Chapter 8
“Gurgle… grr—.”
Who is it?
“Ugh……”
Who keeps making so much noise?
“Grrr……”
So loud.
The crying, moaning sound didn’t stop. It wasn’t quite a human sound, but not an animal’s either. It was strange.
In the end, I couldn’t endure it anymore and opened my eyes.
‘Opened… my eyes?’
To be honest, I wasn’t even sure what “eyes” were.
Many words were mixed together in my head, but they wouldn’t connect properly.
‘What is this?’
I tried to move my body, but it wouldn’t move at all. I struggled and stretched something forward.
‘Is this… a hand?’
It felt like it might be a hand.
I stared blankly at it for a long time, then slowly looked around as sounds came from nearby.
[Human. Human. Human.]
Things bound in chains had been talking this whole time.
[Human?]
From their mouths, the word “human” kept repeating.
They were pressed close to me, constantly trying to move forward. I waved at them happily.
[Hello?]
[Human. Human. Human.]
[Hungry! Hungry! Human!]
But they completely ignored me.
Feeling awkward after being ignored, I decided to leave this place. I put strength into my body.
Crack, crack— crack!
Something broke, and what looked like five thin branches appeared in front of my eyes.
When I moved them, they wriggled.
‘Branches are fingers.’
I felt proud for figuring that out, but my body felt too tight. It was like I was tied up. I shook my body, trying to escape.
Rip, rip—
[Oh?]
The things hanging all over my body broke apart. Realizing this, I shook even harder until my body was completely free.
[Human! Human! Human!]
They kept calling for humans.
Don’t they ever get tired?
Curious, I sat down in front of them and looked up blankly. They were chained, unable to move far, pacing within a small area.
[Should I untie you too?]
[Hungry! Hungry!]
[Human! Human!]
They only repeated the same words, so I shrugged and turned away.
[Bye.]
I lightly waved goodbye to the screaming, chained creatures and walked forward.
As I walked, the words in my head slowly began to make sense, like breathing. For example, “walking” meant moving my legs like this, like this.
[What is this?]
Something big blocked my path.
Tilting my head, I reached out and tapped what seemed to be a door.
Crash! Boom!
[That was easy.]
Despite looking sturdy, it collapsed the moment I touched it. After breaking through several of them, a new world spread out before my eyes.
White things floated in a blue sky. Smoke-like shapes drifted between them.
There was a lot of green ground.
[What is this?]
As I stood there thinking, something caught my eye.
Wriggle— wriggle—
Something was moving busily on the green ground. I slowly approached and stopped in front of it.
‘Fur.’
A bundle of fur.
It moved left and right, then suddenly stopped and turned toward me. It had two big holes, two small holes, and one slightly flat hole.
The fur bundle stared at me for a while, then opened its mouth.
“You’re a zombie.”
I didn’t understand a single word.
I blinked and greeted the fur bundle.
[Hello?]
“……”
[Hello. Hello?]
The more I greeted it, the stranger its expression became.
“What is it even saying?”
I smiled.
Oh, I think I can communicate with this one!
***
Cersian.
He was a man with rare purple hair.
His curly purple hair sometimes looked reddish-purple, sometimes violet under the sunlight, giving it a mysterious color.
‘Wow. He’s really handsome.’
Something people said wherever he went.
‘Elegant. Handsome. Outstanding.’
He was beautiful enough to draw anyone’s attention, young or old. The corners of his lips naturally curved upward, giving him a gentle smile.
But his red eyes were chilling, like a gorgeous flower hiding poison.
“Grr…?”
Even Cersian could only make a foolish expression right now, because a zombie kept talking to him.
After staring blankly at the zombie, he lay back down.
‘A zombie talking to me… Is this a dream?’
Trying to deny reality, he stared into the air and slowly reviewed his day.
For him, today had been overly ordinary. In a way, it had even been a lucky day.
“I can expect good results from the experiments.”
He was tired from wandering around since early morning, but he was satisfied because he had secured zombie specimens in good condition.
For someone researching how to turn zombies back into humans, zombie test subjects were extremely important.
‘I won’t need to capture new zombies for a while. Especially that platinum-blonde zombie—she’s in great condition and should endure experiments for a long time.’
With those thoughts, he left the laboratory full of zombies, planning to enjoy the warm afternoon sunlight.
“Ugh……”
…If only that “well-conditioned platinum-blonde zombie” wasn’t standing right in front of him now.
When he first discovered the zombie standing there, his heart nearly stopped. Not just because a zombie suddenly appeared, but because she was unbelievably beautiful.
‘Why is she so pretty?’
Her thick platinum-blonde hair shone brilliantly under the sunlight.
The golden eyes—usually the most grotesque feature of zombies—sparkled in the light and looked impossibly beautiful.
But no matter how beautiful she was, she was still a zombie.
After a moment of shock, Cersian quickly regained his senses. He assumed she would attack soon and took a fighting stance.
But—
“Why isn’t she biting?”
This zombie was strange.
No matter how much time passed, she only stared blankly at him.
And then—
“Uuh?”
“……”
“Grr, uuh?”
She seemed to be trying to communicate with him.
“What?”
Cersian looked at her in disbelief.
The zombie, unaware of his thoughts, smiled brightly and spoke again.
“Grr, greee!”
“What is she even saying?”
Of course, Cersian couldn’t understand at all.
[Hello. Hello!]
In truth, the zombie was enthusiastically greeting him.
But Cersian had no way of knowing that.
“She is definitely a zombie, though……”
He carefully touched her arm. Her body temperature was extremely cold, her skin pale, her eyes golden like a zombie’s.
And most importantly—
“The cause of infection is clear.”
There was a bite mark on her shoulder.
“Then why isn’t she attacking?”
Cersian rested his chin on his hand and stared at her. She still showed no hostility, only staring back at him.
‘How strange.’
Thinking that, he casually turned his head toward the laboratory—and froze.
“A hole?”
The laboratory entrance had been completely blown open.
A zombie couldn’t possibly open a door like a human. The only good thing was that the other zombies were restrained with cuffs and shackles, unable to escape.
‘What is she?’
He had never seen a zombie with intelligence, or one with monstrous strength.
Especially since the lab doors were reinforced with layers of iron to prevent escapes.
‘And she broke through that.’
She had completely destroyed the door.
His shock at her strength quickly turned into despair as he remembered how hard it had been to build that lab.
‘When am I supposed to fix that…’
All his hard work was ruined, leaving him feeling empty and speechless.
Meanwhile, the zombie—unaware of his thoughts—played innocently with her hair.
Clap—
A sound came from her palm. She widened her eyes as if realizing something, stared at her hand for a long moment—
Clap clap—
—and began clapping.
“Are you mocking me?”
The culprit who destroyed the lab door was clapping and grinning. It was absurd.
Clap clap—
“Hey.”
Clap clap—
“Stop it.”
The zombie, her long platinum hair messy, kept clapping while looking at him. Irritated, Cersian suddenly grabbed both of her wrists.
“I said stop.”
Startled, the zombie widened her eyes.
“Goo?”
She glanced at him nervously. Seeing those wide golden eyes, Cersian pressed his lips into a thin line.
‘This zombie doesn’t act like a zombie at all. She’s more like a child.’
Even now, with her wrists held, she only looked at him. She didn’t attack.
A normal zombie would’ve bitten his hand immediately.
“Bite.”
“Uuuh?”
“I said bite.”
Even when he deliberately brought his hand close to her mouth, she only tilted her head in confusion.
Cersian let out a deep sigh, his expression serious.
“What am I supposed to do with you?”
It seemed he had picked up a harmless zombie.
