A Korean Office Worker Who Became a Nuisance Villainess in a Zombie Story - Chapter 157
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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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‘Why do you even like me? You saw all my shameful behavior when we were young. Why do you like me so much that you suffer like this? I don’t understand.’
‘If you want to ask something, you can.’
‘There is something I want to ask.’
‘Tell me.’
‘So what do I need to do now? To break the curse you received.’
Do you really not know?
Just seeing this alone answers why I like you.
‘You haven’t done anything wrong. Except for how you played with me when we were young.’
You can say that precisely because you’ve done nothing wrong.
It doesn’t matter.
All the torment and self-hatred I’ll endure from loving you—that’s my burden to bear.
I just want you to be happy.
* * *
The common trait between a man who speaks without warning and a workplace superior.
☆Keep your mouth shut☆ but open your wallet.
However, in Cyprus’s case, he’d shut his mouth far too tightly.
I’m certain that even while hating me, his own heart was never at ease.
Wouldn’t it have been better to just be honest and lay everything bare, maybe even start a ‘support group for children wounded by their parents’ infidelity’?
“So, what happened to Count Sodom?”
I saw Praha aim an arrow at him earlier.
But the situation changed so rapidly afterward that I couldn’t confirm how it ended.
“A corpse crawling up the City Wall grabbed his ankle and dragged him down.”
It was Pochacha who answered matter-of-factly.
I trailed off, looking at the teenager’s face, which seemed to have aged a decade in mere moments.
“And the zombies…?”
“They didn’t climb over the City Wall. Since they’d achieved their purpose, there was no need to climb any further.”
“…I see.”
“He was even smiling as he got dragged down.”
“….”
Another person here with terrible parental luck.
Pochacha, whose expression was far too composed for someone speaking of their parent’s death, shrugged.
“So, what’s our way out of here safely?”
“Ah. That.”
I gathered my wits and hurried to continue.
“It’s a method I thought of after seeing the Count safely reach the City Wall earlier.”
“…Don’t tell me it’s that method you mentioned back at the Villa?”
Cyprus interjected.
“That’s right. You remember?”
“Remember? Cough! It left quite an impression.”
“Oh, Your Highness already knows of it?”
“I was with Yusara at that time, the two of us together.”
“Is that so! I’d like to know as well!”
“So here’s the thing.”
I glanced around at everyone present.
“Zombies have no vision, right? They only sense us through hearing and smell.”
“That’s correct!”
“Earlier, Lord of Sodom Madeline soaked her entire body in zombie blood and was able to reach the City Wall safely. But she got caught when she made a sound.”
“That’s… right?”
Around that moment, Yujein, who had grasped what I was about to say, grew anxious and rolled her eyes nervously.
“So if we do the same thing… smear ourselves with zombie blood and pretend to be zombies.”
“Blood?”
“Of course, it’s not just blood. We’d need flesh too.”
“….”
“If we wrap intestines around our bodies…?”
“Blegh!”
Unfortunately, the first person to vomit and bolt from the room was my younger brother, Aspara.
“We have no choice. Without this method, we’ll be trapped here forever.”
I looked at Yujein and Pochacha, their faces drained of color as they fought back nausea, and then at the children.
“Of course, we’ll need to be careful not to get any of that blood in our eyes or mouths.”
“That’s an excellent idea!”
Tangerine, the one among us with the strongest stomach, was the first to voice his approval.
“Isn’t it just like covering ourselves in dirt when we’re hiding? It sounds rather thrilling!”
“So you’re agreeing to this method, Tangerine?”
“Of course! Though I do hope the Temple of Beauty and Marriage has a bathing chamber! And clean soap, if possible!”
“I’d like that too….”
“I, I agree as well.”
“Good. Does anyone have questions?”
At my words, Praha raised his hand.
“Yes.”
“Why did you only share such a brilliant strategy with Cyprus and not with me?”
“…I’ll share my plans with you from now on.”
“I see.”
“Goodness.”
Even as Cyprus was practically dying, he let out a chuckle.
And so we… decided to coat ourselves with zombie corpses.
Tangerine and Praha took on the task of capturing a few zombies wandering outside.
Praha, who had woven a noose from rope he’d brought along just in case, tossed it around the necks of the zombies roaming outside.
At first he fumbled a few times, but soon got the hang of it.
When a zombie with the loop around its neck was dragged inside.
“Alright!”
“Kyaaahhh!”
