I Became the Cute One in the Problem-Solving Team

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I jumped from the window and landed softly on the ground.

Immediately, I had to suppress a silent scream as the sensation of my head splitting apart overwhelmed me.

It felt like lifting a heavy object after putting my muscles through the extreme, and the recoil from using my telekinesis to its limit came crashing down on me.

“Ugh… I may have pushed it a bit…”

Looking back, it was a ridiculous sequence of events.

I had dashed through the streets, mowing down nearly hundreds of fake zombies. The ghouls and vampires I knocked down could hardly be counted with one hand.

I had even driven the culprit, the Drakel, to the brink of death.

Compared to the time I usually used my telekinesis sparingly, this time I felt like I had drained my energy almost completely dry.

“…How do I get home now?”

In my dizzy state, I leaned against the wall and was suddenly consumed by deep contemplation.

Using my telekinesis any further was out of the question.

If I pushed it more, I’d surely lose consciousness and collapse right there.

So… how on earth do I get home without any telekinesis from here?

“This is ridiculous! The heads of all the zombies I gathered just vanished out of nowhere!”

“I lost 30,000 credits! We have to protest to the Black Witch Council!”

“Uwo, uwo!”

“…”

The noisy voices drifted over from the alley.

It seemed there were still plenty of bounty hunters roaming the streets outside.

I subtly turned my head to look down.

What I saw was a dirty and bloodstained piece of cloth.

If I wandered around like this, I would stick out like a sore thumb.

Sighing heavily, I felt a sense of resignation as I attempted to remove the cloth.

Suddenly, I noticed a hard texture against my palm.

‘This is… a Tesseract. I accidentally brought it with me.’

The hard object was none other than the Tesseract.

It seemed I had mindlessly grabbed it in my rush to escape earlier.

Now that I think about it, what should I do with this? It’s just adding another problem to my plate.

I instinctively rubbed my forehead, feeling a headache coming on.

Dealing with this was a whole different issue, after all.

The capabilities of the Tesseract, which could bring forth possibilities from other worlds, were immensely powerful.

However, to use its abilities, one had to pay an equivalent price.

For example, curing an incurable disease could cost you the permanent loss of both eyes.

Gaining a new talent you lack could result in losing all your memories.

It was indeed a double-edged sword.

Not something to toss around casually.

‘What if they find out that the Drakel has collapsed?’

And moreover, there was one huge problem.

The fact that the Tesseract was an item belonging to the very forces that destroyed the world inhabited by the different races.

This power, surpassing mere magic and shaking the laws themselves—where on earth did it originate?

So if this item becomes public knowledge, just how chaotic would the city become?

It was clear without needing to think too deeply.

‘…Should I just throw it down a deep sewer?’

For me, it was an item I could hardly handle.

Only a dragon lord living at the highest point of Night Haven could probably manage it.

Thus, the best I could do was hide it somewhere nobody would find it.

After all, the invaders would just reclaim it and use it as they liked.

It wouldn’t really matter if I dropped out of the story altogether.

‘Perhaps it would be more convenient if it just disappeared. What a pity.’

Having made that decision, I was essentially saying goodbye.

I brought the Tesseract to eye level and stared at it intently.

Suddenly, the cube inside the translucent shape spoke in my direction.

[ …Mama? ]

“…?!”

Wha—what the heck!

I wasn’t just startled; I felt like my heart was going to leap out of my mouth as I jumped on the spot.

I carefully placed the Tesseract on my palm, worried that maybe something was off with my head.

The cube, which had been moving around as if checking its surroundings, stopped and gazed at me directly.

[ Mama! ]

“…”

This is real. I can hear a voice.

No, to be precise, it felt more like a telepathy resonating in my head than actual speech.

Why is it… talking?

As I blinked in shock at this sudden and unexpected turn of events, the Tesseract began spinning in place and cheerfully exclaimed.

[ Touch me! Touch me! ]

‘It wants me to touch it….’

I felt like it was sounding like a little child whining, and a question mark formed over my head.

I reached out cautiously and stroked the outer surface of the Tesseract.

The Tesseract, in its cubic form, was a cute size no larger than my fingernail.

It wasn’t hard to pet it, but was this what it needed?

The Tesseract just shook its body back and forth in discontent, grumbling.

W-what am I supposed to do?

With my brow furrowing slightly at the Tesseract’s grumbling, I thought, is this right? And I used my telekinesis to gently stroke the inner cube instead.

[ Kyarrr! Mama! Love it! ]

The Tesseract was absolutely overjoyed.

It was so delighted that the cube within it was fluctuating from small to large at will.

Then suddenly, my head began to spin and my vision blurred.

That’s right. I shouldn’t be using telekinesis right now.

“…!”

In an instant, my legs went weak, but I barely managed to hold onto my consciousness, preventing myself from collapsing.

