I Became A Zombie Chapter 1
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Translator: Saitama-sensei
Chapter 1: The Man Who Bears the Name of the Beginning and the End
My name is Aun Doumeki. I am 28 years old.
Apparently, I was named by an old man who was a samurai in a warrior island country in the north, commonly known as Wano Kingdom. “Aun” or “Om”, written in kanji, means something like “The Beginning and The End Of Everything”. It sounds like an exaggerated name, but I like my name quite a lot.
My occupation is C-rank adventurer and senior swordsman. I was born and raised in Alraine, the royal capital of Arto Kingdom, but I have been active as a solo adventurer in the town of Recuria since 10 years ago.
The reason I don’t form a party is because I was betrayed and left to die by the members of the party I formed when I was just starting out as an adventurer.
My job is one where you could die at any time. However, I am still afraid of dying, and most certainly do not want to die because of betrayal.
(Those guys… Tempest Cloud, reached S-rank 5 years ago, didn’t they?)
I do my best to never think of those guys, however the reason why I remembered them was probably because of what happened today.
While returning from a quest, I stumbled across a dungeon. I stepped in to take a quick look and found a treasure chest near the entrance. Not just that, there was a fairly rare weapon inside the chest.
After returning to Recuria, I rushed to the weapon shop and had it appraised. It was the Magic Sword Flam.
I was bewildered by that fact but the boss of the weapon shop said, “I have the Appraisal skill, so there is no mistake.”
While excited about the appraisal results, I asked the boss to repair my trusty longsword, and put the Magic Sword Flam in my magic bag, and left the weapon shop.
(First, let’s go to the Adventurer’s guild and report the discovery of the new dungeon! With this, B-rank should be… no, I can even see A-rank within my grasp! My stomach is growling, but I’ll eat later!)
As I was walking ahead, absorbed in my thoughts, a voice called out to me from behind.
「You are Aun, right?」
Looking back, there stood three adventurers equipped with luxurious equipment. The person who spoke to me was a blond-haired swordsman. Behind him were two beautiful women, probably a mage and a healer.
I have heard rumors in the Adventurer’s guild that they are a party who have come to this town on a quest from the royal capital.
(This meeting itself could become a rumor.)
「That’s right. I am Aun… Can I help you with something?」I said.
「I am Madas, the leader of the A-rank party Red and Silver Moon. We would like to request your cooperation.」
「Cooperation? That would depend on the details of the cooperation…」I said.
Madas approached me and spoke softly.
「Actually… This is a secret, but it seems that a unicorn has appeared in the Forest of Eternal Darkness. Can you help us subjugate it?」
「Huh!? But an A-rank party should be able to subjugate it, right? Besides, why me?」
「Unicorns are monsters that run very fast. I’m the only vanguard in this party, so I need another vanguard to ensure the success of this subjugation. Additionally, since unicorn horns are traded at a high price, there are often troubles with the spoils distribution.The reason we asked for your cooperation is because you are a solo adventurer and also a vanguard. We thought that with a solo adventurer we could simply negotiate the request fee as the reward for this quest instead of distributing the spoils. We will pay 10 gold coins in advance as the request fee. And 20 gold coins as a success reward. Could you please help us out?」
(I don’t want to team up with others if possible, but with 30 gold coins, I can spend the next 6 months leisurely. Besides, such a profitable request is rare…)
Since I’ve never taken a proper vacation since coming to Recuria, somewhere in my heart I have been wanting to take it easy. However, considering the age at which I can be active as an adventurer and my quality of life after retirement, I couldn’t take a vacation unless I hit a big profit.
I am still strongly reluctant to accept quests as a party, but if it’s limited to this one quest, I suppose I can cooperate. Moreover, I have the Magic Sword Flam now. I have grown stronger than when I was still a newbie adventurer.
「Understood. I will cooperate for this one time.」
「Thank you very much! These are the 10 gold coins in advance. Let’s head over, shall we?」
「Huh? It’s almost evening. Are we heading out right now!?」
「If we take our time, our prize will escape! If we leave right away, we might be able to enter the Forest of Eternal Darkness before the sun sets. Let’s hurry up!」
Even though I felt a little uneasy, I left the city with the Red and Silver Moon party.
◇ ◇ ◇ ◇
After leaving the city, we ran through the plains ignoring all the monsters to save time, but the surroundings were already pitch black by the time we arrived at the Forest of Eternal Darkness.
Stair, the mage, illuminated the surroundings with light magic – Light. I wonder if they decided to hurry the subjugation quest because they were able to use this magic? It was still a little dark, but we were able to secure visibility for the time being.
20 minutes after entering the forest, Madas and I moved as the vanguard. Catherine, the healer, was the middle guard, and Stair was the rearguard. We proceeded through the forest with that formation but there was no unicorn or even a monster in sight. After that, Madas gave instructions.
