1.

The eliminated contestants sat in the designated waiting room for losers, their faces downcast.

“Has the crowd thinned out outside?”
“They said it increased by five hundred more.”
“Ugh. When can we go home?”

As soon as they passed through the front gates, Bearman had been publicly ridiculed. The losers thought to themselves,
Let's just hang on until the tournament ends.
They figured if they waited until the winner was announced, they'd attract less attention when leaving. It was a somewhat reasonable thought.

“What time is it now?”
“Six o'clock.”

The match that had …