III
30: The Game Begins
III
I checked off the last day the moment I woke up.
It was now August 12th, and the clock was ticking.
In terms of tuning and simulations, there was no farther I could possibly go. I'd tweaked both the FC and all simulations including the 86 so much that I could go no further. All that was left to do was train on the downhill, because I did honestly need it.
I couldn't remember the last time I'd had a proper race. I did train with Keisuke on the downhill every night, but it wasn't enough. I hadn't raced anyone since I took the title of fastest in Gunma from Aisuke on Usui well over two years ago.
Smiling, I chuckled placing a hand on the hood of the FC.
I'd come so far, but I had a long way to go.
This victory over the 86 was only simulated. Only by using real data from the 86 as well as my knowledge of canon was I able to calculate my win. My victory was not assured, not until I properly got into fighting shape again with my FC.
Sure I was almost at LV 100, but again I hadn't raced in years.
I remembered those times I trained with Daito and Takihiro on the downhill. In the dawning days of my entrance into the world of street racing. No one knew who I was or what my FC could do. And now the ultimate test was about thirty-three days away.
Saturday, September 15th, would test me in every way imaginable.
I needed to make sure every aspect of my driving was ready. I needed to ensure my cornering and accelerator work was more than ready. While yes, I out leveled Takumi, he was an opponent unlike any other I'd faced. Aisuke Kano did in fact live testing out Nismo's cars, but he never trained like he did. Never with a cup of water, never with the level of precise tire control Bunta forced Takumi to exercise.
Ironically, all my memories of the 86 winning victory after victory both this year and in canon only reminded me of how fast he really was. Of how much tire control he had.
Only with the Gamer would I be able to achieve this.
As the cicadas sang their late summer songs, I entered the FC.
It was the middle of the daytime, but Akina pass wasn't closed just because of some sunlight.
III
I closed the door to the FC, looking around the peak. Akina's starting line for the downhill.
The water tower, the galleries that would be packed with people. The stage was about to be set.
Thirty-three days. That was all I had. Luckily, the Abyss did not abide by the same laws of time as mine did.
Despite it being broad daylight, the Abyss did not care, making it turn into a digital nighttime instantly.
The system greeted me like an old friend.
[Ryosuke Takahashi LV 98 Racer -
Current Course Records, Akina Pass: LV 90 Lancer Evolution III (None)
LV 90 BNR32 (None)
LV 90 FD3S (None)]
Keisuke was nearing LV 80, ironically a video game would provide a larger challenge than Keisuke.
I decided to go with the Lan Evo, and the Abyss spawned a light blue Evo III right behind me.
Its headlights glowing, I heard the engine roar beside me.
I looked downhill, revving my engine.
As the Evo shot down Akina's first downhill straightaway, I followed closely behind.
III
Roaring down the first straight, Ryosuke's FC hummed loudly behind the blue Evo III. Entering the first curve, Ryosuke saw how smoothly the car was able to transition into the curve. At full speed, its four-wheel drift was strong enough to maintain the lead easily.
Accelerating down the second straight, Ryosuke followed behind, observing quietly.
The 13B-Ts whirring together in his hood, the carburetor sang loudly as Ryosuke pressed the brakes to twin drift with the Evo.
Ryosuke changed gears while looking at the Evo's drift up close.
'I didn't imagine the Abyss could spawn NPCs this powerful. It's cornering speed is remarkable. I just have to follow at this pace. No matter how deadly that line is.'
During the next three corners of Akina's downhill, Ryosuke made sure to hold back the full potential of his tires during the high speed turns. He made the taillights of the FC glow as he backed the car up, the FC turning left and right to screech into the turns.
Clearing the rightward hairpin turn, Ryosuke flicked the back of the FC around the curve while drifting. The moment he regained control of the front tires, he released the pressure placed on them, not wanting to make them lose too much traction.
'What smooth acceleration. The Evo really does make full use of all four tires.'
In the long and wide left curve, Ryosuke used all four tires to grip the inside. His grip run was fast enough to keep up with the Evo but not overly excessive in the load on the front tires.
