WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: LilGuyBlastoise
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Plague Doctor in a Peaceful World ◈
Chapter 7: Bloodletting
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[This is a Contagious Disease Patient. Would you like to treat them?]
[(Expected MP Cost: 80)]
“Phew.”
I sighed in relief and took off my mask.
Nothing marked green had ever been in a dangerous condition.
The veterinarian and owner would be shocked in the morning. The cat had gotten so much better in a single night.
I tucked the mask against my chest and started walking.
“Ugh, it’s cold.”
* * *
At the animal hospital, Kim Minseong asked in disbelief.
“Is that... really true, Doctor?”
“Yes.”
The veterinarian smiled carefully.
“Kkami got much better overnight. It seems Kkami really wanted to go home. Still, just in case, I’d recommend keeping Kkami hospitalized for one more day to monitor the prognosis.”
“Thank you. Thank you so much...”
Kim Minseong bowed repeatedly.
To Kim Minseong, Kkami was family.
During their first winter after getting a job in Seoul and starting to live alone, Kim Minseong found Kkami curled up behind a trash bag, shivering. They had taken the cat home in a drunken haze, and the two had been together ever since.
An adorable ball of fur that had always stayed by their side through hard times and happy ones.
Honestly, Kkami could be infuriating when causing trouble and sometimes a nuisance, but...
Kkami had brought them far more laughter.
Then, a few days ago, they came home from work to find Kkami limp and listless, with vomit scattered everywhere and traces of bloody diarrhea.
It had felt as if the world were falling apart.
“Would you like to see Kkami for a moment?”
“Yes...!”
Kim Minseong followed the veterinarian into the inpatient ward.
“Kkami...”
Kim Minseong’s throat tightened while calling the name.
Just yesterday, they had been told Kkami was so weak that there was a chance the illness could not be overcome, no matter the treatment.
That they might need to prepare themself.
Myaooow.
But unlike yesterday, when Kkami had lain limp without reacting, the cat stared right at Kim Minseong and let out an adorable cry.
Scratch, scratch.
Kkami even lifted the front paw with the IV attached and scratched at the door.
“...!”
Kim Minseong collapsed on the spot.
The tears they had held back came pouring out.
‘God, Buddha. Thank you so much...’
The next day, the veterinarian rubbed both eyes and checked Kkami’s test results again.
‘Can this... be real? Recovery this fast?’
The recovery speed was nothing short of miraculous by every measure.
Could there have been an error?
But Kkami truly was healthier. The cat drank water well on its own, and its bowel movements had improved greatly.
“Doctor, Kkami’s owner is here.”
Only after a staff member called did the veterinarian look away from the test results.
“Yes. Please prepare Kkami for discharge.”
Kkami was soon placed in Kim Minseong’s arms in the examination room, then dashed into the carrier for the trip home.
“Thank you so much. Thank you, Doctor.”
“You’ve been through a lot too. Get home safely. Kkami, make sure you recuperate well at home too...”
Myaooow!
Kkami snapped as if determined never to return.
“Your voice has gotten louder too.”
The veterinarian laughed and saw them off as far as the lobby.
“Then I’ll be going. Thank you.”
Kim Minseong kept bowing all the way to the door, even to Kang Bongsik, who was fiddling with a dog toy on display.
Kim Minseong walked away, clutching Kkami’s carrier like a treasure.
Kang Bongsik smiled faintly and took the toy he had chosen to the counter.
“Please ring this up.”
It had been a good idea to sneak over before dawn and treat Kkami again.
‘I should take walks near the animal hospital more often.’
Meanwhile, at a soup kitchen run by a church.
“Cough, cough!”
Jang, a homeless person, stood in line with their companions, coughing. Several people ahead of them were coughing too.
“Looks like the flu is already going around.”
“It’s getting cold.”
“Hey there. Cough, cough! Have you, cough, hack, ptoo!”
Another disheveled homeless person approached, ignoring the line.
“Hey, don’t cut in. You want to get kicked out?”
“I’m not cutting in. Just wanted to ask... Cough, cough!”
“What?”
“Ahem! Have any of you seen a guy walking around in black clothes and a weird bird mask?”
“Ah.”
