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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 ‌‌‌‌7
Part 2. A Resolve Not to Stand ‌‌Out
Third-year office worker Yusara's opinion on her monthly salary.
A salary isn't payment for work—it's compensation for endurance.
=Medical bills for stress-induced illness
A company: a place that gives you the disease and the medicine (its price).
*Warning* The medicine cost is absurdly insufficient to treat all the illnesses you've acquired.
But this isn't a company. They don't pay me for tolerating things here.
Am I really supposed to put up with this bastard's nonsense? Just because I shouldn't stand out?
At the company, I'm already choking on rage just from holding back what I want to say. Do I have to endure it here too?
And they're not even paying me!
From my perspective—someone who's developed the habit of referring to everyone I encounter at work as "this bastard," ‌‌‌‌"that jerk," "that asshole," and so on—
The conclusion was clear: 'No.'
I ‌‌won't endure it. I don't want to endure it.
I spoke to Nuisance Man, who sat diagonally across from me.
"Excuse me."
"What, deadweight?"
"I admit I'm a burden, but it's unfair to hear that from someone in the same situation ‌when there are two perfectly capable men right here."
The male leads, suddenly dubbed "two perfectly capable men," widened their eyes. I let out a small laugh seeing the handsome faces of these rather charming men.
Whatever. I'm a troublemaking villainous nuisance ‌‌anyway.
Isn't that character type supposed to speak bluntly?
No matter how crude my language gets, it won't match our team's Director Jo, so it's fine.
"And Yujein isn't a burden. She has holy ‌‌‌power. Who blessed her in the first place?"
Actually, I don't even like being called a villain.
If I'm a villain, what does that make him—a male villain? An incompetent?
"If you hadn't blessed her, wouldn't Yujein have had enough holy power left to heal her own ankle?"
Of course it's not quite that extreme. Holy power isn't such a tremendous force.
Nuisance Man, aware of this fact, immediately countered.
"What are you talking about? It's ‌‌a trivial power anyway. How could such a minor blessing that barely heals small wounds treat an ankle?"
"Oh, how convenient. So that insignificant blessing you didn't grant caused a knight to die?"
Not a ‌single word of ‌‌gratitude, and here he was spouting off about why she didn't use it sooner. That ‌‌was him, wasn't it?
When I pointed out his contradiction, he fell silent, his mouth opening and closing without words.
With Nuisance Man ‌‌rendered speechless before me, I continued my tirade alone.
"You were happy to accept the blessing, but now that she's injured, you want to abandon her? Isn't that shameless? Yujein isn't an ‌‌object. You don't just throw away something once it breaks. Have some conscience."
I wouldn't even treat my home robot vacuum cleaner that way. I clicked my tongue openly.
Nuisance Man's face flushed red as he raised his voice.
"Who said we'd abandon her completely? I said we should leave her behind! The knight! The sword-wielder!"
"Why would we leave Dazling behind? By your logic, it would be most efficient for people who aren't burdens to ‌‌‌‌go first. Dazling should go, and you should stay with us instead. You're a burden too."
I pointed my finger at his plump cheeks.
His face was so shiny it was hard to gauge, but Nuisance Man still had baby fat clinging to his cheeks.
He must be around twenty.
At an age when confidence should ‌‌be blooming, and he's already learned nothing but depravity.
Tsk, tsk, tsk!
"If you're going to talk about efficiency, let's be thorough about it. Isn't that what you argued? Leave behind the dead weight, and only ‌‌the capable ones escape."
"...."
"From the perspective of those armed people, you're dead weight too. Heavy dead weight, at that."
"...."
"Your body weight looks ‌‌like it's about double Yujein's. This is ridiculous—no one could even carry you."
The moment I spoke my honest thoughts, Nuisance Man's face flushed crimson all the way ‌‌‌to his ears. He huffed and wiped his sweat-soaked forehead, but what good would that do?
Soon Nuisance Man warned me.
"Watch your mouth."
