Chapter 58 : Echoes of the Plague: A World Unraveled

As soon as the man stepped into the house, he left boxes filled with disposable masks—who knows where he got them—by the entrance.

Our relationship? Barely more than acquaintances, having met a few times through work. Yet, at this moment, the presence of an adult was an unparalleled comfort.

“Ah, you kids must be going through a lot,” he said.

Without delay, he began moving busily around the house. He started taking care of us, finding whatever necessities he could, even though we hadn’t asked him to.

Why had he come, and why was he taking care of us? Questions bubbled up, but my body, drowsy and weighed down, urged me to close my eyes. Instead of asking anything, I quietly did as my body demanded.

Even with my eyes closed, I could feel the heat radiating off me. Something as simple as lifting my heavy eyelids felt like a monumental task.

A cold, damp towel softly landed on my forehead amidst the feverish haze. Despite the burning in my body, I allowed myself to be guided by the medicine’s effects and drifted into sleep.

When I opened my eyes again, the fever had eased somewhat. Though my head still swayed in a fog, it was better than last night.

“It wasn’t a dream, huh.”

Lying sprawled on the floor, fast asleep, was the man. I stepped carefully over his round belly as if crossing a boulder and picked up the thermometer from the shelf.

Pressing the button, the spring made a clicking sound, followed by a beep from the device. The screen displayed 37.5°C—thankfully, the fever had reduced to a mild one.

Returning to bed after stepping back over his belly, I checked Siyeon’s temperature, gently placing the thermometer in her ear and pressing the button.

Beep. 36.8°C. Her calm breathing and relaxed expression showed she was recovering well.

The only concern left was my own lingering mild fever.

Since I was already awake, I decided to heat up some beef and vegetable porridge in the microwave. After a quiet meal and taking some medicine, I headed upstairs to lie down.

The microwave’s beeping as it finished was loud enough to wake most adults, but…

“You sleep so soundly, don’t you.”

Even after I finished eating, took my meds, and climbed the stairs, the civil servant man showed no sign of waking.

For now, I decided to focus on taking care of myself and lay down in the upstairs bed.

What about Siyeon’s breakfast? The leftover porridge should be fine.

That’s what I told myself as I entrusted the rest to the man and closed my eyes again.

Having just woken up, falling asleep right away seemed unlikely. Still, the best remedy for illness is eating well and resting properly.

Even if I couldn’t sleep, I had to stay in bed. Overexerting myself while feeling a little better could easily make a mild fever spike back to a high one.

It wasn’t often that someone came over to nurse us like this—a chance that wouldn’t come twice. Surely, as an adult, he’d at least take care of the basics for Siyeon.

With that thought, I let myself close my eyes again.

“Mari, are you still feeling sick?”

Siyeon’s voice woke me, her face right in front of mine. I opened my eyes slightly, her concern showing no regard for the fact I was sleeping.

Her lack of consideration, endearingly childlike, didn’t irritate me. Instead, I sat up slowly, checking on my condition as I did so.

The haze in my mind had cleared; I was fine.

The heat that had enveloped my body was gone.

The pain in my throat had disappeared.

But, for some reason, the man who had been at home was also gone.

My gaze went past the bed’s safety rail toward the empty living room.

I quickly asked Siyeon, thinking she might know something.

“The man who was here?”

“He said he was busy and went back. Told me to let you know too.”

He had come and gone like the wind.

Of course, as an adult, he must have done what he needed to do, but I asked Siyeon again, just in case.

“Did you eat? Take your medicine?”

“I had porridge and took my meds.”

Siyeon answered my questions promptly.

Changing my posture from lying down to sitting up, I headed toward the stairs.

Noticing this, Siyeon climbed down the bed’s stairs, as if to show she was aware of the situation.

Traces of the man were still scattered around the house, as if to confirm his presence here.

A pile of disposable masks, still in their plastic packaging.

I wondered where he had managed to get them, given the mask shortages and all the hoarding going on.

Just in case, I picked up the thermometer, pressed it to my ear, and measured my temperature.
36.3°C.

“Siyeon, come here.”

“Huh?”

With a short gesture, Siyeon tilted her head curiously and approached me, our eyes now at the same level.

For some reason, it seemed I was just slightly shorter than her.

