WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: LilGuyBlastoise
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Plague Doctor in a Peaceful World ◈
Chapter 15: I’m Not the Grim Reaper
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[System]
-‘Bloodletting’ Proficiency +0.3
-Experience +0.9%
[System]
-‘Bloodletting’ Proficiency +0.2
-Experience +0.6%
[System]
-‘Bloodletting’ Proficiency +0.5
-Experience +1.5%
.
.
.
[System]
-No target detected.
Only after killing every octopus did I get a feel for how to use the ‘Bloodletting’ skill.
“Phew.”
The [Contagious Disease Patient] with athlete’s foot I had met last time had two contagious diseases, so separate system windows had appeared for each one.
This was similar.
The vital-point marker I focused on darkened slightly.
The moment I decided to execute it, MP was consumed according to the force I applied, and I stabbed the vital point I had been watching.
Swiftly and precisely.
This instant felt as though the system had forcibly moved my body, which was deeply unpleasant.
But after trying it several times, I found that when I tried to stop in the middle of the skill, my hand stopped as I willed it.
Like when I accidentally pricked my own hand while sewing, I gained proficiency and experience even if I stabbed without activating ‘Bloodletting.’
The system’s movement correction disappeared, and no MP was consumed.
However, less blood came out, and the experience gained dropped sharply.
If I did not see blood at all, I gained no experience.
I should only activate the skill when I wanted to draw blood by targeting a vital point.
Though I had no idea when that would happen.
“Either way, I need to practice controlling my strength more.”
Everything that had once been an octopus had become ragged scraps, and the living-room floor was covered in water and something that had once been part of an octopus.
Ugh, that fishy smell.
If Mom found out, I would get at least ten smacks on the back.
I cleaned diligently.
By the time I finished, the ‘Unknown Singer’ broadcast had ended.
* * *
[Thanks for the broadcast. Congratulations on passing the first round.]
Only after lying down to sleep did I send Happy Quokka a DM.
A reply came immediately.
-[Thank you! It’s all thanks to you, Plague Doctor T_T If I hadn’t safely finished my university festival performance thanks to you back then, I wouldn’t have gotten this chance to appear on the broadcast.]
[As I said before, that was a coincidence.]
-[Yes, haha.]
I also received a DM from Lee Mun-yeong.
Ju Hye had asked her to pass along thanks to me again.
I felt just a little proud.
Even if I had gained these abilities through some mistake, I had still helped someone.
Of course, I had not helped for nothing, but I was still proud.
Still.
“Skill window.”
[Kang Bongsik (Plague Doctor Lv. 7) Skills]
[Passive Skill]
-Immunity Lv. 1
[Active Skills]
-Plague Treatment Lv. 1 (78/100)
-Bloodletting Lv. 1 (4.9/100)
-Divine Punishment Lv. 1 (0.1/100)
My experience had increased by a full 14.7% while experimenting with ‘Bloodletting.’
The MP used, including what I lost while canceling activations midway, came to around 110. Yet the experience gain was far better than when I spent 110 MP on ‘Plague Treatment.’
“Wasn’t the ‘Plague Doctor’ supposed to be a doctor class?”
Why did attack skills give more experience?
And why did I even have ‘Divine Punishment’ when I was not a priest class?
Was this also part of the “setting” tailored to the world 1,328 years later?
No matter how much I speculated alone, I could not find an answer.
There were limits to leveling up with a skill that only gave experience when I drew blood in this peaceful world, which was not an apocalypse like that game.
And octopus was expensive!
With a sigh, I logged in to my Kang Bongsik account for the first time in a while instead of my Plague Doctor account.
After scrolling down, I found a post Seong Eunji had uploaded.
It showed a large bag stuffed with blankets and bedding.
[A friend said they were collecting donations for an abandoned-dog shelter, so I raided the theater troupe for blankets lol #TurtlesEye #DaehangnoTheater #AmateurTheater #HorrorTheater #SeongEunji #LiraDongdong #AnimalShelterDonation]
She had said she collected blankets and bedding through people she knew.
It seemed they had belonged to members of her theater troupe.
When I clicked on her account, all sorts of posts came up, but most of them ultimately promoted plays.
I had plenty of time anyway.
I should go see one soon, if only to repay her for gathering so many blankets and bedding.
The next day.
“Bongsik, we’re back... Wait, what is that smell? Why does it smell fishy?”
My parents returned from their overnight trip.
My sister came in around the same time and sniffed around, while Arong closely investigated the floor where octopus fragments had splattered.
“Son. What did you do at home by yourself?”
“I bought octopus and practiced cooking, Dad.”
“You can’t make anything except ramen. What octopus dish were you going to make?”
“Oh. So where is the octopus dish?”
“I failed and threw it all away.”
My sister laughed at me.
“Of course you did. Since when does Kang Bongsik cook?”
“Have you been getting indigestion lately?”
“Why are you asking?”
“If you had, I was going to prick your finger.”
“Forget it. Gross.”
“Mom, Dad, do you want to go see a horror play with me?”
“No.”
“Mom’s tired. Go with your girlfriend.”
“I don’t have a girlfriend.”
“I’m telling you to get one.”
“...”
I left home alone and dejected.
My destination was not Daehangno, but the animal shelter.
The two [Contagious Disease Patient] labels that had suddenly appeared in the cat room yesterday still bothered me, so I had come back.
“After hearing what you said yesterday, Mr. Bongsik, we checked the cats’ temperatures and isolated all the ones with fevers and sneezing. It seems a newly brought-in cat had caught a cold. Thank you. If it had not been for you, they all would have been infected in no time.”
[Contagious Disease Patient]
[Contagious Disease Patient]
Shelter director.
