I Became the Cute One in the Troubleshooter Squad-Chapter 127: The Fixer Exam: Is This Really Okay? (2)

The number of passers for the second task was a total of 154.

Originally, the team that gathered in the gym was roughly in the early 500s.

So, about two-thirds of the participants were eliminated after just one task.

But, compared to the first task, this was still better.

The pass rate for the first task was about 15%, with only 100 out of 700 passing.

So, the second task with a pass rate close to 30% was quite a kind level, relatively speaking.

For most of the examinees, seven or eight out of ten would get eliminated after just one task.

Considering they had enough confidence in their abilities to take on the fixer exam,

the exam definitely earned its nickname as the hardest in the world.

‘Still, it’s right to eliminate people quickly to keep things moving. We can’t spend an entire month just taking exams.’

However, this fast-paced development was, in hindsight, a natural result.

Given the number of passers could be counted on both hands,

if you eliminated just a few, it would take too long.

Huh? Didn’t they recruit 300 people every year for the fixer exam?

That’s true, but only if we’re talking about the entire world.

A fixer was an international profession active across the globe.

The number of countries with agreements with the association was over 200.

As a result, there were over 50 branches of the fixer association scattered across the world.

Naturally, it was difficult to gather the hundreds of thousands of fixer exam candidates in one place.

So, the fixer exams were held simultaneously in multiple places based on these branches.

Therefore, 300 people twice a year meant they picked 150 per exam.

When divided by the 50 branches, it meant that each branch had about 3 successful candidates.

But the number of examinees at the Nightheaven branch was a whopping 10,000.

So, it was inevitable that a large number of people would get eliminated after each task.

“Hehe. That was quite an interesting dream. You thought so too, right?”

“....”

So, now was the time for the difficulty to really rise.

As I thought this and quietly stared out the window,

the last team, Vespera, approached with a calm and unbothered expression.

From the perspective of the listeners, it was truly an absurd statement.

Being good at magic meant she had strong resistance to magic as well.

She couldn’t possibly fall for an illusion spell that had been weakened for the examinees.

If you are reading this translation anywhere other than Novelight.net or SilkRoadTL, it has been stolen.

At least, she could have pretended to be sweating like the others.

But I just couldn’t help but be impressed by her blatant acting and lies, knowing she wasn’t fooled.

However, I couldn’t openly reveal this.

If I made it obvious I had recognized her true identity, I had no idea what kind of trouble she might cause.

It would be best to play dumb for now and avoid causing unnecessary trouble.

‘That being said... hiding her power on purpose definitely means she has some kind of intention.’

If she had joined the fixer exam just out of curiosity,

there would have been no need to hide her abilities this much.

She didn’t even need to use blood magic, which was obvious to anyone who saw it.

Just showing she was a normal mage would be enough to keep her from being suspected of being one of the seven deadly evils.

In other words, hiding her strength and changing her appearance was clearly a sign of some sort of plan.

Of course, this was something that didn’t happen in the original story... So, I had no idea what her plan was.

‘Ugh... I have no idea. If I were smart enough to figure that out, I wouldn’t need to rely on the original story knowledge. Guess that’s obvious.’

No matter how much I thought about it, I couldn’t resolve the uncertainty.

Naturally, all I knew was from the original story, and such sudden developments were beyond my expectations.

Maybe because of that, I felt a deep sigh of frustration building up inside me.

I had already been in a bad mood from the unpleasant illusion earlier,

and now I had a dangerously unstable bomb nearby!

I wanted to ask why this was happening to me.

‘It’s definitely the worst to stay still. I have to decide on some kind of course of action. I could either act first to gather information... or just admit it’s beyond me and give up.’

Neither of the options was entirely good.

Trying to gather information against one of the Seven Deadly Evils was risky.

But giving up felt wrong, especially with Alice and David taking the exam too.

Huh? Couldn’t I just tell the staff that this person was dangerous?

The only reason I recognized her was because of my knowledge of the original story and her appearance.

That meant I didn’t have any concrete evidence to persuade anyone.

If it turned out to be true, it would be a pain to explain how I knew, and I’d end up getting into a lot of trouble.

What if I ignored her and she harmed Alice, one of the examinees?

“...!”

“Huh? Why? Are you getting bored of looking outside? Want to play with me instead?”

Just as I was sorting out my thoughts, I made my decision.

At this point, Nightheaven and the people around me had become too important to me.

I had to admit that. If she could use illusion magic like that, there was no doubt.

So... I had to figure out her intentions somehow.

And once I knew the reason, I would make sure Alice and David wouldn’t get hurt.

