The Racer’s Downfall

The day before the race, I burned my car and announced my withdrawal. Overnight, my fanbase collapsed. Supporters unfollowed in droves, and casual fans turned on me just as viciously. Jasper, the man who had always treated me as his only real rival, put on a show of false concern. “Without him, the race feels too lonely. No matter what, I still hope he’ll return to the track and face me properly.” I sneered. In my previous life, the racecar I had painstakingly modified ended up identical to his. No matter how many videos I released of full recordings of every step I personally took, all Jasper had to do was tearfully tell his fans, “Then let Finn use it. He needs it more than I do. I’ll win on my own strength.” And just like that, I became the shameless thief in everyone’s eyes. Later, the moment I started my car, the components inside exploded, and I was left in a vegetative state. His fans called it karma. Even on the day my fiancée pulled out my oxygen tube and watched me die, I still couldn’t understand. Why had everything that belonged to me—my career, my girlfriend—all become Jasper’s? When I opened my eyes again, I was back on the day the race schedule was first announced. Chapter 1 “The fiftieth test run, and we’re still in first place!” Grayson excitedly slapped my back, and I staggered forward. Wait, I wasn’t a vegetable who couldn’t move… I had been reborn! “This is what you deserve!” Grayson laughed, thinking I was happy about the car’s performance. He urged me to hurry up and prepare for tomorrow’s race. “Wait!” I suddenly called out, stopping him. “Don’t submit the car data yet. Let me take another look.” As I ran toward the garage, I pulled up the data Jasper had released earlier. Every parameter was completely different from my current car. That was why I hadn’t noticed anything wrong in my previous life. However, just as I reached my racecar, the webpage refreshed. “Finn! What’s going on?! Jasper updated his data. It’s exactly the same as ours!” Grayson rushed over, his face dark. He immediately tried to make a call to complain about Jasper. My expression sank, but I raised a hand to stop him. “Data submission doesn’t close until midnight. There’s no rush.” In my previous life, Jasper had seemingly uploaded two identical sets of data and used that to rally his fans against me. All because of this one minute. I hurriedly posted proof of the modifications I had personally done, only for his fans to mock me. [Technology is really advanced now. Even videos can be faked.] [Everyone knows top racers compete with tuning skills. Why don’t you just steal Jasper himself and have him drive for you?] [Jasper is risking his entire future for this honor, and you’re using power to suppress him. Is there no justice?] My entire team was dragged into it as well. When they went out, they were pelted with rotten eggs, so some didn’t even dare go home. With no other choice, I tried to make them believe through my skills. However, the moment the car started, it exploded on the spot! Across the entire track, only Jasper was unaffected. He smoothly took the championship and enjoyed all the glory. As for my car, even after professional researchers examined it over and over, they couldn’t find any cause that could have triggered the explosion. That only led to Jasper’s fans claiming I had done something shameful and suffered divine punishment. They said I deserved it. Even after I fell into a vegetative state in a hospital bed, I endured inhumane abuse every day. I couldn’t even cry for help and could only pray that someone kind would give me a quick end. Then my parents were cyber-bullied into depression and jumped to their deaths. My fiancée, Myra, stood beside Jasper. Pretending to be a fan, she pulled out my oxygen tube and later told the public that I, in a vegetative state, had committed suicide. I died wronged. Now that fate has given me another chance, I will make the truly guilty pay the price! Chapter 2 “This race doesn’t even happen once in decades. You’ve waited your whole life for this chance. How can you give it up over this?! “Don’t worry about Jasper. Check the car properly. No matter what, we’re racing!” Grayson snatched my phone away and locked both me and the car inside the underground garage. I clenched my teeth and went over the car again, inside and out. Even if someone had deliberately leaked information, a difference of even a fraction in the parts would show up clearly in the data. With all my components still intact, how could Jasper possibly find parts that were completely identical to mine? And if he somehow did, under the same conditions, why was it only my car that exploded?! I racked my brain, replaying everything from that day. Jasper was good at marketing himself. Fans were always crowding around him, so there was no chance for him to get close to my car. Then I remembered the person he had his arm around back then was none other than my girlfriend, Myra! My heart tightened as if an invisible hand had grabbed it. I had been certain she would exchange rings with me after eight years together. Instead, she was holding the arm of the man who framed me, cutting off my way out. Well, I couldn’t care less anymore! I stood up abruptly and cleared my mind. Then I began dismantling every single part of the car. I had been preparing for this race for three years and had grown attached to these cold pieces of metal. They weren’t something I could easily discard. However, thinking of my