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A Corporate Slave Becomes a Villainous Nuisance in a Zombie Apocalypse
Episode 3
Imperial Knights Kimon and Dazling were colleagues who shared an adjacent room.
Among the knights, the confident and proactive Kimon stood out more prominently, while Dazling possessed a relatively subtle presence.
It was Kimon who read the subtly shifting atmosphere and opened the secret room door, and it was Kimon who deftly shoved back the headless Attendant lunging at them with reckless aggression.
More confident. More proactive.
"Wait, please!"
So now, when the notorious noblewoman called out ‌‌to them as they headed to confirm the corpse—Kimon sighed openly, while Dazling remained silent.
"My lady, what is the matter?"
"Please ‌take this with you."
In this perilous situation, what Yusara, the noblewoman, handed to the knights was merely a handkerchief.
A white silk handkerchief.
Embossed with the Imperial Family's crest.
The very handkerchief the noblewoman always carried intending to gift to the Crown Prince, though he had consistently refused it.
Kimon, who had unexpectedly received the rumored handkerchief, opened his mouth once, then closed it.
"Why would you give us this...?" ‌‌‌
The Crown Prince and Grand Duke, who were ‌‌restraining the noblewoman from rushing out recklessly, wore equally bewildered expressions.
An awkward silence hung in the air, yet only the noblewoman ‌‌‌‌remained composed.
The noblewoman spoke.
"Earlier, Your Highnesses mentioned that the severed head bore bite marks, did you not?"
"Yes."
"That person could have ‌‌‌‌‌caused them. What if that person in the corridor suddenly awakens and bites someone else?"
"What?"
"My lady, surely you don't mean to suggest—"
Kimon let out a hollow laugh, but the noblewoman ignored him. She gestured toward the handkerchief and spoke.
"After confirming that person is completely dead, stuff this into the corpse's mouth. Be careful not to get bitten."
Kimon immediately objected.
"That individual is already unconscious. In all likelihood, deceased. We appreciate your concern, but the magical rope His Highness provided is sufficient to keep the corpse's mouth shut."
"But that rope is thin. Even bound with it, the jaw can still move, can't it?"
"Listen, my lady. Consider this: even if the corpse were to awaken, would it really bite someone while sacrificing its own tongue? It would know better than anyone how sharp the thread restraining its mouth is."
It won't even attempt to move its mouth, let alone bite anyone. Rest assured. Kimon spoke with a cutting edge to his tone.
Dazling, standing beside ‌‌‌him, looked up at Kimon with ‌‌‌anxious eyes. The situation was certainly tense, but Kimon's manner of speaking was precarious.
If he kept this up, he'd be lucky not to get slapped.
'I've heard that Lady Yusara can't stand being disrespected.'
Yet the ‌‌noblewoman did not grow angry. She merely persisted in her assertion.
"In any case, there's no harm in being cautious."
"My lady."
"What I mean is, if we're going to do ‌this, let's do it perfectly so it can't move ‌‌at all. Does handling the matter perfectly harm you in any way?"
The Crown Prince, observing the exchange, settled the matter.
"Kimon, follow the lady's instructions."
The Crown ‌‌Prince's words left the knights with no choice but to comply.
Kimon reluctantly crumpled the handkerchief in his palm as the young noblewoman emphasized once ‌‌more.
"Bind the hands and feet carefully, and the mouth as well. Be cautious not to let it bite. This handkerchief is to prevent biting. If the corpse shows any sign of movement, ‌‌‌do not touch it."
"...Yes, my lady."
"Absolutely, absolutely do not let it bite you."
* * *
"Who does she think she is, barking orders like that?"
The moment they were far enough that their conversation couldn't be heard, Kimon's anger flared. His ears were flushed red, clearly agitated at having to follow the ‌‌‌young noblewoman's instructions.
"Does she already think she's the Crown ‌Prince's fiancée!"
Dazling, watching his peer's temperament—superior in skill but somewhat arrogant—responded carefully.
"Still, there's no harm in being cautious."
