The hallway outside still trembles with leftover cheers, but inside the locker room the mood sits heavy and airless. No one talks. No one even pretends to.
Okabe is perched on the treatment bench while the ringside doctor pokes at his ribs and shines a light into his swollen eye.
Every prod earns a sharp hiss, but no one reacts, not Hiroshi, not Sera, and definitely not Ryoma, who stands in the corner pretending to scroll through a phone that hasn't lit up once.
Two full matches pass outside, one sloppy decision, one fast knockout. Yet the silence inside the locker never breaks.
Finally, a staffer shows up. "Next up… the main event… Ryohei Yamada! Get prepared."
The room shifts. Sera pushes off the wall; Hiroshi stops pacing. Even Ryoma raises his head.
And for the first time in his career, Ryohei gets a taste of what it feels like to be welcomed by hundreds of strangers.
