A Korean Office Worker Who Became a Nuisance Villainess in a Zombie Story - Chapter 6

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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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* * *
Yusara tied her hair back.
She was barely moving her head, worried it might mess up her hairstyle.
After removing the corpse’s shoes and putting them on, she was now tearing the dress.
…That’s strange, isn’t it?
* * *
Silence fell over the corridor.
Everyone was watching my every move.
Even Yujein, who had fallen with me.
‘Of course. When two people fall together but only one receives a helping hand, everyone would be watching carefully.’
It’s like those dating reality shows where on the first night, if someone gets zero votes in a popularity poll, all the other contestants start tiptoeing around them.
Isn’t this feeling kind of like that?
I sighed inwardly and put strength into my legs.
I asked Yujein, who was still sitting on top of me.
“Aren’t you going to get up?”
“Oh! I’m so sorry!”
People who had finally come to their senses tried to help me up.
“It’s fine.”
I declined and got up on my own.
“….”
I rotated my ankle to gauge the extent of the injury. It was just a bit sore, nothing serious.
‘Thank goodness I wore combat boots.’
If I’d been wearing heels in this situation, it would have been a disaster. I wouldn’t have been able to walk.
After testing my ankle a few times—it seemed like it would be fine with a bit of rest—I opened my right hand.
Blood was flowing from the long gash across my palm where I’d been gripping the letter opener.
The sharp, straight wound stung.
It wasn’t severe enough to require treatment, but….
Still, I was bleeding!
‘Thank goodness this is a zombie world.’
If it were a vampire world, they’d already be swarming at the scent of blood. Ugh.
And this pathetic blade was so fragile—it only tore my palm before snapping clean in half.
This hurts like hell. Someone help me. Waaah.
I remained silent, crying only inwardly, while people watched me with anxious eyes.
The first to speak were the two men responsible for this silence—those who had only offered their hands to Yujein.
“My lady, are you alright?”
“I apologize.”
I answered the awkwardly apologizing Crown Prince and Grand Duke without even looking at them.
“It’s fine. What does it matter who helps whom?”
In an unexpected situation, they’d reacted instinctively, and in that split second, both had extended their hands to the person they favored more.
They probably never dreamed they’d both reach for the same person, unintentionally putting me in such an embarrassing position.
There was nothing to apologize for.
‘An apology would only make me look more pathetic.’
What exactly would I be apologizing for? That you like Yujein more than me?
Of course!
It’s a bit disappointing from a human perspective!
No one even asked if I was okay, yet I answered that I was fine on my own—I’m so embarrassed I could die!
But I can’t just cry about it!
‘Forget it, forget it. I’ll have plenty of friends when I go back to Korea. When I fall, I have 999 friends in Seoul ready to pick me up.’
“…My lady.”
“Really, I’m fine. I’m not even badly hurt.”
I replied without meeting her eyes.
When I responded calmly instead of raging and screaming as I should have, the atmosphere grew even more solemn.
It wasn’t the solemnity of concern for me.
It was tension.
Tension that I might do something reckless.
That I, who had received care from neither the Crown Prince nor the Grand Duke, might cry or shout from embarrassment and sorrow, or impulsively abandon the group and run off.
They were worried, that much was true. There was a small part of me that felt sorry too. But more than that.
They feared I might cause trouble.
Indeed, Mascarpone, standing behind Yujein, was already sighing. As if exhausted.
“Why did you pick up a sword and show off, then hurt yourself?”
“My lady, I’m sorry…. I….”
Yujein limped toward me as I fell silent.
“No, no, don’t.”
I grabbed her forearm to stop her as she knelt before me, trying to brush off my dress.
“Don’t. My dress is already dirty anyway.”
“But because of me, my lady…. Are you hurt anywhere? Let me treat——”
“No.”
“But your palm….”
“This is my fault, so you don’t need to worry about it, Yujein.”
Despite my continued denials, Yujein’s expression refused to soften. She looked ready to swap the skin on our palms if she could.
I sighed and spoke.
“If you’re really sorry, then do something about those shoes.”
“Pardon?”
“Break the heels. The men here should be able to handle that much.”
I lifted my eyes and looked at the Crown Prince and Grand Duke in turn. Both, who had been watching Yujein and me with tension, flinched.
“If I had holy power to heal me, I’d use it to fix Yujein’s ankle instead. It looks like she actually twisted it.”
“My lady….”
“Enough. You know we don’t have time for this bickering.”
I cut off Yujein’s continued apologies.
I discarded the broken sword and wiped my bleeding palm roughly on my dress.
I spoke to the gathered crowd.
“Aren’t you leaving?”
Only then did the eyes fixed upon me scatter and disperse. People returned to their respective positions as if nothing had happened.
‘Strangely irritating.’
Fine, not my concern. They’re people I won’t see again once I leave anyway.
* * *
“It appears that knight was defending the Central Staircase and cutting down the corpses as they climbed. In the process, he sustained injuries himself.”
“So he was infected last.”
“Then, since that knight eliminated all the corpses, can we assume there are no more undead remaining?”
“I wish that were the case.”
I had asked “Aren’t you leaving?” but we couldn’t leave immediately.
Reason: no path.
We couldn’t descend by treading upon the corpse-laden staircase.
Setting aside the danger of stepping through soft human flesh and blood, if even one of them were still alive and grabbed at an ankle passing overhead, the situation would spiral beyond control.
As for heading toward the distant Left Corridor….
‘There’s no telling what else might emerge along the way.’
And some were limping from their injuries.
“It appears there are no more corpses in the Central Corridor.”
Judging it dangerous to remain exposed in an open corridor, I entered the 2nd Floor Washroom beside the staircase.
