Ch.404399 – Public Wanted Notice

The reason rare disease treatments are so expensive is quite simple.

Out of 10,000 potential drug candidates, only 1 can actually become a viable medication.

It’s truly like finding a needle in a desert.

This brutal 1-in-10,000 probability inflates all costs a pharmaceutical company must bear by 10,000 times.

Therefore, the pharmaceutical field is untouchable for anyone except large corporations that can invest massive amounts of cash.

So what exactly is Bio-Akashic, acquired for 520 million dollars, or 870 billion won at the time of merger?

The multiple sclerosis treatment “Persibus” burst onto the scene as a dream medication that could be used for all types of the disease: relapsing-remitting, primary progressive, secondary progressive, and progressive relapsing.

Had there not been price ceiling conditions, it would have generated at least 10 trillion won in annual sales alone.

Baek Hochan, former CEO of Bio-Akashic, explained his secret to success to KBS documentary crew as follows:

“I was just lucky, that’s all.”

People couldn’t help but find this answer incredibly disappointing.

“We only researched and conducted clinical trials on 10 drug candidates.”

Yes, the answer was already among those 10.

The reason they could succeed with minimal cost?

They beat the 0.1% odds.

The reporters asked the opposite question.

How could he believe in such low probability enough to venture into entrepreneurship and investment?

“Let’s say you’re in the final round of an international poker tournament in Las Vegas. Everything rides on the final bet. It’s all or nothing. But next to you, the world’s best poker player keeps whispering for you to go all in. Do you think that person sees this hand as a 0.1% probability? No, it might be 10%, 30%, maybe even over 50%.”

“That poker player, could it be…?”

Baek Hochan, who had been leaning back in a single-person sofa, straightened his posture.

He leaned forward with his hands clasped together.

“Meeting NoName was incredible luck. No, it was a once-in-a-lifetime fortune that will never come again. But NoName said that if one person monopolizes luck, they’ll inevitably suffer greatly. That’s why we set the treatment price at 3,000 dollars. To share this luck with as many people as possible.”

That decision carried NoName’s will.

She hadn’t received 200 billion won.

“Rather, she only received 200 billion won…! Where is NoName now?”

The KBS documentary crew’s next destination was decided.

It would be the Multiple Sclerosis Clinic at Korea University Hospital.

* * *

“The Persibus treatment will be administered as an intravenous injection once a month. Besides the disease-modifying therapy, symptom management is also necessary, so the hospital can provide physical therapy, muscle relaxants like Botox, and medication to alleviate fatigue and depression. Cognitive rehabilitation for cognitive dysfunction can also be provided if needed. Ten million won might not solve everything, but I hope our small donation can be of some help.”

“Thank you…! Thank you so much!”

“It helps tremendously! It really does. *sob*… Thank you, NoName!”

I explained the medical expense support for families of rare disease patients with financial difficulties and briefly introduced the new treatment.

I passed the microphone to Professor Yoon, a neurology specialist at Korea University.

“Good job, NoName.”

“It’s nothing. It’s not even my money.”

“Without you, this money wouldn’t have been gathered.”

“Is that how it works?”

This awkward feeling is something I just can’t get used to.

So I could only respond with an embarrassed smile.

I came down from the platform and shook hands with each family member.

“What have we done to deserve this money…”

Those were the words of a 90-year-old mother with a son paralyzed by disease.

I firmly held the wrinkled hands of the grandmother and spoke with conviction.

“All human lives are equally precious. I want you to receive this money and live happily with your son for a long time.”

“Yes… thank you kindly.”

The last person was a middle school girl with short hair wearing a dirty school gym uniform.

Her hair was messily tangled, suggesting she had come straight after PE class.

Her clothes looked strangely familiar.

She had come to the hospital with her younger brother, who looked three or four years younger than me, to receive medical expense support.

“Do you go to Arabyul Middle School?”

“…!”

Instead of answering, she turned her head to avoid my gaze.

I approached her, feeling excited.

“I briefly attended Arabyul Elementary School too. Just for the first semester of first grade.”

“Yeah, I see… Thank you so much for supporting my mom’s surgery costs…”

The middle school girl slowly turned her body halfway around again.

