A Korean Office Worker Who Became a Nuisance Villainess in a Zombie Story - Chapter 124

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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The Imperial Villa on the Artificial Island.
The place where zombies first appeared.
The Emperor’s birthplace and where Praha spent his first hundred days.
I remember the Gallery there.
‘I hid there after evading the horde of zombies that burst out from the servants’ passage.’
The Corridor was packed with zombies… and the Gallery where we took shelter had no door.
We ventured deeper into the Gallery searching for a way to escape the situation.
The treasures displayed there.
A cocoa cup of the first Emperor made from opal and white crystal, a tiara worn at someone’s coronation, and…
‘A statue that came from the Temple that existed on the very ground where the Imperial Villa was built.’
“Why is this corner broken?”
“When His Majesty took this from the Temple, the resistance was quite fierce.”
Whose Temple had that been?
‘The Underworld God. The statue there was of the Underworld God.’
The Emperor seized the Underworld God’s Temple, plundered treasures from the resisting Priests, and built his own Villa on that very ground.
And there, he fathered Praha.
The second place where zombies appeared.
The Island we left yesterday.
What did Cyprus say when we first entered that Island?
“That Island originally had an enormously large Underworld God’s Temple.”
“Really?”
“It was originally an Island where Priests gathered to live. Though that was in the distant past.”
“I see… but it’s not like that now?”
“No. When we were young, His Majesty destroyed the Temple and built other structures in its place.”
“…Why would he do such a thing?”
“He said it was to commemorate Praha’s tenth birthday, or so it seemed…”
I lifted my head and asked the group.
“Sodom, the City we’re heading to. Does anyone know if there’s a closed or ruined Temple there?”
“I’m not sure…”
“It’s not shown on the map, is it, Yusara?”
“The locations of existing Temples are marked… but closed Temples aren’t included.”
Where would I even find that information? Cyprus tilted his head at my question.
“Hmm. I’ve never been to Sodom.”
“Neither have I!”
“I… I haven’t either.”
“What about you, Praha?”
“I haven’t either.”
They all seemed to be upright, conscientious people, so they were far removed from such a hedonistic City.
“Should we go to the Library and search for maps from previous eras?”
“And find what?”
“We compare it one by one with the maps we currently have.”
“To that extent?”
“Um, but does this city have a library?”
“Is there a city without a library?”
What kind of uncivilized city is this? Praha rose silently, leaving me to my thoughts.
Praha, dressed in trousers that only a man with a sleek hip line dropping in a straight edge could pull off, strode purposefully and opened the Recreation Room door.
“Yip yip!”
Cherry, who had been running with a towel to chase General as he bolted down the Corridor soaking wet, froze at the suddenly opened Recreation Room door.
Praha effortlessly caught the pup by the scruff and nestled him into Cherry’s arms, then ushered her into the Recreation Room.
Cherry’s answer to my question was.
“Yes, there is.”
“There is?”
“Yes. Cheese’s parents originally worked at the Temple in Sodom, and when that Temple closed, they relocated to our Island, or so I’ve heard.”
Right, Cheese did mention having relatives in Sodom.
“How did that Temple end up closing? Do you happen to know?”
“Rather than closing… I believe the land was sold to the Imperial Family due to financial difficulties.”
As Cherry spoke, she glanced once at Praha, then wrapped the shaking General in her towel.
“To commemorate the Crown Prince’s first victory during the war… they tore down the Temple and built a Park with a pond in its place, or so I’ve heard. Though I’m not entirely certain.”
“….”
That’s… isn’t that what you do when you’re trying to suppress the aura of a cursed place?
‘Wait! I need to trim the fur on your paws! You keep slipping!’ Cherry warned General and continued.
“Ask Cheese for the details. May I go now? I’m starting to get soaked because of him.”
“Whimper….”
“Quiet.”
“Yeah. That helped. Thanks.”
“You’re welcome.”
Cherry left the Recreation Room.
By then, the others had caught on to what I was trying to say.
“The Underworld God’s Temple—seized or closed by the Imperial Family….”
“And connected to the Crown Prince!”
“If that’s the case, there’s a high probability that Sodom also has zombies now.”
“Wait, what about Prome’s Ancient Maze then? Zombies appeared there too once we collected the sacred relics.”
“The Underworld God and the God of Light are twins and two sides of the same coin, aren’t they? When one’s power was withdrawn, the other side might have risen up in response.”
“When we returned, an additional gate opened in the Underground Storage?”
“If we think of it as the God watching over us and opening the gate at the right moment….”
“That’s horrifying?”
