I Became the Cute One in the Troubleshooter Squad

Covered in thick, musty dust from squeezing through the narrow ventilation shaft, Raven and I were greeted by pitch-black darkness the moment we finally reached the lab.

Strange. I remember it being bright—almost painfully so—when I first opened my eyes here.

Tilting my head in confusion, I huddled close to Raven, pulling his coat tighter around me against the freezing air that felt like a walk-in freezer.

Just in case something like an invisible ambush came flying at us suddenly.

Not because the pitch-black surroundings were scary or anything. Really.

“We came down pretty far... I’m amazed such a large space exists down here. I can’t believe it was never discovered.”

Raven, as usual, didn’t seem remotely fazed by this eerie environment.

He simply swept the flashlight he carried from side to side with his usual calm demeanor.

Thanks to the flashlight’s impressive range, clean white walls and floors, not a single stain in sight, slowly came into view.

The silence was so complete—not even the faintest sound of bugs scuttling—I swallowed hard without thinking.

How could it be this quiet?

All I could do was pray we hadn’t come all this way for nothing in this miserable weather.