<Episode 3>

‘Ugh, my head.’

I shook my head to clear the dizziness and looked around.

As in the original story, there was a small hut and an unconscious man lying on the ground.

Kuueeek!

Suddenly, a piercing screech shattered the air, causing me to whirl around in alarm.

Kieeek!

Surrounding the hut, a wave of skeletons—more accurately, countless hordes of zombies—were crashing against the iron fence like a relentless tide. The sheer number of them was terrifying, making the hair on the back of my neck stand on end.

‘This really is an apocalypse…’

Before coming here, I had practiced killing zombies countless times. My hands had blistered, and my skin had peeled from the intense combat training, so I was confident I could survive.

But reality was completely different from what I had imagined.

‘Damn it…’

Zombies here, zombies there.

Zombies. Zombies. Zombies.

It was a living hell.

As I stood there, staring dumbfoundedly at the towering fence, I suddenly felt a force tugging at my waist.

A skeleton’s bony hand had reached through the iron mesh, grabbing hold of my pouch belt.

‘Damn it! My Doraemon pouch!’
Tl/N: Doraemon (ドラえもん) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Fujiko F. Fujio. The manga was first serialized in 1969. Its also an Anime.

Frantically, I pulled out the hammer that was hooked onto the metal loop of my belt.

I muttered the enlargement spell inscribed on the handle, and the hammer grew in size instantly. I swung it with all my strength, smashing the zombie’s hand bones away.

Thunk! Clatter, crack!

The bones flew off, but instead of falling apart, the hand continued to claw at me, as if gripping the ground like a spider.

‘Gross!’

I smashed it repeatedly with the hammer until it was pulverized, gasping for breath as I scanned my surroundings.

Everything that had felt so distant before now hit me with stark clarity.

This was a zombie apocalypse.

Kieeek!

A skeleton climbed over its fallen comrades, finally breaching the fence and crashing to the ground.

It clattered as it pulled itself together and started advancing toward me.

‘This guy must’ve been tall. He’s huge!’

I swung the hammer at its skull, striking it with a loud thud.

Thud, thud, thud!

The skull detached and flew across the ground.

I chased after it and crushed it completely before turning back.

The rest of the skeleton collapsed in a heap as its skull was destroyed. But I barely had a moment to catch my breath before I noticed the fence shaking violently, about to give way.

‘This isn’t good. I need to move that guy to safety first.’

Hooking the hammer back onto my belt, I grabbed the arm of the man lying nearby and began dragging him.

At first, he didn’t budge, but then slowly, I managed to pull him along.

‘He’s so heavy…!’

It felt like trying to drag a boulder.

Thunk, thud!

As I dragged him up the steps to the hut, his head smacked against the edge of the stair.

Startled, I looked down at him, but thankfully, he remained unconscious.

Bang!

Finally, I managed to pull him inside the hut and dumped him in a corner before quickly shutting the door.

Haaah…

Only then did I let out a sigh of relief, sliding down the wall until I was sitting on the floor.

Kuueeek!

Just as I thought I could catch my breath, the eerie cries of the zombie horde penetrated through the door.

That horrid sound, no matter how many times I heard it, still made me wince. Glancing down, I noticed some bone fragments stuck to the hammer hanging from my belt.

I lifted the hammer slightly and flicked off the bone dust, letting out a half-crazed laugh.

‘I must be out of my mind. I actually came here.’

A sigh escaped my lips.

“Maybe I should’ve just run away on my own.”

It had only been five minutes since I regained consciousness in front of this hut, and I was already regretting my decision.

But there was no turning back now.

I had made my choice, and things were already in motion.

Sighing again, I pushed a few stray hairs off my cheek and reached for my waist.

“Enough with the regrets, let’s get a look at what’s happening outside.”

I opened the pouch on my belt and reached into the pocket dimension, searching for the telescope.

Usually, when you keep the pocket dimension tidy, the item you’re thinking of comes right to hand… but of course, mine was a mess.

‘I really should’ve organized this…’

But what could I do? Organization has never been my strong suit.

Thankfully, after some rummaging, I found the small telescope.

Placing it in my palm, I recited the spell engraved on it, and it instantly grew to full size.

I slung the strap around my neck, tied my hair back, and headed to the window.

Kuueeek!

