Danny couldn’t believe it. He saw no cars in front of him or beside him. “Is it for real?” Danny asked. He brought up a map using the digital screen. “First place.”

  Danny’s jaw dropped, and he began laughing non-stop. “Danny, are you alright?” Cane asked. “Laughing out of nowhere could be an indication of a mental breakdown. Is that what is currently happening to you?”

  Danny stopped laughing immediately. “No, I’m fine, Cane. I’m just in disbelief, that’s all,” Danny answered.

  “I am uncertain what else I could do to make you believe that we are currently in first position. You’ve already checked the map showing our current position. Is there anything I could do to make you believe?” Cane said.

  “Sorry, Cane. You’ve done plenty. It’s just how the human mind works sometimes. We don’t always believe something even when we see it with our own eyes,” Danny said.

  “If that’s true, then being human sounds very conflicting,” Cane said.

  The red sports car remained in the lead, with a blue sports car behind it slowly gaining. Cane noticed this and hit the brakes.

  The blue sports car crashed into the red sports car, causing the blue sports car to flip over the red sports car and the red sports car to jerk forward a few feet.

  “Whoa!” Danny said in amazement. “It’s nothing too impressive. I just had to calculate the exact moment in time to stop our vehicle, causing the other vehicle to launch in the air,” Cane said.

  Cane started the red sports car and continued racing. Cane passed through the first checkpoint, and a blue screen appeared with a notification.

  It showed that Danny was the first to cross the checkpoint of the first lap. Danny grinned behind his helmet. “Just four more laps,” Danny said, excited.

  As Danny and Cane kept racing, a black sports car appeared at their side. On the map, Danny’s position kept shifting between first and second. It seemed the driver in black wanted to put an end to this.

  The black sports car attempted to ram the red sports car’s side into the arena walls. Cane, noticing this, decelerated the red sports car and sped backward, causing the black sports car to ram itself into the arena.

  Danny was now in the second position, but that was going to change soon. Cane shifted the red sports car to the side and sped ahead. Now the two sports cars were neck and neck, with positions continuously changing between first and second.

  Cane did what the black sports car had attempted a few moments ago. Cane used the red sports car to ram into the black sports car’s side. Now the red sports car continuously pressed the black sports car to scrape along the arena walls.

  The driver in black tried to replicate what the red sports car had done. They tried to speed behind the red sports car to escape its hold. But anytime they tried, Cane would skillfully follow behind the black sports car and continue to press it against the walls.

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  This was causing the black sports car serious damage. Not too long after, both tires on the side of the black sports car scraping the arena walls burst.

  Cane stopped ramming into the black sports car, causing it to spin uncontrollably and eventually come to a stop. That made two sports cars that Cane had taken out of the race.

  Danny couldn’t believe what was happening. ‘No. I have to believe. I can’t keep doubting this. I’m going to win, and it’s all thanks to Cane,’ Danny thought.

  Cane passed through the checkpoint for the second lap. The blue screen appeared once again to inform Danny that he was the first racer to pass the second lap.

  The race continued. Danny was in the lead. Two cars were destroyed. More racers tried to pass Danny or make sure he couldn’t race anymore, but anytime they tried, Cane would keep him and Danny in the lead and knock out the cars attempting the same.

  The red sports car passed the checkpoint for the third time. “Only two left!” Danny exclaimed.

  Eight racers remained on the track, including Danny and the rest didn’t seem to be catching up to Danny anytime soon. Cane passed the checkpoint for the fourth time.

  “Only one left,” Danny whispered. He and Cane were still in the lead, and it didn’t seem like anything would stop them. Then Danny felt a bump at the back.

  “Ow!” Then at the side. Then at the front. It seemed like three of the racers had decided to box Danny to the wall, leaving him no space to overtake.

  “Why would they do this? Did they agree to some sort of deal? Do they know each other in the real world? I’m four checkpoints ahead of the other racers. So if I don’t cross it this time, that doesn’t mean I’ll lose. But still, if they keep this up, next lap comes, I’ll definitely lose.”

  “Cane, can you get us out of this?”

  “Certainly,” Cane answered. Cane started to tilt the red sports car to the side. Two tires on one side were in the air while the other two tires remained on the ground. It looked like at any moment the red sports car would crash onto its side.

  “Cane! What the hell are you doing!?” Danny asked, panicked.

  “Please remain calm, Danny,” Cane said. “I have a plan.”

  The red sports car remained in its slanted state, with half of the tires on the ground and the other half in the air.

  Danny’s heart started to beat rapidly. He would die if the car crashed—not from the game. This was a game, after all; nothing would happen to him in the game if the car crashed. But outside the game—a sadistic gangster wanted to take his organs.

  He prayed Cane knew what he was doing because if he didn’t and the car did crash, this might be his last day alive. The red sports car approached the wall of the arena.

  It rested the tires that were in the air on the wall and did the same with the other tires on the ground. The red sports car was now driving on the arena walls.

  Cane quickly accelerated the vehicle to prevent it from falling over. As he did, he passed the three racers who were trying to box him and landed the sports car back on the track.

  Danny was in the lead once again. “That was amazing!” Danny exclaimed in excitement.

  “I admire your praise,” Cane said. “Look ahead, Danny. We are approaching the checkpoint.”

  Danny saw the checkpoint. The first four times he and Cane had crossed it were unbelievable, but now the fifth time was somehow more unbelievable than the first four times.

  “This is really happening, isn’t it?” Danny asked. A tear ran down Danny’s face under the VR console he had put on.

  “Yes, it is, Danny,” Cane answered. The red sports car passed the checkpoint, and a continuous ding was heard. A message was sent to every racer on their digital screen.

  The Qualification Race is Over. Congratulations Danny Rider and Welcome to Overdrive Online.

  “I can’t believe this,” Danny said.

  Another message appeared on his digital screen. You are forcibly being logged out.

  Everything around him dispersed into tiny light particles, and he saw nothing but darkness.

  “Well, I’ll be damned. You won,” Jim said.