WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: LilGuyBlastoise
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Plague Doctor in a Peaceful World ◈
Chapter 8: One Million Won if You Succeed
──────
Secretary Lee tilted her head as she looked at the photos posted on social media.
“How strange...”
A few days earlier, she had gone to donate food to a church-run soup kitchen on the CEO’s orders and heard an odd story.
An unidentified person dressed as a Plague Doctor had visited places where homeless people gathered once, sometimes twice a day, for several days in October.
They only approached people with colds or the flu, then opened a sketchbook that read:
[I will drive away your illness.]
Most people laughed it off, saying they had seen all kinds of lunatics, but a few believed their illness had been cured because of them.
“Do you think I can’t tell a hangover from a cold? You looking down on me?”
“My cough got better, my fever dropped right away, and my head cleared up. I’m sure of it. I hadn’t had a drop to drink for days because I had no money.”
“My voice was all hoarse, but after I shook hands with that guy, it got better like magic!”
The homeless person photographed with the Plague Doctor had said this:
“Why do you keep coming back and asking the same thing? Huh? You’re not the young lady who came before.”
They too said that the cold that had clung to them for days seemed to have vanished after meeting the Plague Doctor.
Secretary Lee searched online for “Plague Doctor.”
The hat, bird-beak mask, gloves, and cross necklace in the social-media photos were all included in a Plague Doctor costume set sold online.
“Could they be from another pharmaceutical company? But nobody said they handed out anything or practiced medicine. There was even a time they just waved a hand over a homeless person’s head, saying they would pray for them.”
Secretary Lee frowned.
“What could this be? A coincidence? An urban legend? No, it’s far too vivid for an urban legend...”
One comment caught her eye.
-I really want to meet them. Where can I find them? Has anyone seen them recently?
The commenter was Happy Quokka, an indie singer-songwriter.
Happy Quokka had also posted this alongside a photo of a gift box.
[Plague Doctor who came to cheer me on at my K University festival rehearsal, please DM me :( #PlagueDoctor #KUniversityFestival #HappyQuokka]
“The Plague Doctor visited Happy Quokka during rehearsal, and then Happy Quokka started asking around for their whereabouts. Why?”
As Secretary Lee pieced it together, she laughed.
“What is this? It’s like a comic. Kind of fun, actually.”
Bzzz.
“Oh, you startled me.”
After clearing her throat, Secretary Lee answered calmly.
“Yes.”
-[Secretary Lee, sorry, but could you go to my daughter’s place right now?]
“What happened...?”
-[Don’t ask. Just hurry, please?]
Click.
Secretary Lee let out a long sigh and shut down the PC.
“Is your family business company business now? Seriously?”
Complaining inwardly, she headed for the officetel where the CEO’s daughter lived.
As soon as she entered the password and went inside, a strong smell of herbal medicine filled the air.
“Unni...”
A woman who looked like a ghost stirred on the bed. Her long black hair hung limp like strands of seaweed.
Kang Nara, the daughter of Kang-geon Pharmaceuticals’ CEO.
A musical actor who had only just landed a supporting role.
Kang Nara whimpered in a completely hoarse voice.
“Please save me... Rehearsals start tomorrow, and I’ll get cut if I’m like this...”
Of course, being the daughter of a pharmaceutical company CEO did not make her immune to the flu.
Secretary Lee closed her eyes for a moment.
“What am I supposed to do about this, you bastard?”
She had been summoned to nurse the CEO’s daughter.
On a Saturday, no less.
It was enough to report as workplace abuse, but did the CEO not know that? They were doing it because they were sure Secretary Lee would not quit over something this minor.
Ding.
Two million won had been deposited from the CEO.
“Right. If you pay me, it isn’t abuse of power. I’ll serve you faithfully, you bastard.”
Naturally, the Plague Doctor came to mind at that moment. The unbelievable subject of rumors that they had cured homeless people’s colds as if by magic.
“If someone really can perform magic like that, I want to find them and bring them here immediately.”
The money the CEO had just sent was not merely payment for the trouble of nursing Kang Nara. It was pressure to make sure nothing interfered with their daughter’s work.
If Kang Nara’s casting was cancelled like this, rather than ask for the money back, the CEO would make Secretary Lee’s life miserable for a while.
“You took your medicine, right? Sleep for now. Don’t talk too much.”
“Okay...”
Secretary Lee wiped the sweat from Kang Nara’s face and tucked her in properly.
