[TS] Formula One Streamer - Chapter 78
“I will give you time until tomorrow. I will be staying at a hotel nearby, so please contact me. Be sure to check what I mentioned.”
As Minoto and his secretary left the shabby workshop, Enrique continued to glance over the contract he received.
Ferrari, even with my eyes washed clean, it’s still Ferrari.
While the glory may have faded, the name Ferrari, which will never be forgotten in F1 history, was definitely written on the contract.
“Does this make sense? This can’t be real, right?”
Enrique’s heart raced like the engine of a race car.
Just a moment ago, he had responded unkindly to the proposal for scouting, but it was inevitable that any car enthusiast would feel excitement at the name Ferrari.
Moreover, even though Enrique didn’t enjoy F1 or For One, he respected Ferrari as an automobile brand regardless of his feelings towards it in F1.
“How can I not join? I have no choice but to join…”
Given that the company making the proposal was Ferrari, his joining was practically predetermined.
And the seat he was offered was not in the department for designing and producing Ferrari’s production vehicles, but in F1, indeed, F1.
That place, where astronomical amounts of money are poured into making the most powerful engines without regard for efficiency.
F1.
Creating the best engine to secure victory on the circuit where the world’s best drivers compete is not just Enrique’s dream.
There isn’t an engineer who doesn’t imagine their race car tearing through the circuit with overwhelming performance.
For Enrique, who had been longing for change, the opportunity to enter F1 couldn’t have been more dramatic.
“By the way, was it KING? That’s a name I’ve never heard before…”
Ironically, although he loved cars, Enrique was obsessed more with design and production than driving, so he didn’t follow F1 or For One.
Of course, he didn’t think driving was without value.
The pinnacle of mechanical engineering based on precise calculations and design.
The meshing of gears, the connection of technologies, it is the engine that suggests the extremity of human civilization at this era that captured his mind.
“KING, huh… For a rookie, that name is quite cocky.”
Enrique took out his phone, thinking, how great can a driver be? and searched for KING at Minoto’s request.
The first thing that popped up was a name boasting a record that was hard to believe was from an ordinary person.
[KING]
Real Name: Yooihyun (Ordinary person)
Date of Birth: 13.10.21
Place of Birth: Korea
<Achievements>
2nd in the 5th KiwiChi 1-on-1 Tournament (VS Max Verstappen).
Received the checker flag in a race against Daniel Ricciardo.
Received the checker flag in a race against Lando Norris.
Received the checker flag in a race against Charles Leclerc.
Achieved shortest period for F2 in ranking matches.
Longest consecutive wins in ranking matches (56 races).
Fled during a personal broadcast right after the KiwiChi Finals.
<Career>
31st season Ferrari Second Driver (Upcoming)
“Wow, d*mn. Look at those impressive achievements.”
Seeing her profile, Enrique couldn’t hide his admiration.
Although the content was short since she was just about to make her debut, each of her achievements was truly remarkable.
The fact that she defeated a current driver one-on-one was written in such a humble line that it barely lessened the shock.
“What do you mean an ordinary person beating a UFC fighter?”
It was as if an ordinary person defeated a UFC fighter under UFC rules.
With both disbelief and growing anticipation, Enrique immediately opened BellTube and began watching all her videos.
[KING 70th Ranking Match: Netherlands Circuit Zandvoort]
[KING 113th Ranking Match: Brazil José Carlos Pace Circuit]
[KING VS Max Verstappen]
[KING VS Daniel Ricciardo]
[KING VS Lando Norris]
[KING VS Core Geek]
From videos of the KiwiChi tournament to ranking match videos, every one of them was listed.
Enrique first played the 30-minute highlight video that was edited from the tournament.
“What the hell, why is the highlight 30 minutes long?”
Half in doubt, he played the video and didn’t realize when the 30 minutes had passed until it ended.
And the next video, then the next, and the next…
Continuously, the videos kept coming.
Initially intending to only watch the race highlights, he soon found himself watching everything from the formation lap to the checker flag.
He discovered that he was watching a single match without skipping anything.
Enrique was completely captivated by her driving.
By the time he came to his senses, it was night.
“Wow… she really is good. Is that why she was recruited by Ferrari?”
Even Enrique, who was not well-versed in driving, found KING’s driving to be incredibly precise and mechanical.
Not just one lap, but every lap from start to finish was consistent.
No, rather, it would be right to say that as the laps went on, she became more precise, more accurate, and faster.
“Can it be that she’s this pretty too? Life is really unfair.”
In addition to her insane driving technique and sense, KING was also beautiful.
A lovely girl with the skills to compete with the world’s top drivers.
Even though she had no interest in the world, it was still amazing to him that he hadn’t known about KING until now.
* * *
Vroom-!!!
The pink race car shot out fiercely onto the circuit.
The scenery was changing rapidly at that incredible speed, urgently signaling that the next corner was approaching.
Before entering the corner, the driver in the pink helmet began to decelerate and twisted the steering wheel hard.
The carbon brakes began to burn as the race car rapidly slowed down and began to turn!
Bang!
However, contrary to entering confidently, whether it was from miscalculating the threshold or due to lack of driving technique, the tires locked up, lost grip, and the race car collided with the fence.
Boom!
“Ah…! d*mn it! Why is this not working?”
From the race car that was producing white smoke, the driver pulled out the steering wheel and hurled it away, squeezing out from the halo.
When the helmet was removed, brown shoulder-length hair fluttered.
After a while of cursing while staring at the deep tire marks engraved on the track, the driver was Lee Haeri, streamer Haerari.
[Hahaha, of course it didn’t work, hahaha]
[Haeri-chan… stop now. You’ve done enough]
[You should either decelerate earlier or hit the brakes harder; one of those two needs to happen]
[Why are you threshold braking when you have no feel at all?]
