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 had not been dreaming, and

Smack—! Smack—!

"S…stop!" "Stop!"

"You're awake!"

Ren's relieved voice

"…Yeah."

similarly replied in a relieved voice, but for a

god the slapping

They really hurt.

"Are you okay?"

"…Yeah."

up, he realized he couldn't move a single

"Ugk."

from his lips as

"Stay down."

his chest as Ren

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

the moment, he could see Ren's face

'I guess he cares…'

for him, but seeing how

of an ass to

as he turned his gaze away from Ren and he

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

to understand that his

to move his body, to feel little to no

Smallsnake could tell.

on the verge

'This sucks.'

inside of his mind as his

want to

wanted to do before dying. Something that he promised himself

couldn't die just

Yet…

heavier. He didn't know what was happening, but the incoming darkness

he could see at the moment was Ren's blurry figure. He could also faintly hear something, but his mind

darkness slowly overtook his vision

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

"Have..a..rest."

curl spread on his lips

'Okay.'

***

"This is bad."

stood up as I stared at Smallsnake,

frankly terrible. If something wasn't done soon,

do something about

like you said, they

I tell

my head snapped back and I

"Who goes there?"

there that I caught sight of

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

question, one of the demons slowly walked

you know demonic

tried to

current state was critical, and if anything happened at the moment, I feared that he

'Shit.'

thought made my heart

I can't let anything

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

Amanda, Kevin, and

had been with me through my highs and lows. I couldn't for the love

quite curious as to how you humans managed

rather 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 ranked

wasn't anything that I would take note of, but since my mana was currently sealed, it certainly felt like I was staring

the humans perhaps figured out a way to

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