WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: LilGuyBlastoise
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Plague Doctor in a Peaceful World ◈
Chapter 27: Nearly Beat Someone Up in Broad Daylight
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“What should we eat, Buldak noodles or chicken?”
My sister pondered the question as we rode the elevator down.
I pointed at the paper bag in her hand.
“Isn’t that food?”
It contained the Hiyoko manju and pudding I had bought in Japan.
To bring that damned pudding back, I bought a food container, packed it with ice packs like I’d seen on YouTube, and crammed it into my suitcase. It took up so much room that I considered eating it all along the way.
“This is dessert.”
“You ate dinner earlier, and you’re going to eat again?”
“Dinner and a late-night snack are different. Dessert is separate too.”
“You keep eating nonstop, so your stomach gets overworked and you get indigestion all the time. Right, Arong?”
I asked Arong, who was in my arms. He only tilted his head.
“Arooong. Do you want to go to Yunjeong’s house too?”
“No. Arong and I have somewhere to go early tomorrow morning.”
Ding-dong.
The elevator arrived on the first floor.
“Where?”
“A walk.”
Whoosh.
“...Oh, excuse me.”
The man who had been about to stride in as soon as the doors opened hesitated and moved aside.
From his hat pulled low over his face to his mask, long padded coat, pants, shoes, and bag, he was dressed entirely in black. It was a common enough style.
“...”
“...?”
Woof!
My sister clung tightly to my clothes, and Arong gave a short, wary bark.
“Arong, no barking outside.”
I gave the man a small nod to apologize for the dog barking, then got off the elevator.
My sister hurried out after me. She only let go of my clothes after we passed through the building entrance.
I looked back at the elevator doors closing behind us.
“Did you know him?”
“No. It’s suspicious when someone’s dressed all in black at night.”
“I dress like that sometimes too.”
“I’m saying you shouldn’t. Especially if you run into someone like that in the middle of the night, it’s really scary.”
“True. If someone like that suddenly stepped out while I was driving, I’d be swearing up a storm. I might hit them without even meaning to.”
“...”
“Want Arong?”
“Yeah.”
I traded Arong for the paper bag.
Holding Arong in her arms, my sister kept nuzzling him.
“Aww, so cute. Aww, so pretty. Aww, so warm.”
We soon arrived at Lee Yunjeong’s apartment.
Lee Yunjeong was waiting for us at the entrance.
“Welcome, Bongsik. Hi, Arong~.”
“Hello. Please take this.”
“Thanks. I’ll enjoy it.”
“Then get going.”
“Okay.”
I took Arong and started walking away.
My sister and Lee Yunjeong’s voices came from behind me.
“Your little brother walked you home because it’s nighttime. Lucky you.”
“If you’re jealous, take him.”
“You’re saying something you don’t mean again, Kang Hyunseo.”
After taking Arong for a lap around the neighborhood, I went home.
“Did you walk your sister home safely?”
“It’s only three minutes away.”
“Good grief...”
Mom sighed.
“When she gets a job later, she’ll have to be out at night for overtime and company dinners.”
“Then we can buy Hyunseo a car too, right? Or I can give Hyunseo mine and get a new one, honey?”
“Parking fees are already expensive enough. You want to add another car?”
“Couldn’t we just kick our son out?”
“Dad, why are you saying that in front of your son? Besides, the subway station and bus stop are close. Why would we need another car?”
“Then we can just give your car to Hyunseo.”
“Can I get a motorcycle, then?”
My parents’ playful expressions turned cold.
“No. It’s dangerous.”
“Did I ever tell you about my friend who nearly went to the great beyond riding one?”
“You did. Sorry. But why doesn’t my sister go out alone at night? It’s better not to if possible, but still.”
I took off Arong’s clothes and wiped his paws.
“Now that I think about it, I haven’t seen her go out alone at night since I got discharged.”
“You haven’t heard anything from Hyunseo?”
“What?”
“...”
“...”
My parents exchanged hesitant looks.
I stood and asked seriously.
“What is it? Did something happen while I was gone?”
“Well...”
A few months before I was discharged from the military, my sister had been getting off work at nine because of her part-time job.
