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—!

sting, and after the dream cleared up a bit, he

Smack—! Smack—!

"S…stop!" "Stop!"

"You're awake!"

voice as the slapping

"…Yeah."

replied in a relieved voice, but for a different

the

They really hurt.

"Are you okay?"

"…Yeah."

move his body up,

"Ugk."

groan escaped from his lips as his mind

"Stay down."

pressed down on his chest as Ren

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

at the moment, he could

'I guess he cares…'

doubted that Ren cared for him,

was just too much of an ass

on his face as he turned his gaze away

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

take a genius to understand that his current condition was

able to move his body,

Smallsnake could tell.

was on the verge of

'This sucks.'

inside of his mind as his

want to die

that he wanted to do before dying. Something that

couldn't die just

Yet…

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

thing he could see at the moment was Ren's blurry figure. He could also faintly hear something, but his mind was too out of it to properly

slowly overtook

he was able to make out the last words that Ren

"Have..a..rest."

a faint curl spread on his lips before

'Okay.'

***

"This is bad."

at

current condition was quite frankly terrible. If something wasn't

need to do something about this

said,

I tell

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

"Who goes there?"

It was there that

ground staring at me with their eyes open, I realized that they were probably

my question, one of the demons

so you know

taking a step forward, I tried to shield Smallsnake

if anything happened at the moment, I feared that

'Shit.'

thought made my heart

what, I can't let anything happen to

wasn't just because his safety was my responsibility, but because he was one of the people I knew for the

before Amanda, Kevin,

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

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 were similar to those of

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

a way to teleport to other planets?

bulky demon, he had a rather lanky build