WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: LilGuyBlastoise
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Plague Doctor in a Peaceful World ◈
Chapter 13: Divine Punishment
──────
I looked in the mirror. Unlike last time, when I had looked at Park Jaeyoon while holding a knife, no vital points appeared.
I looked at Arong.
Several small red circles had appeared over him.
It made me feel bad.
Like the system was saying everyone but me was a target.
“What could our cute Arong possibly have to attack?”
Arong tilted his head, then ran to the front door.
Beep. Click.
Woof! Woof!
“Arong, I’m home. What are you doing, Kang Bongsik?”
A target had entered.
“Arong tore up his puffer jacket.”
“He must’ve really hated it.”
“I mastered a new needle attack technique. Want to get poked?”
“Hey.”
My sister petted Arong all over, then suddenly turned serious.
“Did you say anything to Yunjeong before?”
“No. Why?”
“She... Never mind.”
“...?”
My sister went into her room. I threaded a needle and sewed up Arong’s torn puffer jacket.
Bang!
My sister suddenly burst back out.
“She asked if you have a girlfriend?!”
That startled me!
Ouch.
“Ah, I pricked myself!”
“Sorry.”
“Tsk.”
A tiny bead of blood formed on the tip of my left index finger.
[System]
-‘Bloodletting’ Proficiency +0.1
-Experience +0.3%
“...”
This half-baked system didn’t even surprise me anymore.
It didn’t show my vital points, but it gave me experience when I drew my own blood? What kind of skill was that?
I should just pretend this skill didn’t exist from now on.
“What do you mean, she asked if I have a girlfriend? Yunjeong noona?”
“Yeah. She told me it seemed like you got a girlfriend.”
“Could she have asked because she’s interested in me...”
My sister’s lips twitched.
“Pfft.”
“...”
“Pwahahaha.”
“...Sis, do you know where I can buy a Harry Potter wand in person?”
My sister stopped laughing at me.
“They might sell them at a pop-up store. Hey, want Buldak noodles later?”
“Sure.”
After repairing Arong’s puffer jacket, I searched for “Harry Potter pop-up store” on my phone.
There happened to be one open at H Department Store.
The next day.
H Department Store was unbelievably crowded.
Could all these people be here for the pop-up store?
I was surprised for a moment, but then realized otherwise.
“This isn’t it.”
Some event seemed to be taking place at another shop on the same floor. Most of the people in line were young schoolgirls or women carrying idol merchandise and the like.
[Contagious Disease Patient]
[Contagious Disease Patient]
Whenever there were lots of people, there were always some [Contagious Disease Patients] mixed in.
I put on my mask, took a roundabout route in the other direction, and entered the Harry Potter pop-up store.
My parents had often shown me that movie series when I was little. Seeing all the merchandise on display brought back memories.
My friends and I used to play with sticks, chanting magic spells.
And I was always the villain.
「Kang Bongsik definitely belongs there. Slytherin.」
My daycare friends’ faces were hard to remember now.
We had lost touch when my family moved.
I hoped they were all doing well.
I put aside the memories and sightseeing and looked for a wand.
“Eek.”
As expected of official merchandise, every single one was brutally expensive.
Fortunately, a sample was on display. After checking that the staff were not watching, I quietly picked it up.
...
There was no reaction.
So this wasn’t it either.
Well, Plague Doctor and Harry Potter belonged to completely different settings and genres.
Since Mom liked the movie series too, I bought her a few presents before leaving.
Grrrgle.
“...Ah. Why now?”
My stomach gave me a warning.
Tsk. Was it because of the Buldak noodles I had eaten last night?
I hurried into a nearby restroom.
There were no empty stalls, so I came back out and entered another restroom farther away.
“Uh, wait...!”
Some people tried to stop me, but I rushed into a stall whose door stood wide open.
Phew.
Safe.
Bleurgh!
Then I heard vomiting from the stall right beside me.
