Days as a Spiritual Mentor in American Comics-Chapter 4297 - 3394: Miraculous Doctor (1)

"Plague Doctor's Treatment Code: All doctors entering the ward must strictly adhere to this code to treat patients. Violations may lead to severe consequences. Act with utmost caution."

This line appeared on the parchment. Shiller was about to speak when the writing slowly faded, only to be replaced by a bulk of text.

"Plague Doctor's Dress Code: Upon entering the ward, doctors must wear a beaked mask, a black robe, a brass pocket watch, and check their own appearance in the mirror. If any attire items are missing, please immediately find and don the correct items from the wardrobe. If the dress code is not followed, the 'nursing sister' will pay a visit."

Shiller hurriedly looked down at himself, indeed wearing a black robe with a brass pocket watch around his neck. He reached for his face and realized he wasn't wearing a mask. He looked around and walked over to the wardrobe by the door.

A thick layer of stains covered the old wardrobe, looking like dried clumps of blood or evenly smeared liver substances. There were also many scratch marks at the bottom, as if something desperately tried to crawl into the wardrobe.

Shiller grabbed the metal handle on the side of the wardrobe and pulled a gap open. A strong stench of decay wafted out—inside the wardrobe, there were no clothes, only a rotting skeleton wearing a beaked mask on its head.

"This is too disgusting." Shiller had just finished his thought when he suddenly remembered Strange had a phobia of filth.

He turned around and saw that Strange had just entered the game and was currently reading the content on the parchment.

"One piece of good news and one bad news," Shiller turned to him and said, "The good news is that this indeed appears to be a hospital; the bad news is it's a Middle Ages hospital."

Strange's brows furrowed. Shiller, fighting the nausea, took the mask off the corpse's face. Fortunately, the mask was clean and devoid of any odd smell. It was bearable as long as one didn't ponder its source.

But the problem was there were two of them, and yet only one mask. What to do if the other person couldn't complete the dress code requirement?

Shiller checked again inside the wardrobe; he even pulled out the dried-up corpse to find a pocket watch in the corner. Looking back, he noticed that Strange wasn't wearing a watch.

Shiller threw the watch to him, glanced at the beaked mask in his hand, suspecting it might be a deliberate setup by the system, to make them aware of the consequences of breaking the rules.

Shiller tossed the mask to Strange and said, "It seems unlikely anyone here needs psychological treatment, so we better protect you first. We can't rely on me to perform thoracic surgery on this thing."

Strange followed his gaze to the shriveled corpse lying on the bed, paused, and then said, "First, we have to confirm if the patient actually has a chest cavity."

In just a matter of ten or so seconds, it appeared as though the punishment for violating the rules had been triggered. Clicking and wheezing sounds, akin to a bellows, began to approach from the corridor.

Bang!!!

A thunderous noise that shook the entire room erupted from outside the door, which had been sealed with lead plates and wooden nails. Shiller signaled Strange to hide farther away while he tip-toed to look through the door's observation window.

Through the small circular window, he saw the face of a woman resembling a dry corpse, eyes deeply sunken into their sockets, the lower half of the face exposed without skin, revealing teeth and gums clearly.

She wasn't dressed in modern nursing attire but wore a white headscarf, a black undershirt, and a white skirt overtop. More resembling a nun than a nurse.

Shiller knew that in the early Middle Ages, there was no profession of nurse, or rather the distinction between doctor and nurse was not so clear. Many of the nursing tasks that needed to be done by women were mostly completed by nuns. The later nursing uniforms were also based on the nun's habit.

The dry nun nurse seemed to be holding something in her hand, now swinging it around with a chain to smash against the door.

Bang!

She hit again, and this time Shiller could see clearly. He stepped back and said, "Looks like our predecessors chose to contribute to medicine in another way."

What the nurse was holding in her hand was the body of a male, wearing a black robe and a bird beak mask. The chain went through his lower body and out of his chest, wrapped around his neck, and the end was held in the nurse's hand as she swung it against the door.

After only two hits, the door was already tottering. Shiller had no doubt one more strike and she would break in.

Just when the nurse was about to hit the door a third time, a rapid bell rang. She suddenly let go of the chain and scurried down the hallway.

Shiller breathed a sigh of relief. Once he confirmed the corridor was safe, he turned the doorknob and pushed the door open. The male corpse lay in the corner of the corridor, chest slightly heaving, seemingly still having breath.

Shiller grabbed the beaked mask off his face and slammed the door shut with a bang.

"I think he can still be saved."

"Me too, which one do you want?"

"I'll take the one you've got, at least it's fresher." Strange chose the mask that Shiller had taken from the man, then handed his own over to him.

Both of them put on the masks. However, contrary to expectations, even when looking through the glass, there was no blurring of vision, and the field of view was not restricted; everything was seen clearly.

