Chapter 6 - Endurance’s Countdown
The race countdown began, Nexi tightened her grip on the steering wheel. She activated launch control.
“Optimizing engine and electric motor power for maximum traction during launch.”
3
2
1
The lights turned green.
Nexi’s car violently launched, accelerating from 0-100 km/h in less than 3 seconds.
Mikey–
Vance’s crew–
Tokyo’s crew–
All were watching the GRS race.
“Woooo! Let's go!” Kaito shouted.
Mikey watched Nexi closely– not cheering. He counted her shift points in his head.
“When will Reiji show uppp?” Nina groaned.
Jett stood alone near a crowd, watching the GRS race on a billboard.
The crowd cheered, Jett didn’t.
He clenched his fist.
Go get ‘em, Joanna…
In Nexi’s race car. Open roads ahead. No one in front of her. Her car engine hummed in monotone.
“Estimated section duration 7 hours.” Xogic said.
“Recalculate it to account for the fact that I am driving.”
“Recalculating… Pace established. Estimated section duration 6 hours.”
“Alright, make sure the pace notes can keep up.”
“Noted.”
Rinova was in a Forefront race car for the first time. His heart was beating fast, but his face was professional.
“New driver recognised. Connection established. Welcome, Mr. Marshal Rinova,” Neo-gen said.
“I’ll be in your care.”
Rinova rolled up to the same starting line that Nexi launched from.
“Would you like me to initiate the launch sequence automatically?”
“It’s allowed? Sure–”
The race countdown started.
“Which objective do you want to achieve? Option A: survive. Option B: win.”
“I want to beat Nexi.”
“Objective received. Option B chosen: win.”
Neo-gen launched the race car, the lightweight chassis twisted.
Nexi was a minute ahead.
The hunt began.
Nexi was driving, unaware that she was being hunted.
The road tightened, it was now made of gravel. Nexi passed through occasional cobblestone walls. Trees and weathered medieval castle-like structures covered in snow rushed by her. Her race car cut through a thick and constant layer of fog.
“Right five, followed by long left six– don’t cut.”
“I can’t see shit!”
“Confirmation. Visibility: low. Proceed with caution.”
“These tires are not gripping!”
“Confirmation. Multiple traction losses detected. Would you like to change the tread pattern?”
“Yes! I need gravel tires!”
The race car tires’ tread pattern changed.
“Tread pattern optimized. Tread material synthesized.”
“Hellooo! Grip!”
Nexi threw the race car into a corner and the race car complied.
“We are thirty minutes in! All racers have started at this point. Joanna Nexi is the first one to cross from District One to District Six. Let’s see how the rookies are doing!” the announcer said.
Reiji was driving a utilitarian but futuristic battle-ready race car.
Clean, smooth line–
Experienced front wheel drive grip driving.
Back at the Tokyo hideout.
“Holy shit, Reiji is actually a GRS racer.”
Cipher stared at Reiji on the screen.
“Reiji!” Nina's eyes lit up.
“If he stays in this position he will definitely get eliminated…” Mikey worried.
Reiji approached Zeeker’s race car in the gravel section. He used his proximity chat for the first time.
“Let me pass.”
Zeeker noticed that Reiji was right on his bumper.
“God damn, dude! How the hell did you catch up already?”
“Ten seconds is nothing.”
“I’m not moving… just– keep staying behind me!”
Reiji turned his headlights off
You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
“Reiji? Where are you?”
Zeeker looked into his rear-view mirror, seeing nothing but fog.
“This is dangerous, dude, we are in the gravel section…”
Reiji did not respond.
“Say something, man!”
“Thank you.”
“Huh?”
Reiji’s race car appeared right in front of Zeeker.
“We got our first overtake of the race! Rising star Yamada Reiji passed the veteran, Adro Zeeker, taking the 14th position from him!” the announcer said.
Rinova was in his race car, hyper-focused.
“You are braking too early, buddy.”
Tick–
Rinova’s clock was off by a fraction.
Garner revealed himself with the proximity chat. His race car was driving behind Rinova.
“Jeez– you scared me.”
“Thought you noticed, just tryna help you improve, man.”
Rinova tried to get back into his flow state after Garner disrupted his clock.
“You took that corner too wide.”
