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A Corporate Slave Becomes a Villainous Nuisance in a Zombie Apocalypse
Episode 13
Part 3. Do I Really Seem That Easy to Push Around?
If you eat food splattered with zombie blood and flesh, do you get infected? Or ‌is it ‌‌‌‌fine as long as you don't get bitten?
'I should have read that manual more carefully if I'd known this would happen.'
Regret comes too late.
Since I didn't ‌‌know, I had to stick to eating ‌‌‌only clean food.
As I rummaged through the drawers and cabinets, I found several edible ‌‌‌‌ingredients besides nuts. ‌‌‌I discarded things like raw meat and distributed only what could be eaten immediately to the group.
Once I started leading the search through the kitchen, the people sitting around began helping me.
"There's water here! Oh, but there's something inside it...."
"Do fish normally bleed like this?"
"Why is this mushroom so cold?"
The nobles, who had eaten only prepared meals their entire lives, wandered through the kitchen they'd never seen before, holding ingredients in confusion.
Each of them sat back down on the floor with soft white bread, apples, ‌‌and oranges in hand.
"I wish I had truffle mushroom soup with crackers...."
"I wanted sea bass."
'I wanted kimchi stew.'
In extreme situations, people lose the luxury of maintaining dignity. Mascarpone, who had been so prim and proper, was now sprawled out complaining she couldn't go on, the Crown Prince was searching for portals, and Supporting Character 2 was whining about being hungry.
Now they were all sitting on the filthy bare floor with just a jacket spread beneath them, eating apples with the skin on without even washing their hands.
These children who could barely sit in the chairs they'd reluctantly been offered out of politeness—seeing them ‌‌‌‌like this.
'Why does this feel so pitiful?'
I also found a spot behind the counter, out of sight from the others, and collapsed onto it.
"Sigh...."
This was my precious solo meal time.
"I want to lie down...."
Yesterday I worked late and missed the last train, so I took a taxi home. I didn't even eat breakfast because I was sleeping.
I'd possessed this body on an empty stomach and ‌‌spent the entire day fighting and running, so I had no energy left.
'Originally I was planning to buy gelato at the shopping mall ‌‌food court on my way back to the office. Ugh....'
If I go back, I promise I won't ‌‌even get angry ‌‌‌at my coworkers and I'll live diligently. Please send me back.
Isn't regression fiction all the rage these days?
Send me back to before I possessed this body. ‌‌‌‌
I want to just collapse right ‌‌here ‌and sleep, food or no food. But if I fall asleep, I'm afraid these people will leave without me.
I forced my blurring eyes open ‌‌‌‌and focused on the voices coming from behind me.
"I keep getting distracted by sounds from outside...."
"I jump every time someone talks to me...."
After confirming that no one was paying attention to me, I quietly pulled out what I'd hidden in the dress pocket.
The zombie that had been lying ‌collapsed in the gallery earlier.
The red jewel that had been glowing in that zombie's chest.
I held the red stone, about the size of an AirPods case, between my thumb and index finger and examined it from different angles.
'The zombies in the secret room on the second floor were glowing like this too.'
Since no one else seems to notice, it appears visible only to my eyes.
Not knowing what it was, I brought it along anyway.
When it was buried in the chest, it gleamed as if pleading ‌‌to be found, but now that I've extracted it, it doesn't shine quite so brilliantly.
I pulled it from a person's chest, yet not a single drop of blood clung to it—which struck ‌‌me as strange.
'It wasn't so much that I pulled it out... more like when I ‌‌touched it, it slid right up into my hand.'
Which meant.
It ‌‌‌‌was exactly like an ‌‌item dropped from a defeated monster in a game.
'Could this be some kind of clue about the possessed person?'
I ‌‌tentatively addressed the stone.
"Hey."
"Yes."
"You startled me!"
I jerked my head up in surprise. The Crown Prince was standing beside me, looking down.
There was already a height difference when standing, but sitting down and looking up like this was ridiculous.
'All I can see is his thighs.'
Wait—did this man just respond to my "hey"?
I stared at him in confusion, and he tilted his head slightly.
"I thought you were calling for me."
