A Korean Office Worker Who Became a Nuisance Villainess in a Zombie Story - Chapter 162

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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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“Living in this world is exhausting. I finally wash myself clean, and now I have to get covered in zombie blood again.”
“Catching zombies isn’t difficult, is it, Tangerine?”
“That’s nothing.”
Washing is the hardest part.
Shampooing my hair, brushing my teeth.
“Why doesn’t a spell exist that washes you automatically?”
Tangerine grumbled and ruffled his voluminous hair carelessly with his hand. Yujein tried to console him.
“At least this time we don’t have to disguise ourselves as zombies and wade through them. It’s just a precaution.”
“Yes, it’s all thanks to you, Yujein!”
If we had enough time, Yujein could strike down lightning and reduce the zombie numbers.
Before, we came in such a rush to save Cyprus that Yujein didn’t have a chance to demonstrate her full power, but now we have plenty of time.
Thanks to Yujein using magic several times already, the number of zombies roaming outside had decreased significantly.
…Melon and Cheese must be among them.
“If we search this Temple thoroughly, we might find snacks the Priests hid away.”
“Snacks?”
“Yes! Snacks they crumpled up and stuffed under beds or in drawers so their companions wouldn’t steal them, then forgot about!”
Considering two members of our party had just died, the atmosphere inside the Temple of Beauty and Marriage wasn’t bad at all.
The Princess, Yusara, who was our central pillar, hadn’t become a zombie, and we’d even obtained a sacred relic for reasons unknown.
Since a deity wouldn’t bestow a sacred relic upon someone destined to become another deity’s thrall—a zombie—it was safe to conclude that Yusara hadn’t been infected.
The sacred relic that emerged from the Altar was divided between Yusara and the Crown Prince, who happened to be there.
What could they have done inside for the God of Marriage to grant a sacred relic?
Ah, I really have no idea~
‘Yusara is remarkable. She can actually see zombie soul stones.’
Once we return to the Capital and have time to spare, she promised to explain why only she can see those red stones, didn’t she?
Whatever she says then, I’ll just pretend not to believe her and tease her about it!
Because it’s fun!
Tangerine grinned in anticipation of what lay ahead and yanked out an entire drawer, shaking it vigorously.
“There it is! Candy!”
Here, Tangerine offered Yujein a chocolate confection that had completely melted into a sticky mess.
Yujein’s face fell when she saw the candy, unsure how long it had been sitting there.
“I’m not going to eat that.”
“But you need to eat to maintain your strength, don’t you?!”
“If I eat that and something goes wrong, I’ll lose all my strength running to the Bathroom.”
Aspara seized the opportunity to chime in.
Yusara’s Younger Brother had been suspiciously following only Tangerine around since earlier. Despite being fine now, he showed no interest in his own older sister, who had been on the verge of becoming a zombie just moments ago.
Did he fall in love after getting hit on the back of the neck by Tangerine?
“The chocolate is a limited edition of twelve per day from the dessert shop in front of the Imperial Palace….”
“Beyond the Temple, there’s the City Wall of Sodom, isn’t there?”
Tangerine ignored Aspara’s words and peered outside.
“Reducing the zombie numbers to a non-threatening level will be difficult. Really, it would be best if you ate the candy, Yujein!”
“R-really, I’m, I’m perfectly fine…!”
“The Saint says she’s fine. Give it to me. I’ll eat it. …Wait, why am I suddenly eating it?!”
“Rather than watch it go into the Minor Duke’s mouth…!”
Praha’s gaze swept briefly over the three bickering figures before shifting past them.
There stood Yusara, consoling the sniffling Muffin and the dazed Pochacha.
Pochacha, who had lost her younger brother in an instant, and Muffin, who had lost a cherished older sister. And Cheese’s four-year-old younger sibling.
Yet truthfully, among the group, only Yusara and Yujein genuinely grieved for them.
The rest had grown far too accustomed to death.
When someone beside you dies, you must learn to turn away your heart. Otherwise, you too will perish.
‘And yet I was prepared to follow her into death if she fell.’
Praha believed with absolute conviction that Yusara would not become a zombie.
But if his faith proved misplaced, if Yusara did become one…
After exhausting every possible measure, if there remained no solution…
Then he would ensure she was not alone.
Humanity had reigned as the world’s masters for far too long.
Would it not be acceptable now for zombies to rule instead?
“…I wish I hadn’t realized I was thinking such things.”
“What were you thinking about?”
Cyprus interjected abruptly, thrusting his face forward to ask.
Praha flipped the arrow he was crafting once to test its sharpness, then leveled it at Cyprus’s throat.
