I Became the Cute One in the Problem-Solving Team

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It was a scene so chaotic, it felt like an earthquake had just struck.

Half-dazed, I stared into the closet and quickly pulled myself together.

With Raven being absent for quite a while, this was a rare opportunity that didn’t come by often.

If I let this chance slip away, I’d be forced to wait until tomorrow again.

Each day felt precious, so I couldn’t afford to lose focus.

“Now that I think about it, Raven was the type to leave things messy out of sheer laziness. I should have expected this… Anyway, let’s hurry and search.”

To start off, I straightened my back and took a good look around the entire closet.

The closet was so large that even when I stretched my arms out to the side, I couldn’t cover it all.

Its construction resembled a sliding door that might be common in Japan, built into the wall.

Yet, thanks to the luxurious wood finish, it didn’t feel as dreary inside as I had anticipated.

“Looks pretty deep. I might be able to get in comfortably…”

In reality, the closet was deeper than it appeared.

It seemed perfectly designed since the building was constructed, and there was no jarring feeling at all.

But was Raven seriously using such a nice closet as a makeshift storage space?

The closet, divided into three levels, was cluttered with various items in a haphazard manner.

Taking everything out at once wouldn’t be an easy task.

With so little time to spare, this difficult task weighed heavily on my mind.

“Raven’s pants had shards in them, and he mentioned pulling out winter clothing this time.”

The silver lining was that I wasn’t diving in blindly; I had certain clues to base my search.

If I found the winter dress pants in this closet, it was very likely that the items I was looking for would be near the box containing the winter clothes.

“It’ll be a hassle, but if I examine the boxes here, I’m sure I’ll find something. But time…”

Glancing over at the electronic calendar on the wall, I gauged I had about five minutes to spare.

If I got caught, it could lead to a whole heap of trouble, so I needed to be careful not to miss that deadline.

With the remaining time mentally noted, I cautiously began to push aside the heavy clutter on top of the boxes.

However, just as I was doing so, the unstable pile of junk lost its balance and all fell to the ground, clattering loudly.

“…!”

Quickly, I used telekinesis to catch the falling junk before it made contact with the floor.

Thanks to my swift response, the items managed to stop mid-air without making a sound before crashing down.

Hmm, it looks like this time, I’ll need to be a bit more proactive with my telekinesis.

Having made that decision, I lifted the clutter up and hurriedly began opening the scattered boxes one by one.

This one had light bulbs and nails in a toolbox, and over here, there were books and decorations…

Whoa, wait a second. Isn’t this… an adult magazine? He really hid it away in a place like this?

“No, no, now’s not the time for that! Hide it better next time, come on!”

I stared blankly at the magazine featuring a woman with an alluring figure, my face burning as I tossed it to the ground.

Suddenly zoning out like that during such a critical moment made me feel embarrassingly flustered.

Speaking of which, is this a closet or a junkyard?

I felt irritated at the haphazard condition as if things had just been shoved in here without any proper organization.

If I had just rummaged through recklessly without worrying about cleaning up afterward, things would have gone much faster.

Trying to continue my work without leaving a trace was turning into a time-consuming ordeal.

But well…What can I do? I have to keep going.

As I resigned myself to that thought, I busily sifted through the boxes when suddenly a thought struck me.

“Maybe it’s not down here… Could it be up top?”

I set the opened boxes and clutter back in place using telekinesis as discreetly as possible, then stood on my tiptoes to peek into the top level of the closet.

To my surprise, just like the bottom, there was a box with a lid on the top too.

When I looked up from below, I only saw thick blankets, so I hadn’t noticed it was up here.

Feeling a tiny headache from Raven’s unpredictable organizing pattern, I jumped up to the very top of the closet with the agility of a cat using my telekinesis.

I crouched down to avoid hitting my head on the ceiling and sat on the thick blankets to examine the contents of the box.

“I found it. Summer clothes!”

Bingo. It was the right answer.

Inside the box were thin summer clothes, which looked completely unsuitable for wearing right now. It likely belonged where the winter clothes used to be.

That meant there was probably something related to the invader nearby.

So, I started crawling around, inspecting every nook and cranny to see if anything stood out.

“Wait a minute. What’s this part connecting to the ceiling? If I look closely, there’s something…”

After thoroughly scrutinizing my surroundings, I sensed an odd disturbance where the closet connected to the ceiling.

I couldn’t feel it with my hands, but I instinctively knew there was some space present.

I reached out with my fingertips using telekinesis and projected my strength into the deeper area than what was visible.

Amazingly, even though there was clearly a wooden wall right in front of me, the telekinesis moved forward as if nothing was there.

It reminded me of something from a movie about a certain wizard’s train station!

Knowing about this phenomenon, my eyes widened in surprise.

“This… this is a rift!”

Indeed, it was a dimensional rift, which held significant importance within the Fixer’s universe.

It was a tear in the fabric of different dimensions overlapping and creating a weak point in the world.

And at this point… it was a treasure trove of the otherworld, which most still failed to recognize its value.

Huh? Why is this a treasure trove?

Well, although the chances are incredibly low, sometimes items from the other dimension might pass through these rifts, like tesseracts.

While that wasn’t the case right now, in the later parts of the original story, chaos ensues from the dropped items from other dimensions.

So, describing it as a treasure trove wasn’t particularly strange.

Of course, it wasn’t just all positives. If the rift were large enough, it could act as a kind of passageway for invaders—an incredibly terrifying situation.

But, well, it’s unlikely anything would happen from a rift the size of my little fist.

“Why is this here… Hmm, so…”

Had something like this happened in the original work?

No, if I remember correctly, there wasn’t a description of the closet at all.

More importantly, if it’s a rift, is that a good thing or a bad thing?

Among the possibilities that I had considered, it seemed to be one of the better outcomes…

While I was in the midst of this mental turmoil, I suddenly noticed a faint creaking sound ringing in my ears.

That instantly sent chills down my spine.

The reason was simple: the sound was the unmistakable indication of the shower room door opening.

“…!”

Crap! I was so focused on the unexpected rift that I lost track of time!

This was bad. The shower room was so close that it would be clearly visible once the door to the room opened.

Which means, once that door opens, there would be no way out other than going through the window.

But jump through the window?

In this cold winter, doing something like that would get me caught in no time because of the unnatural cold air.

“W-what should I do?! If I’m caught like this… it’ll definitely raise suspicion!”

All kinds of negative scenarios played out in my mind.

After being generously offered hospitality, I’m now rummaging through their stuff?

Even the most virtuous person could hardly overlook that.

Chances are, they’d likely think I was trying to steal something, and I might even be misunderstood as plotting malicious schemes under a false identity.

Of course, I wasn’t doing anything malicious; I just wanted to be prepared for unforeseen circumstances!

But whether they’d understand that was anybody’s guess. After all, I’m just a silent outsider here.

Footsteps.

Raven’s presence drew closer to the door.

There was no time to think calmly. I had about five seconds left.

Overwhelmed, and covered in cold sweat, I shut my eyes tightly and slowly closed the closet door.

I’d hide quietly inside the closet, as though covering a bug with a pot lid.

Would I remain undetected? No, honestly, if I were to guess… I’d say I might get caught.

Click.

The door creaked open, and Raven’s presence intensified.

My heart felt as though it had been gripped by ice, and my mouth went completely dry.

Please don’t notice me.

I held my breath, feeling my heartbeat echo in my ears.

But as if betraying that desperate prayer, the sound of Raven’s footsteps steadily approached the closet.

With a soft creak, the closet opened, bathing the interior in blinding light.

I had been found.