"..."
"Didn't you address me that way earlier?"
Me?
'Hey! Are you trying to get yourself killed?!'
I think I said something like that when the zombie burst out on the second floor...
So he heard that.
"I was just in such a panic back then..."
"..."
"My apologies."
Fortunately, the Crown Prince didn't seem bothered.
His gaze—difficult ‌to read—traveled slowly from my hastily ‌‌‌tied hair down to my eyes, nose, and mouth, then rose again to settle on ‌‌my eyes.
From my vantage point, I could only really see his flat stomach and long legs.
'It's awkward to have a conversation while ‌‌staring at someone's lower abdomen... should I stand up?'
Just as I was thinking that.
The Crown Prince quietly took a seat beside me and asked.
"How is your ankle?"
"Pardon?"
"I heard you were injured."
He hesitated before adding another ‌‌‌thought.
"On the second floor, I was panicked... I didn't think to check. My apologies."
"Ah, well. There's no need to apologize..."
His preferred woman was injured—I suppose he didn't have eyes for anyone else.
I waved my hand dismissively at the thought.
"I'm fine. My shoes are thick enough that I barely felt the impact. Yujein took the brunt of it."
Even after hearing my assurance, the Crown Prince didn't move. His inscrutable gaze remained fixed on me.
I had no choice but to meet his eyes in return.
'He's handsome.'
Cold and composed in appearance, yet there's something melancholic about him. Dangerous-looking too...
Like a chaebol heir from a K-drama.
After working overtime until 2:23 AM and calling a taxi to leave the office, of all six elevators in the building, I somehow end ‌‌up at the exact one he's stepping into.
He's had his eyes closed from exhaustion, then the elevator doors open with a ding, and our eyes meet as he opens them in surprise.
A chaebol heir. The chairman's grandson.
A celebrity known by name since birth, yet he doesn't use the executive-only elevator, and sometimes appears at the company gym around 4 AM, the kind who makes people keep their distance.
A chaebol heir from a K-drama. Not reality.
'He looks like he despises incompetent people.'
As far as I know, he dislikes Yusara too. Surely he's ‌‌‌not here out of concern.
'Is he here to appease me like the Grand Duke, worried I might cause trouble?'
"I'm not sulking or protesting. I'm genuinely fine, so I'm saying I'm fine. So..."
"That's not it."
What do you mean "that's not it," you bastard.
I widened ‌‌my eyes and stared at the Crown Prince to convey my disbelief.
After a prolonged staring contest, it was the Crown Prince who yielded.
The Crown Prince sighed and gestured toward the red stone in my hand.
"Cyprus said he saw you picking ‌‌something up from a corpse."
"The Grand Duke saw that?" ‌
He pretended not to notice earlier. So he did see it.
Since there was nothing particularly worth hiding, I opened my palm to show him.
"You didn't see it, Your Highness?"
"See what?"
"From the corpse..."
"I was told you took it from a corpse in the Gallery. Is it something important?"
"..."
So this stone really is invisible to others. Only when I pick it up does it become visible.
'I shouldn't ‌tell the truth. I need to hide it.'
"It's not important. I just found it curious that the Attendant had something so pretty, so I picked it up."
As I fell silent, the ‌‌‌Crown Prince said nothing either.
We awkwardly killed time like that for a while.
Then the Crown ‌‌‌‌Prince set down something he'd been wiping with his sleeve onto my palm.
It was a single apple—his portion.
"The lady is ‌‌my guest."
"..."
"I apologize for the inadequate treatment. When we return to the Imperial Palace, please give me another ‌‌‌chance."
* * *
After the Crown ‌Prince left, Dazling came to find me.
"My lady! Are you alright?!"
"Yes, I'm fine."
'What is this, visiting hours?'
Does it really show that I'm sulking about being left alone here?
I smiled inwardly while grumbling to myself.
"You came because you were worried about me?"
"Of course I was worried! I apologize. I promised I would protect you."
"Don't mention it. You have plenty to do."
Attending to the nobles, keeping watch, wielding a sword—and on top of all that, serving as an attendant. Besides, the only other combat personnel in ‌‌‌our group are the Crown Prince ‌‌‌‌and the Grand Duke.