A yellow [Contagious Disease Patient] was retching and throwing up.
That was distracting.
Just then, a loud ringtone went off outside, and I raised my hand toward the next stall.
[This is a Contagious Disease Patient. Would you like to treat them?]
[(Expected MP Cost: 150)]
If it cost around 150 MP, they must’ve been pretty sick. Yet they still came all the way to a department store.
Urgh...
I muttered.
“Treatment, yes.”
[System]
-Used ‘Plague Treatment.’
-‘Plague Treatment’ Proficiency +2
-Experience +5.42%
[MP 0/110]
The log appeared, then a new system window opened.
[This is a Contagious Disease Patient. Would you like to treat them?]
[(Expected MP Cost: 70)]
They were feeling better now, right?
Get out soon.
A flush sounded shortly afterward.
I relaxed and took care of my own business. The sounds of several people outside faded away, and the restroom grew quiet.
Phew.
Whoosh.
After finishing up, I came out and washed my hands thoroughly.
I shouldn’t have followed my sister and eaten Level 3 Buldak noodles.
“Um...”
“...?”
The person who had tried to stop me from entering earlier came back inside.
“Excuse me, but have you seen an earring that fell in here?”
“I haven’t.”
“I see. Ah, where did it fall...”
The man checked the stall where I had heard vomiting earlier, then crouched down.
“Found it.”
Squeak.
I turned off the faucet, shook the water from my hands, and pulled out a tissue to dry them.
“Excuse me.”
The man who had picked up the earring turned back toward me.
“I’m sorry, but could you keep the vomiting you heard earlier a secret?”
“...?”
“Oh, you don’t know who it was. Never mind, then.”
The man bowed repeatedly and left.
There were all kinds of strange people in the world.
I left the restroom and walked around at my leisure.
I saw the event banner for the shop that had been crowded earlier.
[Jin Se-hyeok Signing Event]
The event seemed to be over, because the area in front of the shop was much quieter than before.
Could the celebrity who had vomited in the stall beside mine have been Jin Se-hyeok?
“Jin Se-hyeok was seriously handsome in person.”
“It can’t be easy to smile like that for hours, but he even wrote such thoughtful messages.”
Women passed by holding postcards with the person from the banner printed on them.
Being a celebrity must be hard.
Even when they were that sick, they had to keep smiling without showing it.
“Hmm.”
Then a thought occurred to me.
Wouldn’t the entertainment industry be the biggest market for my Plague Treatment skill?
I heard popular idols made a huge amount of money each time they held a concert. But what if they caught the flu or COVID and had to miss one?
What if the lead actor in a drama or film with an enormous budget caught a severe cold and threw the packed filming schedule into complete chaos?
Couldn’t I make a decent profit in exchange for preventing those losses?
If I couldn’t get a job after graduating college, maybe I should seriously consider it then.
* * *
One sunny day.
I smiled as I looked at the memo app on my phone.
“Heh.”
The day I had been waiting for had finally come.
[Experience 96.8%]
[Plague Treatment Proficiency 70]
Today, I would reach Level 7.
“Just wait, you pups.”
I drove to the animal shelter.
There were always animals there with minor contagious diseases, making it a reliable place to gain experience.
“Welcome, Mr. Bongsik. Thank you so much for coming again today.”
The shelter worker welcomed me more warmly than usual.
“Hello. Am I the only volunteer today?”
“No. The weather is so nice today that we were going to take all the bedding out of the kennels, shake it out, disinfect it in the sun, and do laundry. But the poles for hanging laundry are high, so we needed someone tall.”
“If someone under 180 centimeters is okay.”
“Oh my, you’re not? You look that tall. Strange.”
“Haha. I’ll put on my protective suit and come right over.”
“Okay. Take your time.”
Together with the shelter workers, volunteers, and the shelter director, I collected the bedding and blankets from the kennels.
[This is a Contagious Disease Patient. Would you like to treat them?]
