A Korean Office Worker Who Became a Nuisance Villainess in a Zombie Story - Chapter 57

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Mission.
Let’s leap across the Cliff!
Q. But I can’t jump that far?
A. No worries! This tall, handsome man here will throw you across!
Now only Praha and I remain on this side.
“I’m ready.”
I retied my hair while waiting for Praha to throw me, adjusting my bag to hang in front of me.
I prepared myself to fly as lightly and unobtrusively as possible.
“My lady! Cross over quickly! I swear on my life I’ll catch you!”
Praha glared at Cyprus, who stood across the way with both arms spread wide, showing off.
“…Huh?”
He simply lifted me into his arms.
Face to face with him.
My legs, suddenly suspended in mid-air, instinctively wrapped around Praha’s waist.
“Please don’t hold my neck. I’ll jump like this.”
“…”
“Is it uncomfortable?”
“No! I’m fine with this! It’s safe! But that’s not it… I think I might smell of sweat.”
I hadn’t properly bathed in days, and today I’d rolled around in the dirt, so I must have looked absolutely wretched.
‘People who fall in love while adventuring together are incredible. They feel love bloom seeing me like this?’
But Praha remained unfazed.
“I smell too.”
No, you smell like soap.
But before I could say that, Praha started running.
“Hnngh!”
Terrifying!
I forgot everything I was about to say and clung desperately to Praha’s neck.
The thought that falling meant death made my limbs automatically tighten.
Then I felt Praha’s arm around my back tense slightly.
“…”
“…”
“Your Highness?”
“You can open your eyes now.”
We were across in an instant.
I lifted my face from where it had been buried in Praha’s chest.
“We actually made it across…”
I was alive.
Cyprus approached as I exhaled in relief.
“My lady, are you all right?”
“Yes. I’m fine. …Aren’t you going to ask if the Crown Prince is all right?”
“This fellow should be fine. Allow me to assist.”
Cyprus extended his hand, telling me to grab hold and come down.
Praha, cleanly ignoring that outstretched hand, set me on the ground with his own strength.
“Thank you…?”
It didn’t matter to me, but was this really okay?
Yet despite being so openly ignored, Cyprus wore an amused expression.
Cyprus glanced down at his own hand suspended in mid-air, then chuckled softly as he spoke to Praha.
“You’re not even trying to hide it anymore, are you?”
But Praha ignored this remark as well, offering no response.
“Are you injured anywhere, my lady?”
He looked only at me, examining me carefully from side to side.
Tangerine, who had come to stand beside us, asked a question.
“Your Highness the Crown Prince, what were you hiding?”
Her hearing was quite sharp.
“Your Highness! What were you hiding, I ask!”
“Nothing.”
“Hmm. It’s not a snack, is it?”
“…No snack.”
“Then that settles it!”
Tangerine’s eyes gleamed with the conviction that she would never forgive the Crown Prince, no matter his station, if he had hidden snacks. I handed her a pouch of jelly I had brought along.
“I wasn’t hiding it—I was planning to share it with everyone later.”
“Oh! You truly are a lady of grace!”
“Hehe.”
‘Is there a lot of sour powder on it?’ ‘It’s covered so thickly you can barely see the jelly.’ ‘Please have some too, Saint!’ ‘I’m quite all right…’
In the meantime, Praha and Cyprus exchanged a few words between themselves before rejoining our group.
Praha wore a frown as he said something to Cyprus, but I couldn’t hear what it was.
‘Not my concern. As long as the two of them don’t start fighting.’
Yujein, who had been glancing nervously at her surroundings, asked a question.
“What was the third precaution from earlier?”
“Ah. I wrote it down.”
[Ignore the woman who took her own life.]
No matter how many times I read it, this precaution left an unsettling feeling.
If she truly took her own life, there must surely be a story behind it—so why tell us to ignore her?
‘In the land of Janghwa and Hongryeon, such a thing could never happen.’
It was only because this was the Empire, not Korea.
“Who on earth would take their own life here in the labyrinth?”