Now I noticed there was a vertical hole in the thigh part of her gym pants.

If it tears more, her underwear might show. I should quickly repair it with magic.

When I reached for her pants, the girl pulled her leg away to the opposite side.

Looking up, I saw her expression was already completely crumpled.

Is she angry because I acted on my own? No, this was embarrassment.

I forcibly pulled her leg toward me and let my mana flow.

[Synthesis: Olefin Resin]

[Cast: Heat Transfer – Conduction]

Sizzle-

A thin black film adhered tightly to the fabric as it received superheated steam.

While repairing her pants, I spoke to the middle school girl.

“What’s your name, big sis?”

“Sohye, Jung Sohye.”

“Sohye, are you embarrassed about being poor?”

“No…”

“I was actually a bit embarrassed, you know. The way kids looked at me was strange, everyone treated me like I was easy to push around, I couldn’t even dream of having padded jackets or phones that others took for granted. Sometimes I even resented my parents. And then I hated myself even more.”

“You?”

“Yeah… believe it or not, I skipped an entire second semester of first grade.”

“I wouldn’t have guessed. So you had tough times too.”

Jung Sohye spoke with a complicated tone.

“The more difficult your situation, the more you need to love yourself to overcome those difficulties. The person who will be with you until you die isn’t your teacher, friends, or family, but yourself.”

“Yeah.”

“So I think it’s better to value yourself more. At least it can’t hurt, right?”

I lightly patted the repaired gym pants.

“Ouch…”

Jung Sohye suddenly winced and stumbled.

She regained her balance and stood up straight as if nothing had happened.

Suddenly I felt a deep sense of unease.

“Sohye, would you mind leaving your brother with my manager and coming with me for a moment?”

“Why are you suddenly-“

“Boreum, please take care of this child. I’ll be right back.”

I grabbed Jung Sohye’s hand and took her out of the conference room to the emergency staircase.

She tried to pull her hand away several times, but I used my aura to forcibly hold on.

BANG-!

The hospital’s characteristic thick metal door closed with a loud noise.

“What are you doing!”

The girl’s shout echoed throughout the stairwell.

“Would you show me your leg, please?”

“… No. Why should I?”

“Why not?”

“I just don’t want to. Don’t worry about me.”

“If you don’t show me your leg now, I’ll cancel your mother’s medical support.”

“You… how could you… You promised to give it to us, that’s not right…!”

“It’s my decision, isn’t it?”

The girl, who was completely at a disadvantage, didn’t persist for long.

Jung Sohye swallowed hard and, with shameful tears, slowly rolled up her gym pants.

A symphony of red and blue.

Bluish bruises filled her leg from thigh to ankle.

Yellow pus had hardened disgustingly on red burn blisters.

I rolled the pants up slightly higher above the knee.

On her thigh where the gym uniform had torn, there was a wound that looked like a knife cut.

The sight automatically made me frown.

“Ugh… hic…”

Tiny tears streamed down the girl’s face.

Despite having shouted loudly just moments ago, she didn’t make a sound as she cried. Or rather, she couldn’t.

Girls this age have sensitive emotions.

I stopped with the unnecessary talk and took out my wand from my pocket, gently rubbing it against her leg.

[Cast: Tissue Regeneration]

“Huh…! Hic. Hic.”

“How did you get hurt like this?”

“On the stairs…”

“You slipped on the stairs and accidentally got hit by a bat or a wooden stick? Or you slipped on the stairs and accidentally got cut by a box cutter?”

“Tch, you already know everything.”

“I just wanted to ask. I thought you might have wanted someone to ask about it.”

“…”

“Sigh, poor child, how painful it must have been… Are you feeling better now? Does it still hurt a lot?”

“I’m… fine.”

I took out a bill from my wallet and put it in her pocket.

“Make sure you get treatment at the hospital today.”

Jung Sohye put her hand in her pocket.

Rustle-

The sound of the bill being crumpled.

She must be having an internal conflict between feeling she should refuse and not being able to.

The world is unfair, and misfortune is even more unfair.

Once misfortune strikes, all kinds of misfortunes come rushing in together.

Even if you want to have hope at the end of misfortune, the nature of misfortune drives people to the edge and doesn’t give them a chance to lift their heads.

