A Korean Office Worker Who Became a Nuisance Villainess in a Zombie Story - Chapter 147

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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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“Cyprus, watch your head above… be careful.”
“Ugh. Nearly had my throat slit.”
“Whether Your Highness’s throat gets slit or not is none of my concern, but if blood splatters this way, that would be most troublesome!”
“Tangerine… isn’t that always too much?”
The Ventilation Duct—a clichéd location straight out of cinema.
But in reality, there’s no space spacious enough to crawl through comfortably; it’s cramped, filthy, and treacherous.
I’ve heard that in some Western country, a burglar once tried to break into someone’s home through a Ventilation Duct, got stuck, and starved to death right there.
Even if circumstances force you into a life of crime, avoid the Ventilation Duct at all costs.
Of course, the best solution is to save diligently from the start so such a day never comes.
“Ugh, the dust….”
“Cough, cough!”
“Cheese, are you alright?”
“Yes, I’m fine… cough!”
“This won’t do. Cover your nose and mouth with this.”
Fortunately, this passage was built as both a surveillance route and Ventilation Duct, so it wasn’t quite so cramped….
But it was equally filthy.
“Why did they neglect to clean here when they polish everything else so brilliantly?”
“Well, the heights vary throughout.”
The width of the Ventilation Duct changed depending on what room lay below.
Some sections were barely wide enough to crawl through, others allowed you to walk upright with your back against the wall, and further ahead, the space opened up considerably.
“My knees hurt. I hate crawling around like this so pathetically.”
“Then would you rather roll?”
I responded to Melon’s complaint with nonsense, brushing away a massive dust bunny rolling toward my face.
‘We’re not making you crawl here to torment you.’
If there were only adults, we could have simply thrown open a window and jumped, or tried anything else, but we have four children with us.
No matter how dirty or undignified, we had no choice but to proceed as safely as possible.
“Ow! My knees hurt! I can’t go any further!”
“There now. Screaming won’t change anything. Unless you want to stay stuck here forever, you have to keep going.”
Done complaining? Then let’s move.
I pushed Melon’s rear end with my head as she crawled ahead of me.
Startled by such childish behavior, Melon let out a squeak and disappeared forward.
“Hurry up!”
Even urging Yujein, who was directly ahead of her.
‘Right now Melon still has her spirits up, but when she learns her mother and sister are dead or have become zombies, who knows what will happen.’
She’ll probably become even more brazen out of fear and dread.
I watched Melon’s retreating form with a pang of sympathy as she shrieked loudly.
Soon, a space that appeared to be behind the Staircase came into view ahead.
Cyprus, who had been leading the way, spoke.
“From here on, we can stand and walk. To reach the upper level, we’ll need to climb an uphill slope, so be careful as it’s quite steep.”
“You heard that? Just a little bit more and we’re done.”
I poked the sole of Melon’s soft shoe.
But Melon didn’t move.
“…Melon?”
“…What… is that?”
Melon was staring downward.
More precisely, she was looking through a crack below at some kind of room visible through the gap.
An overturned sofa, a shattered birdcage, bedding dragged downward….
And blood splattered all the way up to the ceiling crack.
“Grrrrgh….”
“Why, why… is it doing that? Is that the zombie you all mentioned?”
“…Shh. Stay quiet and let’s go quickly.”
I hate that I’m observing Melon’s reaction in this situation and thinking, ‘So she really didn’t know about zombies.’
“Grrrrgh….”
The room—apparently the Governess’s Small Room where the Countess’s children were cared for by a commoner tutor—had a low, narrow ceiling and thin walls. The sounds of the zombie moving around below came through distinctly, and the distance was dangerously close.
Close enough that the zombie beneath us could reach through the ceiling crack and drag a child down.
“Be careful….”
Creak.
“Grrrrgh!”
Yes. Exactly like this.
“Kyaaaah!”
“Mommy!”
Thud!
Thud!
Sensing the noise, the zombie thrust its face through the narrow ceiling crack where the creaking had come from.
True to being a governess, the zombie in a tattered dress had its clouded, murky eyes filling the visible space through the gap.
Thud!
“Kyaah!”
“Go! Hurry!”
Thud! Thud! The zombie slammed its face against the wooden ceiling separating it from Melon and me.
“That’s why we shouldn’t have housed the teacher in such a low-ceilinged small room!”
Crack!
“Kyaaaah!”
Sizzle!
“Are you alright?!”
The zombie’s hand, which had finally broken through the ceiling to grab Melon’s ankle, burst into flames instead.
Black powder and the smell of burning scattered thickly through the already dust-filled Ventilation Duct….
Cyprus dragged the dazed Melon away.
We crawled forward, carefully avoiding the blackened hand lodged in the ceiling.
