WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: LilGuyBlastoise
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Plague Doctor in a Peaceful World ◈
Chapter 11: Is This My Fault?
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Mother had taken a day off and was getting ready to go out.
“Bongsik. If you’ve got nothing to do, want to go to the eye clinic with me? You can drive my car.”
Mother’s car was brand new, not even a month old.
I got up groggily from the living room floor, where I had been playing with Arong.
“Do you trust me, Mother?”
“You saved up a lot of money in the military, didn’t you?”
“Couldn’t we take my car, Mother?”
Mother burst out laughing.
“Fine, then. Go change quickly.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
I quickly changed clothes, then grabbed the coat hanging on the rack.
“Ah.”
It felt oddly heavy, so I checked the pocket and found the necklace box I had received last night.
I put the box on my desk, slipped on the coat, and headed out.
A little later, I got into the driver’s seat of Mother’s car.
It was taller and bigger than mine, so the view was wide open.
“Can I really drive this? What about insurance?”
“You’re not listed on it, so if you get into an accident, we’ll be paying out of pocket.”
“...”
Mother smiled teasingly.
“I wanted to motivate you to save up and buy a nice car like Mom’s someday.”
Mother.
Your son is a Plague Doctor who almost earned ten million won in one day, you know? I might really grind my skills and buy one.
“Let’s take my car.”
“Sure.”
“But why are you going to the eye clinic?”
“I ran out of eye drops. My eyes get especially dry when it gets cold. Doesn’t that happen to you?”
“Really? I’ve never noticed.”
Even though it was a weekday, the eye clinic was crowded.
[Contagious Disease Patient]
[Contagious Disease Patient]
[Contagious Disease Patient]
People had caught something.
This was not an internal medicine or ENT clinic, so why were there so many?
“Mother, put on a mask.”
“It’s uncomfortable.”
“Put one on.”
After checking in, Mother and I sat side by side in the waiting room.
“Do you still go volunteer these days?”
“Sometimes.”
“My son has grown up. Going out to volunteer and all. But does regularly volunteering at places like that help when you apply for jobs later?”
It helps me level up.
“Mother, are you really this heartless?”
“Sorry for being so heartless. Go pick up Hyunseo tonight.”
The conversation topic changed abruptly.
“Tonight?”
“It’s her friend’s birthday today, so she says she’s meeting her friends for drinks for the first time in a while.”
“Tell her to take a taxi.”
“On a Friday? Like she’ll be able to get one. Go get her. When else are you going to use your car?”
“Oh, come on...”
Then an elderly woman sat in the seat in front of us.
[Contagious Disease Patient]
“Cough, cough.”
Her cough had a harsh metallic rasp.
Her short white hair and thin back reminded me of my late grandmother.
“Im Jiyoung, please come into the examination room.”
“Yes. ...I’ll be back.”
“Okay.”
Mother handed me her handbag and went into the examination room.
“Cough, cough.”
The elderly woman coughed again.
She wore a mask, but the person beside her glanced around and moved to another seat.
I had heard that even a mild cold did not heal easily for elderly people, since their stamina and immunity were weaker.
Pretending to scratch my head, I raised my hand.
[This is a Contagious Disease Patient. Would you like to treat them?]
[(Expected MP Cost: 90)]
After quickly checking my surroundings, I muttered.
“Treat, yes.”
[System]
- You used ‘Plague Treatment.’
- ‘Plague Treatment’ Proficiency +1
- Experience +4.43%
[MP 20/110]
“...Cough.”
The elderly woman’s coughing eased.
I stretched timidly while checking the people around me, then fiddled with my phone.
The memo app where I recorded my experience.
[Experience 68.2%]
[Plague Treatment Proficiency 60]
I had 31.8% left until Level 7.
If only I had more maximum MP, I could raise my experience a little faster.
The Plague Doctor Mask reduced MP consumption by 20%, but it was far too conspicuous.
But was the beak mask the only thing with an equip effect?
Were there no other equipment or items?
I did not know whether they were missing because the system had been left unfinished or because I had not found them yet.
That night.
A cold drizzle fell.
I almost wore a padded jacket for comfort, but hung it back in the closet.
The place where my sister was was a street students from our university often visited.
