I Became the Cute One in the Troubleshooter Squad-Chapter 163: Of the Black Raven and the Snow-White Ghost (1)

A sudden chill crept across my skin.

I wasn’t sick or anything, but it felt like I had the shivers.

Then again, it made sense if I thought about it.

It was only January—barely a month past the turn of the year.

The snow had stopped, but winter still held tight over Nighthouse with its cold winds.

In weather like this, even cracking a door open would make your whole body tremble.

If you weren’t careful about closing doors properly, something like this could easily happen.

“Are you cold? I made sure to turn the heat up a bit warmer on purpose.”

“...!”

But the chill I felt wasn’t from any external cause.

It came from the cold sweat that ran down my body, evaporating from nerves and tension.

It was like that strange sensation when you drink bitter green tea and then bite into a cookie—the sweetness hits harder.

Because the room was warm, the chill stood out more starkly. A deeply contradictory sensation.

‘I always figured this day would come eventually...’

I quickly shook my head in response, signaling firmly that I wasn’t cold.

Then, fiddling with the fox mask in my lap for no reason, I cautiously looked up.

There was Raven, looking tired in several ways.

His suit, which he always wore, was more wrinkled than usual—proof that he’d been working hard.

Maybe he was wondering if the heater was malfunctioning.

After checking the room temperature again, he looked at me with a serious expression and said,

“Then... Yuri. Let’s talk.”

“....”

Gulp. I swallowed instinctively.

What exactly did Raven want to ask, now that he knew I was a psychic?

I hadn’t even gotten my thoughts in order yet. If I’d known this was coming, I would’ve run off to Alice’s house.

Thinking that, I recalled how peaceful things had felt just a few hours ago.

It was a pathetically timid sort of mental escape.

*

About half a day after the incident ended, as the darkness lifted and dawn broke.

Some of the injured examinees—those who wished to—began the process of returning home.

After all, the examinees had been little more than victims, dragged into the chaos.

Once they signed a confidentiality agreement, there was no reason to keep them detained.

And so, grouped by region, they were flown back home via Association airships.

Naturally, I ended up heading back to Nighthouse alongside Alice, David, and the others.

“You’ve all done well. A small amount of compensation will be sent to your home later... Please be sure to uphold the confidentiality agreement.”

“Ah, yes.”

“Unless someone’s got a death wish, I doubt anyone’s going to go blabbing...”

“....”

I nodded silently in agreement as I stood in the airport, cradling my luggage.

This wasn’t just some neighborhood store we were dealing with—it was the global powerhouse that was the Fixer Association.

Unless someone was actively defecting to the Liberation Army, there was no escaping their reach.

No one in their right mind would start talking about the Sky Garden.

Maybe that’s why the Fixer escorting us chuckled quietly behind their hand, then turned to head back to the ship, saying:

“Well then, we’ll take our leave. I hope you all get good results from the exam.”

With that, the Fixer disappeared behind the smoothly closing hatch of the airship and vanished down the runway in the blink of an eye.

They had a smile on their face, but their whole demeanor felt oddly strained.

No doubt they had a mountain of work piled up and were racing to get through it.

The scale of what had happened was just too massive.

Even if they wanted to rest, they probably couldn’t.

Feeling a bit of sympathy, I silently cheered them on as I took Alice’s hand and exited the airport.

And there it was—Nighthouse, now familiar enough to feel like home, welcoming me back once again.

‘Looks the same as always. Maybe it’s a bit calmer since it’s Monday morning... Still, compared to the Sky Garden, it feels downright noisy.’

Nighthouse hadn’t changed. It was still as bustling as ever.

Every citizen in sight had a distinct appearance—clearly other-species.

Cars, hover bikes, and PAVs flowed like fluid through the city, following its structured chaos.

But even in a world like this, Monday’s gloomy presence hadn’t disappeared.

There was a definite lethargy in the air—like the spirit had been sucked out of the city.

A disease not even magic or advanced science could cure.

Monday Syndrome really was the ultimate man-made illness.

“Ugh... Is he busy? Mr. Jin isn’t answering... Yuri, looks like he’s not home yet. Want to come over to my place for a bit?”

“....”

I froze.

Lost in random thoughts, I suddenly stopped at the sound of that name.

Raven wasn’t an examinee—he was a working Fixer.

He was probably still tied up with cleanup over at the Sky Garden.

Everything that had happened had left my head in a mess.

After thinking for a moment, I gently shook my head at Alice’s suggestion, turning her down.

Right now, I needed some time alone.