“Phew.”
Finally reaching a wider space and stretching my back, I felt like I might actually live.
“Your hairstyle looks quite impressive, doesn’t it?”
Cyprus laughed upon seeing my disheveled hair. I ignored him and grabbed Praha’s arm, which appeared last, to help support him.
“It’s dangerous, so from now on, please walk in the middle.”
“Pardon?”
Praha’s expression became unusually vacant, but I pretended not to notice.
“This passage is far too narrow!”
“Squeeze through as much as you can!”
“This IS squeezed!”
“Someone push that person from behind!”
“Yujein, cockroach!”
“Aaaaaahhh!”
“Hehe~”
There were various other incidents after that, but I was so exhausted from squeezing that I’ll skip over them.
After all the twists and turns, we finally reached our destination.
“Now we’ll pry up the floor again and lower ourselves down one person at a time.”
Cyprus spoke from the front.
“Once you descend, you’ll immediately see the Cleaning Supply Cabinet ahead, and about twenty paces to the side, there’s a small staircase leading up to the Rooftop.”
Creak.
“Fortunately, there are no zombies directly below. Still, it’s best to be as quiet as possible. The Servant Quarters are on the same floor.”
“That means….”
“Yes. It means there will be zombies swarming there.”
“As long as you don’t make loud noises, you should be fine!”
“I’ll go down first and catch you.”
Cyprus skillfully pried open the Ventilation Duct just as he had when climbing up, extending his long, slender legs downward.
Despite his muscular build making him quite heavy, he landed silently on the floor….
Thud.
“…Uh.”
Thud. Thud.
He couldn’t.
Cyprus blinked and pulled himself back up using only the strength of his arms.
His expression as he turned to face us was unmistakably bewildered.
“…My shoulders got stuck….”
“…We saw that too….”
“Oh dear….”
That’s right.
Cyprus, the most handsome blond man I knew, was unable to pass through a passage designed for ordinary people because his shoulders were far too broad….
Thud.
“….”
“….”
And the same was true for Praha and Tangerine.
“I think if I just dislocate my shoulder and pop it back in, I could make it through!”
“Absolutely not. I won’t risk something so dangerous.”
“Then what do we do!”
“…There’s no turning back now.”
The commotion we’d caused in the Governess’s Small Room earlier had likely drawn a swarm of zombies there.
“What if those who can fit go down first and hide in the Cleaning Supply Cabinet, while the rest of you take another route and rejoin us as quickly as possible?”
I truly hated splitting the group up like this, but we had no choice.
“Cyprus, is the Cleaning Supply Cabinet large enough?”
“Large enough for a few people to hide in.”
“Does it seem empty?”
“At least, I don’t hear anything from inside.”
“…Alright then, we’ll head down first and wait. That’s fine with you, Yujein?”
“Yes, yes! I’m good with it!”
“Good then.”
Let’s separate here for now.
Please, let this not be foreshadowing someone’s death.
“…Will you be alright?”
“Of course I will be.”
I flashed a confident smile at Praha, who looked worried.
“You’ll be back soon anyway, right?”
“Then… I’ll go first!”
Before I could stop her, Yujein dashed toward the Ventilation Duct.
With Cyprus’s help, she lowered herself to the floor below, her anxious eyes darting around the space.
We huddled around the Ventilation Duct, watching her progress.
Yujein rushed toward the Cleaning Supply Cabinet and pulled at the handle.
Clunk, clunk…
“Why won’t this open!”
Creak!
“Got it!”
After checking inside and confirming there were no problems, Yujein signaled and prepared to receive the children coming down from above.
Muffin, Cheese holding her younger sibling, and Melon.
Finally, me.
“Yusara, hurry!”
“Coming.”
It was higher than I expected.
I was about to look down at the floor and ask Cyprus for help when—
“Wait.”
Praha stepped forward and wrapped his arms around my waist.
He lifted me effortlessly as though moving something weightless, lowering me through the Ventilation Duct while supporting my full weight with both hands until my feet touched the ground.
Thanks to him, I descended smoothly and silently, my feet settling gently onto the floor below.
“Ah, thank you….”
Now I lifted my head toward Praha, buried in the darkness.
Something soft touched my forehead just as I was about to land.
Praha whispered.
“I’ll return very soon, I promise.”
“….”
“Hide carefully.”
“….”
For a moment, the thought crossed my mind: ‘You can’t say things like that—it’s a death flag!’ But I couldn’t voice it aloud.
Because no matter how I thought about it, what had touched my dust-covered forehead felt unmistakably like lips.
[Ventilation Duct]
-Yusara, Praha, Cyprus, Yujein, Tangerine, Muffin, Cheese, Cheese’s Younger Sibling, Melon (Alive)

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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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