[I’m doing it because I have no feel, you fool. Go Haeri-nuna!]
[What sin is KING teaching a streamer who can’t get it right even after a hundred tries?]
[Since it didn’t work, Haerari’s quitting and going straight to Lee Haeri’s stream]
[Seriously, how can this guy be in F5?]
[Being in F5 is already a blessing]
[What kind of world exists below F5…?]
[KING, declaration of abandonment of Haerari’s education two hours ago]
[Haeri-nuna, I’m teaching you, you know? All good]
[Shut up, you Jammin brat]
[LOL]
“d*mn it… replay corner number one.”
[Replaying corner number one.]
Haeri began looking for problems in the video as it replayed from the entrance of the corner to the moment of the accident, but she couldn’t find anything at all.
Driving is like a product composed of numerous factors; unless there is a definite problem like a mechanical failure, it’s difficult to determine what went wrong.
Was the racing line of the race car wrong upon entering the corner?
Was the steering wheel’s angle insufficient or excessive?
Was the deceleration timing too slow, or was the pedal not pressed hard enough?
Was DRS turned off too late or too early?
Any of these could be the answer to the cause of the accident, yet any of them might not be.
“What’s the problem, really… Just a moment ago, it seemed fine until the apex. Am I right, everyone?”
She tried to seek agreement from the viewers, but all she received was mockery.
Haeri let out a sigh and slumped into her seat.
The circuit she was practicing on was the Paul Ricard Circuit in France.
Yeah.
The fact that Kang Ho-yun, One Man Show practiced at the same circuit was no coincidence.
As a streamer on the same platform playing the same game, Haerari had sought advice from Kang Ho-yun.
Haerari: “Ho-yun. Before we start today, I want to practice a bit; you learned from KING, right? How did you learn?”
One Man Show: “How I learned? Hmm… I wonder if that would be useful for you, nuna.”
Haerari: “Oh, stop beating around the bush and just say it.”
The answer that Haerari squeezed out of a hesitant Kang Ho-yun was quite different from what she had believed was a textbook way similar to KING’s first educational broadcast.
One Man Show: “It doesn’t matter what circuit it is, I just kept turning at corner 1 of Paul Ricard. Master threshold braking and trail braking. If I hit the wall, I start over from the beginning. Repeat.”
Kang Ho-yun’s answer was hard to believe as the kind of story that would come from KING, who provided such a high-level educational broadcast.
Haerari: “…? Is that really how it was? That’s it?”
One Man Show: “Yeah. Until it works.”
Yooihyun was shocked by that ridiculous training method but thought there must be a reason why KING, whom she admired so much, would have suggested that.
“Until it works… Right, until it works. Restart.”
Muttering the magical words of “until it works,” she continued to repeat this foolish method more than a hundred times.
[Resetting the race, restarting now.]
The race car, repaired to perfection, teleports to the grid along with Haerari.
Yooihyun climbed back into the cockpit.
Exhausted from counting, she couldn’t even remember what restart it was, yet she trusted KING and boarded the race car.
“Let’s see who wins, you b*stard.”
[Again?]
[Let her have her fun]
[LOL Who the hell is Haeri fighting?]
[Shadowboxing]
[Who else? Her boyfriend]
[d*mn, Haeri doesn’t have a boyfriend]
[I’ll acknowledge her tenacity. Truly KING of Seonggyeong University;]
[Yooihyun trait: Had she studied that hard, she would have entered Seonggyeong University! Doesn’t work on streamer rank 1]
[Haerari can’t beat her in passion]
[I don’t know about the details, but she’s definitely improving compared to before. Hang in there Yooihyun!]
[This is why I watch Haeri’s streams. Watching her keep crashing until she gets it right is entertaining]
[But she never gets it right, LOL]
Vroom-!!!
With the rough engine sound, the race car shot out.
The so-called practice of corner 1 at Paul Ricard, which began at 2 PM, could only really end at 8 PM, just when the educational broadcast began.
* * *
Lucky (All): “Good job, KING. Please save our Ferrari.”
Shining (All): “I’m welcoming KING too. Today is this.”
1N23456 (All): “Ferrari fighting! Yooihyun fighting! And Moto GP as well!”
KING (All): “Thank you.”
After finishing the ranking match, it was already nearing 8 PM.
“Time really flies.”
I felt the time flowing as fast as a race car while wrapping up today’s activities.
After exercising, I returned home to take a shower.
Towel-drying my hair, I prepared to observe and analyze last year’s 30th season F1 Grand Prix on BellTube.
With the spare time left before the event started, I squeezed in one or two ranking matches.
Doing this all day, there was never enough time.
“Ah, did I join the event for no reason… it’s tougher than I thought.”
Nothing was easy.
Exercise was demanding, analyzing last year’s Grand Prix took time, and I could only play a round or two of ranking matches in the little time left.
That’s why the least important Cheongchul Aram Event started to get on my nerves even before it began.
I opened my friend list, regretting the impulsive application.
[Haerari ●]
Yooihyun was already logged in and doing something in her private room.
What could she be doing that she wouldn’t even call me when I entered?
It’s not that I felt neglected or anything.
Her obsession with me was pathological, so it was just natural to be curious.
So, it was only natural for me to click the button to watch her stream.
The viewpoint switched to an overview of the entire circuit.
By its shape, it was the Paul Ricard Circuit.
The very stage where Kang Ho-yun practiced heavily.
Vroom!!!
Just starting her practice, the pink race car of Yooihyun took off from the grid.
As I watched to see how she would operate,
Crash!
Bang!
Crack!!!
“What the hell, why is she driving like this?”
I could only pray to God that this wasn’t a practice of crashing into a wall.