Tangerine sliced cleanly through the zombie’s neck.
“Sister… do I really have to do this?”
“Yes. If you don’t want to, don’t. And you’ll stay here forever.”
Aspara and I received the headless corpse and dismantled the zombie on the floor.
Aspara merely fussed beside me while I did virtually all the work.
“Ugh.”
“Miss Yujein, you don’t need to look over here. Just focus on what you’re doing.”
“Y-yes! I will!”
Meanwhile, Yujein continued casting healing magic on Cyprus’s chest.
‘Magic actually works against a god’s curse.’
If Cyprus’s heart stopped, could Yujein revive him with electrical shock?
A human defibrillator.
I glanced at Yujein’s magic, which was doing its utmost to prevent his condition from deteriorating further.
“Yusara, how many more do you think we’ll need?”
“Three more!”
I won’t describe in detail what state we ended up in after that.
Let’s just say it was far from pretty and radiant.
“We haven’t even started yet and I want to shower.”
I muttered to myself while glancing sideways at Praha, who remained devastatingly handsome despite being covered in blood.
It was unfair that he looked so pristine when I looked like this.
Feeling my gaze, Praha turned to look at me.
“What did you say?”
“I asked if you smell it.”
“Yes. The stench of decay reaches even here.”
“….”
“…Shouldn’t there be a smell?”
“That’s true, but….”
“But…?”
“Never mind.”
Sob.
I approached Cyprus while silently crying.
Cyprus, his blonde hair caked with crimson blood, leaned his back against the wall while receiving treatment from Yujein.
Though he wasn’t being attacked by zombies, I’d smeared blood on him too just in case his human scent alone would attract them.
I examined his chest where light from Yujein’s hands was seeping in.
‘It’s getting darker and darker….’
Whether from patience or familiarity with pain, he showed no sign of distress even as his body rotted in real time.
“Miss Yujein, go get yourself some water. We’re leaving soon.”
“Y-yes!”
Yujein, drenched in sweat from head to toe, staggered to her feet.
I sat beside Cyprus and examined his chest.
“Does it hurt much?”
“No.”
“You’re lying.”
“Yes.”
“Sigh.”
This man would keep up his bravado right until the moment he closed his eyes for the last time.
Cyprus called my name once he confirmed no one else was nearby.
“Yusara.”
“What?”
“That stone you carry—it’s the reason you didn’t die even after falling among those zombies, isn’t it?”
“…You figured it out?”
“I’ve seen it before.”
“When?”
“Back then. In Prometheus’ Ruined Temple.”
“…Ah.”
Right. That’s true.
The day I first witnessed the crimson stone’s memory, Cyprus had caught me.
“So that’s why you seemed so unbothered earlier?”
“Unbothered? I watched you fall and jumped off the rooftop right after you. I nearly broke my leg.”
“Huh.”
“But you didn’t have a scratch on you. Not dead, not turned into a zombie. That’s when I realized it. Ah, she vanished just like back then.”
“What, your intuition is seriously that sharp…”
You could’ve at least told Praha about it.
Cyprus laughed at my deflated expression.
“You came up with that ridiculous excuse about going to the bathroom back then, but I’m not stupid enough to fall for something like that.”
“Lucky you, not being stupid.”
I replied petulantly.
“Actually, I tried using that stone myself when you weren’t around.”
“You did?”
“Yeah. It had no effect on me whatsoever.”
“Of course it wouldn’t.”
“Before you harvested that stone from the zombie’s body, I couldn’t even see it.”
“Right. Curious about what’s going on?”
I’d already decided to reveal everything about that stone and my secret to everyone eventually.
I was simply waiting for the right moment—this wasn’t the time for leisurely explanations.
“Yeah. I’m curious.”
“Then survive. If you want to hear about my secret.”
“…Okay.”
“Cyprus.”
Praha arrived just in time and supported Cyprus, steadying the weight of a man whose build matched his own without the slightest strain showing on his face.
“Praha.”
“Yes.”
“If something happens on the way, please protect me last of all.”
“….”
“Take the others into the Temple first and come back for me. I have a way to survive.”
“That is….”
“I’ll explain the details when we reach the Temple of Beauty and Marriage.”
“…You need not speak if you prefer not to.”
“No. I want to tell you.”
“….”
“Please listen to my story.”
[Temple Rooftop]
-Yusara, Praha, Cyprus, Yujein, Tangerine, Aspara, MZ12345 (Surviving)
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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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