I Became the Cute One in the Problem-Solving Team

It was a serious situation.

The kind of time when you couldn’t even joke lightly. It was truly a state of emergency.

Just how serious was it that the Tesseract couldn’t sit still and was fidgeting?

This was something that couldn’t just be ignored.

[ Mmm? Mama, did you call? ]

Ah, sorry. I didn’t call you for anything important…

Anyway, there are things kids just don’t understand!

I poked the Tesseract with my telekinesis, playing with it for a moment.

Then, I seriously took a deep breath again in the cramped closet.

Let’s think. What day is it today?

[ Thursday! ]

Right, as the Tesseract said, today was Thursday.

To be precise, it was exactly five days since Aisha’s request ended…

And it was already three days since Greg was supposed to come back.

No, since it’s evening now. I guess when I wake up, it’ll be the fourth day.

So, after contemplating various things, I slammed my forehead down onto the fluffy blanket.

Greg… why isn’t he coming! He said he’d return!

“Intern, what’s going on in there that’s so noisy?”

“…!”

Ah, I wasn’t doing anything!

I slightly opened the closet door and shook my head at Raven, pretending I hadn’t done anything.

Then, I closed the door and crossed my arms quietly to avoid getting scolded again.

Putting aside the fact that I got scolded by Raven,

this was something that absolutely couldn’t just slide by.

It’s because if Greg didn’t come back… I wouldn’t be able to leave the Fixer Office at all.

‘That side has higher urgency than here. Once Greg returns, I was planning to stop crashing here and find a decent room…’

First and foremost, one of the biggest reasons was that the pay at the Fixer Office wasn’t great.

Even though I came in the morning and left in the evening, it felt like just pocket money.

Of course, Raven wasn’t just leeching off of me.

Raven was also struggling and generously letting me crash here.

Trying to get a lot of pay on top of that would be just unethical.

Not that I was unhappy with the small amount of money.

It was just that living here and paying rent separately would definitely be tough.

I wasn’t just sitting my butt here for no reason. It was really unavoidable.

‘If only Greg would come soon, then I could do something… But the fact that I’m still here at Raven’s house is really absurd!’

Where did my grand dream of leisurely spending time in a corner of Night Haven without getting entangled in troublesome matters go?

I desperately wanted to leave this central place soon and move to a spot where I wouldn’t get dragged into the original story.

…Huh? Is the one saying that casually sitting in the closet?

No, regardless, I should do what needs to be done. Who knows if the world might end tomorrow?

That’s why, to prepare for any unknown occurrences, I was feeding the remaining energy from the rift to the Tesseract.

Even amidst the chaos, I should be praised for diligently doing what needed to be done.

Got it? Do you understand?

[ Mama, it’s delicious! ]

Oh, is that so?

I curled up like a bug on the blanket and secretly pulled the Tesseract out from inside.

Then, seeing the Tesseract’s vibrant form faintly shining even in the darkness made me smile for no reason.

Is this what it feels like to raise a child? The kid was so cute, I wanted to feed it again.

‘But why am I “Mama”? Even if I ask, it just says, “Mama is Mama!” I don’t understand the reason at all…’

In any case, that’s how I felt these days.

If Greg contacts me, he wouldn’t send it to me without a terminal but to Raven.

I’d poke Raven like a pest every hour, asking if there were any messages from Greg.

And when the day ended without any contact, I would roll around in the closet to sleep in my room.

Then wake up the next morning to repeat a similar day again.

Thinking about the original story, something big might happen soon…

But for now, all I wished was for it to hold off until I could leave this place.

Then suddenly, a good idea popped into my mind.

After working part-time for a month and saving up some money, should I get myself a terminal?

From the warmth of the closet’s darkness, I sparkled my eyes at the brilliant idea I had come up with.

*

The next day, Friday morning.

Alice went to work feeling really down about the fact that Yuria might leave soon.

She widened her eyes at the sight of Yuria running down the hallway with a mop.

“…!”

“Oh, Yuria! Good morning. You’re so lively today?”

“…!!”

It was strange.