last life, being driven into a corner and watching my parents jump from the hospital window while I couldn’t even collect their bodies, my hands only moved faster. After finishing that, I went to the storage room and dug out another pile of dust-covered parts. This was the original version of my racecar design. Even now, it could still be called perfect. However, my love for racing never stopped. In my dreams, I kept thinking about how to improve it. That was how I ended up with the current version—one with almost no weaknesses. Jasper might’ve stolen my equipment, but my strength was still there. He could ride a rocket and still wouldn’t beat me. In just a few minutes, the car was fully assembled again. I made slight changes compared to before, but its overall performance jumped by a huge margin, like a leopard ready to pounce at any moment! Still riding that sense of relief, I sent the new data to Grayson. Everything had happened too suddenly. This time, I was also the only one in the garage the entire time. Even if Jasper had hired a master thief, there was no way he could copy it. I had just relaxed a little when Grayson appeared in front of me again, his face deathly pale. A bad feeling surged up instantly. Then I heard him say, “Jasper just posted his original concept online. The data… is exactly the same as ours after the modification.” “That’s impossible!” I rushed forward and grabbed the phone. On the screen, Jasper said regretfully, “Actually, when I first reached this stage, I already felt it was enough. It was perfect. However, someone managed to steal the most critical component. “So I had no choice but to create this new version, an even more perfect one.” I refreshed the official site. Jasper’s car data had changed again! Below it, fans were piling on praise, each comment more exaggerated than the last. Meanwhile, my face grew paler by the second. How could this be… A large portion of these parts came from when I went back to the countryside! Those materials weren’t even circulating on the market anymore. I had even spent months grinding and lubricating them before finally producing a few usable pieces, then selecting the one with the best performance. And during the time it was left unused, rainwater had just happened to wear down its edges, allowing it to mesh perfectly with the machinery. To meet all those conditions was harder than reaching the sky. Yet the one Jasper had in his hands was one with my highest completion level, the most perfect result. Even the data matched completely! I opened the hood and carefully removed that component. It was small, radiating a scorching heat in my palm. Could it be this? The source of the explosion. The countless days and nights I spent refining it in my previous life, along with the curses echoing in that empty hospital room at the end, all flooded my mind at once. Clutching it, I walked silently to the furnace. Ignoring the workers’ looks of regret, I threw the component in with all my strength. Listening to it melt, I turned around and went straight back into the garage without hesitation. In this life, I will only choose the path that benefits me the most! Chapter 3 Grayson watched me do all of this, his eyes rimmed with tears. After all, the only two sets of equipment I could use now had been destroyed by my own hands. “Finn, what do we do now?” I took the phone and glanced at it. As expected, fans had already flooded my comment section, speaking up aggressively for Jasper. [Weren’t you acting all arrogant before? Jasper has released everything. If you won’t do the same, is it because you’re not good enough? Just withdraw from the race already!] [In past races, Finn’s style was really similar to Jasper’s. Could he have been copying him all along? Now that data has to be made public, he’s panicking!] … In just a few lines, some fans had already convicted me. Meanwhile, my gaze landed on a message from my girlfriend, someone who hadn’t spoken to me for days. [Stop messing with those mechanical parts. Come out and have some fun with me tonight.] I had never told her what I was doing. She also knew that before a race, I needed absolute focus and never chatted with me. Yet this time, she kept sending message after message, coming up with different excuses to force me out of the garage. She even sent a voice message, her voice trembling with sobs. “Finn, give up. If you keep going like this, you’ll die.” I simply turned off my phone and smiled lightly at Grayson. “It’s fine. There’s still time. I’ll make another set.” I took a deep breath and turned on “Do Not Disturb”. Then I sat back down at the workbench. Starting from scratch, I drew the plans based on the parts I could find and began assembling. This could even be called the simplest setup I had ever made. It took just two hours to finish completely. While organizing the data and sending it to Grayson for review, I lit a cigarette and sorted through my thoughts. On the surface, this setup could only be considered average, something a rich kid might use as an entry-level toy. However, I had changed the most critical part. On the outside, this car was beginner-level. In reality, because of my modification, the moment it entered a professional track, its performance would spike to its absolute peak. This method was something I had painfully figured out during the ten years of humiliation I endured on a hospital bed. It was dangerous, but the final result would be dazzling. Jasper would never have that experience, let