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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 60
"...!"
My eyes snapped open.
"...!"
I reflexively clamped my hand over my mouth to stifle a scream.
My body went rigid, but my eyes darted frantically around.
Where am I?
Did I lose consciousness?
'I was running after ‌‌‌‌falling into a trap.'
Light erupted from my hand.
The sudden burst blinded me, robbing me of my vision.
'My body lifted and flew somewhere.'
I was hurled through the air with no time to brace myself.
...Where?
Where was I thrown to?
Only my eyes moved as I glanced to the side.
I could see nothing.
Slowly, I opened my hand.
The light that had been trickling between my fingers now illuminated my surroundings brilliantly as I spread my palm.
The hourglass in my hand lay serene, as if it had never exploded at all.
White sand still fell grain by grain, one after another.
The remaining time had visibly diminished.
I slowly swept my open palm left and right, casting light ‌‌‌across the darkness around me.
"...Hah."
This time, I had to bite my tongue to keep ‌‌‌from making a sound.
"...."
"...Grrk?"
A zombie, sensing my presence, whipped its head toward the sound.
Its head spun frantically, revealing rotted flesh and a bleached jawbone beneath.
"...! ...!"
Drip.
Blood-tinged zombie saliva splattered across my forehead.
I squeezed my eyes shut.
I opened them again from between the zombie's legs.
How could I have forgotten?
That I was summoned here ‌‌‌together with the zombies.
The eerie red glow emanating ‌‌‌‌from all around.
How could I not see it?
'Get it together. They say even if you're dragged into a tiger's den, you can survive if you keep your wits about you.'
This isn't even a cave.
It's incredibly spacious!
Even if a tiger charged at me, I could dodge it once by rolling.
If I can evade a tiger, what's a zombie?
I just need to keep my mouth shut before panic makes me scream.
'Get it together. Get it together. Get it together.'
If I don't, ‌‌‌I'm dead.
I bit the inside of my cheek hard and rolled my eyes.
The stench was unbearable.
'The smell of rotting corpses is coming from everywhere.'
Zombies detect humans through smell and hearing.
That's why the zombie didn't notice me even though I was lying right beneath it.
'A blessing in disguise.'
If they'd caught my scent, they would have torn me apart before I even woke up.
By the time I opened my eyes, my body might have already been half-excavated....
'Get it together.'
I dug my nails into my palms.
First, ‌I needed to get away from this situation with a zombie's foot right next to my face.
But I couldn't move recklessly ‌‌‌because I didn't know what was pressing against my back.
These hard, pointed things kept jabbing ‌‌into my spine.
What if they broke and made noise when I moved?
I had no choice but to keep my eyes wide open, cold sweat pouring down my face.
I was going to ‌‌‌lose my mind.
'It's fine. Don't panic. It's fine. They have no vision. It's fine.'
As long as I don't make a sound, I can stay like this for hours.
I just need to find a way before the hourglass runs out.
'Can I do this? Can I really do this?' ‌‌
I have to, whether I can or not.
Think of something. Don't panic.
I clenched my fist tightly around my palm, which kept letting light seep through.
Even though I knew they had no vision, I was anxious about being discovered because of this light.
'Slowly. Slowly. Slowly.'
One thing ‌‌at a time.
I turned my stiff neck slowly to the side.
"Grrrrgh...."
"Grrgh...." ‌‌
I counted the number of zombies wandering around me.
Losing count multiple times as I stayed alert to the zombie directly above me.
In the darkness where I couldn't even see my own feet, I could count the zombies relatively easily.
It was because of the red stones embedded in their chests.
'So every zombie really does have a stone.'
A crimson stone.
A stone that holds the souls of people who have become zombies.
Visible only to me, a returner.
A stone that lets me read the owner's memories when I hold it in my hand.
Because that stone glowed even in the darkness, I could count the number of zombies.
Based on the number of crimson stones, the zombie count was.
'Eight.'
Neither few nor many.
