A Korean Office Worker Who Became a Nuisance Villainess in a Zombie Story - Chapter 99

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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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The atmosphere froze instantly at the child’s words pointing toward me.
What a terrible woman.
Though crude for such a young mouth, this accusation naturally dealt me no blow whatsoever.
I was accustomed to it.
‘That’s right. That’s exactly what I was.’
The greatest source of trouble in this world.
The embodiment of whining, blaming others, and low intelligence.
Without the second chance God of Light granted me, I would surely be causing all manner of problems here by now—or rather, I wouldn’t have even made it here safely in the first place.
A person no one wanted around.
aka the villainess.
“Good heavens, h-how could you say such a thing….”
“That’s harsh language.”
“Young lady, please don’t let it bother you!”
“….”
Instead of me merely shrugging, my companions grew angry.
“It’s fine.”
I’d been spending every day with my companions lately and had momentarily forgotten—but in the Empire, most people looked at me this way.
And truthfully, my former self deserved such judgment.
There’s no point in complaining about the past when I can’t change it by claiming I’m different now.
Still, curiosity got the better of me, so I sat up from where I’d been lying.
I had started to bend down to let the child use her bag as a pillow against the stone floor, but instead I covered Praha’s eyes with my hand—he was staring at the child with such intensity it was piercing.
As he tried to dodge by turning his head this way and that, I simply sat down beside him to prevent his escape.
His eyelashes fluttered, tickling my palm.
“I can’t see.”
“That’s the whole point of covering them.”
Restrain yourself—are you really going to argue with a child?
“Did you call me a terrible woman?”
At my question, the child’s shoulders shrank. Having blurted it out, she was now frightened. I smiled as kindly as I could and asked again.
“Just answer me one thing. Why am I so terrible?”
Did I do something to you that I’ve forgotten?
“I’m not angry. I genuinely don’t know. I’m worried I might have wronged you somehow and don’t remember it. Why did you call me a terrible woman?”
The child clutching her doll then pointed her chin toward Yujein.
“You bully that sister… and you’re just mean to her.”
“How exactly did I bully that sister?”
“….”
She didn’t seem to know that much.
The child’s jaw clenched into a walnut shape as she fell silent.
“You called me a terrible woman without even knowing exactly why? You’re the terrible one!”
I laughed and teased her, and now she was about to cry. The child threw down her doll and shrieked.
“No! I’m not a terrible woman!”
“That’s right. You’re too young to be called a bad woman.”
Still, it’s better to be careful. Growing up happens in the blink of an eye. When that time comes, those words you called yourself might come back to haunt you.
‘She probably learned it by listening to the adults around her.’
In a world without YouTube or Netflix, one of the most entertaining contents is the weekly gossip magazine filled with updates about the nobility.
Rich, living lavishly, well-maintained and pristine. Lots of troublemakers among them.
They say this marquis took another mistress, they say that count’s skin is so fair because he loves eating this particular thing.
Picking apart and savoring every move of famous nobles was a sport enjoyed by everyone, regardless of age or gender.
Objects of admiration and targets of ridicule.
‘They’re celebrities, really.’
Just look at Praha and Cyprus—every new year they sell chocolates, postcards, calendars and such with their portraits and signatures, contributing to the nation’s finances.
Still, Praha and Cyprus can manage to brush past it by pretending to be just similar-looking people, not the Crown Prince and Grand Duke.
The portraits in magazines and chocolates don’t capture their true appearance perfectly, and while people with blonde or amber eyes are rare, they do exist.
But me? I’m the only person in the Empire with East Asian features.
It’s hard to deny who I am.
That’s probably why the Little Girl recognized me at a glance, and why she thoughtlessly repeated what the adults around her were saying.
So this was the adults’ fault. Not the child’s.
The Little Girl snarled.
“I’m not a bad woman! You’re the bad woman! You wagged your tail at the Crown Prince without knowing your place, and you were miserably rejected by the Grand Duke, yet you still walk around with your head held high! You’re the one who doesn’t know her place—the bad woman!”
“Oh….”
Isn’t that courage rather than something bad?
I don’t know who her parents are, but it’s clear they didn’t filter their words in front of this child.
The Little Girl, insisting she wasn’t a bad woman, had turned bright red and looked ready to burst into tears.
Yujein fidgeted beside me. Even Tangerine, who always smiles, had a rare cold expression. I couldn’t even bring myself to look at Praha and Cyprus.
Before the grown adults could turn stern with the Little Girl, I opened my mouth.
“Yes, yes, you’re not a bad woman. You’re good. You’re incredibly, incredibly good.”