Jang nodded knowingly.
“The guy who walked around with a sketchbook saying, ‘I’ll drive away your bad illnesses’?”
“Yeah, that’s the one! When did you see him?”
“A while ago, I guess? Mid-October?”
“Hm? Someone I know said they saw someone like that in a park around then too. He just shook their hand and left.”
The homeless person, coughing hard, swallowed.
“That person he shook hands with, did they say their cold or something got better after meeting that weirdo?”
“I don’t know. Maybe?”
“What about his face? Didn’t they see it?”
“They said he just shook hands and took off.”
“Why are you looking for him?”
“Well, I heard a strange rumor.”
“What are you all talking about?”
A woman in a suit interrupted.
The homeless person hesitated, then turned away.
“It’s nothing.”
They headed toward the end of the line.
“It wasn’t anything bad, was it?”
Jang waved a hand. They had never seen her before, but her neat attire made her seem affiliated with the church.
“Not at all. We were just talking about a guy who used to wander around parks in a strange disguise.”
“A strange disguise?”
“Yeah. A black hat, black coat, and a mask with a bird beak. The things he did were pretty funny.”
The woman tilted her head.
‘A bird-beak mask? That outfit sounds like... a Plague Doctor?’
“Secretary Lee.”
The pastor who ran the soup kitchen approached.
“Please convey our sincere thanks to your boss again for the food donation.”
Secretary Lee smiled as well.
“Yes. I’ll be sure to tell them.”
* * *
At home, where it was just Arong and me, I sprawled on the sofa and played a game on my phone.
The news was on TV.
[Flu cases are surging nationwide.]
“Arong, the flu is spreading. How much EXP do you think that’ll give?”
Arong tilted his head.
The wall calendar had somehow reached November.
My Plague Doctor level had risen to 6.
My Plague Treatment skill proficiency had reached 34.
Every use drained huge chunks of MP, and it recovered painfully slowly. Lately, the fun and excitement of leveling up had started to fade.
I had gained the power to treat sick people and animals.
A good deed! A worthy deed!
Woohoo, how fulfilling!
I wasn’t that kind of person.
“My motivation just doesn’t kick in when the goal and reward are vague.”
Besides, this level system was ridiculous.
I checked the system logs and calculated the EXP. It was a total scam.
How did it make any sense that excess EXP disappeared the moment I leveled up, sending the bar back to 0%? Seriously?
Though, come to think of it, this power itself was pretty broken...
Ding.
-[What have you been up to lately?]
A message arrived from Park Jaeyoon, a college classmate.
-[Interested in a part-time job?]
[What kind of job?]
As soon as I replied, a call came in.
-[My parents run a restaurant. But the employees caught the flu, so it’s an emergency. Help us out.]
I wiggled my toes with my legs resting on the sofa armrest.
“Sounds annoying.”
-[Please! Come on! We’ll pay you well, and later, I’ll... Ah, I’ll introduce you to a really pretty girl!]
I sat up.
“What’s the name of the restaurant, buddy?”
Park Jaeyoon’s family ran a fairly large sashimi restaurant.
“Thank you so much for coming. Have you ever worked at a restaurant before?”
“Yes. I worked part-time at a barbecue restaurant briefly before enlisting. I have a health certificate too.”
Even after being discharged from the military, I had gotten a health certificate in case I needed another part-time job.
Park Jaeyoon nodded beside me.
“Always prepared.”
“When are you going to keep your promise?”
“Next weekend.”
“Deal.”
My job was serving in the dining room.
Showing customers to their tables, bringing water, taking orders, carrying food, clearing dishes.
“Thank you for coming!”
“Bongsik, you greet customers so brightly. Would you consider working here regularly?”
Before I knew it, it was break time.
I smiled.
“Ma’am, being sick is upsetting enough. Imagine thinking some newcomer rolled in and stole your job. How hurt would the staff feel?”
“You speak so well too. My son is so taciturn. I wish he’d learn from you.”
“Park Jaeyoon... is taciturn?”
“Hm?”
They said parents didn’t know everything about their children.
I’d seen that guy get drunk and make a fool of himself in front of women more times than I could count.
“Kang Bongsik.”
Park Jaeyoon gestured from the kitchen.