“W-what’s certain is….”
“This ‘divine punishment’ is aimed at….”
The Emperor’s son. The Crown Prince Praha.
Everyone’s gaze quietly turned toward Praha, who sat in silence.
A man sitting with posture as perfect as a painting, his gaze fixed on the table. Beneath his lowered lashes, eyes that gleamed like a sunset burned with light.
Even if the distance between god and human was closer in this world, a god remained a god.
‘There’s even a meme about it. If a conglomerate chairman hates you, life becomes miserable, but if your coworker hates you, it doesn’t matter at all… So stop wasting time hating and just work.’
But what if a god hated me?
What could I do? I couldn’t even be reborn.
Yet when Praha heard that a god was hating him, he remained remarkably composed.
‘How could anyone hate that face,’ I thought, and his luminous, refined features alternated between studying the map spread across the table, my notes beside it, and the ancient language book.
Everyone waited for Praha’s reaction alone.
After a long pause, Praha finally spoke.
“There’s ink stained on your sleeve.”
“…Pardon?”
“Light-colored clothes show dirt easily. I’ll need to purchase several more outfits.”
“…Praha, did you hear what we were just discussing?”
It’s a hypothesis, but apparently the god hates you.
Because your mother challenges his authority, he hates even you, his son. That’s supposedly why he unleashed zombies on this world.
And right now, all that matters is the ink on my clothes?
I stared at him in disbelief.
“Yes. I heard.”
“Is that really all you have to say?”
“Are you concerned for me?”
“Of course I am….”
That’s what he calls a response.
Then he laughs.
Now that he’s laughing, I immediately want to take him and flee back to my original world.
You’d become an illegal resident, but I could support you alone….
“Please don’t worry. Being shocked or sad won’t change the situation.”
“….”
“I certainly feel guilt toward the Empire’s citizens who were sacrificed unjustly, but my fault in the current situation….”
“There is none!”
“There is none.”
“There absolutely isn’t!”
“If anything, it’s an unjust situation.”
“Y-you’re right!”
“It’s not ‘if anything’—it’s outright unjust!”
Tangerine was about to split the table in half with a knife-hand strike when Cyprus quickly stopped her. Captivated by Praha’s amber gaze, I nodded enthusiastically as well.
Yes, that’s right.
There’s nothing I can do about someone hating me.
Even if that someone is a god.
I’m glad we all agree.
“Then shall we have a more constructive conversation? If this truly is a god’s curse, why would he choose such a cumbersome method?”
“Exactly. If he disliked us, couldn’t he just strike us down with lightning and be done with it? He said he’s been watching us anyway.”
“It doesn’t seem like swift death is the goal! Isn’t the purpose to inflict suffering on the Crown Prince and the Emperor?”
“I… I think so too. The Crown Prince is merely a means selected to cause the Emperor pain… The true target of punishment must be the Emperor himself.”
I agree as well.
Simply killing Praha wouldn’t be enough to torment the Emperor.
‘The Emperor isn’t even a parent who loves his children.’
Rather, it would be far more fitting as divine wrath to make the Empire—which the Emperor cherishes and loves—tremble in inexplicable terror, systematically destroying it while tightening the noose around its throat.
‘I discovered the connection first, but as time passes, others will soon learn of the link between zombies and Praha.’
When the people of the Empire realize this mysterious plague is ‘the God’s wrath toward the Imperial Family for neglecting their faith’ and is connected to the Crown Prince, how will they react?
“Then I’d like to know the order in which zombies appear next… I want to predict which region will have a gate open.”
“Isn’t it the order in which the Emperor demolished the Temples?”
“But that doesn’t quite seem right…”
“…I think I know what this is.”
I spoke up.
Confirming that everyone’s attention had turned to me, I traced my finger across the map.
“The Artificial Island, Cherry’s Island, and Sodom. Following this pattern…”
“What is this, Grand Duchess?”
“…Praha’s constellation.”
“Pardon? A constellation?”
“…Yes.”
“…Oh.”
“…Wow.”
…Yes, I even know the shape of Praha’s constellation… I’m embarrassed too, so please stop marveling.
“If I may ask, how did you come to know such a thing, Yusara?”
At Tangerine’s innocent question directed at an unrequited love expert, I shrugged.
“I had a crush on Praha.”
Only after speaking did I realize it.
‘Had’ is past tense.
Praha, who remained composed even when told that God hated him, reacted sensitively to those words.
[General provides language interpretation]
Just you wait, foolish human. I shall repay today’s humiliation and insult a hundredfold…
= “Arrgh…”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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