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—!

after the dream cleared up a bit, he

Smack—! Smack—!

"S…stop!" "Stop!"

"You're awake!"

heard Ren's relieved voice as the slapping

"…Yeah."

replied in a relieved voice, but

god the slapping

They really hurt.

"Are you okay?"

"…Yeah."

his body up, he

"Ugk."

his lips as his

"Stay down."

on his

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

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

'I guess he cares…'

happy to see this. Sometimes, Smallsnake really doubted that Ren cared for him, but

much of an ass to

he turned his gaze away from Ren and

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

to understand that

move his body, to feel

Smallsnake could tell.

was on the verge

'This sucks.'

mind as his eyelids grew

want to

something that he wanted to do before dying. Something that he promised himself to accomplish

die just

Yet…

He didn't know what was happening, but the

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

overtook his vision and

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

"Have..a..rest."

a faint curl spread on

'Okay.'

***

"This is bad."

as I stared at Smallsnake, who was passed out before

current condition was quite frankly terrible. If something

do something about this

just like you said, they

did I

voices filled 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

on the ground staring at me with their eyes open, I

my question, one of the demons slowly walked

you know

a step forward, I tried to shield Smallsnake

was critical, and if anything happened

'Shit.'

the thought made my heart palpitate with

I can't let anything

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

Kevin, and the

had been with me through my highs and lows. I couldn't for the love of god let anything happen to

you humans managed to

his head that circled inwardly. The darkish red tone of his skin and the aura he exuded were similar to those of a Viscount

anything that I would take note of, but since my mana

perhaps figured out a way to teleport to other planets? If so,

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