The city streets were quiet in the late afternoon, but Fenrik could feel it—the same subtle pressure from the dungeon, faint but insistent.
He shook his head.
"Not now… I need a normal day," he muttered.
Still, as he walked, things kept catching his eye:
A strange pattern in the cracks of the pavement, almost like claw marks, fading as he stepped closer.
A shadow moving just slightly off rhythm from the crowd of people.
He frowned. "This is… not normal."
At school, Aoi was waiting near the gates, arms crossed.
"You're late," he said, raising an eyebrow.
"I'm… thinking," Fenrik replied.
"Thinking?" Aoi laughed. "You don't get a break just because you think you're in some hero story."
Fenrik glanced at him. "You might be right. But something is happening. I can feel it."
Aoi smirked. "I feel it too. Sometimes, I see… patterns. Things that aren't there… or things no one else notices."
Fenrik nodded slowly. "Then we'll have to figure it out together."
During lunch, Koharu joined them.
"You're both acting weird," she said, eyes narrowing. "Don't tell me it's one of your visions again."
Fenrik shook his head. "No visions. Just… shadows. Signs. Something's moving in the city."
Koharu's expression hardened. "Then we need to be ready. Not tomorrow. Not next week. Now."
Fenrik felt the weight of her words. They weren't joking. This wasn't just about surviving the dungeon anymore; something real was coming.
Later, Fenrik walked through an empty alley, thinking about the carvings in the dungeon and the faint pulse on his arm.
The air shifted. A soft rustling echoed.
A crow landed on a nearby fence, its eyes reflecting the setting sun. Fenrik blinked.
The crow tilted its head, almost as if observing him. Then it flew away.
He smiled faintly. "Even in the real world… the signs follow me."
That evening, Fenrik returned home, his apartment quiet except for the faint hum from his arm.
He stared at the city skyline. The lights flickered.
Somewhere deep inside, he knew: the dungeon wasn't gone. It had left threads in the real world.
And whatever was coming—whatever the Sage hinted at with "the tiger that rules the jungle"—was closer than he thought.
Fenrik clenched his fist.
"Then I'll be ready. No matter what."
And somewhere far above the city, a shadow shifted, unseen. Not a devil yet. Not an ally. Just a presence, waiting for the right moment.
If you want, Chapter 11 can start dungeon re-entry hints, maybe the first minor magical phenomenon affecting real-world Fenrik, teasing training or small ally interaction before bigger fights.