alone see through its secret. Yet, the very next second, I refreshed my feed and saw a “special announcement” from Jasper’s team. [We’ve heard that some fans who like Jasper want to get into racing. Before the competition, Jasper had this beginner-friendly version specially prepared for everyone. If you’re interested, don’t miss it!] The moment I read that line, my hands started shaking. I didn’t even dare open the message Grayson had sent. How could there be such a coincidence? I had just finished mine. Jasper, who had been out enjoying himself all afternoon, had immediately produced one as well. Even the functions, strengths, and weaknesses were exactly the same as mine. Clenching my fists tightly, I tapped into the detailed data. Everything was the same! Still, a sliver of hope remained in my heart. As long as Jasper hadn’t discovered the most critical part and continued using his previous version during the race, I could completely clear myself of suspicion. With that thought, I opened the official website without hesitation. The data flashed before my eyes, but in the next second, the page suddenly displayed: Under Maintenance. “Bang!” Grayson slammed his fist into the wall, furious. “Damn it, Jasper! “He’s definitely pulling tricks again! “Once data is uploaded, it can’t be changed. Yet he can get the organizer to help him under the table again and again, and no one does anything?! I’m going to find someone and deal with him!” I lifted my head from the scattered parts on the floor, my expression dark. “No. I need to deal with the organizer personally.” Chapter 4 It was 10.24 p.m. If I wanted to continue the race, I had to resolve everything and complete registration within an hour and a half. Contacting the organizer, waiting for the website to be fixed, producing proof that Jasper had stolen my data, reclaiming my justice—all of it took time. However, the race wouldn’t wait for me. Taking a deep breath, I sat down in the driver’s seat and started the engine. Time was tight. Right now, all I could do was gamble on one possibility, which was that Jasper hadn’t been able to completely steal my final product. If I won, using this car would be enough to prove my true strength. However, before that, I had to eliminate the last possibility—the sudden explosion that happened when my car entered the track in my previous life. Clenching my teeth, I slammed down on the accelerator! The car shot forward like an arrow released from a bow, and in that instant, my heart leaped into my throat. Something was wrong. I had practically lived with this car day and night, so I sensed it immediately. Even if it was only a few millimeters, the entire car was drifting to the left toward the driver’s seat. In racing, this was fatal! Moreover, in a place I couldn’t see, the left front wheel was already scraping against the ground, sparks flying. I cursed under my breath. No matter how unwilling I was, at the critical moment, I flung open the door and jumped out of the car. The instant I left the driver’s seat, a deafening explosion erupted behind me. The shockwave and heat hurled me more than ten meters away. I rolled several times before slamming heavily into the ground. Ignoring the pain tearing through my body, I forced myself to look up toward my car. Flames roared, and the wind howled. My car had exploded! Chapter 5 It took a long time before I finally came back to my senses. Most of the left side of my body was scraped raw from the ground. The pain, mixed with sweat, drilled straight into my flesh. However, what was strange was that the car that had just exploded was now standing there intact. Only the half-open door reminded me that everything had been real, that I had jumped out of it myself. I clenched my fist, then loosened it. My girlfriend’s words, “You’ll die,” kept echoing in my mind. Was it my life, or taking one last gamble for my ideals? My answer had never changed. Thinking of that, I immediately called Grayson over to help me with some quick bandaging. Then, despite his attempts to stop me, I limped my way to the hotel. 10.50 p.m. The organizer’s room was brightly lit, and excited shouts from a card game could be heard inside. After listening for a moment, I confirmed that Jasper was in there as well. Had the organizer leaked my data to him? Only the first time had my car gone through their inspection, though. What about the second and third times? Thinking further was pointless. I made a decision and knocked on the door. Seven or eight knocks later, there was still no response. They didn’t answer calls either. Left with no choice, I went straight to Jasper’s comment section and called him out publicly. [Jasper, you changed one set of data three times. Which backer is protecting you this hard? You might as well just ask the organizer to hand you the trophy.] The internet exploded instantly. Even though the posts were deleted quickly, screenshots spread everywhere. But my question wasn’t taken seriously at all. Instead, it was turned into all kinds of memes and circulated widely. [So you finally realized you’re worse and got anxious? Totally cracked.] [This guy is hilarious. I’ve never seen someone rush so hard to become a clown. Look, does Jasper even acknowledge you?] I ignored all of it because the door in front of me finally opened. The organizer held a laptop, smiling politely. “Jasper only submitted his data once, on the first day of the competition. “As for you, you’ve taken so long without producing anything. Have