The angel immediately denied it, flustered, claiming she just thought the man's muscles were impressive, which according to her was a perfectly normal observation. When Rean said he didn't care either way, the angel sighed dramatically and said it was sad he couldn't appreciate the beauty of muscles.
Then she decided this was an emergency and summoned the gods.
Naturally, the gods were instantly distracted. One commented that the place was overflowing with good-looking people. Another pointed at the beastmen and wondered if a beefy alpha wolf wasn't a bit much. Someone else admired the ears and tail and suggested creating a beast human race in their own dimension.
The angel yelled at them for losing focus and reminded them that their job was supporting the Rean and Leona pairing, not running a beauty pageant.
Meanwhile, Rean watched the beastman still fleeing from Leona and thought that someone like that wouldn't have been chosen without serious skill. The angel noticed his look and encouraged him, saying that knowing both yourself and your enemy was the key to victory. In other words, go gather intel.
Rean didn't care, until he saw the gods' comments. One suggested going big with divine interference. Another joked that since a wolf human had shown up, maybe Rean should get cat ears.
Absolutely not.
Determined to prevent that future, Rean stepped in and told Leona to stop chasing the guy. She said she was just trying to say hello since it was their first meeting, nothing more. Rean pointed out that the man looked traumatized and suggested leaving it for later.
He then walked straight to the shaken beastman, fully aware that the gods were counting down to give him cat ears if he hesitated. He asked if the man was okay. The beastman grabbed his hands like a survivor clinging to wreckage and thanked him profusely, introducing himself as Silian.
Some god immediately commented that this was a beautiful moment about casting aside prejudice. Another noted the strong BL potential. The angel groaned and said that was absolutely not the pairing she was aiming for.
Right on cue, Nathan arrived and officially welcomed the one hundred and fiftieth class of recruits. He told them these were the people they'd be struggling alongside from now on, and to remember each other's faces well.
Leona quickly took stock. Rean, the ever annoying constant. A beastman who now looked at her like she was a walking disaster. The prince, wearing his usual gloomy expression. And lastly, a man so pretty he could easily pass as a girl.
Nathan then explained that by the end of the welcome party, seniors would choose partners for each recruit. He added, with a pointed look at Rean, that some pairings were already decided, and that everyone should be careful not to get hurt. Anyone seriously injured would be disqualified from the pairing. Rean couldn't help thinking that Nathan sounded way too hopeful about that part.
With that ominous note, the welcome party officially began.
Soon enough, all of them were lined up in front of the dungeon, where Nathan proudly announced that this lovely hole in the ground was the official venue for welcoming the new recruits. Nothing said welcome like being thrown into a monster-infested ruin.
To make things extra thoughtful, the seniors had prepared special gifts in the form of surveillance drones. They would be watching everything very closely. And for anyone who got scared, there was a white flag provided. All they had to do was wave it. The only issue was the writing on it: the Central Branch's biggest coward. So yes, surrender was available, but dignity was not.
As for rewards, Nathan explained that the rookie who defeated the boss monster the fastest would become president of the one hundred and fiftieth class. When Leona asked what that actually meant, he happily listed the perks. Priority on vacation requests, first pick of missions, and most importantly, the right to boss everyone else around for an entire month.
That was all Leona needed to hear. There was no universe where she let someone else grab that position.
Then a god wondered out loud if this meant yet another combat arc. Scene Crafting Artisan dramatically complained that for a romance channel there were far too many fight scenes. As usual, instead of arguing, the gods decided to trust chaos and spun the wheel. Everyone watched with full confidence in the questionable power of randomness.
The arrow stopped at pheromones.
Leona and Rean both gasped. In front of them was a list of horrifying possibilities they'd narrowly avoided. Age regression, gender swap, body swap, cat ears, locked room, and now this. Of course, it landed on pheromones.
Whatever that meant, one thing was obvious. This could not happen in public.
Without even discussing it, the two of them bolted toward the dungeon. Warnings about entering one at a time were completely ignored. Leona grabbed Rean's wrist and dragged him along, forcing them both inside at once. If disaster was coming, they'd deal with it away from an audience.
Inside the dungeon, Leona still hadn't let go of Rean's wrist, not even a little. Rean had already reached the stage where he was done pretending this was fine. He told her to release him, but she waved it off like it was a non-issue. If they got separated, things would get messy, so this was simply the safest option.
Rean didn't push it. He didn't like it, but since no cat ears had suddenly appeared on his head, he decided to take the win and move on.
As they went deeper, the two of them quietly realized something important. None of the bizarre effects from the spinning wheel seemed to be active. No body swaps, no weird transformations, nothing. Rean still pointed out that this didn't mean they were safe, and staying alert was non-negotiable.
Leona, however, abruptly announced that they should just find the boss and beat it up already. Straight to the point, exactly how she liked things.
Rean followed, but something had been bothering him for a while. The air carried a strong rose scent, thick enough to mess with his head. His first thought was that some monster was probably using it to lure prey, which felt deeply unpleasant to think about.
Outside, Nathan was growing restless. The boss still hadn't appeared, and he didn't like the delay. The observers tried to calm him down, reminding him that the recruits weren't helpless kids. One of them even pointed out that Leona especially knew how to escape if things went wrong. The monsters inside were only C-rank, and the boss, a giant vampire bat, was B-rank at best.
Nathan still wasn't satisfied. Everything about this setup had been prepared with Leona in mind, and now she was inside with Rean, of all people. That part annoyed him the most. In the end, he ordered more drones to be deployed.