And besides, there was a good chance the office was in complete disarray from being left unattended.

If there was trash piled up, I needed to take care of it while no one was watching.

Maybe reading my thoughts, Alice gave a bittersweet smile, nodding as she patted my head.

“Alright. Then let’s at least have lunch together. I’ll walk you back to the office afterward. That okay with you, David?”

“Sure. No problem.”

“I’m fine with that too!”

“...Oh right. Elizabeth, you’re with us too.”

The four of us—now including Elizabeth, another face from the exam—ended up grabbing an early lunch at a recommended Japanese restaurant.

With our flight taking a bit of extra time, we’d arrived just in time for opening.

In a way, that was a lucky break.

“Well then, see you tomorrow. Get some good rest.”

“...!”

After the meal, I waved my arms wide in goodbye as they saw me off.

Then, with a soft click, I stepped through the door into the chilly Troubleshooter Office.

It had only been four days since I left for the exam, but the place was already in chaos.

Messiness was inevitable after that kind of absence.

‘Raven’s not exactly the type to clean up properly. Trash, laundry... and there’s some dust on the floor too. Alright—before I change, let’s take care of this first.’

I grabbed the cleaning tools before changing into something comfortable.

If I changed into pajamas first, they’d just get dirty while cleaning.

My plan was to knock out the chores and then take my time relaxing with a bath.

Of course, since no one was around, I’d be using telekinesis—

—but yeah, that was the vibe. Finish the work first, then enjoy the downtime.

I pulled out some garbage bags from storage and started lifting large pieces of trash with my telekinesis.

With a flick of my fingers, I had the vacuum and mop running simultaneously.

Even the hardest-to-reach corners were spotless in no ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) time.

The grime vanished, and the office returned to its usual clean, crisp look.

Yep. Cleaning really did feel satisfying.

And using telekinesis meant I didn’t even get tired. The convenience of psychic power really was unbeatable.

‘Mmh... Nothing left to do now. I don’t know when Raven’s coming back, and it’s too early to start dinner... Guess I’ll wash up and take a nap in the closet.’

I tossed the torn-up clothes I’d been wearing into the trash without hesitation, then picked out a fresh outfit and soaked in the bath at leisure.

There hadn’t been any chance to wash up right after the incident.

So getting all the grime off now felt so good it was almost electric.

Then, wrapped in soft cat-print pajamas, I shuffled over to Raven’s closet, feeling warm and drowsy.

It was small and dark, but the blanket was cozy, and the scent was sweet—my own little den.

Like plugging in a phone, I connected the Tesseract to the fracture and started recharging.

I took off the mask, curled up in the bedding, and shut my eyes tight.

‘Now that I’m clean, I’m sleepy... Telekinesis really drains your mental energy. I’m not fully recovered yet...’

At this rate, I’d need to nap until evening.

I let out a slow, deep breath and melted into the softness.

And my consciousness, like sinking beneath the surface of water, dissolved quickly without form.

I even started drooling a little—it was that sweet and deep of a sleep.

*

By the time I came to my senses, I was already in the middle of a long, dull dream.

A dream of a girl trapped in a tiny room—like a hamster cage—in a world soaked in gray.

She sat curled up on the bed, as if her thoughts had come to a halt.

Was she imagining herself to be some kind of pill bug? She always buried her face between her knees.

There was nothing entertaining in that place.

The only things that existed were a gnawing hunger that seemed to eat away at the soul, and the same monotonous meals that barely relieved it.

Anyone else living like this would surely cry out in agony.

But the girl remained expressionless, as if nothing moved her.

This life, repeated since the moment she was born, had simply become her ordinary routine.

You can’t cry if you don’t know fear.

You can’t laugh if you don’t know joy.

The girl was, in every way, like a doll.

And I... I was watching this scene from above, like a ghost.

‘What a disturbing dream. But... weirdly enough, it doesn’t feel unfamiliar. Why is that?’

Drifting in the dream without a form—tossed aside like some discarded thing—I thought.

But in the end, I realized I didn’t have enough clues to find an answer to my question.

Which meant the solution was simple: if I lacked something, I just had to find it.

I moved my formless self and decided to explore the dream.

‘This place... is it a research facility?’

Once I left the small room where the black-haired girl was imprisoned, I found, to my surprise, that the place was full of people.

Some were like the girl—drained of energy, trapped silently in their rooms.

And there were many others dressed in white, watching them as if observing test subjects.

I moved my bodiless self closer to the people in white.

And before long, their conversation reached my ears—shockingly vivid, far too clear for a mere dream.