Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Has It Really Been Cured?

“I’ve seen all kinds of crazy bastards. Move, man!”

Was my curiosity-sparkling eyes burdensome? The drunk fled the convenience store as if escaping me.

Ding.

The bell on the door rang noisily.

“Thank you···. Really, thank you···.”

Should I chase after him?

While I hesitated briefly, the convenience store part-timer collapsed right there.

“Are you okay?”

“Yes···. No, I was really scared···. Thank you, uncle···.”

“I’m twenty-two.”

Even if the soldier vibe hasn’t fully worn off, calling me uncle hurts.

“Ah.”

The part-timer shot up with a flushed face. Then bowed repeatedly.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”

“Yes, it’s fine.”

Still, they say late bloomers hear they look young when they actually get old.

It’s fine.

I asked while dropping my shoulders.

“Where’s the dujjonku?”

“That··· sold out a little while ago···.”

“Yes···.”

I left the convenience store and looked around.

No [Contagious Disease Patient] in sight.

I called Sister.

“They said it sold out already?”

-[There’s stock at SU Convenience Store ○○ branch. Go there. Hurry, hurry.]

“That’s far.”

-[That’s why hurry.]

Click.

“······.”

That damn umbrella, I have to find and buy the exact same one.

If I go to the place I collapsed, is there a chance someone picked it up and kept it for me?

I should check tomorrow.

I finally bought something similar to dujjonku at another convenience store and returned to the apartment.

The parking lot sunk in darkness.

A [Contagious Disease Patient] was wandering around.

“······?”

I made a puzzled expression.

The height of the text was strangely low.

A child wouldn’t be loitering in the parking lot at this hour. Even if it’s a short person, wandering around checking multiple cars?

Is it a car thief?

Lowering their body so people don’t notice, which makes the text appear low too?

“Got you, this bastard.”

After informing the security office that there was a suspicious person, I went to the parking lot with my phone camera on.

Thanks to the clear green [Contagious Disease Patient] text the position was easy to track, so I approached using cars as cover.

“Cough, cough.”

A guy in pitch-black clothes, hat, and mask was coughing while pulling on a car door.

Of all things, my car.

I signaled the security guards moving with me by hand, then quietly spoke.

“What are you doing?”

“······?!”

Click click click!

The moment he turned around, I pressed the shutter. The flash went off repeatedly.

“Damn it!”

The car thief tried to run, but the security guards were already blocking the front.

“Who are you! You’re not a resident here?!”

“I, I’m a proxy driver? I left my phone in the car I drove earlier so I was looking for it···.”

“Don’t bullshit, bastard. Does a proxy driver not even know what kind of car he drove? I’ve been watching you check compact cars and SUVs and everything since earlier?”

“···This shit!”

Thinking it would be easier to break through one person than two, the car thief charged at me.

“Move, you···!”

[This is a Contagious Disease Patient. Do you wish to treat?]

[(Estimated MP cost 80)]

Click click click!

“Fuck!”

Under the flashing baptism the guy squinted and flailed his arms. The security guards also turned their heads slightly.

“Ugh, dazzling.”

0.5 seconds.

Roughly the time I hesitated.

I muttered in an ant-sized voice.

“···Treat, yes?”

Click click click!

This sound was buried under the noisy shutter sounds.

At that moment.

A warm-colored heat haze flowed from my hand and touched the car thief’s hand that looked ready to hit me any second.

Sssk.

The heat haze was sucked into the guy’s body in an instant.

“······!”

Conversely, I felt something leaving my body.

[System]

-Used ‘Plague Treatment’.

-‘Plague Treatment’ proficiency +1

-Experience +23.3%

[MP 20/100]

It worked.

The [Contagious Disease Patient] disappeared from the car thief’s head.

Thud.

“Ack!”

While I was blank for a moment, the car thief roughly pushed me.

“This bastard?!”

I immediately tried to chase him, but wearing slippers my running speed didn’t come out.

Wiiing.

Fortunately the police arrived in time.

The car thief played tag with the police too before getting caught. He was running so energetically that I felt sorry to the police, thinking it was because I treated him as an experiment.

“Thank you for reporting.”

“Officer.”

I asked the police.

“Earlier I got assaulted trying to stop that guy. Can I come along?”

The police nodded.

“Of course.”

While giving my statement at the police station I observed the car thief’s condition. Not long after he was separated to another place, but during that time the guy didn’t cough at all.

His complexion looked good too.

Did my ‘Plague Treatment’ skill really cure the cold in one go?

***

I returned home after midnight.

My parents were waiting in the living room.

“If you see someone like that you should just report and come back, why did you catch him yourself! Dangerously.”

“You’re not hurt anywhere?”

I explained the situation by phone when going to the police station earlier.

“Yes, nowhere. Sorry for worrying you.”

“Sigh···.”

Smack.

Mother hit my arm hard then went into her room. Father also stood and lightly punched the opposite arm with his fist.

“You must be tired, go in and sleep quickly.”

“Yes, good night.”

Sister came out of her room.

“If I make you run errands twice you’ll tour the whole country?”

I took out what I bought at the convenience store from my pocket and threw it to Sister.

“Eat this and gain a lot of weight.”

