WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: LilGuyBlastoise
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Plague Doctor in a Peaceful World ◈
Chapter 32: Did You See the News?
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“Come out! I know you’re all in there!”
Woof woof!
Woofwoofwoof!
With someone shouting and pounding outside, the dogs had gotten worked up too.
“I’ll go out.”
“What? Are you sure? If we just ignore him, he usually leaves on his own...”
I gestured that it was fine, then carefully locked several doors before heading out.
Past the container office and the open lot where the cars were parked, I reached the main gate.
Bang bang!
“Don’t you understand what people say...!”
I answered in the tone I used when working at the restaurant.
“Yes, I’m coming out!”
When I opened the locked gate, an elderly man stood there, breathing heavily.
“Where’s the shelter director? Tell them to come out!”
“The director has been hospitalized. But what is this about? You said the dogs here ate your chickens?”
“Move! I’ll catch those damn mutts myself...!”
I shut the gate behind me and blocked his way. After taking off my gloves and mask, I put on the friendliest expression I could.
“Please calm down and talk to me. I understand that you want to see for yourself, but if you force your way in like this, it’ll only cause trouble for you. All right?”
“...”
“I’ll listen to everything you have to say.”
The old man’s face was red, but I could not smell any alcohol on him.
“You think I’m doing this for no reason? You look new around here, so let me tell you something. Don’t believe everything those people say. I’m not some crazy old man!”
Right there, the old man poured out his story.
About three years ago, when the shelter’s management had become lax, several dogs escaped. Those dogs raided his chicken farm.
The dogs were quickly caught and returned to the shelter, and the shelter director and volunteers compensated him for the chickens.
But recently, chickens had started getting attacked by dogs again.
Whenever he went to the chicken farm at dawn, he found chicken carcasses that had been torn apart and left half-eaten by animals.
“Look at this! It’s those damn dogs!”
The old man showed me footage from his chicken farm’s CCTV.
It really did show dogs digging under the fence and entering the farm.
The image quality was blurry, but I could tell they were white and yellow dogs, the kinds common at the shelter.
But the footage alone did not prove they were shelter dogs.
“Sir, have you ever seen the dog kennels here? They’re locked, and there are multiple locked gates before you can even reach them...”
“I know that! That’s why it’s driving me mad. The director and those bastards who keep coming here must be letting them out at night to save on dog food!”
This was a situation where misunderstandings and resentment had piled up. He did not look like he had any intention of believing me.
And shelter dogs had really attacked his chicken farm before, and he had been compensated for it.
“Sir.”
I made a serious suggestion.
“How about reporting this to an animal program and finding the real culprit... no, the attackers?”
“So I can get cursed at by the whole country?”
His gaze drifted toward the traces of red spray paint that had been scrubbed away.
He knew his own actions had gone too far.
“Then... Huh?”
I trailed off and stared several dozen meters away.
After reaching Level 11, my detection range for [Contagious Disease Patient] had increased. Right at the edge of that range, three [Contagious Disease Patient]s were passing by.
They were beyond the thick bushes.
“Could it be...?”
I focused harder.
Three dogs.
Two white ones and a yellow one.
“Isn’t it possible that other stray dogs are responsible?”
“There aren’t any stray dogs around here. The director rounded up all the stray dogs that used to be here, saying they were abandoned dogs!”
The old man went on at length about how reasonable his suspicions were. Only when he received a phone call did he finally leave the shelter.
Another volunteer cautiously opened the gate and came out.
“There’s no talking to him, right?”
“Haha... By the way, have you ever seen stray dogs around here?”
“Hmm. Dogs that seem like they don’t have owners occasionally come near the shelter. I told that old man earlier that maybe they were responsible, but he wouldn’t believe me. He said it was definitely the shelter dogs.”
“I see...”
The dogs I had seen earlier also had [Contagious Disease Patient] over them.
I wondered whether they had caught it here, or whether they had infected the shelter dogs.
“Then.”
I pointed at the sky.
“Do you know what kind of bird that is?”