During the long straight, Ryosuke's horsepower disadvantage was mitigated by how well he maintained his central rotaries. Both B-Ts were whirring together in unison, and Ryosuke confidently maintained his speed keeping up with the Evo.
Ryosuke's memory proved as sharp as ever.
'Slow right followed by one of the sharpest left turns in the entire course. This is where would've blown Takumi blew Keisuke away with his inertia drift. It might be tricky, but I think I know how to replicate something similar.'
As Ryosuke left the right hand turn, he moved forward, not braking for the upcoming turn.
The FC's rotary system whirred loudly as Ryosuke accelerated. At full speed, the front tires of the FC slipped completely, allowing Ryosuke to make the FC face the inside and nearly pass the Evo from how fast the resulting corner was. He let go of the accelerator the moment the left hand corner ended and shifted quickly. The FC's gearbox responded instantly, and Ryosuke was able to accelerate downhill just as he needed.
As he did so, the FC stuck to the Evo's tail like glue.
Ryosuke nodded silently.
'Perfect. And it didn't take a single hit to the front tires grip according to the Gamer.'
He changed gears for the next high-speed hairpin, a sharp right.
'Turning like this would take a toll on any front tires.' Ryosuke thought as he cornered behind the Evo. 'But my tire management skill is only at LV 60. If I want it to match Takumi's I need to keep cornering this fast while raising it to at least LV 90.'
On the straightaway leading up to the sharp rightward L hairpin, Ryosuke again would've been lost but lost no speed from how well-tuned his FC was.
Eventually, Ryosuke realized his win was assured. While the Evo was fast enough to keep Ryosuke on his toes, because the driver wasn't human, its line choices were largely predictable.
After about five more hairpins, Ryosuke completely read the NPCs style and reacted accordingly.
Before the matching L turns, Ryosuke changed gears, using the brake pedals to drift at a high enough speed to pass the Evo. Knowing the Evo needed to complete its turn before reacting to the overtake, Ryosuke had already upshifted and was accelerating downhill.
The rest of the race, Ryosuke easily predicted each attack the Evo would make before it happened.
III
I had properly leveled up tire management to around LV 65 when the battle was finished. As I sat quietly in the Abyss back on Akina's peak, I strategized on just how to prepare for the race with Takumi in every way possible.
First, tire management would be very important for this race. But I couldn't neglect shifting and acceleration. Luckily my skill for both were nearing 100 as I had nearly maxed out at LV 100 overall, but still, there were other factors to account for. Things that simply wouldn't happen in a normal race could easily give Takumi the advantage.
If a component failed, it would alter the simulation. If the condition of the road changed at all, it would alter the simulation. And if I spontaneously decided to feel nauseous it would alter the simulation.
Takumi was indeed a skilled driver. At the outset of the anime, only a few other racers could be argued were better than him. Among which was myself most prominently. However when facing racers who were far better than him such as myself, Kyoichi Sudo, God Hand Joshima, and even Shinji Inui really strange things happened.
The first to suffer this was myself, after I somehow forgot to account for the cost of hard drifting on front tires.
Then Kyoichi Sudo managed to beat Takumi but because his engine was blown it was labeled a tie.
Then Joshima was so sick he had to pull over and get out of his S2000 to vomit instead of vomiting in his lap.
In all, whenever it seemed like Takumi was going to lose, meaning that it was clear he was outmatched. Something really strange would instantly change in his favor.
As unlikely as it seemed, many things could happen without warning when we raced and my front tires still held strong.
The first was that one of the five separate primary intercooler pins could randomly overheat. While both B-T 1 and 2 were well maintained enough to weather the storm, I would need to avoid pushing the car above 6000 RPMs to avoid complete engine combustion. This wouldn't be a crippling handicap by any measure but would hamper the amount of time I would have to let the central rotaries stay much cooler than I needed them to be. And this was one of the few calculable variables I hadn't fully accounted for in this race.
Takumi drove his 86 up and down Akina no matter the conditions of the road, rain, snow, if there were tree branches or anything else covering the road. Even if he was sick, Bunta made him get up in the morning and deliver anyway.
While I certainly mastered racing under normal conditions, abnormal conditions on the Red Suns fell to racers like Kenta or Aisuke who were much more used to things like rain or especially car malfunctions as a test driver for Nismo in Aisuke's case.
