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—!

right cheeks sting, and after the dream cleared up a bit, he realized he had not been dreaming, and Ren had indeed been

Smack—! Smack—!

"S…stop!" "Stop!"

"You're awake!"

Ren's relieved voice as the slapping

"…Yeah."

relieved voice, but for a different

the

They really hurt.

"Are you okay?"

"…Yeah."

tried to move his body up, he realized he

"Ugk."

pained groan escaped from his lips

"Stay down."

hand pressed down on his

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

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

'I guess he cares…'

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

just too much of an ass to

smile spread on his face as he turned his gaze away

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

genius to understand that his current

able to move his body, to feel little to no

Smallsnake could tell.

was on the verge

'This sucks.'

uttered inside of his mind as

don't want to die

he wanted to do before dying. Something that he promised himself to accomplish no

die just

Yet…

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

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

end, darkness slowly overtook his

to make out the last

"Have..a..rest."

spread on his lips before his

'Okay.'

***

"This is bad."

stared at Smallsnake, who was passed out

quite frankly terrible. If something wasn't done soon,

need to do something

you said, they know

I

with malice echoed throughout the room as my head snapped back and I saw two demons standing behind the door

"Who goes there?"

them. It was there that I caught sight of the others on the

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

question, one of

so you know demonic

forward, I tried to shield

anything happened at the

'Shit.'

made my heart palpitate

what, I can't let

because he was one of the people I

before Amanda, Kevin,

through my highs and lows. I couldn't for

you humans managed to get

He had a rather bulky figure and two large horns on his head that circled inwardly. The darkish red

normal 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 I was staring at a

humans perhaps figured out a way to teleport to other

up. Unlike the bulky demon, he had a rather lanky build and his horns were sharp rather than curly like