"Two people frozen in place on opposite sides of a door—what a ridiculous atmosphere. What was I supposed to do about this? It was truly an awkward situation."
"Raven was the first to move, breaking the silence with a small cough. He averted his gaze from me and casually glanced around the inside of the store."
“Hmm, so what kind of store is this? Since I’m here, maybe I’ll buy someth—”
“....”
“Alright, fine. Let’s go. Let’s just go.”
‘Seriously? Pretending you don’t know anything in this situation? Unbelievable.’
"I grabbed Raven’s wrist before he could slink away and dragged him outside."
"Realizing I wasn’t trying to hide anything anymore, Raven quietly followed me without resistance."
‘What was the point of wearing a robe and a goblin mask if this was going to happen anyway?
One of the reasons I came to the northern slums was because Raven rarely showed up here. But now this? Running into him out here means he’s been following me for a while. So much for keeping things under wraps. He figured it all out from the start.’
“Customer! If you return within a week, I’ll refund you for free! Please come back if you change your mind, alright?”
“...!”
“And you! Get over here! How could you forget to charge a customer? Of all the things to forget!”
“Ack! Master! I’m sorry!”
"As Tara shouted after me from the store, I waved at her before walking off alongside Raven, leaving the northern slums behind."
"I could still hear the yellow-haired youth getting scolded by Tara as we walked away.
Well, if he sold goods without charging, he’d have to deal with the consequences himself."
"The way out of the slums was far easier than the way in, mostly because Raven took care of the thugs who tried to pick fights along the way."
“Hey, you there! Hand over everything or—ugh!”
“Huh? Did Jason just drop like a fly? S-sir, please, go ahead! Sorry for not recognizing you!”
“Yeah. Keep up the good work.”
“....”
"Watching Raven nonchalantly take down beefy, muscle-bound thugs with a few palm strikes reminded me just how superhuman he truly was. It was unsettling how easily he handled them."
"After nearly an hour of walking, we finally exited the northern slums and boarded a bus back to the area near our office.
We entered a familiar franchise café and sat down at a table, facing each other."
"Me, someone who had just secretly bought something from the black market.
And Raven, the guy who had followed me and caught me red-handed.
The awkwardness between us was palpable."
“Hm. I think I’ll go with a chocolate latte. What about you, part-timer? Your usual apple-mango drink?”
“...!”
"I nodded eagerly, swallowing a bit of saliva at the thought.
Raven was a fiend for anything sweet, especially chocolate, while I preferred refreshing and fruity flavors."
"The apple-mango drink, with its luscious sweetness and tangy kick, was easily my favorite on the menu."
‘Wait, hold on. Now’s not the time to get all excited about drinks.’
"Snapping out of my thoughts, I swallowed again to compose myself.
I placed both fists on the table and glared at Raven, as if to demand an explanation."
‘Why did you follow me without my permission? Are you looking for a fight?’
"My stance was intentionally aggressive, meant to convey those exact sentiments."
"Whether my silent message got through to him or not, Raven scratched his cheek awkwardly as he placed the order via the table’s QR code."
“Well, you see... haah. To be honest, those guys wouldn’t stop pestering me.”
“...?”
“Alice and David. They wouldn’t shut up about how they’d freak out and do something drastic if anything happened to you... so I had no choice but to follow you a bit. I’m sorry about that part.”
“....”
‘So that’s how it is.’
"Honestly, there was no way Raven would’ve tailed me on his own initiative.
Even though we’d gotten a bit closer recently, it had only been about a month since we met. Raven, who was generally indifferent about personal relationships, going out of his way to follow me? It didn’t quite add up."
"But if it was at the insistence of Alice, who’s been unusually protective lately, or David, who has connections to Sabrina, then it made sense. I could see that happening."
It was a bit baffling that the two culprits behind all this fuss—Alice and David—weren’t even around. If they had been, I would’ve noticed them immediately. I guess this was what you’d call effective role distribution.
‘If it’s just concern for me, then there’s no reason to get upset. He followed me because he was worried, not out of suspicion. As long as he didn’t figure out my telekinesis, there’s no real harm done.’
"Besides, the only reason he caught me was because I stayed in the shop for too long. He must have been checking to make sure nothing had happened and just happened to catch me at the wrong moment."
"If his actions came from goodwill rather than distrust, I really couldn’t find a reason to hold it against him. Knowing Raven, he probably didn’t have any ulterior motives."
"And as for my telekinetic flicks—they would’ve looked like the thugs simply collapsing from a distance. There’s no way he figured out I’m a psychic."
...Right?
"No matter how sharp Raven might be, there’s no way he’d piece it all together when he hasn’t seen me in ghost form. Surely, he couldn’t have figured it out."
