[TS] Formula One Streamer - Chapter 23

The office apartment that Kang Ho-yun left was once again engulfed in quiet silence.

I didn’t notice it when people were around, but was the apartment this quiet?

Being a high-rise, the only sound coming from outside was the wind hitting the windows, so I knew it was quiet, but…

Indeed, when there’s no one around, silence and emptiness are amplified.

As I organized the leftovers, I sank into such thoughts and suddenly remembered Jihyun Lee.

“Oh, I should call Jihyun too.”

Jihyun had sent more than ten texts saying she was feeling too lonely without a roommate in the dorm after I dropped out.

Thinking about it, she spent most of her time with me, so the vacancy must be significant.

It’s the same for me, but the time I shared with her as Jin Hyun-woo wasn’t long, so I didn’t feel as attached as she did.

With the ranking matches and KiwiChi championship to worry about, I probably spent more time in For One than in reality.

Before my thoughts elongated further, I returned to my room and turned on my computer.

Nothing beats the internet when it comes to wasting time.

Especially the For One gallery that Jihyun had mentioned before.

Shortened to For Gal.

Since she said my stories were circulating all day, it seemed like it would be quite interesting to watch.

I had a feeling I’d find it hard to pull away once I started, but human nature is to pursue others’ attention and wonder about their reactions.

Unable to resist my curiosity, I immediately searched for the For One gallery as soon as the computer booted up and opened Pandora’s box.

The site was straightforward.

Without the usual categories, it had a clean UI dedicated solely to For One-related posts, and the recommended posts in the concept article section were neatly lined up.

There was a similar community in Jin Hyun-woo’s world too, so I wasn’t too slow to adapt.

“The world may change, but this remains the same.”

Slowly, I began to scroll through the overflowing array of posts.

Most of the writings were about For One.

Questions about driving techniques, guides on techniques, strategies for circuits, and criteria for choosing tires based on weather, among others.

< Question) I’m a newbie in For One who started yesterday. Any tips for driving with both feet?>

<Basics of Trail Braking>

<Correlation between Critical Braking and Tire Grip>

<Simple Summary of Tire Strategies by Circuit and Weather>

From basic posts to advanced, professionally analyzed information that seemed quite sophisticated.

In terms of F1, the gallery truly was a treasure trove of information.

However, where there are many people, there are always distractions.

There were countless posts that had nothing to do with For One.

The so-called “bad posts.”

<The Pitiful Evening of a 20-Year-Old Who Failed>

<I Want to Date After 30 Years of Being Single…>

<Today is My Birthday. Send me messages.>

“What’s the relationship between a birthday and a concept post?”

What could be the correlation between a birthday and a concept post? As I scrolled down, I easily discovered my own stories.

Such posts were abundant even in the general category, and even more in the concept article category.

Noticing that my posts were clustered in the concept articles, I was reassured that keeping the KING account private was indeed a wise choice.

<An Inquiry About the User KING and His Driving Style>

<Comparison Analysis of KING’s Performance with 20 Current F1 Rankers>

There were more interesting posts than I expected, and I contemplated where to start reading, deciding to go slowly from the top.

(KING#16007’s ranking match record photo)

I completed 100 races today, with 96 first places and 4 second places.

Does this make sense?

At this point, isn’t KING an AI created by the For One production company…?

Clarify!!!

ㅇㅇ(229.89): I can’t say anything other than it’s truly amazing. I saw your main account recently, it seems like you’re done with F2 ㄷㄷ;;

Mr. Love KING*: KING!KING!KING!KING!KING!KING!

Nickname*: Isn’t it time for the controversy to d*e down…?

ㄴThe Life of an Overachiever*: It won’t go away at all. These guys who give advice to F1ㅋㅋ

ㄴㅇㅇ(233.12): Still, once you enter F2, those who criticize based on skill should disappear.

“Wow, I actually raced 100 times already? I didn’t know.”

I couldn’t believe I’d participated in a hundred races. I hadn’t checked closely, but I won first place an astonishing 96 times.

Achieving such a monumental record was satisfying, but thinking about how I was still in F3 was frustrating.

Suppressing my anger towards the annoying ranking matches, I clicked on the post inundated with “I love KING!”

As I expected, the content was nothing. It was simply filled with “I love KING!”

The author’s nickname was Mr. Love KING.

Since I saw usernames like ㅇㅇ and some with * attached, I looked it up, and it turned out that these were dynamic and static nicknames.

Writing such a post to be featured in a concept article surely meant that the poster was quite a well-known high nickname.

Scrolling down to the comments, I found the comments were equally messy.

KING’s admirers had formed in my absence.

“What’s so great about it…?”

I denied it, but as smiles kept breaking through, I thought of the phrase, “I may say no, but my body is honest,” and quickly clicked on another post.

The third post, an analysis of my driving style, was half right and half wrong.

The long post presented various examples, and the conclusion simply stated that my driving style was very aggressive.

It was true that I performed aggressive racing.

When I was champion as Jin Hyun-woo, every F1 driver and media evaluated me as “a challenging and passionate raging bull at every moment.”

