I Got Reincarnated as a Zombie Girl

In the depths of the Underworld’s Main Palace, Persephone sat gracefully upon her obsidian throne. Her slender hand supported her chin, while her sharp purple eyes stared intently at three magical projection screens floating in the air. The three screens were made of water mirrors displaying live broadcasts from three different dimensions, where her three "daughters" were undergoing their trials.

On the first screen, Persephone could see Sylvia. The Abyssal Chasm had now turned into a horrifying slaughterhouse. Thick black blood pooled like a lake, and monster body parts were scattered everywhere. Sylvia stood atop a mountain of demon corpses, swinging her Claws and chains with an echoing maniacal laugh. Persephone smirked faintly. Sylvia’s cruelty, tenacity, and battle instincts truly reflected a true apex predator.

Her gaze shifted to the second screen. There, Alicia had just conquered Kael’Thas, without needing to dirty her hands directly. Millions of ancient spirits were now kneeling at Alicia’s feet, bowing to the absolute authority of The Light. Persephone nodded slowly, pride swelling in her chest. Alicia’s tactics, domination, and elegance in controlling the battlefield were truly flawless. She was the perfect embodiment of a true queen.

However, when Persephone’s gaze fell on the third screen, the smile on her face instantly faded, replaced by an annoyed twitch at her temple.

Inside the Library, Stacia did not look like she was undergoing a survival trial at all. Instead of fighting against book guardians or solving deadly puzzles, the girl was piling up thousands of ancient parchment scrolls into some sort of fortress around her. Stacia was seen lying face down on the floor, her reading glasses slipping down the bridge of her nose, her hair messy, and she was laughing to herself while muttering second-era curse magic formulas. She was completely drowning in a sea of academic hysteria, ignoring the outside world, time, and even the original purpose of her being sent there.

"This child is truly..." Persephone massaged the bridge of her nose, letting out a long sigh that exhaled a cold mist throughout the throne room. "Her obsession with books and science sometimes leaves me speechless. What kind of trial is this if she treats it like a free library vacation?"

Although slightly annoyed by Stacia’s antics, Persephone had to admit that what her three daughters had done exceeded her expectations. They had proven their worth to carry the name and power of the Underworld. The time that had passed in those dimensions was also long enough for their physical limits.

"That’s enough for now," Persephone muttered. She stood up, sweeping the cloak of her dark jewel-encrusted dress. "Let’s bring them home. It’s time for dinner."

Persephone raised her right hand, flicking her fingers with deadly elegance. Instantly, three deep purple spatial tear portals opened before her, connecting directly to the locations of the three girls.

The first portal opened at the bottom of the Abyssal Chasm. From behind the portal, Sylvia’s figure stepped out. Her condition was a total mess. Her combat dress, which was a high-tier magic artifact, indeed possessed its own regeneration capabilities: the fabrics torn and shredded by monster claws slowly knitted themselves back together automatically. Her physical body did the same; lacerations, broken bones, and bruises on her skin healed in seconds thanks to her demonic vitality.

However, that regeneration ability did not include a cleaning function. Sylvia stepped into Persephone’s throne room with a body completely covered in thick black blood, demonic slime, and chunks of monster innards. A highly pungent, fishy, and foul stench immediately filled the room.

"Ah, Mother Persephone! You called me back too early!" Sylvia protested while shaking her scythe, splattering black blood onto the red velvet carpet in the throne room. "I was just about to slaughter a herd of Behemoths!"

"You’ve had enough fun, Sylvia. Look at you, you look like you were just vomited out by a swamp dragon," Persephone replied flatly.

Shortly after, the second portal emitted a golden light. Alicia stepped out with perfect and graceful posture. 180 degrees different from Sylvia, Alicia looked completely clean, as if she had just returned from a leisurely stroll in the royal gardens. Her form faded back into a solid Human body. Her magic staff glowed softly.

"Mother," Alicia paid her respects with a slight bow. "The trial in the Primordial Spirit Realm has been completed according to your instructions. All the souls there are now under my control."

