Pandora's jock

Previously

…He heard the distant roar of the crowd, the cheers for the leaders. He was no longer part of it. He was a fallen competitor, a victim of his own desperate ambition and the ghost’s dangerous shortcuts. A single, hot tear traced a path through the grit on his cheek. It wasn't a tear of sadness, but of pure, unadulterated agony, a testament to the burning cost of his cheat. The ghost’s power, meant to elevate him, had instead consumed him, leaving him broken and defeated on the very track he’d sought to conquer. He was a monument to his own hubris, a testament to the fact that some victories, especially those gained through deceit, came at far too high a price.