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Brought to you by Valir Scans! To support ‌‌‌‌our team and enjoy the latest releases, ‌‌‌please read directly on our official site: valirscans.org
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A Corporate Slave Becomes a Villainous Nuisance in a Zombie Apocalypse
Episode 14
A tense silence settled over our group.
There was no portal.
The Crown Prince stated it matter-of-factly, but hearing those words felt like taking a bullet to ‌‌the gut.
The Grand Duke, his brow furrowed, asked a question.
"You're certain the portal is in the Kitchen?"
"As far as I know, yes."
And as far as I know, it should be.
'Logically, it doesn't make sense. If the portal is the only means of crossing this Island, why would there be just one?'
There should be at least two as backup in case one breaks down. If that's the case, it would've been installed in the Kitchen where food supplies are constantly moved.
Seeing the group fall silent, the Crown Prince added an explanation.
"There is no visible door leading to the portal in the Kitchen. It must be hidden. So during our rest, I tapped every wall, but there were no hollow sections behind any of them."
At those words, everyone looked around the space.
There were only two doors.
The one we entered through, leading to the Corridor, and the side door that exits the building entirely.
There was no door leading to the portal anywhere.
"Could it be in ‌‌‌‌an adjacent room?"
"The ‌‌‌‌Kitchen has no adjacent rooms. It's a ‌‌protruding section of the building structure."
"What about other rooms near the Kitchen?"
"That would be the Washroom. It seems unlikely ‌‌‌‌they'd bring food supplies through a bathroom."
"Then what you're saying is...."
"The portal is within this space. I simply haven't found it yet."
The Crown Prince remained composed, acknowledging his own shortcoming.
From their expressions alone, I could tell ‌‌‌‌‌what everyone was thinking.
'There's no one here who could find what ‌the Crown Prince couldn't.'
Yujein, with her long hair, brushed ‌‌‌it back and forced her lips upward.
"It should be fine. We don't necessarily ‌have to go through here... we can just head back to the main portal we came from. Then we can return, right?"
The moment she said that—SCREEEEECH! The cry of a zombie echoed from the Corridor. Supporting Character 2 muttered vacantly.
"How are we supposed to get all the way there.... We barely made it down just one floor, and it was this exhausting."
"Still...."
"I ‌‌came here absolutely convinced we only had ‌‌‌to reach the Kitchen. I really can't take another step...."
Tears welled up in Supporting Character 2's eyes as she crouched down.
Yujein, biting her lip, tried to comfort ‌‌‌Supporting Character 2.
"Or we could search more ‌‌‌carefully. This time, all of us can search together, right?"
"How are we supposed to find what Your Highness the Crown Prince couldn't find...!"
"I knew this would happen. That's why I said we should've abandoned these deadweights and gone on our own from the start!"
"Paprika."
"Brother, this time I'm not wrong! We dragged ‌‌these useless luggage along and now look at us! I'm running out of stamina too!"
Nuisance Man sprang to his feet ‌‌and grabbed a bottle of fruit wine from the ice bucket on the cart, gulping it down.
He drank without any restraint, spilling as he went, then pointed at Supporting ‌‌‌Character 2 ‌‌with the hand holding the bottle.
"Look at her now—all she does is whimper and cry!"
Anyone watching would think Supporting Character 2 was the one hiding the portal.
At those words, even Mascarpone, who had been holding back, burst into tears.
As my companions suddenly fell into despair, I stood there ‌‌blankly, unmoved.
'Is this really... such a dire situation?'
The portal isn't missing—it's just hidden. Either way, there is a portal here, isn't there?
So we just need ‌‌to find it.
If we really can't find it, we can always head to the main portal.
'The Crown Prince, who knows this villa's layout better than ‌‌anyone, says he couldn't find it, so everyone's panicking.'
But the Crown Prince only searched for about ten minutes, didn't he?
We just need to find it.
'And there's someone here who ‌might understand magical portals even better than the Crown Prince.'
Though they're crying right now.
With that thought, I looked at that 'person who might understand'.
"Oh, heavens..."
Mascarpone, who had been trying to maintain composure despite being somewhat sharp-tongued until moments ago, was now calling out to God while weeping.
'Why are they suddenly invoking God?'
I chuckled inwardly and spoke to Mascarpone.
"Just because others call you baggage doesn't mean you have to actually believe you are baggage."
"...What are you saying...?"
"If you do nothing, even God can't help you."
So why not trust your own mind instead of God?
I pulled the corners of my mouth up into ‌a smile as Mascarpone stared at me blankly, tears forgotten.
"If you're going to cry, escape from here first and cry somewhere safe. You're wasting stamina."
"If we escape from here, there's nothing to cry about!"
"Then don't cry."
"Ugh!"
Mascarpone rubbed their eyes vigorously with their palms, glared at me, and clicked their tongue. As I continued to ‌‌mock them—which was irritating ‌‌‌‌just to watch—the tears seemed to ‌vanish entirely.
'I have ‌to give them credit for their pride.'
Even if our relationship isn't good.
I beckoned ‌‌to Mascarpone, who was wiping their reddened eyes.
"Now that your tears have stopped, ‌‌help me out."
"What do you want?!"
"Ever since this crisis started, I've been following along and ‌‌‌‌forgot—but the person best equipped to solve this problem is you, Mascarpone, isn't it?"
"...What are you talking about?"
Mascarpone's family runs a trading company that distributes magical items. They would naturally be the most knowledgeable among us about magical portals like this.
Isn't Mascarpone's mother the Imperial Family's court mage?