There were two more cats here with [Contagious Disease Patient] labels above them.
“Right...”
Despite my thoughts, I merely nodded and took out some cat treats.
“Then I’ll play with the cats for a little while before I leave.”
“All right.”
Maybe because I volunteered often, the shelter director had come to trust me enough to leave me alone and head to the dog kennels.
“Treatment, yes. Treatment, yes. Thanks for the bonus experience, but please don’t get sick again.”
Meow, meow.
Ding.
Lee Mun-yeong had sent me a DM.
-[Hello, Plague Doctor. I would like to request a 3 million won prayer.]
Three million won?!
-[It is for someone who needs prayer.]
-[(Photo)]
Several article screenshots were attached.
“...”
After reading them carefully, I sent a reply.
[I accept.]
* * *
The target of this healing prayer was Grandmother Park Bokseon, an elderly woman in her eighties who lived elsewhere in the country.
“Two and a half hours by car? That’s nothing.”
I confidently took the wheel.
It would be my first time leaving Seoul since getting my license, but how difficult could it be?
This was how I would gain experience.
A little later.
I accidentally passed the first rest stop.
At the second, I missed the timing because I was wary of speeding cars rushing past me in the next lane.
At the third, I ended up following the car ahead of me into it without thinking.
“Maybe I should have just taken the KTX...”
I felt drained.
After stopping by the restroom, I entered the food court.
There was still plenty of time before the appointment, so I leisurely ate a bowl of rice soup, then had a hot dog for dessert while reading online news.
[Entire Fortune Collected From Waste Paper Donated as Scholarships]
It was an article about Grandmother Park Bokseon, the person I would be praying to heal today.
Fifteen years ago, she had donated her entire life savings, collected by gathering waste paper, as scholarships for students from struggling families.
She was currently in a nursing hospital. Despite being vaccinated, she had caught the flu, and her health had deteriorated rapidly.
The requester was someone who had managed to finish their education thanks to her donation.
-[Apparently, they promised to invite Grandmother Park Bokseon to their wedding. But she is so old that the risk of complications is high...]
I hoped I could cure her in one go.
That night.
“Is this... the person who will pray for her?”
In the parking lot of a nursing hospital on the outskirts of the city, the requester looked startled upon seeing me.
Lee Mun-yeong nodded.
“Yes. As I mentioned earlier, our guest does not want their face to become known. We ask for your understanding.”
“As long as Grandmother gets better, I do not mind. Shall we go in, then?”
“Yes.”
The requester said they had received permission from the nursing hospital staff and led us through the back entrance.
As I followed the two, I carefully looked around the interior.
It was bedtime, so only the emergency lights were on in the hallway. It was dim and very quiet.
When would my grandfather and maternal grandmother end up in a place like this too?
At the same time, I became curious about the requester.
No matter how indebted they were to Grandmother Park Bokseon, they had readily offered 3 million won for this suspicious healing prayer.
Had they struck it rich in business?
Still, Lee Mun-yeong had connected us, so they could not be a strange person, right?
No.
Get a grip, Kang Bongsik.
This could be a trap!
This could be the final test before they dragged me into an underground pharmaceutical-company research facility!
“Is something wrong, Plague Doctor? Why are your fists clenched so tightly...?”
“...”
I shook my head.
Beyond the wall, I saw a yellow [Contagious Disease Patient] label.
The requester pointed toward it.
“She is in here.”
Without knocking, the requester opened the door as quietly and carefully as possible.
An elderly woman, far more gaunt and wrinkled than in the photo from the article, lay inside.
Cough, cough...
She was coughing with difficulty, and even the sound of her breathing was terrible.
I looked back at Lee Mun-yeong.
Lee Mun-yeong nodded, then spoke to the requester.
“Could you give us a moment?”
“Yes. Please take good care of her.”
I looked at Lee Mun-yeong and tilted my head.
Lee Mun-yeong looked startled.
“Huh? I have to... leave too?”
I nodded.
In a place this quiet, I could not play music to cover up the skill commands.
“Okay...”
Lee Mun-yeong left the room with slumped shoulders.
I stood beside Grandmother Park Bokseon.
[This is a Contagious Disease Patient. Would you like to treat them?]
[(Expected MP Cost: 180)]
One hundred eighty...
The high number made me sigh.
Then Grandmother Park Bokseon opened her eyes and looked at me.
“...”
“...!”
Grandmother Park Bokseon blinked calmly.
I was the one who flinched in surprise, but she gently smiled.
“Grim Reapers these days are... cough, quite stylish...”
I looked back at the closed door, then carefully lowered myself.
In a whisper.
“I’m not a Grim Reaper. I came to pray.”
I hurriedly made the sign of the cross.
“Treatment, yes. The Lord permits it.”
“But I’m Buddhist...”
[System]
-Used ‘Plague Treatment.’
-‘Plague Treatment’ Proficiency +2
-Experience +5.9%
[MP 0/120]
The MP gauge was completely empty.
[This is a Contagious Disease Patient. Would you like to treat them?]
[(Expected MP Cost: 60)]
The [Contagious Disease Patient] label had turned green again.
Was it fortunate enough that she had improved this much?
I pressed my palms together and bowed my head.
“I will return at dawn tomorrow. Sleep well. Namu Amitabha, Avalokiteshvara.”
Perhaps thinking it was a dream, Grandmother Park Bokseon smiled softly.
Footnotes:
“Treatment, yes. The Lord permits it” preserves a Korean sound joke: “yes” joins the following syllables to resemble “Jesus.”
Pricking a finger to draw blood is a traditional Korean folk remedy for indigestion.
“Namu Amitabha, Avalokiteshvara” is a Buddhist devotional invocation, contrasting with the sign of the cross immediately before it.
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