I Became the Cute One in the Problem-Solving Team

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Chapter 2: The Confounding Pursuits of a Young Girl

“They say humans are creatures of adaptation.”

Is that why, perhaps? At first, I felt all anxious and uneasy in the closet, but after about three days, it started to feel strangely cozy and comfortable.

It fit my small frame perfectly, giving me a unique sense of security.

I finally understood why cats go crazy for boxes.

During these three days, I even had some progress of my own. Huh? You’re asking about the Tesseract?

Sadly, the Tesseract remained silent, peacefully napping away.

For it to keep quiet even after all I’ve done—what a stubborn little thing it was!

What I gained, however, was quite something.

It turned out there was a significant boost in my telekinesis power!

To be honest, I didn’t want to admit it, but my abilities seemed to have some sort of connection to the Invaders.

I could interpret it no other way than to say that if my telekinesis was getting stronger just from being connected to this tiny crack, then it made sense.

Considering that my telekinesis had suddenly surged before, I figured part of the energy was being transferred to me during the absorption process from the shards into the Tesseract.

Anyway, at this rate, by the time Greg returns… it looked like my output would be 1.5 times stronger than before I started the part-time job.

Thinking back to the struggles I faced due to lacking power while fighting Drakel, this was truly a rare opportunity for a level-up—a serendipitous stroke of luck.

‘Well… even with this, I still won’t be able to hold my head high in front of Lexi or Raven. Still, I should be able to hold my own against Alice or David, maybe?’

Considering the power balance in this world, let’s say the all-powerful Dragon Mayor was roughly on par with a single number fixer.

And Raven would be in the upper tier of double number fixers while Lexi and Greg were in the lower tier.

Of course, Raven didn’t have any actual results yet, so she wasn’t in the ranking, and neither Greg nor the Dragon Mayor were fixers, but that didn’t hold true for their actual ranking.

It was easier to think that they could all comfortably fit into the top 100 strongest in the world.

So, if we were to line up according to fixer rankings, Alice would be roughly at the bottom tier of triple number fixers.

Huh? You’re saying triple numbers are weak?

Oh, that’s a common misunderstanding!

This world is overflowing with powerful monsters, with all sorts of races coming in.

Being a triple number means, in other words, you rank within the top thousand in strength worldwide.

But to think a newcomer that hasn’t even revealed all their potential could make it into the triple numbers?

Now that’s truly impressive. She was actually cited as one of the super rookies in the story.

And under objective evaluation, I’d probably stay around the lower end of triple numbers too.

Drakel, who maintains his youth thanks to the Tesseract, would roughly be in the lower tier of double numbers.

It wasn’t that I was suddenly crushed and destroyed; my rank just got slightly diluted.

Thinking back, I wasn’t really that weak myself.

The problem was that there were just a ton of strong people around me.

Anyway, this opportunity was a chance I couldn’t afford to miss—it was like a refreshing rain during a drought!

In a perilous world where the only person who can truly protect me is myself, strengthening my skills is far more valuable than earning money or building connections.

‘Though the shape might be a bit off… it hurts to think about Raven’s gaze when he sees me in here like this.’

Hugging a pillow close to my chest, I rolled around in the narrow closet and casually pushed the closet door slightly aside.

Through the crack of the door, I caught a glimpse of Raven.

He was sprawled across his bed, engrossed in a comic magazine.

A paper magazine in this futuristic city? It made me chuckle at how quaintly analog that hobby was—all for the sake of nostalgia.

But did he catch me peeking through?

Without turning his head, he casually opened his mouth, flipping the pages nonchalantly.

“What’s up? Got something to talk about?”

“…”

Well, truth be told, I didn’t have anything particular to discuss.

I was just laying around doing nothing, feeling bored, and thought I’d see what he was up to.

Was he perhaps reading my mind?

Raven, now sitting up from the bed, shook the comic magazine in his hand and said, “You’re bored, huh? Want me to lend you a comic?”

“…!”

Whoa, seriously? This guy is kind of scary. Is he actually using mind reading?

Feeling hit right in the feels, I smoothly opened the closet door and nodded.

He smirked, seemingly knowing I would react this way, and got up.

Then, as if to say, “Read all you want,” Raven placed a stack of clean comic magazines in front of the closet.

Hmm… so it wasn’t a single volume but a magazine format with several comics in it.

I perched myself at the edge of the closet, swinging my legs out as I spent some time reading comics with Raven, who had gone back to reclining on his bed.

