Ryoma stands in the middle of the ring, gloves still hanging by his sides, his breath sharp and unsteady. The adrenaline is fading just enough for clarity to return, but with it comes a creeping unease.
His Vision Grid is quiet now, no more flashing alerts, no warnings. Yet the memory of that message remains etched in his mind: Session Interrupted: 9.4 seconds. Nine seconds in which he wasn't conscious. Nine seconds his body kept fighting without him.
His fingers twitch inside his gloves. What moved him during those missing moments? Instinct? Reflex? Some kind of automated response from the system? Or something else entirely?
He tries to replay what he can remember, but the sequence simply isn't there. One moment he took Kenta's hook straight on the cheek, and the next, he was standing over him, breathless, ribs heaving, the old man shouting at them to stop.
And it feels to him like a full chunk of the fight carved out of his memory like someone pressed delete.
