A Korean Office Worker Who Became a Nuisance Villainess in a Zombie Story - Chapter 2

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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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A mangled head bounced and rolled toward me, thump after thump.
The head of someone who no longer had one.
No, wait….
A torso—what used to be someone—thrashed about until an Imperial Knight kicked it out of the room and slammed the door shut.
“Kyaaaah!”
“Aaaah!”
Chaos erupted in the room.
I stared silently down at the head that had rolled and come to rest at my feet.
“….”
It was unmistakably a human head.
Brown hair hung haphazardly across the face, deep bite marks gouged into the cheek. The eyes were still open, strands of hair embedded in them.
I squeezed my eyes shut, then opened them again.
It wasn’t nearly as frightening as I’d imagined.
‘I’ve never been easily scared.’
If I panicked over something like this, how would I survive what was coming?
Honestly, all I could think was how ridiculous this was.
‘This isn’t some school drama. What is this…? I’m not a high school student—I’m a working adult. Send me home.’
Still, if I remained too composed, it would look suspicious.
I glanced around nervously, then screamed.
“Aaah… aaaah. This is terrifying!”
Fortunately, no one paid attention to my performance.
The other Imperial Knight standing guard in the room hurriedly brought a tablecloth to cover the rolling head.
“Are you alright?”
He asked kindly, assuming I was frozen in shock as I stared blankly at the head.
“Yes, I’m fine.”
“Shall I bring you some warm water?”
“If I need it, I’ll drink it. Thank you.”
Only after speaking did I realize that “thank you” didn’t suit a villainess, but what did it matter?
By now, everyone except me had huddled close together. Supporting Character 1, 2, and 3 quietly moved toward the protagonists they’d been sitting with.
Supporting Character 3 was the first to plop down in the only empty chair across from Yujein.
“Ugh… I’m going to be sick. What is that….”
For the record, he was the only male among the supporting characters.
As Supporting Character 1 and 2 hesitated, now standing, the Crown Prince and Grand Duke sprang to their feet.
“Please, sit here.”
“No, we couldn’t possibly….”
“No, really. We were thinking of standing anyway. Isn’t that right, Praha?”
“Yeah.”
Even though the two highest-ranking people here were now standing, Supporting Character 3 didn’t seem to care.
‘Wasn’t Supporting Character 3 the Crown Prince’s cousin?’
The pieces fell into place. This bastard was going to cause me no end of headaches down the road.
‘From now on, your name is Troublemaker.’
“I… um.”
Supporting Character 2, who had suddenly found herself sitting in the Crown Prince’s chair, opened her mouth with an embarrassed expression. Her face was drained of color by fear.
“A severed head. That is, a dead person, you understand? What could their identity be? The Attendant wouldn’t have suddenly gone mad and rushed into the room alone… Could it be an assassin sent by the Republic? Something like that?”
The Grand Duke responded as if in agreement.
“If that’s the case, then one of our Imperial Knights must have cut off the assassin’s head. The problem is why there’s no one outside.”
In a world with no concept of zombies, it was a natural reaction.
They couldn’t possibly imagine that wasn’t an assassin but a moving corpse. Even less could they fathom that the corpse could infect others.
I folded my arms and listened quietly to their conversation.
Let’s see what they say.
Let me gauge their intelligence level.
“Assassin or not, the important thing is how an outsider got onto this Island.”
“That’s right. Only authorized people can come and go on this Island, right? And the only way to enter is through the portal inside the Imperial Palace. That’s why we left all our servants and guards behind…”
“Could something have happened at the Imperial Palace?”
No. The Imperial Palace is fine.
The zombies didn’t come through the portal—they suddenly poured out of thin air above this Island.
“Where have all the Imperial Knights supposed to protect us gone? At least the Attendants?”
They’re all infected.
“What do we do? There are only two Imperial Knights in this room. If someone really is attacking us…”
“Even if we count all the Imperial Knights who came to this Island, there aren’t even ten of them, are there?”
“Why isn’t anyone coming to help us…”
Because they’re all infected, that’s why.
It was frustrating knowing the answer but being unable to speak it.
“Are you all right?”
Just then, a voice fell from above my head.
I lifted my gaze and saw the source of the voice. It was the Crown Prince.
His black hair had fallen slightly across his forehead from the earlier commotion. Between the collar of his white shirt, buttoned all the way up, I could see a distinctly masculine neckline.
A deep voice paired with a flawless jaw. Eyes that gleamed straight and indifferently.
If this were my reality, I would have fallen in love without hesitation—his appearance was that striking.
‘So striking it’s almost terrifying.’
According to the future I knew, it was ultimately this man who killed Yusara in the novel.
‘Still, the noblewoman Yusara certainly had high standards.’
I met the gaze of the male protagonist who seemed to have no affection for me and replied.
“Yes. I’m fine.”
“Your complexion doesn’t look well.”
“I’m just tired.”
“In times like these, it’s better to stay with others if possible.”
“Ah.”
So he hadn’t come to worry about me.
He was telling me to leave.
I met the Crown Prince’s expressionless gaze for a few seconds before standing.
Seeing me rise, the troublemaker buried himself deeper into his chair. As the only man among the four currently occupying seats, his determination not to yield his place was palpable.
‘Sigh.’
I wasn’t going anywhere.
I simply leaned against a nearby table instead.
The Crown Prince, having dismissed me, immediately pulled away the tablecloth that had been covering the head.
“Ugh….”
Ignoring the troublemaker’s retching sounds, he knelt before the severed head and examined it carefully.
The Crown Prince spoke.
“The neck was already severed.”
“Pardon?”
“I merely pushed him, yet the head separated from the body. That struck me as odd.”
