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

Smack—! Smack—!

"S…stop!" "Stop!"

"You're awake!"

voice as

"…Yeah."

replied in a relieved voice, but for a

the

They really hurt.

"Are you okay?"

"…Yeah."

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

"Ugk."

pained groan escaped from his lips as

"Stay down."

down on his

given you enough water to hydrate you,

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

'I guess he cares…'

for him, but seeing how worried he was for him,

much of an

his face as he turned his gaze away from Ren

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

didn't take a genius to understand that his current condition was

his body, to feel

Smallsnake could tell.

the verge

'This sucks.'

inside of his mind as

don't want

wanted to do before dying. Something that

die

Yet…

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

blurry figure. He could also faintly hear something, but his mind was too out of it to properly process what he was

darkness slowly overtook his vision and his

for him, he was able to make out the last words that

"Have..a..rest."

on

'Okay.'

***

"This is bad."

stared at Smallsnake, who was passed out before

quite frankly terrible. If something wasn't done

to do

said, they know each

I

as my head snapped

"Who goes there?"

glimpse behind them. It was there that

on the ground staring at me with their eyes open, I realized that they were probably responsible for

of the demons slowly walked in

so you

a step forward, I tried to shield Smallsnake away

anything happened at the moment, I feared that

'Shit.'

my heart palpitate

what, I can't let

his safety was my responsibility, but because he was one of the people

Amanda, Kevin, and the

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

curious as to how you humans managed to get

on his head that circled inwardly. The darkish red tone of his skin and the aura he exuded

take note of, but since my mana was currently sealed, it certainly felt like I was staring

quite curious. Have the humans perhaps figured out a way to teleport to other planets? If so, that would truly

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