Right now, if I hit my head on the ground, I felt like I would pass out instantly.

[ Mama? Are you hurt? ]

“…”

[ Mama… Don’t hurt… I hate hurting! ]

Did the Tesseract notice something was off with me?

With a whiny voice, it cried out, and suddenly, I felt my body connected to some unknown place.

The world began to swirl chaotically, blurring the lines between up and down.

A sensory expansion made it feel like all directions were the same.

That pleasant feeling, reminiscent of being tipsy, gradually subsided as it came suddenly.

And when I finally landed back into the cold reality and opened my eyes again.

I found myself in a completely clean body, unscathed.

‘…Huh? My body… doesn’t hurt.’

It was astonishing.

My body, which had just moments ago been filled with deep bruises and sharp cuts, was now in a perfectly healthy state without a single scar.

The headache that felt like it would split my head into four pieces had quietly ebbed away as if it had never been there.

I even felt like I could wield telekinesis several times right away.

And the blood-soaked white cloth, which had been so tattered that I couldn’t tell if it was fabric or a rag, was now in pristine condition as if it had just been bought today.

It felt like everything that had happened when I fought the Drakel was just a dream.

I soon realized this was the ability of the Tesseract.

“…!”

This was bad.

The Tesseract’s ability, which brought forth possibilities from other worlds, operated on a give-and-take basis.

Fundamentally, it involved taking something back in exchange for what you received.

So, since my body had returned to a perfect state, it meant something of equal value had to be taken back!

‘…Right? But why is nothing happening?’

Even as I braced myself for whatever was to come, tensing my toes tight.

There was no sense of a toll being taken.

I expected at least that my eyes, ears, or wrists would be taken.

I tilted my head in confusion and carefully brought the Tesseract closer to my face.

“…”

[ …Mama. Not hurt? Good…. I’m sleepy…. ]

The Tesseract spoke like that and suddenly stopped moving as if it fell asleep.

Thanks to that, I could somewhat comprehend what was going on.

‘Did the Tesseract pay the price instead? …Why?’

It seemed that the Tesseract had taken on the cost of my recovery.

I had only touched it; what reason could it possibly have for doing this?

Stuck in a situation where I couldn’t fathom the reasoning, I decided to hang the Tesseract around my neck.

‘Should I just hold onto it for now?’

My thoughts shifted.

There had never been a description in the original work of the Tesseract speaking.

And hearing that it pays the cost of its abilities for someone else was something I had never heard of before.

So, I had no choice but to ask the awakened version of myself about what on earth was going on.

And since I had technically received help, it felt a bit too harsh to just throw it away.

‘But Mama, huh. I’ve suddenly become a mother now.’

Would it be too much to ask to call me Papa instead?

I glanced at the seemingly deep sleeper Tesseract with a light sigh.

Then, I lightly hopped up to the rooftop.

My condition was above average, perhaps even more than usual!

Was it because I felt abnormally light, like a feather?

During my journey, I encountered no one, safely reaching my stronghold.

Surely, I would be safe here.

Once indoors, I tossed the cloth aside and gazed at the scenery outside as the wind blew.

Outside was still noisy.

Though the chaos was over, were there still people around? The neon lights flickered brightly in the darkness.

As I looked down, memories of when I first came to Night Haven surged back.

‘So much has happened. I fought vampires and suddenly became a wanted person….’

If you were to ask me if I enjoyed it, I could say yes.

Living as a ghost had its inconveniences, but I was free from any entanglements.

But now was the time to graduate from being a ghost.

I had caused too much ruckus to handle, and I could no longer bear it.

So, I resolved to leave everything behind as a ghost and live peacefully now.

With that resolution made, I let the white cloth flutter away into the wind beyond the window.

‘From now on, I’ll live as Yuria. Let’s just say the ghost… is no more.’

The expert at sneaking around, the regular customer at the bakery.

And the vampire slayer who was a bounty target, goodbye.

From now on, I would live attached to Greg’s shop, steering clear of the original story as much as possible.

Once I had made up my mind and let go of the cloth I had been indebted to for so long.

I lay down on my hard bed like a shrimp and fell soundly asleep.

Thanks to the Tesseract relieving all my physical fatigue, I wasn’t that sleepy.

But the mental exhaustion from intensely concentrating against zombies and vampires still remained.

“…?”

And the next morning after sleeping soundly in that cold stronghold.

When I arrived at Greg’s shop as usual, I was met with truly shocking news.

“I’m sorry, Yuria. Due to the chaos yesterday, the shop was damaged, and I think we’ll have to shut down for a while.”

What do you mean, shut down the shop!

I discarded my ghost outfit!

I raised my hands to my cheeks and let out a silent scream.

How could I become unemployed just six days after starting work!

Today, my world came crashing down.