A Korean Office Worker Who Became a Nuisance Villainess in a Zombie Story - Chapter 54

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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 stone wall gleaming with polish.
Crimson script densely covering one entire surface.
And what was written there, you ask?
What was written there, indeed!
“…Does anyone here know how to read this?”
Me. Yusara.
Former: Year 3 office worker at Yeouido.
Current: A lady-in-waiting who doesn’t even attend school.
I speak Korean, English, French, and the Empire’s tongue—three of them fluently—but ancient languages? Not a chance….
The place we’re in right now is the ‘Ancient Labyrinth’.
So what could possibly be written on that wall?
‘Ancient script! Which I don’t know!’
“Lady-in-waiting, you don’t know ancient languages?”
“No.”
“….”
“….”
The fact that I—the most esteemed rank in the Empire aside from the imperial family—couldn’t read ancient script sent a wave of shock through the entire group.
I rolled my eyes under the weight of their silent, piercing stares.
‘Yeah, I know.’
I think I’m ignorant too.
‘At this rate, if my companions harbored ill intent, they could swindle me using whatever’s written there and I’d be none the wiser.’
This is the true sorrow of illiteracy.
‘No. Not knowing isn’t shameful. What’s shameful is knowing you don’t know and refusing to learn.’
I’ll just study it the moment we leave here.
Just wait.
I’ll become an office worker fluent in five languages.
“I’m not entirely certain myself.”
Thinking my silence stemmed from embarrassment, Praha came to my defense.
Even resorting to a lie.
“Your Highness, I saw you reading that ancient text book last time….”
“….”
“Ugh, I don’t need your pity! Just tell me what’s written there already!”
“…It describes how to safely escape this labyrinth. As for the specific details….”
Fortunately, it seems everyone except me knows ancient languages.
I sat blinking silently among those concentrating intently on deciphering the text.
Then my eyes met Yujein’s.
“….”
“….”
So you don’t know ancient languages either.
I recalled that Yujein was born an orphan, and that the Temple—which faced persecution from the Emperor—wasn’t in particularly sound financial condition.
Decades of warfare meant orphans were plentiful, and there was no way the Empire could have provided higher education to so many of them.
‘So it’s natural that Yujein doesn’t know ancient language. The problem is me.’
I had plenty of time and excellent resources, yet I hadn’t studied.
I’d start the moment I left this place.
As I steeled my resolve, Yujein’s eyes met mine, and she whispered softly.
“Thank you, my lady.”
“Pardon? For what?”
“You noticed I didn’t understand the ancient language and deliberately phrased it that way for my sake, didn’t you?”
“No, that’s not it at all!”
I waved my hands frantically in surprise.
“I genuinely didn’t know it either, that’s why I said that.”
“Yes, thank you so much.”
“I’m telling you, that’s not—!”
Despite my vehement denials, she paid no attention.
The sparkle in Yujein’s eyes as she looked at me was so radiant my skin practically burned.
‘She’s completely cast me as an angel in her mind, hasn’t she…’
Just because I saved her life once?
Did she forget how I tormented her before…?
‘With her looking at me like that, I can’t betray her expectations.’
A heavy sigh escaped me.
I’d study ancient language the moment I left—no excuses.
-Yusara’s Ancient Language Acrostic-
Ancient: Ancient language study.
Decades: It’s been ages since I graduated university.
Language: What if it’s too difficult?
“I should find something I can do and contribute as well.”
Yujein, her heart now brimming with purpose, clasped her hands together before her chest.
“Is that character an ‘a’?”
“It looks more like an early form of ‘eo’.”
“Can’t we just destroy it all?”
After surveying the group absorbed in deciphering the text, she approached the inscribed wall and began to pray.
A faint light emanated from Yujein as her hand touched the wall.
“…Huh?”
Something unusual caught my eye as I watched her.
“There!”
As Yujein prayed and channeled her divine power into the wall, the beam of light descending from the ceiling intensified dramatically.
