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Chapter 32
Come to think of it, I first met Kim Deok-su at the pizza shop where I was working part-time.
The manager, frustrated that the guy couldn’t memorize even the menu names after more than a month, ended up with stress-induced illness and handed him over to me for training.
Shaggy hair, an outfit in eye-searing neon colors, speech so slurred it sounded like he’d bitten his tongue, and communication skills that made you want to knock him out with a tranquilizer gun.
In short, he was the kind of socially inept kid you wondered how he even managed to survive in this ruthless society.
‘What did I just say?’
‘…Harmonica pizza?’
‘It’s Hawaiian pizza. Ha. Wai. I. An. Want me to knock your teeth out and turn you into a harmonica?’
‘Calm down. Anyway, do you believe in transcendent powers?’
That’s how he was—spouting nonsense day and night. Still, even while muttering “If only he weren’t the landlord’s nephew, I’d…” I taught him pretty earnestly.
Then one day—
‘So what exactly is this transcendent power you keep talking about?’
I asked out of sheer exasperation, and he went off in a frenzy, spraying spit everywhere. As a mere “muggle,” I instantly regretted bringing it up.
In the middle of his rant, Kim Deok-su declared that he was the president of the “Zombie Club” and handed me a novel.
He promised he would train diligently if I read it.
That novel—the one he insisted I read over and over—was Salvation of the Saintess.
Phew.
Well, it’s not exactly his fault I ended up here.
No, the reason I came into this world must be because of the transcendent, mysterious power he never shut up about.
‘No, that can’t be it… or maybe…’
I snapped my eyes open wide.
‘Why do I get so angry when I think of that guy?’
For the record, I’m not the kind of person who takes out their anger on the innocent.
And yet, though I knew my anger was misplaced, I couldn’t help but feel furious whenever Kim Deok-su came to mind.
Almost as if some instinct told me he was the one I ought to be mad at.
‘Come to think of it… what did his face even look like?’
His impression was so faint I couldn’t recall.
While I was glaring at the sky as though staring down my mortal enemy, a shadowed face suddenly appeared in my view.
“Danha?”
Danha gave me a gentle smile and stepped back. I sat up and brushed the dirt off my back.
He helped dust off my shoulders.
“Were you looking at the sky?”
To be precise, I was recalling an enemy.
I gave a vague nod and stood.
“Did you check for the hut?”
“As expected, nothing.”
“Then you should’ve rested. Why come out when it’s dangerous?”
“It didn’t feel right leaving it all to you alone…”
Danha suddenly broke off, his gaze fixed on something.
His light-green eyes were on my boot, where the laces had come undone.
“Here.”
He guided me by the shoulder to sit on a damp mound.
Then he knelt and began tying my shoelaces. It was an unusual knot—probably the style of the Eastern Continent.
After a moment, he spoke in a tone tinged with self-mockery.
“Forgive me.”
“For what?”
“All I can do, unable to harm those creatures called ‘zombies,’ is tie a lady’s shoelaces. How useless I am.”
Useless? That wasn’t fair.
He’d simply chosen not to desecrate the remains out of respect for grieving families.
Still, seeing him so weighed down with guilt, I shrugged and answered dryly:
“So what if you’re useless? The Empire even has a good-for-nothing noble lady, doesn’t it?”
Danha gave a faint smile as he tied the other shoe.
“Now that you mention it, I heard rumors. That the Empire has a reckless young lady. I always wondered what she was like.”
‘Yep, that would be me.’
I raised my hand toward him casually.
He glanced up, then stared as if startled. His eyes seemed to ask surely not…
So I clarified:
“That’s right. I’m the so-called reckless noble lady.”
Instead of laughing it off, Danha’s brows knitted with regret.
“Ah… how could such rumors have spread.”
His large hand patted my head.
“To think, someone so kind and beautiful… Shall I track down whoever started the rumor and teach them a lesson?”
‘…Why does my heart skip over something like this?’