Peeking through the curtain, I saw the skeletal zombies clustered aggressively around the fence, which looked as fragile as a pile of pale pebbles. Fortunately, there didn’t seem to be any more zombies that had made it over the fence since the last one.

“One, two, three, four… ugh.”

Counting them was pointless. There were easily hundreds—maybe more. What was the point in counting? It was just a waste of time.

I continued surveying the terrain and the situation through the telescope until my eyes widened in alarm.

The fence was wobbling, teetering dangerously toward the hut under the relentless pressure of the horde.

“Damn it, the fence is…!”

Crack!

At that exact moment, I heard a loud noise.

A sharp dagger flew past, slicing a few strands of my silver hair before embedding itself into the wall.

I turned my head slowly, unable to even scream, and saw the dagger stuck in the wall, bearing the imperial crest.

‘No way…’

Like a creaking wooden puppet, I turned to look in the direction the dagger had come from.

A man stood there, dressed in a pristine white uniform.

He had wine-red hair and striking golden eyes—an exceptionally handsome man.

It was none other than Lihad Deon Hiazan, the Crown Prince of the Empire and one of the male leads in the original story.

For a moment, I was mesmerized by his elegant aura.

The novel always praised his beauty so much that I had wondered just how handsome he really was…

“…He really is handsome,” I muttered absentmindedly.

The man’s face twisted into a frown at my comment.

“What?”

“…”

I quickly clamped my mouth shut, realizing I’d spoken out loud.

This was no time to be casually commenting on his appearance.

In any other romance fantasy, I would have greeted him with something grand like, “The Empire’s Little Sun,” but this wasn’t the situation for that, so I skipped the formalities.

Instead, I gave him a brief nod of respect.

“It’s an honor to meet you. I’m Redria Arios of the Count Arios family—”

“Hey.”

The Crown Prince cut me off, his face scrunching up as he approached me.

“Why am I here when I was just attending the prayer meeting?”

The sudden question made me want to shut my mouth in defiance, but the intensity in his eyes was so terrifying, I couldn’t do it. It felt like he might actually decapitate me on the spot.

I reluctantly answered, “Don’t you remember? The ground split open, and the altar collapsed during the prayer meeting.”

“…What?”

Confusion flickered in the Crown Prince’s eyes as he quickly patted himself down, probably searching for a communication artifact.

It must have been lost when the ground split and everyone was scattered.

“Damn it. It’s gone.”

The Crown Prince cursed under his breath, rubbing his forehead as he scanned the surroundings with his sharp golden eyes.

Me, himself, the eerie sounds tearing through the air, the monstrous creatures swarming the fence.

Suddenly, as if remembering everything that had happened before he lost consciousness, his eyes widened, and he rubbed his face in frustration.

‘Can I really rely on him to help me escape from here?’

Forget cooperation—considering his temper, I’d be lucky if he didn’t use my head for target practice.

This whole thing—from ending up in this zombie zone to getting stuck in this novel in the first place—was a mistake.

‘No, that’s not right.’

I ground my teeth at the thought of a certain name.

‘Kim. Deok. Soo…’

This is all his fault.

If he hadn’t insisted I read this novel, I wouldn’t have ended up in this worst-case scenario.

People usually get possessed into books they’ve read before, right?

I sighed, trying to calm my anger, and tossed the Crown Prince a telescope.

“Use this to check the situation outside.”

He caught the telescope with ease and moved toward the window.

As he did, I calmly summarized the situation we were in, adding a bit of embellishment here and there.

Ha.

After surveying the scene outside, he turned back to me with a disbelieving smirk.

“So, if I summarize your words… An earthquake woke up those creatures, the altar and portal collapsed, severing us from the Empire, and we’re now trapped here, facing imminent death?”

“Let’s call them zombies, not just ‘creatures.’”

“Fine, zombies. And if these zombies bite you, you’ll turn into the same mindless beast?”

“That’s right. I saw a rabbit that got bitten transform into a zombie in the Sacred Forest.”

Of course, I couldn’t exactly tell him I knew that from the original story, so I had to make something up.

The Crown Prince, still incredulous, continued, “And you have a five-person warp scroll that can transport us to the capital. We need to find any additional survivors, fill the spots, and escape. Did I get that right?”

“You’ve understood perfectly. That’s exactly the plan.”

Though, to be precise, it’s not just any survivors—I need to find the other male leads.

According to the original setting, only the male leads and I are trapped in this zombie zone.