A number that Praha, Cyprus, and Tangerine could dispatch with ease and attempt an escape.
Then what about me?
'I have ‌‌no idea.'
I reached out and felt along my waist, my fingers brushing the short blade I'd tucked there. I drew it quietly and gripped it in my hand.
Could I stab?
Me?
I don't know. ‌
But I don't want to die like this.
Let me think.
First.
Where am I?
'We never passed through a place like this on our way here.'
Judging by the high ceiling and the smell, this appears to be the ‌‌Underground Tomb shown on the back of the map.
'Looks like there's another level below!'
'Could this be the tomb where the ‌bodies of the eliminated are discarded?'
This was ‌‌‌‌the Underground Tomb we'd theorized about—where corpses and baggage left inside would be disposed of when the maze doors closed.
If that's the case, then the sharp things piercing my back right now must be.
'Human bones.'
Same with what catches at my feet.
If I ‌‌can't escape from here, I'll be left alone, and I too will....
'No. Don't imagine that. That won't help right now.'
There was no Staircase leading down shown on the map.
Do my companions know I'm here?
From their perspective, I've simply ‌‌‌‌vanished without a trace. ‌‌
And the Divine Maze certainly.
'Warned us not to search for missing ‌‌‌companions.'
The Divine Maze added another warning as well.
The divine does not favor those who break its word. ‌‌
So my companions.
'Won't come.'
It's better for ‌‌‌the rest to escape safely than for everyone to be ‌‌‌endangered by breaking the rules.
It's better to assume they won't come for me.
I shouldn't ‌‌‌harbor false hopes—I need to move myself. ‌‌
What if no one comes to rescue me?
Whether they come or not, I'm escaping.
I forced my stinging eyes ‌‌wide open.
'Don't cry.'
You're not dead yet.
You can get out on your own strength.
At ‌‌‌the very least, you're here 100% determined to save yourself.
That was ‌‌‌the moment.
"...Yusara!"
My name, faintly audible from somewhere.
"...Sara!"
Distant, but unmistakably my name.
Someone was searching for me.
"Grrrrgh?"
The zombies reacted to the voice whose direction ‌‌‌I couldn't determine.
I seized the moment, rolling my body through the gaps between the ‌‌zombies' feet and escaping.
"...!"
More than the pain of being pierced by bone, I worried about the blood scent from the scratches. ‌‌
I rolled between bone and corpse, making my way to a corner.
Even as I did, the voice calling my name drew steadily closer.
"Yusara!"
"My lady! Where are you!"
"Yusara! Answer me!"
'That's Praha's voice, isn't it?'
He can actually shout that loud?
No, ‌‌‌more than that....
'He's calling my name so recklessly?'
Brittle bones scraped across my back and cheek as they passed.
"Yusara!"
'I'm here!'
I want to shout back with all my strength, but the zombies surrounding me won't allow it.
'Wait. How can they shout like that?'
There must be zombies above too!
I looked up with an anxious heart.
How much time had passed in this dread?
Creak.
One section of the ceiling creaked and fell ‌away in a perfect circle.
A torch entered through the opening.
Light sweeping back and forth, taking measure of the darkness.
I looked up at that light with the heart of someone who had fallen beneath a manhole.
"Yusara! Are you down ‌‌‌there?!"
"I can't see ‌you!"
I opened ‌‌‌my right hand.
A golden hourglass bursting forth with ‌‌radiant light.
I waved that hand back and forth.
From the ‌‌‌level above, catching that light in the darkness, came an exclamation.
"Yusara!"
They were delighted.
To have found me.
In the midst ‌‌‌of such urgency, their cheer was so genuine it drew a hollow laugh from me.
'Why did ‌‌‌‌you come, you fools....'
They said to ignore the missing party ‌members.
Then they should have escaped.
How did they even find this place?
'I was certain they'd abandon me and leave.'
"My lady! Are you alright?!"
"Are you injured?!"
"Can one of us descend and bring you up?!"
"It's too deep!"
