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—!

dream cleared up a bit, he realized he

Smack—! Smack—!

"S…stop!" "Stop!"

"You're awake!"

heard Ren's relieved voice as

"…Yeah."

replied in a relieved voice, but

the slapping

They really hurt.

"Are you okay?"

"…Yeah."

Smallsnake tried to move his body up, he realized he

"Ugk."

from his lips

"Stay down."

his chest

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

see clearly, at the moment, he could see Ren's face turn

'I guess he cares…'

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

was just too much of an ass to

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

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

understand that his

able to move his body, to feel little

Smallsnake could tell.

the

'This sucks.'

mind

want

dying. Something that he promised himself to accomplish no matter

die

Yet…

didn't know what was happening, but

was Ren's blurry figure. He could also faintly hear something,

darkness slowly overtook his

was able to make out the last words that Ren had

"Have..a..rest."

on his lips before

'Okay.'

***

"This is bad."

up as I stared at Smallsnake, who was passed out before

frankly terrible. If something wasn't done

need to do something

you said, they know each

did I tell

room as my head snapped back and I saw two demons standing behind the door

"Who goes there?"

taking a glimpse behind them. It was there that I caught sight of the others

at me with their eyes open, I realized that they

answering my question, one of the demons slowly walked in

you

tried to shield Smallsnake away from

anything happened

'Shit.'

my heart

matter what, I can't let anything

wasn't just because his safety was my responsibility, but because he was one

Amanda, Kevin, and

and lows. I couldn't for the love of god let

how you

circled inwardly. The darkish

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

perhaps figured out a way to teleport to other planets? If so, that would truly be

demon spoke up. Unlike the bulky demon, he had a rather lanky build and his horns were