As expected, he was a lady-killer.
Flustered, I tapped my foot against the ground and looked away into the forest.
“No, no need to scold anyone.”
Danha chuckled softly as he tied my other lace neatly.
Then, resting his hands on his knees, he looked up at me.
“Lady, let us stop searching for the bracelet. Let’s just go back to the hut.”
I blinked down at him.
“But I haven’t found it yet. And daylight’s on our side.”
“This is more than enough comfort for me.”
“But still…”
“I was too emotional when I said I wouldn’t leave without it. Thinking it over, the bracelet isn’t that precious to me.”
“But you said it was important.”
“Anything gained through another’s sacrifice cannot be precious.”
“You said your younger sister made it for you.”
“It’s fine. I can simply ask her to make me another.”
Danha’s eyes curved gently in a smile.
His face, serene and untroubled, was so convincing that for a moment I almost believed him.
But I poked the corner of his eye with my fingertip.
“Don’t force a smile.”
Danha’s eyes widened at once. His long lashes trembled faintly with unease.
A moment later he smiled again, calm as ever.
“Force a smile? That’s a misunderstanding. Why do you think that?”
I leaned closer, resting one hand on the mound, studying him intently.
Perhaps nervous, his Adam’s apple bobbed.
“Are you… reading my thoughts right now?”
“Ha.”
I couldn’t help but laugh at the absurdity.
‘I’m not a god. How could I read thoughts?’
Still, it struck me as strange.
To risk death, and yet refuse to leave the zombie zone just for a bracelet?
‘If he misses his sister that badly, wouldn’t it make more sense to escape the zone and go see her?’
Then it dawned on me.
The bracelet was precious not because of sentiment alone—it was her keepsake.
‘So that’s why I agreed to help. How could I turn away from something like that?’
Everyone has something—or someone—worth more than life itself.
Half-lidding my eyes, I gazed at him.
He waited anxiously for my answer, which amused me. I brushed aside the strands of hair on his forehead.
“There’s one correction. This isn’t sacrifice. It’s effort. It’s not recklessness—it’s a choice.”
After all, I’d limited myself to just one day.
“I’ll do my best to find it before the day is over.”
“….”
Tucking a stray lock behind his ear, I thought he’d look beautiful with a flower there, and smiled faintly.
When our eyes met again, his green irises swirled with unspoken emotions.
“Even if what’s gained by sacrifice isn’t precious, what’s earned through effort is. Don’t you agree?”
“….”
I shrugged, playing it off lightly.
“Just wait a bit. I’ll make sure you’re remembered not as the careless brother who lost a bracelet, but as the dependable one.”
Honestly, I wasn’t confident—but hey, in moments like this, a little bravado didn’t hurt.
“My lady…”
Danha took off his mask, frowning, looking as if he might cry. Sadness clung around his eyes.
“You’re truly… a good person.”
That was a first. No one had ever said that to me.
If this mood lingered, it could easily have been the moment when two people fell in love.
But—
Graaaarghhh!
This was the apocalypse.
Reality yanked me back as a guttural shriek rang out. I narrowed my eyes past Danha’s shoulder.
Zombies were converging on us as their focal point.
‘We stayed in one place too long.’
That was why I’d been searching while moving around earlier.
I rose slowly, pushing Danha behind me.
“Stay behind me.”
I pulled out my hammer and swung at the nearest zombie.
Crack!
Thud!
Crunch!
How many times did I swing? My breathing grew heavy.
Then—from the front, staggering toward me—a zombie’s wristbone glinted.
My eyes widened.
‘…! Found it!’
Dangling loosely on its wrist was a jade-bead bracelet—the very one Danha had lost.
I had no idea how it ended up there, but I darted forward, struck the zombie down, and snatched the bracelet.
‘Yes!’
Grinning at the find, I turned back.
“My lady!”
Graaagh!
A zombie’s gaping jaws filled my vision.