When Kang Nara finally fell asleep, Secretary Lee checked social media again. She was bored, and she wanted to learn more about the Plague Doctor.
“Hm?”
One post read:
[Met the Plague Doctor in Hongdae hehe. They took a picture with me! #Hongdae #PlagueDoctor]
The photo showed someone identical to the Plague Doctor photographed with the homeless person, except for the mask.
Secretary Lee checked the comments.
-I went to Hongdae that day too and saw them hehe. The mask was great, and their outfit fit so well that I kept looking hehe. Since they were with Happy Quokka, I think they’re probably with her.
└Happy Quokka?
└A singer-songwriter.
“Happy Quokka again? ...Ah. I see.”
The pieces fell into place.
“The Plague Doctor saw Happy Quokka’s post, and they finally met!”
Secretary Lee checked Happy Quokka’s account again.
There happened to be a promotional performance for a new song in Hongdae that day.
* * *
I went to an animal shelter filled with the sound of barking dogs.
With my blind date no longer happening, the weekend weather was perfect.
“I’m so excited to level up~ I’ll treat all the sick doggies and kitties~.”
I only hummed my bizarre original song inside the car.
The moment I got out, I shut my mouth and put on protective coveralls instead of my coat.
A shelter employee approached me with a welcoming smile.
“Thank you so much for coming again today, Mr. Bongsik.”
“It’s nothing. There are a lot of volunteers today, aren’t there?”
Over a dozen men and three women were gathered together.
Usually, there were more women. What was going on?
Well, there were lots of people today, so we would finish quickly. I could see [Contagious Disease Patient] statuses, but I was only going to treat animals today.
People could go to the hospital themselves.
“Well...”
“Hello.”
A man from the group approached me.
“Are you with Shin Sarang?”
“Shin Sarang? What’s that?”
The employee spoke to him.
“He’s an individual volunteer who comes here regularly.”
“Oh, sorry. I thought he was with us.”
The man returned to his group.
The employee whispered to me.
“They’re the celebrity Shin Mi-hyeon and members of her fan club, Shin Sarang.”
Shin Mi-hyeon?
I had never heard that name, but my eyes lit up.
“Then, since there are so many people today, could you assign me to the cat room instead of the dog kennels?”
Maybe the employee thought I would be uncomfortable around a celebrity and her fans.
After a brief hesitation, they nodded.
“Yes, please do.”
Yes!
Bonus experience!
...No, get a hold of yourself.
This was not something I was supposed to be happy about, idiot.
Reflecting on myself, I headed for the container building completely separated from the dog kennels.
Thankfully, there was not a single [Contagious Disease Patient] cat.
Right.
That was a good thing.
I cleaned the cat room with another individual volunteer and took three or four soft-paw punches before finally coming outside.
“You two, come have some coffee!”
The dog kennels must have been cleaned too, because the shelter director was handing coffee out to everyone.
“Yes!”
So that meant nobody was in the dog kennels right now?
“I’m okay, thanks!”
I declined and went into the dog kennels.
The dogs wagged their tails as they came right up to the bars.
“Yeah, yeah. Hello.”
First, I headed toward the isolated area in the back.
There were no yellow [Contagious Disease Patient] labels like there had been when I first came. I turned back and found dogs with [Contagious Disease Patient] statuses whose expected MP costs were 50 or 60, then treated them.
“Treatment, yes. ...You too, come here. Treatment, yes.”
The dogs pressed right up to the bars whenever I approached, making treatment easy.
[MP 0/110]
“Sorry. I don’t have much MP yet, so I can’t treat all of you...”
Woof! Woof!
Bark! Bark!
The dogs near the entrance suddenly began barking loudly.
“Um...”
A [Contagious Disease Patient] approached hesitantly.
It was the woman at the center of the group called Shin Sarang.
Could she be the celebrity named Shin Mi-hyeon?
Up close, I could tell she was pretty even with a mask on.
She bowed deeply.
“I’m sorry. We made you uncomfortable, didn’t we...?”
Her fans were peeking in from outside.
“Ah...”
I scratched my head over my hat.
I had not washed my hair before coming, so it itched.
[This is a Contagious Disease Patient. Would you like to treat them?]
[(Expected MP Cost: 60)]
The expected MP cost was low.
Was she almost better already, or was it the earliest stage of infection?
“No, it’s fine. Thanks to you, I got to go to the cat room for the first time today. I should be thanking you instead.”
“Oh, no.”
