IDMWE 19

Chapter 19

“Now, everyone, attention!”

The chaotic situation was brought to a close with Nathan’s appearance.

Leona, Rigan, and Sillian, who had been standing nearby, all came to their senses and looked at him.

“Now, welcome to all the new recruits of the 150th class. I’m Nathan Starlight, the squad leader of the 148th class.”

After introducing himself, Nathan glanced at Leona and gave a subtle wink.

At that sight, the constellations’ chat window buzzed with activity.

「[Commander Ssubong]: A black-haired hottie in uniform is insane!!! INSANE!!!

[Cavity King]: He just winked with that face, right? Uniformed black-haired sly fox older guy… Guilty….」

Come to think of it, the constellations seemed to get excited easily whenever they saw a handsome person.

‘Are there not many faces like this in other dimensions…?’

While Leona was having such frivolous thoughts, Nathan continued.

“Alright, how about we start by making eye contact with your fellow cadets you’ll be rolling with from now on?”

At that, Leona slightly turned her head to look at her classmates she’d be spending the next three years with.

The ever-annoying Rigan, the beastkin guy who looked at her like she was a scoundrel.

And Isaiah, staring intently at her from a little further away.

‘Why is that guy looking so pitiful alone again? Does he think I’ll forgive him just for that?’

When her eyes met Isaiah’s, Leona scowled deeply and turned her head away.

Just then, a man with a slightly gloomy impression caught Leona’s eye.

‘Huh? Since when was he there?’

He was a man with almost no presence, to the point where Leona, usually sensitive to such cues, hadn’t noticed him.

With his deep green hair, sharp, elongated eyes, and a beauty mark beneath them, he exuded a very unique atmosphere.

And the constellations, having now seen all five new recruits gathered, went into another uproar.

「[Rolling Rolling Roller]: To have so many handsome men and beautiful women in one frame… I’m dead… ㅇ<-<

[Terminal Sub-character Syndrome]: I’m sorry, everyone… I think I just got hit by that blonde prince over there.

[Handful Regiment]: I’m for that friend full of dark vibes!」

“Eeek! Everyone, please don’t say such things! This is an important matter concerning the future of our dimension!”

The angel shouted, furious.

But the constellations paid no attention, busy writing their flattering comments.

Eventually, the angel, unable to bear it, flew over to Rigan, fluttered around his face, and shouted.

“Here! Our Rigan is handsome too! Look at these blue eyes like the sea! This silver hair kissed by moonlight! This sculpted nose bridge! He’s the coolest in the world!”

It was a tearful cry from the angel, desperate to somehow make Rigan Leona’s partner, but…

For the constellations, who had already fallen for a variety of handsome men, it didn’t even reach their ears.

「[Fallen Power Warrior]: Ugh… Rigan is handsome, sure… but still, the more handsome men, the merrier…

[Seoinmalgo Dongin]: These days, polygamy is trending in the dimensional world. This dimension needs change too.」

Just as Leona was feeling dizzy from the outrageous comments, Nathan’s voice echoed loudly through the hall.

“…So, the seniors who watched this welcoming ceremony will choose the juniors to form pairs with. Of course, some of you already have partners, but well… I hope you all take care not to get hurt.”

Although his words seemed to convey concern, his voice sounded somewhat cold for some reason.

“In the off chance that you sustain a *serious injury*, you might not be able to form a pair, right?”

Saying this, Nathan looked towards where Rigan was and smiled deeply.

It was a smile as if he truly wished for that to happen.

And about 30 minutes later.

The five new recruits arrived at the entrance of a dungeon.

“Alright, this is the special place prepared to welcome the new recruits!”

“…A dungeon doesn’t seem like a very suitable place to welcome someone.”

At Rigan’s crooked attitude, Nathan’s eyes sparkled as he smiled.

“Oh, of course, we’ve prepared a special gift for those who think that way too!”

As soon as Nathan finished speaking, a senior standing beside him, wearing a robe, gathered ether and chanted a spell.

*Whoosh-.*

Soon after, a total of five observers floated in the air.

“We’ll be watching well with the observers—ah, I mean, supervising well—so if you get too scared, just take this out and wave it!”

What Nathan handed over as he said this was a white flag with writing on it.

「The Ultimate Coward of the Central Branch」

The faces of the recruits who received the flags crumpled instantly.

After enjoying the recruits’ reactions to his heart’s content, Nathan added one more piece of information, as if he had almost forgotten.

“Oh, and the recruit who defeats the boss monster the fastest in today’s orientation will become the squad leader of the 150th class, so think of everyone as competitors and don’t go easy on each other!”

“Is there any benefit to becoming squad leader?”

This time, it was Leona who asked the question.

“Of course~! First, the squad leader gets priority for vacation and priority selection for missions, and most importantly! You get to boss your classmates around for a whole month!”

At his explanation, Leona perked up instantly.

