Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Lifetime Free Performances

I took off the hat and mask in a place with no people.

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]

A sigh of relief came out.

“That was really close.”

Happy Quokka’s estimated treatment MP cost was 130.

The moment I saw that number I was genuinely flustered.

No matter how much this MP leveled up it stayed at 105.

But fortunately thanks to the ‘Plague Doctor Mask’ equip effect I was able to treat her.

Proficiency also rose by 2.

The experience coming in had decreased after becoming level 4, but this also increased by 33.81%.

Why on earth was so much MP consumed?

Other than the throat being thoroughly hoarse she looked fine.

Because she had been suffering from the cold for a long time?

Was it really a cold?

Since everything pops up as [Contagious Disease Patient], there’s no way to know.

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

I couldn’t confirm if the voice was completely cured because I was busy running away, but if I come back at performance time later I’ll know.

Ding.

Sister sent a message.

-[(image)]

-[Is this you?]

“Ah···.”

Someone filmed me treating a homeless person in the park and uploaded it to SNS. It was that screenshot.

[Plague doctor appeared at ○○ Park. Treating a homeless person?]

Sister laughed via message.

-[ㅋㅋㅋㅋ]

-[What kind of game promotion are you doing to a homeless person]

[Not me.]

I roughly made up that it was some other colleague.

I put the bird-beak mask, hat, gloves, and cross necklace separately in the bag and shoved them in the trunk.

Anyway I achieved the goal of curing Happy Quokka’s cold.

These are sealed for the time being now.

A few hours later.

The stage where the K University festival performance was being held.

Happy Quokka’s refreshing tone softly resonated.

A place a bit away from the stage.

“Wow···. The song is really good. She sings well.”

“That person was a mess during rehearsal in the morning. Must be because the throat hadn’t loosened up since it was morning.”

I quietly smiled while listening to the conversation of the people in front.

The large electronic billboard installed behind the stage.

Happy Quokka singing looked truly happy.

***

When the end of October came the weather became quite chilly.

I took out the cage containing Arong from the car.

“You endured well, Arong.”

Arong slowly wagged his tail with a sullen face.

This kid knows we’ve come to the animal hospital.

Today is the day Arong gets his preventive vaccination shot.

Parents went to work, Sister went to her part-time, so me loafing at home brought him.

“Hello.”

“Welcome. Did you make a reservation?”

“Yes. Arong at 11 o’clock.”

Glance.

While answering I looked at the closed examination room.

[Contagious Disease Patient]

It was yellow.

An extremely angry cat meow sounded.

Mraaaowk!

“Please wait a moment. The previous examination isn’t finished yet.”

“Yes.”

It’s not a contagious disease that can be passed to our dog, right?

Since it’s a hospital they’ll disinfect properly on their own···.

Suddenly a new system window appeared.

[Natural Enemy Relationship Activated]

Natural enemy relationship?

A man entered holding a small cage.

“Hello. This is the hamster Jingu reserved for 11 o’clock.”

A bright red text appeared above the cage he held.

[Mouse]

“······.”

Ah.

Since I’m a ‘Plague Doctor’ it’s a natural enemy relationship with mice.

I see···.

But when I searched, the Black Death was transmitted by fleas on rats. Then shouldn’t fleas be the natural enemy?

No.

They might have simply ‘set’ it like this.

The unknown beings don’t seem to have created the system obsessing over such details.

To begin with they’re the ones who made me like this by mistake and abandoned me.

Looking at how the status window doesn’t appear and other basic explanations don’t work properly, it feels like a patch that was left unfinished.

At the very least, if I had been the second Awakener instead of the first, wouldn’t there have been a possibility I wasn’t struck by lightning?

Squeak, squeak.

“Jingu, what’s wrong. Normally you didn’t mind even seeing dogs. It’s okay, it’s okay.”

When the hamster owner tried to sit next to me, the hamster in the cage made a fuss as if in panic.

I’m fine, but to the hamster I must feel scary.

Even when the hamster owner sat far from me, looking at it squeaking noisily.

The closed examination room door opened.

“Then please take good care of it.”

Was it the owner of the [Contagious Disease Patient] cat that was crying noisily earlier. He paid and trudged out of the hospital.

Alone without the cat.

The staff disinfected the examination room cleanly then called me.

“Arong’s guardian.”

“Yes.”

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

Squeak, squeak squeak!

I tried hard to ignore it and entered the examination room.

The hospitalization room inside the examination room. A yellow [Contagious Disease Patient] text was visible.

If it’s yellow it seems a bit seriously ill.

I hope it gets better soon.

After finishing Arong’s preventive vaccination I returned home immediately. And prepared to go out again.

“Arong, rest.”

One week since I last treated a homeless person.

I went to check if everyone was still okay.

Of course, I didn’t do the plague doctor cosplay.

“The 2nd and 3rd patients looked fine. The 4th patient··· would they have gone to the free meal service by this time?”

Looking at the memo app where I recorded the locations of the contagious disease patients I treated, I headed to the park where the 4th patient was.

Parked the car in the park parking lot and went around once.

The 4th patient was not visible.

Thinking they must have gone to the free meal service, just as I was about to walk that way.

“Did you really see this person here?”

“I saw them over there, not here. At that time they waved and greeted too. But Mom said that person’s photo was uploaded to SNS, that it was taken at this park.”

I hid behind a tree.

Happy Quokka was visible.

And the child I briefly greeted when I first leveled up.

