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—!

a bit, he realized he had not

Smack—! Smack—!

"S…stop!" "Stop!"

"You're awake!"

heard Ren's relieved voice

"…Yeah."

relieved voice, but for a different

the

They really hurt.

"Are you okay?"

"…Yeah."

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

"Ugk."

his

"Stay down."

on his

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

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

'I guess he cares…'

cared for him, but seeing how worried he

of an

turned his gaze away from Ren and he stared at

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

take a genius to understand that

barely being able to move his body, to feel little to

Smallsnake could tell.

the

'This sucks.'

his mind as his eyelids

don't want to die

still something that he wanted to do before dying. Something that he promised

couldn't die just

Yet…

became heavier. He didn't know what was happening, but the incoming darkness scared

He could also faintly hear something, but his mind was too out

slowly overtook

to make out the last words that Ren had said

"Have..a..rest."

on

'Okay.'

***

"This is bad."

I stared at Smallsnake, who was passed out

current condition was quite frankly terrible. If something

do

just like you said, they

did I

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

"Who goes there?"

asked while taking a glimpse behind them. It was there that I caught sight of the others on

open, I realized that they were probably responsible for beating me up and trapping

than answering my question, one of the demons slowly walked

you know

tried to shield Smallsnake

current state was critical, and if anything happened

'Shit.'

made my heart palpitate with

can't let

but because he was one

before Amanda, Kevin,

I couldn't

quite curious as to how you humans managed

circled inwardly. The darkish red tone of

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

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

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