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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 43
Looking back on it all.
At this point in time, Praha and Cyprus had not yet fallen ‌in love with Yujein.
They fell in love with her because of me.
Because I played the role of an obstacle. ‌‌‌‌‌
Because ‌‌‌‌I created crises beside them and fanned the flames, allowing their emotions to ripen.
'Yet I received nothing in return for my love.'
Praha never accepted my feelings.
He fell in love with someone else right before my eyes, even as I adored him.
And in the end, he killed me. ‌
Cyprus was there too, on the day I died.
'Finish it already, Praha.'
'C-Cyprus... please....'
'Don't call my ‌‌‌name, Princess. ...You know this already. It's better for you this way too.'
He didn't stop Praha as he drew his blade against me.
He simply looked at me with eyes full ‌‌‌‌of disgust.
'Why....' ‌‌
In that moment, I think I was consumed by ‌‌‌frustration more than anything else.
The exasperation came ‌‌before the terror of death.
I couldn't understand why things had come ‌‌‌‌to this.
'Why couldn't I...?'
It felt like facing a problem where no formula I knew could yield an answer.
'Why am I the one who fails?'
That's how it was then.
Now that I've recovered my memories, I have many choices.
I could resent them.
'Why did you do that? Why did you kill me?'
I could resolve to take revenge.
'I will never forgive you. Not for killing me so miserably.'
I could vow to finally obtain love, having traveled back through time.
'Because I know the answer now.'
So, honestly, what am I feeling right now?
Nothing at all.
'I do have a conscience. I remember what I did in my first playthrough.'
How many people I killed, how many suffered because of me.
I'm not shameless enough to cry, 'I was unhappy! It was because of my unfortunate childhood! Waaah!'
Besides.
'After living twenty-some years in another world, my head has cooled considerably.'
Now that I understand the world I knew wasn't everything, and that I had other choices available to me.
Regardless of my current situation, I find myself observing it from a distance, as though I'm watching someone else's life unfold.
So, Praha and Cyprus, you two men...
'Be happy with Yujein.'
I'll stay far away, wishing for your happiness, and return to Earth.
I will never, ever make advances toward you.
Then you'll have no reason to kill me.
Everyone wins.
'Of course, even now, whenever I see these two men, I feel somewhat complicated emotions.' ‌‌
Is love really important right now?
My soul is on the line!
Get your head straight!
Go back to Korea and go on blind dates!
'Though honestly, even if I went on blind ‌‌‌‌dates every single day until I died, I'd never meet a man this decent again.'
So my conclusion: play it safe.
One of them killed me.
The other one stood by and did nothing.
I should be careful now that ‌‌‌I'm treating them as colleagues at all. Don't overstep.
If I get a little too friendly and they start thinking 'Wait, is there potential here?' and act up, that's absolutely not happening.
Oh, and.
I ‌also remembered why Praha keeps emphasizing his name to me.
'Praha!'
'Praha, where are you going?'
'Praha!'
It's because the old me used ‌‌to call Praha by his name without any honorific...
Wasn't that insane...
Literally shameless.
Praha was ‌‌‌impressive ‌‌‌for not getting angry.
'Sigh.'
I need to do better from now on.
Distinguish between kindness and love.
It's time to resurrect the principles of corporate workplace etiquette.
☆Don't be presumptuous☆
While I was internally swearing a hundred times over, the conversation among the others continued.
Praha spoke.
"If corpses have spread to those two regions, cleanup is the priority. If we can capture a few specimens for experimentation, that would be ideal."
"How would ‌‌‌we do that?"
"Break their jaws and sever their limbs."
"I'm good at breaking things!"
I, who had been listening to the conversation, asked a question.
"I'm curious about something."
"Speak."
"If corpse outbreaks truly occurred in those two regions you mentioned, shouldn't the infection have spread to neighboring areas by now?"
The zombies in this world can run, and a single scratch is enough to transmit the infection.
