Zombie Queen transmigration into a book

"Is that a rocky door floating in the desert? Or are we all hallucinating and seeing the same thing?" Eva asked aloud, squinting to see clearly through the cloud of dust.

Ethan leaned in closer to hear what she said—the cloth wrapped around her mouth muffled her words.

"That!" Eva pointed to a floating cave door. Ethan followed the direction of her hand and noticed it; his brows furrowed in confusion and doubt.

He almost thought the desert was playing tricks on them. Earlier, he had seen a plant, only to find nothing when he got closer. But seeing Aaron and Eva looking in the same direction, he couldn’t help but slightly believe.

"It looks so mysterious. Should we check it out, or keep going... I don’t think this compass is any good," Aaron asked as he looked down at the wildly spinning compass indicator.

Ethan was silent for a moment, gauging whether the mysterious door was safe to approach. ’There’s no use overthinking it; instead, they should be cautious and ready to retreat if something seems off.’

Julian’s condition made him realize that they were still weak at their current strength; they could only tread cautiously and work quickly to improve.

He mentally planned to experiment on this surface monster, hoping they were like the dungeon monsters that give up energy once they are killed—with that energy, he could boost his power level.

"Let’s go over and stay alert," he responded, snapping out of his thoughts at Eva’s nudge.

Ethan pushed his wandering thoughts aside to revisit later; now he had to focus on the situation at hand.

But before they could move forward, everyone in Eva’s space suddenly appeared in the desert.

"Damn! Three days are up already. Why now, when they encounter a mysterious floating door?" Eva swore under her breath, glancing at their expressions, now clouded with confusion and shock.

Her eyes darted around the crowd until they landed on Blaine, who was carrying the unconscious Julian on his back. She hurried through the crowd and stopped in front of him.

"Has he shown any signs of waking up yet?" Eva asked as she brushed the hair away from Julian’s face, her eyes filled with worry at his cold temperature beneath her fingertips.

"Madam, the master has remained like this since you brought him in. I’ve been monitoring his health closely and gave him some nourishing soup, but his condition hasn’t changed," Blaine replied with concern, then froze when he realized he forgot to wear his mask while putting on Julian’s.

Eva frowned and sent some energy into Julian, unaware of Blaine’s turbulent emotions, until she accidentally met his eyes, which were filled with fear and helplessness.

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"What’s with your expression? Don’t dare jinx Julian with your thoughts! He’s going to get better and regain his consciousness!" Eva shouted with certainty, though her voice trembled slightly with fear.

"Madam... I’m going to die. Please look after the master for me," Blaine said, cutting in before Eva’s fears could consume her.

"Huh?!(⁠☉⁠｡⁠☉⁠)⁠!" Eva’s emotion deflated like a popped balloon; a barrage of question marks filled her mind as she stared at Blaine in a daze.

Then she noticed his unmasked face and facepalmed, feeling exasperated. She wanted to shake some sense into him. ’Didn’t he notice she wasn’t putting on her suit?’

"Yeah, I’ll join you on your journey to beyond." Eva’s words dripped with sarcasm, and Blaine shook off his mourning and noticed her bare face—and only a piece of cloth was wrapped around her nose to block the dust.

From the corner of his eye, he saw Ethan approaching them—he wasn’t putting on his suit either. A wave of relief washed over him, and he took deep breaths, inhaling the fresh but dusty air around him. ’So this is what real air smells like.’

"We’ll rest here; it’s already getting dark," Ethan informed as he reached them. He wasn’t about to lead the crowd toward an unknown door floating in the sky.

Eva looked up and saw the sun setting. It wasn’t as harsh as before; the air was starting to feel a bit cooler.

"But, will it be safe at night?’’ Eva voiced her worries, always feeling the desert was too peaceful; they hadn’t encountered any monsters on their way here, making her almost sure something would happen at night.

Ethan had considered that, but he believed it was safer to face the danger outside rather than carry the non-fighters through the door.

"Hmm...we should camp here; tomorrow you can send them back into your space," Ethan responded and turned to the sleeping Julian, and was relieved he wasn’t as pale as before.

"Alright then," Eva agreed. But when she turned to see the people standing or sitting, their gazes filled with curiosity and awe, she broke out in a cold sweat, imagining them evicting her from her space while she was in the midst of a dangerous situation.

Eva knew she wasn’t a saintly heroine, and she knew who she would save first if faced with a life-or-death situation—and this group of strangers isn’t on that list.

"Ethan, we need to find a safe spot for the stronghold. We can’t always take them with us," Eva suggested seriously, her words reflecting her awareness of the ticking time bomb of her space eviction period.

Aaron heard her words as he arrived, and he fully agreed with Eva. Take, for example, if they had gone through the floating door before they appeared—he grimaced at the thought of carrying dead weight in such a perilous situation.

Ethan also shared that thought, and his expression turned serious, leading him to a decision.

"Then, our main priority is to find that place—its terrain must be easy to defend and hard to attack," Ethan voiced his thoughts. But they knew it was easier said than done—they didn’t even know their way around here and were still trying to get used to this danger-filled world, and it would be sheer luck to encounter the place Ethan described.

"Umm... I hope we’ll come across that place along the way," Eva wished, her tone drained of hope.

Ethan sighed and rubbed his forehead to ease his stress.

Blaine listened to everything they said without interrupting or feeling looked down on—he was strong enough not to be a burden to them, but his main task was to oversee the others.

Let’s end the serious talk for today. I’m hungry and tired." Eva sat on the ground, rubbing the slight ache in her stomach.

She pulled out some grapes from her space and started munching on them. Eva felt numb and uncomfortable all over; she needed a proper wash and some sleep, but the situation wasn’t ideal.

She wondered which was better and safer—a zombie-infested world or a primitive dungeon world—because she felt the latter was far worse. Here, the monsters were intelligent, fast, skilled, and dangerous. ’Woohoo (╥﹏╥) I feel cheated—from my boring life as a zombie to a beauty trying to survive the surface world.’ Though she complained, she didn’t regret transmigrating here, and she crushed the grape forcefully in her mouth to vent her anger.

Then she remembered Blaine was still holding Julian, so she quickly brought out a bed and motioned for him to set Julian down.

Eva glanced at Julian’s sleeping figure and sighed, missing his presence and that mischievous smile he wore whenever he got away with turning her hair into a bird’s nest.

"When will you wake up? I miss you," Eva murmured softly, gently poking his cheeks.

"We’re camping here tonight. If you need to relieve yourself, go in groups," Aaron’s voice echoed through the area, and whispers rippled through the crowd.

Some discuss animatedly among themselves about the new things around them, though Eva’s space made them experience a real sun, it was different to see it on the surface.