Something appeared within that radiance.
“Yujein! Do it again, again!”
I rushed beneath the light and stretched out my arm.
I flailed my arm, trying to grasp the object hovering just within reach.
Cyprus approached from the side and retrieved the object without even rising onto his toes.
Cyprus, eyes lowered, looked at me.
“You’re like a cat flailing about trying to grab a fishing rod, Your Highness.”
“….”
That cat that had gotten into your pants?
Cyprus shook the object and showed it to the others.
“What is it?”
“Could it be a sacred relic?”
“For all that commotion with the iron bars descending and the door closing, it seems far too simple?”
Each person offered their thoughts as they gathered before Cyprus.
The object Cyprus displayed was.
“A disc?”
It was a wooden disc roughly the size of a pizza box.
When I brought my nose close to the disc, it emanated the scent of fine wood.
Though weathered in places and bearing signs of insect damage and decay, it remained an antique and beautiful disc.
At its center, the emblem of the God of Light was inscribed in beeswax.
“What is this?”
“I’m not certain.”
Naturally, everyone’s gaze turned toward Yujein.
But Yujein shook her head as well.
“I don’t sense any particularly intense divine power. The entire maze is suffused with the God’s presence, but this doesn’t stand out from that.”
“Could it be a compass to help us escape the maze?”
“But there’s no needle or arrow on it?”
“Hmm.”
The disc, which had been passed around among us one by one, finally came into my hands.
“Ugh.”
“Be careful. It’s heavier than it appears.”
“Indeed. Why is it so heavy?”
It’s made of wood, not metal—there’s no reason it should be this heavy.
As I tilted my head and lifted the disc, my gaze met Cyprus’s.
“….”
“….”
“You’re thinking the same thing as me right now, aren’t you, Your Majesty?”
Cyprus and I have known each other since childhood.
No matter how much we despise each other, there are moments like this when we understand each other with just a glance.
Cyprus took the disc back from me and made a show of hesitation.
“I’m not sure if I can manage this with my weakened arm strength….”
“Hush. Stop talking nonsense.”
“Yes.”
Grasping both ends of the disc, Cyprus applied force and snapped it cleanly in half.
I quickly caught the object that was falling from within.
“Huh!”
“As expected.”
Cyprus grinned and high-fived me lightly before showing the object to the others.
“It’s an hourglass! Though it doesn’t seem to work.”
An hourglass with a frame of gold and ruby, filled with white sand.
It looked no different from an ordinary hourglass, yet no matter how much I flipped or tilted it, the sand wouldn’t fall.
“Should we break it open?”
“Let’s hold onto it just in case. We can always break it open later.”
“Understood.”
Well then, everyone.
“Would someone be kind enough to read that inscription for someone as illiterate as me?”
I pointed at the wall with my right hand holding the hourglass.
Ancient characters that were painful just to look at.
“I will!”
Tangerine stepped forward eagerly.
“Thank you, Tangerine.”
“Not at all! My ancient language skills aren’t very good either, so I wanted to use this opportunity to practice!”
If there are any shortcomings in my interpretation, the two princes beside me will surely point them out!
“Well then….”
In God’s Maze,
those who
desire shall obtain the way.
God has made a
prom
ise.
To those who pass through this trial,
I shall
bestow upon you the
pow
ers of divinity.
God
keeps
promises.
Rather, because I am God, I must
keep
them all the more.
“So if you faithfully follow this rule, God will also keep their promise.”
“It suddenly switched to informal speech?”
“It’s not that! It’s just that my ancient language skills are insufficient!”
“Aha!”
God of Light
advises
you thus.
First. Depart this place at once.
Second. Should you lay hands upon
that
which is not righteous, death shall claim you.
Third.
Turn away from the woman who took her own life.
Fourth. Fortune cannot favor you eternally.
Fifth.
Abandon
your missing companions.
