WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: LilGuyBlastoise
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Plague Doctor in a Peaceful World ◈
Chapter 33: Back to School
──────
Thud.
“I’m never going clothes shopping with my sister again.”
The moment I got home, I sprawled out.
We’d bought over ten outfits, two pairs of shoes, a hat, and a bag.
“I carefully picked out coordinated outfits for you, too.”
“That’s why I bought you clothes too.”
“Aroooong, were you having fun?”
Woof!
Arong sniffed my sister and me, then persistently sniffed the shopping bags too.
“Hey. You have to hang things like this on them these days. It’s cute.”
My sister brought a little doll from her room and attached it to the bag I’d bought that day.
I stared blankly at her, then noticed something strange.
“Isn’t that mine?”
It was a doll I’d won from a claw machine last Christmas.
A black dragon doll.
I’d been so tired that day that I left it somewhere and went to sleep, then completely forgot about it.
“Why was it in your room?”
“I thought it’d look cuter in my room.”
“Wow. A thief.”
“Anyway, I’m going to meet my friends.”
“Okay.”
My sister left.
“...”
I stopped pretending to be tired and sprang up.
There had been lots of people, and lots of [Contagious Disease Patient]s, at the mall. I’d thought I could gain some Experience while I was there.
But my sister had dragged me all over the place, so I’d only treated one person.
“MP is precious. Should we head out right away, Arong?”
Woof!
I shoved all the shopping bags into my room and headed outside with Arong.
[Contagious Disease Patient]
[Contagious Disease Patient]
In secluded spots people rarely noticed, I saw [Contagious Disease Patient]s sitting still or wandering around close to the ground.
They were stray cats that lived near the apartment complex.
I treated the ones I could lure over with snacks whenever I saw them, but most ran away beyond treatment range.
If there was a Dog Angel achievement, there was probably a Cat Angel achievement too.
No, there definitely was.
Cats even gave bonus Experience, so there was no way there wasn’t an achievement related to them.
But cats were warier than dogs, and there were fewer shelters for abandoned cats. Treating a hundred of them didn’t seem easy.
My Animal Affinity had gone up by 1, but it didn’t seem to be doing much.
Ding.
Burns, the leader of the idol group Hertz, had sent me a message.
-[Haven’t seen you at the shelter lately. Busy? Hehe]
[I’ve been helping out at another shelter.]
-[Where?]
I sent him the shelter’s address.
Its conditions were worse than the previous shelter’s, so it wouldn’t hurt to add even a poor idol’s influence.
-[Should I go there too?]
[Later. It’s better not to go for a while because of the avian flu.]
Burns said we should volunteer together later and that he’d contact me again.
But the semester was about to start, so I didn’t know whether our schedules would line up.
“This peaceful life is ending now too, Arong.”
Arong, who had been sitting quietly and waiting, perked up his ears.
“But my sister will still take you on morning walks, so don’t worry.”
Woof!
Time passed, and it became March.
I took the bus to school for the first time in a while.
A [Contagious Disease Patient] smiled and waved at me.
“Hey, Kang Bongsiiik.”
“...”
I put on my mask.
Park Jaeyoon’s expression darkened.
“Why are you putting on a mask the second you see me? Am I a germ, you bastard?”
“I just feel like I’m going to start coughing when I see you.”
“I drank yesterday and carelessly crashed out, so I do feel like I might come down with a cold.”
No.
You already have one.
We went into the classroom while making idle small talk. Most of the faces there were unfamiliar.
“Hey, have you seen this? It’s fucking hilarious.”
Park Jaeyoon snickered as he showed me some weird short-form video.
I pretended to scratch my head.
[Contagious Disease Patient. Would you like to treat them?]
[(Expected MP Cost: 25)]
Amid the noise, I muttered quietly.
“Treatment, yes.”
[System]
-You have used ‘Plague Treatment’.
-‘Plague Treatment’ Proficiency +1
-Experience +1.08%
[MP 120/145]
“...Ugh, a low-level mob.”
“What?”
“Nothing.”
At Level 11, ordinary patients like him didn’t give enough Experience anymore. At least Plague Treatment was Level 3 now, so it used less MP.
And then...