“Well, then.”
After bowing, I walked past her.
Then I turned back.
“Excuse me.”
[This is a Contagious Disease Patient. Would you like to treat them?]
[(Expected MP Cost: 61)]
Because it had gone up by one in that short time.
“Yes?”
Her eyes widened.
She looked as though she were expecting something.
“You seem to have a bit of a fever. You shouldn’t push yourself. It would be best to go home and rest soon.”
“Ah...”
She fidgeted with her clasped hands, then bowed.
“Yes, thank you.”
I should go home, wash up, rest, and then see Happy Quokka’s performance tonight.
They said a new song would be revealed at today’s show.
I was looking forward to it.
* * *
Happy Quokka had said her performances would be free for the Plague Doctor forever.
But she was an indie singer who had only just begun to gain recognition. There was no way she had much money to spare.
This was only my guess, but she was probably poorer than I was.
So for today’s show, I reserved a ticket not as the Plague Doctor, but as Kang Bongsik.
I put on the new clothes I had bought for today’s blind date and walked into the living room. My parents grinned.
“Ooh. What’s this, son? Going to meet a girl?”
“Our Bongsik has a date?”
“I’m just going out for some fun. I’ll be back.”
“If you’re drinking, leave the car.”
“I’m not drinking, so I’ll drive.”
“Okay. Drive carefully.”
“Yes.”
Hongdae was crowded on a Saturday evening.
There was still time before the performance, so I wandered around near the venue when I got a DM from Happy Quokka.
-[Aren’t you coming today? :(]
-[Will you come without your mask? hehe]
I only sent a “^^” emoticon.
Did I not want to become close with a singer I liked?
But if we became close in private, I felt that her songs might sound different to me, so I was keeping my distance.
Besides, the person who received that DM was the Plague Doctor, not Kang Bongsik.
“Should I head in?”
I checked the time and entered the venue.
It was a small performance hall with an extremely tiny stage and around seventy chairs packed tightly in front of it.
There were still ten minutes left, so it was noisy.
I sat in the seat written on my ticket. Looking around, most of the audience consisted of couples.
I was jealous.
I was lonely.
Hey, you. Do you realize your boyfriend is a [Contagious Disease Patient]?
You’ll catch it soon.
Tsk, tsk.
As I clicked my tongue inwardly and put on my mask, a woman in a suit sat beside me.
She seemed to have come alone like me. Judging by the way she looked around the hall, this kind of place seemed unfamiliar to her.
Then our eyes met.
We each smiled awkwardly and gave a small nod, then looked at our phones or straight ahead.
A little later, Happy Quokka came up on stage.
“Hello, I’m the singer-songwriter Happy Quokka. Thank you so much to everyone who came to today’s performance.”
Happy Quokka slowly swept her gaze across the audience.
She seemed to be looking for the Plague Doctor, but she did not look terribly disappointed.
“Then I’ll start with the first song. The title is...”
The performance ended about seventy minutes later.
The audience split between those who left right away and those who wanted to greet Happy Quokka personally.
I stayed seated for a while, intending to leave at my leisure.
This new song had been so good too.
As soon as it was released, I needed to add it to my playlist.
“Excuse me.”
The woman beside me suddenly stood and approached Happy Quokka, handing her a business card.
“Hello, Happy Quokka. My name is Lee Mun-yeong, from the executive office of Kang-geon Pharmaceuticals.”
“Yes, hello...”
Happy Quokka bowed with a bewildered expression.
Kang-geon Pharmaceuticals?
What did a pharmaceutical company want with Happy Quokka?
Were they trying to commission a commercial jingle?
Was our Happy Quokka finally making her official media debut?!
Curious, I slowed down as I got to my feet.
“By any chance...”
The woman from Kang-geon Pharmaceuticals asked Happy Quokka.
“Do you know how to contact the Plague Doctor?”
“The Plague Doctor...?”
The woman nodded.
“Yes. Could you just tell the Plague Doctor that we’ll pay one million won if they succeed?”
Happy Quokka shook her head.
“I’m not sure what you mean. I’m sorry.”
She bowed.
Happy Quokka hurried into the waiting room as if fleeing.
The woman looked suspiciously at the waiting-room door, then turned away with a deep sigh.
I left the venue too, pretending I had heard nothing.
What was that?
What would earn one million won if it succeeded?
Bzzz.
A DM arrived from Happy Quokka.
-[Plague Doctor, something terrible happened :(]
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