The approach was inevitable.
Rin sensed it before it happenednot through instinct, but through pattern.
People who watched him too long. Eyes that lingered. Conversations that stopped the moment he looked up.
He had survived a dungeon. Others had noticed.
The shelter's emergency lights flickered as night settled outside. The city beyond the reinforced glass was quieter now not peaceful, but subdued. Monsters had retreated for the moment. Dungeons pulsed faintly in the distance like wounds refusing to close.
Rin sat alone near the edge of the shelter when footsteps approached.
Measured. Confident.
He didn't look up.
"You move like someone who's been inside," a woman said.
Rin finally turned.
It was the scout.
Same insignia. Same sharp gaze. This time, no helmet short dark hair pulled back, eyes alert and calculating.
"I don't know what you mean," Rin replied calmly.
She smiled faintly. "You do. And so do I."
She gestured subtly. Three others stood nearby armed, disciplined, clearly not civilians. Early responders, maybe military-adjacent. A proto-faction, just as Rin had predicted.
"My name's Kaela," she said. "We're forming an exploratory unit. We've confirmed that certain individuals can… interact with the dungeons more effectively than others."
Rin said nothing.
Kaela continued, "You saw how the squads failed. Brute force doesn't work. We need people who can read the dungeon."
She watched his face carefully.
No reaction.
Good, Rin thought. Say nothing. Let her fill the silence.
"We're offering protection," Kaela added. "Resources. Priority access to dungeon zones. In return, you share what you know."
There it was.
Information for safety.
A bad trade.
Rin stood slowly, meeting her eyes. "What happens when your unit disagrees with your superiors?"
Kaela blinked. "What?"
"What happens," Rin continued evenly, "when governments decide dungeons are assets instead of threats? When orders change overnight?"
Silence.
He could see it then uncertainty flickering behind her professionalism.
"The monsters don't follow politics," Rin said. "And neither does the system."
Her gaze sharpened. "So you do know something."
Rin shrugged. "Enough to know that your unit isn't ready."
That stung.
One of the armed men bristled. "You think you're better than us?"
Rin didn't answer him.
He looked at Kaela instead. "You're sending people into dungeons without understanding trap logic, aggro thresholds, or retreat patterns. You're treating it like urban combat."
Kaela's expression darkened.
"How do you"
"Because if you don't change," Rin said quietly, "your first coordinated raid will fail."
The Life System pulsed once.
[Observation Insight – Future Probability Detected: High Casualty Event]
Rin felt no satisfaction from it.
Only confirmation.
Kaela studied him for a long moment. Then she exhaled.
"You're not refusing," she said slowly. "You're waiting."
Rin nodded. "When your raid fails, you'll listen."
"And if it doesn't?"
Rin met her gaze calmly. "Then I was wrong. And you won't need me."
Kaela turned away, jaw tight. "We deploy tomorrow at dawn."
She paused, glancing back once. "If you're lying… you're wasting the last chance this city has."
Rin watched them leave.
He felt no triumph.
Only inevitability.
The Life System opened silently.
[Warning – Large-Scale Dungeon Engagement Imminent]
[Recommendation: Do Not Participate]
Rin closed the interface.
He already knew.
Some lessons couldn't be taught.
They had to be learned the hard way.
And tomorrow, Philinopia would bleed.