"Good job, Alicia. I saw everything. You are truly a source of pride," Persephone smiled warmly at her eldest daughter, then her eyes shifted to the third portal which was still wide open.

Silence. There was no sign of anyone coming out of the portal connected to the Library.

Persephone frowned. She approached the portal and peeked inside. On the other end, Stacia was still engrossed in reading, completely ignoring the giant purple portal open right next to her.

"Stacia. Time to go home," Persephone called out in a warning tone.

"Wait a minute, Mother! Five more Chapters! No, three more volumes! I just found a way to reverse the polarity of necromancy curses!" Stacia shouted without taking her eyes off the ancient book on her lap.

Persephone’s thread of patience finally snapped. She reached her hand through the portal, grabbed the collar of Stacia’s oversized robe, and pulled the girl by force.

"NOOOOOO! LET ME GO! MY BOOOOOKS!" Stacia screamed hysterically, thrashing around like a cat being dragged to the vet. Her hands tried to reach for the pile of books that were getting further away as Persephone dragged her out of the portal. A loud thud was heard as Stacia’s rear landed on the throne room floor, followed by the portal instantly snapping shut.

Stacia sat slumped on the floor, staring blankly at the spot where the portal had vanished, looking as if her soul had just been snatched away. "My knowledge... my experiments..." she wailed dramatically.

"Stop your drama, Stacia," Persephone reprimanded with her hands on her hips. Her eyes then swept over her three daughters in turn. Sylvia who reeked and was covered in thick blood, Stacia who was disheveled and smelled of thousands-of-years-old ancient parchment dust, and Alicia who... well, Alicia was fine, but she also needed to rest.

"Before we touch any food, the three of you need to be cleaned. Especially you, Sylvia. Your smell could kill a spirit that’s already dead."

Without giving the three of them a chance to respond, Persephone snapped her fingers again.

The throne room floor beneath Sylvia’s, Alicia’s, and Stacia’s feet suddenly vanished. The three girls screamed in shock as their bodies went into a free fall through spatial space, landing with a very loud splashing sound.

SPLAAASH! SPLAAAAASH!

They landed right in the middle of a giant hot spring pool located in the east wing of the palace. This bathhouse was made of pure white marble, decorated with ancient Roman-style pillars and gargoyle statues spewing hot water from their mouths. Thick white steam billowed in the air, carrying a relaxing aroma from a blend of mystical spices and underworld lotus flowers.

As soon as their bodies touched the water, the automatic magic of the bathhouse instantly activated. The dirty clothes sticking to their bodies vanished immediately, replaced by thin silk towels that magically wrapped around their private areas.

The black blood and demonic filth thickly caked on Sylvia’s body immediately washed away upon contact with the holy water of the bathhouse, turning the water around her pitch black for a moment, before the magic formation array at the bottom of the pool filtered and purified it back in seconds.

"Damn it! Mother always likes to just throw people around randomly!" Sylvia grumbled while wiping the water from her face, her black hair now wet and sticking to her pale white skin. Despite complaining, she quickly leaned her back against the edge of the marble pool, sighing in relief as the warmth seeped into her exhausted muscles after a whole day of slaughtering.

On the other side of the pool, Alicia emerged from the water with the elegance of an angel. Her wet silver hair was combed back using her fingers. She closed her eyes, letting the spiritual energy from the hot water restore her mana reserves which had been drained while using the Domain.

"Stop complaining, Sylvia. This is far better than having to clean yourself manually. At least Mother Persephone was kind enough to teleport us directly to the healing pool," Alicia said calmly.

Suddenly, a bubbling water sound could be heard from the middle of the pool. Stacia popped up with a pouting face, her cheeks puffed out in annoyance. Her reading glasses were nowhere to be found.

"I haven’t finished reading the section on soul metal transmutation," Stacia grumbled while hugging her knees in the water, leaving only her nose and eyes above the surface. "Besides, I wasn’t even sweating. Why did I have to be thrown in here too?"

