Chapter 38 – The Youngest Daughter of the Count’s Family (1)
[Chapter 3 – Verse 1] I Don’t Want to Interfere
People have different opinions, but I believe sports can be divided into two main categories.
The fight to surpass yourself.
The fight to defeat an opponent.
Sports like swimming and marathons, where time is measured, aim to beat the records set by ‘yesterday’s self.’
On the other hand, sports like soccer and tennis require a competitor to face directly, so you can’t determine superiority until you clash.
…Why bring this up suddenly?
There’s a reason, of course.
“6 minutes 23 seconds?! That’s insane!”
“How can a shaman…?”
“No drugs, and still that?”
“Whoa! Is he a monster?”
As my scrawny body gained muscle and my times visibly improved, I quickly drew attention.
Records equal skill, after all!
As long as there’s clear evidence—no drugs, no fraud, no manipulation, no bribes—records are recognized regardless of time or place.
“If you keep growing like this, the national team isn’t a dream!”
“Is that so?”
Wipe—
While drying off with a towel, I responded half-heartedly to the coach’s ambitious excitement.
Why?
‘A shaman on the Olympic national team? That’s ridiculous.’
No matter how far back you search the history of international competitions like the Olympics, there’s no case of someone without the aptitude achieving great results.
Thanks to Song Sun-young’s training, I was confident, but even then, the coach was overestimating me.
My talent, limited by my lack of aptitude, would soon hit its ceiling.
“What’s with that casual attitude! Think I’m joking? Look. These are the national team records from the last Olympics.”
Frowning, the coach showed me a meticulously compiled chart.
A ranking table.
Next to the ranks and names were their best times, clearly listed.
“Huh… Not much different from mine?”
“Exactly!”
“Hm…”
I examined the ranking table closely.
Especially the long-distance events.
The higher the emphasis on lung capacity and stamina, the better my times. I could maintain my starting speed until the end.
“Do you know what the other coaches and athletes are calling you lately?”
“What?”
“Nuclear Submarine.”
“…”
Calling a perfectly normal person a radioactive lump?
That’s just rude.
“You’re the first to complete 4000m without tiring.”
The coach clicked his tongue, showing me the stopwatch’s recorded time.
“Is that a compliment?”
“Of course.”
“Your expression doesn’t look like it.”
His eyes were similar to those who suspected I was using drugs.
“You used to show some stamina limits, but since your vacation, you don’t seem to tire at all.”
“I guess so.”
I’d felt something similar.
“What did you do on that vacation? Didn’t you say you were just getting checked at the hospital? Or maybe… superhuman surgery?”
“Coach…”
“What?! For real?!”
“You’ve been watching too many fantasy movies and novels.”
“…”
Surgery? I got beaten to a pulp by that superhuman instead.
In a dream, sure.
“But Coach, do you really think I could make the national team?”
“It’s not just a thought—it’s a certainty.”
“Even with my short-distance times?”
The Olympic swimming events are freestyle 100m, 300m, 1000m, 2000m, 4000m, and the 10km marathon that tests human limits.
In the past, there were butterfly, backstroke, etc., but after the job revolution, athletes’ skills skyrocketed, and they were merged and phased out…
I don’t know the exact reason since I’m not interested in swimming history.
“As you said, there are tons of guys faster than you in the 100m, 300m, and 1000m in the top tier.”
“Ugh.”
I already knew that.
“But in the 2000m and 4000m, you’re unmatched.”
“That’s just two out of five events.”
“So what? Medals are counted separately. You don’t need to excel in all five.”
“Oh…”
“Better to win a bronze in one event than finish fourth in all five.”
“…When you put it like that, I’m starting to feel confident.”
“You can feel more. Your short-distance times are mid-to-high second tier, but thanks to your monstrous stamina, you crush the top tier in long-distance.”
“Heh~”
My confidence was genuinely soaring.
Especially since it wasn’t empty talk but based on hard numbers.
‘Me, a national team member?’
The first thing that came to mind was the ‘pension.’
If I competed in the Olympics as a national team member and won a medal, I’d be recognized as a national merit recipient, earning money until I died.
Just imagining it made me happy.
“And your specialty isn’t just two events—it’s three. Don’t forget the 10km marathon.”
“But I don’t have a 10km record?”
It seems like you could just swim laps in a pool, but the 10km marathon is an outdoor event.
With no obstacles like pool walls or turns, I hadn’t had a chance to measure my time yet.
“If you don’t have one, make one. That’s what I wanted to talk about.”
“Hm?”
“The top-tier team training in the middle of the Pacific invited you.”
“What about you, Coach?”
“Of course, I’m coming along. Heh heh.”
The coach’s sly laugh showed how excited he was.
“When are we going?”
“Five days from now.”
“What?! That’s so soon! Why tell me now?”
“What, got a date with a girl?”
“No, but… why are we talking about girlfriends?”
“Weird. You’d think female students wouldn’t leave a national team prospect like you alone…”
“What’s weird? I’m not even confirmed as a candidate yet.”
“The records speak for themselves. Oh! Do you have a passport?”
“No.”
“Then get one made.”
“I don’t have money.”
“…I’ll cover it, so get it.”
“Okay.”
“No, wait. Even applying today might be tight. Come on, let’s do it now. Got a photo for the passport?”
“Nope.”
“Ugh… So much to do.”
My first overseas trip was confirmed.
***
“You’re healthy!”
“I know.”
I’d grown so used to visiting Elmolance Hospital that I responded casually to the health scanner’s mechanical voice at the entrance.
How often?
“Mr. Kang Moon-soo, you’re back.”
“Hello.”