“That since I’ve saved you once, I suppose I’m entitled to kill you again.”
“W-why… why would you kill me?”
“Do you not know the reason?”
“I do.”
His answer came with an almost refreshing emptiness.
Praha pressed further.
“Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”
That you possessed such a past.
“What would I have said?”
Cyprus chuckled softly, grasped the arrow Praha held aimed at him, and lowered it before sitting beside him.
“Sitting like this, side by side, it feels like when we were young, doesn’t it?”
In those boyhood days on the battlefield, after grueling duties ended, the two of them would always sit pressed together like this, gazing outward.
Never knowing when death might come, they had hidden nothing of what lay in their hearts.
‘Your backside is practically attached to your waist.’
‘Shut up.’
They had spoken of nearly everything, yet Yusara’s name had never surfaced.
He had shared his innermost secrets while keeping the greatest knot of all unspoken.
That was what Praha was reproaching him for.
“You had plenty of opportunities to tell me.”
“But I genuinely didn’t know what to say. That my father lost his mind? That the mother of that girl who now sends dozens of letters saying how happy she is might have become my stepmother?”
“Somehow. If I had known… I would have done anything.”
“Done what, exactly?”
“Anything.”
“Stop it. When it happened, I couldn’t do anything—so how could you have? That’s just narcissism, Praha.”
Cyprus added playfully, as if to say, “Are you really that amazing?”
“I didn’t want to carelessly reopen my sister’s wounds.”
“….”
“Of course, even if such a thing happened, even if I suffered an injury, my life didn’t end there. I’m still someone with talent, someone worth learning from. But that doesn’t mean I need to broadcast my misfortune everywhere, does it?”
“…I see.”
“Right.”
And for a while, a gentle silence fell between them.
Both were watching the same woman.
They both knew exactly who the other was looking at.
After a brief moment, Praha spoke abruptly.
“You’ve had it rough.”
“Yeah. I’ve been through a lot.”
“But I have no choice—I have to tell this story. It wasn’t Yusara’s fault.”
“…Yeah. You’re right.”
“I understand the hatred. I understand that you couldn’t be rational. But even so, Cyprus, what you did wasn’t revenge or anything of the sort. It was simply playing with another person.”
“…Yeah. That’s true too.”
“And now, to regret it like this.”
Praha’s eyes suggested that such actions would have been better left undone.
I could see Yusara pulling Pochacha close, comforting her as tears streamed down the girl’s face.
Even watching an adolescent weeping over the loss of family, I felt no bitterness, no tightness in my chest.
But if the person crying now were Yusara—if she were the one wearing the same ring as me.
I could do anything to stop her tears.
A self-deprecating smile crossed Cyprus’s face as he looked at the same person.
“Yeah. I’m paying the price now.”
The sin of letting slip through my fingers that precious feeling—the certainty that I would pay any price to regain it.
Praha spoke.
“It turned out well for me. Thanks to your actions, an opportunity came my way.”
“….”
“If you hadn’t acted that way in the past, I would have had nothing. Yusara would still love you, and she wouldn’t have spared me a glance. So I suppose I should thank you.”
Praha’s face held not a trace of jest as he gave a slight bow, saying he was truly grateful.
And that’s when it struck home—he meant every word.
“I’m really glad you made that mistake, Cyprus.”
It was when Praha spoke with such gravity, staring directly at Cyprus.
“Be quiet, will you!”
Tangerine’s voice rang out from across the way.
Having finally reached the limit of his patience with Aspara constantly trailing after him and chattering away, he had snapped.
“Ah, why are you only picking on me….”
Thwack!
Aspara, oblivious to the mood and still chattering away, took Tangerine’s fist straight to the solar plexus and flew backward.
Crash!
“Gasp!”
Yujein, her cheeks dusted with cookie crumbs, covered her mouth with both hands.
Praha shook his head slowly and got to his feet.
“I should go check on him.”
“Check on what?”
“I’m going to pretend to examine the unconscious Minor Duke and make sure he’s lying properly—so I can land another punch.”
It was so perfectly Praha that I couldn’t even muster the will to stop him.
Praha returned the arrow he’d been holding to his quiver and turned to Cyprus, adding a final remark.
“Cyprus.”
“Yeah.”
“If you need anything from me, just say the word.”
“Ah. Something I need. Yeah, I do need something. That ring you and Yusara are sharing right now.”
“Get lost.”
As they prepared to leave Sodom, their next destination was the Capital.
[(Safe Zone) Temple with Sacred Relic]
– Yusara, Praha, Cyprus, Yujein, Tangerine, Aspara, Muffin, Cheese’s Younger Sibling, Pochacha (Survived)

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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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