“Indeed. Why would anyone choose to die in a maze?”
“Surely they didn’t think, ‘I must die so that I become a precaution carved into the labyrinth!'”
“If she’s been carved into the labyrinth, she must have died at least several centuries ago—but what if her remains have already decomposed entirely?”
“Wouldn’t her bones still remain?”
Speculation flew from every direction.
Wary of arrows that might rain down from anywhere, we trudged on for quite some time longer.
Cyprus checked the time and spoke.
“It’s already evening. Shall we find somewhere safe and have a meal?”
“Is there anywhere safe in this place…?”
“Of course there is, Holy Maiden!”
Yujein looked particularly downcast today.
She was clearly exhausted but couldn’t bring herself to suggest rest, reading my mood.
‘It must feel awkward to ask for a break in front of me, who’s wearing a watch on my palm.’
I sat down first, sensing her unspoken need.
“I can’t go any further today. How about we rest here and continue tomorrow?”
“Are you in much pain, Lady?”
“Yes! My knees feel completely worn away!”
“Knees are precious! Let’s rest!”
Tangerine bolted off to find the least hot and cleanest spot available.
We prepared to spend the night in the suitable place she found.
“Is it alright to keep a fire burning through the night? Will we run out of oxygen?”
“A small fire should be fine.”
“Grand Duke, I’ll cut the bread.”
I helped Cyprus with the meal preparations, now a familiar routine.
“Holy Maiden, lie down at once!”
“I’m really fine… Or should I give Tangerine a massage instead?”
I listened to Tangerine and Yujein bickering.
“Good grief.”
I stretched my legs out and sat on the floor.
“We’ll eat together when the Crown Prince returns.”
“Sounds good.”
I sat idly, waiting for Praha to return from his reconnaissance.
“May I see your hand for a moment?”
Cyprus, who had returned after organizing the remaining provisions, spoke to me.
“My hand?”
“Yes. The one with the watch.”
Too tired to protest, I obediently extended my hand.
Cyprus placed his hand against mine and slowly closed his eyes.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m hoping the watch might transfer over this way.”
“For heaven’s sake.”
Naturally, it had no effect whatsoever.
“Perhaps it’s a matter of willpower? Try wishing with all your might. Pray that you can pass this golden watch to the golden-haired handsome man right in front of you.”
“That’s quite enough.”
Will I be arrested for attempting to assassinate a member of the imperial family?
I clapped my hands together sharply against his.
You need to be hit harder. I struck with genuine force, yet you don’t even seem to be in pain.
Cyprus blinked and lifted the corners of his mouth.
“It’s nice to see you smile, my lady.”
“I’m not smiling because I’m happy.”
I’m displeased right now.
I won’t find any happiness until I escape this labyrinth and wash my body in cool water.
“You seem frustrated. What would I need to do to make you smile genuinely?”
“I don’t know. How about catching that insect on the ceiling?”
“That’s easily done.”
“And stay far away from my side.”
“Ah.”
“Hmph.”
I turned my head away primly and fanned myself with quick, sharp motions.
‘I’m dying from the heat, and he’s spouting nonsense beside me.’
Hot, throat parched, exhausted.
A complete disaster.
I’m so drained that I’ve lost my appetite….
“When is the Crown Prince coming back….”
As I muttered, my eyes closed without my realizing it.
Nodding off, my head began to tilt to the side when someone caught it.
“My apologies….”
“Just sleep.”
That was my intention anyway.
I’ve endured so much today….
I lack even the strength to open my eyelids again.
‘I should eat. Even if I’m not hungry, I should eat.’
And so I fell asleep.
“Don’t worry too much. If it comes to that, there’s someone who would transfer that hourglass to their own body just to save you.”
Against the backdrop of a voice settling softly near my ear.
* * *
“Praha.”
“….”
“Now you won’t even respond.”
“Why.”
“Catch that insect for me.”
“Do it yourself.”
“Yusara asked me to.”
“Fine.”
