chapter 4
How does an ordinary person who’s never swung a sword survive a zombie outbreak?
Don’t stand out.
Follow the instructions of armed people carefully.
I’d already broken rule number one. To save a knight from dying.
And I had failed spectacularly.
I stared at the dead knight’s face—silent now, forever—for a few seconds before turning away.
What else could I do? I had to survive.
I did warn him. If he chose not to listen, that was on him.
“How could this happen…? That servant wasn’t actually dead, was he? He just pretended to be dead for a moment…!”
“No.”
“But that makes no sense! Dead people waking up and moving, infecting the living—!”
“No matter how impossible it sounds, if it’s happening before our eyes, then it’s reality.”
Noise. Chaos.
The Crown Prince and the Grand Duke skillfully tried to calm the panicking people.
Well, technically the Grand Duke calmed people down while the Crown Prince was busy chopping off the corpse’s legs to make sure it couldn’t stand back up.
The people watching him looked ready to faint.
With an awkward smile, the Grand Duke stepped between the Crown Prince and the others, blocking the gruesome sight with his body.
“Let’s ignore what’s happening over there and focus on me, shall we?”
He looked slender, but he was surprisingly big. Just standing there was enough to block everyone’s view.
The Grand Duke explained:
“The rules are surprisingly simple. First: corpses move. To stop them from moving, you cut off the head. Second: if one bites you, you get infected. Third: from this point onward, we escape this island.”
“Escape?”
“Yes, escape. Without getting bitten. Without dying. Easy, right?”
He spoke as if he were explaining the rules of a game.
But that wasn’t enough to ease anyone’s fear.
“But Your Grace, aren’t there corpses like that wandering outside? Wouldn’t it be safer to stay here and wait for rescue…?!”
From the looks of it, everyone wanted to barricade themselves in this room and wait until somebody saved them.
The one who shot that idea down was the Crown Prince, who had just finished severing the corpse’s legs.
“No rescue team is coming.”
After saying only that, he walked to the window and looked outside. The Grand Duke sighed and elaborated.
“If something like this happened on the island, then there’s a high chance the Imperial Palace isn’t safe either. In that case, no one will come rescue us.”
“That can’t be….”
“And if the palace is safe, then nobody there would even imagine corpses are roaming around here. In that case, whoever comes to get us will fail to respond properly, get bitten, and become infected themselves. If we wait for rescue, we’ll only end up increasing the number of corpses wandering outside.”
Exactly.
If those things occupied the escape routes too, then we’d really be doomed.
“We need to get out as quickly as possible. If we delay and they start swarming this area—”
“Then what should we do?”
“We head to the portal. It’s the only way off this island.”
That was when the protagonist, Yoo Jein, spoke up.
“Then what about the others?”
Everyone who hadn’t even considered people outside our group looked at her in surprise.
Yoo Jein continued:
“There are probably people hiding throughout the mansion because they couldn’t escape in time. We need to save them and bring them with us.”
Her voice was soft, but clear.
Hmm. That’s a statement that lets me observe the male leads’ reactions.
So what’ll you do, boys?
In a life-or-death situation like this, will you listen to the heroine you love?
Of course they will. This is an R-rated romance novel and all that….
“I’m sorry, Miss Yoo Jein. But we can’t wander through the mansion searching for people when we don’t even know if there’s anyone left to save.”
Nope.
He shut her down.
“Especially when there are already five people here who can’t fight.”
“But—!”
“Escape comes first. We need to survive first before we can save anyone else.”
The Grand Duke was smiling, but firm.
Rejected, Yoo Jein turned toward the Crown Prince instead.
After a moment of thought, he spoke.
“The others…”
“Yes?”
“At this point, it’s safer to assume they’ve all become corpses.”
“What?!”
Wow. He’s even harsher.
The Crown Prince hesitated briefly before giving a more detailed explanation.
“This unidentified condition is highly contagious, and the people outside were completely unprepared for this kind of disease. Until now, nobody has come to warn us about the danger. That means everyone on this island was overwhelmed without being able to do anything.”
“He’s right, Miss Yoo Jein… I understand your concern, but….”
Ignoring the renewed chatter around me, I focused on preparing for my own survival.
I don’t even know why I’m here. Dying to zombies right after transmigrating into some random book isn’t happening.
I’d worked like a dog all last year and my bonus was still sitting untouched in my bank account. If I died as a zombie inside some weird novel instead of on Earth, wouldn’t that be absurdly unfair?
Move. Get moving.
“We’re currently in the far-right room on the second floor. The main portal we used to enter the island is outside the villa, but according to the interior map, there’s also a sub-portal in the kitchen for transporting ingredients. The kitchen is in the center of the first floor, so heading there first would be the faster option.”
“Then how do we—”
Ignoring the conversation behind me, I looked at the paper knife lying on the table.
I reached out to grab it—better than nothing—but someone picked it up before I could.
It was the knight who had covered the severed head that rolled to my feet earlier.
The knight approached and held the knife out to me. His long, elegant hands were covered in calluses and scars.
“Thank you.”
When our eyes met, he hesitated.
“M-My lady. Earlier…”
“Yes?”
“I survived thanks to you. Thank you. And… I’m sorry.”
“Huh? For what?”
“For not listening to you.”
Oh. That.
“It’s fine. I’m just glad you didn’t die.”
In a situation like this, every extra person who knew how to use a sword mattered.
Maybe I should butter him up while I’m at it. Ask him to protect me.
