Ryoma glances back at the exact moment the dog launches at him, jaws wide, saliva trailing behind like a pale thread.
Aramaki shouts for him to stay still, to calm down, but the warning barely reaches Ryoma; the world has already narrowed into something colder and strangely quiet.
It's either flight or fight now. And the system slips across his vision like a thin layer of frost.
***
[TARGET AGITATED]
[ATTACK IMMINENT]
Options: Run (Low success) | Counter (High success)
***
As the warning texts flash across his vision, another presence slips in beneath it, not visual, not displayed, but breathed directly into his thoughts with an unsettling clarity.
<< Neutralize it. Show no mercy. Survival is won by those who act first. >>
It isn't loud or forceful; it carries itself like a suggestion delivered by someone standing just behind his shoulder.