Another bird marked [Contagious Disease Patient] was flying by. Not just one, either. Several were mixed into a flock.
“Yes. Those are mallards.”
“Do those birds catch bad viruses easily?”
“They do more than just catch them.”
The volunteer shook their head.
“You know avian influenza, right? They’re one of the main carriers.”
“...!”
Avian influenza.
News reports and articles I had seen before came to mind.
[Avian flu alert in ○○ region... 1.46 million birds culled]
[Avian influenza confirmed at ○○ farm, 30,000 birds culled]
[Shelter cats culled after avian influenza infection]
[Highly pathogenic avian flu spreads... Egg prices rise again]
I searched “mallard avian flu” on my phone.
One piece of information caught my eye: mallards were often asymptomatic even when infected, making them difficult to identify.
“Do you know where that old man’s chicken farm is?”
“Yes. It’s the closest chicken farm to here.”
I had already finished everything I needed to do today.
I changed clothes, took my car, and before heading to the chicken farm, drove in the direction the mallard flock had flown and got out.
“There they are.”
In the distance, I saw a flock of mallards leisurely drinking at the shallow water’s edge.
I took out my phone and filmed the [Contagious Disease Patient] mallards in particular.
Most of them were asymptomatic, but just in case.
And as I kept watching, I got the feeling that the [Contagious Disease Patient] mallards were a little slower than the others.
“...?”
Then I briefly turned the camera.
Among the thick bushes not far from the flock of mallards, the three [Contagious Disease Patient] stray dogs I had seen earlier were moving slowly.
Toward the mallards.
If not for the [Contagious Disease Patient] label, I would not have noticed them. They were being that stealthy.
Were they trying to hunt the mallards?
A possible chain of events flashed through my mind.
A stray dog hunts a sluggish [Contagious Disease Patient] mallard.
The virus gets on the dog, or infects it.
The dog comes to the abandoned-dog shelter, then goes to the chicken farm and eats chickens too.
The virus spreads through the chicken farm and the shelter.
Mass culling at the chicken farm.
One shelter dog after another becomes infected.
I ran over while shouting like a madman.
“Ahhh...!”
Flap flap.
The flock of mallards that had been peacefully drinking took off all at once, and the stray dogs fled in surprise as well.
* * *
Pssht, pssht.
I sprayed the disinfectant spray I had bought when I went to Yeoncheon last time onto my car. I sprayed my shoes and clothes too.
And after arriving at the chicken farm, pssht pssht.
The old man, who had been loading feed sacks onto a cart, approached me.
“Aren’t you that student from earlier? Why are you here?”
“I think I found the ones attacking your chicken farm.”
I showed him the video I had just taken.
“Do you see these dogs? Aren’t their color, size, and appearance similar to the dogs in the CCTV footage you showed me earlier?”
“...They must have come from the shelter.”
“Come on, sir. You saw it earlier too. The shelter walls and gates were tightly shut. And another volunteer and I were feeding the dogs. Do you think they’d refuse their food, dig a hole under the fence, and escape?”
“...”
The old man at the chicken farm kept his mouth tightly shut as he stared at the dogs in the video.
“But I think there may be a bigger problem than that.”
“...What is it?”
“These mallards. Especially this one and this one. Don’t they seem strange? They’re moving slowly. Could they have caught some kind of bad disease?”
I rewound the video to the beginning and showed him the [Contagious Disease Patient] mallards.
The old man narrowed his eyes and watched for a long time before frowning.
“I don’t know.”
“Look more closely. Even the way they groom their feathers looks sort of dull. Like they have a fever. They aren’t drinking properly either. And this one here too.”
“...I really don’t know.”
I spoke with a grave expression.
“What if they have avian flu...?”
The old man’s face turned icy.
“Don’t say such unlucky things! If that’s what you came here to say, get out! Go!”
The sight of the old man getting angry was so frightening that I slowly backed away.
[Ahhh...!]
The sound of me driving off the stray dogs played from my phone, then abruptly stopped.
“Still, please make sure you take precautions!”
“Get out of here, you brat! Bad luck!”
