Chogo

The fox-kin physician and strategist of the 'Request'. He always wears a smile, but in reality, he is quite calculating.

Born into a prestigious family of the Danjeong Clan, he once closed his heart and cut himself off from the world, abandoning his medical skills. However, he came out into the world to treat 'General Cheongyeok' Biso.

He is well-versed in the research of medicinal food and medicine. Among them, he specializes in spicy foods that stimulate pain, and he invented a cauldron-based medicine-making technique called the 'Gugunggak'.

Chogo is a young fox-kin male with white skin, golden irises, light pink hair extending past his shoulders, and large tail and fox ears. He usually has his eyes closed in a squint, but he has orange irises and red pupils. He carries a red feather fan.

Chogo is a physician belonging to the 'Yeomji (染指) faction', which primarily uses the 'Request's' unique treatment method of utilizing dietary therapy to treat patients. Because of this, he is more skilled in cooking than most chefs, and he often incorporates cooking-related metaphors in his speech. However, this is only for the sake of his medical practice, and he has a high sense of pride as a 'physician', so he emphasizes that he is a physician and not a chef whenever those around him perceive him as a chef. He is one of the two subordinates that Biso trusts, along with Maektaek, and the loyalty Chogo shows is immense.

Despite his sly 말투 and smiling expression, he seems to have low self-esteem, along with PTSD from the war. He doesn't have confidence in his own intuition, or when the situation worsens, he demeans himself as a 'useless piece of trash'. The reason Chogo always greets people with a smile is because that smile can hide all the sense of powerlessness, burden, and the abyss within.

He is very serious about hot pot, and his preferences are clear, so he shows a look of shock that makes his eyes open every time he tries to add coriander or when he doesn't take out the beef quickly enough and it's about to overcook. However, he didn't like spicy food from the beginning, and it seems that he suffered from a kind of taste disorder due to the extreme stress caused by PTSD from the war. At least, it wasn't to the point where he couldn't taste anything at all, as he hated the soda soy milk he was forced to eat by Maektaek's trickery.

Request, Biuho.

Yellow flowers bloom on the water plants, and fish leap out between the drizzle. The water lilies grow as they please, and an old turtle is always sunning its shell on the shore.
A fox-kin boy, with a medicine case on his back, rows a small boat, and as the drizzle runs down his ear, he lightly shakes it off.
Chogo scoops up a yellow water lily, picks the lotus flower, and peels off the fresh stem and puts it in his mouth.
"Sweet and moist... delicious..."

After picking them all, Chogo lightly rows across the lake and changes into his physician's attire.
...
The clinic, filled with steam, is filled with a strange fragrance.
"The pulse has improved, but you still need to take care of your body. Shall I try the new medicine I made?"
Chogo, having removed the pillow and gold needles used to check the pulse, smiles and takes out a new medical tool.
The old man looks at the Gugung cauldron on the table and gives a wry smile.
"Others can only make a few new medicines in their lifetime, but you manage to make several in a single day."
"You flatter me, Master. This is the 'Gugunggak' cauldron medicine-making technique, which is easy to make and very effective."
Chogo takes out the ingredients from the medicine case, washes them simply, and then slices them thinly. The soup in the cauldron begins to boil.
"One tael of Qianjin grass, three coins of bitter oak, and four li of Cistanche tubulosa, boiled with a large bone, and then accompanied by deep-sea clams, will eliminate the bitterness and stabilize the mind and body, helping with sleep." "Here, the white loach and the blue-gold pomfret are warm in nature and replenish qi and blood, so please blanch them for only 2-3 seconds."
"Blue mushrooms, silver needles, and snow lotus root... are crops I carefully cultivated from medicine scraps in Biuho. They taste good and have medicinal effects."
The translucent fish flesh slides into the boiling soup. Master and disciple chase away the cold of the rainy day while enjoying a delicious meal.
As the dishes are scattered, the old man seems to have realized something and puts down his cup and chopsticks.
"It seems there is another purpose hidden in this 'Gugunggak'."
Chogo stands up and bows.
"You are indeed sharp, Master. I have made up my mind whether to enter the Danjeong Clan or not."
"The Danjeong Clan is a good place, but it doesn't align with my desire to save people with medical skills. If I were to choose the place where medical skills are most needed, it would undoubtedly be the battlefield of the Request."
"And among the many physicians, only our Yeomji faction emphasizes medicinal food and medicine and seeks to solve the pain of illness with the enjoyment of food... The medicine of 'Gugunggak' quickly removes cold and dampness, which is what I made for the battlefield."
"The most important thing at the crossroads of life and death is a person's life. If I can be of help there, it will be a way to repay the favor of the Danjeong Clan that raised me."
The old man seemed to want to give advice, but in the end, he held back his words.
"The battlefield is a very cold place, so before you leave... take more food ingredients that warm the body."
The Request's army goes on expeditions to the outer planets all year round. Chogo has repeatedly improved the cauldron medicine-making technique to cope with the increasingly demanding and complex garrison environment.