I was just a regular office worker. There was no way I could fight zombies. If I wanted to live, flattery was a valid survival strategy.
“What’s your name, Sir Knight?”
“Darjeeling, my lady.”
“Good. Sir Darjeeling. Congratulations on surviving. Please continue surviving from now on too. Would you like a cup of warm water?”
Without waiting for an answer, I poured water from the kettle and handed it to him.
“It’s a bribe. A bribe asking you to take good care of me until we get back to the Imperial Palace. Too cheap?”
“N-Not at all. How could I possibly… I’ll drink it gratefully.”
“Good. Have some cookies too.”
And please protect me.
“I’m only going to trust Sir Darjeeling. You’re the only one here who worried about me, after all.”
At that moment, the room went silent.
I looked around.
At some point, everyone had started staring at me and Darjeeling.
The Crown Prince. The Grand Duke. Yoo Jein, who looked surprised. Supporting Character #1, openly frowning. The nuisance guy. Even Supporting Character #2, half-hidden from view.
“…Did I interrupt something?”
“…No.”
Despite saying no, the Crown Prince stared at me for a long moment before finally looking away.
What’s with him?
Was it because of what I’d just said?
But it was true.
When a human head rolled to my feet earlier, Darjeeling was the only one who showed concern for me.
Once the destination was decided, we armed ourselves.
The Grand Duke took the dead knight’s sword, while the nuisance guy grabbed a dagger and a small shield, insisting that “as a man, it was only right” for him to carry weapons.
The Crown Prince and Darjeeling already had weapons of their own.
Me?
I had… a paper knife.
Will this even help?
“My lady, what are you doing?”
“Looking for a weapon.”
“Hah.”
What now?
I turned around.
It was Supporting Character #1.
Meeting my eyes, she snapped sharply:
“You really do value your own body, don’t you, my lady? But what exactly do you think you can do with a weapon?”
Supporting Character #1.
The woman with the second-highest status here after me.
Her family ran a merchant company specializing in magical items.
Stuff like the magic rope the Crown Prince has.
Magic tools were incredibly rare and difficult to handle, so ninety-nine percent of the Empire’s magic shops basically belonged to her family.
Her name was… Mascarpone, was it?
“My body is obviously… important? I only have one.”
I answered awkwardly.
“And well, isn’t having a weapon better than having nothing at all?”
“No, actually. If you have a weapon, the rest of us get nervous. How do we know you won’t accidentally swing it into one of us?”
“Mascarpone, stop.”
Supporting Character #2 stepped in to stop her.
But Mascarpone clearly had no intention of backing down.
“We’re already stressed enough without you causing trouble beside us!”
Seriously?
“Your name’s Mascarpone, right?”
“Hah. So now you can’t even remember my name?”
Hmm. Then the other one was…
“And you are… Miss Tiramisu?”
“…No.”
“Ah. Not Tiramisu.”
Oops. Sorry about that.
Fortunately, she seemed to think I was intentionally mocking her and let it slide.
I turned back to Mascarpone.
“Miss Mascarpone, I understand you’re anxious. But does picking fights with me relieve that anxiety? Probably not. What if I hold a grudge and stab you while everyone’s distracted?”
“What did you just say?!”
“If you hate me having a knife so much, then grab a weapon yourself. I’m not naïve enough to entrust my life entirely to other people.”
Without waiting for a reply, I turned away.
Now wasn’t the time for this.
Just look at me.
My long hair hung all the way to my waist, and my dress exposed half my chest while trailing so long that I’d absolutely trip over it if I tried running. To make things worse, I was wearing high heels.
At this rate, I wouldn’t even make it to the stairs, let alone the kitchen.
First, I tore the dress up to my shins.
Riiip.
As my calves were exposed, the male leads immediately whipped their heads in the opposite direction.
“Looks like the lady’s finally gone insane.”
I ignored Mascarpone’s sneering.
After tearing off enough fabric, I tied my hair tightly back with one of the usable strips.
Next: shoes.
I searched for the dead knight’s severed leg.
Without hesitation, I removed the boots and put them on.
“Y-You crazy…!”
I ignored the horrified reactions around me too.
Once I tightened the laces on the military boots that reached above my ankles, they were wearable enough.
I glanced at Mascarpone, Yoo Jein, and Supporting Character #2 standing behind her.
They’re definitely wearing heels too.
I grabbed the indoor slippers I’d spotted earlier in the corner. Unfortunately, there were only two pairs instead of three.
The dead servant’s shoes would be too big for them.
Couldn’t be helped.
I tossed the slippers straight at Mascarpone. Just as she was about to yell, I spoke first.
“You planning to run in those?”
I gestured with my chin toward the high heels peeking out beneath her dress.
She froze and shut her mouth.
Smirking, I turned away. Soon I heard them arguing behind me about who should wear the slippers.
“I’m really fine. The two of you should wear them.”
“Thank you, Miss Yoo Jein.”
I was worried about Yoo Jein having to run in heels, but she’d figure it out herself.
Finally, we’re leaving.
I took one last look around the room.
Please let my smartwatch—the one I bought to secretly record my boss’s verbal abuse—start ringing already and wake me up from this insane transmigration.
“My lady, aren’t you coming?”
“I’m coming!”
But what was that?
Did something just glint inside the corpse’s chest?
[Imperial Villa, Secret Room on the 2nd Floor]
Yoo Sara, Yoo Jein, Crown Prince, Grand Duke, Mascarpone, Supporting Character #2, Nuisance Guy, Darjeeling (Alive)