This meant that if anything out of the ordinary occurred, Takumi would instantly gain an advantage.
For our race, I would only have to worry about obstacles in the road like other cars or anything else if I was leading. Which I would the moment Takumi over-accelerated from nervousness exactly during the matching L turns at the end of Akina's third downhill section. So obstacles would really be a problem for the last third of the race.
Cars only appeared in canon during the First Stage during Takumi and Mako's race. Mako was lucky enough to have Sayuki spot the oncoming car as Sayuki wasn't driving and didn't have to worry about it. Takumi, who had delivered tofu for 6 years and was used to the road occasionally having other cars was able to pass it without issue.
I had to make sure I also was prepared for this. As unlikely as it seemed, a car could be coming uphill during our race. While the crew members of the race would flash their headlights during one of the hairpins to let us know this ahead of time, knowing exactly where and where it would appear would be key.
Then I could simulate the other races here in the Abyss against Kyoichi Sudo or another driver where my opponent starts a bit earlier than I do, giving them a few tenths of a second worth of extra time as a handicap. While this wasn't absolutely foolproof to ensure I could beat Takumi, this was the closest thing to it.
Now, I decided to change the conditions of Akina to create a test run for myself.
I exclusively made it so that the road was as hazardous as possible and began my run.
While I wasn't sick, the way Akina had changed almost made it so. Not the dead bodies of animals ranging from deer to possums I lost that disgust long before med school, but just the variety and ferocity of these obstacles.
Digital roadkill was everywhere, and I was glad that they were simulated as part of the Abyss otherwise they would've made me have to wash down the FC. They weren't too bad, they mostly caused the back tires to slip when cornering. The first one was tricky and I almost flubbed the hairpin entirely but was able to stabilize the FC in time to keep going downhill.
Random bits of foliage scattered throughout the course like fallen tree branches that varied in size also made me have to swerve out of the way. They did make me lose time in some sections, but because of the Gamer, it took about ten or fifteen branches to get the hang of it.
Leaving a hairpin, making sure to avoid the foliage blocking a part of the inside, I saw a car right in front of me. I didn't have enough time to react the way I should've, avoiding a crash by the skin of my teeth. Only by using the instant size and position of the car was I able to avoid a front-end collision.
In rally races, you did occasionally have to worry about oncoming traffic. But I hadn't raced in Gymkhana for so long that that part of me was largely dormant.
The rest of the downhill was more of the same, and I quickly was able to pick up on the subtle nuances of hazardous conditions.
First, the size and position of these objects was the first thing to note. A dead possum or some such couldn't let the back tires slip out if I avoided it. Akina was narrow, but both lanes allowed for moving out of the way. Foliage was annoying but it also wasn't too tricky. The biggest problem was oncoming cars. They forced me to stick so far inside my lane that if it was during a corner I would probably be done for unless the road was wide enough to account for this.
Although, while I was a better driver than Iketani, if the cars happened to much as scrape even a little I would likely crash completely. And Akina was narrow enough in some sections that I would have no choice but to take a failed corner.
While one downhill run wasn't enough for me to master it, I was able to start grinding attempts. Luckily, the Gamer accelerated the speed in which I learned this so much that I had picked up on it rather well after about ten or so runs.
Standing back at Akina's peak, I continued to strategize.
Now the suspension and transmission of the FC was so strong from how much I spent tuning it it was impossible for it to malfunction. Not one part, from the coil overs to any axle or any part of the FC's suspension had a chance at failure. At the speed I would reach racing Takumi, unless again, a bolt of lightning struck the FC, these would not fail.
However, I was racing Takumi, odd things tended to happen.
Should the suspension fail I would have a lot of trouble balancing the car as I should've. I remember how in the anime Keisuke's suspension took a massive blow as he crashed due to sabotage and had to race in a completely different FD. Now I would be suffering under a much weaker version of that, but still it could lower my times significantly as I would need to make sure the entire suspension didn't collapse from pressure during corners.
As for the gearbox, this was also unlikely but severe. In the event of overheat, I would also lose time from not being able to corner properly.
