Accidentally Formed a Reverse Harem in the Apocalypse – Chapter 5 – Sweet-Potato Plot

Author: Asternkm

Chapter 5 Sweet-Potato Plot.

TL/N: ‘고구마 전개’ literally means “sweet-potato plot.” It’s called “sweet-potato plot” because eating a dry sweet potato without water makes your throat feel tight and uncomfortable—just like how these story moments feel.

“What… what on earth is that?”

“The Imperial Palace is….”

“It looks like it turned into some kind of nest.”

What the hell…

Now that the barrier hiding everything was gone, the sight of the Imperial Palace beyond the ornate iron bars was utterly devastating.

The once-beautiful palace built of white marble had every last window shattered. And from those broken windows, people who had turned into zombies were sticking their heads out, glancing around.

There were bloodstains splattered everywhere, and horrifically, there were bloody handprints from people who had tried to escape but couldn’t get out.

Countless zombies wedged into the window frames with only their faces sticking out looked like demons crawling up from hell. The Central Palace had turned into a full-blown zombie hive and was on the verge of bursting.

“Graaaargh….”

“S-something is coming out!”

Once the barrier lifted, zombies began spilling out through the Central Palace doors.

No—“opened” was too gentle a word. With a cracking, thud-thud sound, the doors were smashed apart as zombies poured out like a swarm.

The mages panicked when they saw the zombies.

“K-Keaton Duke, what are those?!”

“…Those are exactly the ‘problem’ my daughter spoke of inside the palace. I never imagined it was real….”

Duke Keaton looked completely stunned. The sight of the zombies must have been a huge shock.

“Didn’t I ask what that is?!”

While the duke was too shaken to speak, I stepped forward and answered.

“These are the ‘things’ I told you about—the people who got infected. If they bite us, we turn into the same monsters.”

“…What?”

“The emergency situation I mentioned is happening right now. Mages, you must cooperate with the Keaton soldiers immediately and take down those zombies—no, those infected humans.”

Right, Zero?

「Yeah. Right now, the only way to deal with these zombies is to kill them.」

Whether I liked him or not, I had to listen to my so-called possession assistant.

I grabbed the gun strapped at my waist and loaded it.

As a kid, my parents loved shooting as a hobby, so I’d been trained early. Guns were familiar—almost nostalgic—to me.

“Aim for the head. You must aim for the head.”

“Huh?”

“Otherwise the ones dying will be us.”

Right as I said that, the zombie swarm spilling out from the Central Palace gathered at the palace gates. The collapsing windows were only the beginning—now even the white marble and golden walls were about to crumble.

“GRAAAAAH!”

“Eek!!”

Maybe they smelled humans—zombies were pushing forward in a horrible mass. The mages trembled, repeating “What is that?” over and over like broken dolls.

“When they come out, aim for the head.”

“H-How can we hurt people who were once human…?”

“The moment they were infected, they stopped being human. Everyone, stay sharp and prepare for combat.”

How many people lived in the palace? How many survived without turning?

That worried me more than anything.

We must wipe them out here.

If we didn’t, containment would become impossible—and then the difficulty level of “My way home” would shoot up to hell mode.

“GRAAAH!”

“S-Someone is charging toward us!”

Pushing through the zombie crowd, one zombie sprinted at terrifying speed toward us. Soldiers froze, the duke froze, even the mages froze—so naturally, I stepped forward and raised my gun.

But the zombie’s appearance was uncomfortably familiar.

“…Crown Prince?”

“Graaagh.”

His golden hair, now stained with blood. His red, bloodshot eyes. His once-white formal tailcoat now a blotchy mess of stains. And most of all—

—clear bite marks on his neck where human teeth had torn flesh.

“GRRRAAA!!”

“I-It really is His Highness the Crown Prince!!”

Crap.

If the Crown Prince comes out here…

“Stop the attack! Stop!!”

“We can’t shoot His Highness! Even if he’s infected, this would be treason!”

We’re screwed.

In this medieval fantasy world built on strict hierarchy and feudalism, social status ruled above all.

Here’s a question:
What do imperial citizens do when the Crown Prince—now a zombie—charges at them?

Answer:
The plot devolves into frustratingly stupid, slow, suffocating nonsense!

Hahaha! Damn it!

This cursed class system made it literally illegal to attack the zombified Crown Prince.

The tower mages, the Keaton soldiers—none of them could lift a finger. To them, harming royalty was unthinkable. They stared at me like I was insane for even aiming.

