A Korean Office Worker Who Became a Nuisance Villainess in a Zombie Story - Chapter 188
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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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[Juliet and Romeo]
You’ve heard that title before, haven’t you?
Who on earth wrote the script?
I did.
To be precise, I didn’t write it—I adapted it.
Shakespeare’s work.
No, wait. Listen to me.
The people in this neighborhood don’t know Shakespeare anyway. The copyright’s expired too.
So since I’ve already decided to live in a different world, what’s so wrong with me using it a little…?
‘All proceeds from the performance will go to welfare. If anyone has complaints, I’ll hear them in the Underworld, Mr. Shakespeare.’
Love! Enemies! Escape! Misunderstanding! Poison!
There’s no way this could be boring.
Hamlet and Othello are already in preparation for the next production.
To cater to the tastes of Sodom citizens already addicted to sensational performances while maintaining artistic merit, classics are the way to go.
Even people who aren’t Sodom residents will have no choice but to be absorbed in it.
“The accomplished daughters and sole heirs of two rival families in Sodom…”
I added the setting of accomplished daughters and sole heirs myself.
“They fall in love…”
Look. Kiriel and Cyprus are already completely smitten, and the performance hasn’t even started yet.
Cyprus, who had been staring at the pamphlet with a serious expression, asked a question.
“This isn’t going to end with just one person dying, is it?”
“It’s a secret.”
“Why!”
“Just tell me a little bit, okay?”
Beside the siblings crying out in desperation, Praha leaned forward and asked.
“Could you at least tell me whether the ending is one where someone dies or not?”
“Well… that’s not the ending.”
Both of them die.
“Thank goodness.”
It’s not thank goodness. I couldn’t bear to face Praha, who was visibly relieved, so I turned my attention elsewhere.
A short distance away, I could see Cherry, Muffin, Cheese, and Cheese’s Sibling, who had grown considerably, sitting beside their resurrected parents with hopeful expressions as they sipped juice. Beside them sat Melon and Pochacha, their faces covered, under Kimon’s protection.
I had invited them to show them how this city, which had left only bad memories in the children, had changed. In the case of Melon and Pochacha, since they were the children of the former Local Lord, it seemed best not to draw attention, so I provided them with an escort.
While the children were entrusted to the Southern Region, Kiriel, who had taken care of them directly, waved her hand at Cherry, whose eyes had met hers.
And in the box seats sat my friends and the Former Empress.
‘The funny thing is.’
Do you know why my friends didn’t sit over here and instead sat in the box seats?
‘Because the Former Empress is also there, and that’s scary.’
But in the end, the Former Empress herself said, ‘I don’t want to watch with all those noisy young people,’ and went to the box seats…
That’s what happened.
But then the Former Empress actually went to the box seats saying she didn’t want to watch with all those noisy young people…
So right now, my friends and the Former Empress are sitting together over there….
Look at how pale Yujein and Consomme’s faces have become….
Hehehehe….
I was waving my hand back at Yujein, whose eyes glistened as she waved toward me.
Click. The lights went out.
The audience hall fell silent in an instant.
After hearing the spoiler that the ending wasn’t about someone dying, I whispered to Praha, whose expression had relaxed.
“You can look forward to it. I personally selected all the actors.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. I chose them based on their voice, physique, and acting ability.”
“What about their face?”
Cyprus interjected.
“Face is fourth priority. With makeup, they’re all the same anyway.”
“Really?”
“…But after casting them, they all turned out to be beautiful actors.”
“More than me?”
“See for yourself with your own eyes.”
Just then, the stage lights came on.
The Deer-like Young Man I had carefully selected leaped gracefully onto the stage.
With his pale, classical features, he surveyed the stage, then began his lines while covering his face with one hand.
Praha whispered.
“Is he the protagonist? His face is different from the portrait drawn in the pamphlet.”
“No. He’s a minor role.”
“…A minor role?”
I nodded contentedly at Praha’s surprise.
There are no ugly men in my theater troupe.
“This is a disaster!”
After the performance ended. Smoothie came running from backstage.
Tangerine lightly caught Smoothie as he slid smoothly across the polished floor of the audience hall.
“Th-thank you!”
Smoothie, his cheeks flushed red, bowed repeatedly to Tangerine as he shouted.
“The Former Empress has agreed to sponsor our theater troupe!”
“What?!”
“But Her Majesty has no interest in the arts?!”
Kiriel was even more shocked beside me.
Cyprus chuckled.
“It must be a wedding gift.”
“And other families, including the House of Marquis Diane, have also expressed their willingness to sponsor us!”
