diff --git a/frontend/src/game/tts.ts b/frontend/src/game/tts.ts
index 4e9f18b..1c8670a 100644
--- a/frontend/src/game/tts.ts
+++ b/frontend/src/game/tts.ts
@@ -252,7 +252,7 @@ function _workerGenerate(text: string, voice: string, speed: number): Promise<{
     const timeout = setTimeout(() => {
       _pending.delete(id)
       reject(new Error('TTS generation timed out'))
-    }, 10_000)
+    }, 4_000)
     _pending.set(id, {
       resolve: (v) => { clearTimeout(timeout); resolve(v) },
       reject: (e) => { clearTimeout(timeout); reject(e) },
@@ -376,12 +376,15 @@ export function kokoroPrefetch(text: string, profileName: string): void {
   _generateAndCache(text, profileName).catch(() => {})
 }
 
-/** Await until prefetched audio is cached and ready. Returns true if cached, false on failure. */
+/** Await until prefetched audio is cached and ready (max 2s). Returns true if cached, false on timeout/failure. */
 export async function kokoroAwaitReady(text: string, profileName: string): Promise<boolean> {
   if (!_workerReady) return false
   try {
-    const buf = await _generateAndCache(text, profileName)
-    return !!buf
+    const result = await Promise.race([
+      _generateAndCache(text, profileName),
+      new Promise<null>(r => setTimeout(() => r(null), 2000)),
+    ])
+    return !!result
   } catch { return false }
 }