The front and rear tires would be completely ready, fresh at the start of the race, and well maintained by me as I had well since prepared for front tire grip failure. As shown in canon, if the front tires randomly decided to not respond, I was finished.
There was nothing I could do if my luck was this bad. Again, Takumi could just pass me when I slid out on one of the many high-speed turns at Akina. Without tires, I simply couldn't race.
As for the interior of the FC, the Rotary Engine was notorious for being unreliable. I have been able to circumvent this by calculating and maintaining the best speeds, temperatures, and pressures so well that the central rotary system spun like a dream instead of a nightmare. Both BT-1 and BT-2 were certain in their reliability now, but there were dozens of other components that could fail at a moment's notice.
There were over 17 spark plugs connecting the entire engine block to the power units of the FC, and that was just the larger connectors. The intercoolers alone had so many pins and plugs that the failure of just one could change the effectiveness of the whole rotary system.
Unfortunately, the only way I could account for any of the smallest of part failures would be to just ignore it and deal with the damage done to the engine later. Victory mattered more than just buying a new 13B-T, I had made so much money at this point that should even one plug damage the twin rotaries beyond repair I could easily afford another engine.
For now, those were the only things I had left unaccounted for. Malfunctions and the change of road conditions. To be ready for anything, I had to train for anything.
While I knew for a fact I could copy both the sliding drift during Akina's early slow right sharp left combo as well as the first gutter run technique. I had to master the second.
If it rained during or before the race, I could grind Rain Racing levels later, for now, I needed to simulate a race between Sudo and I with a max handicap on the times. It wasn't much but the Evo would get a 3/10ths of a second headstart.
III
While Ryosuke didn't care if what color the Evo was, just so long as he had the same level as he calculated Sudo to be, he made it light black for sentimental purposes.
A level 100 Evo III pulled up right next to the white FC.
As the countdown began, Ryosuke began revving his twin rotaries.
The Evo's 4G6 roared.
When the countdown ended, Ryosuke pressed the gas, the Evo taking the lead.
On the first straightaway leading into the first left hairpin, Ryosuke listened to the engine.
'I can tell the CPU has been edited. But how much so?'
Ryosuke entered the first hairpin at the same speed as the Evo, Ryosuke pushing his FC as needed to keep up with it. On the exit of the corner as the Evo accelerated, Ryosuke heard the unmistakable blasts from the Evo's exhaust.
'Anti-Lag. Just as I have asked the Abyss to give me a real simulation of Sudo. It gives me one.'
Ryosuke stayed behind, observing the Abyss' simulated version of Kyoichi Sudo as it thoroughly impressed him with how life-like the Evo was able to engage hairpins.
At full speed, the Evo had professional levels of handling in every aspect of the accelerator, brakes, and tires. Ryosuke knew he could keep up, but with a tiny handicap and two lower levels, he knew the race wouldn't be easy.
As the Evo's Anti-Lag system fired loudly, Ryosuke followed it down the straight. As the 13B-Ts whirred together, Ryosuke changed gears, the rev tachometer on the FC flicking backwards.
Ryosuke analyzed the next corner calmly, waiting for the best moment to brake.
Then the Evo entered the right corner just a split second before the white FC did, and Ryosuke let the Evo pull ahead a little, not wanting to waste grip on a pointless straight.
On the wide left curve, the Evo had far superior traction and horsepower and was able to easily outpace Ryosuke on the grip run.
Focusing, Ryosuke steered lightly to clear a hairpin close behind the Evo in thought.
'While I couldn't give it all the traits of an experienced WRC veteran. It moves almost in the same pace. This NPC somehow has the capacity to create an unmatchable rhythm, I have no points to pass or even twin drift.'
Ryosuke changed gears.
'I hadn't realized how important it was to stay active with competitive downhill races for a long time.'
The Evo zooming loudly as it left the hairpin, its turbocharger sang while accelerating. Ryosuke's FC whipped out of the turn, the car quickly stabilizing before Ryosuke closed the gap the Evo created.
'It's too early. But I need to at least put myself in the position I need to for a later counterattack. If I've calculated this Evo's abilities correctly, it's going to-'
Instantly, the moment the NPC recognized the FC had closed the distance between them, he used the exit of the next corner to again open the gap.