"I know that! That's why His Highness gave us the magical rope, ‌‌‌‌to be careful! Isn't that enough? So why does she insist on stuffing a handkerchief in the corpse's mouth? Disgusting!"
She orders others to do what she won't do herself. Kimon glanced back and shoved the young noblewoman's handkerchief into his jacket pocket.
"A moving corpse? Doesn't she realize the contradiction in her own words? I'm not about to follow some foolish woman's orders."
'She didn't really command us, though.'
But if he said that now, Kimon—already thoroughly enraged—would surely throw a fit. So Dazling tried a different approach to persuade him.
"The Crown Prince himself told us ‌‌to follow the young lady's instructions. He must have had good reason. It seems she's simply concerned for our safety..."
"That's exactly my point! Who does she think she is to be concerned about us? We're Imperial Knights! A mere noblewoman!"
Only the Imperial Family has the right to command us or worry about us!
"If the Grand Duke ‌‌himself came to worry about ‌‌‌us, then I'd be grateful!"
Kimon seemed determined, out of sheer stubbornness, to refuse the young noblewoman's instructions entirely. ‌
In truth, Kimon wasn't being unreasonable ‌‌‌‌without cause.
Now that he'd gotten closer, it was certain. The figure sprawled in the corridor was a corpse. A completely dead person couldn't suddenly come back to life, could they?
Binding the ‌corpse with magical rope was already being careful enough. Was there really any need to gag its mouth with a ‌‌‌‌handkerchief?
"And now she pulls out that handkerchief right in front of him—the very one the Crown Prince rejected multiple times. Is she trying to make a statement? Someone should tell that noblewoman: a clingy woman is pathetic."
"...Aren't you just upset with the young lady?"
"Anyway!"
Kimon, stamping his foot, showed no intention of heeding the young noblewoman's words.
Dazling thought to himself that he should follow her instructions, at least make a show of being careful. After all, if both Imperial Knights ignored her, the young noblewoman would be upset.
'If we both ‌‌‌dismiss what she says, her feelings will be hurt.'
Judging by how she thanked me earlier, she doesn't seem like a bad person.
'Being careful not to get bitten is simple ‌‌‌‌enough.'
That choice would alter both their fates.
* * *
I hate standing out.
You know what I hated most during new employee orientation? Talent shows.
Listening to lectures all day was fine, memorizing pointless company history was fine, spending the entire day with my cohort was fine.
But talent shows? I absolutely hated them.
'Who enjoys talent shows anyway? My talent is lying down. Is that acceptable?'
But I'm not a sociopath, am I.
How can I turn a blind eye when I know someone's about to die?
I told you not to draw attention to myself, not to abandon basic human ‌‌‌decency.
I can't go out into the corridor instead of those knights, I can't touch a corpse mid-transformation into a zombie, and I certainly can't scream "Everyone look! I've actually possessed someone in a novel!" But I can at least do ‌‌‌this much.
And if, even after going this far, that knight still won't listen to me?
Then I'm done.
"I'm exhausted, truly. Just disappear, all of you. I want to be alone."
But I can't even have that until I escape this place.
Gulp.
I swallowed hard, watching the knights who had already approached the corpse.
Once they confirmed the corpse's breathing had completely ‌stopped, the knights carefully unwound the magical rope. They ‌‌bound one arm and the torso with rope, then wrapped additional cord around the mouth and ‌‌‌nose.
The corpse being carried toward us was missing one arm entirely—torn clean off. Exactly as described in the novel.
Q. Describe your feelings when a corpse mid-transformation into a zombie enters ‌‌the room and you can only watch.
A. Like absolute hell.
"I genuinely want to go home..."
The ‌‌knights holding the corpse's shoulders and legs laid it down in the center of the room. A long arm blocked my path as I tried to rush forward.
Looking up, the arm belonged to the Grand Duke.
"My lady, this is far enough. It's dangerous."
He was smiling, but the arm lowered before me like a barrier was solid as steel.
I had no choice but to watch as the two knights laid down the corpse and stood back up.