Naturally, all spells, swords, and guns were lowered. It was infuriating.

Hey! I’m still a noble lady, you know?
Why are you looking at me like that?
Because I’m an ‘evil woman’? Really? That’s discrimination!

If they find out I killed the Crown Princess zombie with a high heel earlier, they’ll faint.

Ironically, the nobles who witnessed that might already be dead anyway.

“If no one will attack, I will.”

I raised the revolver again. A custom-made tower gun, expensive and powerful—it was lucky I had it.

I have to kill him before he reaches the gate.

Without hesitation, I aimed at the zombie Crown Prince’s forehead.
Loaded with magic bullets—each one exploding like a tiny bomb on impact.

Just one pull of the trigger would end it.

But—

“How dare you! How dare you point a gun at His Highness!!”

“Ugh!”

—thanks to Duke Keaton’s horrified interference, the shot was ruined.

“No matter how crazed you are from unrequited love, how can you try to harm a person?!”

“Damn it! That’s NOT A PERSON ANYMORE!!”

And I’m not Misery.

But Duke Henry Keaton, who was practically drunk on loyalty, ignored my protest.

He was blocking my precious quarantine work—what was I supposed to do?

In this suffocating, sweet-potato-like development, I wished someone would at least pour some soda over it, but I had no allies here. Damn it.

How is a transmigrator supposed to survive this misery?

“Move. I need to kill that thing. And I’ve never loved that bastard even once.”

Since things had come to this, I decided to just spill my true feelings. Zero was startled.

「W-wait, that’s a huge original-plot violation…!」

‘Seriously? Even now, you’re bringing up the original plot?’

「Ah… right.」

Ignoring the furious duke behind me, I raised my gun again and pulled the trigger at the zombie Crown Prince.

Bang!

“Argh!”

But sadly, it ended in failure.

Because Duke Keaton shoved me, I missed the Crown Prince zombie’s head.

The stray bullet hit the ground near his feet. The Crown Prince zombie flinched hard at the loud gunshot.

Then he let out a huge shriek.

“Grrrrraaaah!”

‘Crap.’

Those things react especially well to sound, and upon hearing the zombie Crown Prince’s ear-splitting roar, the swarm behind him began writhing forward.

Dozens of bright red eyes, now at the edge of the palace gate, flashed toward the group of soldiers I was with.

Damn it. We poked a hornet’s nest.

“H-hic….”

Someone let out a terrified squeak from somewhere.

The crushing dread radiating from those things—no longer human—was enough to smother anyone in fear.

Those zombies were predators. All living humans, including me, were prey.

Being terrified was only natural.

I was the same, but to avoid provoking them, I covered my mouth with one hand and quieted my breathing as much as possible.

“Grrrhhh….”

No longer human, the zombies fixed their gaze on the living and opened their jaws wide. Between their teeth, everything was stained with blood.

I decided not to think too hard about whether the bits stuck between their teeth or clinging to their tongues were human flesh. My mental health was precious.

「Want me to turn on filtering?」

Zero, surprisingly, showed a little concern. There was no reason to refuse.

‘Yeah.’

[Filtering activated.]

Good. The zombie in front of me now looked downgraded from R-rated to something around 15+.

While I steadied myself thanks to the filter, the mages—who had never encountered a real zombie before—were turning pale as ashes.

“M-m-monster…”

‘You didn’t call it a monster earlier when you saw the zombie Crown Prince.’

I pushed myself up from the ground, grimacing. It left a bitter taste, knowing they still saw the Crown Prince as somehow different, even though he looked the same as the others—just because they were afraid of the consequences.

I gripped my loaded revolver tighter.

‘…We have to get out of here.’

Early suppression had already failed. The zombies had taken the palace gates, and the mass of bodies squished together behind them looked ready to burst outward at any second.

‘I’m changing the plan.’

At the very least, we needed to stop this swarm from getting out. Re-erecting a barrier to trap them inside would be better. I reached out to Zero in my mind.

‘Zero.’

「Yeah.」

‘…How many survivors are inside?’

「You’re thinking of going in to rescue them?」

‘No.’

That was impossible. Looking at the palace crawling with zombies, searching for unknown survivors inside would simply be a walk into death.

「Unexpected. You always seem cold, but you do have a kind side.」

Zero sounded oddly impressed.

‘Just tell me about the survivors.’

「None. Every person inside has already turned into a zombie.」

Was it lucky that my guilt lessened?

There was no time for emotional thoughts.