WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: LilGuyBlastoise
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Plague Doctor in a Peaceful World ◈
Chapter 12: Are Needles Weapons Too?
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Lee Mun-yeong worked in the executive office of Kang-geon Pharmaceuticals and handled a variety of duties. Supporting donations and corporate social-responsibility events was one of them.
“I mainly help with CSR Team events. Actually, the first time I heard about you, Plague Doctor, was when I went to donate to a soup kitchen frequented by homeless people.”
I nodded at Lee Mun-yeong’s explanation.
We were in her car, parked in front of a child welfare facility.
She said that, before meeting the patient, she wanted to give me the details that could not fit into a DM.
“Anyway, I met Ju Hye while doing that kind of work. I first saw her three years ago, and she could already sing incredibly well. She plays the piano well too.”
Lee Mun-yeong showed me a video on her phone.
A young girl singing while playing the piano.
Today’s healing-prayer client.
She’s good.
“Like I said in the DM, Ju Hye is going on a TV music audition program the day after tomorrow. It’s a preliminary recording, but she came down with a terrible cold at the worst possible time...”
It was the sort of unfortunate story often shown in dramas.
A child working hard to become a singer despite difficult circumstances. Then, just as hope finally came into sight, an obstacle appeared with a cackle.
For Ju Hye, that obstacle was a cold.
[I cannot guarantee that heaven will answer my prayers.]
“Yes. Please meet her and decide for yourself, Plague Doctor. Shall I ask her to come out now?”
I nodded.
Since this was a welfare facility where many people lived together, I could not just go inside. Besides, if anyone spotted me dressed like this, it would quickly cause a commotion. We decided to call Ju Hye outside.
She was not sick enough to have trouble moving around.
“But how will the prayer work?”
I tapped the passenger seat, pointed to myself, then pointed to the back seat.
“Ah. Ju Hye will sit in the passenger seat, and you’ll sit in the back? Should I prepare music too? That Handel’s Messiah from before?”
I crossed my arms into an X.
“Yes, understood.”
While Lee Mun-yeong called Ju Hye, I moved into the back seat.
Soon, I heard a small cough. The girl from the video cautiously opened the gate and came outside.
[Contagious Disease Patient]
Lee Mun-yeong spoke with her outside.
“How are you feeling, Ju Hye?”
“The chills are a little better... But Secretary Lee, what exactly is a healing prayer?”
“It’s a prayer to help you get well quickly. Just get in here for a moment. It’ll be over soon.”
“Okay... Cough.”
Ju Hye looked thoroughly confused.
Like the Contagious Disease Patient with athlete’s foot last time, she seemed to have come out because the suggestion was from Lee Mun-yeong, even if she did not quite believe it.
“His face is covered, so don’t be too startled when you see him.”
“Okay... Ah! You startled me! Cough, cough!”
“...”
Ju Hye jumped in surprise the moment she saw me while getting into the car, then started coughing.
I told you not to be startled.
“Oh dear.”
Lee Mun-yeong hurriedly handed Ju Hye a tumbler.
Only after slowly drinking some water did Ju Hye manage to suppress her cough and look back at me.
I waved in greeting.
Hello.
“H-hello...”
Right.
Your voice is completely hoarse.
And you have a runny nose.
[Please close your eyes and relax.]
“Okay...”
Is this really how healing prayers work? With the car doors wide open? Is he even a pastor? He’s wearing a strange bird-beak mask and giving instructions with a sketchbook from the back seat.
Isn’t this completely cult-like?
Is Secretary Lee really okay?
I can see every one of those thoughts written on your face, young Contagious Disease Patient.
I opened YouTube and played the meditation video I had carefully picked out at home.
[Today’s ad~!]
“...?”
Ju Hye’s head twitched.
Lee Mun-yeong looked at me with startled eyes too.
[This is an ad, this is an ad, ad...]
Click.
“...”
“...”
This is taking too long.
Why is the skip-ad button taking so long to appear?
