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—!

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

"…Yeah."

a relieved voice, but

the

They really hurt.

"Are you okay?"

"…Yeah."

body up, he realized he couldn't

"Ugk."

groan escaped from his lips as his

"Stay down."

hand pressed down on his

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

moment, he could see Ren's face

'I guess he cares…'

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

just too much of

he turned his gaze away

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

genius to understand

able to move his

Smallsnake could tell.

on the

'This sucks.'

mind as

want to

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

couldn't die

Yet…

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

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

the end, darkness slowly overtook his vision

out the last words that Ren

"Have..a..rest."

spread on his lips before his

'Okay.'

***

"This is bad."

stared at

If something wasn't done soon, I couldn't

need to do something about

just like you said,

I

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

"Who goes there?"

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

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

one of the

you know

step forward, I tried

state was critical, and if anything happened at the moment, I

'Shit.'

thought made my heart

matter what, I can't let anything happen

just because his safety was my responsibility, but because he was

Kevin, and

lows. I couldn't for the love

how you humans managed to

of the two 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 aura he exuded were similar to those of a Viscount ranked

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

a way to teleport to other planets? If so, that would

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