"The portal in this ‌‌‌building—your family installed it, didn't ‌they?"
"...Yes. My late grandmother installed it."
Even as she wept, Mascarpone's chin lifted with pride ‌‌at the mention of her own house. ‌‌‌‌I swallowed the urge to tease her and continued with my question.
"Then you must be quite familiar with the conditions required for installing a portal?"
"More so than a commoner, certainly."
"Explain it to me. Where can it be installed?"
"Well, first you need a space with considerable dimensions. It ‌‌‌has to withstand the sudden magical explosion. Portals are usually installed outdoors, but when absolutely necessary to place one indoors, we reinforce the walls to be quite thick to prevent collapse."
"Hmm. But this place doesn't have thick walls, does it?"
This was the protruding section of a U-shaped building. Open the door and you'd find either a corridor or the outside. The wall thickness remained consistent.
I looked at Yujein's ankle.
'I don't know much about kitchen work, but...'
The most commonly used ointment in a kitchen would be for burns or knife cuts, wouldn't it? Yet they don't even have that—so why would they bother stocking bandages and ointment for sprains?
The floor here didn't look particularly slippery either.
Unless people were constantly getting hurt climbing ladders up and down.
But then again, the kitchen shelves were quite low...
"Ah!" ‌‌
Mascarpone's voice cut through my train of thought.
"In single-story houses, they sometimes dig into the ground to install portals! In those cases, they place fragile objects above to detect vibrations coming up from below..."
Mascarpone's voice gradually slowed. Soon her ‌‌gaze, which had come to ‌‌a complete halt, turned toward the corner.
A kitchen where sugar covered every inch of floor space. One particular spot where sugar lay especially thick. Where a sugar sculpture the size of two grown men lay collapsed.
"I'll clean this up."
Dazling quickly approached and gathered the sugar from the floor with a sack.
The Crown Prince and Grand Duke who had come over carefully tapped the floor and then—
"It's hollow."
They reported the good news.
"Wow!"
'So that's why there was so ‌‌‌much sugar—it was camouflage.'
We found it faster ‌than expected.
"Did the Head Chef ‌‌‌‌send the kitchen servants through the portal, then lock the door, scatter sugar to hide the entrance, and take his own life?"
"If the servants had ‌‌‌‌successfully escaped, I doubt he would have killed himself. The real question is how we're supposed to open ‌‌‌‌‌‌‌this."
Mascarpone, who seemed to gain strength from the fact that she'd been helpful, approached the Crown Prince and Grand Duke as they pondered.
Mascarpone, examining the floor, spoke.
"It appears to be ‌‌‌‌the type of portal ‌that generates a handle when it recognizes a registered owner. Since it showed no reaction even to the Crown Prince, the portal's owner must be the Head Chef."
"How is owner recognition performed?"
"Usually through a palm or face."
It's the same as unlocking a smartphone. The Crown Prince and I spoke simultaneously.
"It's probably the face."
"It's probably the face."
And our eyes met. The Crown Prince spoke.
"You should explain, my ‌‌‌lady."
"Ah, yes."
It was nothing special.
I spoke to the people staring at me.
"The Head Chef gets his hands wet constantly, so his fingerprints would be worn away anyway. His hands are always covered in something. Rather than bothering ‌‌to wash up and open the door every time, he'd have set it to facial recognition."
It had to be facial recognition. Corpses don't register on biometric scanners.
"I agree with your assessment."
Fortunately, the Head Chef's face—the one Dazling had decapitated earlier—was still ‌‌‌intact.
"Once it recognizes the owner, it responds to their will after that. You can shout 'Open!' or make a gesture."
"Does it have to be the owner?"
"No."
"Then this should be simple."
The Grand Duke coolly stood up and grabbed the Head Chef's severed head from earlier.
"Sorry, ‌‌‌‌‌chef."
He muttered without sincerity, then immediately pressed it against what appeared to be the door. ‌‌
Click-click. The handle rose.
Supporting Character 2, who had been peering through the portal with her head tilted back, tilted her head in confusion.
"The portal handle is... red? Did they mark it for easy identification?"
No.
That wasn't a marking.
That was....
Thud.
At the same moment, someone from below pounded on the ceiling.
From their perspective, it was the ceiling; from ‌ours, it was ‌‌‌the floor.
My spine went cold.
My tense mind raced through possibilities.
'If the Head Chef had sent the servants through the portal first, a rescue team would have arrived. I know the Imperial Palace is intact, at least. So whatever's down there isn't human.'
Thud.
Why did the Head Chef, who wasn't ‌‌even bitten, not use the portal and instead commit suicide here? Why did he scatter sugar throughout the entire room to hide the entrance? As if desperately hoping no one would find it.
Thud. Thud.
My eyes met those of the anxious people around me. They were all clearly thinking the same thing.
What if the Head Chef hadn't sent the servants through the portal first, but had locked the zombified servants down there instead?
Only Nuisance Man failed to read the atmosphere.
"I'm going first!"
Nuisance Man hurled his bottle and charged toward the door. ‌‌‌
"Move!"
"Paprika!"
Dazling blocked him with his arm, but.
"'Open!'"
His ‌‌‌'will' couldn't be stopped.
Thud. Thud.
The door began to open at the same moment the male leads ‌‌‌threw themselves forward.
Wow, I'm seriously that crazy b*tch!!!!
[Imperial Villa First Floor Kitchen]
- Yusara, Yujein, Crown Prince, Grand Duke, Dazling, Mascarpone, Supporting Character 2, Nuisance Man (Alive)

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