“Marquis Diane?”
“Consomme’s mother?”
“You’re not sponsoring us as repayment for saving your child, are you?”
“I already mentioned that! I’m sponsoring because the performance was genuinely entertaining—please don’t misunderstand!”
And!
Smoothie flipped through the notebook he’d brought with a flourish.
“We’ve received multiple inquiries about stage props and costumes! As you instructed, I’ve informed them we’ll connect them with vendors in the lobby after the performance!”
“Well done.”
Beyond tickets and refreshments, we should sell everything we possibly can.
Signed portraits of the actors, child-sized Juliet and Romeo costumes, scripts, pamphlets, sketch collections from rehearsals….
Particularly cunning was how I’d positioned mannequins dressed in the children’s Juliet and Romeo costumes right outside the children’s bathroom—complete with lace gloves and sparkling light-up headbands.
Once those catch a child’s eye, there’s no escaping without a purchase. Open your wallets, parents.
“I’ll prove you can become wealthy without a single mine in your territory….”
Keke keke keke….
Everyone should memorize at least one Shakespeare play, just in case of unexpected possession, dimensional travel, or reincarnation.
Or a musical score, at least.
Since it would be difficult to suddenly fall into another world and invent electricity or cure people through medicine, let’s just pretend to be a genius playwright or composer and get by.
“The journalists from the Capital’s newspapers are responding very positively!”
“We’ll be rich in no time!”
Should I quit being an Imperial Knight and become a personal knight for the Grand Duke’s House instead?! Tangerine shouted.
While the commotion continued, Praha sat quietly in his seat. When I looked over.
“You’re a fraud….”
“Ack.”
“You said it wouldn’t end with someone dying….”
“I didn’t lie….”
“So I thought it was a happy ending. I just waited for both of them to survive.”
“Oh dear.”
Sorry, sorry. Let me comfort him—Praha took my hand and leaned his cheek against my palm, gazing up at me. Cyprus grumbled from beside us.
“Your shameless displays have increased. I can’t bear to watch.”
“Look away then.”
“I was planning to… huh?”
Huh! Cyprus suddenly jumped to his feet.
“There!”
“What is it?”
“Mocha!”
Mocha?
I turned around in surprise.
Tangerine and Praha, and even Yujein who was just approaching us crying (I’m so sad, waaah), all reacted at once.
“Where?!”
“Where is he?”
“W-where?”
Mocha.
The priest who avenged his sibling in Sodom and willingly became a zombie.
The man who found my brother Aspara when he vanished from Sodom.
“There! Two o’clock direction! Fourth row of seats! Black robe!”
“Ah!”
One, two, three… I counted on my fingers.
Then I saw it. A familiar face blending naturally into the audience.
Beside him sat a woman who resembled Mocha, and a strikingly beautiful man whose gender was difficult to discern at first glance.
I only recognized him as Mocha because Cyprus pointed him out—otherwise, even if my gaze had lingered there, I would have passed by without noticing.
His expression and aura had transformed completely.
“It looks like his sibling and brother-in-law are beside him…”
That’s right. Since everyone came back to life, they naturally would have too.
I nodded with a strange sense of nostalgia.
That was when it happened.
Mocha, who had been smiling while patting his sibling’s back, lifted his gaze. Directly toward us.
“…Oh.”
He had definitely seen us.
Because Mocha, pulling his hood down firmly over his head, bowed slightly toward the premium seats where we sat.
“He’s greeting us…”
“Right, seriously. We went through hell because of him.”
“Should we grab him?!”
Tangerine instantly lowered her stance, tensing her entire body as if ready to pounce.
Praha and Cyprus turned to look at me, seeking my opinion.
After all, I was the one who suffered falling from the rooftop because of that zombie back then.
I shook my head.
“It’s fine. Leave him be.”
And I gave Mocha a slight nod in return, accepting his greeting.
“Or should we have Kimon tail him?!”
“That’s fine too. Just let him go.”
Since his family has returned alive, he’s not a dangerous person.
(I know that even if I say it’s fine, thorough Tangerine will still keep watch over his whereabouts anyway…)
Mocha’s younger sibling tapped his shoulder as he continued to look our way. They exchanged smiles before leaving their seats.
I turned my gaze away around then as well.
I met eyes in turn with Praha, Cyprus, Kiriel, and Yujein, who were all staring intently at me.
They have their family.
I have mine.
“The performance… it really does seem like it’ll be a huge success, doesn’t it?”
Wait for it, people of my Territory.
I’ll feed and sustain you by any means necessary.
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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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