---------------
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 28
I tilted my head to examine my profile in the mirror.
It was there.
The ‌‌‌‌mole beneath my eye that I'd had removed during my sophomore year of university when I followed my mother to get it done—it ‌‌was still ‌‌‌there, exactly as it had been.
"Why, why?! Did I develop freckles?!"
The startled Grand Duke quickly retrieved a pearl and rubbed it across my face.
I studied my luminous skin in the reflection.
'Fine, so my appearance is similar—I can accept that. But the mole too? Exactly the same?'
It wasn't even a matter of resemblance. This was me.
Me at about my second year of university.
'But if this is dimensional travel, then Yusara shouldn't have existed in this world in the first place, right?'
And since when does dimensional travel work like an anti-aging procedure? Making me younger?
I examined every inch of myself—my hair grown down to my waist, my entire body maintained like a celebrity from head to toe.
"...."
There was only one conclusion.
Someone had written a novel using me as the model, and I—the actual person—had possessed the character.
Example: I'd possessed myself in a novel my junior colleague wrote to get revenge on me.
'Now that I think about it, my stamina was exceptional.'
Mascarpone and ‌‌Consomme were exhausted, so Yusara, a noblewoman, shouldn't have had much better stamina, yet I ran at the Villa just as naturally as I always did.
That matched me too.
I'd always had unusually good stamina since childhood.
"...."
I have ☆absolutely no☆ idea what's going on!
But before I could think further, the maid cleared away the mirror.
"Shall I bring a hand mirror?"
The Grand Duke took the smaller mirror instead and began examining the area around his own eyes.
It looked like he was wearing colored contact lenses. I was simply amazed that such things existed ‌‌‌‌here too.
...Hmm.
'The Grand Duke and I are the only East Asians here.'
Everyone I'd seen here and all the zombies were Western—Black, white, Latino, you name it—but Yusara and Yusara's mother were the only East Asians.
Then perhaps.
The way the knights and maids are treating me with such disdain....
Could it be....
Racial discrimination?
"Ugh."
I dismissed the pointless thought and crossed my arms. ‌‌‌
Coming from the zombie Villa where ‍‌‌‌survival was paramount to this peaceful city, there were simply too many factors to consider.
At the Villa, people wouldn't have cared if I acted strangely, but here was different.
"Why ‌‌do I keep getting spots...even without sun exposure!"
'Especially since the woman before me is Yusara's mother.'
What if she's already noticed? That her daughter seems off.
That she's different from usual.
Yet while I trembled with anxiety, all Yusara's mother had detected were the scratches on her daughter's exterior.
"Are you hungry? Let's eat, then you can have yourself groomed."
The Grand Duke laughed as she lowered the mirror, insisting that once Yusara wore a new dress and styled her hair differently, the Crown Prince would surely fall for her.
She noticed the raw marks on her skin, the shadows beneath her eyes, the hollowed cheeks.
Yet she remained oblivious to the most crucial thing within her daughter—that her very soul had been replaced.
"...Where has my brother gone?"
I found myself dragged down to the Dining Hall and seated before I could protest.
I took a sip of lemon water—something the Grand Duke claimed was excellent for weight loss, though I ‌questioned whether drinking it on an empty stomach was wise—and asked.
I knew there was a younger brother whom the parents favored over Yusara, but he was nowhere to be seen.
My question prompted the Grand Duke to heave a heavy sigh.
"Yesterday at noon he took several pouches of gold coins and left! He hasn't sent word since! I even dispatched a servant to bring him back, but that servant has also gone silent!"
"...Where did he go?"
"Where else? The Racetrack!"
"I see."
"He's ‌‌‌stayed out before, but ‌‌‌he's never failed to send word! The world is so dangerous these days—what on earth is he doing out there!"
"He'll come back once his money runs out..."
To get more, ‌‌presumably.
"I hope he's not fallen in with some wretched women!"
The Grand Duke struck the table indignantly.
"And what is that servant doing!"
A thought suddenly occurred to me, and I spoke up.
"But if even ‌‌‌‌the servant sent to retrieve him hasn't made contact... shouldn't you send people to search for them?"
Something could have gone wrong.
"You're too naive! If he's gotten involved with the wrong woman, it could be disastrous!"