Though I didn’t outwardly deny that statement, I felt a sense of resistance internally.

Simply put, the reason my style seems aggressive is that I’m good.

Because I’m good, I overtake frequently, because I’m good, I secure pole positions and flounder on the podium.

There’s no driver better than me, so as long as there’s a space to dive in, I would seize it.

To an outsider, it appears aggressive, so I wouldn’t bother denying that.

Moreover, I’m not only strong in aggressive play but also excellent in defensive play.

In summary, I’m a jack of all trades.

I decided to call it just something I’m good at.

Yeah, I’m just good at everything, whether it’s offense or defense.

My skills are great.

“Should I look at another post?”

Lost in self-admiration, I continued to browse through dozens of posts, entering and exiting.

Time slipped away, and by the time I got my wits back, two hours had already passed.

Just as I was about to close the window, growing tired of the repetitive posts, a provocative title caught my eye.

“Who do you think you are competing with an F1 player with no background?”

No matter how much Yoo Seon-jin is without championships, she’s at least in the mid-ranks, but she’s being hit down like this.

If the two meet, it seems KING would only end up staring at Yoo Seon-jin’s backside.

ㅇㅇ(232.982): Honestly, this is trueㅋㅋ. It makes no sense for an ordinary person to beat a player, no matter how amazing they think they are.

ㄴㅇㅇ(227.991): Then is it any good that Han Joo-hyuk was beaten by an ordinary person in an event match?

ㄴㅇㅇ(232.982): You idiot, you just said event match! In an event match, would they have performed well?

Jeoktomatan*: Hmm…

ㄴNickname*: Han Joo-hyuk personally showing upㄷㄷ… How do you see this controversy, Mr. Han Joo-hyuk?

ㄴJeoktomatan*: To race, you need to confront each other to know.

ㅇㅇ(213.89): Yeah~ KING’s weed-wrestling is just trash.

“This guy…?”

Does he think I’d just be stuck following Yoo Seon-jin’s backside during a match?

To someone who’s never won a championship, Yoo Seon-jin?

What’s more, calling me a nobody with no background when I’m supposed to be KING?

Jin Hyun-woo’s reputation is dead here…

I lamented that my great achievements were nonexistent in this world and posted a comment under a dynamic nickname.

ㅇㅇ(221.887): Do you know KING? Don’t spout nonsense if you don’t even know him.

The replies came in quickly.

ㄴㅇㅇ(232.997): You’re KINGㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Gotcha!

“Gah!”

As soon as I checked the replies, I felt an unknown chill and pulled the power cord from my computer.

“What the hell…?”

There must be a shaman academy in this world after all.

I took my smartphone and hid under the blanket, starting to search for a shaman academy.

*

*

*

The day after the qualifier for the KiwiChi championship.

Immediately after finishing the qualifiers for day two, the supervisor gathered the 1024 finalists and made an announcement.

“Thank you for your hard work, participants. Friend requests will be sent to the official KiwiChi account for those who pass the qualifiers. The guidance for the 1024-person one-on-one tournament starting tomorrow will be delivered via the KiwiChi account, so be sure to add it as a friend!”

After the announcement was over, I crossed my arms and called Kang Ho-yun, who was sitting next to me and listening.

KING: Are we live?

Mr. One-Man Show: No. I disconnected earlier for security reasons.

KING: I’m curious about the matchups; can you reveal them early?

Mr. One-Man Show: Yeah, you should stay as far away as you can.

KING: You don’t like me?

As I playfully tapped his arm, someone approached and called my name.

“Mr. Yooihyun.”

At that moment, I almost turned my head, but if I fell for such shallow tricks, I would be the amateur.

Those who can confirm all kinds of signs while racing at 350 km/h and deal with unexpected situations are precisely F1 drivers.

I pretended not to be Yooihyun and acted perfectly.

But the problem wasn’t me.

Kang Ho-yun was there.

Kang Ho-yun instinctively turned his head, and standing before him was the team manager and driver Yoo Seon-jin.

“Oh… it’s you, Seon-jin?”

“What a coincidence to see you here.”

Kang Ho-yun realized he made a mistake, and cautiously glanced at me before stepping aside.

In the end, only Yoo Seon-jin and I were left in this space.

I deliberately chose not to speak.

There was nothing in particular to say, and the situation was not pleasant for me.

Speculating about my identity wasn’t something I needed to meddle in.

Curiosity is a human instinct, and I was aware of it, so I chose to keep my information private to stir curiosity.

However, this surpassed mere speculation; it was an obsession, bordering on stalking.

I could leave the scene, but since Yoo Seon-jin was certain that I was Yooihyun, we would eventually have to face each other.

I turned my body to face him.

Yoo Seon-jin looked down at me with a nonchalant expression and opened his mouth.

“ KING. You’re Yooihyun, right?”

He’s using informal language when I’m meeting him for the first time…

“Yes, I am, but could you drop the informality?”

“……”

As I took a tough stance, Yoo Seon-jin flinched, but soon met my gaze.

How long have I been in F1?

How dare a clueless guy speak to a three-time champion like that?

The part of me that could be labeled an old-timer began to rise within.