In any case, I inserted the thermometer into her ear, pressed the button, and checked her temperature.

With a beep, the number 35.9°C appeared on the screen.

Thankfully, both of us were completely fever-free.

I opened the curtains briefly for ventilation and swung the balcony door wide open.

‘Should I contact the school…?’

The thought of school naturally came to mind, in my role as a student.

I remembered the smartphone I hadn’t grabbed from my bedside, climbed back up to the second-floor bed, grabbed only the phone, and sat down in the living room.

Perhaps because I hadn’t plugged it into the charger the whole time I was lying down, the battery was down to just 12%.

Even so, a few unread messages appeared on the screen, and among them was one from the school.

Finally checking the message:
[Notice of School Closure for Quarantine and Infection Prevention]

In summary, the school was in complete chaos due to the recent illness.

To prevent further spread and infection, the school would be closed for a few weeks.

Especially considering how some infected people had been walking around our school without masks.

The message stated that for about a week, there would be no classes at the school for quarantine and infection prevention, and no students should attend.

‘What a mess.’

After reading the message from the school, I turned my attention to the news I hadn’t checked while I was lying down.

The world had now entered the era of a great plague.

Normally, news about magical girls—whether or not it was a major issue—would frequently appear.

But this time, articles from all kinds of media outlets were almost exclusively about the plague, to the point of panic.

Particularly those tracing the movements of confirmed cases, showing them hanging out in clubs or visiting various travel spots.

It seemed these stories drew a lot of attention and sold well, as every news outlet was flooding the web with them.

And, it’s clear that because of such people, the plague is spreading even faster.
Legitimate anger was manifesting in comments, with thousands piling up on a single article.

[If you’re going to die, just die quietly on your own.]

[Why do they even live like that?]

[This comment has been flagged by CleanBot for inappropriate language.]

[Selfish bastards.]

[Isolate those beasts who are less than human from society.]

“This is no small matter…”

The atmosphere was far from that of a temporary flu.

Since I was already recovered, I thought I’d just get a shot or two if a vaccine came out.

That kind of complacency suddenly felt all too real.

Is this something that can be solved by just wearing a mask?

With that question lingering, a few days passed. As the saying goes, bad premonitions rarely miss the mark.

“Marie, when are we going back to school?”

“Who knows…”

By the time even Siyeon started questioning me about not going to school, the plague situation showed no signs of calming down. If anything, it was worsening rather than improving.

Reports of infections kept coming from all directions, public facilities mandated masks, and hand sanitizers were placed in public transportation hubs.

Various countermeasures were being introduced, but instead of decreasing, infection cases only continued to rise.

On top of that, as if the world had gone completely mad, the plague wasn’t the only problem anymore.

[Station OO, ‘I’ll stab anyone who walks by’ knife attack threat….]

[Knife attack at XXX station on the 14th, copycat crimes spreading.]

[Woman in her 30s arrested after posting knife attack threat online, claims ‘It was just a joke.’]

[‘I’ll slice them up like sashimi,’ 20-year-old man arrested at home.]

At some point, random knife attacks suddenly began to spread.

In a situation already chaotic due to the plague, baseless crimes were increasing as well.

Even lunatics who thought it was funny to post such threats online were being arrested for their antics.

It was such a complete mess that it made me think having actual monsters would be better than this.

At this point, if the minister asked me to go support the police station, I might actually consider it—purely out of self-sacrificing thoughts like, “You must have a hard time dealing with all these lunatics.”

With the world so completely off the rails, people were gradually changing their perspective, treating the plague like it was just another cold.

Recently, policies with slogans like “Living with the Virus” were being pushed—policies that seemed unnecessary yet familiarized the virus as if it were a companion.

Since it had already spread so much, the attitude shifted to “there’s nothing we can do.”

As a result, schools lifted their suspension of in-person classes.

Soon, schools were set to resume, emphasizing to kids the importance of wearing masks and frequently using hand sanitizers.

Disposable masks, as stifling as they are.

Masks that trap warm breath between the eyes and mouth, making you feel suffocated.
Being forced to keep wearing them felt like torture.

“Seriously, what a shitty world…”

Life was getting unbearable for both kids and adults alike. Truly.