Chapter 120: Overtaking
Translator: BeetleBarker Editor: Tennesh
"We are left with three."
"Never expected that we would have a three-way fight to the finish for a normal practice match."
The other e-Sports clubs were all watching the final struggles of this match. A few members that were training were called over by their captains to come watch.
Participating in this practice match were the 10 members from 2S and BOOM and another 100 who'd received entry passes—a total of 110. Now, there were three left. The others had already crashed out or were left far behind and had no mood to continue racing, instead going offline to watch. Especially for those among the front ten that had not crashed but been overtaken, catching up was too difficult, so they figured they might as well disconnect earlier and watch the battle in front. Therefore it ended up with only three players left online.
Ke Zimo and Olaf had set the pace in the race. The distance between them did not widen. At times, Ke Zimo was in the lead, and sometimes Olaf managed to successfully overtake him. However, the times Ke Zimo was ahead were more numerous, and he was now in a good spot to consolidate his lead.
Olaf felt a little anxious, but not to the point that it affected his rationality. He was older than Ke Zimo and had more race experience. Perhaps he didn't have as much talent as Ke Zimo, but he was hardworking and more steady. He gritted his teeth and pressed on, maintaining the 20–50 meter distance between them.
At the front, Ke Zimo felt rather proud of himself, but not to the point where he would forget himself. He knew that he could not afford to be distracted and had to continue maintaining his dominance all the way to the end. According to the map before him, he would be able to leave the city in approximately ten minutes. After exiting the city, the end point would be near.
At this moment, Olaf's heart started beating violently. He could sense someone catching up.
They were on a Y-shaped bridge. Ke Zimo and Olaf were on one road, and on the other road, a figure appeared.
At the junction where the two roads intersected, like a flash of lightning, the figure emerged between Ke Zimo and Olaf!
The main camera following Ke Zimo and Olaf and the secondary camera following the mystery figure coincided!
To think he actually caught up! This was the thought of all the viewers watching the broadcast.
Olaf was shaken by the sudden overtaking and nearly lost his balance.
Looking forward, the figure was wearing the default black racing attire, and Ke Zimo could not see anything special. Who the hell was this?
Not just Olaf, the still-leading Ke Zimo's heart starting pounding from the shock.
There is still a third person?!
Other than him and Olaf, there was actually a third professional race driver that had taken part in this practice match?!
Not possible. Fiery Bird had publicly announced that there were no other professional race drivers taking part. Then who could the person behind have been? If it wasn't a professional driver, could it have been someone from another e-sports team that had come to wreak havoc?
As a professional race driver, Ke Zimo did not make the same mistakes his teammates had made by turning back. Even if he could hear the roaring behind him and his heart was full of curiosity, he still kept his eyes on the road before him. Race drivers only had a forward; they had no backward! All he had to do was keep looking forward! No matter who was catching up to him, no matter where the party was from, he could only continue maintaining his superiority till the end!
However, the person that had abruptly appeared made Ke Zimo feel a little pressure. Although Olaf's strength was comparable to his own, as an old adversary, they had competed against each other many times and understood each other's patterns, but this fellow that had suddenly appeared was different. Ke Zimo was totally unable to determine his origin or motives.
Due to the sudden appearance of that bike, Ke Zimo increased his speed again. The opponent had been able to chase all the way till this point. If he continued at that speed, Ke Zimo would surely be overtaken. In order to maintain his lead, Ke Zimo had no choice but to continue increasing his speed as well. Even though, by increasing the speed, the maneuverability of his bike would drop and he would be more prone to accidents, Ke Zimo still chose to do this!
Because of this appearance by a third party, not only Ke Zimo increased his speed. Olaf, who was still busy chasing, stepped up his speed as well. Having already been left in the dust by the third party, if he was left further behind, he would be losing face.
The three shapes on the road sped along, chasing the one ahead tightly. The two professional race drivers and the one suspected professional driver made this race even more intense. At every bend, they seemed to float through at a slanted angle, giving viewers the impression that they were going to skid off the track at any moment.
Even those watching the broadcast began to feel anxious and excited.
"With that sort of vehicle in front of me, I would even have trouble lifting it up. Yet those three can operate it in such a manner. Even if it is only in a game, it is very hard to come by."
"Just like an artistic performance, impressive! Every time they head into a bend, I always feel that they are going to crash out, slanting so much and not falling over. If it was me, I would have crashed long ago."
"Those people, probably... mastered exceptional driving skills, like the folklore of car and man as one? It's as if they have achieved a boundary that normal people can never hope to surpass." Some fans revered as they kept their eyes fixated on the screens.