Left with no choice, I opened a music app and played some random classical music.
I was already a cultist anyway.
As long as I could hide the skill command, I did not care about looking cool.
Da-ra-ra-ran.
Da-ran, da-ra-ran.
I raised my hand to the bouncy piano melody.
[This is a Contagious Disease Patient. Would you like to treat them?]
[(Expected MP Cost: 110)]
I made the sign of the cross, clasped my hands, and whispered very quietly.
“Treatment... yes, the Lord permits it.”
Da-ra-ra-ran.
The treatment ended.
A little later.
After Lee Mun-yeong and I asked her to keep this absolutely secret, Ju Hye kept nodding and looked at me with shining eyes.
“Thank you so much, sir.”
Her voice was clear as she bowed deeply.
Scribble, scribble.
[Good luck at the audition!]
“Yes, I’ll do my best!”
“Shh. You’ll wake everyone up.”
“Yes. Shh.”
Ju Hye smiled and waved until the moment she closed the gate behind her.
Only after she disappeared from view did Lee Mun-yeong hold out an envelope to me.
“Thank you again today, Plague Doctor. This is the payment we promised for the prayer.”
As expected.
I had found it a little strange.
It did not seem likely that Ju Hye, who was only in middle school, would have prepared 100,000 won for such a suspicious healing prayer.
Lee Mun-yeong had made the request because she wanted to support Ju Hye.
“...”
I hesitated.
After hearing about her sad circumstances, wouldn’t I look pretty pathetic if I took all of this?
“I know.”
Lee Mun-yeong smiled softly.
“I know it’s a shamefully small amount compared to your amazing healing prayers, Plague Doctor. That is why I am even more grateful. You came because you heard Ju Hye’s story, regardless of the payment.”
That’s not it.
I really came to earn 100,000 won.
“So I added another 100,000 won. Please accept it.”
Well, if she put it that way.
Oh, thank you very much.
I took the envelope and put it in my pocket.
Lee Mun-yeong, who had been watching me with a smile, spoke.
“By the way, Nara keeps pestering me to give her your social-media address, Plague Doctor. What should I do?”
I shook my head and slowly backed away.
I appreciated the Silver Cross Necklace gift, but keeping in touch separately felt burdensome.
I had a feeling she would send DMs nonstop.
“Yes, understood. Get home safely.”
I bowed.
Heh.
I made 200,000 won.
I should buy Arong new winter clothes with this.
* * *
The Plague Doctor walked away and disappeared around the corner of the building.
Lee Mun-yeong let out a quiet laugh.
No matter how I look at him, he seems kind of young. Not a minor... maybe early twenties? But what is he, exactly? An alien? A wizard? Someone with psychic powers?
Bzzz.
The Plague Doctor had sent a DM.
-[What is the name of the show Ju Hye is appearing on?]
Is he going to support her when it airs?
Lee Mun-yeong sent a reply.
[SBC’s Unknown Singer.]
-[Yes, thank you.]
Lee Mun-yeong thought about it.
The Plague Doctor possessed a mysterious power that could cure colds, the flu, and illnesses like that in a single go, yet he was not greedy.
Just seeing how he had turned down the huge sum of ten million won, asking for it to be used for the right purpose, showed what a good person he was.
Was that why?
Just like he readily agreed after hearing Ju Hye’s story today, I want to help him use that mysterious power for worthwhile things in the future. And help him earn lots of money too.
But the Plague Doctor did not want his identity known. That was why Lee Mun-yeong had not reported him to Kang-geon Pharmaceuticals’ CEO.
The more people know, the less of a secret it becomes. So I need to be careful from now on too. I’ll protect our Plague Doctor.
Lee Mun-yeong got goosebumps.
This is exactly like the supporting character in a novel I used to enjoy. A broker connected to a special ability user in the shadows!
She rubbed her arms and got into the car.
“Ah, goosebumps. How embarrassing at my age.”
* * *
“Arong, do you like your new padded jacket?”
Woof!