'Fine.' Ryosuke braked, the 13B-T's downshift humming loudly in a similar tone when the FD braked. 'It's too early for this kind of back and forth. Unfortunately, its pace is so high.'
Ryosuke changed gears, making the FC turn and face the inside while drifting behind the Evo as it cornered sharply. 'I have to seriously push these fresh tires to keep up.'
Watching the Evo continue to hold the lead, Ryosuke stayed well within eyesight of the black Evo III the entire time. During the S hairpins after the third checkpoint of Akina's downhill, Ryosuke used the sharpness of the turns to catch up with his refined super drift.
It had taken a few corners to get into his rhythm, but when he found it from a race that pushed him, Ryosuke began pressing the gas more in the corners. He wasn't as afraid of losing grip for the later part of the course as he was before, but still keeping in mind to keep up a steady pace.
On the long straights near Akina's midsection, Ryosuke used the opportunity to relax his tires after catching up in the intense turns.
As the FC and Evo zipped down the straightaway together, Ryosuke kept watching the Evo's tail. Just by looking at the way the curve appeared before the Evo had entered it, Ryosuke knew which angle he was going to take. It had taken some time as well to read the tricky Evo's rhythm as well, but Ryosuke was much more comfortable by now.
Knowing this, Ryosuke stayed attached to the Evo's bumper. No matter how hard the NPC tried to shake it, the white FC would not leave its tail.
'It's cost my tires a noticeable amount of strength, but I've been able to keep up thus far.' Ryosuke stayed attached to the Evo's bumper while leaving the corner.
Hearing the Anti-Lag system again, Ryosuke could tell the overtake was coming. 'I won't be able to pull away. But at this pace and this close, it'll be a victory enough to not get passed in return.'
During the windy medium curves just before Akina's second checkpoint, Ryosuke again cornered at the same speed as the Evo. Albeit costing his front tires grip he had already noted.
Ryosuke had already gotten used to Akina's curves and had well since started memorizing the course.
Coming out of a long left curve, Ryosuke moved off of the Evo's bumper and just to the right of it.
Sweating from the focus and effort he'd put into the race so far, Ryosuke steered strongly to keep the car steady. While he currently left using the outside of the last turn, Ryosuke knew the next turn would give him the inside just by accelerating at full speed down the straight.
However he'd need to corner as fast as he possibly could to be able to get the pass.
The Evo should've stayed ahead had not Ryosuke already taken the inside the turn already offered him. Controlling the entire drift using just the accelerator, Ryosuke changed gears quickly to accelerate and pass the Evo entirely.
Now Ryosuke thought quickly to himself knowing the Evo would remain right on his tail.
'I can't look into my rearview. I can't overexert any of my tires. I can win this race, even if just barely.'
Ryosuke knew that beside the matching L turns, the rest of the course until the five consecutive hairpins was just straights. Using the same advice he gave to Mako before, Ryosuke only used his peripheral vision in case the Evo was using the straightaways to pass. If not, Ryosuke stayed completely focused on the road ahead.
Braking, the FC loudly backed up as Ryosuke downshifted and steered hard to the left and barely to the right to clear a corner using a full speed super drift.
Just by hearing it, Ryosuke knew the Evo was sitting on his bumper. And he knew it would stay there for the remainder of the race.
However, Ryosuke had planned his attack well.
The rest of the course was nothing but tight hairpins with only about five or six straights left.
Only on the critical section was the road long enough to pass on during a straightaway.
Reaching the critical section of Akina, Ryosuke knew what maneuver to avoid the Evo's counter-attack.
Entering the corner, Ryosuke made the FC cover the inside while drifting, stopping the Evo from passing with his own drift. Thus, the Anti-Lag system couldn't be fully used during the acceleration portion of the turn, and Ryosuke won.
[You have created a new skill! Blocking Drift LV 1!]
III
I now returned to Akina during the daytime having spent a few hours in the Abyss practicing. I created a sort of checklist for myself of things I needed to do in order to beat the 86 on this very hill in a matter of weeks.
