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—!

the dream cleared up a bit, he realized he had not been

Smack—! Smack—!

"S…stop!" "Stop!"

"You're awake!"

Ren's relieved voice as the

"…Yeah."

in a relieved

the slapping

They really hurt.

"Are you okay?"

"…Yeah."

body up, he realized

"Ugk."

escaped from his lips as

"Stay down."

on his chest as Ren shook

you

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

'I guess he cares…'

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

much of an ass to

smile spread on his face as he turned his gaze away from Ren and he stared at

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

genius to understand that his current condition was

move his body, to

Smallsnake could tell.

on the verge of

'This sucks.'

his mind

want

dying. Something that he promised

die

Yet…

know what was happening, but the incoming darkness

could also faintly hear something, but his mind was too out of it to properly process

darkness slowly overtook his vision and his consciousness

out the last words that Ren had

"Have..a..rest."

faint curl spread on his lips

'Okay.'

***

"This is bad."

carefully stood up as I stared at Smallsnake, who was passed out before

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

need to do something about this

you said,

I tell

room as my head snapped back and I saw two demons standing behind the door of

"Who goes there?"

a glimpse behind them. It was there that I caught sight of

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

my question, one of the demons slowly

so you know demonic

step forward, I tried to shield Smallsnake away from

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

'Shit.'

my heart

matter what, I can't let anything happen to

just because his safety was my responsibility, but because he

Kevin, and the

I couldn't for the love of god

curious as to how you humans managed to get into this

his head that circled inwardly. The darkish

such level of strength wasn't anything that I would take note of, but since my mana was currently sealed, it certainly felt like I

way to teleport to other planets? If so, that

demon, he had a rather lanky build and his horns