Misfortunes that act in sequence gain momentum, making them often too overwhelming for an individual to overcome.

I really, really hated this situation, sometimes called fate, sometimes called destiny.

“Why didn’t you report this until it got this bad?”

“Because they said if I reported it, they wouldn’t leave my mom and brother alone…”

* * *

To capture the historic moment when the chronic disease multiple sclerosis was conquered, the KBS documentary crew arrived at Korea University Hospital.

They were able to see NoName chatting with patients until evening at the hospital.

NoName readily accepted the reporters who cautiously requested an interview.

Somehow, the documentary took on a convergent structure.

All stakeholders pointed to NoName alone.

Though they had mountains of questions for her, it was their duty to quietly observe without interfering with her work.

Dark circles were already prominent under the young child’s eyes.

One reporter, concerned, asked her:

“NoName, aren’t you tired? You look extremely exhausted right now.”

NoName merely raised one corner of her mouth.

“Do I? I am tired.”

“You must have been very busy today.”

“It’s okay, keeping my body busy makes me feel alive. Do you reporters have any questions? This is actually a good time as I’m not too busy.”

“Our questions might get a bit long, is that okay?”

“Yes. If it gets too long, I’ll cut it off myself.”

“How were you able to discover the compound Persicizumab among numerous drug candidates in one go?”

Unable to reveal the countless trials and errors from her previous life, NoName had no choice but to provide an answer from an academic perspective.

And this was very simple for NoName.

It’s very difficult to predict which stocks will rise in the future, but anyone can explain why a stock rose in the past.

NoName plausibly pieced together reasons for selecting drug candidates by extracting information already published in various academic journals.

Unaware of these behind-the-scenes details, the PD felt the overwhelming presence of a genius.

In his eyes, NoName was superhuman incarnate.

Not only had she mastered the entire medical school curriculum in a month, but she had reached the level of perfectly understanding the latest academic papers and compiling new information herself.

“Still, theory is just theory. I can only explain it as good luck.”

“We saw that you persuaded them to sell the treatment at a very low price.”

“Well, I think this is just the right price—neither too cheap nor too expensive. After all, the research didn’t cost much. Isn’t profit what you get when you subtract total costs from total revenue? I think Persibus will still generate sufficient profit.”

Another noteworthy point was that NoName adamantly refused to be portrayed as a good person.

‘Is she on her 10th life or something…?’

The Q&A continued as NoName looked around various hospital rooms.

She mentioned that she often spent time in the academy library.

With well-equipped academic databases, she used much of her time studying whatever she needed at the moment.

“NoName lives such a busy life…! What’s your schedule going forward? Will you continue meeting patients tomorrow as well?”

NoName rolled her eyes and then looked toward the ceiling.

“PD, when will today’s documentary be aired?”

“Today is Thursday, right? It will be on TV by Sunday night at the latest.”

“Then I’d really like you to broadcast what I’m about to say. You can mute my name if necessary.”

“Hm?”

“Seoul Arabyul Middle School bullies Go OO, Kim OO, Seo OO, Yeo OO, Cho OO, all five of you: either turn yourselves in to the police by 3 PM Monday or show up at Cephiron Academy’s main gate. If even one of you doesn’t come, I’ll bring my seniors and find you myself.”

* * *

Korean public broadcasting cannot freely disclose personal information of ordinary citizens.

So is it permissible to broadcast NoName’s statement without revealing the identities of the perpetrators?

That was also unreasonable.

There’s always the possibility that the accused might be innocent students. Issues of defamation of the school and the problem of netizens digging up personal information also remained.

That’s just a theoretical issue; the main reason was that higher-ups would never approve it.

So the PD used a trick.

“NoName is a juvenile, so it should be okay…?”

The magic of transferring responsibility to a child and watching it disappear.

Ironically, this was also a tactic frequently used by school bullies.

The PDs passed the edited video to NoName.

NoName readily accepted it and posted it on her Instagram with the title “Documentary Post-Credits Scene.”

The KBS SNS manager timidly shared NoName’s post and left it at that.

This much would probably end with just three written apologies. At least the view count would be guaranteed.