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—!

a bit, he realized

Smack—! Smack—!

"S…stop!" "Stop!"

"You're awake!"

relieved voice

"…Yeah."

relieved voice, but for

god the slapping

They really hurt.

"Are you okay?"

"…Yeah."

his body up,

"Ugk."

groan escaped from his lips as

"Stay down."

hand pressed down on his

still far too dehydrated to move. Fortunately, I've given you enough water to hydrate you,

moment, he could see Ren's face turn bitter with

'I guess he cares…'

doubted that Ren cared for him, but seeing how worried he was for him, Smallsnake realized that he

of an ass

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

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

take a genius to understand that his current condition

barely being able to move his body, to

Smallsnake could tell.

on the verge of

'This sucks.'

inside of his mind as his eyelids grew

don't want to die

he wanted to do before dying. Something that he promised

couldn't die just

Yet…

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

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

the end, darkness slowly overtook his vision

able to make out the last words that

"Have..a..rest."

on his lips before his mind

'Okay.'

***

"This is bad."

carefully stood up as I stared at Smallsnake, who was passed out

frankly terrible. If something wasn't done

need to do something

like you said, they

did I tell

as my head snapped back and I saw

"Who goes there?"

was there

and the others on the ground staring at me with their eyes open, I realized that they were

my question, one of

you know demonic

taking a step forward, I tried to

anything happened at

'Shit.'

the thought made my heart palpitate

what, I can't let

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

Kevin,

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

how you humans managed to

on his head that circled inwardly. The darkish

wasn't anything that I would take note of, but since my mana was currently

a way to teleport to other planets?

a rather lanky build and his horns were sharp rather than curly like