I quietly looked at Vespera, steeling myself for the task ahead.

‘Alice, David. I’ll protect you no matter what.’

Of course, the overwhelming difference in strength was still intimidating,

but if death for everyone was the worst nightmare, then it would be impossible to just submit and bow my head.

My fingertips trembled despite my determination, but at least my resolve didn’t waver.

***

An hour had passed since I made my decision to find out Vespera’s purpose.

The losers, guided by the staff, left Reverse Mountain.

Perhaps because the second task had pushed their mental limits to the extreme,

there were quite a few people who had lost complete consciousness.

Those people were likely to be hospitalized at the nearby hospital.

Since the ones who failed the fixer exam were highly likely to take the exam again,

the association had no reason to treat them coldly, considering they would pay expensive fees again.

“Hmm... Good, good! The second task is finished... now, next! The third task examiner will come and explain the details! Hwaaack!”

The Peacekeeper, drenched in sweat, finished his words and quickly left the gym.

He seemed like he had to rush to the bathroom, running without even looking back.

The reason he suddenly acted this way was simple.

The Peacekeeper had introduced the company he belonged to as if he was doing promotional work for them,

and during the process of handing out his business cards, he had unintentionally clashed with Vespera.

“Hmph. If you pass the exam, it’s better to belong to a company. You get better benefits than working as an independent fixer, and you can receive help from excellent seniors like me. Hehe! Everyone, take my business card!”

“Hmm... Peace-loving? What’s with that tacky name? Doesn’t sound fun at all.”

“What... what did you just say? You’re insulting the name I worked hard on...!”

“Huh? I said it’s tacky. What, do you want to try something?”

Crunch.

Vespera, who crumpled the business card handed to her, glared at the Peacekeeper with sharp eyes.

It was a subtle but clear threat, revealing her presence without using magic or anything.

Her ability to hide her presence was so excellent,

that even I, standing right next to her, didn’t realize what she had done until the moment it happened.

But it seemed the Peacekeeper immediately realized the overwhelming difference in their levels.

Like a cat facing a tiger, he was frozen in place, his mouth moving without making any sound,

and he exhaled weakly, as though he had aged 10 years in an instant, avoiding her gaze.

It was as if simply meeting her eyes had terrified him.

The difference in their nature was so stark that it couldn’t be helped.

“What’s with that examiner? He suddenly got anxious...”

“Maybe he’s in a rush for the bathroom? He didn’t look too well earlier.”

“I guess even active fixers can’t avoid their biological needs.”

Other examinees muttered, not understanding what was going on,

but I was certain I hadn’t been mistaken about my judgment, and I silently shut my eyes.

So now, I had to figure out Vespera’s intentions without her noticing,

doing it all on my own...

Ugh. My head was already starting to hurt.

It felt like I was teetering on the edge of a cliff.

“The third task, huh... I hope it’s something fun this time.”

“....”

“Hey, why the long face? Are you nervous? Don’t worry. I’ll protect you.”

She was making things hard for me, and now she said she would protect me?

I looked at Vespera in disbelief but nodded quietly, as if thanking her.

It seemed she still wanted to keep me around, so it would be better to act innocently and dig for information.

Especially since the third task would take 24 hours,

this could be a chance to gather some useful details.

Th𝓮 most uptodate nov𝑒ls are publish𝒆d on ƒreewebηoveℓ.com.

“Gasp?!”

“This...!”

“Cough...! Suddenly, I can’t breathe...”

As I was organizing my thoughts,

a tremendous pressure seemed to shake the very space around me.

The pressure was so intense, so unusual,

that even Vespera, who had been lazily lowering her eyebrows, showed a surprised reaction.

Ah, come to think of it, there was something I had missed.

The examiners for this third task were all famous figures in the fixer industry.

The examiners in charge of the red, blue, and white teams were all prominent people.

“Is this the place? Oh, ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) I see. Everyone’s gathered here. Sorry, this mountain is a bit of a rare path for me.”

Just walking caused the windows to shake and the ceiling to creak.

This wasn’t really magic, but rather a phenomenon that happened when mana was concentrated.

The door opened, and the person who appeared was a muscular old man in a suit.

And as soon as the examinees recognized the identity of the old man,

they immediately dropped their jaws in shock.

Well... it wasn’t surprising to have such a reaction.

“Nice to meet you, examinees. My name is Tempest. I may be lacking, but I serve as the mayor of Nightheaven.”

The examiner for Team White was none other than the Dragon Mayor, Tempest!

His overwhelming presence filled the entire space.