The Abandoned Villainess Became a Zombie - Chapter 1

“Aaaah!”

As soon as I came to my senses, an ear-splitting scream rang out, and my legs twisted, sending me tumbling to the ground.

“What are you doing, Penelope!”

The man who had been pulling me by the wrist spat out a curse as he yanked me to my feet.

Penelope?

The moment I heard that name, countless fragments of another person’s memories flooded into my mind.

‘Penelope Lloyd.’

The nuisance villainess of the novel In Search of Paradise, and a troll in this zombie apocalypse story.

Pushing aside the confusion and quickly piecing things together, I came to a grim conclusion—this was the world of a novel, and I had become Penelope Lloyd.

On top of that, thanks to the tantrum that an irritated Penelope had thrown just moments ago, we were now being chased by zombies, running through the forest.

The moment I fully accepted this reality—

“Can’t you even run properly?”

The crown prince, who had roughly pulled me to my feet by force, growled in frustration.

But what did his scolding matter? The real issue was that he was still holding my hand.

As the thick stench of blood filled my nose, I instinctively turned my head. A horde of zombies, their tattered clothes fluttering as they ran with grotesque, jerky movements, came into view. Their unfocused eyes and abnormally swollen veins stood out against their decaying flesh.

Fear struck me—what if the crown prince got so annoyed that he decided to abandon me? Pushing aside the throbbing pain in my ankle, I hurried after him.

We were currently running toward a fortress situated on the mountain.

Its sturdy gates, solidly built walls, and high watchtowers made the outer castle an ideal vantage point. Inside the inner castle, there was an armory. From a strategic standpoint, that distant fortress was the perfect refuge in this zombie outbreak. Not to mention, since it had been used as a military facility, there should be some provisions stored inside.

“Lilia, take my hand.”

The crown prince, who had already climbed atop a large rock in one swift motion, extended his hand toward the novel’s heroine, Lilia.

However, she seemed unable to find a foothold, causing her to slip. Hurriedly, I pushed her up, all the while stamping my feet in frustration as the zombies closed in on us.

“Aah!”

At that moment, as she flailed, trying to grab the crown prince’s hand, she ended up pushing me down instead. As I stumbled, losing my balance, she too nearly fell, but the crown prince swiftly caught Lilia’s delicate wrist.

Kiieeek!

“……”

After safely securing the heroine in his arms, he glanced down at me, sprawled on the ground. But after a brief moment of hesitation, he turned his back as if concluding that I was beyond saving.

“Wait, hold on!”

Sure, Penelope had been insufferable—always stirring up trouble, constantly picking fights, and repeatedly endangering everyone.

But still… wasn’t this too much?

Frantically scrambling to my feet, I fought to climb up the large rock. I was on the verge of succeeding when a zombie’s cold hand suddenly grabbed my ankle in a crushing grip. At that instant, a passage from the novel flashed through my mind.

Zombies were already right behind Lilia, who had been knocked down by Penelope’s kick.

It was impossible. There was no saving her.

But his body was already moving toward Lilia.

…You bastard!

As the zombie’s grip tightened around me, a sudden surge of strength I hadn’t known I possessed took over. Driven by a single thought—to escape—I threw myself down the steep mountain path, rolling down the slope.

Tumbling and tumbling, I rolled down the mountain.

Crunch!

In the end, I tumbled hard and landed with my thigh exposed—just in time for a zombie to sink its teeth into it.

At least I managed to avoid the catastrophe of being completely devoured.

To some, getting bitten might seem like the worst possible outcome. But anyone who had experienced it firsthand would know—I was incredibly lucky.

Thud!

With trembling hands, wracked by pain, I grabbed a rock and smashed it down on the zombie’s head that was still latched onto my leg.

Thud, thud, thud!

Whether it was the agony of those sharp teeth sinking deep into my flesh, or the sheer terror that everything was over—I wasn’t sure. But I sobbed uncontrollably.