But the Grand Duke seemed deaf to my words, continuing only to rail against wretched women.
"When will the meal be ready, for heaven's sake?!"
Her impatient voice turned nearly 180 degrees toward the Kitchen from where she sat.
"...?!"
Just as my appetite was thoroughly extinguished by this grotesque display, the servants finally emerged with the meal.
'Fine. Let's just eat.'
With that resignation, I looked down at the plate placed before me.
"..."
Half a boiled egg with the yolk removed, two small pieces of salad, three almonds and ‌‌‌‌three blueberries.
Seeing my stunned expression, the Grand Duke preened.
"It's more than you usually eat, isn't it? I thought today might be acceptable."
"..."
"Mother is so happy that her daughter is becoming slender. Now I can finally take you to the dressmaker without embarrassment!"
The Grand ‌Duke chuckled and lifted the plate before ‌her.
She gave me a pathetic salad scrap while she gets steak.
The Grand Duke brought the steak plate—dripping with blood and ‌‌fat—to her lips and....
'...Is ‌she drinking blood right now?'
"How generous of Their Majesties to send you cards! (the sound of liquid being swallowed) Women truly are...."
I stared at her glistening lips and asked.
"Does my younger ‌‌‌brother eat the same way?"
"He's a man, isn't he!"
"...."
"Don't get careless now that you've slipped. Maintaining your figure is harder than losing weight, you know. Men prefer a slender waist."
"...."
"Just bear with it a little longer, yes? You don't want to have to 'regulate' again, do you?"
Regulate.
The moment I heard that word, a memory flashed through my mind.
Me at a party, taking one bite of cake before rushing to the bathroom and shoving my fingers down my throat.
Me sneaking barefoot to the Kitchen in the dead of night, caught by a servant maid as I rummaged through the cupboards.
'This is our secret, yes? Please!'
Before I could even recall whether I'd read such scenes in a novel.
Disgust washed over me.
'Now I understand why the Grand Duke's daughter's personality is so broken.'
I understand why the servants despised her too.
Criticized at every meal about her weight, eating ‌‌and purging, eating in secret—how pathetic the Grand Duke's daughter must have seemed.
How human could she have possibly seemed?
"This veal I'm eating now—it's not too old, is it?"
"It's a ten-week-old calf that was slaughtered, Your Grace."
"Yes, that's how it should be! I feel so much younger!"
"...."
"Come now, eat up! Start with the salad to fill your stomach, then move on to the eggs!"
Clatter.
'I won't eat. No—I can't eat.'
I set down my fork with an audible sound and asked the Grand Duke, who was still drinking blood and fat.
"Mother."
"Yes?"
"Would you be happy if I collapsed from exhaustion, was caught, and became a corpse?"
Would you rejoice then? That your daughter died looking slim?
"...I'm leaving."
"Where are you going?"
"To meet some wicked girls."
"You...!"
"And eat a hundred cream buns with them."
* * *
Now I understand why ‌‌‌‌the lady of the house despised this place.
I'm already sick of it myself.
A mother who wouldn't notice if my soul had been swapped. A maid who treats me ‌‌‌with contempt. A brother whose whereabouts remain unknown. And openly bizarre household affairs.
I rolled a single red ‌stone in my palm—the only thing that still felt real.
I need to find a way back to my original world. As quickly as possible.
Q. But how?
A. (No idea.)
Back on Earth, whenever I didn't know something, I could just search for it.
Whether it was ‌‌‌today's weather, the New York stock market, or exchange rates, the internet solved everything. But now I don't even know how to find out what I don't know.
It's like traveling abroad without a maps app.
I feel like I should be doing something—talking to a god or smashing zombies—yet here I am, paralyzed.
It's frustrating, but there's nothing I can do about it.
I'll have to visit the library, or find someone knowledgeable and ask them ‌‌‌directly.
But I don't know how people in this world treat those who've been possessed. I can't just go around asking questions recklessly.
What if they burn me at the stake as a witch?
Or since I'm supposedly a villainess, they might deliberately feed me false information out of spite.
Books were my only option.
Text doesn't discriminate.
A ‌‌library... no, wait. This is a noble's estate, so there must be a Study.
