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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 63
Yujein's eyes began to glow white once ‌‌more.
Having already exhausted her full power moments before, beads of perspiration dotted her forehead.
And then, one more time.
A tremendous explosion erupted.
"Kyaaaah!"
Behind the zombies that had crumbled into ash, another wave surged forward, only to be engulfed in black flames and collapse.
"Miss Yujein!"
Cyprus steadied Yujein as she swayed.
She had incinerated dozens of zombies in an instant, yet her face bore only bewilderment.
Sensing her confusion, I asked.
"Miss Yujein? What's wrong?"
"I haven't grown stronger at ‌‌‌all...."
"What?"
"I haven't grown stronger at all! My power hasn't increased!"
Yujein pushed away Cyprus's supporting hand and rose, brandishing the sacred relic.
Crack. Snap.
Boom! Boom!
"Miss Yujein! Stop!"
At this rate, she'll collapse! ‌‌
"The sacred relic is useless! My strength is the same!"
"What do you mean?"
"Whether I have ‌‌‌‌the sacred relic or not, my power is identical.... I can't ‌‌‌‌feel any increase in my abilities."
"What are you saying?"
Tangerine and Cyprus's eyes widened in shock.
I gazed beyond the stone wall.
"Groooowl...."
From that crumbling Maze, countless zombies continued to escape, and fresh hordes instantly filled the spaces where ‌‌ash had scattered.
Yujein's power was certainly formidable, but it ‌‌‌hadn't grown stronger than it was at the Villa.
'The sacred relic is completely useless.'
We had scraped together precious time and endured that grueling journey to reach Prome for this?
And worse, zombies ‌‌had appeared in this region right after obtaining the sacred relic?
A heavy, bewildered silence ‌‌‌fell over the group as they all grappled with the same realization.
"What do we do...."
Yujein herself looked as though she wanted to bite her own tongue and ‌‌perish on the spot.
"What do ‌‌‌‌we do! I brought everyone here! And now this!"
"It's not your fault, Saint! No one ‌‌could have known the sacred relic would be ineffective!"
"That's right. You didn't force us to come here, Miss Yujein."
The others, having regained their composure, attempted to console Yujein. Yet tears were already brimming in her eyes.
"But everyone came ‌‌‌here because of that one thing...."
"Saint...." ‌
"I thought I could send all the zombies to the embrace of the god of the underworld at once.... At this rate, I'll barely manage it even after dozens of attempts...."
'Hmm. It doesn't seem like a major problem, really.'
While everyone stood at a loss, I shrugged and interjected.
"Then let's just ‌‌‌‌do it dozens of times and get rid of them."
"...What?"
"If it's difficult to do once, but you can eliminate them by doing it dozens of times, isn't that what you meant?"
It's basically like ‌‌that.
If you look at an English word a hundred times and don't memorize it, you just look at it a hundred and first time.
If doing it once doesn't work, doing it multiple times will.
"Either way, if you can do ‌it, then you should do it. ‌‌For now, this place is safe, we have shelter from wind and rain, and we still have food."
"...."
"As long as Yujein's stamina is fine, we're all fine. Honestly, we without holy power have no right to say anything anyway."
"My lady...."
"Let's rest today and try again tomorrow with renewed strength."
I glanced over the zombies beyond the wall.
All their gazes were concentrated on us. We must be the only target in this area.
Unless something unexpected ‌‌‌‌happens, they'll be targeting us all night long.
That's right. Zombies don't clock out.
"It's fine, Yujein. Your holy ‌power hasn't completely disappeared."
But again, we're not in a position to tell Yujein ‌‌whether things are fine or not.
We don't have any holy power at all.
I pointed ‌‌‌to Cyprus.
"Don't worry too much. There are people who received divine blessings but can't use a single thread of holy power."
"That's right! I'm an incompetent like that!"
"That's right! The Emperor is incompetent!"
"Tangerine... isn't that too much...?"
"Anyway, Yujein, let's think positively about this."
Whether there's a sacred object or not, if we can exert this ‌‌much power, that's actually good.
I led the bewildered Yujein toward the Temple building. Just then, Praha was coming out from ‌‌‌inside.
As Praha approached us and saw the dejected Yujein, he blinked. I briefly explained the situation.
"The sacred object isn't working." ‌‌‌
"I see."
Praha simply nodded.
"There's no helping it. How is my lady's palm?"
It was remarkably quick acceptance.
"It's fine. The watch disappeared too."
"That's a relief."
Praha brushed back the hair that had fallen over his forehead and continued speaking.
"There's a space inside where we can rest."
"Oh! Are there sweets ‌‌‌here, Your Majesty?"
"There are two sacks of salt."
"That's not sweets!"
"Tangerine, ‌are you dismissing the salt?"
Tangerine's attention had already drifted elsewhere.
Praha emphasizing the importance of salt.
"I'd like to change into clean clothes if there are any."
Cyprus devoted to maintaining his appearance.
Everyone remained remarkably composed despite my efforts having apparently been for nothing.
Really? No effect? Fine. This attitude of ‌‌‌theirs.
'If Nuisance Man had already died in this situation, he would have thrown an absolute fit....'
I linked arms with the dejected Yujein, grateful to be traveling with this group.
"Let's go inside and rest. We won't be able to do anything until daylight anyway."
* * *
"There are zombies lurking outside—do I really have to brush my ‌‌teeth now? Is cleanliness really that important right now?"