This isn’t so bad.

As the moon hung low in the sky, slowly descending into the night, I quietly savored the peacefulness.

The remaining time at the office was now two weeks.

We were already halfway through the remaining time.

*

A girl with dark green hair neatly braided into one.

She always wore a deadpan expression, preferred a boyish outfit of short sleeves and shorts, and occasionally got mistaken for a long-haired pretty boy. Her name was Sabrina.

Of course, she was still young, and the absence of secondary sexual traits played a role in that misunderstanding.

But her down-to-earth personality, preferring to train with her martial arts instructor over spending time on her appearance, contributed significantly to that image.

“Hmm… this dress doesn’t really seem to suit me…,”

But at that moment, something unexpected was unfolding before Sabrina.

She was holding a light, fluttering dress up to the mirror.

I couldn’t help but think how absurd it would look to the past Sabrina, who used to say dresses for girls didn’t suit her…

Yet, she was dead serious now.

Tomorrow was the day of her date with Yuria.

She wanted to show someone she wanted to get closer to her best side, something that was completely normal regardless of gender or age.

“Oh my goodness, Sabrina. Isn’t that my dress from when I was little?”

“Eek! R-R-Raine?! When did you get there…?”

“I just arrived… was I so quiet that you didn’t hear me come in?”

Whoosh!

Startled by the sudden voice from behind her, Sabrina jumped up from where she stood.

Her face turned bright red as she looked at Raine in shock.

To be caught red-handed rummaging through Raine’s childhood clothes was an unbearable reality.

She could only twitch her lips in muted disbelief.

But to Raine, her younger sister’s flustered state was just adorable.

Oh? Sabrina has her eyes on a prince? Now that’s the juiciest gossip!

“Who is the prince that our dear Sabrina has her eyes on? Is it someone I know?”

“T-That… you probably know? It’s Yuria, the one you helped escape the last time, remember…?”

“Ah… Yuria?”

Raine’s lips curled into a smile as she contemplated quietly.

Oh, it’s Yuria again? What kind of person is she?

‘You mentioned knowing her, right? It seems she doesn’t harbor any ill intent, so I can afford to act friendly… but I’ll need to meet her separately one of these days to chat.’

After the Nemesis incident wrapped up, Raine was duly astonished when she learned from Sabrina about this girl she had never seen before claiming to know her.

Even though they had actually met in person, Raine can’t shake off the feeling they were just strangers meeting.

Of course, it was hard to press on that awkward subject, so they brushed it aside in conversation…

But still, it felt necessary to figure out what was up.

“Yes, Sabrina. I’ll do my best to help you shine so you can capture Yuria’s heart! I know all about Sabrina’s charms!”

“W-Wait, heart? But we’re both girls…”

“Oh come on, in this day and age, what does gender have to do with anything? If you both like each other, that’s all that matters! And capturing hearts is definitely important, even between friends!”

Tomorrow, I will make Sabrina the cutest girl in the world!

Raine grabbed her sister’s shoulders, her eyes sparkling with determination.

Whether it works out or not, well, that didn’t matter so much.

Raine hid her own little plans behind a beautiful smile.

*

Late at night, on a park bench.

The silence had settled down to a chilling level that went beyond mere quietness.

In this cold atmosphere, a woman sat forlornly.

“Another one down the drain… is this my twenty-first failed job search? I’m so hungry…”

She was a demon, a member of a different race.

With blue skin and reversed eye colors, demons were treated as dangerous, alongside vampires, among other races.

The reason was simple. Like vampires who maintained their strength through blood, demons retained an inherent essence tied to dark contracts.

They could lead people to ruin by making contracts, thus becoming stronger. In a sense, they were even more dangerous than vampires.

As such, the social treatment of demons in this world was nothing short of abysmal.

Given their very appearance screamed ‘demon’ unlike vampires, it was nearly impossible to secure a proper job.

Most demons treated this way often succumbed to darkening their true nature without concealment.

They took the stance that a society that treats them like this could just crumble into dust.

Yet, mutations exist.

There was a timid demon who simply couldn’t give up on the sweetness of society.

To bind souls with a contract and drain their strength?

What does that even matter? If the police are on my tail, I can’t even buy a hamburger!

This timid demon could do nothing but brood in a state of indecision.

“Would you like to change your appearance?”

“Yikes! W-Who are you?!”

In that moment, someone approached her.

A dark hand that led people to ruin had appeared.