Chapter 46 - 10: He Reclaimed First Place

Chapter 46: Chapter 10: He Reclaimed First Place

The moment the curse left Wu Shi’s lips, his eyes instinctively widened.

Any driver with F1 experience knows that front-to-rear collisions aren’t the scary part. What’s terrifying is losing control, ending up sideways on the track, and getting T-boned by the rest of the field.

Karts aren’t as fast, but side impacts are still extremely dangerous.

The moment he realized this, without a second thought, he slammed on the accelerator. The rear-wheel torque surged, and the tires instantly lost their grip on the wet ground.

HSSSSSS!

In the nick of time, the entire kart drifted, its nose now aimed straight at the charging opponent.

BANG!

The instant the karts collided, Wu Shi felt a wave of dizziness.

Perhaps it was due to the profound connection he shared with his kart, but it felt as if he himself had been hit. Dizziness washed over him, his vision swam, and he momentarily lost control of the vehicle.

Under the force of the impact, the entire kart swerved left and right before coming to rest sideways across the track.

WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

Just two seconds later, the karts from behind that had survived the accident overtook him one by one.

By the time his head cleared, he was in 24th place. The kart’s front bumper had also fallen off.

’The chassis is slightly deformed. Good thing it was a 100% head-on collision; the force was transmitted through the bodywork and absorbed by the chassis rails. It’s minor, but it’s still drivable.’

Thankfully, the 60MINI series karts this year weren’t the push-start kind, so they were equipped with a simple clutch.

He had already pulled the clutch lever during the impact, which would prevent damage to the direct-drive engine.

"It’s over. He’s going to have to retire," Seth sighed.

Everyone on the team looked crestfallen, feeling even worse than if they had lost several championships.

After all, this was a perfect championship season on the line! Before Wu Shi, no other driver had ever achieved this honor.

"No, Wu Shi is moving again!"

Louise had excellent eyesight. Once a race started, her gaze never left that kart.

"He’s really moving! Can he still drive it?"

Unfortunately, karting events don’t have team radios, or else everyone on the team would have wanted to ask him that exact question.

Sitting in the kart, Wu Shi took a moment to feel it out with his entire being. No problem. He could still go.

He glanced at car number 378, now sitting in the grass. The guy’s engine had stalled—he probably hadn’t disengaged the clutch during the collision, allowing the force from the wheels to travel back to the engine.

But whatever the reason that person had for plowing straight into him, now wasn’t the time to think about it. He had to give chase.

WHOOSH!

The kart shot off once more.

"Incredible! He’s managed to get the vehicle moving again," the announcer said, clearly astonished.

"Yes, he’s chosen to finish the race. That’s a true racer for you," the guest commentator added with praise.

"His persistence is certainly commendable, staying on the track after an accident that cost him his entire advantage. But the championship has already slipped away. He’s lost his chance to set a new record," said the announcer.

In racing, no record can be set by sheer skill alone. Sometimes you have bad luck, and it doesn’t matter if you’re from Mars or a cosmic being—you still have to bow to fate.

And Wu Shi had just barely escaped that fate.

As the kart started moving, a CLANKING sound revealed that it had, in fact, been damaged in the collision.

An ordinary driver would already be having second thoughts. ’Is there any point in continuing this race? It’ll probably just break down halfway. I’d be better off returning to the pits now and saving some money on repairs.’

But Wu Shi was different. After a moment of sensing the vehicle, he reached a conclusion: ’It can finish the race. No problem.’

So, let the charge begin!

Wu Shi’s kart tore through the curtain of rain, dancing on the edge of slipping and stability. It was like watching a waltz on the wet, slippery track; yet every time it seemed about to lose control, the vehicle, as if it had grown hands, always managed to pull itself back on course.

This bizarre visual spectacle left many in the audience shouting in disbelief.

Relying on this absolutely on-the-limit driving style, he quickly caught up to the drivers ahead.

How do you overtake in the rain?

Wu Shi’s answer was simple: exploit your opponent’s fear of losing grip, and pass them in the corners!

After all, these were drivers from the MINI category. They didn’t have much experience with wet races, and their cornering was surprisingly slow.

"Good heavens! It’s only been a few laps, and he’s already back in the top ten!" the announcer cried in disbelief.

"His car control in the corners is incredible! Is he completely unafraid of sliding?!" The guest commentator was also losing his composure. "That is not a normal way to drive!"

"Bro, you’re crazier than I am in a f*cking simulator!" a spectator yelled, repeatedly running his hands through his wet hair.

None of this, be it disbelief or admiration, could reach Wu Shi.

He only knew that beyond his rain-spattered visor, there were still cars ahead of him.

The race was only nine laps long, leaving little time to build up an attack. Whenever Wu Shi saw an opening, he would just throw his kart into it.

His moves were a bit like torpedoes, but the other drivers were so focused on maintaining control that their cornering speeds were incredibly slow. He wasn’t worried about causing any issues.

SCRAPE!

Wu Shi’s kart scraped against his opponent’s sidepod. By the time the sound faded, the overtake was complete.

In just the few tenths of a second it took to exit the corner, he had already pulled out a gap.

"Why is he so fast? Don’t the drivers in front know to defend a little?" the announcer asked.

"The timing of his moves is incredibly tricky. The other drivers are struggling just to control their karts through the corner, so they’re unable to squeeze his racing line. Naturally, that means they can’t defend," the guest commentator said.

"But why is he so agile in the corners?" the announcer asked.

"Didn’t you see? His vehicle actually shows a tendency to slide, but he always stabilizes it by controlling the throttle and steering. It’s because of these minute adjustments that he’s able to do these things mid-corner, but..."

The guest commentator paused in thought for a long moment before slowly continuing, "I’ve never seen anyone control a kart like this. It’s as if he knows the precise moment it’s about to lose control and the precise moment it regains grip. It’s... it’s almost like he himself is running on the track."

The announcer heard this analysis and didn’t reply, because in those ten-odd seconds, Wu Shi had already climbed to fifth place.

"Could it be that even an accident can’t stop him from winning?" the announcer murmured.

And that was indeed the case. A race in the rain places a greater emphasis on a driver’s abilities, and it also makes the differences in those abilities much clearer.

Don’t talk about being afraid to make a move because the track is too slippery. In a race, being afraid to act is the same as being unable to act. It means your skill simply isn’t at that level.

SWISH! SWISH!

Over the next three laps, the four drivers ahead were utterly unable to mount an effective defense.

If they tried, they would be forced off their intended racing line. The speed they could carry on a new line was a major unknown, so to avoid losing control, their only option was to slow down.

And slowing down once only made them slower.

Losing your rhythm in the rain is fatal!

"He’s back in the lead." The announcer didn’t sound particularly excited.

The guest commentator felt the same. It wasn’t that Wu Shi’s overtakes weren’t spectacular or his performance wasn’t outstanding. Rather, they were both pondering just how big of a gap in skill existed between Wu Shi and these other drivers for him to be able to carve his way back to first place with such ease.