Dazling returned from reconnoitering the perimeter and confirmed it was safe. Simultaneously, people groaned and collapsed to the floor. I too found a relatively less filthy spot and stretched out my legs to sit.
‘I’ve lived this long and never thought I’d end up sitting on a washroom floor.’
The Crown Prince, observing the scattered people with a blank stare, leaned his back against the entrance wall. Dazling took position in the Crown Prince’s blind spot, and the Grand Duke positioned himself in Dazling’s.
Each person stood or sat uneasily, exchanging opinions in hushed tones.
“I hope all the corpses in this mansion are dead out there.”
At Supporting Character 2’s hopeful remark, the Grand Duke shook his head.
“I don’t believe that will be the case.”
Seeing Supporting Character 2’s expression as if crying out ‘Why!’, he continued with the utmost gentleness.
“Remember the Attendant lying collapsed in the corridor near the Sealed Room? The one that bit the knight to death. There are likely other corpses elsewhere that didn’t converge toward the Central Staircase like that Attendant.”
True enough—zombies aren’t dolphins; they wouldn’t all swarm together in unison.
Mascarpone, who had been pondering, asked a question.
“Now that I think about it, how was that Attendant even there?”
“What do you mean by that, Mascarpone?”
“When we discovered him, that Attendant was already a corpse—before transformation, still in an unmoving corpse state. That means he was alive before that.”
“You’re asking how a living person could have evaded the corpses’ attacks and made it to the Right Corridor.”
“Yes. To come this way, one would have to pass through the Central Corridor at some point regardless. As we all know, there’s a knight there who became a corpse. The one His Highness just… dealt with.”
“Perhaps he passed through while the knight was still alive and defending?”
“The knight sent an Attendant who was certain to become a corpse soon?”
The Crown Prince, who had been listening quietly, spoke.
“He likely used the Servant Passage.”
“The Servant… Passage?”
“It’s a passage built within the walls to move quickly without catching the masters’ eyes. A sort of secret corridor—I suspect the Attendant emerged into the hallway near the Sealed Room through there. And then….”
“He died before reaching the Sealed Room.”
The Grand Duke replied.
I, listening in, asked a question.
“Then couldn’t we use that passage as well?”
Look.
————–
(Far off) Left Staircase
Central Staircase
*Current Location
(Somewhere here) Servant Passage
(The Sealed Room we came from)
————–
That’s what it is. Now that we can’t use the Central Staircase, wouldn’t it be better to use that passage?
People glanced at me for suddenly speaking up, but said nothing.
The Crown Prince shook his head.
“There’s a high probability that the corpses—the ones that mangled the Attendant’s arm—are still inside that passage.”
“Ah.”
I hadn’t thought of that.
“Then we’ll have to take the Left Staircase.”
“Yes. The problem is that the staircase is quite far from here.”
“…But there’s no alternative.”
Realistically, the Left Staircase was our only option.
The Crown Prince and Grand Duke seemed to have entered here less to seek other opinions and more to give everyone a brief rest before the long walk to the Left Staircase.
Supporting Character 2, now pallid, asked.
“How far is it?”
“We’d have to walk as far as we came. Then descend the staircase and return to the center again. We don’t know what’s on the 1st Floor.”
Everyone’s gaze naturally fell upon Yujein.
Sensing the attention, Yujein’s cheeks flushed.
Yujein’s sacred power was only enough to mend a paper cut on a finger. She couldn’t heal a sprained ankle. And she’d already exhausted all her abilities—casting blessings upon us.
The Troublemaker sighed.
“Why did you go around casting blessings nobody asked for?”
…Why didn’t you do it sooner?
Human hearts are truly fickle.
Just moments ago, no matter how much he rattled on, I’d kept my mouth shut, thinking ‘I don’t like showing off.’ But now that my body was injured and my mood had darkened, his senseless prattle became unbearably irritating.
‘I’m really no better.’
The Troublemaker continued flapping his mouth, oblivious to the tension.
“Actually, I’ve been thinking about this since earlier.”
He leaned forward at the waist, speaking with solemn resolve.
“Let’s have the men escape first.”
“….”
“….”
“How admirable. Such a cowardly notion.”
The Grand Duke’s sarcasm was sharp, but the Troublemaker remained unmoved.
“Think about it rationally. We can’t all fail to escape just because some people are holding us back.”
“If that’s what you call rational behavior, then I’d rather be emotional….”
“I’m not saying we abandon them entirely. The women go back to their rooms and hide, we escape first and send a rescue team. Isn’t that the most efficient solution? Besides, she can’t even run anymore with that injury!”
Short, stubby fingers pointed at Yujein.
“If it were just one person, we could take turns carrying them, but four? That’s too many.”
Those four were, of course, the women.
Me, Yujein, Mascarpone, and Supporting Character 2.
“Ah, we should have done this from the start. Why did we even bring them along? No strength, poor stamina, can’t even handle weapons…. They’re just dead weight.”
The women had no rebuttal.
Not even the confident Mascarpone, nor the docile Supporting Character 2, and certainly not the commoner Yujein.
They were people with shame, unlike the Troublemaker.
The Crown Prince sighed and called out to the Troublemaker.
“Paprika.”
The Troublemaker, reading the irritation in that voice, spread his palms in a placating gesture. “Okay, okay. You’re something else, hyung. Then leave the knight here as an escort.”
Dazling, suddenly singled out, blinked.
The intention was transparent.
The Crown Prince and Grand Duke were of noble birth, so they’d go. Leave behind the knight who didn’t matter—
‘As a shield.’
Snap.
In that moment, my rationality shattered.
Damn it. I can’t take this anymore.
[2nd Floor Washroom of the Imperial Villa]
– Yusara, Yujein, Crown Prince, Grand Duke, Mascarpone, Supporting Character 2, Dazling, Troublemaker (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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