But at some point, some guy dressed in black had started following her from a distance.
She reported him to the police, but they never caught him. In the end, she quit that job and stopped going out alone at night.
“She said it was inconvenient for us to always pick her up, too.”
So that was why she only went out at night with me or our parents.
“What did he look like? How tall was he? What was his build like? Did she see his face? When was the last time she saw him? No, I’ll just ask her myself.”
When I took out my phone, Mom waved her hand.
“This is why Hyunseo didn’t tell you. Not now. Ask her calmly later.”
“You said they didn’t catch him.”
“I searched everywhere from Hyunseo’s workplace to the neighborhood for days, but I couldn’t find him either. It’s been half a year. Do you think you can find him now? Just call her after daybreak. Pick her up yourself tomorrow and hear it from her.”
I sighed inwardly.
If Dad couldn’t catch him, it would be the same even if I stepped in now.
Besides, as Dad said, a lot of time had passed.
“Okay.”
Still, I really wanted to catch that bastard.
So I could test the power of Divine Punishment using MP.
Before that, I needed to get myself a suitable weapon.
* * *
[System]
- Equipped Stick.
- You can use the skill ‘Divine Punishment’.
The range of tools the system recognized as a Stick was narrow.
It had to be no more than four centimeters in diameter. It could not be too thin, and it needed to be close to circular.
A Plague Doctor’s staff was originally an aid for examining patients, not a weapon, so that was probably why the system was set up that way.
“Just right.”
A Harry Potter pop-up store had moved into a large shopping mall.
When I lightly gripped one of the wand samples, a system log that had not appeared before I acquired Divine Punishment popped up.
“Thank you. Have a pleasant day.”
I bought four, including backups.
They were expensive, but they were a good length and light.
Most importantly, no one would see them as weapons.
They were merchandise that would make anyone think, He must really like that movie series.
Bzzzt.
An unsaved number was calling.
I declined it.
Bzzzt.
They called again.
I declined again. I didn’t answer calls from unknown numbers.
Ding.
A message arrived.
-[I’m Jin Se-hyeok..]
Ah.
I called him.
It was a ticket into a broadcasting station, an amazing Experience-hunting ground. I couldn’t ignore it.
“Hello.”
-[Oh, Bongsik. What are you doing? Busy?]
I turned my head.
I happened to be standing in front of a clothing store he modeled for. A life-size standee of him stood there.
“I’m just shopping.”
-[If you’re free, could you come give me a hand with bloodletting? My indigestion hasn’t gone away.]
“Go to a hospital.”
-[One hundred thousand won, including transportation.]
Looking at the standee, I asked politely.
“Where are you, hyung?”
A little later.
I arrived in front of an expensive-looking salon in Gangnam.
“Welcome. Do you have an appointment?”
When I looked inside, an employee asked me.
She spoke kindly, but her guarded eyes swept over me.
“Jin Se-hyeok told me to come here.”
“Ah, yes. It would be best if you contacted him directly.”
The employee turned away coldly.
Did she think I was some suspicious guy trying to approach a popular idol?
“Oh, Hertz’s manager! Come on in.”
Then Actis’s manager approached, recognizing me.
“I’m not Hertz’s manager.”
“Ah, you said you worked as a temporary assistant. Come this way. Se-hyeok has been waiting for a while. The head stylist and I offered to do it for him, but he refused. He said we probably wouldn’t be good at it.”
“Okay.”
Jin Se-hyeok was seated farther inside. Several small clips held back his bangs.
“Thanks for coming, Bongsik.”
Jin Se-hyeok said he had drunk too much yesterday, and he thought that was why he had indigestion.
“I think you should get an upper endoscopy.”
“I did. They said it wasn’t great.”
And yet he still went around drinking himself stupid?
With weak immunity, he got tagged with the yellow [Contagious Disease Patient] status at the drop of a hat.
We weren’t close enough for me to lecture him, so I swallowed the words that had been about to come out and took out a case containing a needle, thread, and alcohol swabs.
Jin Se-hyeok burst out laughing.
“You really carry that around with you.”
“My sister gets indigestion often.”
“You said that before. You must be close with your sister if you carry it around for her.”
