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—!

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

Smack—! Smack—!

"S…stop!" "Stop!"

"You're awake!"

Ren's relieved voice as the slapping

"…Yeah."

replied in a relieved voice,

the

They really hurt.

"Are you okay?"

"…Yeah."

moment Smallsnake tried to move his body up, he realized

"Ugk."

his lips as

"Stay down."

down on his

given you enough water to hydrate you, but your

clearly, at the moment, he could see Ren's face

'I guess he cares…'

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

was just too much of

turned his gaze away

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

to understand that his current

his body, to feel little

Smallsnake could tell.

was on the verge

'This sucks.'

his mind as

don't want to

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

die

Yet…

progressively became heavier. He didn't know what

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

the end, darkness slowly overtook his vision

he was able to make out the last words

"Have..a..rest."

faint curl spread on his lips before his mind

'Okay.'

***

"This is bad."

stared at Smallsnake, who was passed

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

do

like you said, they

I tell

as my head snapped back and I saw two

"Who goes there?"

It was there that I caught sight of the others

their eyes open, I realized that they were probably responsible for

question, one of the demons slowly walked in my

you know demonic

forward, I tried to shield Smallsnake away from the

if anything happened at the

'Shit.'

the thought made my

can't let

responsibility, but because he was

before Amanda, Kevin,

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

quite curious as to how you

demons asked. He had a rather bulky figure and two large horns on his head that circled inwardly. The darkish red tone of his skin and the

I would take note of, but since my mana was currently sealed, it certainly felt like

humans perhaps figured out a way to teleport to other planets? If so, that would truly be

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