“Here for Dr. Seo Hye-joo again?”
“Yes.”
Nurses and doctors passing by recognized me.
Of course, it wasn’t just because of my frequent visits.
The incident of Choi Kang-min, a patient comatose for seven years, waking up.
The rumor of a ‘shaman’ treating the chaebol heir, featured on public broadcasts, had spread quietly.
‘Good thing, though.’
People weren’t interested in who the doctor was or how they treated him.
Thanks to that, I kept a low profile and naturally hid my ‘shaman’ aptitude.
Am I ashamed of being a shaman?
Not at all, but I dislike the prejudiced gazes fostered by seniors like Yoo Il-am, looking at me through the lens of ‘shaman.’
I want to be seen as Kang Moon-soo, not as a shaman.
As just me.
“Hello, Dr. Seo.”
“Come in.”
Showing trust by sharing her lab’s passcode, Dr. Seo greeted me warmly.
“You’re busy as always.”
“Time doesn’t wait. Not yet, at least.”
Not yet.
A loaded statement.
“How’s the patient?”
“Choi Kang-min? About the same as last week. It’s not easy if everyone expects recovery as fast as yours.”
“Am I fast?”
“Very. A unique constitution, you could say. If you were Choi Kang-min, you’d recover in three months. Assuming your body hasn’t aged for seven years.”
“You can tell that?”
“Don’t underestimate modern medicine. We measured every change in your body while you were asleep. Down to your second generation.”
“You’re kidding, right?!”
“I’m serious.”
Isn’t that practically a sex crime? The thought crossed my mind briefly, but I gave the answer I’d been putting off.
“Sorry, I’m satisfied with my current job.”
“Swimmer?”
“Yes.”
I’d planned to pose as a swimmer for just a year, but I unexpectedly earned recognition and now had a real shot at the national team.
It’s not like I’m diving in blindly.
‘Just a bit more.’
After reviewing the latest Olympic swimming records, I realized I was world-class in the 4000m freestyle.
I could win a silver medal right now!
My stamina and lung capacity were abnormally exceptional.
“Unexpected. I thought you loved money.”
“I do. But I don’t need it overflowing. Enough to live without worrying about money in old age is fine.”
“Pity. Not knowing how to spend money in a capitalist society.”
“…Can’t help it.”
I hadn’t even bought a proper outfit with the money in my account.
‘It’d be a waste, so I’ll hold off.’
That’s how it always went when I debated spending, so I never felt the urgency or crisis of lacking money.
“You should get a house too.”
“I’ll move into affordable public housing later.”
National merit recipients get bonus points in the housing lottery, second only to newlyweds without homes…
If I can achieve meaningful results at the Olympics, it won’t be an issue.
“A car?”
“Don’t have a driver’s license. Don’t plan to get one either.”
“Marriage?”
“…I’m 20 this year. It’s not time to worry about marriage, is it? I don’t even have a girlfriend.”
Song Sun-young’s face flashed in my mind, and my chest ached slightly.
“You’re really ambitionless. Is it because you’re just starting out?”
“…”
Her slightly dismissive comment made me frown.
“Relax. I said it because things didn’t go as planned.”
“Okay.”
“But know this: not all doctors treat people for money.”
“I know. But I’m not big-hearted enough to worry about and help others’ lives.”
“Pfft! The guy who became a lawyer for a close friend?”
“…That wasn’t me.”
“It was you. Just like the chemical formula you brought is real.”
“I’ve already decided.”
Despite her persuasion, I firmly expressed my refusal.
“Can I ask why?”
“It doesn’t make money.”
“Liar. If we can utilize that chemical formula you brought from the dream, we could become rich.”
“…”
The chemical formula I brought from the future.
I couldn’t easily believe Dr. Seo’s claim that it would completely change my life.
‘Just a dream?’
It sounded as absurd as the fantasy novel I read last night becoming reality.
Anyway,
“I met a witch.”
“A witch? First I’m hearing of this.”
“Of course. I haven’t told anyone until now.”
“Where’d you meet her?”
“In a dream. And in reality too.”
I still vividly remember the words she said every time she came to me.
“What’d she say?”
“She warned me not to interfere with her work.”
“Interfere…?”
“Yeah. That’s when I decided. This is the last time. I won’t let my meddling harm anyone anymore.”
“I get that you made up your mind, but that’s so sudden. Explain.”
“There was another person with the shaman aptitude besides me.”
“That’s the witch?”
“Yeah. I don’t know her name or face. Just that she’s a young woman in black wizard attire.”
“Hmm…”
Dr. Seo, stroking her chin in thought, gestured.
“What?”
“Look at this, and I won’t nag anymore.”
“What is it?”
I glanced at the computer monitor she pointed to.
‘A patient?’
A man with a shaggy beard, his age hard to guess.
“He’s been lying like that for three years.”
“…”
“He was at another hospital, but after hearing about Choi Kang-min’s case, he was transferred here recently.”
“…I see.”
“But you already know. This patient can’t be treated at Elmolance Hospital. World’s best? We’re worse than a shaman.”
“…”
“That’s all I have to say.”
I stared intently at the man lying still as death on the monitor, then averted my gaze.
“That’s unfortunate.”
He’s probably living happily in his dream world.
So I didn’t feel pity or the urge to save him.
“If you change your mind, let me know anytime.”
“Even if I do, it’s impossible.”
“Hm?”
“I’m heading to the Pacific for training camp.”
It’s a critical schedule for my short-term future.
“Shocking news.”
“So I probably won’t even make it here on weekends for a while.”
“When are you back?”
“No idea.”
I have no right to shatter that man’s happiness.
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