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A Corporate Slave Becomes a Villainous Nuisance in a Zombie Apocalypse Episode 5 Just before leaving the Secret Room, Yujein cast ‌‌a blessing upon everyone in our group. "It alleviates fatigue and restores stamina. Nothing extraordinary, but...." "That's more than sufficient. Thank you, Yujein." Yujein, a commoner orphan raised in the Temple, had caught the eye of noble society for precisely this reason. Divine power. Though the polytheistic Empire had many priests, those who could manifest divine power so visibly were few and far between. From what I knew, Yujein's divine power was, ‌‌‌‌well... enough ‌‌‌to heal a paper cut on a finger. 'Too weak, you say?' The gods here were stingy, granting their priests no great miracles. That level of power was sufficient to become the Empire's most celebrated priestess. After pouring blessings upon multiple people at once, Yujein swayed, and the Grand Duke beside her steadied her. "Are you alright?" "Yes, I'm fine. Your Highness, my hand...." "It's cold. If it's unpleasant for you...." "It's not unpleasant! That's not it—I just... my hand is cold...." "It's fine. I like the cold." 'They're really going at it.' I brushed dust from my clothes with indifference, watching the romantic spectacle unfold ‌‌‌before me. See nothing. Hear nothing. Say nothing. Just like when my mentor and someone from the adjacent team ‌‌‌were flirting in front of me during my ‌‌‌first days at the company. It was Nuisance Man who shattered the tender atmosphere. Without so much as a word of gratitude, Nuisance Man rotated his arm about, complaining. "You should've done this sooner. Maybe one of the knights wouldn't have died then." At those words, Yujein, who had been wiping cold sweat from her brow, flinched. "I'm sorry...." "Well, you don't owe me an apology. I'm just saying." So this is what they mean by 'damned if you do.' It was obvious each blessing drained ‌‌‌‌her considerably—who exactly had you entrusted with her blessings? Instead of the bewildered Yujein, the Crown Prince furrowed his brow. "Praha, that's enough." "Come on, be honest, brother...! By rights, ‌she shouldn't even be standing among us—her status is too low. She only made it this far because of her divine power. She ‌should've known her place and acted accordingly without being told. What is this?" We don't know how many of ‌‌those monsters are out there, and we've lost a shield. Nuisance Man grumbled on. 'Wow, I can think of a hundred harsh things to say to him right now.' Just as the Crown Prince was about to speak again, ‌‌‌Mascarpone cut in. "Didn't you hear? It's a blessing that removes fatigue." Mascarpone fired back with the same hostile tone she'd used against me earlier. "Did that knight die because he was tired? No, he didn't. What Yujein cast was a blessing, not a defensive spell, was it?" "What's an old woman like you doing butting in...." "Forget the pleasantries—let's go! We're running out of time!" "Yes, let's hurry. I don't feel safe here." I seized the opportunity and chimed in. I felt like bowing to ‌‌Mascarpone for voicing the words I'd been holding back. 'Staying quiet is harder than I thought. Without Mascarpone, I would've lost my temper just now.' She'd been sharp with me earlier, but if she treated everyone equally with that same bluntness, I could tolerate it. "Yes, let's get out of here. I'm terrified...." Supporting Character 2, reading the mood, added her voice as well. With all the women in agreement, Nuisance Man finally relented and fell silent. Dazling quickly took the lead and opened the door. * * * Dazling and ‌‌the Crown Prince, both skilled with weapons, led the way, while the Grand Duke guarded the rear, leaving the rest of us—unarmed and inexperienced—clustered in the middle. Eight people total, yet only three capable of fighting. Three people protecting five. ‌‌‌‌'This is like getting stuck with a terrible team composition in a game. I'd delete my account on the spot.' "Sigh." I was exhaling in frustration when— "Move." "Huh?" Nuisance Man shoved roughly past my back and squeezed directly in front of me. I stumbled backward, my eyes blinking in bewilderment. 