As the rare medicine-making technique proved to be effective, Chogo's reputation spread throughout the Request army, gaining the trust of the soldiers.

But despite these achievements, the burden on Chogo's heart did not lessen at all.

Every day, when the horn announcing the departure sounded, the patients Chogo had treated went back to the battlefield.

Every day, when the sound of footsteps announcing the return was heard, the faces surrounding the Gugunggak decreased.

Just a moment ago, a soldier who sang about eating Gugunggak every time he returned, was gone forever.

Chogo finished today's medical examination and left the temporary field clinic, letting out a long sigh. Even though the snowstorm was raging, Chogo was not cold at all.

Again, the horn sounded, and the army was ready to depart. Soon, the field clinic would be filled with seriously injured soldiers. No matter how much Chogo possessed the medical skills to bring the dead back to life, the endless war was still devouring the lives of young people.

Every night, Chogo would talk with General Wol-ah, but on this day, he couldn't easily open his mouth.
"Lately, I've been thinking... If the patients I treat are destined to run towards death again, what is the significance of that physician?"
The sound of sobbing could be heard from the sickroom. Chogo closed his eyes tightly, and only then did he realize that his eyes had dried up.
——As if there were no more tears to shed.

It was time to go on another expedition.

But the appearance of the gruesome corpses, the death rate that wouldn't go down, the constant shelling, and the giant object in the sky were foreshadowing how gruesome this war would be, unlike the previous ones.

Then one day, the 'Gamun-gyeong', which soared high into the sky with the wishes of the people of the Alliance, finally received its response.

A hot storm struck without warning, and the frail form of abundance turned into a blood-red mist, and an unseeable light split the sky.

Chogo saw the mountains touched by the waves of light turn to dust.

Chogo saw the Request army and the form of abundance that had not retreated in time turn to dust.

Chogo heard that the girl who followed General Wol-ah tried to bring back the surviving soldiers, running through the enemy lines that were about to be annihilated.

Before the waves of the sea of light reached, Chogo did his best to save the girl and lost consciousness in the aftermath of the light.
...
The tattered military flag flutters in the wind, and the few survivors sit in front of the campfire, keeping silent.

Kang, kang, kang——
The bumpy cauldron rolls around the wasteland in the fierce wind.

He was used to the cold of the garrisoning planet and had never felt so cold, but he felt extreme cold inside and out.

Chogo picked up the cauldron, put in water, boiled it, and proceeded with the remaining ingredients in one swift motion.
"It's still cold..."
The survivors just chewed the food, without saying a word.
"Shall I add some spice?"
Chogo took out the medicine pouch he had.
"It's still not enough."
Chogo added more chili peppers.
"It's still not enough."
Chogo poured all the spices he had into the cauldron.
"There's nothing left to add."

As the red oil boiled, Chogo picked up the vegetables and put them in his mouth. His dulled appetite came back to life, and Chogo felt the existence of life intensely for the first time——

It was a taste close to pain.

Request, Biuho.

Yellow flowers bloom on the water plants, and fish leap out between the drizzle. The water lilies grow as they please, and an old turtle is always sunning its shell on the shore.

In the lake, Chogo rowed a small boat with a medicine case on his back. The drizzle ran down his ear, wetting his clothes.

Chogo scooped up a yellow water lily, picked the lotus flower, and then peeled off the fresh stem and put it in his mouth.
"Hmm, it tastes bland..." Chogo shook his head.
"Sir, an old man came to the restaurant. He said he was an old acquaintance——"
The gatekeeper's voice was heard from across the lake. Chogo sighed and rowed back.

Chogo guessed why his master had come, but he was now tired of medical skills.
"Master, did you come today to taste the cauldron of Biu Restaurant? Let me tell you in advance, there are only very spicy and very, very spicy flavors here."
The old man sat in front of the table and sighed.
"You liked bland food until you went to the army."

Chogo's eyes, which had brought out the cauldron, briefly showed a longing and then disappeared.
"People... change."
The old man picked up a piece of blue-gold pomfret and lightly blanched it in the cauldron of boiling red oil.
"Then I will try it too. But I didn't come here for the food this time. Do you remember the girl you saved?"
"Biso, who always followed the former general. That child has been appointed as the general of the Request, and she needs a doctor. Where else is there a more suitable person than you?"
Chogo smiled weakly. The pain he felt in his mouth that day seemed to come back to life. "Even if I save them, aren't they just the souls who will go to the battlefield and die again? I don't want to cling to something that's not worth saving anymore."
The old man put down his chopsticks and shook his head.
"You are misunderstanding me. I didn't come here to tell you to save the world, but to hope that the general... will heal the illness in your heart."
"The general will tell you... what the meaning of a doctor is."