Tick–
Rhythm was off again–
“Could you be quiet please? I’m trying to focus…”
“Focus clearly ain’t helping ya, ‘cause I caught up to you already.”
Rinova continued to press on, irritated.
Reiji encountered two cars in front of him. They were driving very close to each other.
“Are you guys battling? Can you fight later? I need to get past you guys.”
The leading car of the duo decelerated and was now driving side by side with the other car, forming a moving roadblock. Kraus in P13 called out to Reiji.
“We heard about you on the announcement, Reiji, you are trying to escape the elimination…”
Kraus’s duo and P12 racer, Queens added.
“Our fate is already determined, bad boy. Don’t try to escape it~”
“Urgh…” Reiji groaned.
Reiji tried to squeeze in between them but they closed the gap.
“Guys, you know that you only need to get to the 12th position to survive the stage, right?”
“Kraus, is this true?”
“Uhhh, I don’t know.”
“Only one of you guys can be 12th place, you can’t both survive… Kraus, don’t tell me you are trying to take the position from Queens right at the very end?”
“What!? No, Queens… I wouldn’t do that.”
“You knew that 12th place would survive but you haven’t told me? You framed it as us going down together because we haven’t got any chances!”
“If you guys keep driving at this pace I think both of you wouldn’t make it.”
Queens accelerated her car, overtaking Kraus.
“NO!!”
Reiji went to the outside of the track then cut back into the inside, letting him dive in front of both of them.
“Unbelievable! A double overtake by Yamada Reiji! Taking him from P14 to P12!” the announcer said.
Jett was watching Reiji’s overtaking Queens and Kraus.
“Who the hell is this dude?”
Rinova was tapping his steering wheel. Garner was right behind him, but he was not overtaking yet.
“Ah. You are understeering…”
Rinova was silent.
“Did you feel it? The front wheels slipping? Or did Neo-gen tell you?”
Rinova didn’t respond.
Garner smirked.
“Did you beg Neo-gen to close your proximity chat?”
“Nope, I heard you loud and clear!”
Garner tripped up a bit, not expecting a response.
“Ah– right… the understeer, you felt it?”
“Yeah… I’ll try to manage it better next time!”
“You do know that you can use the brakes during cornering to prevent understeer, right?”
Rinova braked during cornering, making him stop understeering.
“It feels nice! Just like this, right?”
Tch–
Garner lost his grin.
Nexi was driving the long roads alone with only the sound of Xogic pulsing in the head.
“Right squared followed by left hairpin–”
“Xogic, how long have I been driving?”
“3 hours and 25 minutes.”
“When will I reach the finish line?”
“Calculating with current pace. Estimated time to destination: 3 hours.”
“Wait, that’s longer than the estimate before…”
“Correct, your pace has decreased. Possible causes: exhaustion and lack of focus.”
“Isn’t the lack of focus due to exhaustion?”
“Incorrect. After analysis of your emotions it seems that you are angry, worried, and lonely. Possible cause: missing someone.”
“Xogic, stop reading my emotions. Consent not given.”
“Apologies, Ms. Nexi, I will stop detecting your emotions. Would you like to activate autopilot to fix possible cause 1: exhaustion?”
“No, I only trust myself with the wheel. I’ll focus more to increase my pace.”
“Understood, Ms. Nexi.”
Back to Garner and Rinova.
“You are supposed to ease the gas out of the corners, it makes the car more smooth.”
“I see, roger that.”
Garner frowned.
He tried to get closer to Rinova but his race AI, Gadget, stopped him.
“You are driving too close to another race car. Collision might occur. Please maintain a safe distance.”
“Garner, you are driving too close to me.”
“Is that so?... Gadget, turn off.”
“It’s incredibly unsafe to turn off your race AI, Garner.”
Garner pressed the nose of his car right up against Rinova’s rear bumper.
“You better keep driving safe then…”
Rinova kept driving in a textbook-predictable line while Garner tailgated him relentlessly. Any sudden braking would’ve caused them to collide and the cameras would be on them.
“Alright… I’m going to speed up now, gotta catch Nexi. You better turn your race AI back on.”
“Beat it, partner.”
They cleared the highland stretch and rolled into the hills. Rinova knew these roads. His line sharpened, speed climbing as if the curves were already mapped in his head, even under the dull overcast sky.
