung Seon-ju was still available. Those two players were very impressive at the national sports festival.”

“Thank you! Yijin, I look forward to working with you.”

“Sure.”

But she couldn’t shake off an uneasy feeling.

It wasn’t just about becoming teammates with Kim Yijin.

Unlike Kim Yijin, who was BUK’s top choice, she couldn’t escape the impression that she was picked from those left over.

Regardless, they became teammates, independent of their own wishes.

◆◇◆◇◆

National team selection.

While those around her made a big fuss, Myung Seon-ju thought that day’s incident was a coincidence.

It wasn’t particularly hot, nor was she extremely nervous.

She hadn’t been running hard or standing for long.

It wasn’t even during a game.

Just while standing briefly for a strategy meeting.

‘Hmm, my chest feels a bit…’

It felt tight. Her heart seemed to beat a little faster.

As her chest and stomach started to constrict…

Whoa.

Her vision shook.

Her legs gave way.

‘…?’

By the time she realized what had happened, she was already supported by Kim Yijin’s arm.

“Myung Seon-ju, are you okay?!”

“I’m perfectly fine!”

She stood up immediately, but her vision was still shaky.

She was forced to sit in a chair, agonizing over why this had to happen today of all days.

The symptoms subsided in less than five minutes.

Normal blood pressure. Normal ECG. Slightly fast. Normal blood test. Normal cerebral blood flow test.

“We don’t need to do an echocardiogram or brain MRI.”

The doctor said she was fine, and Myung Seon-ju truly felt not the slightest discomfort.

Fortunately, the same symptoms didn’t reappear after the selection event.

She was able to finish the season without incident.

…So when did it recur?

“Are you going to the Korean medicine clinic this weekend too?”

“No, I’m visiting my alma mater. A junior asked me to come.”

It was a day when Kim Yijin, who usually went to the Korean medicine clinic at every opportunity during training camp, gave a different reason for going out.

“Is Ri-ra coming too?”

“I guess so? She’s the one who invited me, so of course she’ll be there. She’s the captain, after all.”

Chae Ri-ra! Hearing that name made her happy.

So she really did become the captain of Jungun High.

The player who had been the de facto captain of Jungun High since last year, in place of Kim Yijin who focused on individual skills. A junior she’d often crossed paths with since middle school, whose unique name stuck in her memory. She always caught the eye, being at the center of the team.

And suddenly, she felt guilty again.

Hadn’t she injured her arm because of her at last year’s national sports festival?

“Is her arm okay now? Ask her and give her my regards.”

“…? If I pass on your regards, her perfectly fine arm might get worse.”

“Get lost already!”

“I’m kidding.”

She had just planned to exchange greetings through Kim Yijin and leave it at that.

“What should we do?”

“Hmm… Should I buy you basketball shoes?”

Somehow, the two ended up meeting in Nampo-dong.

As they chatted, with Chae Ri-ra messaging not to worry about her arm at all, Myung Seon-ju learned that Chae Ri-ra planned to go to university instead of entering the draft.

That’s how the idea of meeting while in Busan came up.

“Should we?”

But when they actually met, it was incredibly awkward.

What does one do with a junior from a rival school who used to pick fights every time they met?

After awkwardly shopping in the streets…

“I’ve never been to Yongdusan Park~”

They rode the endless escalator up to Yongdusan Park.

“I haven’t been to the tower either.”

What is this, are we a couple of lifelong singles on their first date?

Okay! Honestly, she was a bit nervous!

She regretted suggesting they meet!

But even so.

“Kyaaah! What do we do? Hey! Myung Seon-ju! You’re joking, right?”

Why did she suddenly collapse there?

“Ah, I’m fine~ This happened once before, but I was okay within 5 minutes!”

“Should I call 119? I forgot how to do CPR. I should’ve learned it properly!”

“I’m telling you I’m fine.”

Chae Ri-ra made a huge fuss.

She regained her balance even faster than at the national team selection, where it had taken 5 minutes to recover.

“Don’t move and stay right there. What if you fall going down the park stairs?”

The escalator at Yongdusan Park only goes one way. You have to use the stairs to go down.

Of course, it wouldn’t have been difficult for a healthy Myung Seon-ju, but Chae Ri-ra panicked, saying they should call a helicopter or someone to carry her down.

“You collapsed again?”

After all that commotion, when they returned to the dorm, that’s what Kim Yijin said.

“I didn’t collapse. I just sat down to rest for a moment.”

“That’s the same thing. Ri-ra said to definitely take you to the Korean medicine clinic.”

“I’m fine, there’s no need…”

“Should I tell the coach then?”

“……”

And so, Myung Seon-ju had no choice but to come to Kim Yijin’s regular Korean medicine clinic.

◆◇◆◇◆

So you’re saying the symptoms recurred while hanging out with a slightly awkward friend.

It’s certainly difficult to view this level of trigger as a serious psychological shock.

“You don’t have acrophobia, right?”

“Not at all~ I live on the 40th floor!”