Why is Happy Quokka here?

“Are you also here to see that crow, noona?”

“Yeah. I also saw SNS and came thinking maybe I could meet them if I come here.”

They came looking after seeing my plague doctor cosplay on SNS.

Out of curiosity that they might have been cured thanks to me?

Or no way···.

Did some other abnormality occur in the body?

I entered SNS. Just a few minutes ago, Happy Quokka uploaded a photo of the gift she received from me.

[Plague Doctor who came to cheer for the K University festival rehearsal, please send DMㅜㅜ #PlagueDoctor #KUniversityFestival #HappyQuokka]

“It doesn’t seem like they come here often.”

“I think so. I also came every day, but haven’t seen them even once since then.”

“I see. Thank you.”

Happy Quokka greeted the child and the child’s mother then moved her steps.

With a quite regretful face.

“······.”

I also returned to the car.

Sending a DM to Happy Quokka with a new account was around evening. After confirming the condition of all the treated homeless people and returning.

I hastily took a photo of the bird-beak mask and set it as the profile.

[Hello, Happy Quokka-nim. I watched the university festival performance well.]

A reply came soon.

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

[Yes. You said you were looking for me.]

-[I was so grateful that day, I want to repay you. If you have time could I see you once?]

[Repayment is fine. Is your body okay?]

-[Yes, thanks to you cheering! But really can’t I see you..? ㅠㅠ]

Happy Quokka had also left a comment on the SNS account Sister sent me.

-I really want to meet, where can I see you if I go? Has anyone seen them recently?

Like that.

At this rate they might go to that park again and look for the 4th patient who was filmed with me.

That homeless person had quite a temper.

It could be dangerous if a young woman approaches alone.

[Yes. When is good for you?]

-[Really? I’ll match the Plague Doctor’s time!]

I made an appointment with Happy Quokka.

***

There were many people in Hongdae on the weekend.

I sat on a bench and waited for Happy Quokka.

“Huh? Plague doctor.”

“It’s not Halloween yet, right?”

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

The goggles also have limited vision, but I could see ahead much better than fabric. Since the lenses have color it’s hard for other people to observe my eye shape in detail.

“Hello! Can I take just one photo?”

“······?”

Suddenly a photo request came.

Thinking whatever, I readily nodded and posed.

“Thank you!”

Click, click.

“Um, would it be okay for me too?”

Another pedestrian who was watching also requested.

[Contagious Disease Patient]

I nodded.

“Thank you!”

The pedestrian stood right next to me.

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

[(Estimated MP cost 80)]

“One, two.”

I muttered small.

“Treat, yes.”

Click.

“Thank you.”

[System]

-Used ‘Plague Treatment’.

-‘Plague Treatment’ proficiency +1

-Experience +7.3%

[MP 41/100]

“Hello, Plague Doctor-nim. You came early?”

Happy Quokka arrived 5 minutes earlier than the appointment time.

She smiled with an awkward face.

“You changed the mask too.”

I politely bowed.

We moved to a somewhat quiet place.

“I was really grateful that day. The Plague Doctor like this.”

Happy Quokka smiled while taking the pose of touching index fingers.

“Whether it was thanks to cheering···.”

“······?”

Happy Quokka who was speaking suddenly closed her mouth. Then looked at me with a greatly determined face.

“Plague Doctor-nim. By any chance, are you a magician?”

“······.”

“Actually until just a few seconds before meeting the Plague Doctor, my voice was all cracked and a mess···. Right after the Plague Doctor left the voice returned immediately.”

I took out a small sketchbook.

Scratch scratch.

[That was a coincidence]

“It’s not a coincidence···! Ah, I’m sorry···.”

Happy Quokka who had grabbed my clothes firmly was startled herself and removed her hand.

“Covering your face like this is also because of that mysterious power, isn’t it···?”

“······.”

“I’m sorry but I met the homeless people the Plague Doctor met. And I found out. That they all recovered from their colds right after meeting the Plague Doctor. But don’t worry.”

Happy Quokka’s eyes sparkled frighteningly.

“Something magical like this, it seems only I’ve noticed so far.”

Scratch scratch.

[Then if I just remove Happy Quokka-nim^^]

Happy Quokka backed away hesitantly.

“You said you were my fan···. I know. Anyway, really thank you so much. Thanks to that I safely finished the performance that day, and my SNS followers increased a lot. A lot of booking contacts came in, and contacts from good companies too.”

Happy Quokka stood in front of me and deeply bowed her waist.

“Really thank you. The Plague Doctor is my benefactor.”

Happy Quokka firmly promised to keep my secret for life. And after handing me a gift, she continued bowing repeatedly while getting farther.

Buzz.

When she was no longer visible, Happy Quokka sent a DM.

-[From now on the Plague Doctor’s performances are lifetime free! This DM is the evidence! Capture and save!]

I captured the screen as is and saved it.

Hehe.

From now on Happy Quokka performances are lifetime free.

It seems she really thinks of me as a magician, but since she promised to keep it secret it should be fine.

Even if she tells others, it’s something hard to believe easily.

Since there’s no evidence.

Meow.

At that time a cat approached and rubbed against me.

[Contagious Disease Patient]

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

[(Estimated MP cost 50)]

“Hey, 50 is the first time I’ve seen.”

Smiling I crouched down and stroked the cat.

“Treat, yes.”

The warm heat haze 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.”

© TofuSpirit#1bejl

Author’s Note

MP does not increase at a constant rate.