IRHGZA 53

 Chapter 53

“Assistant Manager Kim, did you hear? That experienced new hire—they say he’s getting married to the chairman’s granddaughter.”

At the hushed whispers of her coworkers in the hallway, Nana felt her body stiffen without realizing it.

“Yeah, I heard. That ‘granddaughter’? Turns out she’s Team Leader Song from the R&D department.”

“Wait, that strict one who’s tougher than most of the guys? But our team leader’s last name is Song too, isn’t it?”

As their voices faded away, Nana felt a sense of dread creeping in.

A team leader from another department with the same surname.
And a kind man who had approached her for no clear reason.

Just as suspicion about his intentions began to take root, she found out the truth—by chance.

“One of the two has to be the chairman’s granddaughter.”

She had overheard it while heading to the restroom during a company dinner.

The voice on the phone, speaking as if recounting a success story, was nothing like the gentle tone she had grown used to.

“As for the other one? I just pretended to be friendly…”

Unaware that Nana was standing just around the corner, the man continued.

“Like I’d know there were two Team Leaders with the surname Song. It’s not like I openly flirted or anything. I just greeted her and said we were heading the same way, acted friendly—that’s it. What’s she gonna do about it? If she gets the wrong idea and gets mad, wouldn’t that make her the crazy one?”

His mocking voice gradually faded as he walked away.

After learning the truth, what Nana felt wasn’t betrayal from being toyed with, nor anger at being manipulated.

It was relief.

‘Thank goodness. It was all just my misunderstanding. I’m glad I found out before I started feeling anything more. That could’ve been bad.’

Even as she tried to reassure herself, tears that had pooled in her eyes slipped down her cheeks and fell to the floor.

“I must’ve drunk too much…”

She didn’t know why the tears were suddenly coming, or why her chest felt so tight.

“I should’ve paced myself…”

She crouched there for a long time, silently swallowing her sobs.

The sound of wind rustling through trees pulled Nana back to reality.

“…What a pointless memory.”

It was an old memory that no longer stirred much emotion. But that didn’t mean she wanted to revisit it.

“Anyway, I don’t want to make that kind of mistake ever again.”

A belated dark past. That’s how she labeled it.

One was more than enough.

The thought that Ishanka might like her—
that too was just another misunderstanding.

So she shouldn’t let her heart waver over something fleeting.

Yes. Just like the wind brushing past her now—

Just a passing feeling.

* * *

Preparations to leave for the capital were completed faster than expected.

The journey would be long and difficult. Even without rest, it would take two full months by carriage.

And now, with a zombie apocalypse layered on top, the difficulty of the journey had skyrocketed compared to the peaceful past.

Even so, they decided to carry only the essentials—each with just one backpack.

“If you carry too much, you’ll become a target for bandits. Anything you need, you can obtain along the way.”

“But wouldn’t it be better to carry more food?” Nana asked.

The land was already rotten and dead, and villages had long since fallen into ruin. In a world like this, finding food and necessities wasn’t as easy as it sounded.

Brody nodded, as if expecting her concern.

“Sir Warren and I came here by train. It took about ten days. The return trip should be similar, so a few days’ worth of food will suffice.”

Nana couldn’t hide her surprise.

‘There are trains already?’

According to the original storyline she knew, trains didn’t appear until much later.

By her estimate, they were currently in the early-to-mid stages of the story—because that was when the world would have been destroyed by zombies and everything halted.

So had the setting gotten twisted?

Had the progression been accelerated?

After a brief moment of thought, Nana shrugged it off.

“Well, works for me. Better than suffering for two months in a carriage.”

No matter how the story unfolded, what mattered now wasn’t consistency—it was getting there comfortably.

And so, time passed.

At last, the day arrived to depart for the kingdom’s capital—Coron Maures, the stage of the main quest.

After washing up lightly, Nana looked at the multiple pop-up windows floating before her.

“Did I forget anything?”

She checked again.

First, the newly added auto-sell feature for harvested goods?

Still glowing blue—ON.

Next, the newly added skill reservation system?

Already set to activate after everyone left the farm. The reserved skills were commands for the zombies she had hidden in the eastern forest.

Then, her inventory?

Packed to the brim with food—dishes, vegetables, fruits. Thanks to the upgraded inventory, each slot could now hold up to 100 identical items.

And since time didn’t pass inside the inventory, preservation wasn’t an issue.

There were a few more settings to adjust, but those could be handled right before leaving the farmland.

‘Anything else?’

No.

Everything was perfectly prepared.

Time to go.

After changing into comfortable clothes and grabbing her backpack, she stepped outside, where the others were waiting.

“No one forgot anything, right? Once we leave, it’ll be hard to come back.”

“Yep! Sis! I brought the cat—and all its food too!”

Wina answered energetically.

That’s good and all, but…

“Wina… are you planning to carry Tanbbang like that the whole way?”

Even though Nana had never raised a cat before, she knew it was safer to transport one in a carrier.

But Wina was simply hugging Tanbbang tightly, with no carrier in sight.

“We can’t make a cat walk that far! Cats are small—they’ll get tired.”

“What about the carrier I made for you before?”

“You want me to put the cat in such a tiny space? That’s cruel!”

No, you little—taking a territorial animal into an unfamiliar place without proper protection is what’s cruel. It’s like sending someone to fight zombies without gear.

But seeing Wina’s innocent, sparkling eyes drained Nana’s resolve.

“…Was I always this weak to puppy eyes?”

“That cat won’t be afraid or run away just because it leaves the farm.”

Ishanka spoke from beside them.

“How would you know that?”

“Call it the intuition of someone who’s spent a long time hunting.”

He couldn’t exactly say that Tanbbang was actually a beastkin—and his own kin—so he gave a vague answer.

“Don’t worry! The cat and I will get even closer during this trip and stick together all the time. Right, kitty?”

Wina rubbed her face against Tanbbang’s fur with a bright smile.

Tanbbang sent a desperate look that clearly meant, ‘Master, please save me.’
Unfortunately, Nana didn’t notice.

After confirming everything was ready, the group began walking toward the village entrance Nana had shown them before.

Step. Step.

They walked in silence, and before long, they reached the entrance.

Everyone stepped out one by one.

Nana, walking at the very end, suddenly stopped.

She quietly turned back.

‘I won’t be able to come here for a while. I’ll return someday… but this scenery, this stillness—it won’t be the same.’

This was a place she knew so well she could navigate it with her eyes closed.

Before she could begin to miss it, she resolved to finish the main story quickly and return.

Then she opened the settings window in her mind.

<The farm is ready to transition into Sleep Mode.
Sleep Mode minimizes activity to reduce resource consumption and management needs.

Feature: Biological time of living beings is halted.

All living beings within the farm—except crops—will fall into a deep sleep.

This preserves their energy and allows for rapid reactivation when needed.

Would you like to switch Adrien Logitten’s first farm, Sweet Little Village, to Sleep Mode?>

Another feature added in the update.

It must have been included because the system expected her to leave for the main quest.

<Sweet Little Village is entering Sleep Mode.
All living beings except crops will fall into a deep sleep.

However, zombies are excluded, as they are not considered living beings.>

‘Ah, I should set this too before leaving.’

<Adrien Logitten has changed the farm access settings to “No Entry Except Farm Owner.”

All living beings except Adrien Logitten are strictly prohibited from entering the farm.

Security Enhanced: Boundary and access control have been strengthened to effectively block unauthorized entry.>

With this, unless something extraordinary happened, no one would be able to trespass on her farmland.

Without hesitation, Nana stepped beyond the village entrance.

It was the beginning of a long journey.