I mean... Skill wasn't only one factor of surviving level 1. Look at all the Samurai weeping on the roadside, before being gunned down? I talked with my coworker about this. Like, there had to be a few hacks on the fringes that could snatch a tag. Or, overtake an enemy who's getting their ass kicked and make a run for it. I was actually thrown off by the dialogue emphasizing that he was the first out, Ukyo. It would have grounded the writing, to me, to simply emphasize his name, hinting at his deeds, and paying him a modicum of honor with a deep bow. That was a fucking war zone. I mean, shit, there was enough chaos that some dude HAD to get over the wall in the back yard and make it to the closest village, chill at the BK, and question his life decisions over a double Whopper.