The first was to continue to train downhill with Keisuke on Akagi every night. It wouldn't hurt to have a human partner as opposed to a simulated NPC who's going off data I requested like the Misfiring System, the specific horsepower setting and the abilities of the driver.
Now that I'd beaten the Abyss' equivalent of Kyoichi Sudo, I'd need to start gathering data for a proper simulation of what a professional driver would reach on Akina's downhill. The worst part was that the Abyss was only able to simulate what Kyoichi could've been like, for all I knew the actual driver was far superior to what some numbers would provide me.
If I set a goal above Takumi's current ability, which had to be professional, I was going to be using data from drivers from the circuit like Keihito Usaya one of KPRC's best champions in several years.
This would be data that would be much easier to obtain than any others. All pro circuit racers have logged times kept in record books and every event they attend has to be recorded to provide proof for times.
I went with Keihito Usaya because a driver like Goto Rinsaka simply wouldn't be as fast on Akina's downhill. An NSX with professional-grade tuning and one of the top pros in the entire sport's history would set a very high yet achievable goal for me.
Another thing I planned on doing after properly practicing wet road conditions as well as possible random animals jumping in front of my car as seen during the race between Tachi and Takumi, I needed to start simulating races between the 86 and I but with similar time handicaps like the one placed on the Evo.
I could have Takumi get a 4th or 5th of a second worth of a headstart and then simulate the actual race as planned. It would all but help guarantee my simulated times were accurate to Akina's actual times during the race. Then as I got more comfortable with random occurrences like a cooler pin failure and such I could add more time to Takumi's simulated headstart.
Either way I needed to get back home, I had a lot of work to do on the computer.
III
Keihito Usaya's data was even more of a breeze to get than I thought it would be. After becoming cup champion, all recorded circuit times are forced to be logged as per KPRC rules so that no one could claim they held a record when in actuality they didn't.
Even better than that, his NSX was really more tuned for the uphill section from what I saw during my take of the cup back in '94. This gave me a good enough idea of just the modifications that would provide his times, and thus, I simulated my first downhill run using a professional racer on my home computer.
It took about half a minute and it was done.
He was better than I was expecting.
Keihito Usaya was two seconds faster than me overall, meaning I'd need to lower my times by a half second on each of Akina's four sections. This might not have seemed like a lot to me, but when taking into consideration things like tire grip and the condition of the road, I needed to improve very fast to beat these times.
Luckily, from how fast the Gamer let me learn things I could maximize handling speed, shifting, acceleration as well as tire management several times faster than I would've otherwise.
Now I had to run the simulations for Takumi using the handicap.
As I had predicted, it made the races much closer, but almost reaching LV 100 meant I was close to racing at a professional level. Usaya was LV 105, which wasn't a lot, but from how much EXP the Gamer needed to raise a single level from 100 to 101 it really was. The first simulation with a 4th of a second handicap gave me a win on the critical section with a bit more tire grip than the second one with a 5th of a second headstart for Takumi.
These were definite wins, but they were far too close for my liking. These were wins that put Takumi still in my rearview by the time I passed the finish line, and I couldn't have that. I needed to be walking into this race having analyzed every possible outcome and piece of data available like I always did. For all I knew there was a delivery truck that spilled a small bit of unseen cooking oil on the side of the road and it just so happened to stick to my rear tires and prevent me from clearing all sections at the speed I needed.
Add to that the high likelihood that in the event of any condition that didn't abide by the completely dry and completely unspontaneous simulation, Takumi would still be gaining far more than a few fractions of a second during the race.
So besides improving every aspect of my driving by 5 legendary levels, I'd need to master the following: leading and following against the 86 down Akina's hill, unpredicted conditions, which meant everything from an animal anywhere from the size of a rat to a deer jumping in front of my car, as well as driving downhill full speed for only about fifteen to twenty minutes tops, without causing a single part in the FC to malfunction.
And this was just to put me on even enough ground to win considering how odd races tended to go the moment Takumi began to lose.
Reaching such a professional level of driving so quickly would be hard but not impossible. Even at LV 100, I'd need to spend every hour possible running these simulations to make sure they were squeaky clean as well as practicing what would've taken years to master on the downhill only weeks instead thanks to the Gamer.