I might run into someone I knew, so I could not go looking sloppy.
For example, a pretty person I had briefly liked before enlisting, or someone else who had seemed pretty decent.
“The world is big, but it’s also small.”
As I put on some reasonably decent clothes, my eyes fell on the box I had left on my desk that afternoon.
“Hmm.”
I held the cross necklace to the light and examined it.
The craftsmanship was good, and the design was stylish. It really looked expensive. It did not seem to have a tracking device or listening device attached, either.
Maybe I should wear it whenever I dressed as the Plague Doctor from now on.
Without much thought, I put it around my neck.
[System]
- ‘Silver Cross Necklace’ Equip Effect: MP Recovery Speed +20%
“...”
I see.
It was not just an ordinary cross necklace. A cross necklace made of silver was equipment for the Plague Doctor.
I was happy to learn about a new equip effect, but I also felt deflated.
Ugh, this half-baked system.
Would it have killed you to tell me earlier?
Knock knock.
“Bongsik, go pick up your sister.”
“Yeees.”
I tucked the necklace inside my clothes.
[MP 68/110]
Just in case, it would be nice if my MP filled up even a little faster.
After getting in the car, I called my sister.
“Kang Hyunseo. Where should I go?”
-[What kind of punk just calls his exalted older sister by name! Where is it agaaain~?]
She was drunk.
I already did not want to pick her up.
-[What? Bongsik? Didn’t you say he was in the military?]
-[He got discharged. I heard he went to an abandoned animal shelter with Hyanggi before?]
-[Her little brother is even coming to pick her up. Kang Hyunseo, I’m jealousss.]
-[Want to take him instead? I’ll give Kang Bongsik away for free. He eats a lot and has a terrible attitude.]
I listened quietly before speaking.
“I’m not going.”
* * *
My sister was at a bar with her friends.
It was on a street where cars could not enter, so I parked nearby and walked over.
Since it was raining, I brought two umbrellas.
“I’m outside. Come out.”
-[Bongsik, Hyunseo’s drunk.]
“Okay.”
I hung up and entered the bar.
My sister’s friends waved at me.
“Over here, over here.”
“Ooh. Hyunseo’s little brother has grown up a lot. Do you remember who we are?”
“Hello.”
They had all visited our house a few times, so I recognized them.
My sister was asleep against the wall.
“It’s been a while since I saw Hyunseo this drunk.”
“She knew her little brother was coming to get her, so she relaxed, drank like crazy, and passed out.”
“Did she pay?”
“Yeah, she did.”
“Hey, you should say she didn’t at a time like this.”
“You’re trying to fleece her little brother?”
“I’ll take her home now.”
“Could you give us a ride too?”
There were five of us including me.
“It’ll be cramped. It’s a compact car.”
“It’s fine, it’s fine!”
“Yay, I saved taxi fare!”
“Kang Hyunseo, wake up.”
Only after I shook her by the shoulders did my sister open her eyes.
“Huh? Oh.”
Then, as she staggered to her feet, a system window appeared.
[Predator Relationship Activated]
“...?”
Why was Predator Relationship activating with my sister all of a sudden?
Ah, was it not her?
I looked around. Red letters were moving beyond the kitchen.
[Rat]
Without thinking, I muttered.
“Huh? A rat.”
“A rat?! Where?!”
My sister’s friends, who had been laughing as they gathered their coats and bags, jerked in surprise and looked around warily.
Customers at nearby tables also stirred.
At that moment, the rat came darting out of the kitchen alone.
It fled in the opposite direction from me, then crashed into a chair leg and toppled over.
“Eek!”
“Ah! You scared me!”
The rat quickly got back up, but it raced around the bar as if it were in a complete panic.
Just like the hamster I had encountered at the veterinary clinic before.
“Rat! Rat!”
“A rat?!”
The bar became chaotic in an instant.
The employee at the register grabbed a broom in shock, while an employee from the kitchen came out and froze.
Some customers climbed onto their chairs.
“There! It’s there!”
“Herd it outside! Outside!”
My sister and her friends clung to my arms and clothes, using me as a shield.
Was this...
my fault?
The commotion only ended after the owner trapped the rat in a trash can and took it away.