While I'm at it, I should learn the customs of this place too. I'm going to the Imperial Palace ‌‌the day after tomorrow—I can't ‌behave like this there.
Making mental notes of my plans, I climbed the Staircase.
As I stepped onto the Second Floor, the floorboards creaked ominously beneath my feet.
A prayer room came into view down the Corridor.
I asked the maid who had followed me.
"Where is the Study?"
"Across from here, Miss."
"The Study is on the Second Floor?" ‌‌
Books are heavy—storing them on the Second Floor doesn't make structural sense.
The collection must be quite small.
"Um, but..."
"Speak."
"You don't have access, Miss."
"...Why not?"
"The young master uses the Study as his private office."
"...So where am ‌I supposed to read books?"
"..."
She doesn't answer.
"I was educated, ‌‌‌wasn't I?"
"..."
Hah.
"Aren't I the eldest daughter of this household? How am I supposed to inherit the ‌‌‌family when I know nothing? ‌‌‌‌What? There's a younger brother? So that's why they never educated me in the first place?"
She accepted the title of Grand Duke while being a woman, yet her daughter isn't allowed to?
Does only this family discriminate like this? Mascarpone is the heir to that household!
Is this even acceptable?!
'I'm absolutely furious!'
Zombies or whatever—I want to find a lawyer right now and look into a lawsuit over my rightful inheritance.
This household is absolutely infuriating!
While I search for books on etiquette, I'll make sure to look up the legal codes too!
"More tasks to do! How exciting!"
Thirty minutes later, I was walking briskly down the street.
Behind me, seething with indignation, two ‌‌escort knights and a maid followed nervously.
I wonder if two guards will be enough when zombies could appear at any moment, but I can't exactly refuse them either!
'It'll be ‌‌‌fine! It was fine in the novel!'
Part of me wishes this whole world would just collapse!
Yet despite that, I intend to learn about this world starting now!
'First, I need to understand the situation.'
What kind of society is this? What are the taboos? Has anyone like me—a transmigrator—existed here before?
Maybe transmigration is so common here that they'd just say, "Oh, ‌‌‌‌you've transmigrated?" and send me back without hesitation.
Or perhaps I'm such ‌‌‌‌a rare existence that appears once every thousand years that they'd lock me up and drain my blood....
I walked with long strides, my eyes busily taking in the sights of the streets around me.
"Extra! Extra!"
"The De Mer Grand Duke household is distributing hand sanitizer for the Empire's citizens! Please take one each!"
Neatly landscaped ‌‌‌‌street trees, white stone pavement without a single crack, the rich scent of almond blossoms.
The yellow Imperial Palace visible in ‌‌‌the distance.
'It's like a city made of cream puffs.'
At least the city is clearly developed. How advanced is the transportation system?
There are magical Portals here. ‌‌Can you go anywhere with them? From what Mascarpone said, it doesn't ‌‌seem like it.
Are there no telephones? No trains?
"What is that place over there?"
"The Stock ‌‌Exchange, ‌‌‌‌Miss."
"Oh... so there are quite a few companies large enough to be listed? It says they do futures trading... do they only trade commodity ‌‌‌futures? Agricultural products? Livestock? The base currency is naturally Imperial money, right?"
"Pardon?"
"Never mind, I'm just ‌‌‌‌‌rambling."
'There's also the variable of magic here. I need to figure out what level of magic exists.'
I know so little that even if I see things, I won't understand them.
I came out saying I'd meet "wicked girls," but there's no way I'll actually meet anyone ‌‌‌‌here.
People hate me, despise me, and even my mother—my closest blood relative—cares more about my body than my soul.
My heart felt more unsettled now than when ‌I was at the zombie villa.
I felt like I'd been dropped alone into a strange world.
'And truthfully, that's exactly what's happening.'
I turned my head with a frown, and caught ‌‌‌sight of a ‌‌‌‌man staring at me from the shop ‌‌‌across the way.
His bright, clear features suited the word "cheerful," yet his expression was utterly vacant.
"Mascarpone?"
"Ah...." ‌‌‌
Never did I imagine the day would come when I'd be ‌‌‌‌glad to see him.
In this strange, isolated world where only I had fallen through.
(At least) I had found someone I knew.
[(Temporary Safe Zone) Capital District 3]
- Yusara (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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