「I’ll check the map again. Aun, please confirm our security at the back.」
「Understood.」I replied, and started walking towards the back of the formation.
Right then, I heard Madas’ voice from behind.
「I found it! Everyone get ready for battle!」
In response, I turned around while taking out the Magic Sword Flam from my magic bag.
–Thrust–
An intense shock ran through my chest and I fell on my back to the ground.
「Hey, what… ga…h…」
I couldn’t understand what had happened. A sword was sticking out of my chest.
(What’s… going on…What about… the unicorn?)
「Ahahahahaha!! He fell for it so easily!」
「I’m glad that he was stupid! Things ended easily!」
「Well, I guess so!」
「Ufufu, foolish man. What a trash!」
The mocking laughter of the three Red and Silver Moon party members echoed.
It seems that I was deceived. Thinking about it again, it makes sense.
One of the three must have heard the appraisal results of the Magic Sword Flam at the weapon shop or the conversation I had with the boss of the weapon shop.
Only the owner can take out the items in a magic bag. That’s why they tricked me into the forest and created a situation where I had to take out the magic sword from my magic bag.
「This was your plan… huh, shit……」
「Seems like you finally figured it out. I’ll be taking this magic sword now. Ah, but you can keep the advance payment.」
「I’m sure he kept it in his magic bag, so we can’t take it out anyway!」
「Hey, since it’s over already, let’s get going. I don’t want to breathe the same air as this thrash!」
I summoned the last of my strength and stood up while enduring the pain.
When I finally understood everything, anger and hatred gradually welled up within me.
「I’ll never…forgive you…」
「Tsk, so persistent. Besides, you’re going to die soon. There’s no point talking about that stuff.」
「Struggle like the worm you are.」
Madas pulled out the sword in my chest and stomped on my head as I fell face down.
「Die in pain.」
Leaving behind just those words, the three of them walked out of the forest while laughing.
A pool of blood spread around me… I couldn’t even feel the pain anymore. All I could feel was that the tips of my fingers were numb. Pity, frustration, anger and hatred filled my heart. I tried to move my body but to no avail.
「sta..tus」
My status popped up in my mind. 5【HP】remaining, and【Condition】is blood loss.
【HP】4
(I was deceived yet again…)
Thoughts swirled in my mind while watching my HP decrease.
(There is nothing more I can do. I’m going to die like this…)
When I accepted death, my mind gradually regained its composure.
【HP】 3……2
(I… I was not able to accomplish anything in my life. Mine was a life of betrayal, deception, and compromise…)
【HP】1……
(If I’m reborn…if I’m reborn…I won’t compromise anymore! I’ll live as I please!)
【HP】0
(If I’m reborn… I’ll become stronger… stronger than anyone else!!)
(…Hm? Huh??)
【HP】0/0
(Wait, why am I still conscious?)
I was still perfectly conscious. I could still see the surroundings and also my status. I checked my status again.
【Condition】Death
【HP】0/0
(Death?…I’m dead. Is this what death is like? I was imagining something like ascending to the heavens, or an out-of-body experience. Well, in any case, I still can’t move my body nor can I speak. There’s not much I can do with just my sight…)
◇ ◇ ◇ ◇
I wonder how much time has passed. I think it’s been 3-4 days, but I’m not sure.
As usual, I can still see the surroundings and my consciousness is intact.
(All I can do right now is check my status.)
I checked my status for the umpteenth time.
【Condition】Decay
【HP】0/0
(Decay?! I’m starting to decay!!! What should I do!??? Wait… regain your calm. Compose yourself! I remember grandpa used to say “When there is nothing else you can do, surrender yourself to time”!)
【Condition】Decay
【HP】0/5
(Hmm? My maximum HP is…)
【Condition】Decay
【HP】0/10
(Hey… what!? What!?)
【Condition】Corruption
【HP】0/20
(It’s increasing! Grandpa! The maximum value is increasing!!!??? Hey… wait wait! L-Let’s check the other values too!)
【Name】Doumeki Aun
【Race】Zombie
【Condition】Decay
【Level】1
【HP】20/20
【MP】300/300
【STR】5
【VIT】5
【DEX】1
【INT】30
【AGI】1
【LUCK】35
【Title】-
【Skill】
・Iron Stomach
The moment I saw this information, I felt a burning sensation all over my body and an intense numbness, and lost consciousness for the first time in several days.
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NEXT CHAPTER
RELEASE RATE
I Became A Zombie After Being Deceived And Killed
Speed up schedule by 10 hours
Current schedule: Every 70 hours
Author, are you seriously telling me these three were in the shop when the sword was appraised, immediately came up with this plan, and then executed it before he even made it down the street?