[(Expected MP Cost: 60)]
I also treated a dog with a contagious disease in the middle of it all.
“Treatment, yes.”
[System]
-Used ‘Plague Treatment.’
-‘Plague Treatment’ Proficiency +1
-Experience +2.95%
[MP 50/110]
“Come here. We need to take out the blanket over there too.”
The sick dog came over with a whine.
[This is a Contagious Disease Patient. Would you like to treat them?]
[(Expected MP Cost: 70)]
Don’t worry.
When I level up, my MP will refill, so I’ll cure you all too.
“Treatment, yes.”
[System]
-Used ‘Plague Treatment.’
-‘Plague Treatment’ Proficiency +1
-Experience +2.46%
-Level increased!
-Acquired skill ‘Divine Punishment (Lv.1).’
[MP 120/120]
A new skill appeared when I reached Level 7.
“Divine Punishment...?”
No way.
Had they classified those beatings as “Divine Punishment”?
When I had searched online, I found that Plague Doctors’ staffs were mainly used to assist with examinations. However, people considered diseases to be God’s punishment at the time, and some patients had supposedly asked to be beaten as atonement.
Then was this another offensive skill, distinct from Bloodletting?
As I fell into thought for a moment, the dogs looked at me in confusion, then headbutted me.
They wanted attention.
“Okay. Just a second.”
After treating the rest of the dogs with contagious diseases using my refilled MP, I finished collecting the bedding and blankets.
The shelter received many donated blankets and bedding, but they wore out even faster, so there was always a shortage.
The shelter director sorted them into things to throw out, wash, or simply disinfect in the sun.
“We need to shake out the ones to wash too. Mr. Bongsik, hang these on the line and use that stick to beat them. Fur and dust might get in your eyes, so wear these too.”
“Thank you.”
I put on a mask, safety goggles, and the hood of my protective suit, then tightened the cords.
Cough, cough.
Even though I was covered so thoroughly, hanging up the bedding made me cough.
Finally, I picked up the stick the shelter director had pointed out.
[System]
-Equipped Stick.
-You can use skill ‘Divine Punishment.’
“Oh.”
Unlike the necklace, the staff did not have a separate equip effect. It was a tool exclusively for the Divine Punishment skill.
I lightly struck the hanging bedding with the stick.
Dog fur and dust fluttered through the air.
I looked around.
Everyone had gone back inside to clean the kennels, so no one was nearby.
The shelter director had gone to get a large basin.
“Skill window.”
[Kang Bongsik (Plague Doctor Lv.7) Skills]
[Passive Skills]
-Immunity Lv.1
[Active Skills]
-Plague Treatment Lv.1 (74/100)
-Bloodletting Lv.1 (0.1/100)
-Divine Punishment Lv.1 (0/100)
As expected, it did not say how to use the skill.
“U-Use Divine Punishment skill, yes?”
...
“Activate Divine Punishment?”
Shhhk.
A soft blue light flowed from my hand and wrapped around the stick. A small Divine Punishment skill icon activated above the system log window.
[MP 0/120]
The border of the MP gauge darkened red.
Without MP, the power probably wouldn’t be that great, right?
Gulp.
After looking around once more, I swung the stick.
Lightly.
Whump.
The blanket spun wildly.
Dog fur and dust scattered through the bright sunlight.
“...Cough. Deactivate Divine Punishment.”
The light vanished from the stick, along with the Divine Punishment skill icon and the MP gauge’s highlight effect.
[System]
-Attack power is greatly reduced due to insufficient MP.
-‘Divine Punishment’ Proficiency +0.1
-Experience +0.2%
“...Ha.”
A disbelieving laugh escaped me.
That was with the attack power greatly reduced?
The part I had struck was torn and hanging in tatters.
If I had MP...
“Mr. Bongsik?”
As I was lost in thought, the shelter director approached and tilted their head.
“The blanket...”
“Gasp, I’m sorry! I’ll bring a few blankets next time I come!”
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