Considering the quantity, variety, and intensity of this training, I will be ready if I kept training like I was by around September 10th, only five days before the race. Since I woke up this morning, all I've done is trained. Either by simulating races on my computer, or practiced improving my driving on Akina's Abyss simulated hill.
For the next month or so, this would be my life. I had the time to finish med school stuff as well even. Ironically finishing stuff for medical school was going to be the quickest and most tedious part of my day.
My biggest roadblock was the fact that if I kept the front tires in proper shape for this race, I wouldn't be anywhere near ready anyway. That was just the start. Even if I renewed each of the tiniest of components in every part of the FC, which I could easily afford to do so, one of them could randomly malfunction during the race.
The worst part was that if one of the half-millimeter-sized connectors in the intercooler decided to fail, it wouldn't just change the temperature I'd need to keep the FC at. The heat structure of the entire car isn't meant to handle the escaping heat. In the event of overheating, like any car manufactured between 1987 and 1991 the entire engine system sends excess heat through the exhaust, however if it gets too much it slips through, and hits the entire interior of the car.
I would be racing Takumi in an oven. My tires and the suspension could easily handle it, but I couldn't use the air conditioner in the FC because the heat would be coming from inside the car itself.
It would be racing in about 38 degrees Celsius, or around 100 degrees Fahrenheit, which would increase every single time I changed gears. Not ideal in the slightest.
Luckily the main rotary system was so strong that it could still work just fine, and the rest of the car was just as strong. But I'm not made of actual steel, unlike the car I'm a person. I'd be feeling a summer heat in my own car in the middle of a downhill race.
The only way I could grind this is to create a Heat Resistance or Adverse Weather Conditions skill in the Gamer and grind that until it's maxed. Now the damage to my own body would be severe, it's unlikely I would pass out by the end of my race with Takumi, but I would be on the verge of doing so.
For now, I had to go to Akina again and practice what the downhill would be like back in the Abyss. Only this time I would have to remove one of the intercooler's pins.
III
Panting, Ryosuke left the turn covered in sweat. The interior of the FC had turned into a sweltering hot nightmare.
'Luckily I could make this Heat Resistance skill. But wow starting out at LV 1 with this is going to be a pain.'
Ryosuke drew the water bottle he had with him. He had brought enough water to account for a full-speed downhill run in well over 100-degree heat in his FC. At full blast, it almost seemed like the air conditioning was being less helpful if anything. So Ryosuke just turned it off.
Gamer's Body didn't make him immune to the numbing level of heat inside his car but eventually, he was able to weather through it. While his speed had been seriously lowered, slowly but surely Ryosuke was able to concentrate.
After grinding his Heat Resistance skill from LV 1 to LV 18 in about two hours, Ryosuke was able to enjoy some time alone on Akina's peak.
III
I checked my watch. It was only about 10 AM and I had only just started getting training for the day. I still had some med school assignments to do as well as train on Akagi's downhill with Keisuke.
Taking the small pin from my pocket, I placed it back into the intercooler easily, now removing the entire misalignment of the FC's heating system.
While I enjoyed a cigarette to relax after two nonstop hours of driving in sweltering heat, I did remember one key part of my training that mattered more than any of it. Which was to bring out the driver that still rose to the top of Gunma's racing scene in a single summer.
Akagi's White Comet, the mysterious lone wolf.
Few people still called me this, and fewer even remember the time I was known as more than the leader of the Red Suns.
While driving home in my FC, I realized how much I should appreciate the air conditioner of the FC. Especially after the intercooler pin failure training.
However, I knew that the next few weeks as I trained almost non-stop, I would be fully prepared. All I would have to do is reach professional speed and times, as well as prepare for the dozens of unlikely yet possible unfavorable occurrences.
I needed to eat, I hadn't even had breakfast yet even though I had been training since 8 AM. And the worst part was I had spent dozens of hours in the Abyss where an infinite amount of time could pass and not one second would pass in my own world.
This Gamer ability would again become pivotal in my development on the downhill. The training for the 86 race had just begun now when I returned to the Abyss, and I would only have to get more comfortable with it to continue to evolve my driving style.