But this was not good news, as it meant that there must be moments when they were required to see clearly, such as a frightening leap that was too crucial to miss.

After checking his equipment again and ensuring everything was correct, Shiller took out the parchment again. The writing on it had indeed changed again.

"The Plague Doctor's Examination Guidelines: The doctor needs to examine six parts of the patient's body, namely the skin, eyeballs, oral cavity, limbs, body fluids, and hair. Based on the comprehensive manifestation of lesions in various parts, diagnose the patient's illness. For diagnosis reference, consult the second book on the third shelf on the right: 'Methods for Diagnosing Plague Diseases.'"

Strange briskly walked to the bookshelf and took out the book mentioned on the parchment.

The book was written in Latin, but Strange happened to know Latin. He flipped through it quickly, then said, "Not complicated, roughly 196 diseases, corresponding to more than 1200 symptoms. The catalog is well organized, and the content needed can be quickly retrieved. The only problem is—it has nothing to do with medicine."

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Shiller also took a look and found that Strange was right. The various symptoms described in the book were not of the kind a normal person would suffer from. For example, one of the symptoms listed under 'skin' was the chest having spreading black spots.

Well, that was not all; the key point mentioned within the symptoms was that the black spots would gradually arrange themselves into a Fibonacci sequence, also known as the pattern of the golden ratio. One of the diseases corresponding to this symptom was 'Black Death Day.'

Although it seemed the plot was set in the Middle Ages, it was clearly mixed with supernatural elements. For Strange, this was the right place to be since he was not only an excellent surgeon but also happened to be a Magician. It truly felt like coming home.

However, Strange obviously didn't think so. These diseases and symptoms, obviously fabricated, were challenging his worldviews both as a surgeon and a Magician, subjecting him to dual torment and trials.

"How do you expect me to believe that these inspection results, which resemble black magic spells, are accurate?" Strange said while reading the book, "If he plans to corrupt my mind with such erroneous knowledge, then he's mistaken. My decades of modern medical education won't be shaken so easily."

"Shake it a bit," Shiller said as he picked up the parchment and saw new text.

"The Plague Doctor's Healing Guidelines: Once the patient's illness and condition have been determined, the doctor needs to perform Healing. Please strictly follow the book '900 Plague Diseases and Effective Healing Methods' on the fourth book on the sixth shelf on the right for treatment and the second-to-last book on the bottom shelf 'Medical Equipment Operation Manual' for correct operation of medical instruments to assist the treatment."

Shiller's fingertips glided over the various spines on the bookshelf, eventually pausing on a bright red one. He first took out the treatment book and then crouched to get the equipment manual.

Strange looked at the treatment manual first. As expected, it was all nonsense. For instance, to treat a disease like 'Black Death Day,' you need a quarter-ounce of deer blood mixed with the burnt ashes of the third page of Revelations, evenly spread over the skin where the pattern appears, and all skin that shows ulceration reactions should be completely stripped and burned.

If you say it's unprofessional, this thing is written in Latin, and all kinds of procedures are written meticulously, with data precise to a twentieth of an ounce. But if you say it's professional, it's completely unrelated to modern medicine and is purely a bunch of nonsense.

However, the number of these examinations and treatment approaches is vast and very complex. It also involves many professional surgical operations such as thoracotomies, laparotomies, craniotomies, and precise stripping of skin and nerves. It would not be easy to manage without a professional doctor.

Shiller had already discovered that this game was targeting Strange. To overcome decades of modern medical knowledge and revert to being an unethical middle-aged witch doctor was indeed very difficult.

And him? He also had a bit of understanding of medieval Psychology, after all, he had the rich experience of being a Pope.

Strange stood in front of the bed on the right, rapidly reading the examination and treatment manuals. He said it wasn't complicated before, and that wasn't boasting. Modern medicine was much more complicated than this.

According to his educational resume, these things were almost equivalent to the amount he had to memorize in one day during a final exam review when he was in college. Not really that much at all.

While he was browsing quickly, a few more lines of text appeared on the parchment.

"Important Reminder for Plague Doctors: During treatment, patients may not be very cooperative, and may have various reactions due to different treatment methods. Refer to the first book on the third shelf on the left 'Handling Methods for Emergent Conditions During Plague Treatment' for management. If it is really not manageable, the patient may be destroyed."

"Please note that nurses will patrol periodically. If they find any act of abuse or destruction of patients, they may take measures to ensure the doctor's due diligence."

"In addition, destroying patients may trigger unforeseen severe consequences; operate conservatively except in necessary situations."

"The job of a Plague Doctor is quite hard and complicated; more rules need to be explored on your own. Besides, you can work diligently, take appropriate rest, or...just survive."