"Watch it for what? I'm just suggesting the most efficient method. Come on, let's go back. Let's hide together in the Secret Room all night, unable to drink even a ‌‌‌‌sip of water, starving and shivering, armed with nothing but a measly dagger, waiting for a rescue team that might never come!"
I clenched my fist, scabs forming on my palm, and thrust it upward with force.
You lunatic, let's ‌‌‌die together!
"Let's go!"
I stood up and dragged Nuisance Man by the elbow. ‌His arm was so padded with fat—honestly, even a Jeju hairtail would have less meat ‌on it.
"If a corpse shows up while we're waiting, you can act as a shield to buy us time, and meanwhile the women, including me, can escape. With all that meat on you, it'll take the corpses a long time to tear through."
"You really...."
"What? That's the most... ef... ‌‌fi... cient... way."
It seemed no one ‌‌‌had ever pointed out Nuisance Man's weight ‌‌before—he couldn't seem to recover his composure.
That was exactly what I intended.
Working among male colleagues who constantly critiqued women's appearances whenever they got the chance, I knew all too well how uncomfortable and self-conscious it made people.
I never wanted to become garbage that judges others' looks.
I hate that I'm using this pathetic method to attack you. I ‌‌hate that this method came to mind first when trying to hurt someone. I hate the company bastards who made me think this way first. Why do they make ‌‌‌people so petty?
Did you think the women were staying quiet because they had nothing to say?
"If you discard the dead weight one by one in order, and we women get discarded first, then what? Why don't you realize that you'll be the next dead weight to be thrown away?"
"Now that you mention it, this is really...."
Nuisance Man, who had been huffing, shoved my arm away. The rough motion made me stumble for ‌‌a moment.
Nuisance Man shot to his feet and raised his arm toward my face. I wasn't scared in the slightest, so I lifted my head defiantly.
From Nuisance Man's breath, so close now, came the sweet smell of alcohol.
'This is driving me crazy....'
Is he even drunk?
"Paprika!"
The moment Nuisance Man raised his hand toward me, people surged to their feet. In an instant, the Crown Prince appeared behind Nuisance Man and grabbed ‌‌‌‌his raised arm. He must have been quite far away—did he use some kind of teleportation technique?
"Paprika."
The Grand Duke, his expression hardening, called out Nuisance Man's name. His hand was already ‌‌‌‌on his sword hilt.
The Crown Prince, having twisted Nuisance Man's arm behind his back, restrained both his arms with a single hand.
"Ugh!"
Subdued in ‌‌an instant, Nuisance Man let out a scream.
"Brother, it hurts! I'm in pain! Ugh! Ugh!"
Regardless of what Nuisance Man said, the Crown Prince only looked at me.
Only after I shook my head did the Crown Prince release Nuisance Man's arm and step back. His voice dropped to a low warning.
"Don't disappoint me."
"Brother...!"
"Apologize to the lady. If you don't, you'll be the one left behind here alone."
Those long, cold eyes held not a trace of jest.
...He seems genuinely angry, doesn't he?
"Do we really ‌‌‌need an apology? We ‌‌can just use him as a shield on the way."
The Grand Duke chimed in.
"The lady offered a fine suggestion. Let's try it her way. A shield."
His tone carried amusement, but his words were ruthless.
They're both angry. Definitely.
Nuisance Man, gauging the mood of his two terrifying ‌‌'older brothers', pouted and fell silent. He only rubbed ‌his broken arm and protested weakly, but the male leads showed no sign of relenting.
Seeing ‌‌Nuisance Man finally quiet, the Crown Prince sighed.
"Paprika."
An apology finally tumbled out of Nuisance Man's mouth.
"I'm sorry."
"Yeah. It's fine."
I replied casually as well.
"...Let's rest a bit longer before we move on."
The male leads, satisfied with ‌‌my response, returned to their positions and resumed their watch.
Only awkward silence remained.
'What's wrong with these kids anyway? We're all struggling to survive this situation, yet they do nothing but complain.'