= A regular employee sandwiched between executives.
In a way, Dazling was the most pitiful person in ‌‌this entire group.
The fact that he came to look after me, someone he met for the first time today, was genuinely touching...
"By the way, my lady, your hand is injured too."
"It's just a small tear. I wouldn't even call it an injury."
"This must be your first time experiencing something like that..."
"Well, everyone has a first time for everything."
"Still, my lady, I—"
Dazling hesitated, speaking uncertainly.
"Though it may sound presumptuous, I'm genuinely grateful that you're with us."
"Really? Why?"
"Why else? Because ‌‌‌‌you showed unexpected prowess today."
A voice came from above my ‌‌head.
The Grand Duke, leaning against the counter, was grinning widely.
'When did this guy show up?'
This really ‌‌‌‌‌is visiting hours.
"If it weren't for you, we'd all still be stuck in the Gallery, wouldn't we?"
"Don't lie. You would ‌‌‌have figured it out even without ‌‌me."
It's not like ‌‌‌‌I came up with some brilliant trick—it was just a simple lure.
How stupid must he think I am normally if he's praising me for something this trivial?
The Grand Duke spoke.
"I'm thinking about something right now."
"What is it?"
"Why do I keep making mistakes with you today?"
"..."
"Why didn't you mention your ankle was injured?"
"...You're still making mistakes, I see."
"Huh?"
"I said I wasn't injured. So believe me, would you?"
"Where are you going, miss?"
"I'm picking a fight."
There was something I'd been meaning to do since we started sharing food, and it seemed like now was the time to get it done.
I stood up, leaving the dumbfounded Grand Duke and Dazling behind.
I walked over with heavy steps and stopped in front of Yujein.
Yujein, who had been sitting quietly with a pastry in her ‌‌‌hand, looked up at me standing before her.
"Miss...."
I got straight to the point.
"Hey, ‌‌‌‌eat that quickly."
"Pardon?"
"Now."
When I pointed at the pastry in Yujein's hand, she looked flustered. I furrowed my brow at her hesitation.
"Everyone else finished theirs, but you're the only one who left yours. What a waste."
I dropped the formality entirely.
"Why ‌‌‌‌aren't you eating it?"
"Oh, no, miss. I'll eat it. I'm eating it now."
Sensing my ‌‌‌irritation, Yujein quickly popped the pastry into her mouth.
'She ‌‌‌listens well.'
To put it kindly, she was the type who would ask for explanations and hold out until she understood. I didn't have the time or energy for that, so this blunt approach was far more efficient.
"Chew it thoroughly."
After confirming that Yujein swallowed the pastry and drank water, I turned around.
In the open drawer lay two hard pieces of bread—clearly not meant for nobility—and I wrapped them in paper.
The dress I was wearing had a deep neckline that left my chest half-exposed. I removed the two padding inserts from inside and stuffed the bread into the empty space.
'I'd like to use my pockets, but they're weighted with stones, so this will have to do.'
By now, people no longer seemed surprised by my antics.
"You really do the strangest things...."
Ignoring Mascarpone's sarcasm, ‌I searched for any other food worth taking.
'It's not over until it's over.'
If I could move through the portal immediately, that would be ideal, but what if it doesn't work?
Even if the possession ends in five minutes, I'm taking these two pieces of bread.
Supporting Character 2 spoke, deliberately looking away from me as I adjusted my dress.
"Since we've eaten something, we should be able to move now.... I think we're ready to use the ‌‌‌portal."
"That's right. I think we can move through the portal ‌‌‌‌now."
The Crown Prince, who had been tapping on the walls, turned to look at us at those words.
"I have something to report regarding that matter."
"Yes?"
"The portal is not where it should be."
What?
[Imperial Villa First Floor Kitchen]
- Yusara, Yujein, Crown Prince, Grand Duke, Dazling, Mascarpone, Supporting Character 2, Nuisance Man (Alive)

---------------
Brought to you by Valir Scans! To support ‌‌‌our team and enjoy the latest releases, please read directly on our official site: valirscans.org
---------------