Sixth. Never, ever defy God of Light.
“Your God is temperamental and harbors grudges without end
….”
….”
“….”
“And finally….”
Tangerine, having read thus far, furrowed her brow and tilted her head.
“What is it, Lady Tangerine?”
“I’m admittedly poor with ancient tongues, but the final sentence carries a different tone! It feels as though the speaker has changed!”
“What do you mean?”
“I told you to leave at once.”
“….”
“….”
“Ah!”
“My lady!”
I curled inward as searing pain erupted through my hand.
My companions’ gazes snapped toward me as I cried out.
Praha reached me first, drawing forth a waterskin and pouring it over my hand.
“My lady!”
Yujein pressed close beside me, grasping my hand and channeling her healing power.
“…I’m all right.”
I shook my head at my companions, who had gathered protectively around me.
It wasn’t fire consuming my hand.
Light had erupted from the hourglass I held clasped within my palm.
“The hourglass….”
Slowly, I opened my palm to reveal it.
“…!”
The golden hourglass I’d been holding was seeping into my palm.
Shrunk to fit the size of my hand, the red and golden hourglass absorbed like a tattoo etched into skin.
White sand grains were falling slowly from within it.
Downward, downward.
The clock that wouldn’t move no matter what now refused to stop even when I tilted my palm.
Time had begun to flow.
“….”
“….”
Yujein shook her head after attempting to channel her divine power in silence.
“It’s a power superior to mine.”
“….”
“….”
“When all this sand falls… what will happen?”
Who knows.
My death?
“But there is one silver lining. Now I won’t need torches—I can see well enough with just my palm, can’t I?”
I gazed down at my palm glowing brilliantly in the darkness.
Like when I’d turned off all the lights and only activated my smartphone, only my hand shimmered.
That’s why the white sand falling grain by grain was even more visible.
“Think positively. Now even if I get separated from you all, you can find me easily, right? My hand will be the only thing glowing in the darkness.”
“Are you jesting at a time like this, my lady?”
As if not joking would make the situation any better.
I laughed dryly and closed my hand.
“I’m still fine. Why is everyone so gloomy?”
“But….”
“Enough. Let’s move quickly. We need to act instead of wallowing in despair.”
Sitting here won’t make the clock disappear on its own.
If you’re worried about me, then move.
“You’re right, my lady! Let’s go!”
Tangerine, the first to regain her composure, took the lead.
We began walking again, but the atmosphere had grown noticeably heavier.
Praha approached my side as I walked, deliberately trying not to look at my palm.
His expression was troubled.
‘Anyone watching would think the clock had appeared on his own hand.’
His large hand hovered near mine for a long moment before he finally managed to ask.
“Does it hurt?”
“No. It doesn’t hurt at all.”
“I apologize. I should have been holding it.”
“Don’t say such nonsensical things. It was simply bad luck on my part.”
“But if something happens to the princess. I will.”
“…?”
You will what?
I don’t think I’ll ever forget the expression on Praha’s face as I glanced up at him then.
Sorrowful, yet angry.
As though struck by a devastating blow, finally accepting a truth he’d long denied.
A face where countless emotions flickered and vanished all at once.
I suppressed the urge to ask why he wore such an expression without even realizing it.
“It’s fine, Your Majesty. We just need to obtain the sacred relic and escape quickly.”
“Yes. I’ll hurry.”
“Good. I like that positive attitude.”
‘He must be really worried about me.’
My heart softened, and I pretended not to notice as Praha’s large hand hesitated beside mine, unable to move forward or back for a long moment.
‘If you want to hold it, just hold it. Don’t hesitate.’
Your holding my hand won’t make the hourglass disappear, but if it eases your mind, then so be it.
“Really, it’s fine. Surely a zombie won’t just pop out of my hand, right?”
[Ancient Labyrinth: Chamber of Revelation]
– Yusara, Praha, Cyprus, Yujein, Tangerine (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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