[TS] Formula One Streamer - Chapter 36

Shu-wah!!!

Kang Ho-yun’s race car was smoothly weaving across the circuit.

A different sensation than usual, a feeling as if both body and mind had opened up to a higher dimension.

The hard-to-feel limits of critical braking and the tire grip were vividly felt throughout his body.

Entering and exiting corners had unknowingly become much faster.

‘What’s going on…?’

His opponent, New Age, could still be seen far behind on the mini-map.

Choosing SS tires in order to contest fiercely from the get-go, Kang Ho-yun was leading by maintaining a 3-second gap over New Age for 5 laps.

[Why are you doing so well today?]

[Did you practice intensely on the Basel Circuit?]

[I didn’t honestly expect much with such a big ranking difference, but you’re leading by 3 seconds.]

[Hey dude;;; Did you get a tutor or something?]

[You really changed overnight. It’s only been a week since your slump, haha.]

[Oppa, I love you!]

He wasn’t completely oblivious.

Having come through the 1024, 512, and 256 rounds to reach the top 128, he vaguely understood that his skills had improved dramatically.

However, those three races had been against opponents of similar or slightly lower skill, so he couldn’t feel the change significantly.

But now, facing the thirteen-year-old F1 genius ranked around 200, known as a promising talent.

He had easily left New Age, who was above 300 in ranking, behind and gained confidence in his growth and abilities.

“Racing is going well today.”

Though he could grow thanks to Mr. Yooihyun, he condensed it into the phrase that his racing was performing well, without revealing his relationship with KING.

It was an event he could point to as one of the highlights of the entire One Man Show broadcast, so he couldn’t disclose it that way.

Moreover, since the person involved had something planned, he should wait.

Kang Ho-yun shook off his distracting thoughts and focused on racing.

Clank-!

【DRS Activation】

As he turned through a gentle high-speed corner with DRS activated, he suddenly had such thoughts.

Why was the opponent so easy?

Although Kang Ho-yun’s driving technique had improved dramatically, New Age was by no means an easy opponent.

Currently ranked in the late 200s, but with a personal best in the low 100s, he was a gifted and skilled Jammin, or rather, a user.

Clearly, whether behind or ahead, there should be a sense of pressure or intimidation when overtaking.

That’s normally how it should be…

‘I can lead until the end!’

He felt nothing of his presence, just the certainty that he could maintain first place until the end.

Waahhh!!!

【326km/h】

Soon, New Age completely vanished from his mind, and he found the answers to his certainty and doubts.

Mr. Yooihyun, KING.

Once you experience her, you become incapable of feeling any tension against ordinary opponents.

What could one say?

Unforgettable once tasted?

Once tasted, nothing else satisfies?

’My body is itching…’

Whatever it was, Kang Ho-yun was fully trained under Yooihyun’s harsh teachings.

***

What is a race?

It can be adorned with various phrases and described glamorously, but at its essence, it is a competition between racers.

The goal was to run faster than others and lift the trophy, so one could say the ultimate goal of racing is to be the fastest.

In that sense, Yooihyun could be considered the fastest driver and the one closest to that goal.

[We’re making a pit stop. The speed limit is 80km/h. Please choose your tire.]

“Switch to C4.”

As soon as she came to a stop in the pit, her race car discarded its worn-out shoes and changed into new ones.

Vroom-!!!

Her race car, which had swapped from SS to S tires as planned before the race, exited the pit with its fresh tires.

Name / Time / Laps

① Sexyback 1:10:448 18/66

② KING 1:07:566 18/66

Tire change on lap 18.

Though ranked second, Sexyback was still out on the track without a pit stop.

Since he had also mounted SS tires, he would soon have to pit.

When Yooihyun returned to the track, the front was beautifully clear of clean aero.

In a 1-on-1 situation with their pit-in timing staggered, as long as neither hit an incident, it was almost like practice running until the checker flag.

3 seconds per lap. More precisely, 2.882 seconds.

If this gap continued for 66 laps, it would become an astonishing gap of 190.212 seconds.

That’s a staggering 3 minutes and over 10 seconds.

Rounding it off, that meant a difference of nearly 3 laps.

In F1, what seems like an insignificant 1- or 2-second gap can create a massive divergence in results.

“Frequent podium visitor, thank you for your 100,000 won donation. You want me to change the timing for activating DRS in the corner? I’ll give it a try.”

“Slow if 2nd lane, thank you for your 300,000 won donation. You requested to keep DRS activated for a lap; I’ll start that from the next lap.”

