A Korean Office Worker Who Became a Nuisance Villainess in a Zombie Story - Chapter 79

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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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“Are we really going to be the only ones stuck with this mess?”
“…At this point, we’re already dead men walking anyway….”
Tap.
Sigh.
“This is insane….”
Slump.
My legs gave out beneath me, all strength drained away.
I slid down with my back against the door, sinking to the floor.
I’d barely managed to slip into the Office and close the door behind me just before the two Thugs who’d been chattering to each other on their way up could spot me.
Turns out there was a lock mechanism on the bottom of the door.
‘I thought I was done for—caught without even putting up a fight.’
If I’d been caught, Praha would have burst out of the Wardrobe, and then everything would have gone to hell….
I pressed my fist hard against my chest near my heart, which had nearly leapt out of my mouth several times today, while covering my mouth with my other hand and listening intently to what was happening outside.
As I’d expected, the Thugs simply walked past the wide-open Reception Room.
“Whoa, that liquor!”
“That’s expensive stuff!”
…Let me correct myself. They didn’t simply walk past.
The Thugs caught sight of the crystal bottle I’d carelessly shattered and started lamenting the waste, even with their lives hanging in the balance.
Execution looming right before their eyes, and they’re going on about alcohol.
What could possibly matter more right now….
No wonder your lives turned out like this….
“Should we try drinking what spilled on the floor?”
“Hey, is this really the time?”
“Why not! We might die soon anyway! Honestly, the Baron probably found it burdensome to come up here himself, so he sent us, right?!”
“Quiet! What if someone hears!”
“Who’s going to hear! Maybe the princess! …Hey, wouldn’t it be better to switch sides and join the Crown Prince right now?”
“That’s nonsense. What about the kids downstairs? If we side with the Crown Prince, do you think they’ll just leave us alone?”
“….”
“Get your head straight. Did you see the Crown Prince earlier? He’s already half-dead. There’s no benefit to saving him and getting him out of here.”
“Still….”
“Even if the Crown Prince regains consciousness and sides with us, do you really think the four of us—including the princess—could escape? How many people are on the lower floors?”
They’re scrambling in their own way to find a means of survival.
Chaos, pure chaos.
‘You don’t need to worry about the kids downstairs chasing us. They’re already zombies.’
I swallowed the words I couldn’t say, keeping them locked inside.
I forced myself up, leaning on thighs that had gone numb and weak.
My hands had been slick with sweat since earlier. I dragged whatever I could grab—chairs, footstools—and piled them as a barricade in front of the door.
“Ugh, damn….”
I sucked on my finger, which stung from being scraped against the papers on the desk.
After thoroughly trashing the room, I finally threw open the window wide.
Even if they somehow managed to break down the Office door and get in, I’d make them think I’d jumped out the window.
‘They’d search for me after I jumped, head back down to the 1st Floor, and get bitten by the zombies that came back up.’
So where exactly was I planning to be during all this?
I slipped off my shoes and stuffed them into my pocket.
I wiped my slick palms carelessly on my clothes, then wrapped them thoroughly with a few napkins I’d found on the Local Lord’s desk.
And without hesitation, I extended my feet out the window.
That’s right.
I was going to climb out through this room’s window, scale the exterior wall, and slip in through the Adjacent Room’s window where Praha was….
Just like in that movie….
‘Though I think they at least grabbed onto curtains or something….’
It’s fine.
I won’t die even if I fall.
It’s only the Second Floor anyway, right?
Besides, there’s no other option.
While I peered down and swallowed hard, the Thugs—who’d already been fighting, cursing, screaming, and causing all manner of chaos among themselves—had arrived at the Office door where I was.
Bang bang bang!
“My lady!”
At the sound of them pounding roughly on the door, my body, already halfway out the window, nearly slid down completely.
“My lady!”
“Come out! Let’s talk with us!”
“We won’t kill you! Just come out!”
“Surely there’s room for negotiation between us?!”
Room for negotiation?
You cornered members of the Human Trafficking Ring!
‘If things go south, you’ll betray us first—that much is obvious!’
Without responding, I pushed my body completely out through the window.
Fortunately, the 1st Floor remained quiet.
I gripped the gaps between the exterior bricks, decorative carvings, and protruding flag holders to steady myself against the wall.
“Phew.”
It’s really fine. As long as I don’t look down. No need to rush—slow and steady. As long as my feet don’t slip….
Bang bang bang!
“My lady!”
“…!”
I almost slipped just now, you bastard…!
The tips of my fingers, straining with effort, had turned pale yellow. I glanced sideways with just my eyes and saw the Reception Room window was still quite far away.
Was it really this far?
Why am I here suffering through this absurdity?
If I’d known life would turn out like this, I would’ve started rock climbing at ten years old! I would’ve gone to medical school instead of business school!
But you can’t always go where you want to go!
“I really hate this, seriously! Ugh!”
Don’t cry! You’re losing your nerve!
“One, two, three!”
Crash!