I wasn't exactly mature for snapping back without thinking either... but he started it first!
Ugh. I want to go home.
I ‌‌‌was in the middle of stretching my limbs when it happened.
Nuisance Man, ‌rubbing his elbow, whispered again, avoiding the Crown Prince's gaze.
"Must be nice. Getting protected ‌‌just for being a woman."
Maybe I should be reborn as a woman in my next life too. Grumble, grumble. I kept my voice deliberately low, worried the Crown Prince or Grand Duke might overhear while they were on watch.
'This guy really won't quit....'
I didn't back down either.
"Did I really get protected, ‌‌‌‌though?"
You're ‌‌‌‌the one who got protected—not me, who might've gotten hit by you?
If you hit me, do you think I'd just sit there? Never. I'd scream and bring the zombies down on us for revenge.
As the argument resumed, Yujein grew anxious and rolled her eyes.
I spoke up.
"What do you mean you want to be reborn as a woman next life? You just said we should abandon the women here. Do you like being abandoned?"
"That's because you're ‌‌‌all dead weight!"
"Exactly! So you're dead weight too! You've been sandwiched between the women, protected on all sides! ‌Be honest—when a corpse shows up, you try to hide behind Yujein or Mascarpone, don't you?"
If I had a conscience, I couldn't say no.
"Even if I become a burden, I'd be a burden to the Crown Prince, the ‌‌‌Grand Duke, or Lord Dazling—not to you. And besides."
I lifted my chin, making sure to look down at Nuisance Man as obnoxiously as possible.
"Can you even carry me like luggage? We look about the same height."
He seemed a bit taller than me. My original height was 169 ‌‌‌‌centimeters, and Yusara—the body I'd possessed—was around that too, so he was probably 172, maybe 173. But his arms were just soft flesh with ‌‌‌‌no muscle to speak of.
I'd trust the thigh muscles I'd built up with three early morning swimming sessions a week over being carried by him.
"Just shut up and let's go. We're both in the same boat anyway, aren't we?"
Even as I spoke, I couldn't help but laugh. It was completely inappropriate for the situation.
If only I could speak my mind this freely back at the company.
Saying whatever I wanted without filtering—I never knew it could feel this satisfying.
No ‌‌‌‌wonder anonymous ‌‌‌‌confession boards exist.
"While we're on the subject, there's one more thing I've ‌been dying to say... What's the point of Yujein blessing you over and ‌‌‌‌over if you don't put in any effort yourself? Aren't you expecting too much from a blessing?"
"Pfft."
It was Supporting Character 2 who couldn't hold back her laughter.
She quickly covered her mouth and apologized.
"I'm sorry..."
Though she wasn't laughing, Mascarpone's expression was similar. Even Dazling, standing a bit further away, looked the same.
Nuisance Man's face was utterly pathetic—insulted by the very ‌‌‌people he'd been looking down on.
He wanted to hit me right then and there, but his older brothers prevented him from doing so.
I looked Nuisance Man over.
A petty, spiteful expression plastered on his face. Inconsiderate, blunt speech. A nature that never cared about the trouble he caused ‌‌others, yet was hypersensitive to any damage done to himself. Gasping for breath after just a few ‌‌‌minutes of walking.
'What was this guy's name again? Paprika?'
Regardless of what his actual name was, ‌‌‌I'd decided to call him Nuisance Man forever.
Until his hair turned gray.
Back in Korea, I was a corporate slave who solved everything with "yes," "thank you," "please confirm," and muttered curses—but not here.
I'd act out. I'd say ‌‌‌‌everything I wanted and be myself.
My lips, twisted from the stress of possession, began to curl upward.
This was when it started.
The resolution I'd made—'don't act out'—which I'd been breaking all along anyway, now began to be genuinely abandoned.
[Imperial Villa 2nd Floor Washroom]
- Yusara, Yujein, Crown Prince, Grand Duke, Mascarpone, Supporting Character 2, Dazling, Nuisance Man (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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