you run out of ideas? It’s fine. Go back and practice more. There will be chances in the future.” Every word he said was immediately uploaded online by Jasper. Watching the comments scroll past, I knew I truly had nowhere left to retreat. Fortunately, I had records of every data change. I immediately pulled out the photos and handed them to the organizer. He only glanced at them before laughing. “Three screenshots of a website under maintenance, and that’s your evidence for slandering Jasper?” Jasper stood there with a confident, assured smile. At some point, he had turned on a livestream, the camera pointed straight at me. “Finn, are you under too much pressure? “But accusing me like this won’t make you feel any better, will it?” I stared at the screen in disbelief. There really was only a single line: Website under maintenance. A chill ran down my spine. I quickly entered his livestream, hoping some quick-handed fans had saved screenshots from earlier. But there was nothing, only insults. [Desperate to win? Looks like a plagiarist who couldn’t copy the data in time and started blaming others.] [This guy is still living in the Stone Age. I can’t believe I used to like him for his skills. Turns out it was probably all hype. Refund!] [What’s with all that blood on him? Don’t tell me he just started training now?] My hands trembled so badly that I could barely hold my phone. However, in their eyes, that only became proof of guilt, and the insults rained down even harder. The more you tried to hide, the more suspicious you looked. So I didn’t back down. I stared straight at the organizer and demanded an explanation. “What can Jasper give you that you’d even crash the website just to protect him? What everyone wants is a fair race!” At that moment, Jasper smiled considerately. “Since you insist on thinking this way, why don’t we just wait for the website to be fixed and let everyone see the truth for themselves?” I couldn’t tell what he was plotting. I ignored him and kept my eyes locked on the organizer. “All set!” A technician suddenly walked over with a laptop and turned the screen toward me. The data Jasper had submitted was unmistakably my latest version! Chapter 6 In that instant, my blood felt like it surged backward. “Look at it yourself! He’s changed it for the third time!” However, the organizer looked at me with surprise instead. “Finn, do you even understand the rules? Before the deadline, each person can only submit data for one car they intend to race.” He deliberately stressed the words “one car”, mocking my ignorance of the rules. The comment section immediately picked up on his cue. Insults poured in one after another, and Jasper couldn’t even suppress the smile tugging at his lips. Seeing that I couldn’t say a single word, the organizer snorted and gestured for Jasper to turn off the livestream. I pressed my lips together, still unable to figure out why. As if he could see straight through my thoughts, the organizer added sarcastically, “You’ve read the contract, right? A racer at your level withdrawing midway has to pay a penalty.” I gave him one last cold look, said nothing, and turned to leave. Anyone who could afford racing in the first place was never truly ordinary. It was just that the organizer had chosen to cling to Jasper instead. I didn’t want a trophy from a tainted competition like this, anyway. I let out a quiet laugh, tossed my cigarette away, and answered Grayson’s call. Before he could even comfort me, I spoke first. “I’m withdrawing from the race this time. And I’m switching to a new car.” The words had barely left my mouth when someone suddenly rushed in through the doorway and threw their arms tightly around me before Grayson could react. “Finn! No! You can’t withdraw!” “Myra?” I was startled, but all I felt was a bone-deep chill. “What are you doing here?” Myra forced a smile and looked at me pleadingly. “Finn, we’re about to get married. Can’t I come see you?” I knew from just one glance that she had been reborn, too. However, what did that have to do with me? As her boyfriend, I bought her everything she ever wanted and pampered her like a princess. I even delayed our wedding by two whole years because of a single worry she voiced. I knew I hadn’t wronged her in the slightest. But what about her? I raised my hand and pushed Myra away, unwilling to get entangled with her any further. Yet she clung to me again, like a piece of gum that wouldn’t come off. “Finn, you can’t destroy this car!” I looked at her tearful, aggrieved face, and the last bit of restraint inside me finally snapped. I raised my hand and slapped her hard across the face. Myra had never been treated like this before. She covered her cheek, her eyes filled with disbelief, while I only let out a cold laugh and continued toward the garage. Myra chased after me again. “What exactly do you want?!” All the frustration that had built up over the entire day exploded at once. I glared at her furiously. She shrank back in fear, yet her tone remained firm. “You must race!” I was almost amused by how stubborn she was. “You were the one who told me not to get entangled with Jasper. “And now you’re the one telling me I have to race. “What exactly do you know? Do you think it’s fun, you and Jasper playing me like this?” With that, I gave her no more chances and slammed the garage door shut. “Bang! Bang!” Myra pounded on the door frantically from outside, yet still refused to tell me the truth. In the darkness, I took out my lighter.