Time continued passing as the preliminaries progressed.
After observing every batch of racers, I noticed a pattern—at least one or two competitors in each round resorted to underhanded tactics just to gain an edge.
If this trend continued, it meant we would likely face at least one dirty fighter in our block as well.
That was, without a doubt, a risk we had no choice but to confront head-on.
[13th block, Racer No. 78, please stand by in your vehicle and await further instructions.]
"Oh, looks like it’s our turn now," Eva muttered, standing up and stretching.
We had been watching the races for over six hours, after all. Cassandra followed suit, though I couldn’t help but notice her fingers trembling slightly.
She must be nervous.
I walked over and patted her shoulder firmly, making her jump in surprise.
"Don’t worry! As long as you do just as we practiced, first place is in the bag!"
"I-I-If Arthur says that, then..." she whispered, though her tone lacked confidence.
Managing the mental states of NPCs wasn’t difficult in TSO, but... I guess since this is reality, things weren’t as simple as they were back in the game.
"Well, if you don’t trust yourself, then at least trust my judgment. We’ll win!"
"Y-Yes...!"
This is tough... Well, if she clinches even one victory, her confidence will surely grow. Yeah, let’s start with that.
"Enough flirting, you two," Eva interjected, arms crossed with her usual unamused expression.
"Or rather, Arthur. You said you had a plan to win this preliminary round easily, but... it’s not just about getting the map early and practicing with it, right?"
"Ah..."
Judging by her tone, she had already convinced herself that I got hold of the map data through illegal means. Not that it mattered anymore.
"Of course, I have a plan." I grinned. "But I’ll tell you when we’re on the track itself. Don’t worry, it’s nothing difficult."
"This isn’t one of your so-called Oh-So-Great plans, right?" But Eva’s suspicion remained.
Well, rather than a plan, it was more of a trick, actually. So there really shouldn’t be any trouble.
I shrugged, dismissing her concern casually. "I’d rather you worry about cheaters pulling tricks on us during the race."
"...Well, that’s also true."
"Huh?"
Eva... backed down easily? Will it rain asteroids tomorrow?!
"Hey, you bastard! You were thinking something rude just now, weren’t you?!"
"I wasn’t. And even if I was, you have no proof~!"
"W-Well, you two. Let’s change into official wear first, or we’ll be late for roll call..."
With some lighthearted banter, we started preparing for the first test we needed to face: the Preliminary Race.
---
A few dozen minutes later, we were finally at the starting line.
Since we were the last to register, our number was 78, placing us at the far right of the track. To our left were five other ships, each shaped beautifully, as if crafted purely for racing.
"C-Can we really beat those ships...?" Cassandra, seeing the sleek, aerodynamic designs of our opponents, looked disheartened.
But there was no reason for her to worry. The look or shape of a ship didn’t matter much—only the center of gravity, maximum turning speed, and thruster strength did.
"You’ve seen the previous races, haven’t you?" I spoke from behind, trying to reassure her. "No matter how good their ships look, they can’t even break past the four-minute mark. We’ve got this in the bag, believe me."
"That’s right. Casey, just remember what you practiced, and we will win. We’ll show those bastards that looks don’t matter...!"
Ah... Eva definitely still held a grudge against the guy who called her ship "trash."
{To think the trash ship is racing with me. I guess that’s one less rival to worry about!}
"...!"
As if to remind us of his presence, a voice echoed through the ship’s comms—on a public channel, of course. It hadn’t been that long for us to forget his distinctive tone, so we immediately knew who it was.
Turning to the left, right beside our ship, was a golden vessel.
It looked expensive, bearing the logo of an apple with two leaves. Without a doubt, this was the representative racer of Eden Company—the bastard who clashed with Eva before.
"Man... Still haven’t had enough?" I was bored anyway, so I responded quickly. "I already saved you from embarrassment, and you’re still coming at us? Are you a masochist?"
{Bastard...! I was just caught off guard! In this race, I’ll crush you for good!}
"This isn’t even the race yet, just the preliminaries... And I doubt you can."
At that moment, another voice cut in—cold, devoid of emotion.
"Unlike you, who’s driving an expensive-looking coffin, ours is a real Frigate. Pick fights, and my hand might slip, putting a new breathing hole through your forehead..."
...That wasn’t a taunt. That was a straight-up death threat.
Well, it was just a bluff. All the turrets on Eva’s Hunter Frigate had been removed for "safety" reasons, after all—
*CLANK!*
"..."
{...}
This girl... seriously?! She’s not joking at all!
"A-Anyway, there you have it, Mr. Eden’s representative! If you cherish your life, please don’t mess with the sleeping lion..." I warned him one last time before cutting the comms.
Well, with Eva’s "demonstration," he should’ve realized that messing with us was a fool’s errand. If he still didn’t get it and tried something... then I could only pray for his masochistic soul.