“Have you ever filleted fish?”
“As if.”
“I’ll show you.”
“Oh.”
I went into the kitchen.
Park Jaeyoon’s father crossed his arms.
“All right, let’s see you do it from beginning to end.”
“Yes.”
A flounder freshly taken from the tank flapped on the cutting board.
Park Jaeyoon gripped the knife solemnly. As though he had done it plenty of times, he began preparing the fish without hesitation.
“...”
I flinched despite myself when the flounder’s head was cut off and blood spread around the guts that spilled out.
Still, I didn’t look away.
As I watched its form change little by little, one thought came to mind.
Looks delicious.
“Now all that’s left is slicing it into bite-sized pieces. Kang Bongsik, want to slice your own?”
“Can I?”
“It’s your dinner anyway. I’ll make you a rice bowl.”
Park Jaeyoon’s father had already taken off his apron and gone out into the dining room.
I took the knife from Park Jaeyoon.
“Then I can slice it thick...”
[System]
-You have equipped a knife.
-You can use the skill ‘Bloodletting’.
Red circles appeared all over Park Jaeyoon’s body.
“...”
“Why are you staring like that? You aren’t going to stab me, are you?”
“No...”
Cold sweat ran down my back.
I put the knife down on the cutting board.
The circles that had appeared over Park Jaeyoon’s body disappeared.
“Just slice it for me. I’m not good with knives.”
“Okay.”
Bloodletting was a skill I had avoided ever since awakening as a Plague Doctor.
It literally meant drawing blood.
But who would have thought the activation condition was holding a knife?
And those marks that had appeared all over Park Jaeyoon’s body.
Every one of them had been a vital point.
So Plague Doctors’ bloodletting was not a technique that saved people, but a quack technique that killed them instead.
In this system, it was an offensive skill.
I didn’t know whether it merely showed vital points, or whether murmuring the activation command would make me move like a game character against my will.
I didn’t want to experiment either.
What on earth happened to Earth 1,328 years in the future for a skill this vicious to exist?
“Kang Bongsik, don’t just stand there. Take out some bowls and serve the rice or something.”
“Okay.”
* * *
I helped at Park Jaeyoon’s parents’ restaurant for a week and received more pay than my hourly wage.
“I wish you could at least work weekends.”
After Park Jaeyoon’s mother spoke regretfully, Park Jaeyoon’s father patted my shoulder.
“Come eat out with your family sometime. We’ll give you plenty of extras.”
“Yes! Thank you for everything! I’ll come again!”
Park Jaeyoon followed me out to the parking lot.
“Make sure you’re on time tomorrow. She really hates people who don’t keep appointments.”
“Is she really pretty?”
Tomorrow, Park Jaeyoon was supposed to introduce me to a woman.
“Yeah.”
“Then why won’t you show me a picture? At least her social media...”
“What kind of world do you think we live in? Why would I hand over someone’s personal information first?”
“Am I not trustworthy?”
“Then why don’t you trust me? I’m telling you, she’s really pretty.”
“If she’s really pretty, why aren’t you dating her? That makes me suspicious of why you’re introducing her to me.”
Park Jaeyoon shut his mouth.
“...”
“What? Is there some problem?”
“Well, actually...”
Park Jaeyoon hesitated before answering.
“She’s my younger cousin.”
“What?”
“She’s in high school, but she’s pretty. She said she wanted to try dating a college student...”
“Are you insane, you bastard?”
I couldn’t believe this.
“Park Jaeyoon, repeat after me. Any sane adult...”
“...Any sane adult.”
“Does not date minors.”
“Does not date min... Hey, she was the one who said she wanted to date a college student, okay? And you were the only decent guy I could think of...”
“Get lost, asshole.”
Seeing Park Jaeyoon grinning like that, it was obvious he had expected me to refuse as soon as I heard her age.
I got into my car and started the engine.
Knock, knock.
Park Jaeyoon tapped on the window.
“I’ll buy you drinks next time.”
“Fine, you jerk.”
Damn it.
I had even bought new clothes to wear for tomorrow’s blind date.
That bastard Park Jaeyoon.
I didn’t say it because I didn’t want to look pathetic.
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