However, compared to the viewing masses, as people from the entertainment circles watched, more problems arose.
Big Dipper's captain Yi Yuan said, "Don't you guys feel that... that mystery rider seems to be playing around with them?"
Yi Yuan's sentence made the others momentarily silent. They did feel it a little, but their hearts were not willing to admit it. Who would operate the bike in such a manner just to play around? Isn't he afraid? With one lapse of concentration, his showboating could fail and he would crash.
But they had seen the mystery rider steadily overtaking bike after bike throughout the race, but after catching up, he had seemed to slow down and not overtake. Even though Ke Zimo had already increased his speed, they still had the feeling that the mystery rider could still overtake him. Now, though, it seemed as if he'd decided to follow Ke Zimo and Olaf and play around with them.
"Anytime now," Big Dipper's captain said. "The city's exit is coming up. This race is coming to an end. Now that he has caught up... surely he doesn't intend to remain in second place?"
Ke Zimo was feeling very vexed. He realized that he could not shake off the person behind him! Even Olaf had not been so troublesome!
Not just the viewers watching, even Ke Zimo had a slight feeling that he was going to be overtaken, and that made him even more anxious. Even if he lost to Olaf, he would not feel this way, but losing to someone whose origin was unknown, that was not going to be pleasant.
He did not bother to guess where this opponent had come from, but Ke Zimo's intuition told him that this opponent's aim was probably himself!
As if a penetrating pair of eyes were fixed on him from inside the darkness, ready to pounce at any moment. Ke Zimo felt sweat dripping down his back. He kept telling himself, stay calm, stay calm!
But as time passed, Ke Zimo was unable to calm down. Rarely was there anyone able to press him this hard. The only one able to exert similar pressure was his own racing instructor, but even the pressure his instructor exerted was incomparable to this situation.
As they got closer and closer to the city exit, the feeling of unease in Ke Zimo's heart became even more intense, until his sharp sense of hearing heard the change in the sound of screeching tires and the roar of the engine.
The opponent wanted to overtake!
Ke Zimo instinctively shifted his vehicle to the side to obstruct, sealing off the opponent's path for overtaking. He was not willing to give up the pole position and so chose to block off the person behind.
But in the next moment, Ke Zimo knew that things were going to take a turn for the worse.
The opponent had done a feint, and at the moment Ke Zimo shifted to the side, that person rushed past him from the other side.
In past races, Ke Zimo had used this method numerous times to overtake others, but he had never expected that today, at this race, he would be the one falling for it.
At that moment, time slowed down for Ke Zimo. He could only stare blankly as a black motorbike with no designs or insignias went past him.
No insignias whatsoever?!
Who the hell was he?!
The lead he had protected all the way... had actually been lost... just like that?!
At this sort of speed, one had to be absolutely focused at all times. Until now, Ke Zimo had done very well, but now, after being overtaken by that figure, Ke Zimo was feeling disheartened and beaten. So much so that he felt a sense of hatred.
Creak—Crash!
Ke Zimo smashed into a fence at the roadside. He was flung off his bike and tumbled across the road, but as a race driver, his reflexes were better than others, and he knew how to protect himself in the event of an accident. Even though it had been a brutal crash, he was still able to prevent himself from disconnecting straight from the crash.
Behind, Olaf had also made an emergency brake, as after Ke Zimo had been flung from his bike, he had landed in Olaf's path. Olaf knew that this was not intentional and it was only an accident, but regardless, with one crashing and the other braking, both of them had no way of catching up.
But contrary to what Olaf had expected, the bike right at the front did something. It's rear tire lifted off from the ground as the front tire stayed stuck to the ground and continued rolling forward, as though it was doing a handstand. Hanging in the air, it did a 180 degree turn as it rotated to face Ke Zimo and Olaf.
At the moment where the rear tire fell to the ground, it was as if a galloping colossal beast had come to a halt. The screeching of the tires and roar of the engines had stopped. This motorcycle coined "T-Rex" had finally ceased its engines, but the smell of burning rubber still remained.
The opponent just sat silently on his bike in the distance, watching them. The default helmet he wore blocked out his image, and there were no designs or insignia on his attire or bike to determine his identity. But the way that the opponent had toyed with them, this person was not to be taken lightly.
Olaf, who was still seated on his bike, and Ke Zimo, who had not disconnected after crashing but could not get up right away, were feeling nervous. Olaf had a feeling that he ought to lower his head slightly.
At this moment when Olaf and Ke Zimo thought that this mysterious rider was going to mock them or show a few rude hand signs, the mystery rider chose to disconnect straight away.
Translator's Thoughts
BeetleBarker BeetleBarker
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