[TS] Formula One Streamer - Chapter 16
Drivers shine brighter in the back than when they are in the lead.
With precise and unstoppable driving, they overturn their rankings like climbing stairs, a master of overtaking.
A challenging race, to put it dramatically, racing without a rear. Yet, always a player who brings nothing but thrills.
Jin Hyun-woo.
My evaluation in F1 has been this.
It’s not just my skill that has led me to be called a driver who will open a new era in F1.
Vroom!!!
Drivers on the circuit are like entertainers on stage.
They are born to bestow fun and thrilling excitement to the audience while not forgetting their own duties.
Click!
【5th Gear – 6th Gear↑】
Vroom!!!
And I am a driver who was faster and bolder than anyone, the one who has embraced my destined fate head-on.
Click!
【6th Gear – 7th Gear↑】 / 【352 km/h】 / 【DRS Deactivation】
The rumbling engine that seems about to explode. Tires that are churning like a time bomb ready to burst. Carbon brakes red hot and ready to melt.
Every part of the race car is reaching its limit, and I am the conductor who tunes that limit.
In an orchestra of discord, I always find harmony and successfully conclude the concert.
I am the F1 champion, Jin Hyun-woo.
*
*
*
“Something’s strange…”
Han Joo-hyuk felt that something was wrong from the race start.
From the start reaction to the racing line setup passing turn 1, Jin Hyun-woo was definitely not at an F7 level.
Like the saying goes, the seasoned know each other just by a glance; he could assess his opponent’s level within the first corner.
At the very least, she was in the top tier of F2.
If not,
“F1…”
However, he knew there were no female users from F2 onward.
This meant that either they hadn’t started the ranking match yet or had too few races to place high in the rankings.
A completely new face appearing in the stagnant game of For One.
As he thought of this, Han Joo-hyuk recalled someone.
“King? Could it be King?”
The mysterious user who first appeared in the streamer Speed Racer’s broadcast and began to gain fame with lap times at the Monza circuit.
Achieving 71 first-place finishes in 73 races, a user on the verge of entering the F3 rankings.
Han Joo-hyuk was also captivated by KING’s races, enduring the effort of searching for driving records and comparing them with rankers to uncover their identity.
Though he failed to find out, he had already become a fervent fan of KING.
Aggressive and bold driving.
But KING’s driving, born from thoroughly calculated judgments with no room for error, was beyond simply being good; it was extraordinary.
Moreover, it wasn’t just the driving technique; KING had something else that ignited a passion in drivers that others lacked.
It was inevitable that an F1-loving user would be drawn to KING.
And during the first lap, Han Joo-hyuk felt the shock he received from KING once again from an ordinary event participant.
“Could it really be? The user kept everything private except for the nickname…”
But as he entered the long U-shaped corner 11, his suspicion turned into conviction.
Drifting.
While entering the corner quickly, inefficiencies arose in securing the grip needed for exit, and with fast tire wear and challenging management in F1, this technique was unheard of.
Drifting generates a strong friction force that can instantly take away the life of the tire, creating flat spots.
Flat spots, in severe cases, require a pit-in, making drifting a taboo technique for F1 drivers.
Yet, regardless of it being lap 10, the red race car drifted, pulling the chassis through the corner.
Screech!!!
Tires melted, leaving skid marks on the circuit along the U-shaped corner.
Though Jin Hyun-woo’s choice could not be seen as an efficient one, Han Joo-hyuk felt something in her that ignited the same fighting spirit as KING.
“That’s KING…!”
The weight of both hands gripping the steering wheel began to feel heavier.
*
*
*
Vroom!!!
It was the last lap, and since I couldn’t activate DRS, I kept the full acceleration at every moment.
If I trailed closely, the loss of downforce due to dirty air would diminish my speed, so I opened a gap within 2 seconds.
The point where the race could be decided is at the corner.
Whether it’s a shallow corner or a deep chicane like turn 11.
Just before entering the corner, I would use the slipstream to get into a wheel-to-wheel confrontation; there would be nothing to fear.
I was a veteran gladiator in the coliseum where every moment’s judgment could mean life or d*ath.
In the psychological battle that unfolds in just 0.1 seconds, I completely read my opponent’s intentions and knew how to dictate the flow of the game.
I possessed the talent and technique to execute the plays I imagined in my head perfectly.
“From corner 3 to corner 7, from corner 11 to the final corner 15.”
A series of long and short, deep and shallow corners.
I must succeed in overturning the situation in that racing line.
Vroom!!!
Considering my defeat, Han Joo-hyuk’s race car, which overtook me in the 1st corner, charged fiercely as if it would never yield its position.
Sliding into corner 3, his race car entered.