Just until yesterday, she looked wilted like a plant that had drank bad water, but how could she suddenly look so energetic, like a toy with a fresh set of batteries?

After quietly passing by Yuria, who was dancing around and wiping the floor, Alice half-whispered to Raven, who was lounging on the sofa.

“Y-Yuria, what’s up with her? Did Greg call or something?”

That was a question she could naturally ponder.

It was clear that Yuria was gloomy because of the lack of news from Greg, who had promised to be back in a month.

But how could she seem so thrilled just overnight?

It was obvious that this meant the problem was solved.

Yet contrary to Alice’s predictions, Raven responded.

“…No? He hasn’t come, but she’s suddenly like this since morning. Did something exciting happen?”

“Huh? So she’s like this without having heard from Greg?”

Alice tilted her head, showing her confusion at Raven’s words.

She knew well that Yuria wasn’t one to conceal her feelings easily; she was like a transparent glass bead…

But she wouldn’t suddenly change her mood without any reason either.

There was definitely some cause. Alice glanced at Yuria, dashing around in the office, and tapped her lips with her finger.

“Something… seems off. There must be some ridiculous mystery hidden here…!”

“Is that so? She just seems excited because something good happened.”

“No! Yuria isn’t that simple… Ugh!”

“Calm down. It’s not like she’s an idiot. If something big happens, she’ll come for advice. You’re being too overprotective.”

Yuria, the one who’d immediately become a hassle if involved.

Raven lightly tapped Alice on the head to calm her down.

If it really bothered her, instead of making wild guesses, just ask directly what’s going on.

He voiced something close to sound reasoning, delivering those serious words toward Alice.

If you rush to speculate about someone else’s feelings without communication, it inevitably leads to misunderstandings and misconceptions.

So if there’s something that doesn’t need to rant about unnecessarily — just ask them directly.

Indeed, it was a serious piece of advice from the elder of the office.

“Well… I guess so. Jin is right. Getting lost in my own assumptions will just lead to weird conclusions. Thanks, I’ll ask her directly!”

“Yeah. I’m curious too. Please make sure to ask her what’s going on.”

“Hehe, what’s that about?”

Alice smiled sheepishly at Raven’s unbothered remark, then lightly walked up to Yuria.

And without dancing around, she directly asked her what was making her so cheerful.

“….”

“Hmm?”

“…!”

Then Yuria, hugging the wooden mop in her arms, seemed to ponder for a second, tilting her head… before bringing her finger playfully to the lips of her mask.

It was a gesture indicating an obvious secret.

Aha, got it! Let’s cheer up today too!

Alice smiled fondly at Yuria, then naturally went around the office, covering her mouth with her fist beside Raven and wailed.

“Wahh, wuuu… Jin! What should we do! It really seems like something happened…!”

“Hey hey, calm down. Just look at her, she doesn’t look sad at all; she clearly looks happy! Must be something good! Just calm down!”

While Alice was about to cry in despair, Raven was sweating bullets, feeling flustered, when David showed up at the office, right on time.

He casually greeted Yuria, who couldn’t keep still, then walked over to Alice, who was sobbing with her fists in her mouth.

“Um, Yuria, is something going on? You definitely looked like someone who’d eaten spoiled pizza just yesterday, but now you look like someone whose stock has suddenly doubled!”

“No, really nothing happened.”

“Oh no, this is a mystery!”

“Please don’t you too. Alice is already struggling enough with this.”

Raven sighed, touching his forehead at the duo who couldn’t seem to get their act together since the morning.

It was understandable that Alice, who always lost her cool around something cute, was acting this way, but…

David, after Aisha’s request, had his psychological limits suddenly loosened, it seemed. Nowadays, he wasn’t quite right in the head.

At this rate, there wouldn’t be anyone normal left at the office.

Raven thought to himself, letting David and Alice be, while subtly glancing back at Yuria, who had put down the mop and had picked up a duster.

No matter how you looked at it, it didn’t seem like there was a huge reason for her to be feeling good…

Still, just to be sure, it might be worth checking it out later.

Little did he know, Yuria was feeling cheerful about getting a terminal.