'What?' What was this? 'I thought he'd guard the rear with the Grand ‌‌‌Duke?' Not because he was male, but because he'd insisted on taking a sword earlier—he'd stubbornly grabbed one himself. Yet he casually shoved me aside and positioned himself in the middle row, surrounded by women, protected on all sides. Watching him wedge himself between the women for safety, I sighed and stepped back ‌‌‌to the rear. The Grand Duke, noticing me move beside him, subtly shifted to let me walk on the safer side. "You should go to the front, my lady." "It's ‌‌fine. Five of us can't ‌‌walk up there together anyway." I could stab a zombie's neck with a paper knife, or at least shove one off balance. The Grand Duke tilted his head as he watched me rotate my arms in a stretch. "You seem different today, somehow." "You mean I look more tired?" "Not exactly...." The Grand Duke leaned his waist toward me, casting a ‌‌‌shadow across my face. I flinched at his breath brushing my ear. "Your atmosphere is different. You even helped Yujein ‌‌‌just now." "I didn't ‌‌help her. Mascarpone did." "But you supported what Mascarpone said about hurrying—isn't that helping?" He smiled and scratched his cheek before continuing. "I ‌‌‌thought you'd be upset seeing Praha and Yujein together all afternoon. But you're not." Emerald eyes glimmered as they caught the light from the corridor lamps. "With corpses wandering outside, does it really matter if living people stay close together?" I tossed the comment out, and he let out a low ‌‌‌‌chuckle. "You really are different." Because you're someone else. The Grand Duke observed me without bothering to hide his unspoken question—what wind had blown to make me act this way—and I met his gaze head-on. He was handsome. Like staring at a celebrity's birthday advertisement plastered on Line 2 Samseong Station late at night. Glittering and brilliant, while the subway around it remained pitch-black, that billboard alone shining brightly—like someone's most radiant moment had been cut out and pasted there, all glamorous and luminous. I thought that with hair of such ‌‌pure gold, he'd probably glow without any light source at all, and I brushed off my wrists. "Are you still tired? You've received a blessing." "My exhaustion isn't the kind that can be erased by a blessing." "Then what would?" The kind of ‌‌‌tiredness that only an iced Americano can fix. "Never mind." "You're quite cold." "Yes." Even as I spoke harshly, the Grand Duke only laughed. It was common ‌‌‌‌‌knowledge that after Yusara's confession ‌‌incident, the Grand Duke and the princess Yusara had become firmly estranged. So no one found it strange that I spoke coldly to the Grand Duke. Thanks to that, I could speak freely without restraint, which was at least one convenient thing. "Don't talk to me. I'm too tired to even respond...." Yujein, who had been walking ahead, glanced back at me as I shut down the Grand Duke's persistent attempts at conversation. Meeting her ‌‌‌round, rabbit-like eyes, I finally closed my mouth. Was she upset because I said her blessing had no effect? I'd keep quiet. * * * The villa we are ‌‌‌in is a two-story building that looks like a ‘ㅜ’ shape when viewed ‌‌from above. The Secret Room was the rightmost room on ‌the second floor. There were no stairs on the right side, and there was a large Central Staircase in the middle of the building ‌‌‌‌used by nobles, and stairs on the left used by servants. ‌‌‌2nd Floor: Staircase/Central Staircase/Secret Room 1st ‌‌Floor: Gallery/Kitchen/Dining Hall The Kitchen, our target, was located behind the grand, wide curved Central Staircase in the center. From here, we'd go straight ahead, turn the corner, spiral down the Central Staircase, and slip into the Kitchen behind it—simple enough. 