Crown Prince Sells Medicine

As I stumbled along the Yanghwa Bridge, I found myself wishing for a novel-worthy experience, but I soon regretted that thought. Despite my career as a doctor, I had to close my clinic after only three years and was now drowning in debt. I never imagined I would end up in such a dire situation.

Little did I know that my life was about to take a dramatic turn. I had no inkling that I would fall from the bridge and find myself reborn as the crown prince in a novel. Nor did I expect to find myself trembling as I supported the back of a vampire or driving a stake into the heart of a dragon. And to top it all off, I would be revered as a god in the world of the novel.

It was impossible to predict what awaited me as I stood on that bridge, yearning for something extraordinary. But the events that followed were beyond anything I could have ever imagined.

♣ ♣ ♣ ♣ ♣ ♣ 

[The HP (Health Points) has been activated.]

[Through medical treatment, you can receive HP support from your internal organs.]

[Acquired HP can unlock skills and summon Phantom creatures.]

[Current HP: 0]

“Ugh, it’s hot.”

Haneeun stirred from his slumber, unsettled by the unfamiliar notification sound and the sweltering heat.

Was he still under the influence of alcohol or suffering from a severe hangover?

Perhaps it was possible.

Had Haneeun dozed off on the Yanghwa Bridge, he would have been met with an intense chill, for it was bitterly cold in the middle of winter. No, in fact, he…

“I fell.”

A shiver ran through Haneeun as he realized that he had fallen from the bridge. 

He had not meant to plunge into the darkness below; he had only been overwhelmed by a sense of suffocation. 

Drunk and frustrated, he had clutched the railing tightly and screamed, only to lose his grip and tumble over the edge.

“I must be submerged in the freezing Han River,” Haneeun thought to himself as he realized he had met an unexpected demise.

Fear coursed through him, but to his surprise, he did not feel the expected chill. Instead, he felt a strange heat and relief that the water wasn’t too cold.

A faint smile appeared on his lips until he heard a strange voice whisper, “Your Highness,” calling out to him with concern.

“Your Highness, are you awake?”

It didn’t stop there.

A soft hand gently shook his shoulder, causing confusion to take over his mind.

Was he still alive? Had emergency services arrived and pulled him out of the water before he succumbed to death?

“Of course, it’s South Korea’s 119.”

A chuckle of relief escaped Haneeun as he realized that he didn’t die. 

Although the thought of the debt he had accumulated while running his traditional medicine clinic was daunting, it was better than the alternative of dying. 

He knew that he could start again and work hard to overcome his financial burden, as long as he was alive.

“Let’s do better this time.”

Haneeun firmly resolved to work hard and start anew in order to pay off his debt.

With determination in his heart, he opened his eyes, only to become disoriented as the scene before him…

“Huh?”

The scene in front of him was not the Han River, and the person in front of him was not an emergency responder.

“Your Highness! Can you see me?”

A foreigner, who looked like a handsome blend of Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise, was shaking him with tears in his eyes.

Startled, Haneeun asked, “Uh, who are you?”

The middle-aged man’s face fell, and his voice cracked as he replied, “Sniff, sniff… Your Highness, don’t you remember me? I will continue to follow you. After all, I am your personal physician!”

“…”

Haneeun sensed that something was amiss, and he initially suspected it could be a prank. But as he observed the man’s genuine tears, he knew it was not a joke.

If this was acting, he could win the Daesang or even the Academy Award. Furthermore, the surroundings looked unfamiliar to him.

‘It’s indoors, and it’s very fancy. Where is this?’

The interior was ostentatious, and the room was spacious, raising questions about its location.

“Gardin,” as the man introduced himself, noticed Haneeun’s confusion and explained, “Your Highness, do you remember? This is your bedroom. I left for a moment while you were writing in your diary… When I came back, you were vomiting blood and passed out.”

Haneeun was perplexed.

‘But why does he call me ‘Your Highness’? I don’t understand.’

Haneeun was becoming more and more confused.

Despite his confusion, he tried to remain calm.

Still facing the weeping man, he said, “Excuse me, could I have some water?”

“Here it is!”

Even before he finished his sentence, the man swiftly offered him a glass of water. The glass was decorated with gold, silver, and even precious stones.

“… … .”

Haneeun was struck by the luxurious appearance of the glass and noticed that the diamond embedded within it appeared authentic, not a mere cubic zirconia.

The handle appeared to be made of 24k gold, leaving him speechless.

However, his thirst took priority, and he accepted the glass of water, drank it.

By chance, Haneeun’s gaze landed on a large mirror situated some distance away.

“….”

He saw a young man with a strange and pale appearance staring back at him, holding a glass that was all too familiar – one with a 24k gold handle and a diamond that looked different from a cubic.

As he admired the glass in the mirror, he took a sip of water and choked on it…

“….Phew!”

As he choked on the water, Haneeun spat it out, causing both him and the man in the mirror to expel a significant amount of water simultaneously.

“Your Highness!”