[“Your deep chocolate latte and apple-mango juice are ready.”]
"As I pondered this and straightened up in my seat, a service robot approached with our drinks in hand.
Raven received his warm latte with a chunk of chocolate floating in it, while I got my refreshing apple-mango juice, with mango pieces bobbing at the surface."
"We both quietly sipped our drinks without speaking.
It wasn’t that I couldn’t talk, but Raven wasn’t the type to lead conversations either. That was Alice’s specialty."
"If things kept going like this, we’d probably finish our drinks and head back to the office in silence.
But then I caught sight of the box containing the communicator I’d bought earlier. The awkward atmosphere was as good a reason as any to unbox it now."
"As I pulled the box out of the bag on the chair next to me, Raven, who had been staring blankly out the window, shifted his attention toward me."
“Oh, right. You went all the way there to buy that? What’s so special about it...”
“...!”
“Huh. That’s just a communicator, isn’t it?”
Shhft.
"When I opened the box on the table, the neatly packaged communicator inside was revealed.
It was a pristine white device, slightly larger than my palm. Its color even felt oddly fitting for me, and I couldn’t help but feel a sense of attachment to it."
"Raven, however, squinted slightly at the device, as though skeptical.
The look on his face said it all: ‘You went all the way to the black market just for a basic communicator?’"
"Well, he could think whatever he wanted.
I silently took the communicator out of the box and placed it on the table, letting him see for himself."
"Humming thoughtfully, Raven stroked his chin and offered his opinion.
“Hmm, the design’s pretty plain. But without a chip, it’s basically a brick, right? What are you going to do about that? Should I grab an illegal chip from the black market for you?”
“....”
"He wasn’t wrong. The communicator on its own was just an overpriced toy.
To use it properly, it needed a user authentication module—a chip."
"Raven was essentially asking if I had wasted my time and money buying something useless without a chip. And honestly, he had a point."
"But instead of responding, I simply shook my head, took the charging cable from the box, and plugged it into the communicator.
The device powered on almost immediately, its screen lighting up to display a setup message."
"Since I didn’t need to enter a name or anything, I skipped through the setup by tapping the ‘Set Up Later’ button, simplifying the entire process."
[“Welcome! Are you ready to swim through the world with Echo?”]
"The message that appeared on the screen marked the completion of the setup.
The communicator’s name was Echo. That was something I’d need to remember."
‘Yes! Finally, a communicator of my own!’
"My excitement bubbled over as I fidgeted with Echo, my legs bouncing under the table.
Raven chuckled at my antics and gestured toward the QR code on the table. “Why don’t you try ordering something with it?”"
"Sure, no problem.
I quickly opened the camera, scanned the QR code on the table, and used Echo to order a cake, a chocolate latte, and a cherry cola.
A notification confirming the order appeared in the corner of the café, proving that everything had gone through smoothly."
Visit fгee𝑤ebɳoveɭ.cøm for the best novel reading experi𝒆nce.
"Raven, who had been watching quietly, suddenly grinned and snatched Echo out of my hands.
“Hey, what are you doing? Give it back!”
But instead of answering, he stared at the device in disbelief, his voice trembling slightly.
“W-wait a second. You just placed an order... with this? How?”
“...?”"
‘You’re the one who told me to try it.’
"I tilted my head innocently, barely holding back my laughter as Raven’s shock was written all over his face.
He inspected Echo, flipping it over and tapping the screen as if trying to make sense of it. When he confirmed that there was no chip inside, he rubbed his forehead, utterly baffled."
"Flipping the device this way and that, he looked like a programmer watching a forbidden code somehow run perfectly. It wasn’t surprising—what I’d just done shouldn’t have been possible."
"After all, I’d just used a brand-new communicator, fresh out of the box, with no settings adjusted and no chip installed, to place an internet-based order.
For someone like Raven, who clearly knew his stuff, it was enough to make him question reality."
"But for me, knowing the truth about Echo, there was no reason to be surprised.
Hah, does he think I walked all the way to the northern black market for just any old communicator?"
‘I don’t care, just give it back already.’
"I extended my hand toward Raven, silently demanding the return of Echo.
Still looking dazed, Raven handed it back, though his expression remained one of utter confusion."
"As Echo returned to my grasp, the Tesseract, lounging lazily nearby, perked up and chirped brightly.
[“Mama! Friend!”]"
"In that moment, Echo’s screen flickered faintly before returning to normal.
It was as if the device itself instinctively realized something was deeply amiss."
"As I glanced down at Echo, a chilling memory surfaced in my mind.
One of the horror episodes from the original story: the haunted communicator."