When the others failed to understand, the Crown Prince, who had fallen silent for a moment, continued his explanation.
“My knight did not use a weapon against this Attendant who rushed at us. He simply pushed with his bare hands. Yet the head came off. That means the Attendant’s neck was already nearly severed before my knight opened the door. Severed to the point where merely touching it would cause separation from the body.”
The Grand Duke, frowning, responded.
“In other words, despite the neck being severed to that degree, he still managed to charge all the way here intact.”
“And he even made a sound.”
“How did he make a sound with his neck severed?”
“I don’t know.”
Fascinating, the Grand Duke murmured, walking toward me.
“Pardon me.”
He flashed me a smile with his eyes while I stood leaning against the table, then moved past me to stand before the Crown Prince. The Grand Duke and Crown Prince knelt side by side, examining the head together.
“Something bit at this. An animal?”
“The teeth marks seem too weak to be from a beast.”
I wondered if the male lead had earned his position through looks alone—both men seemed quite sharp. I simply stood there, watching the two examine the severed head.
Don’t draw attention. Absolutely, absolutely, absolutely don’t draw attention.
The Crown Prince rose to his feet, brushing dust from his knees.
“I cannot determine what this is from observation alone.”
“Then….”
“We should venture outside to investigate.”
He spoke calmly, then turned to the knight guarding the door.
“Have you confirmed the situation outside?”
“Yes, Your Highness. The Attendant guarding the door and the knight patrolling the Corridor have both abandoned their posts. However.”
“However?”
“I believe I saw someone collapsed near the Central Staircase. They were dressed as an Attendant.”
I couldn’t help but look at the knight’s face upon hearing that.
Did he realize?
That what he’d just said was a death flag planted directly into himself.
* * *
In the novel, the story proceeds as follows from here.
Two Imperial Knights, acting on the Crown Prince’s orders, bring in an Attendant collapsed in the Corridor.
The Attendant, apparently killed instantly by a pierced heart, is missing an entire arm.
As they lay the body on the floor and examine whether this is truly an Attendant, what weapon pierced the heart, the Attendant’s remaining hand suddenly twitches.
“He appears to be alive!”
The moment the urgently shouting Imperial Knight presses his ear to the Attendant’s chest.
The Attendant, now a zombie, lunges at the Imperial Knight.
People frantically tear the Attendant away, but it’s already too late—the Imperial Knight, his vital points torn open, dies.
And moments later, the Imperial Knight transforms as well.
Losing a valuable Imperial Knight in a room of pure nobility, the incident throws everyone into tension and teaches them about zombies.
And it was I, Yusara, the protagonist of this novel, who opposed bringing the corpse into the room.
Of course, I didn’t object logically.
“Why are you bringing a corpse in here! What if that body starts moving like the one with its neck cut off earlier! Are you sure it’s really dead? Check properly! Actually, there’s no need to check—just cut its head off and dump it somewhere!”
It was selfish and despicable dialogue, but it was the optimal response.
Though it was cleanly ignored.
The key point here was that “even my objections would be ignored.”
No matter what I said, these people would dismiss my words. That’s how the story had to progress.
“Anyway, that Imperial Knight has to die for the incident to move forward. I can’t stay here forever.”
I watched the Imperial Knight with complicated feelings.
He was young. At most, twenty-five.
The Crown Prince commanded the Imperial Knights.
“Go and bring him. Move together, don’t act rashly, and confirm whether he’s dead first.”
“What if he’s already dead?”
“Doesn’t matter. Bring him regardless—corpse or not. Restrain him.”
The Crown Prince unwound a silver cord resembling violin strings from his wrist and tossed it to a nearby Imperial Knight.
In the novel too, the Crown Prince instructs them to carefully bind the corpse’s arms and mouth with that cord. To prepare for any contingency.
The problem was that the zombie bit the Imperial Knight even as the sharp cord sliced through his lips.
“Should we restrain him even if he’s a corpse?”
“When people with severed necks are moving around, there’s no harm in being careful.”
The Crown Prince replied quietly and headed toward the door.
“Your Highness? Where are you going?”
“Someone must guard the door while you’re out.”
“What? There’s no need for Your Highness to do that! One of us will do it!”
“Then I’ll go out and check the corpse myself.”
“Your Highness! How could you!”
“I’ll go with you.”
That’s when the Grand Duke, grinning widely, interjected.
“Your Grace….”
The Grand Duke spoke to the two bewildered Imperial Knights.
“What choice do we have? There are only two of you knights here, and besides you, only Praha and I know how to handle weapons. If you go out, it’s right that we guard the door.”
“But…!”
“Don’t worry. They won’t lock the door while the knights are gone.”
Her tone was gentle but resolute.
‘The Crown Prince has weapons at least. She’s unarmed and yet fearless.’
The knights swallowed hard, suddenly finding themselves under the protection of two nobles.
The Crown Prince and Grand Duke, positioned on either side of the door, exchanged a signal and pulled it open.
The moment it swung wide, a headless corpse lay exposed, its belly visible.
“Ugh.”
I’m sick of that nuisance retching.
Everyone swallowed and kept their eyes fixed outside the door.
Sure enough, someone was leaning against the distant wall, half-reclined.
Two sword-wielding knights began moving cautiously forward.
One of them will die soon.
Will die.
One of them will….
“Wait!”
Ah… damn it.
So I’m stepping up after all, Yusara….
[Imperial Villa 2nd Floor Secret Room]
– Yusara, Yujein, Crown Prince, Grand Duke, Supporting Character 1, Supporting Character 2, Nuisance, Imperial Knight 1, Imperial Knight 2 (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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