Having practically secured victory, Yooihyun read the chat room and reacted to the donations, conducting her experimental race with a very relaxed state of mind.

The focus of this race was utilizing DRS.

Yooihyun repeatedly activated and deactivated DRS in the corners based on the demands of the viewers and her experimental spirit while completing laps.

Click! Click! Click!…

DRS was activated and deactivated countless times.

With the button pressed non-stop, her thumb was nearing numbness.

[What are you doing, Teacher? Are you really doing that?]

[Wow, her reactions are solid.]

[Lol, the system message is hilarious!]

[Heh… activating mechanical torture ON.]

[But is it true that despite doing this, her lap time isn’t dropping?]

[Only KING could pull off such a thing in a competition.]

“It’s not completely pointless.”

While it might seem meaningless to others, it wasn’t entirely so.

Every time she made reckless attempts with DRS, she achieved unexpected lap time reductions.

Results that would not have been realized if she had simply stuck to her normal routine were acquired through her actions, and the information gained from those actions was stored in her mind.

So, at the corner entry, DRS was best turned off, and whether to turn it on or off depending on which point she was at in the corners, the data was accumulating.

Thus, the new data collected merged with the existing knowledge in Yooihyun’s mind, creating faster driving techniques.

“You guys should try it in practice mode as well. Knowing it in your head and feeling it in your body are different. You only know by doing, you know?”

Yooihyun, KING thought.

Utilizing DRS is indeed the most important feature that distinguishes skill in For One.

There are countless variables in the game of For One.

Weather, track surface, accidents, pit stops, and the tendencies of other drivers.

However, once you exclude uncontrollable variables, the number goes down drastically.

No, it would not be an exaggeration to say only one remains.

That is, of course, the race car.

Even there, since driving techniques vary according to drivers, DRS can be considered the only remaining variable.

While it might be a minor boost, this feature, which raises the average speed of the vehicle, becomes limitless in its potential once the restrictions on its use are lifted.

Originally designated for use only on straight tracks, DRS could now be used where desired, so just how helpful would it be for reducing lap times?

Yet, surprisingly, the lifting of DRS usage restrictions did not lead to significant disparities.

“It is difficult to use…”

That was because of the corners.

In corners, tire grip and chassis downforce are crucial, so turning on DRS in a corner or in the rain is said to be madness.

However, that was only madness because it’s uncontrollable.

If it could be controlled by driver skill, it would mean starting the race with a race car 15-20 km/h faster than others.

The point of departure is entirely different.

And there was a driver here who was confident in being able to make that happen.

KING.

If he decided to become the king of F1, should he not be above all things F1, whether driver or system?

“If I do a bit more, it might be useful?”

While Yooihyun had now taken the lead, she did not notice that fact.

She was simply engrossed in the realization that she had opened a new world with DRS.

***

‘Don’t be nervous…’

A master recognizes a master, and America’s representative Sexyback, Chris Bauer, prepared himself meticulously for the match against KING.

The unobservant rankers often overlooked and underestimated KING.

However, occupying a respectable position in For One at 53rd, Chris viewed KING as a monster curled up at the 1000th rank.

Whether that was KING’s real account or not, leaving such details aside, KING was on a unique path.

His driving was both challenging and stable, passive yet bold, and there was no one to whom it could be compared.

His ever-changing driving was truly flawless.

KING was the one who seemed to embody the strengths of the current strongest, Lewis Hamilton, and Max Verstappen.

Chris Bauer thought that KING would carve a name in the history of For One and F1.

“Nice to meet you. I am Chris Bauer, the American representative.”

“Ah, hello. You’re quite polite. I’m KING. Looking forward to working with you too.”

Chris originally had no desire to win.

Or rather, it would be more accurate to say he didn’t even think about it because he believed he couldn’t win.

Thus, in this race, his goal was to finish in under 2 laps.

Though far too humble for someone ranked 53rd in the national team, it was indeed a realistic goal.

Bang!

⚫ ⚫ ⚫ ⚫ ⚫

Vroom!!!

When the race started, KING launched off with an insane response time.

Chris also started relatively fast, but KING had already surged to the forefront, blocking the way.

The pressure he felt was something he had never experienced from other F1 racers, including Hamilton and Verstappen.

Chris felt a thrilling tension, believing he wouldn’t be able to break through that formidable shield.

No, he felt a strong certainty that his spear wouldn’t even touch that shield.

“What the f*ck…”

Faced directly with KING, the gap between them was exponentially more palpable than he’d imagined.

In that single moment, Chris Bauer sensed the sheer enormity of the gap between them and quietly groaned.