Gardin was taken aback and quickly fetched a towel to wipe the corners of Haneeun’s mouth and the front of his clothes. 

Haneeun, on the other hand, was transfixed on the mirror, where the reflection of Gardin was also seen wiping the mouth of the young man in the reflection.

‘That’s me?’

Contrary to what he initially thought, Haneeun realized that he was not a middle-aged man in his forties but a young man in his early twenties. 

The young man’s appearance looked strangely familiar, and Haneeun was certain that he had seen it somewhere before…

‘….Raciel Adria Magentano.’

A realization struck Haneeun – he remembered where he had seen the young man’s face before. 

It was a character in the novel he had been reading until that afternoon, “Emperor of the Devil’s Sword,” known as the “Devil Sword Emperor.” 

The young man’s appearance matched the illustration of the Crown Prince in the novel perfectly, to the point where it seemed as if the illustration had come to life before him.

Haneeun couldn’t believe what he was experiencing – was he really Raciel now? Despite feeling like it was too surreal to be true, he couldn’t deny the vivid and realistic sensations he was experiencing.

The realization that he was now the prince in the novel filled him with a sense of liberation from the weight of his financial troubles caused by the collapse of his Oriental medicine clinic. 

‘Ha, hahaha, hahaha….’

He felt as if he had hit the lottery jackpot while walking down the street and couldn’t help but laugh with excitement.

As he jumped up, the world suddenly spun around him, causing him to lose his balance and collapse onto the bed. He couldn’t determine if it was due to anemia or dizziness, but he was unable to stand and had to sit down.

“Ugh? Your Highness!”

Startled, Gardin quickly supported him.

“Ugh, why…?”

Haneeun couldn’t understand why he was feeling so weak all over his body.

Despite being in his early twenties, he felt lethargic and weaker than he did in his forties.

‘Wait a minute.’

According to the novel ‘Devil Sword Emperor’, Prince Raciel is not the protagonist but a background character who appears briefly at the beginning of the story. 

He had suffered from a disease since childhood and eventually died at the young age of 22, after groaning in bed. 

After his death, the empire was thrown into turmoil due to the Great War, and the real protagonist walks the path of a true hero amidst the confusion. This was the introduction of the novel ‘Devil Sword Emperor’.

‘… Let’s summarize. So, I have reincarnated as a weak prince who suffered from an illness and died early in the early part of the novel.’

Despite becoming a member of the royal family, Haneeun’s feeling of flying high suddenly sank, and he realized that he may be in a difficult situation if the novel’s story is accurate.

♣ ♣ ♣ ♣ ♣ ♣ 

‘Whew. This is really it.’

After half an hour, Haneeun…no, Raciel, the silver-haired prince, stood before the mirror, gazing at his own reflection.

‘It’s amazing.’

The sight of his own reflection in the mirror left Raciel in awe. 

It was difficult for him to believe that he had actually been reincarnated as the prince Raciel Adria Magentano, and that the person he was looking at was really himself.

‘But that’s not important.’

Raciel’s face contorted into a frown. 

Despite his newfound status as a prince with power and wealth, none of it mattered if he was going to die soon. 

In fact, the more he learned about his situation, the more dire it seemed.

“Gardin. I’m 21 years old now, right?”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“… “

As a 21-year-old, if he followed the plot of the novel…

‘I have less than a year to live.’

The realization weighed heavily on him, and he let out a deep sigh. He couldn’t comprehend how he ended up in this situation.

‘This isn’t any novel.’

How did he become a character in a novel?

He couldn’t figure it out.

But there was one fact that was certain.

‘For once, I have a high status and can live comfortably.’

But there was a big obstacle.

‘It’s not even a year until I die.’

Raciel sighed as he recollected the early events of the novel, but he was thankful for his excellent memory that allowed him to remember most of the details.

‘Raciel was a prince and received all the medical treatment of the royal family.’

Despite receiving the best medical treatment and blessings from the priests, all of which were generously provided by the royal family, Prince Raciel in the novel was unable to recover from his illness and eventually succumbed to it.

‘So there’s only one answer.’

Despite knowing that the medical treatments here had failed Prince Raciel in the novel, he did not even consider relying on them to save his life. He came to the conclusion that there was no hope of survival with the available medicine, even with the help of excellent priests.

He refused to accept his fate as a mere character in a novel, destined to die young and leave behind all the riches and privileges that he had inherited. 

Instead, he resolved to take matters into his own hands and try everything he could to save himself.

Fortunately, he had the knowledge of oriental medicine, a technique that had never been tried in this world before.

“Phew. Gardin?”

“Yes, Your Highness?”

Raciel addressed Gardin, “I need you to go out and get some acupressure needles for me. Any size will do, just get as many as possible.”

Gardin was taken aback by the request, “Pardon, Your Highness?”

Raciel smiled inwardly and silently resolved to take matters into his own hands. 

As a dying prince, he couldn’t rely on the medicine available to him. 

He needed to improve his own health by restoring his vitality, strengthening his nourishment, and enhancing his energy. 

From now on, he will take care of his own body.