Chapter 539: Its my Complete Defeat (1/2)
I'm currently in a racing game showdown with Alice. I was able to overtake Alice by making use of my Special Drive, but the race was still in the middle stage…… You could say that the crucial moment starts here on out.
According to the course map, the next rough point…… was a big spiral curve. This was probably designed for a game, but maneuvering through such a path looked quite difficult.
The curve itself looked gentle, but because it is a spiral, it was a long path where it's difficult to accelerate. It would be great if I could somehow safely get through it.
As I was thinking this, the entrance to the spiral curve came into view. As I had expected, I couldn't go through it at full speed, so I slowed down to a moderate speed and……
”How naive! Kaito-san”
[What!?]
However, as I was slowing down my speed, Alice accelerated at full throttle, immediately passing me and heading for the spiral curve. But no matter how I see it, she's being too reckless. There was no way that she could pass through those curves with that speed.
This is certainly a game where you wouldn't get hurt even if you run into a wall, but there is a penalty that significantly slows down the rider. Considering that, Alice's attack was too reckless……
It was at this moment that I remembered the Special Drive that Alice had mentioned. Oh no, so that's what she's planning!? Alice's vehicle's Special Drive is great at cornering…… which means……
(T/N: Handling a car on a turn is called cornering)
As if to affirm the thoughts that had popped in my head, Alice's mini buggy used all of its four tires to its fullest and turned around the curve in a four-wheel drift that makes it seem like she's sticking close to the wall.
If she continues using that Inverse Cornering…… This is bad, she's going to pull away.
It seems that her Special Drive is more troublesome than I expected. As long as she has that Special Drive, Alice can go past curves without slowing down at all, putting the ”in” in Inverse Cornering.
However, that Special Drive of her isn't unbeatable. There is always a flaw.
Thinking about this, I opened the menu and checked the page that describes the details of every vehicle. There was information on my BC96, as well as on Alice's machine, and it also mentioned each vehicle's Special Drive.
Alice's vehicle's Special Drive can be used once every two kilometers, and it can also be saved for later use as a charge. One charge lasts for 3 seconds…… Repeated use of a charge is also possible.
It's about 10km from the start point to here, which means Alice should have a maximum of 5 charges saved up…… The spiral curve we just saw was a pretty big curve, so she should have consumed two, or perhaps, three charges.
Other than that, there were only two other times that Alice's car drifted in such a way that it seemed like her car was clinging on the corner…… which means that Alice's stock of Special Drive charges should be exhausted already.
There are only about 8 and a half kilometers left to the finish line in this 19km long course. Which means, Alice can only use that Special Drive four more times, even if she saves them up until just before the finish line. However, since the last kilometer almost consists of just a straight line…… there shouldn't be any point in her saving all four of her Special Drives.
If it's possible, it would be great if she misuses at least one of her charges. I guess I should come up with a solution for that.
In that case, the part deciding the match would be …… either at the large S-curve at the 14km point, or the five consecutive curves between the 17km and 18km points, which would be the race's final obstacle.
For the time being, let's close the gap as much as possible and stay right behind her. And the next time Alice uses her Special Drive…… would be where the real battle begins.
Speaking of which, I wonder what happened to the NPCs following behind us? Did Alice set it on the weakest setting because this is my first time playing?
As I was thinking about such unimportant things, my BC96, with its superior maximum speed, closed the gap that had opened up on the curve as we passed through a straight road, catching up behind Alice with only a 50m difference between us.
”……Kaito-san.”
[Unnn?]
”You were planning something, aren't you? Fufufu, I don't know what you're planning but…… If you think you can overtake me, I'd like to see you try!”
[Yeah…… You're on, Alice!]
The S-Curve of Victory. Is Alice going to use her Special Drive on that? No, she definitely will. She went out of her way to say something that would provoke me. That means, she's going to decide the race here!
As if to affirm my thoughts, Alice approached the curve at a clearly excessive speed. I also followed her into the S-curve with as little deceleration as possible.
”That's great. Those sharp thrusts of yours…… As expected of Kaito-san. However, can you break through this!?”
As soon as she says that, Alice's baby buggy starts to drift around the inner walls, making perfect use of all four wheels.
Seeing this, as I had planned beforehand, I swerved.
”You're going to move towards the outer corner, Kaito-san? Or perhaps, a lane-taking mistake? No, this is!?”
Click to open image >> (T/N: Lane-taking is something like this. Apparently. I'm not sure, I can't even drift in Mario kart.)
Yes, this is the position I've been aiming for…… From the end of the first curve to the second curve, there is a straight line…… to which I will activate my second Special Drive.
What I'm aiming for…… was the ”inner wall” of the second curve!
”What…… the!?”
On the straight line between these S-curves, the distance is too short to use BC96's Special Drive. The disadvantage of not being able to turn too fast is that I will inevitably end up hitting a wall…… and that's why I'm aiming for that gamble of a moment.
It can be said that this is just a forced move that can be used only because this game ensures that we wouldn't be hurt.
When we hit a wall, the penalty is a significant deceleration of speed. However, I knew that the penalty would be based on the rider's ”current speed”, so after hitting the inside wall…… I would overtake Alice, and using my Special Drive, I would accelerate through the speed that I lost from hitting the curve.
I also have one big goal for doing this. That is to ”block Alice from using her Special Drive”……