With just one of them, the spread is instantaneous.
Yet only those two regions have gone silent while ‌‌‌everywhere else remains unaffected—how is that even possible?
Are the zombies drawing a ‌‌‌line and refusing to cross it?
Cyprus nodded at my question.
"That's a fair point."
Praha replied.
"It's likely due to population density."
"Ah."
Praha ‌‌had spoken only one phrase, but I understood immediately.
'Of course. Population density. A critical variable in zombie scenarios.'
This world is what you'd call a typical fantasy ‌‌setting, and ‌‌‌as an Empire, it has vast territories without the ultra-high-density cities like Seoul or New York ‌‌with tens of millions crammed together.
With low population ‌‌density, the probability of rapid zombie spread is significantly reduced.
No matter how many zombies exist, if the people they could infect are scattered far apart, it's meaningless.
If a zombie outbreak occurred during lunch hour in Yeouido, it would be catastrophic in seconds, but if one emerged on a deserted island? What's the point?
"Still, the fact that only those two regions have gone silent is strange, as you said."
"Yes. There must surely be merchants traveling between cities."
"It appears there are variables we haven't accounted for."
I quickly moved beside Praha as he unfolded the map.
"Let's first check if there are any major roads passing through those two regions."
This ‌‌map is more detailed than the one we had at home, isn't it?
Must be because it's from the Imperial Family. ‌‌
"Here and here...."
Can't go this way? There's a gorge blocking it.
Absorbed in concentration, I ‌‌‌‌hadn't noticed the silence that had fallen around me until Praha flinched and pulled back slightly, our cheeks nearly touching. Only then did I sense something was amiss and lifted my head.
Everyone was staring at me.
"? What's wrong?"
Tangerine spoke blankly from across the table.
"My lady, you must be tired of hearing this, but you're really different from the rumors."
"Pardon?"
"To be honest, I never expected you to understand all ‌of that from just hearing the words 'population density.'"
"Ha."
The life of a villainess where you're praised for knowing just one term about population density.
Should I be grateful for this?
"Since we ‌‌can't keep calling them 'moving corpses,' let's ‌‌come ‌‌up with some kind of code name."
"Agreed." ‌‌‌‌
"What about 'zombie'?"
"That works well. What does it mean?"
"It's nothing, really."
After that, we killed time with idle conversation.
We went to the Dining Hall and ate salmon cutlets. It was the first time in this life that I'd eaten until I was truly full.
To build my stamina, I was doing sit-ups alone in a corner when Cyprus caught me and ‌‌taught me some basic combat techniques.
"My lady, you're quite diligent."
"I have to be. My life depends on it."
'Even if I have regressed, I don't know what will happen next.'
Reason: I died before things escalated further.
The only additional information ‌I possessed was
that zombies ‌‌pour through gates.
'How do I reveal this naturally?'
"My lady, you're picking this up surprisingly well? Just five more repetitions."
"But you said... just ten earlier...!"
"My lady, you can do this!"
The gate problem was resolved faster than expected.
Within ten days, to be precise.
* * *
"Your Highness!"
A welcoming delegation from Prome was waiting at the train station where we disembarked.
A man draped in ostentatious outerwear made of satin and velvet approached with a beaming smile, introducing himself as the Promé Lord's Son.
Behind him came a procession of knights and servants.
"What are you doing? Hurry and unload ‌‌‌‌‌the luggage for Their Highnesses and the Holy Maiden!"
"Yes, sir!"
Watching those broad-shouldered figures move about—more like organized crime thugs than knights—I couldn't help but feel awkward.
The ‌‌‌‌fact that we'd arrived with just the two of us, without any servants, made the real "two Highnesses" feel out of place.
"You must be tired, yes? I've prepared a carriage and a masseuse. This way, please."
The lord's son, who looked like he'd grown up eating well, gestured us along while fluttering his sleeves.