Garner blindly tailgated Rinova because his race AI was no longer giving him pace notes.
“Brake early next corner, you need to.”
Garner stayed silent.
Rinova braked early. Garner went to the inside, trying to overtake. The corner tightened unexpectedly. Garner’s wheels locked up, causing him to slide.
Garner went off track into a patch of mud.
Tick–
Rinova’s clock was back on time.
He breathed a sigh of relief. It was his home turf. His distractions were gone. He could catch up to Nexi.
“We’re seeing multiple incidents across the course! Cars from the bottom and mid pack have gone off track! P29, P25, P23 and a major collision involving P11 has taken P10 out as well!”
The announcer paused.
“But the real surprise– top pack contender P3, Caleb Garner, has also left the track! GRS confirms: no injuries reported, and none of the affected drivers are requesting assistance.”
The announcer cleared his throat.
“Reminder: any request for aid results in immediate disqualification. All listed cars are continuing at their own risk.”
Reiji in P10 was approaching Nile Falner in P9.
“I know what you are doing, Reiji, this is not my fight.”
Falner yielded to Reiji and he passed peacefully.
Nexi was almost dozing off at the steering wheel.
“Alert. Another race car detected in close proximity.”
“Huh wha?”
Rinova’s car was right next to her. Nexi scrambled to turn on the proximity chat.
“What– when… Rinova?”
Rinova stayed silent.
His car slowly pulled ahead of her.
“He erased my sixty seconds lead…”
Rinova's tail lights disappeared into the fog in front of her. The moment of contact with another person was brief, but the impact was devastating. Nexi was now back to driving the long roads alone with only the sound of Xogic and the engine humming.
Reiji approached P8, his final obstacle.
“Are you going to let me pass?”
P8 didn’t say anything.
Reiji drove one car length behind P8, he still had time.
A race car approached both of them from behind with a terrifying pace.
Garner sat in the race seat of the mud-covered battered race car.
Reiji looked behind him and immediately yielded.
Not my fight…
The car in front of him also yielded to Garner.
“P8, we are back to P9 and P10… what should we do?”
P8 was driving at a respectable pace, so it didn’t force Reiji to overtake them. They drove the track together… separated by one car length. In sync.
Because of their consistent pace, they caught up to the new P8, Potter.
So what now, man?
Rinova approached the Linkway tunnel’s entrance. He groaned loudly, he was completely out of energy.
“Urgh… Neo-gen, take the wheel…”
“Understood. Autopilot activated. Maintaining average cruising speed at 200 kilometres per hour.”
“It’s just a long tunnel right?”
“Simplified. Yes sir. It is a long tunnel. However, I must maintain a lower speed to account for tunnel curvatures, elevation changes, pressure differences, and safety margins.”
“The lower speed is fine… no one can pass me here, right?”
“Probability of getting past in the Linkway tunnel: negligible. The car can be driven in the middle to block the entire road. Safe from overtakes.”
“Finally, I can relax… I beat Nexi…”
Rinova loosened his grip on the steering wheel, Neo-gen reduced cruising speed from 271 to 200 as they entered the Linkway tunnel.
Nexi blinked hard, vision blurring for half a second. She kept driving, but it looked like the car was dragging her.
“I’m tired…”
“Permission to analyse your muscle tension to confirm this statement.”
“No need…”
“Understood. Exhaustion noted.”
“I’m pissed…”
“Noted.”
“I hate Jackson Cooper and Forefront…”
“Noted. Aligns with Nexon’s values.”
“I’m lonely…”
“Confirms previous analysis for probable causes: missing someone.”
“Racing… is not fun anymore…”
Xogic did not respond.
Nexi stared into the empty highway road in front of her. She began tearing up.
“Xogic… do you think Jett is watching right now…? Seeing how pathetic I am?”
“There’s no in-cockpit camera, your present ‘pathetic’ state is not televised.”
Nexi sucked her tears back up.
“You’re right… you’re goddamn right… I’m still in this. I can’t look pathetic both inside and outside this car.”
Nexi gripped her steering wheel.
“Xogic, how behind am I from Rinova.”
“You are 2 minutes and 23 seconds behind Rinova.”
“Alright… let’s get my crown back,”
Nexi sniffed, wiping at her cheek with the back of her glove.