“Does it bother you that she’s leaning on me and sleeping?”
“….”
“But what can I do? If I move now, I’ll wake her up.”
“Be quiet.”
“And that hourglass over there—no matter how tenderly you glare at it, it won’t disappear.”
“That’s not why I was looking.”
“Then why were you looking?”
“….”
Without answering, Praha rose to his feet. He chased away an insect crawling toward us, then sat back down beside Cyprus.
Yusara was sleeping with her head resting on Cyprus’s lap.
“….”
The fact that Yusara could die, that danger could strike at any moment—these realizations had taught Praha much.
For instance….
“Praha. If Yusara wakes up, should I tell her you fanned her all night?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Why would I need her to know?”
“Huh?”
“As long as she slept well, that’s enough. Why would I need to tell her?”
The feelings he was trying so hard to deny.
“Your arm must hurt from fanning all night.”
“If I lack the strength to fan for just a few hours…no, never mind.”
Praha closed his mouth and turned his head away.
Across the small fire, Yujein and Tangerine were sleeping.
Since Tangerine had traveled the most, the two men had agreed to keep watch instead.
Still, Tangerine wasn’t the type to sleep deeply, so she might be listening to this conversation right now, but whatever.
This time, Praha rose again to catch an insect crawling near Yujein and Tangerine’s heads.
Standing, Praha looked down at Cyprus with only his eyes.
“You’re watching too.”
“Huh?”
“You’re watching too, Cyprus.”
He’d omitted what exactly he was watching, but Cyprus understood.
Praha moved without looking any longer at Cyprus’s expression—as if he’d been struck.
He wanted to escape this wretched labyrinth as soon as possible.
* * *
“I wish I could take a bath….”
It’s really hot and humid here.
“Did you sleep well, my lady?”
“Yes, and how did you sleep, Yujein?”
“I slept well too!”
I caught a glimpse of Yujein, whose complexion looked pallid, and stretched languidly.
‘Was the sleeping arrangement uncomfortable? I managed well enough.’
Despite the oppressive heat, I’d slept surprisingly soundly.
A gentle breeze drifted through from somewhere, keeping the air pleasant.
“My lady, you didn’t eat dinner last night either, did you?”
Cyprus, who had woken some time ago, offered me a ration.
He looked just as grimy and unwashed as I was, yet somehow he appeared so radiant.
“I’ll eat well.”
I tossed the hard food into my mouth and stretched my sides.
As I loosened my body and dawdled through breakfast, Tangerine returned from reconnaissance and cried out.
“There’s a corpse ahead!”
“A corpse?”
“Yes! A woman’s corpse! The problem is!”
“The problem is?”
“It hasn’t decomposed at all! It looks like she just died!”
At those words, we all scrambled to gather our things and stand.
“This way!”
The place Tangerine led us to was another cavern.
A spacious one, like the location where we’d first discovered the ancient warnings written in that forgotten tongue. In the empty expanse—
hung a woman by her neck.
A woman suspended by a rope that stretched down from the ceiling, wound around her throat.
Disheveled blonde hair, a white dress like a mourning gown. A face hidden behind the strands. Pale bare feet. Limbs unmarred by a single wound.
Her body swayed slowly back and forth.
“….”
No traces of fire, no stench of decay, no traps—nothing existed but an empty space.
Only the corpse hanging there, solitary and stark.
“The rope is… quite long, isn’t it?”
“Where could it be coming from?”
I refrained from approaching hastily and first observed the surroundings.
‘But there should be something.’
There was nothing but that woman.
My gaze traced from the rope above, past the dead woman, and swept across the pristine bare floor.
Nothing. Absolutely nothing.
Not even insects.
‘So am I supposed to simply ignore her and pass by?’
Something felt off.
A sense of discord gnawed at me.
Like viewing a portrait painted with something fundamentally wrong.
“…Is that person really dead?”
[Ancient Labyrinth: Priest’s Chamber]
– Yusara, Praha, Cyprus, Yujein, Tangerine (Survived)

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————