"Yes."
"Why!"
"Zombies track people by scent."
Even if the Empire fell tomorrow, I would still brush my teeth for ‌‌three minutes.
"I just want to lie down ‌‌‌as I am.... ‌‌‌Can't I rest for just five minutes?"
"Healthy teeth are one of life's greatest blessings. Now go."
"What blessing, my lady?"
"Brush your teeth and come back, and I'll tell you."
I pushed the whining Tangerine toward the washroom and sat down on the sofa in the ‌‌‌reception room.
Dust billowed up.
Ugh.
"Grrrraahhh...."
The zombies prowling around the Temple outside wailed.
Poor facilities, plenty of dust. Outside, the noise of those who'd ‌‌‌‌lost their minds echoed in.
It felt like we were on a company retreat.
Beside me, Praha and Cyprus, their wet hair hanging loosely ‌‌‌after washing, were studying a map and discussing.
"If the zombies truly cannot cross the Temple's boundary."
"Then it makes sense that the areas we're heading to haven't been overrun with zombies."
"If there ‌‌‌are zombies in that direction."
I dried my hair with a ‌‌‌rough towel I'd looted from the upstairs dresser and sat beside them.
Praha glanced at me and rotated the map so I could see ‌‌it clearly.
"Are you injured anywhere?"
"I'm ‌‌‌fine. The marked location is the Temple, correct?"
"Yes."
I examined the map.
Except for ‌‌‌the Capital, which the Emperor had taxed and driven out, and a few imperial territories, temples were densely packed throughout the entire Empire.
Without exaggeration, there were as many temples as there were cafes and churches in ‌‌Korea.
Particularly in Cyprus's Southern Region, temples had formed what was almost a continuous belt.
Cyprus, sensing my gaze, spoke.
"I sponsor the temples, you see."
"Even though His Majesty dislikes the clergy?"
"But they take in and care for orphans created ‌‌‌‌by the ‌‌war."
"That's admirable work."
Certainly, with temples spread throughout the Empire like this, it seemed they could prevent the spread of zombies to some degree.
"Going forward, the temples will serve as evacuation centers for this crisis."
"Right. When zombies appear, people can evacuate to the temples."
"I'm curious how His Majesty will react ‌‌to this."
What would the Emperor—desperate to weaken ecclesiastical power—do when he learned of this?
"If the zombie crisis continues, we may need to reorganize cities around the temples."
Temples would be positioned at all key locations—village entrances, food storage depots, and so on. Everyone would scramble ‌‌to bring clergy to their towns.
As the clergy's influence grew, the Emperor's power would naturally diminish.
"Still, having a means of defense is hopeful news. Let's hope His Majesty sees it that way too."
"I doubt it. He might just kill us and cover this up."
Cyprus replied with a gloomy expression.
"By the way, what was that strange rift in the air from earlier?"
"It looked like a summoning gate that calls forth zombies."
A discussion about the gate followed immediately.
(At that moment, I felt relieved. The gate was no longer a secret only I knew.)
'Yes, good. Everything's good.'
I sipped the milk tea Cyprus had made and glanced at Yujein, who had been quiet since earlier.
She wasn't participating in the conversation, just huddled in a corner with her arms wrapped around her ‌‌‌‌knees.
'Come to think of it, something's been off with her since the Maze.'
I held my teacup and walked over to Yujein.
"Yujein."
"Oh, Miss...."
"Is something wrong?"
Even as I asked, I thought she might not answer me, but surprisingly, Yujein opened up readily.
"I feel like I'm not being helpful."
Huh?
If you're not helpful, what about all the zombie ‌‌‌‌‌corpses scattered outside?
Yujein continued.
"I'm the reason we came here. But I haven't been helpful at all, and even the sacred relic we worked so hard to obtain is useless.... I just keep tagging along like dead weight. I have no face ‌‌to ‌‌‌show ‌you all."
My mouth hung open.
But that's not your fault—the ‌‌‌sacred relic being useless isn't your fault in the first place!
"I'm anxious. The power I possess is merely the result of good fortune—nothing ‌‌‌‌but a stroke of luck I happened upon. What if I'm deceiving people by pretending it's my ability? What if, at a critical moment, my power fails to manifest?"
Perhaps it would have been better not to step forward from the beginning and simply remain quiet, Yujein said.
"I regret acting as though I were something special. I'm so ‌‌‌ashamed. I feel like a fraud."
I should have told her not to follow me.
"When I was first asked to join the Investigation Team, I agonized over whether to accept... I should have refused."
"...."
"What could someone like me possibly accomplish? I should have just continued living as I was."
This is infuriating.
Aren't the fallen zombies outside proof enough of Yujein's abilities?
The ‌‌‌most helpful person here is drowning in self-doubt over a brief struggle in the Maze.
How much more proof does she need before she believes in her own power?
If I leave her alone like this, she'll keep choosing 'maybe not' over 'maybe' for the rest of her life.
I had no choice but to share my usual philosophy with her.
"Yujein."
"...Yes, my lady."
"The truth is, whenever I develop feelings for a man, I confess unconditionally."
"Yes? Why...?"
Yujein's expression went blank at this sudden, provocative statement.
[(Safe Zone) Abandoned Temple: Reception Room]
- Yusara, Yujein, Praha, Cyprus (in conversation)
- Tangerine (Don't have fun ‌without me!)

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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
---------------