Plague Doctor

Translator: Lonelytree

Over the past month, Gu Jun was extremely busy, but according to Elder Tong, it was more like a vacation. Gu Jun was taken back from the frontline to deal with administrative ordeals, like playing his role as the Phecda Hero, accepting interviews, going to functions, recording tv appearances… and today he was to attend Phecda University’s opening ceremony. He had no heart in any of these, he wanted to be at the hospitals saving lives but even the Phecda Hero could not go against the government arrangement.

In any case, Gu Jun still managed to find time to complete the system’s normal missions. Unfortunately he did not get any new rewards, just the same old anti-inflammation pills. To make things worse, the abyssal mission of dissecting the Deep One did not reappear. In other words, Gu Jun satisfied himself with just only looking at recorded autopsy videos of other doctors, and had not personally worked on the carcass of the Deep One himself.

Now we find Gu Jun giving yet another speech. This time in front of 20000 cheering Phecda University’s new students. Seeing the excitement on these fresh faces, Gu Jun was gripped by helplessness and gloom. These youths had no idea about the darkness of the path they had embarked on.

“Good morning, students.” Gu Jun said into the standing microphone as he lifted his left hand. The last segment of his pinkie was conspicuously missing. “I dissected this pinkie myself during one of the missions, so I hope you understand that you are not here for a holiday.” Instantly the pavilion quieted down and the young faces filled with degrees of seriousness. Actually through the distance, they could not see Gu Jun’s small finger but this was something heavily promoted in the Phecda Hero’s profile.

The students knew about the danger and hardship which awaited them in Phecda. It was the reason why some parents refused to allow their children to sit for the Phecda University exam. However, the 20000 new students still saw more of the heroism in Gu Jun than the hardships than he faced. They were buying more into the fantasy than the reality.

“Be prepared for adversity.” Gu Jun’s eyes swept the youthful faces and he said heavily, “Be prepared for great adversities, adversities that will knock down a normal person, adversities that are worse than your greatest nightmare, adversities that will push your sanity to its limits.” Then, Gu Jun segued into the prepared script. The atmosphere was severe, the students listened closely, much more attentive than when the other leaders were speaking. Gu Jun’s script consisted mostly of encouraging words.

Actually, enrolment in Phecda University did not guarantee a membership within Phecda, in fact, the students had even smaller clearance than Phecda interns whom Gu Jun once was. Some of these students were unpolished gems and it would be a long time before they would see the battlefield. The Phecda University’s main goal was actually to attract these people with potential. Since supernatural forces were just revealed, the public needed time to adjust and this was the perfect time for anarchy. These good seeds must not fall into the wrong hands. They would be cultivated under Phecda’s watchful eyes. After a few years, when the new society settled, naturally there would be a new training process. Of course, that was in an ideal future because the world might end before then…

In any case, these new students were indeed a large talent pool, they could be trained to become the central power of Phecda in the future, but for now, what Phecda seriously lacked was manpower and resources. Phecda could not wait that long. For that, the government had done other recruitments which included training and recommendations which were not revealed to the public. To Gu Jun’s knowledge, some of his old friends like Zhang Haoran, Xu Hai, He Yuhan had already officially joined Eastern State Phecda.

“Hopefully, at least 1000 of these students can graduate to become official Phecda members.” That was Elder Tong’s hope but he knew it was a hard wish. Even the Spell Department itself had less than 600 members. After Wang Ruoxiang’s team finished their mission, they were sent back into confinement.

Workers at the Ancient Seal Department manned by Yao Sinian would not be affected by mental corruption, and the department needed plenty of fresh blood. Therefore his department planned to open its doors to new members. 3000, 5000, the more the better. The students had no idea what awaited them, they would most likely end up working in a factory production line. According to the government mandate, the country was now at war and everyone had to contribute. It was also because of that that Phecda’s many proposals, which would be held up during normal circumstances, were given the green light.

GOA formed quickly with its headquarters set at Da Hwa City. The Chinese government negotiated with the other countries about GOA’s internal structure as well as its membership. At the same time, they had to figure out a way to coexist peacefully with the US’ WMO. Gu Jun was thankful that he did not need to deal with these admin work. If he had to continue such life for another month, he might really go insane. His current position within GOA was still undecided, but he would be participating in the role of senior adviser for certain decision-making processes.

Gu Jun ended the speech with thunderous applause from the students. He was feeling tired. Elder Tong said he should view this as a holiday, but to be honest, Gu Jun rather spent his time inside the morgue.

“Leader Gu!” Just as Gu Jun turned to leave, suddenly a student among the crowd shouted, “You are my idol!” The crowd exploded in laughter. Some of the girls giggled among themselves. They stole glances at Gu Jun. Gu Jun took in a deep breath, if this was the Dreamlands, he would have treated the students to a showing of Nightmare Wonder already.

These people still did not really understand his words, then again, some lessons had to be learned in person. It would appear that some hardship was already in these unfortunate souls’ near future for most of the lecturers were already burning with fury.

Gu Jun went through the old system and he knew the meaning behind the term Phecda. Eventually, these students would be moulded and shaped to bear the Phecda and then they too would end up moulding and shaping the next generation.

With this in mind, Gu Jun walked back to the mic with a smile. “Thank you, in that case, you all get another 3000 metres.” Then he left.

His words were rather confusing. Most of the students looked at each other in confusion, only a small number frowned in shock. But all the lecturers smiled poignantly, good, good.

…

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