“Good. You can wear this when we go for a walk later...”
Woof!
Before I could finish speaking, Arong brought over his leash.
“Okay, shall we go now?”
“You really are a rich unemployed guy.”
My older sister, dressed and ready to head to her academy, said this as she came out.
“You sleep all day, play games, watch TV, walk the dog, and stuff your face whenever you feel like it. I’m jealous.”
“Why leave out how I go to the gym every day? If you’re so jealous, you can be unemployed too... No, you already are unemployed. I’m on leave from school.”
“I’m not unemployed, I’m job hunting! Want to die?”
“If you don’t work, you’re unemployed.”
“Die!”
“Argh!”
Woof! Woof!
“I’ll keep both eyes wide open and watch just how quickly you get a great job.”
Heh. Sadly, I already have a job called Plague Doctor.
“Ugh, you’re so annoying.”
My sister left home, and I prepared to take Arong for a walk too.
My eyes fell on the cross necklace hanging with my clothes.
“Arong. Should we go a little farther for our walk today?”
Arong tilted his head.
I put Arong in the car.
We arrived at a medical-supply store.
They said dogs could enter if they were carried, so I held Arong in my arms and looked around the store.
“There they are.”
All kinds of canes stood loosely in a large bin.
I checked my surroundings and picked them up one by one.
When people think of a Plague Doctor, the first thing that comes to mind is the bird-beak mask. Then there are the long black clothes that cover the whole body.
But there was one more thing that never failed to appear in descriptions of Plague Doctors.
A cane.
The cross necklace had an equipment effect, but canes did not?
That could not be right.
If I were the developer of this system, I would pay more attention to the cane than the necklace.
For a Plague Doctor, a cane was a tool to examine patients from a distance, and also a rod for delivering punishment in God’s place.
But just as an ordinary cross necklace had not counted as equipment while a Silver Cross Necklace had, perhaps a cane needed some other condition too?
“None of them react...”
From canes with flashy handles to plain ones.
I tried holding canes made of various materials, but the system window remained silent.
What if...
The system was similar to a game, and many parts differed from actual history...
Could it recognize something like the wands in Harry Potter?
But where would I buy one?
If I bought one online and nothing happened, I would only waste money. They would not accept a return after I opened it either.
“Student, are you picking out a gift? For your grandmother? Or grandfather?”
As I kept handling the canes, the owner came over and asked.
“No. I’m choosing one for myself.”
“Do your legs hurt? You look fine.”
“I thought I’d buy one fifty years early.”
The owner laughed with a baffled expression.
“I’ve seen people buy canes one or two years early, but you’re the first person I’ve seen buy one fifty years early.”
After leaving the medical-supply store, I went to a hiking-clothing store and handled some trekking poles.
“This isn’t it either...”
Could it be that the cane needed silver too?
“Hmm...”
Woof!
“Right. Let’s go for a walk.”
Only after leaving the store did I put Arong down.
Sniff, sniff.
Arong carefully walked along, smelling the unfamiliar street. When he became fixated on a tree for a while, I stretched and looked toward something.
An electronics store.
A preview for a program was playing on the large TV in the display.
“SBC’s Unknown Singer.”
It was a music audition program featuring unknown singers and aspiring singers.
The program Ju Hye said she was appearing on... Wait.
Now that I thought about it, Happy Quokka had said she would be on TV too. Could it be that program?
Riiip.
“...?”
I turned toward the strange sound.
Arong’s new padded jacket had caught on a branch in the shrubs planted beside the tree and torn.
“Hey. How were you even moving to get caught on that?”
Arong smiled innocently and wagged his tail.
With a sigh, I picked Arong up.
“Let’s go home. The stuffing is going to fall out.”
After returning home, I brought the sewing box from the master bedroom.
I plopped down in the living room, chose thread that matched Arong’s padded jacket, and picked up a needle.
[System]
-You have equipped a needle.
-You can use the skill ‘Bloodletting.’
“...What the f*ck? Needles count as weapons too?”
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