I approached the corner with extreme threshold braking.
As corner 3, 4, and 5 ended, they connected, and I had to corner 3 times.
This meant I could find angles to overtake at corner 4 and face off at corner 5.
Otherwise, I would need to abandon all corners from 3 to 6 and go all-in on 7.
“Let’s do it.”
I chose the former.
Since I was looking for a short confrontation, I had to adapt to when I would take an unconventional racing line.
He cornered with maximum deceleration and minimal steering input through the zigzag corners.
As I followed him, I pressed the accelerator and made a large turn at the last left corner, entering alongside him.
Rumble!!!
The next corner 5 was a right-angle turn.
Han Joo-hyuk would have to decelerate to navigate the corner.
Just as I thought, he braked hard and slowed down.
“Now!”
The chassis rushed to push the front wing and front tires as I quickly occupied his right side, forcing him to open the inside line for me.
With my line firmly established and a 100% corner priority, he went to the outer line.
① eventaccount1
② Red hare
The rankings changed again, and that was the end.
With his momentum completely broken, he had no chance to retaliate and led the race while I drove solo.
Vroom!!!
As I reached the finish line, the checkered flag was fluttering high.
Name / Time
① eventaccount1 1:24:883 🏁
② Red hare 1:25:004 +0.121
eventaccount1: Good job, Han Joo-hyuk. Thank you for your accommodation.
Red hare: …Jin Hyun-woo, you did a great job too.
It was a surprisingly tense race after a long while…
I had just defeated a driver with my face exposed in front of so many people.
What do I do now?
For some reason, I felt a bit fearful of the criticisms from Kang Ho-yun and Jihyun Lee.
*
*
*
I completely lost.
Jin Hyun-woo.
She completely overwhelmed me in the first lap, and unlike the vast difference she showed in that lap, on the last lap.
In other words, until I overtook her, she opened the gap, giving me a chance for a long time of 9 laps.
At first, it felt like she was going easy on me, which bruised my pride, but as the laps went on, she wasn’t teasing me; she was guiding me.
In that racing line I had not seen before, overtaking angles began to become clear, and finally, on the last lap.
“I need to dive in now!”
I successfully executed an overtaking maneuver that I had deemed impossible at the first corner.
Climbing to 79th place and joining the representative team, I became numb to the senses of learning and realization.
I thought there was nothing new I could learn in racing, and that all I had to do was refine my technical perfection.
But that was arrogance and misjudgment.
At that moment, I felt a thrilling exhilaration that I had not experienced since joining For One.
Was this the feeling of getting my heart racing?
Not long after overtaking her, I lost the lead back to her, but I didn’t feel frustrated; instead, my heart was filled with passion.
Every moment racing with her made my heart race and was fun.
Right after she secured the win, I felt not disappointment but regret.
If allowed, I would want to spend the entire night with her on the circuit.
eventaccount1: Good job, Han Joo-hyuk. Thank you for your accommodation.
Red hare: …Jin Hyun-woo, you did a great job too.
As I hesitated on how to start a conversation, I felt that if I did not act, I would miss the opportunity forever, so I took the risk and whispered to her.
Red hare: Could it be…
eventaccount1: Yes? Please go ahead.
It was a question that could be very rude if my guess was wrong, so I found it hard to speak.
Red hare: Are you perhaps KING?
eventaccount1: ….
Red hare: I’m sorry. I’ve been rude…
Seeing her without words made me wonder if I had upset her, and I was about to apologize when she said,
eventaccount1: Yes, I am KING. Could you keep my identity a secret?
Red hare: Ah… So it really was you, KING. I’m a fan.
eventaccount1: The race today was really fun, thanks to you. I hope to see you in a ranking match next time.
Red hare: I learned a lot as well. It was an honor to race with you.
She unexpectedly revealed her identity and logged out.
Revealing she was KING might have been out of courtesy towards me or her whim, but whatever it was, it was fine.
Though I didn’t get to say I wanted to practice together next time, with her skill, I would surely see her again in a ranking match soon.
“Next time for sure…!”
I can only hope the day comes quickly when I meet her again.
*
*
*
“Wow, there are so many people.”
Having finished a satisfying race, I left the event hall hand in hand with Kang Ho-yun and Jihyun Lee, rejecting any prize offers.
“Ihyun, what’s going on? You said you’re F7.”
“How did you beat a driver?”
“What did you do to overtake in the last lap?”
Getting into his car in the department store, Kang Ho-yun’s friend Park Ha-jin kept bombarding me with questions with a dazed expression, causing me to yell back.
“I am KING!”
To someone who didn’t know, I probably looked ridiculous shouting that I was a king.
Today, two more people now knew my secret.