"Because you smell as musty as a mummy trapped in a coffin for a thousand years, Stacia," Sylvia mocked while splashing water at her younger sister’s face. "Stop mourning over your books. Just enjoy the hot water."

The three sisters eventually spent nearly an hour in the bathhouse, soaking while recounting their respective experiences. Sylvia enthusiastically described how she sliced a Behemoth into twelve symmetrical pieces. Alicia explained the chain debuff tactics she used in the spirit realm. Meanwhile Stacia, though initially pouting, eventually joined in to brag about the thousands of ancient magic formulas now neatly stored in her brain.

After feeling quite refreshed and clean, they climbed out of the pool. Faceless homunculus servants had prepared casual pastel-colored silk robes for them to wear. With much lighter steps, they walked towards the Banquet Hall.

The room was very spacious, illuminated by crystal chandeliers radiating a warm golden light. In the center of the room, a large round dining table was already filled with various kinds of luxurious dishes still steaming, appetizing to anyone who smelled their aroma.

Persephone was already sitting in the head chair, waiting for their arrival with a faint smile.

"Have a seat, my children. It’s time to restore your energy," Persephone greeted.

The three girls’ eyes sparkled looking at the dishes on the table. Unlike the stereotypes of Underworld food that people might think of such as raw monster meat or fresh blood Persephone perfectly understood the most comforting tastes for the body and soul.

In the middle of the table, there was a giant silver tray filled with massively sized steamed deep-sea crabs, their bright red shells billowing a savory aroma of the sea. Surrounding it were porcelain plates presenting fresh black pearl oysters, served on a bed of mystical crystal ice. There was no food that was too heavy or greasy; the focus of the meal this time was broth and seafood.

A large porcelain bowl containing crystal-clear broth soup was placed in front of each of them. The soup contained chunks of incredibly tender monkfish meat, slow-boiled with stamina-boosting spices and scallions from the sacred gardens of Elysium. The savory, warm, and refreshing broth truly contrasted with the cold air of the Underworld.

As an accompaniment, their crystal glasses were not filled with intoxicating red wine, but rather a fresh, golden-yellow citrus mocktail. The drink provided a fizzy, sweet-and-sour sensation in the throat, very similar to the freshness of a Radler, but completely alcohol-free to keep their minds sharp.

"Let’s eat!" Sylvia exclaimed, who without hesitation immediately pulled a giant crab claw and snapped it with her bare hands, then greedily sucked out the sweet meat inside.

Alicia picked up her silver spoon, elegantly feeding herself the clear monkfish broth. Her eyes closed for a moment, savoring the savory taste that flowed to warm her stomach and mana pathways. "This is incredibly delicious, Mother. This broth is truly soothing."

Even Stacia, who had been pouting earlier, was now busy swallowing three oysters at once, followed by a large gulp of her fresh citrus mocktail.

While enjoying the abundant seafood, Persephone began giving her evaluation.

"I am very satisfied with your results today," Persephone started as she cut a small piece of fish meat. "Sylvia, your killing instincts are getting sharper. But remember, raw power without control will backfire. Keep adapting."

Sylvia nodded quickly while her mouth was still full of crab meat. "Of course, Mother!"

"Alicia," Persephone looked softly at her eldest daughter. "Your decision to use the Domain to suppress the enemy instead of forcing a physical clash was a brilliant move. You truly understand the essence of authority."

Alicia returned the gaze with a smile and a respectful nod.

Then, Persephone’s gaze shifted to Stacia, who was busy slurping soup broth from her bowl. "And you, my little bookworm. Although you didn’t show any combat abilities today at all, the amount of ancient era knowledge you managed to absorb in such a short time is highly valuable. Knowledge is power, and you just stole half of the most deadly library in this realm."

Stacia puffed out her chest proudly, an imaginary pair of glasses seeming to perch back on her nose. "Of course! If you gave me a few more weeks, Mother, I could overhaul the entire defense magic system of this palace!"

The banquet hall was filled with laughter and warm chatter. The clashes, blood, and chaos of their trials had been left outside the room.