Even though the train ‌‌had been delayed and we'd had ‌‍to wait several hours, he showed no concern and busied himself with flattery.
'Of course. He's dealing with the Crown Prince, after all.'
Under normal circumstances, I'd never cross paths with someone like a provincial lord's son in my ‌‌‌‌entire life.
"You're as beautiful as I've heard, Holy Maiden! But, um, who is this person?"
"Imperial Knight Tangerine."
"Ah, a knight, I see! And what a beautiful one at that!"
Training under the sun every day, yet your skin is so radiant!
"You don't look like a knight at ‌‌all!"
'I don't think Tangerine will appreciate being told she doesn't look like a knight.'
Sure enough, Tangerine's expression darkened as she forced the corners of her ‌‌mouth upward.
Regardless, the lord's son continued lavishing praise on the ‌‌‌Crown Prince, the Holy Maiden, their beauty, their magnificence, bowing and scraping—until finally, he ‌looked toward me.
His gaze swept over me from head to toe with obvious disdain.
Beneath his oily cheeks, thin lips curled upward in a sneer.
"You must be the Duke's daughter. I've certainly heard of your reputation."
"Ah, yes."
I replied with indifference, turning my steps toward the carriage.
Such subtle mockery ‌‌‌‌‌no longer even tickles me.
It's ‌‌‌not like when I was a newcomer, getting torn to shreds by my mentor until tears fell.
I simply think: here we go again.
'Change your repertoire. Forget this juvenile snark—try criticizing someone with ‌‌refined, elegant high society language instead.'
Though even then, I wouldn't be hurt.
Fortunately, the Promé Lord's Son, standing before the Crown Prince, the ‌‌‌Grand Duke, and the holy maiden guest, quickly lost interest in me.
He laughed obsequiously, bowing his head repeatedly.
"Please, let us depart at once. If we travel diligently, you'll be able to dine this evening at our Promé Castle."
Father is preparing a grand banquet, so you may look forward to it....
'This man really talks a lot.'
I boarded the carriage, letting the Promé Lord's Son's endless chatter go in one ear and out the other as he wrung his hands nervously.
Four hours later. ‌‌‌
'My backside feels like it's going to split....'
We arrived at the Prome Territory, having learned that carriage travel was far more grueling than expected.
Local residents with expressions of obvious conscription scattered flowers from ‌baskets. Dilapidated roofs. A massive mountain visible in the distance.
"Just a bit further, and we'll be there!"
A small fiefdom requiring four hours by carriage from the Train Station.
The ruling lord was a provincial baron who had never ventured into the Capital's political circles and belonged to no noble faction.
Special products? None.
Tourist attractions? None.
With a mountain containing the Ancient Labyrinth nearby, perhaps pilgrims visit occasionally.
Strategic position? Poor.
No river access, and the mountain makes transportation difficult.
Naturally, ‌‌‌commerce hasn't developed.
Nothing remarkable except for the Ancient Labyrinth and the sacred relics.
So when I entered the town center for the first time, I was quite startled.
'There are street lamps?'
The residents' clothing was shabby and their expressions dark, the population didn't seem large.
The city layout was mediocre.
Everything looked backward.
How did they install street lamps?
And only in places visible from the lord's castle.
'The pavement below is cracked, yet there are street lamps. ‌‌‌‌Did they spend money for a beautiful night view?'
"Lower ‌‌the carriage steps!"
I was even more astonished after entering Promé Castle.
'Why is it so lavish...?'
The interior of the castle, which certainly wasn't this wealthy when first built, was covered entirely in gold ‌‌‌‌and paintings.
A sense of discord.
My nose, honed by years in the financial sector until just days ago, detected the acrid stench with acute sensitivity.
"The guests have arrived!"
I watched the castle inhabitants pour out in a rushing tide.
You all... why are you so wealthy?
[(Temporary ‌Safe Zone) Promé Castle]
- Yusara, Praha, Cyprus, Yujein, Tangerine (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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