WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: LilGuyBlastoise

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◈ Plague Doctor in a Peaceful World ◈

Chapter 5: Free Performances for Life

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I took off my hat and mask somewhere deserted.

Only after getting in the car did I check the system log.

[System]

-Used 'Plague Treatment.'

-'Plague Treatment' Proficiency +2

-Experience +33.81%

[MP 1/105]

I let out a relieved sigh.

"That was seriously close."

Happy Quokka's estimated treatment cost had been 130 MP.

The moment I saw that number, I honestly panicked. My MP had remained at 105 no matter how much I leveled up.

Fortunately, the Plague Doctor Mask's equipped effect had let me treat her. Its proficiency had gone up by two, too.

The experience I gained had dropped after reaching level 4, but this had still increased it by 33.81%.

Why had it cost so much MP?

Other than her horribly hoarse voice, she had seemed fine.

Was it because she had had the cold for so long?

Had it really even been a cold?

Every one of them showed up as [Contagious Disease Patient], so how was I supposed to know?

Anyway, [Contagious Disease Patient] had disappeared from Happy Quokka.

I had run away before I could confirm whether her voice had fully recovered, but I would find out if I came back during her performance later.

Ding.

My older sister had sent me a message.

-[(Image)]

-[Is that you?]

"Ah..."

Someone had taken a picture of me treating a homeless person in the park and posted it on social media. It was a screenshot of that post.

[Plague Doctor spotted in ○○ Park. Treating a homeless person?]

My sister laughed over chat.

-[LOL]

-[Why are you advertising some game to a homeless person?]

[Not me.]

I vaguely explained it away by saying it was probably some other colleague.

I put the bird-beak mask, hat, gloves, and cross necklace into a separate bag, then shoved it into the trunk.

Anyway, I had accomplished my goal of curing Happy Quokka's cold.

These things would stay sealed away for a while.

A few hours later.

On the stage where the K University festival performance was being held, Happy Quokka's clear voice rang out softly.

A little way from the stage...

"Wow... That song is really good. She's a great singer."

"She was a mess during rehearsal this morning. Maybe her voice just wasn't warmed up because it was morning."

I smiled to myself as I listened to the people in front of me.

On the huge screen installed behind the stage, Happy Quokka looked genuinely happy as she sang.

* * *

By late October, the weather had become quite chilly.

I took Arong's carrier out of the car.

"You held out well, Arong."

Arong slowly wagged his tail with a sullen look.

The little brat knew we were at the animal hospital.

Today was the day for Arong's vaccinations.

My parents were at work, and my older sister had gone to her part-time job, so I, the one loafing around at home, had brought Arong.

"Hello."

"Welcome. Do you have an appointment?"

"Yes. Arong at eleven."

I glanced toward the closed examination room as I answered.

[Contagious Disease Patient]

It was yellow.

An angry cat yowled from inside.

Mraaaow!

"Please wait a moment. The previous appointment isn't over yet."

"Okay."

It wasn't some contagious disease that could spread to my dog, right?

It was a hospital, so they would know how to disinfect properly...

Then a new system window suddenly appeared.

[Predator Relationship Activated]

Predator relationship?

A man entered carrying a small cage.

"Hello. Jingu the hamster, eleven o'clock."

Bright red text appeared over the cage in his hands.

[Rat]

"......"

Ah.

Because I was a Plague Doctor, I had a predator relationship with rats.

I see...

But when I looked it up, the Black Death had supposedly spread through fleas attached to rats. Shouldn't fleas be the predator?

No.

Maybe they had just set it up that way.

The unknown beings who made this system did not seem like the type to obsess over such details.

They were the ones who had turned me into this by mistake and then abandoned me.

Considering I did not even have a status window, and none of the other basic explanations worked properly, it felt like they had stopped patching halfway through.

If I had been the second awakened person instead of the first, might I have avoided being struck by lightning?

Squeak, squeak.

"Jingu, what's wrong? You never reacted like this when you saw dogs before. It's okay, it's okay."

As the hamster's owner tried to sit beside me, the hamster went wild in its cage as if it were panicking.

I was fine, but I seemed frightening to the hamster.

Even after the owner moved far away from me, it kept squeaking noisily.

The examination room door opened.

"Please take good care of them."

Was that the owner of the [Contagious Disease Patient] cat that had been making all that noise? They paid, then trudged out of the hospital.

Alone, without the cat.

After the staff member thoroughly disinfected the examination room, they called me.

"Arong's guardian."

"Yes."

When I stood up, the hamster went wild in its cage again.

Squeak, squeak!

I did my best to ignore it and entered the examination room.

At the back was the inpatient ward. I could see yellow [Contagious Disease Patient] text.

If it was yellow, it seemed pretty sick.

I hoped it got better soon.

After Arong's vaccinations, I went straight home and got ready to head out again.

"Get some rest, Arong."

It had been a week since I had last treated a homeless person.

I went to check on everyone and see whether they were still okay.

Of course, I was not dressed in Plague Doctor cosplay.

"The second and third patients looked okay. The fourth patient... Would they be at the free meal center by now?"

Looking at the memo app where I had recorded the locations of the infectious disease patients I had treated, I headed to the park where the fourth patient had been.

I parked in the lot and made a round of the park.

The fourth patient was nowhere to be seen.

I figured they had gone to the free meal center and was about to walk that way when...

"Did you really see that person here?"

"Not here, over there. I even waved and said hello then. But Mom said a picture of that person was posted on social media, and it was taken in this park, so..."

I hid behind a tree.

Happy Quokka was there.

So was the child I had briefly greeted when I first leveled up.

Why was Happy Quokka here?

"Are you here to see that crow too, miss?"

