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—!

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

Smack—! Smack—!

"S…stop!" "Stop!"

"You're awake!"

Ren's relieved voice as

"…Yeah."

a relieved

the slapping

They really hurt.

"Are you okay?"

"…Yeah."

tried to move his body up, he realized he couldn't

"Ugk."

from his lips as his mind

"Stay down."

on his chest as Ren shook

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

see clearly, at the moment, he could see

'I guess he cares…'

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

of an ass

he turned his gaze away

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

to understand that his current condition

being able to move his body,

Smallsnake could tell.

the verge

'This sucks.'

uttered inside of his mind as his

don't want to die

that he wanted to do before dying. Something that he

couldn't die

Yet…

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

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

the end, darkness slowly overtook his vision and

to make out the last words that Ren had

"Have..a..rest."

on

'Okay.'

***

"This is bad."

stood up as I stared at Smallsnake, who was

condition was quite frankly terrible. If something wasn't done soon, I couldn't guarantee

need to do something about

just like you said, they

I tell

head snapped back and I saw two demons standing behind

"Who goes there?"

them. It was there that I caught sight

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

one of the demons slowly walked in

you know

forward, I tried to

critical, and if anything happened at the moment,

'Shit.'

the thought made my heart

what, I can't

his safety was my responsibility, but because he was one of

Kevin, and

me through my highs and lows. I couldn't

as to how you humans managed to get into

large horns on his head that circled inwardly. The darkish red tone of his skin

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

way to teleport to

lanky build and his horns were