"Aren't there zombies down there too?! We need to eliminate them first!"
"Arrows!"
"But what if we hit my lady?!"
"Yusara! Hold on just a moment! We'll rescue you soon!"
They boasted of rescue without any concrete ‌‌‌‌plan, spouting reassurances.
That they ‌‌‌would never leave me behind.
Watching my companions grow flustered searching for a solution, yet showing no intention of abandoning me, I pushed myself to my feet.
This was no time to lie idle.
'While they find a way, I need to deal with the zombies.'
I couldn't simply wait for rescue ‌‌with my hands folded.
The situation above was certainly no better.
Most likely, the companions whose voices I could no longer hear were holding back the zombie horde on the Ground Level. ‌‌
Like Praha, who had been calling my name enthusiastically ‌‌until he vanished.
'I need to buy them time.'
"Kiiieeeek!"
"Grrrrgh!"
My companions above were shouting so loudly that I'd drawn more than enough aggro.
The zombies were all staring upward, completely unaware of me huddled in the corner.
'I see... I must be moved by this... ‌‌‌my hands are trembling.'
I tightened my grip on the dagger in ‌‌my hand, then immediately changed my mind.
I lowered the bow slung across my back.
Even as my ‌‌‌‌‌body crashed to the ground, it miraculously remained unbroken.
I wiped the sweat from my palms on my pants and grasped the bow.
'I need to do what I do best.'
How could I possibly hit anything in this darkness?
But I can see.
The crimson stones gleaming in the zombies' chests.
"Hoo."
The moment I took aim, my hands began trembling uncontrollably.
I took a long, deep breath.
'I can do this. ‌I trained for exactly this moment.'
Some people can even knock arrows out of the air with arrows.
'If ‌‌Praha can do it, so can I. After all, Praha is the one who taught me.'
I inhaled deeply once more, exhaled, and took aim.
Starting with the zombie farthest away.
Twang—thunk.
"Kieeeek...!"
And then another shot.
"Krrrgh...!"
Another shot.
"Kyaaaah!"
I missed that one.
But I didn't panic and tried again.
One more shot.
By the time my quiver held only a single arrow remaining, every zombie surrounding me lay motionless on the ground.
"Ha..."
I'd used twenty arrows to bring down eight zombies.
My shoulders, strained from the intense exertion, throbbed as if they might tear apart.
When the zombie I'd missed came charging at me with an arrow lodged in its cheek, ‌‌I genuinely thought I was done for.
I surveyed the zombies sprawled across the floor, then looked up at the ceiling.
"My lady! It's Tangerine!"
Tangerine, who had switched positions with Cyprus, was lowering a rope from her bag.
It was the same rope that had been wound around the neck of that woman who 'hadn't taken her own life.'
The long, unusually light, and remarkably durable rope that Tangerine had praised.
If that rope had descended from such a towering ceiling, it would certainly be long enough to reach here.
I moved toward the descending rope.
"My lady! Can you see the rope?!"
"Yes! I can see it!"
"Ah! You shouldn't speak! There might be zombies nearby!"
"I've handled it all!"
I could see the rope's end was tied in a neat knot.
It seemed to have been fashioned originally for me to hook my feet through, but unfortunately it didn't extend quite that far.
I threaded my arms through the rope dangling right in front of my face.
"Do you have it?"
"Yes!"
Once ‌‌‌Tangerine confirmed I was ready to ascend, she immediately began hauling my body upward.
How does it feel?
'I'm like a character from a fairy tale!'
Two siblings climbing up while gripping a rope!
My ‌arms feel like they're about to tear off!
'But honestly, it doesn't feel so bad!'
"We must pull you up before the rope snaps! Holy Maiden, please go and bring back one of the two princes!"
"Yes, yes!"
"Kyaaaah!"
"Ugh!"
Yes, it really wasn't so bad.
Not until a zombie I thought was dead latched onto my ankle!
[Ancient Maze: Underground Tomb]
- 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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