“You wanna die? And this isn’t dujjonku, it’s dujjon glutinous rice cake.”

“Isn’t that the same thing?”

“Sigh, whatever. Sleep.”

Sister went into her room.

I also played with Arong for a bit then entered my room.

I changed clothes and lay on the bed.

[MP 30/100]

MP was recovering by 1 every 10 minutes.

If it were a normal game this would have been cursed as a trash game for how long it takes to kill mobs.

‘Plague Treatment’ is not a skill used to catch monsters, but to cure people’s illnesses.

Realistically, isn’t this an insanely broken ability in terms of efficiency?

An ordinary person takes several days to fully recover from a cold.

Some even suffer for nearly a month if it’s severe.

But MP 80?

It fills in 13 hours 20 minutes.

“Skill window.”

[Kang Bong-sik (Plague Doctor Lv.1) possessed skills]

[Passive Skills]

-Immunity Lv.1

[Active Skills]

-Plague Treatment Lv.1 (1/100)

-Bloodletting Lv.1 (0/100)

“But proficiency only increased by 1 out of 100.”

Do I need to cure a hundred people for the skill level to rise?

Even if I cure severe illnesses?

No.

Since the system is close to a game, let’s think that way.

Usually if the level is low the skills are weak too, that’s standard.

‘Plague Treatment’ level is only 1, so curing contagious diseases more vicious and dangerous than a cold?

There must be a reason there are yellow and red texts besides green. At my level they’re probably marks of patients hard to treat.

···But why am I even worrying about this?

Let’s say I can really cure a cold patient in one skill use.

It’s not like I’m going to approach strangers I’ve never seen and mutter ‘Treat, yes.’ while wandering around, and I have no obligation to do so.

If that appearance gets filmed and uploaded to SNS.

“Ugh.”

Just imagining it is scary.

After returning to school I’d be called a crazy guy, and later it might interfere with job hunting.

“Just sleep.”

The next day.

I called the police whose contact I had saved.

“I burst the flash consecutively at that guy yesterday. Does he look uncomfortable anywhere···. Ah, he looks extremely healthy? Thank you.”

It seems the cold really was completely cured.

But just because I cured one person I can’t immediately use it on family.

Since it’s power received from an unknown existence, who knows if side effects will appear later.

“Still, maybe it’s better to raise the level.”

I muttered while getting in the car.

When the corona situation broke out before, the whole nation suffered.

There’s no law saying such a plague won’t circulate again, right?

Vroom.

I started the engine and played music low.

I set the destination on the navigation and checked the route with the phone map app’s road view.

“Phew. Let’s go.”

The car driven by a beginner driver left the apartment very slowly.

***

Driver’s license test center.

I went to the staff member who issued the driver’s license and greeted them.

“Hello.”

“Yes, hello. What brings you here?”

“I received my license here a few days ago. Do you remember by any chance?”

“Yes···. But what’s the matter.”

The staff member showed no sign of remembering me at all.

At that time their expression was strangely scary and their condition looked odd, so I thought maybe they were affected by that game.

“No, nothing.”

I bowed my head and left the place.

This time I headed to the spot where I was struck by lightning.

According to my parents, when I collapsed the people around reported to 119 and also took care of my phone.

That alone was truly something to be thankful for.

Complaining about why they didn’t take the umbrella too would be shameless.

“It was here.”

The spot where my face and clothes got thoroughly soaked because some car forcefully stepped into a water puddle.

The road where the lightning struck was clean without any traces.

I even doubt if that was really lightning.

Since right after that I became an Awakener.

I entered the cafe next to it.

“Hello. A few days ago I···.”

The cafe owner remembered me.

They also informed me that someone had placed the umbrella I dropped at the bus stop···.

As expected it wasn’t there.

I only bought one iced americano and returned to the car.

“Phew.”

While drinking coffee I fiddled with my phone.

Where should I go now?

Before I had a car there were many places I wanted to visit, but now that I have one I don’t know where to start.

“Huh?”

Is there a place worth going?

When I accessed SNS after a long time to look, a few days ago the singer-songwriter Happy Quokka had posted about a scheduled busking performance.

The performance date was today.

The location was Hongdae busking street.

“Good timing.”

I set a nearby parking lot on the navi.

***

I arrived in Hongdae 1.5 times longer than the expected time. After safely parking in the paid parking lot I walked leisurely.

There was still time until the performance so I was relaxed.

The first place I went was a large fan goods store.

Numerous umbrellas were displayed on one side.

“Wow shit.”

I saw an umbrella with the exact same design as the one Sister lost.

I thought a childish design like that would be in a place like this, and it really is.

Along with that I also picked one more umbrella with a plain design and paid.

“Thank you, take care.”

At the place where Happy Quokka’s busking performance was to be held, the previous team’s performance was underway.

The audience was about thirty people.

“······.”

I quietly put on a mask.

There were many [Contagious Disease Patient].

I’m worried I might be misunderstood as having mysophobia later.

While listening to an unfamiliar song I entered SNS.

I should set notifications for the Happy Quokka account while I’m at it···.

“Huh?”

[@felicitaquokka I’m sorry. Because I caught a severe cold, today’s busking performance has been urgently canceled. I’m really sorryㅜㅜ]

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