Speed Is King

"Red? Guys?" Elliot asked aloud in his public mindspace. Only silence greeted him.

"As expected. I am totally cut off from Earth. I must be in a separate dimension." Elliot thought.

Elliot's mind instantly switched to survival mode.

Hidden Dungeon Challenges were nothing new for him.

He had won and lost his fair share of those. Most Hidden Dungeon Challenges had rules, and usually, even the worst of them had at least one rule. No killing.

That particular Hidden Dungeon Challenge also had one rule.

But instead of "No killing", it was "Cars only".

It only meant one thing - a vicious racing enthusiast.

He didn't care what you did or how you did it as long as you did it with your car.

"Damn it." Elliot cursed his luck for the upteenth time that morning.

But he was not panicking.

He was no longer the weak Elliot he was at the last iteration. He was extremely powerful physically, and his reflexes had increased by an unbelievable margin. He would be able to take on any type of race track thrown his way.

In addition, Cars-only was a highly technical race mode. It would pit the drivers' racing skills and to an extent, their guts, directly against each other. It usually gave out extremely generous rewards.

"Cars only huh? Let's see how fast you dare to go." Elliot muttered as he checked on his tires. After a brief walkaround, he got into his Honda Civic Type R.

The most important habit any apocalypse racer needed to form in order to live long was to check the car first before getting in. Check the type of tires and very obviously, check if they were inflated.

"High-grip tires. I should be able to take the corners at higher speeds. The brakes look pretty solid as well." Elliot thought as he put on his seat belt.

The familiar smell of new alien leather assaulted his nose and his body slid into the driver's seat smoothly.

He turned on the ignition.

VROOM!!!!!!

The Type R's powerful 3 Liter, 421 Horsepower Engine roared out like a hungry beast.

Elliot put the car into first gear and feathered his clutch lightly even as his other foot smashed down on the accelerator.

SCREEEEE!!

The Honda Civic Type R shot out of the pit stop and hurtled into the race track at an incredible speed.

The moment Elliot got onto the track and checked out the track in his GPS, he knew he was in for the race of his life.

It was a relatively simple track. But the unique thing about it was that it had no straightways.

The track was shaped like the outline of a snowman, or the number "8" but without the center touching each other.

It would be pedal to the metal for half the track, then a low speed near U-turn, and repeat.

"Fine! Bring it on!" Elliot growled.

But before racing, he needed to find out the limits of his car.

The first thing he had to test was the brakes. The first time he got into a race car almost a year ago and raced with it, the most surprising thing about the car wasn't the acceleration or even the handling.

It was the brakes. He remembered that the brakes were so surprisingly powerful that he actually stopped his car in the middle of the race several times due to over-braking. Obviously he lost that first race miserably.

Most race cars had extremely powerful brakes that allowed the car to drop its speed dramatically at will.

The more powerful the brakes, the longer the racer can delay braking and thus the longer he can stay at high speeds. And if he can stay at higher speed longer than his opponents, he would have a faster average time around the track and would have a higher chance of winning the race. (The fastest driver does not always win. The fastest driver ALIVE wins.)

In racing, braking is an advanced skill that all the professionals had to master. The fact that Elliot was able to more-or-less master braking was a huge factor in his victories in the races of the previous iterations.

"Powerful brakes. Good." Elliot nodded in approval after speeding up and braking to a complete stop several times.

He blasted off again at high speed to tackle the track seriously.

His eyes narrowed in concentration as the first sharp corner approached. He quickly formulated the best line and entry speed, factored in the strength of his brakes and executed it smoothly.

His tires squealed loudly like a stuck pig as he brought the Honda Civic Type R skillfully to the edge of its tires' grip on his first try and attacked the corner like a madman.

A smooth madman.

In racing, the fastest times never look fast. They look smooth.

VROOOM!!!

The Honda Civic Type R exited the corner at near record speeds and was soon thundering down the track at its top speed.

The next sharp corner appeared, and once again, Elliot took it smoothly with no fanfare.

Within seconds, Elliot had completed one lap around the track.

Twice.

Thrice.

After he finished his third lap, there was still well over five minutes in his practice time. But Elliot had enough.

"I've milked the Honda Civic Type R out of everything it had. I literally could not go any faster!" Elliot thought.

He would use the remaining time to calm his heart and empty his mind.

He sat back on his driver's seat and closed his eyes.

Out in the universe, a gambling frenzy had erupted over Elliot's upcoming race.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*

"That's my boy. First to trigger a Hidden Dungeon Challenge! I'm going to bet a thousand resource planets on him!" Void Walker announced to Monkey King.

"A thousand resource planets? How are you so ridiculously rich?" Monkey King grumbled as he keyed in his relatively meager and sad bet of twenty resource planets. He, too, placed it on Elliot.

"My grandfather is rich." Void Walker giggled. "And that old man accidentally revealed his password for his bank account to me, so I am able to access ALL of his money! HA HA HA!"

"... … … I want a grandfather like that. All my grandfather gave me was a stupid magic banana all those years ago." Monkey King sighed.

"Jealousy is poison for the soul, monkey. Just accept your fate. HAHAHA!" Void Walker laughed at her new best friend uproariously.

"Hey! The odds on Elliot are rising! Don't bet first!" Monkey King suddenly shouted.

"WHOA! Close thing. I almost locked in my bet. Why is it rising so much and so quickly? Are they really so confident of this Jagor Tawlon guy?"

"LOCK IN NOW!!" Monkey King shouted. "It's starting to fall!!"

"LOCKED! I LOCKED IT!" Void Walker shouted excitedly.