“Hic, hhk…”

Only after shattering the zombie’s skull and crying for a while did a useless thought cross my mind: I should have grabbed the crown prince’s hand before the heroine did.

…When I turn into a zombie, will I completely lose my sense of self and wander aimlessly?

Can that even be considered living?

Then… does this mean I’m going to die?

Death. The vague concept of that word pressed down on me with an indescribable fear as it approached before my eyes.

‘I don’t want to die…’

Thud.

That thought was the last thing on my mind before I collapsed. No—before I died.

And then, after some unknown amount of time had passed—

Gasp!

After a series of convulsions, I became a zombie.

“Ah… this…”

My speech came out sluggishly, and even moving my body with precision was difficult, but despite that, I was still thinking. Perhaps this was some kind of possession privilege given to me at the last moment—but whatever the case, it didn’t matter.

I was still conscious. I was not dead.

“…Thank goodness, thank goodness.”

As I felt immense relief at the fact that I was still alive, I heard a rustling sound coming from very close to the tree I was leaning against.

After managing to survive, I couldn’t just sit here and get bitten again. I pressed against the tree and quickly tried to stand up to escape, but whatever it was moved faster, crashing through the dense forest.

Its grotesquely swollen veins bulged under its thin, almost transparent skin—just as I feared, it was a zombie.

Grrr…

It sniffed the air, as if reacting to a sound, turning its head toward where I stood.

Thud, thud, thud.

I quickly picked up a stone from the ground. If it lunged at me, I intended to crush its head just as I had done before.

But then, the zombie turned away and, dragging its feet, moved off in another direction as if uninterested in me.

‘Oh, right. I’m a zombie now.’

Zombies only reacted to the scent of human flesh and the smell of blood. And I no longer smelled human.

My heart, which had been racing in fear, gradually slowed. Wait a second—

‘Zombies don’t have a heartbeat…’

I placed a hand over my chest and felt the faint beating of my heart.

Or rather, to be more precise, zombies’ hearts beat extremely slowly.

All their bodily functions were greatly reduced. The only time they moved like humans—or even exceeded human physical abilities—was when they caught the scent of human flesh, especially blood.

But that was something to think about later.

For now, the most important thing was finding a safe place to hide.

Zombies were not immortal. If their heads were destroyed, they ceased to function.

And this forest was filled with wild animals.

Standing around like a fool here would only make me an easy target for predators. Beasts didn’t distinguish between humans and zombies. While the sun was still up, I needed to quickly find a place to hide.

‘I have to survive.’

That thought forced its way into my mind over and over again.

The pain my body had suffered when I was bitten by the zombie, the sensation of my life slipping away—all of it was still painfully vivid.

The slow stopping of my heartbeat, the suffocating feeling of death creeping in… just imagining it made my hands tremble.

‘I don’t want to die again. I have to survive.’

Why I had suddenly become Penelope didn’t matter. I just didn’t want to experience that pain again. I wanted to live.

To avoid predators…

I needed a building. A place to hide.

But unfortunately, the only shelter available in this area was the very fortress that the protagonists were heading toward.

‘I’m so close to the fortress.’

Thinking about the future, staying with the protagonists wasn’t necessarily a bad idea. It would take time, but eventually, the emperor would find a solution to the zombie crisis, and once things stabilized, we’d be able to leave this forest. If I stuck with the grand duke and the crown prince, both of whom were skilled in combat, I’d be safer from wild animals—

‘But would they even protect me?’

Recalling the last look in the crown prince’s cold eyes as he abandoned me, I knew it was a foolish hope.

Still, for now, there was no place safer than that fortress.

‘As long as they don’t find out I’m a zombie.’

But my arm, visible through the torn sleeve, was already no longer human.

Bulging veins swelled across my skin, as if they were about to burst at any moment.

‘What do I do? There’s only so much I can hide with clothing.’

Just then, an incredibly perfect plan flashed through my mind—a way to join the protagonist’s group without raising suspicion.

This should be enough to fool them.