‘There’s no way I can let that fall into anyone else’s hands!’

If a jerk like Rigan became squad leader, it was clear as day how much she’d suffer under him.

Isaiah probably wouldn’t openly give unreasonable orders, but that would be troublesome in its own way.

‘That wolf guy might even tell me not to come near him, and that green-haired friend whose name I don’t even know yet…’

You shouldn’t judge people by their appearance, but honestly, he looked a bit decadent, making it hard to guess what he might do.

‘Boss monster! I’m the one who’ll catch it!’

Just as Leona was steeling her resolve.

「[Only Pure Love]: Ugh… A boss monster? Another battle?

[Master of Tension]: Seriously, isn’t this supposed to be a romance channel? Seems like too many battle scenes.」

The constellations’ grumbling content came into her view.

‘No, I’m a soldier! Don’t go turning someone else’s life into a romance as you please!’

Leona truly wanted to shout that out loud.

「[Handful Regiment]: Still, I find watching Rigan and Leona entertaining though…

[High-Performance Juicer]: No, still, there has to be something to juice out.

[Cavity King]: Then let’s make them do something fun quickly!」

At the constellations’ conversation, which felt somehow ominous, Leona and Rigan felt a chill run down their spines.

「[Commander Ssubong]: Anyone have ideas?

[Only Pure Love]: But we don’t even know what dungeon it is…

[Rolling Rolling Roller]: Let’s go with the roulette! Let’s trust in the power of randomness!」

At that moment, Leona and Rigan’s vision brightened.

It was completely different from the <Voting> they had experienced from the constellations so far.

Before their eyes, a large roulette wheel was spinning.

Each slot was filled with bizarre and outlandish things.

「-Omegaverse

-Cat Ears

-×R00m

-Soul Swap

-Gender Reversal

-De-aging

….」

Upon seeing the writing on the roulette, Rigan and Leona’s faces turned white.

‘Whatever it is, not in front of people!’

As soon as their eyes met, Rigan and Leona dashed straight into the dungeon.

“Huh? Hey, juniors, no matter how eager you are, take it slowly and in order…!”

Ignoring Nathan’s flustered shout, the two flung themselves into the dungeon entrance, as if racing each other.

*Bba-ba-bam-!*

As their bodies were sucked into the dungeon, the spinning roulette stopped with a cheerful sound.

**[Congrats☆ Winner!]**

**[The will of the gods descends upon the world.]**

Inside the dungeon was an abandoned city with a gloomy atmosphere.

In the distance, a large citadel could be seen, making it easy to guess that the boss monster would be there.

As Leona was alertly surveying their surroundings, Rigan’s unpleasant voice reached her ears.

“Can you let go of my hand now?”

“Oh!”

Only then did Leona fling Rigan’s hand away with a *smack*.

Rigan’s brow furrowed at her reaction, as if touching something dirty.

Misinterpreting his expression, Leona protested vehemently.

“It’s because we were entering the dungeon. I didn’t want to hold it either, you know?”

Basically, dungeons transport entrants to different random points.

Therefore, to start tackling the dungeon from the same location, team members entering together had to maintain physical contact with each other.

“You should know that too if you’ve done dungeon practice at the academy, so why are you getting so annoyed about it?”

Honestly, what a nasty personality, Leona grumbled.

Rigan was angry at Leona’s words, which painted him as some kind of personality-disordered person, but he didn’t bother to argue.

Because for now, figuring out the current situation was more important.

He quickly patted his head with both hands.

“…Fortunately, it doesn’t seem like I have cat ears.”

At Rigan’s words of relief, Leona finally remembered the spinning roulette.

The content written in the common language of the continent, but half of which she couldn’t even understand.

“‘Omegaverse’ and ‘×Room’ must be slang used by the constellations? I’ve never seen those words before, so I can’t be sure, but…”

Leona visually scanned Rigan’s and her own body, here and there.

“It doesn’t seem like we’ve been de-aged, does it?”

Fortunately, both of their physical and mental ages remained the same.

“It seems our souls and genders haven’t changed either.”

“Just in case, should I check down there?”

Leona, who suggested going into a distant abandoned building to check her lower half, was barely talked out of it by Rigan.

“You don’t need to go that far to confirm your gender is the same.”

“Oh, so does that mean we got through this time without anything happening?”

Leona beamed brightly.

Rigan, who had been quietly gazing at her, threw in a quip.

“As if that could happen. For now, don’t let your guard down.”

“Alright, alright! Let’s just go catch the boss monster!”

Leona stepped deeper into the abandoned city, toward the dungeon’s interior.

As Rigan watched Leona, fluttering about as if on a picnic, he slowly followed her from behind.

‘By the way… I feel like I can smell roses somewhere…’

If Rigan had paid any attention to the sense of discomfort within his body, he might have grasped the situation a bit faster, but…

‘…What monster was it that lured its prey with a sweet scent?’

For now, that was the extent of his thoughts.