"Yeah. I saw it on social media too, and I thought I might be able to meet them if I came here."

She had seen my Plague Doctor cosplay on social media and come looking for me.

Was she curious because she might have gotten better thanks to me?

Or could it be...

Had something else gone wrong with her body?

I checked social media. Only a few minutes ago, Happy Quokka had posted a picture of the gift I had given her.

[Plague Doctor who came to cheer for me at the K University festival rehearsal, please DM me T_T #PlagueDoctor #KUniversityFestival #HappyQuokka]

"Maybe they don't come here often."

"I guess so. I've come every day too, but I haven't seen them once since then."

"I see. Thank you."

Happy Quokka said goodbye to the child and the child's mother, then walked away.

She looked quite disappointed.

"......"

I returned to my car too.

I sent Happy Quokka a DM from a new account that evening, after checking on all the homeless people I had treated.

I hurriedly took a picture of my bird-beak mask and set it as my profile image.

[Hello, Happy Quokka. I enjoyed your university festival performance.]

A reply came almost immediately.

-[Gasp. Are you the Plague Doctor who came during rehearsal?]

[Yes. I heard you were looking for me.]

-[I was so grateful that day, and I'd like to repay you. If you have time, could we meet sometime?]

[You don't need to repay me. Are you feeling okay?]

-[Yes, thanks to your support! But could we really not meet..? T_T]

Happy Quokka had also left a comment on the social media account my sister had sent me.

-I really want to meet them. Where can I go to find them? Has anyone seen them recently?

At this rate, she might go back to that park looking for the fourth patient who had been photographed with me.

That homeless person had a terrible temper.

It could be dangerous if a young woman approached alone.

[Okay. When would work for you?]

-[Really? I'll work around your schedule, Plague Doctor!]

I made plans with Happy Quokka.

* * *

Hongdae was crowded on the weekend.

I sat on a bench and waited for Happy Quokka.

"Huh? A Plague Doctor."

"Isn't it still before Halloween?"

I had changed to a cooler bird-beak mask with goggles attached.

The goggles still limited my vision, but I could see much better through them than through cloth. Since the lenses were tinted, it was also hard for people to examine the shape of my eyes closely.

"Hello! Could I take a picture with you?"

"...?"

Out of nowhere, someone asked to take a photo.

I figured, why not? I readily nodded and struck a pose.

"Thank you!"

Click, click.

"Um, would it be okay for me too?"

Another passerby who had been watching made a request.

[Contagious Disease Patient]

I nodded.

"Thank you!"

The passerby stood right beside me.

[This is a Contagious Disease Patient. Would you like to treat them?]

[(Expected MP Cost: 80)]

"One, two."

I muttered quietly.

"Treatment, yes."

Click.

"Thank you."

[System]

-Used 'Plague Treatment.'

-'Plague Treatment' Proficiency +1

-Experience +7.3%

[MP 41/100]

"Hello, Plague Doctor. You came early."

Happy Quokka arrived five minutes before our appointment.

She smiled awkwardly.

"You changed your mask too."

I gave her a polite bow.

We moved to a somewhat quieter place.

"Thank you so much for that day. When you, Plague Doctor, did this..."

Happy Quokka smiled, pressing her fingertips together in imitation of my pose.

"Maybe because you cheered me on..."

She suddenly stopped speaking.

Then she looked at me with an expression of firm resolve.

"Plague Doctor, are you perhaps a wizard?"

"......"

"The truth is, only seconds before I met you, my voice was all cracked and a complete mess... But right after you left, it immediately came back."

I took out a small sketchbook.

Scratch, scratch.

[That was a coincidence.]

"That wasn't a coincidence...! Ah, sorry..."

Happy Quokka grabbed my clothes, then startled herself and pulled her hand away.

"Isn't the reason you hide your face like this because of that mysterious power too...?"

"......"

"I'm sorry, but I met the homeless people you met, Plague Doctor. And I found out something. Their colds all got better right after meeting you too. But don't worry."

Happy Quokka's eyes gleamed with a frightening brightness.

"It seems I'm the only one who has noticed this magical thing so far."

Scratch, scratch.

[Then I just need to eliminate Happy Quokka^^]

Happy Quokka took a step back.

"You said you were my fan... I understand. Anyway, thank you so, so much. Thanks to you, I finished that performance safely, and my social media followers increased by a huge amount. I've gotten lots of booking offers, and even good companies have contacted me."

Happy Quokka stood before me and bowed deeply.

"Thank you so much. Plague Doctor, you're my benefactor."

Happy Quokka firmly promised to keep my secret for the rest of her life. Then she handed me a gift and walked away, continuing to bow over and over.

Bzzzt.

Once she had disappeared from sight, Happy Quokka sent me a DM.

-[Plague Doctor, admission to all my performances is free for you for life! This DM is proof! Screenshot and save it!]

I screenshotted the message exactly as it was and saved it.

Hehe.

Happy Quokka's performances were free for life from now on.

She really did seem to think I was a wizard, but she had promised to keep it secret, so it should be fine.

Even if she told someone else, it would be hard for them to believe.

There was no proof.

Meow.

Just then, a cat approached and rubbed against me.

[Contagious Disease Patient]

[This is a Contagious Disease Patient. Would you like to treat them?]

[(Expected MP Cost: 50)]

"Hey, fifty is the first time I've seen that."

Smiling, I crouched down and petted the cat.

"Treatment, yes."

A warm haze flowing from my hand was absorbed by the cat.

[System]

-Used 'Plague Treatment.'

-'Plague Treatment' Proficiency +1

-Experience +4.56%

-Cat Treatment Bonus Experience +0.46%

-Level Up!

[MP 110/110]

Cat treatment bonus?

"...Wow."

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