[Contagious Disease Patient]
[Contagious Disease Patient]
I’d worried that leveling up would slow down after I returned to school. It wasn’t like the TV station, but there were still plenty of people, so [Contagious Disease Patient]s were scattered around.
When the first class ended, I pretended to move to another classroom, muttering as I passed by a [Contagious Disease Patient].
“Treatment, yes.”
Even while heading to lunch after all my morning classes were over...
“Treatment, yes.”
I finally took off my mask after sitting down in the student cafeteria for the first time in a while.
“Let’s see if the cafeteria food has improved at all.”
“It’s the same. Hey, but you.”
“...?”
I’d just put some spicy stir-fried pork in my mouth when Park Jaeyoon stared at me intently.
“Do you go to a dermatologist? Or did you put something on your face?”
“I only use toner and lotion.”
“Come to think of it, your style too... You bastard, did you get a girlfriend?”
“If I had one, would I be eating with you? I’m just wearing what my sister picked out.”
“Even the perfume?”
“Yeah.”
My sister had always been like that.
Whenever she thought I looked unfashionable, she’d laugh at me and pick out clothes for me.
“You’re going out looking like that?”
She and my mother would lecture me together, saying I always had to look neat and tidy outside.
“I’m jealous. Your sister takes care of everything for you. I wish someone would take care of me too.”
“Go complain to your parents.”
“No, your sis...”
“...”
When I stared hard at Park Jaeyoon, he chuckled and moved his spoon.
“Someone said your sister was pretty.”
“Get lost.”
“Ah. I heard Unknown Singer is having a concert?”
“I know. I’ve already booked my ticket.”
“Who are you going with?”
“By myself. Who else would I go with?”
“I’m right here.”
“Name even one Unknown Singer contestant.”
“What was it again? Quokka’s Roar?”
“That was something I wrote, idiot.”
A few days earlier, Happy Quokka had sent me a DM.
She said Unknown Singer was holding a concert and that she wanted to send me a ticket.
I politely declined, saying it was all right.
Then I waited for the booking page to open and clicked like crazy until I successfully got a ticket myself.
I’d asked my parents first, but they said they probably wouldn’t have time, so I decided to go alone.
The concert was two months away.
I was looking forward to it.
Our singer’s first concert.
It was a joint concert, but a concert was still a concert.
“Ah, you know that middle schooler who was on there. Ju-ae, was it? Today’s Advertisement.”
“Ju Hye.”
“Yeah. I heard she joined an idol agency?”
“Really?”
I looked it up, and it was true.
[Unknown Singer’s Ju Hye, Becoming an Idol?!]
There was an article saying she had signed with an idol agency.
I thought of the female idols I’d seen on music programs.
They’d been so thin they looked like skin and bones. Maybe because their Immunity was weak, a fairly high proportion of them were [Contagious Disease Patient]s too.
Would she be okay?
Lee Mun-yeong was looking after her, so I probably didn’t need to worry too much.
After lunch, we went to a café.
“One hot peppermint tea and one iced Americano. To go.”
“Ooh. You’re treating? But why the pepper...”
“They’re both for me.”
Park Jaeyoon looked flustered, then asked the café employee.
“Is drinking it like that trendy these days?”
I recovered 10 MP with a sip of hot peppermint tea, then spent breaks searching for and treating [Contagious Disease Patient]s.
“Hey, we should get drinks to celebrate going back to school.”
Park Jaeyoon spoke after all our classes had ended.
“Some other people said they’d come too. They’re bringing some juniors and a few freshmen who started this year.”
“I’ll pass.”
“They’re girls.”
“Yeah. Pass.”
It was the first day, so every bar would be packed with people. I didn’t want to squeeze myself into that.
Especially not if freshmen were coming too.
This morning, my sister had said:
“Kang Bongsik. Remember what I’m about to tell you. Never approach freshmen first. Older students who’ve finished military service acting friendly with people who just became adults can make them really uncomfortable. And don’t mistake a polite smile for interest.”
When I asked whether that came from experience, my sister nodded with a disgusted expression.
“I need to walk Arong.”
“Hey. Is walking your dog more important than meeting girls?”
“I’m leaving.”
The next day.
“Hello.”
I entered the classroom for a major course, and an unfamiliar female student suddenly greeted me.
“Yes, hello.”