“I’m so sorry. It must have come in through the back door when we took out the trash earlier. I’m truly sorry.”
The owner gave free drinks and food to customers who stayed, and gave departing customers an equivalent discount.
“I’m so sorry.”
No, it’s fine.
I should be more sorry.
Apologizing inwardly, I went outside.
“Ah... That scared all the alcohol out of me.”
“Me too.”
“Where did you park?”
“In that parking lot over there. But I only brought two umbrellas.”
“We can share them, two or three people at a time.”
I handed one umbrella to my sister’s friends, then shared the other with my sister.
“Move over a little.”
“You’re the one getting too close. Did you put on perfume? And now that I look, you styled your hair too. Why?”
“Move over.”
“Hey, I’m getting rained onnn.”
“You two get along so well. It’s been a week since I last talked to my younger sibling.”
“Did you fight?”
“No? Usually, there’s just nothing much to say, right?”
The women continued chattering loudly even after getting into the car.
I dropped them off in order of who lived farthest away, and only after one person remained did it finally get quiet.
“Drop me off at your apartment complex too. It’s close, so I can walk from there.”
“It’s late. It’s dangerous. No.”
“Oh, come on. It’s right next door.”
“No. Kang Bongsik, go farther and make a U-turn.”
“Okay.”
The last of my sister’s friends was Lee Yunjeong.
“Turn right here.”
“I could just walk...”
Another apartment complex was really close by.
“Stop here. It gets complicated getting out if you drive inside. There are so many cars at this hour.”
“Okay.”
“Thanks for the ride.”
“Go inside, Yunjeong. See you next time.”
“Wait, Yunjeong.”
I turned on the hazard lights and got out of the car as well.
I gently caught and pressed down Lee Yunjeong’s umbrella as she looked at me quizzically.
“What? Why are you...”
[This is a Contagious Disease Patient. Would you like to treat them?]
[(Expected MP Cost: 80)]
Thanks to the Silver Cross Necklace’s equip effect, enough MP had barely recovered for treatment.
Patter patter patter.
“Treat, yes.”
The loud rain striking the umbrella drowned out my voice.
[System]
- You used ‘Plague Treatment.’
- ‘Plague Treatment’ Proficiency +1
- Experience +3.94%
[MP 0/110]
Honestly, I had been itching to treat her ever since I saw her at the bar.
“Let’s switch umbrellas. And you shouldn’t drink when you’re not feeling well.”
“Huh?”
Using the umbrella as an excuse, I returned to the car.
My sister looked at me strangely.
“Why did you switch umbrellas? That was mine.”
“That’s why I switched them.”
“I thought you got out to wish her a happy birthday separately.”
“Oh. It was Yunjeong’s birthday?”
Lee Yunjeong stood there and waved at us until I turned the car around and drove away.
But aside from her eyes being a little bloodshot, she had not looked sick.
Could it have been something like asymptomatic COVID?
Three days later.
“My eyes hurt so much.”
My sister came into the living room with [Contagious Disease Patient] floating above her head.
“Do I have an eye infection? Hey, my eyes are all red and bloodshot, right?”
[This is a Contagious Disease Patient. Would you like to treat them?]
[(Expected MP Cost: 100)]
“...”
I pressed the remote buttons hard.
“Ah, so loud. Turn down the TV.”
“Treat, yes. ...Your eyes look fine. What are you talking about?”
“Huh?”
My sister stood in front of the mirror.
“They were red until just a moment ago. They were throbbing, too.”
“Your eyes hurt because you keep staring at your phone. Cut it out.”
“Hmm... Is that it?”
Bzzz.
I had received a DM from Happy Quokka.
-[Hello, Plague Doctor!]
-[I’m going on TV!]
-[Would you like to come be in the audience too?]
Haha.
Like I could possibly go.
“Oh, Kang Bongsik. Yunjeong says she’ll buy us dinner later, and she wants you to come too. She says thanks for giving her a ride before.”
“I have plans with a friend, so I can’t.”
Just this morning, Lee Mun-yeong from Kang-geon Pharmaceuticals had sent me a DM.
-[Plague Doctor, I’m sorry, but...]
-[Do you also accept 100,000 won prayer requests? It’s a child with such a heartbreaking situation...]
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