“Could I get a chair?”
Actis’s manager brought over a small stool. The salon employee from earlier approached too, looking puzzled.
“Are you Se-hyeok’s younger friend who’s good at bloodletting?”
“Hello. I’ll be done soon.”
“How close are you with your sister?”
“Why are you curious about that?”
Pat pat.
Like before, I massaged his shoulders, patted his back, and stroked his left arm to draw blood into his thumb.
“I’m really not close with my sister, so whenever I see siblings who are, I always wonder about it. How they got close.”
How did we get close?
Honestly, I wasn’t sure we were close.
But I didn’t particularly dislike my sister.
“Please save my little brother...! Waaaah...!”
When I was young, on an unbearably hot day, I fell while playing outside and scraped both knees raw. My nose had bled nonstop too.
My sister carried me on her back and ran to the pharmacy.
She cried and begged them to save her little brother for nearly ten minutes.
Maybe because that memory was so deeply imprinted on me, any resentment that started to form toward her quickly faded.
But I didn’t want to casually tell other people such private stories.
That would make it seem like I was really close to my sister.
“...”
“Bongsik, aren’t you wrapping that too tightly?”
“Stay still.”
[System]
- Equipped Needle.
- You can use the skill ‘Bloodletting’.
I sterilized the needle, then prick.
A large bead of dark blood formed.
A satisfying burp followed.
“...Sorry.”
“That dark blood came out really well. Where did you learn to do that?”
The salon employee asked with a fascinated look.
After roughly wiping away the blood with an alcohol swab, I untied the thread.
“In the military.”
“You served. That explains it.”
“By the way, is Se-hyeok’s younger friend an idol too? Or an actor? Which dermatologist do you go to? Your skin is really good.”
“I’m an ordinary student on leave from college.”
“Which college? What major?”
After putting my things away, I stood.
“Please transfer the transportation money to the account number I’ll text you.”
“You’re really just going to do this and leave? Isn’t that too cold? Hey, I’m Jin Se-hyeok.”
“If you need people for your next music-show schedule, call me.”
“You’re leaving now? For a music show. I’m a special MC today.”
“...”
“You’re hesitating.”
“If you need someone for the music-show circuit, call me. I’ll help if I’m free.”
After saying goodbye, I left the salon.
In the apartment parking garage, I parked my car and texted Jin Se-hyeok my account number.
The money arrived immediately.
Right on the dot.
I took one of the wands I had bought at the pop-up store and put it into the Plague Doctor cosplay bag in my trunk.
Then, while carrying the box containing the other three wands out of the car, I opened one.
[System]
- Equipped Stick.
- You can use the skill ‘Divine Punishment’.
“Hmm... Just as I thought, this won’t work.”
It obviously wouldn’t fit in my coat’s inner pocket. When I tucked it into my back pocket, it looked like it would slip right out when I walked.
If I wanted to carry it around normally, I would need to make an additional inner pocket in a coat.
I stopped by the recycling area to throw out the wand’s packaging box.
As I walked, I lightly tapped my shoulder with the wand in my hand.
Tap tap.
“Heading in now, student?”
“Hello, sir.”
After tossing the trash, I greeted the security guard warmly and started walking.
“What’s that?”
“A magic wand from a movie.”
“It looks cool. Can it really do magic?”
“Maybe?”
The security guard laughed, then turned his head.
His face hardened.
“What, these people again? Hey!”
“...?”
The security guard was calling out to some middle-aged women who had just come out through the building entrance.
“I told you last time. Outsiders aren’t allowed in here!”
“Outsiders? We’re just visiting a friend’s home. That’s a hurtful thing to say.”
“You said that last time too, then went door to door under the excuse of conducting surveys and proselytized. You can’t do that.”
Wow, there were still people like this these days.
I heard they had mostly disappeared after COVID...
[False One]
[False One]
Huh?
[System]
- ‘False One’ has been detected.
- ‘Divine Punishment’ has been activated.
The wand in my hand was suffused with a faint blue light.
I hurriedly backed away and placed both the wand I held and the wands in the box down in the flower bed.
Whew.
I almost beat people up in broad daylight.
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