[Racers, on your mark!] Stay tuned to freewebnovel
A minute later, the announcer’s voice echoed through the speakers.
[The 13th Batch of the Aegis Grand Prix Preliminaries... Begins!]
The moment the green light flooded our screens, all the racers floored it, their ships roaring forward in an attempt to outpace their competitors—even though this was still their trial run.
"Backing up~!"
And us?
We did the complete opposite. Instead of rushing ahead, we threw the ship into reverse, backing away from the starting line. After all, the more space we had for acceleration, the higher our initial speed would be.
There was no need to rush. The official timer for the preliminaries is measured individually, not as a whole, and it wouldn’t start until we crossed the checkered loop just past the starting line.
For about a minute, we continued backing up, retreating all the way to the curve leading into the final straight—an open stretch of about three kilometers leading to the finish line.
"W-Will this really be fine?" Cassandra asked hesitantly, eyes darting between the track and me. "We’re not breaking any rules, are we...?"
"It’s fine, it’s fine." I waved her worries away. "There’s no rule against it, so they can’t do anything about it. The preliminaries are pretty lax, anyway."
That’s right. The rules were so lenient that even taking "shortcuts" wouldn’t count as cheating—not in the game, at least. But now that this was reality, I had to be careful. If I blatantly broke the rules, we might get banned immediately.
So instead, I opted for a different, perfectly legal strategy.
Step one: Back up to the farthest point of the final stretch, creating as much acceleration space as possible.
Step two: A bold decision I had a hard time convincing Cassandra to agree to—
"We’ll skip all three trial runs!"
And finally, the most crucial part—
"Run like the wind! Don’t mind the other racers!"
By waiting a full minute before starting, we’d be nowhere near the other racers. No competition, no obstacles, just pure speed.
"Eva!" I called out to her, our ship’s navigator.
"No problem. The other racers are already hundreds of kilometers ahead. We’re in the clear."
"Good." I nodded in satisfaction. "Then, Casey, start whenever you’re ready!"
"Y-Yes...!"
Cassandra took a deep breath to steady herself, then tightened her grip on the control stick. A second later, she slammed the pedal to the floor without hesitation.
"Ugh...!"
Even with our suits dampening the inertia, the force of the acceleration hit like a truck. The entire three-kilometer stretch was gone in a blink, and we shot through the checkered loop—officially starting our timer.
"Pacing is good! Relax and remember your training!" I encouraged. Not like I had much else to do.
Eva handled navigation, monitoring the positions of the other racers. Cassandra was fully focused on piloting. And as the Mechanic... I found myself with nothing to do—
*BEEP!* *BEEP!* *BEEP!*
Sirens blared suddenly, and red warning lights flashed across the cockpit.
Cassandra, already trained for high-pressure situations, didn’t even flinch. Her grip remained steady on the controls, her gaze locked onto the track ahead. What a good girl!
Still, the problem remained.
"They really went and tried it...!"
This was exactly the situation I had prepared for. During the wait before our turn, I had set up an alert system for a very specific "cheat"—one that could take us out of the race entirely.
A cheat that would detonate our main thruster.
What? The other racers weren’t even close, so how could they pull something like that?
Simple. It wasn’t the racers themselves—it was the massive corporations backing them.
’And judging by this intensity... I guess our initial burst shocked them. Multiple companies must’ve decided we needed to be eliminated—fast.’
The method was straightforward.
They used long-range infrared weapons to strike the thrusters, triggering an explosion. A ridiculously simple yet effective trick. Racers hit by this attack wouldn’t even realize what happened until their ships broke down mid-race.
Fortunately, my alert system detected the targeting signals, warning me before disaster could strike.
"Focus on the race! Leave defenses to me!" I called out, cracking my knuckles before furiously hammering away at the virtual keyboards.
Since the lock-on signals were active, pinpointing the attackers was child’s play. I quickly hacked into their mainframes and left them a little "gift."
One down.
Another.
A third.
By the fourth, the sirens in our cockpit were finally silenced.
"Phew... Serves you right!"
What did I do? Nothing too complicated. I wiped their entire systems clean—nuked their mainframes beyond recovery. Right now, their entire operating systems were probably deleted ten times over.
In other words, their ships—including their weapons—were now completely uncontrollable, their systems unrecoverable!
What? This isn’t a Mechanic’s job, but a hacker’s?
Nope. I’m a Mechanic who just prevented the need for repairs before they even happened!
With all distractions eliminated, Cassandra was able to concentrate entirely on the race. Her nerves sharpened her focus, pushing her to go beyond our usual practice speeds.
And just like that—
The 𝘮ost uptodat𝑒 novels are pub𝙡ished on freeweɓnovēl.coɱ.
3 minutes and 21 seconds.
We had just set the fastest lap record for the entire race.