She was probably a junior in the same department.
She sure was cheerful.
Thinking that, I walked past her.
“Um.”
But she followed me and sat beside me.
“By any chance...”
“...?”
Her voice grew quieter.
“Did you ever work as a staff member for Hertz?”
“How did you know?”
The junior smiled broadly.
“I went to the Hertz fan meeting last time. You looked exactly the same in your mask, so I recognized you right away. I didn’t know you went to our school.”
“Haha... Yeah...”
“Was it just a temporary part-time job? How did you end up working as a staff member?”
“Well, it just happened somehow.”
“By any chance, are you in contact with the members...”
Before she could finish, I firmly cut her off.
“I don’t know their contact information. I only worked there for three days, so I don’t know anything.”
“Okay... But the Hertz guys are really nice off-camera too, right?”
“Yes. Please continue to give them plenty of interest and support, and please keep professional and personal matters separate.”
“Yes, sir.”
The junior answered briskly, then stood with a smile. She bowed to me and went over to some people who seemed to be her friends.
“Ugh, I’m dying.”
Park Jaeyoon dropped into the seat beside me soon after.
“Damn, you smell like alcohol. Didn’t you wash?”
“I did wash, okay? Hey, yesterday was seriously fun. You should’ve come.”
“Was it?”
“Hello, seniors.”
“Hello.”
Two female students I’d never seen before greeted Park Jaeyoon and me before sitting nearby.
“...?”
My eyes widened.
Above the head of the female student in the blue hoodie, two messages floated.
[False One]
[Contagious Disease Patient]
Red and green.
A bright smile bloomed on Park Jaeyoon’s face.
“Oh. Did you get home okay yesterday?”
“Yes. The person beside you is the senior you mentioned...”
“Yeah. This is Kang Bongsik. The guy who ran off early because he had to walk his dog.”
“Hello.”
“Hello, senior.”
[Contagious Disease Patient. Would you like to treat them?]
[(Expected MP Cost: 50)]
At that number, she would’ve been among the fairly sick ones, around 80 or 90, when Plague Treatment was still Level 1.
But her voice wasn’t hoarse, so treating her right away wouldn’t be noticeable.
“Yeah, hello.”
But after seeing the [False One] message, I didn’t particularly feel like treating her.
She was the same sort as that fake monk and fake preacher, wasn’t she?
“Do you have a cold too, senior?”
“No. I’m covering my face because I lack confidence in it.”
The two women burst out laughing at my answer.
“...”
Park Jaeyoon looked at me with eyes full of curses.
What? Why?
A little later, during lunch.
“Lunch is on me today, juniors. Kang Bongsik, I’m in a good mood, so I’ll buy yours too while I’m at it. Get the cheapest thing.”
“I’m good.”
“What? Senior, you should come eat with us...”
The False One who was a Contagious Disease Patient pouted disappointedly.
Was this how university cult members approached people, acting friendly so they could proselytize?
Someone like Park Jaeyoon would fall for it easily.
“Enjoy your lunch.”
I gave them a casual wave and headed to the student cafeteria.
I should give Park Jaeyoon a warning later.
But he wouldn’t believe me without evidence. What was I supposed to say?
After eating alone, I bought coffee from a café and leisurely wandered around campus.
My gaze naturally turned toward one side.
“...?”
[False One]
[False One]
[False One]
[False One]
[False One] was displayed in bright red, making it very easy to spot.
One of them was talking to a student with no message above their head, while the other three sat chatting on a bench a short distance away.
Was it some kind of cult gathering?
Curious, I slowly moved closer.
I could hear what they were saying to the unsuspecting student.
“...Yes! If you fill out this survey and write your number below, we’ll immediately send you a banana milk Gifticon that you can use at a convenience store.”
“Really?”
Was the student a freshman? With a clueless smile, they were about to accept the paper and pen without a hint of suspicion.
Grab!
“There you are, you bastard.”
I put an arm around their shoulders and dragged them away.
“I’ve been looking for you all this time, idiot!”
“Excuse me? Who...”
I quickly whispered to them.
“Just come with me for now. Unless you want them to wring your home address out of you over banana milk.”
Footnotes:
A Gifticon is a Korean mobile gift voucher, usually sent by text and redeemable at participating stores.
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