The men who had been desperately pounding on the Office door and calling for me were now two of them, moving in unison as they threw their shoulders against it repeatedly.
They seemed utterly incapable of imagining that the Crown Prince they sought so desperately was in the wide-open Reception Room right next door, while I—a mere court lady—clung to the wall above them.
“One, two, three!”
Crash!
Each time they rammed their shoulders against the door, the impact sent vibrations through the air, but I couldn’t care less about anything else—my sole concern was whether the tremor might shake the wall and send me plummeting to the ground.
And I’d also have to worry about Praha, that hot-headed fool, bursting out of his injuries to snap their necks for this disturbance.
“…gasp…”
Desperate to escape this Spider-Man predicament, I rushed forward and nearly lost my footing as it slipped downward.
Save me. Help me. Give me a wire, at least.
After muttering such nonsense to myself dozens of times, I finally managed to stretch my arm far enough to nearly touch the Reception Room window.
Around that moment, the sound of something shattering and screams began echoing up from the 1st Floor.
“What, what is it!”
“Aaaah!”
“You bastards!”
That rooster-like shrieking unmistakably belonged to Lord Promé.
‘Have the zombies reached the 1st Floor?’
It was a bit later than I’d anticipated.
Hearing the same commotion, the Thugs in the 2nd Floor Corridor began whispering among themselves.
“What, what is it?”
“An attack?”
“Did the Crown Prince’s men arrive?”
“The Crown Prince didn’t bring any men with him!”
“Then the Grand Duke must have come!”
“The Grand Duke came alone, and we’re hearing sounds like that?”
“Then something must have gone wrong?”
“What could possibly go wrong?”
Unable to predict what conclusion they’d reach, I couldn’t risk entering the open Reception Room. I pressed myself flat against the wall and held my breath.
“Plenty could go wrong! There’s that device in the Basement with blades flying everywhere. And that too… Yeah, honestly, I never liked that either. Are we slaves?”
“Ah, just shut up for a moment, will you!”
“….”
“….”
“…It’s quiet now?”
“…Should we sneak down and take a look?”
“Go down and act surprised to see what happened?”
“Yeah! And when we come back up to the 2nd Floor, we can send some other guys instead of us.”
“Right!”
I heard the Thugs heading back toward the Staircase after finishing their conversation. Just to be safe, I counted to one hundred even after their footsteps faded before moving further.
‘Looks like they’re gone.’
Tap.
I slipped my hand through the narrow gap of the Reception Room window, which I’d opened just a crack.
A wave of relief washed over me.
Good, now if I just hang from the window and open it completely….
That’s when the flagpole I was standing on gave way under my weight and snapped.
“…!”
Someone caught my wrist just as I was about to plummet.
A powerful grip seized my arm and pulled me into the Reception Room. Their other hand braced my back—a hand so large it could wrap around my entire spine.
Lifted bodily by both their hands, I was set down gently on the floor.
“Cough, cough….”
I coughed frantically without even glimpsing my rescuer’s face.
My foot had slipped, and I’d swallowed wrong. Tears pricked my eyes from the coughing fit. With my hair plastered across my face, I couldn’t think straight.
Not that I needed to figure out who it was anyway.
It had to be Praha.
“Are you all right?”
“Yes, cough…. I just inhaled wrong.”
“….”
Praha’s jaw tightened as he glanced out the window, then locked it shut.
I caught a glimpse of the Reception Room door—firmly locked, with a barricade erected in front of it much like the one I’d set up in the Adjacent Room. Though his was far more systematic than mine.
He’d ignored my instructions and come out here anyway.
I asked irritably.
“What’s going on? Why are you out here?”
“I heard screaming from inside the Wardrobe.”
Praha replied flatly, then produced a water bowl from somewhere and handed it to me. His complexion remained ashen.
Praha asked.
“Are there zombies roaming the floor below?”
“Seems like it. I heard the Baron ordering someone to open the door to the Basement earlier. The ones that chased us up to the Second Floor just went back down. By the way, the newcomers—including the Local Lord—make five total….”
“So you nearly fell to the 1st Floor where the zombies are roaming.”
“What? Ah, well…. The thing I was standing on suddenly broke.”
“Your legs could have broken the same way.”
“….”
“If luck had turned against you, your spine could have shattered, leaving you immobilized while the zombies tore into your flesh.”
“….”
Only then did I detect something off in Praha’s tone.
Praha retrieved a fur coat from the Wardrobe and held it out to me.
“Cover yourself. You’re shaking.”
I rose from where I’d been sitting motionless and met Praha’s eyes as he offered the coat.
When I didn’t respond, he merely waved his hand as if asking why I wasn’t taking it.
He still wouldn’t meet my gaze.
More precisely, from the moment he caught me as I was falling and pulled me into this place.
I asked just in case.
“Your Highness.”
“…Yes.”
“Are you perhaps angry right now?”
[Mount Prome: 2nd Floor]
– Yusara, Praha (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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