“Other than being slightly more tense than usual, there were no other stimulating factors.”

After hearing Myung Seon-ju’s story, I became even more certain of my diagnosis.

“It’s vasovagal syncope.”

“Vaso… what?”

Hearing the unfamiliar diagnosis, Myung Seon-ju asked back with a blank face.

“It must be some kind of nerve.”

“Well, of course it is! Um, Director. I didn’t study much because I focused on sports, so I don’t know much about this. I’ve heard of brain nerves, sympathetic nerves, parasympathetic nerves, and such.”

But when Kim Yijin pretended to know, Myung Seon-ju also listed the nerves she knew, showing off her rich scientific knowledge.

“It’s a type of parasympathetic nerve. Have you heard that sympathetic nerves are excited during urgent and tense situations, while parasympathetic nerves work in a relaxed state?”

“Yes!”

“Yes.”

Myung Seon-ju nodded confidently. If anything, Kim Yijin seemed less knowledgeable.

Since I wasn’t planning to give a science lecture anyway, I only explained the mechanism of vasovagal syncope.

“During the selection and this time, even if you felt fine, your body was somewhat tense. That would have excited your sympathetic nerves.”

“Yes.”

“Your heart beating too fast and your stomach feeling tight to the point of indigestion are those symptoms. But if this state of overexcited sympathetic nerves continues, your body thinks something’s seriously wrong, right?”

“I guess so?”

“So when the sympathetic nerves are excited beyond a certain point, the vagus nerve activates in reaction and relaxes everything. It slows down the accelerated heartbeat and lowers blood pressure.”

Hearing this explanation, both of them nodded as if they understood.

“The heart is a pump that supplies blood, so what happens when it slows down?”

“Blood doesn’t flow to the arms and legs, making them weak, and not enough blood reaches the head, causing loss of balance!”

“That’s exactly it. In severe cases, you could have lost consciousness and fainted, but because you lay down and rested immediately, blood supply reached your brain and you regained consciousness.”

This friend is quite smart.

When I praised her, Myung Seon-ju smiled with satisfaction. For some reason, Kim Yijin glared at Myung Seon-ju as if jealous.

It’s natural that she’d understand faster since she experienced it directly.

“Ah~ So Ri-ra was right about resting.”

Myung Seon-ju scratched her head.

And soon her face turned worried.

“But what if this happens again? I’m glad it’s not a serious problem… but I could face this level of tension at any time.”

“You should lie down and rest as quickly as possible, and loosen any tight clothing.”

“What if it’s during a game.”

That’s the problem.

If it were an ordinary person who experienced vasovagal syncope once in a while without being exposed to major stress, it would be hard to say treatment is absolutely necessary.

Just last month, there was a patient with similar symptoms, but I sent her home without a prescription.

That patient was also a young woman who experienced brief syncope from being too nervous about singing at a friend’s wedding.

But Myung Seon-ju’s case was a bit different.

National team selection, an awkward date with a junior.

While these are certainly situations that could make one nervous…

“If you want to continue your athletic career, you must get treatment. This is already the second time, and the threshold for syncope is low compared to the level of tension you routinely experience as an athlete.”

“Is treatment possible?”

“Yes. While it’s called vasovagal syncope, the problem is the overexcitation of sympathetic nerves. We’ll use medicine to lower the sensitivity.”

“By medicine, you mean herbal medicine, right?”

“That’s right.”

Myung Seon-ju’s worry deepened despite hearing that treatment was possible.

“Um… Will it cause any doping issues?”

Ah, of course.

“There’s no need to worry about that. There are indeed some herbs that could potentially cause doping issues, but those are all herbs that excite sympathetic nerves and increase alertness. They have the opposite effect of what I’ll prescribe for you, Myung Seon-ju-nim.”

I displayed on the computer screen herbs that could potentially cause doping issues and showed them to Myung Seon-ju.

The most representative is Ephedra. It’s a central herb for drying up runny noses, phlegm, and even for dieting, but since it activates body metabolism, it naturally affects sympathetic nerves.

There are a few others like Pinellia, Fructus Cannabis, and Chinemys reevesii, but these also have nothing to do with Myung Seon-ju’s symptoms.

“The director will surely prescribe something that won’t cause issues.”

“Ah, I was just worried. Then I’ll take whatever you prescribe. I managed to get through it the first time, but if I faint again during practice or a game, it would be hard to stay on the team.”

I nodded.

“You’ve thought this through well. The occurrence of vasovagal syncope means your body is routinely under a lot of tension. If we can relieve that, you’ll feel much more at ease mentally, and overall indicators like digestion and sleep will all improve.”

Wasn’t Ulsan Hwayoung High a traditionally strong school?

As the captain of such a school, she must have suffered a lot of pressure, and after graduation, joining the same team as Kim Yijin must have been quite burdensome.

While not as much as Yijin, she has excellent physical conditions, but she must have been receiving many debuffs due to tension all this time.

Hoping to alleviate much of that…

I began taking her medical history.