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—!

his left and right cheeks sting, and after the dream cleared up a bit, he realized he had

Smack—! Smack—!

"S…stop!" "Stop!"

"You're awake!"

voice as the

"…Yeah."

replied in a relieved voice,

the

They really hurt.

"Are you okay?"

"…Yeah."

body up, he realized he couldn't

"Ugk."

his

"Stay down."

hand pressed down on his chest as Ren shook

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

see clearly, at the moment, he could see

'I guess he cares…'

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

too much of an ass

face as he turned his gaze away

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

understand

being able to move his body, to feel little

Smallsnake could tell.

was on the

'This sucks.'

mind as his eyelids grew

want to

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

couldn't die just

Yet…

progressively became heavier. He didn't know what was

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

overtook his vision

out the last words that Ren had said to

"Have..a..rest."

curl spread on his lips before his

'Okay.'

***

"This is bad."

up as I stared at Smallsnake,

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

to do

you said, they know each

did I tell

head snapped back and I saw two demons standing behind the door

"Who goes there?"

behind them. It was there that I caught sight of the

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

my question, one of the demons slowly

you

step forward, I tried to

current state was critical, and if anything happened at the moment, I feared that he would

'Shit.'

my heart palpitate with

I can't let anything happen to

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

Kevin,

highs and lows. I couldn't for

quite curious as to how you humans managed to get

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

since my mana was currently sealed, it certainly felt like I was staring at a huge

quite curious. Have the humans perhaps figured out a way to teleport to other planets? If so,

rather lanky