'The problem is that this simple structure is absurdly vast.' As we walked down the long Corridor, people spoke less and less. Even the Grand Duke, who had been teasing me, now looked cautious and alert to his surroundings. To ease my ‌own tension, I let my mind wander to pointless thoughts. -Yusara's acrostic poem about the Crown Prince- Crown: How honorable it is. Prince: To be protected by the Crown Prince and the Grand Duke. Self: I should brag about this. As we approached the Central Staircase, Supporting Character 2 spoke up. "It's so quiet... it's making me anxious." Mascarpone, who had been gnawing at her lip, picked up the thread. "Wouldn't it be better to return to our rooms right now?" She seemed to be asking for the Crown Prince's opinion, but he merely stared ahead without responding. Instead, it was the Grand Duke who offered an explanation. "With corpses rising and wandering about, it wouldn't be surprising if the building collapsed or caught fire at any moment. We have no way of knowing what else might happen, so escape must be our absolute priority. That's why I'm taking all of you—unarmed as you are—with ‌‌‌me." "But..." Just then, the Crown Prince ahead of us whispered. "Shh." At his words, everyone froze as if hitting an invisible brake. ‌‌Behind a colossal horse sculpture—just around the corner lay the Central Staircase. A knight stood there. Without being told, everyone held their breath. "..." The Crown Prince raised ‌‌‌‌his left hand, which held no sword, and crossed two fingers, shaking them slightly. Dazling immediately raised his shield to protect the group. Moving silently, the Crown Prince closed the distance to the knight in mere steps. "Grrgh..." When the knight's eyes—covered as if by a white film—turned toward us. Squelch. The Crown Prince ‌‌‌severed the knight's neck. Only after the Crown ‌‌‌Prince returned did everyone dare to speak. Deliberately ignoring ‌‌‌the dismembered knight scattered in one corner of the corridor. "It couldn't see us." "It seems they sense their surroundings through hearing or smell, not sight." "Do all the moving corpses ‌‌‌‌work that way?" "Your Highness, what do you think?" "...That's not the problem." ‌‌‌The Crown Prince's expression grew grave. So did Dazling's, who stood at the front alongside him. The Crown Prince, his brow ‌‌‌furrowed, gestured toward the Central Staircase. Since we had to turn the corner, it wasn't visible from here. The people who had been whispering fell silent ‌‌and pressed close behind Dazling and the Crown Prince. "Ah!" "Ugh..." There was a mountain of corpses. Along the broad, curved staircase—wide enough that two ‌‌people lying end-to-end would still leave room—dozens of bodies were piled like ‌‌‌‌discarded mannequins: necks severed, arms cut off, torsos split in half. Blood from the dismembered heap flowed down the stairs like a ‌mountain stream. Drip, drip, drip... Only after registering the sight did the nauseating stench hit us in full force. Fingernails missing, fingers jutting from the top step; a young man with his abdomen split open, positioned at the highest point; spilled entrails; the cross-section of a severed neck. "Ah!" In an instant, Yujein, who ‌‌‌had been backing away, stepped directly on ‌‌‌‌‌my foot. Lost in a daze staring at the pile of corpses, I failed to dodge Yujein as she rushed toward me. Her tall, pointed heels stumbled and slipped across the top of my foot. Yujein and I tumbled down together in a tangled heap. "Ugh!" "Oh my!" "Yujein!" "Are you alright?!" "Ah, yes... I'm fine." Those shoes of hers—I had a bad feeling about them from the start. I rubbed my throbbing ankle and lifted my head. Two large hands ‌‌came into view, extended ‌‌‌‌toward me. "Ah, thank you...." I hesitated just as I was about to grab any hand and pull ‌myself up. Two male leads stood before Yujein and me, both ‌extending their hands. More precisely, they were both extending their hands to Yujein. The male leads looked flustered seeing me frozen in place. The empty space before me. 'Are you alright?!' That question wasn't directed at me after all.... [Imperial Villa 2nd Floor Corridor] Dazling/Crown Prince Yujein/Nuisance Man/Mascarpone/Supporting Character 2 Grand Duke/Yusara (Surviving)

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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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