The Author's POV

"This will do for now."

Brian carefully combed his hair and adjusted his clothes in front of the mirror. In addition to his white shirt, he wore a black pair of pants that seemed a bit too big for his body.

His shirt was slightly wrinkled, but given his current living conditions, it was all he could do.

It was still nevertheless a good look for him. He looked sharp.

"Haaa…"

As Brian exhaled, he leaned forward and placed both hands on the side of the sink.

Softly mumbling under his breath, he gazed at his reflection, particularly his green eyes.

"You can do it. You can defiantly do it, Brian!"

This was the first day of his new job, and he couldn't screw it up. Brian's resolve hardened as he thought about his mother's condition.

"I can definitely do it."

As Brian turned around, he slapped his cheeks and closed the faucet.

As he carefully opened the bathroom door, he felt his previous nervousness disappear completely.

Upon exiting the bathroom, Brian was greeted by a blast of cold air coming from the air conditioner of the building.

"You must be the newbie."

A young man in his mid-20s greeted him near the entrance to the bathroom. With long black hair that flowed down his shoulders, he had a face that mesmerized everyone who looked at him. Especially his eyes that made one fall into a trance with just a glimpse.

'Handsome.'

As he stared at the man in front of him for a moment, even Brian was mesmerized for a short couple of seconds.

"Eh..ah."

He fumbled with his words.

As he extended a hand, the man carefully scrutinized Brian's face.

"Nice to meet you, newbie."

A bright smile adorned his face.

"My name is Hemlock. Hemlock Feyner...and I'll be your supervisor."

***

"Smallsnake!" "Smallsnake!" "Smallsnake!"

Suddenly, he was awakened by a familiar voice. After slowly coming to his senses, Smallsnake spotted a familiar face.

'…Ren.'

He silently thought to himself as he struggled to open his mouth.

He could feel water dripping inside of his mouth as some of the water began spilling all over his face. He didn't know for how long this had been going, but he no longer felt as thirsty as before.

Even so, his body and mind remained numb.

"Smallsnake!" "Smallsnake!"

He heard Ren's voice calling out for him.

'Why is it him out of all people?'

When Smallsnake thought about how someone would hallucinate near death, he wasn't sure whether to laugh or cry.

If there was a face that he didn't want to see when he was close to death, it would definitely be Ren's.

He had been traumatized enough by him.

"Smallsnake!" "Smallsnake!"

Smack—! Smack—!

cleared up a bit, he realized he had not been dreaming, and Ren had indeed been

Smack—! Smack—!

"S…stop!" "Stop!"

"You're awake!"

voice as the

"…Yeah."

similarly replied in a relieved voice, but for a different

the slapping

They really hurt.

"Are you okay?"

"…Yeah."

move his body up, he realized he couldn't move a

"Ugk."

escaped from his lips as his mind

"Stay down."

pressed down on his chest as Ren shook his

to move. Fortunately, I've given you enough water to hydrate you,

Smallsnake couldn't see clearly, at the moment, he could see Ren's

'I guess he cares…'

was somewhat happy to see this. Sometimes, Smallsnake really doubted that Ren cared for him, but seeing how worried he was for him, Smallsnake realized that he indeed

just too much of an ass to

his face as he turned his gaze away from Ren and he stared at

"..it's..b..ad, isn't it?"

understand

being able to move his body, to

Smallsnake could tell.

the verge of

'This sucks.'

his mind as his eyelids grew

don't want to die

something that he wanted to do before dying. Something that he promised himself to accomplish

die

Yet…

eyelids progressively became heavier. He didn't know what was happening,

figure. He could also faintly hear something, but his mind was too out of

overtook his vision and his

he was able to make out the last words that

"Have..a..rest."

on his lips before his

'Okay.'

***

"This is bad."

as I stared at Smallsnake, who was passed out before

was quite frankly terrible. If something wasn't done

need to do something

said, they know

I

with malice echoed throughout the room as my head snapped back and I saw two demons standing behind the door

"Who goes there?"

there that I caught

their eyes open, I

question, one of the demons slowly

you know

I tried to shield Smallsnake

anything happened at the

'Shit.'

made my heart

can't let anything happen to

my responsibility, but because he was one of the people I knew

Kevin,

my highs and lows. I couldn't for the love of god let anything happen to

quite curious as to how you

bulky figure and two large horns on his head that circled inwardly. The darkish red tone of his skin and the aura he exuded were similar to those of a Viscount

occasions, such level of strength wasn't anything that I would take note of, but since my mana was currently sealed, it certainly felt like I was staring at a

a way to teleport to other planets? If so, that would

lanky build