My racing game battle against Alice continued. I’d managed to overtake her with a clever use of Special Driving, but we were only midway through—the real fight was just beginning.
According to the course map, the next obstacle was a massive spiral curve. It was likely designed specifically for the game, and it looked quite challenging. While the curve itself appeared gentle, its spiral nature meant it was long and would make it difficult to maintain speed. I needed to figure out a way to navigate it skillfully.
As I weighed my options, the entrance to the spiral curve came into view. Since I couldn't plunge into it at full speed, I eased off the throttle to slow down to an appropriate pace...
"You're naive, Kaito-san!"
"What!?"
Contrary to my deceleration, Alice accelerated to full throttle. She overtook me in a flash and headed straight into the spiral curve. It was reckless—there was no way she could make the turn at that velocity.
While crashing into a wall wouldn't cause any injuries in this game, it carried a penalty that significantly reduced your speed. Considering that, her move seemed utterly suicidal...
But just as the thought crossed my mind, I remembered what Alice had said about her Special Driving. Oh no, was that it? Her machine’s Special Driving was for cornering, which meant...
As if to confirm my realization, Alice’s Mini Buggy utilized all four tires to their limit, clinging to the wall in a four-wheel drift as she rounded the curve.
She was perfectly in-beta. This was bad—she was pulling away.
It seemed her Special Driving was even more troublesome than I’d anticipated. As long as she had it active, she could dive into curves without slowing down at all while simultaneously hugging the inside line.
However, that ability couldn't be invincible. There had to be a weakness.
I opened the menu and checked the machine specifications. Along with my BC-96, the details for Alice’s vehicle were listed, including the specifics of her Special Driving.
Her ability became usable once every two kilometers, and she could stock up on charges. Each use lasted for three seconds, and they could be used consecutively.
We were roughly ten kilometers from the start, meaning she should have had a maximum of five charges. That last spiral curve was massive, though; she must have burned two, maybe three charges there.
Aside from that, I’d seen her perform that wall-hugging drift twice before. If my math was right, her current stocks were depleted.
There were about eight and a half kilometers left to the goal in this nineteen-kilometer course. Even if she saved everything until the end, she would only have four more charges. However, the final kilometer was almost a straight line, which meant her fourth charge would likely be useless.
If possible, I wanted to force her to waste another one. I already had a plan for that.
The places to make my move would be the Large S-curve at the fourteen-kilometer mark or the final hurdle—the 5-consecutive Curves between seventeen and eighteen kilometers.
For now, I would close the gap as much as possible and stay right on her tail. The next time she used her Special Driving would be the moment to decide the match.
On a side note, the NPCs weren't catching up at all. Maybe the difficulty was set to low since it was my first time?
Pushing those trivial thoughts aside, I used the BC-96’s superior top speed to close the distance on the straightaway, eventually pulling within fifty meters of Alice.
"...Kaito-san."
"Yeah?"
"You're going to make a move, aren't you? Hehe, I don't know what you're planning, but... if you think you can overtake me, give it your best shot!"
"You're on! It’s a match, Alice!"
We reached the decisive S-curve. Would she use her Special Driving? Yes, she would. She’d gone out of her way to provoke me—she was going to settle things right here.
Alice approached the curve at a clear overspeed, confirming my suspicion. I followed suit, plunging into the S-curve with as little deceleration as I could manage.
"I like it! A sharp entry... as expected. But let's see you break through this!"
With that, Alice’s buggy began to drift, perfectly utilizing all four wheels to stay inches from the inner wall.
Seeing her move, I turned my handlebars exactly as I’d rehearsed in my head.
"Kaito-san's bike is swinging wide to the outside? A line error? No, wait...!?"
Exactly. This was the positioning I’d been aiming for all along. In the tiny window of a straightaway between the end of the first curve and the start of the second, I activated my second Special Driving.
My target was the inside wall of the second curve!
"Wh... What!?"
The straight between these S-curves was too short to properly use the BC-96’s Special Driving. The excessive acceleration meant I wouldn't be able to turn, making a collision with the wall inevitable. But that was my plan—a calculated gamble.
It was a forceful maneuver I could only pull off because injuries weren't an issue in the game.
Usually, hitting a wall triggered a massive speed penalty. However, I’d bet on the fact that the penalty was calculated based on my "current speed." By slamming into the inner wall, I intended to overtake Alice while simultaneously bleeding off just enough speed from the Special Driving boost to allow me to make the turn.
Furthermore, this move had a second, more important objective: sealing Alice's Special Driving.
"Guh, the inside...!"
I heard the frustration in Alice’s voice. Her machine’s Special Driving featured an automatic in-beta traversal. If I occupied that inside space, she couldn't activate her ability.
The plan was a resounding success. I successfully blocked her and cleared the S-curve in the lead.
On the long straightaway that followed, I triggered my final Special Driving. I pulled away from her in a single burst.
Alice had used one charge on the first part of the S-curve. That left her with two charges—a total of six seconds. Mathematically, if I could put a gap of more than six seconds between us, I would win.
That last boost had put a massive distance between us; there had to be at least a ten-second gap now. Since my top speed was higher, there should have been no way for her to catch up.
The 5-consecutive Curves came into view. I’d won! All I had to do was clear this final section without making any major mistakes...
"Whew, Kaito-san, you're really something. I'm shocked you can do all this on your very first try."
"You failing to save your Special Driving charges for the end was your mistake," I replied.
"Ahaha..."
At that moment, a chill ran down my spine. Why did I have this ominous feeling? The race was practically decided. I was already in the 5-consecutive Curves. Once I passed this, the goal was right there...
"...Did I forget to mention it? My machine’s Special Driving allows me to automatically attack the in-beta line 'without decelerating at all'..."
"—!?"
Wait, what? But Alice's Special Driving... that drift was the Special Driving... wasn't it? Drifting meant... slowing down... didn't it?
"...I haven't used it yet. Up until now, I haven't used my Special Driving even once."
"What!?"
As those words of despair hit me, Alice’s machine appeared in my mirrors just as I reached the third turn of the 5-consecutive Curves.
Moving at over a hundred kilometers per hour without a hint of deceleration, her machine approached with a logic-defying trajectory, as if she were on rails pinned to the inside of the curve.
This was the real Special Driving. This was bad—I had to block her path...
"It's useless."
"She... she dodged me..."
As if mocking my attempt to block her, Alice’s machine jerked on a near-right-angled path to avoid mine and roared past me at maximum speed.
I had completely misread the situation. Her Special Driving must have included an automatic avoidance feature even with a car in front. Damn it, there was nothing I could do. She was going to pull light-years ahead in the final two curves.
Having exhausted my own Special Driving, I had no way to catch her. It seemed my words to her had come back to haunt me.
Technically speaking, my skills were far inferior to Alice’s anyway, but if I had just saved my last boost for the very end... No, it was too late for "what-ifs."
"...I give up."
"Fufu. Well, it was only the first match. Personally, I thought I might be able to win without using Special Driving at all, but you were surprisingly fast. I think the next round will be even better."
"...Hmph. Alice, one more match."
"You got it! Let's reach the goal, take a little breather, and then start the second round!"
Dear Father, Mother—well, I thought I’d put together some decent strategies, but I ended up dancing right in the palm of Alice's hand. Setting aside the beginner handicap, I was utterly outplayed on a tactical level. At any rate, this time—it was a complete defeat.