“Sniff….”
“But you know what? Have you heard this saying?”
“…What saying?”
The Little Girl picked up the doll she’d thrown aside. I brushed off the dust and held it out to her; she hesitated before accepting it. I gently wiped the tears from her eyes with my sleeve.
“Good women go to heaven, but bad women can go anywhere.”
“…Why is that?”
“Because a ruined reputation means you don’t have to care what others think!”
“….”
“That’s why I’m here!”
I spread my arms dramatically—free to leave and go anywhere because my reputation was already destroyed.
The Little Girl, who had been sniffling, shook her head and pointed at Yujein. Even through her tears, she was adamant.
“Isn’t that sister a saint? She’s a good person, but she’s here too.”
“…Oh.”
That’s true.
“What does being good or bad have to do with where you’re going? You just go.”
“You’re right. I was mistaken.”
“Yeah. You got it wrong, unnie.”
A child who hadn’t even finished elementary school was talking back to an adult with such precision.
You really have no fear and quite the logical mind, don’t you?
You’ll grow up to be someone great.
“You’re a bad person, unnie, and you talk strangely too.”
“Bad people are naturally good at spouting nonsense.”
I brushed back Little Girl’s chestnut hair and wiped the dust from her face. I even dusted off her pants.
As I drew close to Little Girl and began to dote on her, the frozen atmosphere around us thawed considerably.
“Come on out, everyone!”
Tangerine, who had gathered the children who were hesitating to approach, pulled food from her bag and distributed it among them.
Yujein watched from beside me and treated any injuries they had, while Praha and Cyprus inspected the surroundings to ensure there were no gaps where zombies could slip through.
Once the children received their food, they huddled together and retreated, maintaining distance from us. The only one who remained near us was that one Little Girl from before.
‘Surely the children aren’t acting that way because of me, are they?’
I exchanged words with Little Girl while drinking water.
“You’re going to become someone great. Study hard, okay?”
“I don’t think so.”
“Why do you think that?”
“Lime oppa said that people don’t like it when girls act superior. He said if I tried to stand out alone like that, no one would listen to me and I’d end up miserably ruined.”
“…How old is this oppa, exactly?”
“Lime oppa? He’s thirty-one.”
“And how old are you?”
“Me? I’m nine!”
“A nine-year-old calls a thirty-one-year-old oppa…?”
“He told me to call him that. He said men are still oppa even when they get older.”
“That oppa is dead now… no, wait, he passed away, right?”
“No, he’s still alive!”
“I’ll take it from here, my lady.”
Tangerine approached from behind and placed her hand on my shoulder.
Tangerine knelt on one knee in front of Little Girl and lowered herself to meet her eyes, a smile playing at her lips.
Little Girl gazed with curiosity at Tangerine’s fluffy hair. Tangerine grinned and pointed to herself with her thumb.
“So if this unnie is a bad woman and that unnie is a good woman, what kind of woman do I seem like to you?”
Little Girl tilted her head and looked Tangerine over before speaking.
“…A strong woman?”
“Exactly!”
That’s the right answer! Tangerine clapped her hands and stood up.
Several brown cylindrical wooden boxes were stacked against the wall leading into the building’s interior. Tangerine approached one of them and kicked it without hesitation.
Crack!
“Come out!”
The box shattered from a single powerful kick. Unsatisfied with that alone, Tangerine pushed the box and rolled it away.
“Ugh!”
The lid of the shattered box that lay overturned burst open, and someone tumbled out from inside.
‘A woman…?’
Ah, no. A man, then.
He was so diminutive that I’d mistaken him for a woman around my aunt’s age.
Tangerine seized the man by the collar as he rolled about ungracefully on the ground, desperately trying to hide behind the children.
“Get up!”
“Wooooo
ooo
ooo
ooo
~~”
“He’s bringing shame to all men.”
Cyprus cheered like a seal, while Praha muttered quietly to himself.
Tangerine shook her grip on his collar with rhythmic jerks as she bellowed.
“You hide yourself back there while putting the children in front? Does that make you happy? Are you pleased with yourself?”
“L-let go of me!”
“I don’t want to!”
As expected.
Perhaps the freest woman in the world isn’t a good woman or a bad woman, but rather a muscular one….
I asked the man—who appeared smaller in frame than myself, looking more like a middle-aged woman or a middle schooler than an adult male.
“Are you Lime?”
Could his surname be Gil, perhaps?
[Inhabited Island]
– Yusara, Praha, Cyprus, Yujein, Tangerine (Alive)
– General (Departed)

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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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