I got chased out.
It was unfair, but what could I do?
It wasn’t as if I could tell him that I saw [Contagious Disease Patient] over them.
Even if I did, he would not believe me.
After returning to the shelter, I warned the volunteer guarding it in the director’s place.
I told them that the stray dogs seemed to have caught something and that they should be careful not to let them come into contact with the shelter dogs.
I also reported that the mallard flock in the area seemed strange.
I gave the date, time, and location in detail, but I left out the part about it possibly being avian influenza.
I only knew they were [Contagious Disease Patient]s. I did not know exactly what illness they had, and it could have been another virus.
Before heading home, I stopped at a car wash.
Whoosh.
Watching the water drench my car windows, I muttered to myself.
“I’ve done all I can, Kang Bongsik.”
If something happened, one of the other volunteers would contact me.
* * *
The next day.
I went to the bank early in the morning and paid my tuition.
With the money I had received for the treatment prayer.
It was starting to feel real that I would be returning to school soon.
Bzzz.
My mother called.
“Yes, Mom.”
“[I forgot to mention this when we were eating earlier. Isn’t it about time you paid your college tuition? Check your virtual account number and text it to me.]”
“I already paid it, Mom.”
“[What? Don’t tell me you paid it with the money you saved in the military. I told you, you need to keep a lump sum saved for emergencies.]”
I still have all that money.
Please don’t worry.
“Hehe.”
“[What’s so funny? You don’t need to be so considerate of Mom and Dad already. We have more than enough money to cover your tuition until you graduate.]”
“Yes. I’ll see you this evening, Mom.”
“[...All right.]”
I got into my car in the bank parking lot. Just as I was about to start the engine...
Ding.
My mother had deposited three million won into my account.
You really didn’t have to.
After scratching my head, I searched for a department store on my navigation.
That evening.
My mother smacked me on the back after seeing the Korean beef gift set I had bought at the department store, but perhaps because my level had increased and I had become tougher, it didn’t hurt that much.
“Kang Bongsik, spill it. Did you secretly win the lottery?”
While grilling Korean beef, I stared at my sister with my eyes and mouth wide open.
“Ah, you caught me.”
“Really? How much?”
My father looked surprised too.
“You really won the lottery? That explains it. How much did you get?”
I shamelessly lied.
“A little under one million won. It was an awkward amount to brag about, so I didn’t mention it.”
“Hmm. It is a little awkward.”
“Buy some new clothes and shoes with the money Mom gave you too. You’ll be going back to school soon, so you need to look good in front of the younger students. That way you can get a girlfriend too.”
“Yes.”
“Take me with you when you go shopping. I’ll pick things out for you.”
“Sure, take Hyunseo with you. Don’t go alone and buy a bunch of weird things.”
“Yeees. Aroooong, is the beef good?”
I gave Arong a small piece of lean beef that I had grilled simply.
Woof!
Arong wagged his tail in reply.
“Right, you already ate it all.”
The call from another volunteer at the abandoned-dog shelter came around noon the next day.
Just as I was about to go out with my sister.
“[Mr. Bongsik, did you see the news? Things are crazy here right now...!]”
I picked up the TV remote and turned on a news channel.
[Highly pathogenic avian influenza virus detected in wild-bird droppings]
The place where I had filmed the mallard flock appeared on screen.
[Highly pathogenic avian influenza virus has been detected in wild-bird droppings collected in the ○○ region. Officials inspected the site after receiving a report that the wild birds appeared unwell...]
It really had been avian influenza.
“How is the shelter? Is it okay?”
“[Yes. People came and checked the dogs too, and they said they were all in good health. They told us to keep making sure they don’t come into contact with wild animals. I’m glad we listened to what you said the day before yesterday and didn’t let them out of the kennels.]”
“That’s a relief.”
“[And you know that old man? He asked me to tell you he’s sorry, and thank you. He apologized for causing trouble at the shelter all this time too...]”
The volunteer burst out laughing.
“[He left twenty sacks of dog food.]”
I laughed too.
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