'There's a handkerchief in its mouth, right?'
I can't ‌‌‌see it. I should ‌‌have just told him to break its jaw.
The knight who had opened the door earlier glanced at me as I nervously swallowed, and he looked oddly pleased with himself.
'What's his problem?'
I found out the reason from the Crown Prince's words as he examined the corpse.
"Kimon, the handkerchief?"
"I ‌‌have it, Your Highness." ‌‌
"Why didn't you listen to my ‌‌lady?"
"I confirmed multiple times in the corridor, but this one is already dead. I judged there was no need to waste my lady's precious handkerchief on sealing the corpse's ‌‌mouth."
"Listen here..."
Whether it's a precious handkerchief or a cheap one is for me to ‌‌‌‌decide. And I said it was fine, didn't I?
Why won't you listen! Why must you be so obstinate! Are you my subordinate or what?!
"...Never mind. Just step back from ‌‌there."
I sighed, blocked by the Grand ‌‌Duke from getting closer, and spoke about how we don't know when that corpse will finish transforming and wake up.
The other knight—the one who had offered me water earlier—quickly stepped back from the corpse upon hearing my words.
But Kimon, ‌‌as he was called, the knight I still couldn't figure out what his problem was, remained unmoved.
"My lady, I understand you're frightened."
The knight lifted his chin mockingly and deliberately bent down to grab the corpse's hair.
"But there's nothing to worry about. Look. Even when I lift it by the hair like this, there's no reaction whatsoever, is there?"
That's when the corpse's mouth opened.
"Grraaahhh!" ‌‌
"No!"
A razor-sharp magical rope sliced through ‌‌‌‌the corpse's mouth.
The corpse bared its teeth, ‌‌‌indifferent to the long gashes tearing across both corners of its lips.
Screams. Blood. The Grand Duke's enormous palm blocking my vision.
I forced his hand away and ‌‌looked ‌‌‌ahead.
The Crown Prince seized the back of the corpse's skull as it clung to the knight. A sickening crunch echoed through the ‌‌‌room as bone twisted, and the head clinging ‌to the knight's cheek was ‌‌‌‌violently torn free. Somehow, the corpse's neck was severed.
The knight stood in shock, one hand pressed against his ear.
Blood streamed relentlessly down the knight's ‌‌‌cheek and neck—the same knight who had been so confident mere moments before.
"Is this what you meant, my lady?"
Even as the corpse had risen, the Crown Prince remained composed. He set ‌‌‌the severed head on the floor and brushed the blood from the back of his hand. His amber eyes, still devoid of emotion, fixed upon me.
'He used a magical rope. ‌‌‌‌‌‌‌He severed the head with thread.' ‌‌‌
"Thanks to you, your knight survived."
"...No. He didn't."
My quiet reply was directed at the knight whose ear was being devoured, blood pouring from the wound.
As my gaze fell silent, everyone's eyes turned toward the injured knight.
The ear is close to the brain.
It took only minutes for the transformation to begin.
The knight who had become a zombie was beheaded by his former partner, the other knight who ‌‌‌‌‌had fought alongside him.
'One head, one attendant, one knight. There are already three zombie corpses in this room.'
I pushed the Grand Duke's arm away and approached the corpse.
From the jacket of the headless body—the corpse that had been an Imperial knight mere minutes ago—I retrieved my handkerchief.
I wiped my sweat-dampened hands on the cloth and met everyone's eyes.
"You all saw it clearly. Anyone bitten by a moving corpse becomes one themselves."
"Bleeegh!"
Nuisance Man, who had been retching the entire time, finally vomited.
I continued without hesitation.
"Everyone, get a hold of yourselves. It seems the genre of our lives is about to change starting today."
I'm in a possession story, while you're all in ‌‌a survival story.
[Imperial Villa 2nd Floor Secret Room]
- Yusara, Yujein, Crown Prince, Grand Duke, Supporting Character 1, Supporting Character 2, Nuisance Man, Imperial Knight Dazling (Alive)
- Imperial Knight Kimon (Deceased)

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