“Nitro? You mean Nitrous Oxide?” Danny asked.

  “That is where the name came from,” Cane answered. “Just like real-world compounds, the nitro in Overdrive Inline serves as a sort of propellant—makes the car go faster in bursts.”

  “Is this what you wanted me to see? Well, I gotta admit, you were right. It’s an unexpected surprise, but I’m guessing that, like everything in this game, it’s going to cost quite a buck,” Danny said.

  “Correct. That was what I intended you to see; however, that wasn’t what I hoped you would take away,” Cane said. “There are many factors that could influence the outcome of a race. The racers aren’t simply driving in a straight line. A vehicle's components are vital, but they aren’t always everything. There’s skill and the favorable probability you humans call luck.”

  “There are also other factors put into the game that greatly influence the outcome of the race—many you will soon experience for yourself.”

  The race continued with the armored S.U.V. now in the lead, but that wouldn’t be the case for long. Soon, a pickup truck passed both the black supercar and the armored S.U.V.

  It seemed to be propelled by nitro just like the armored S.U.V, but Danny noticed something a little different about its nitro flames.

  “The color—it’s blue,” Danny said. “And it’s larger than the red flames.”

  “An optimal observation,” Cane said. “There are different types of nitro in this game. I shall list them in ascending order based on the percentage of speed boost they give to a vehicle. They are:

  The Red Nitro: This color of nitro gives a fifty percent speed boost to a vehicle.

  The Yellow Nitro: This color of nitro gives a seventy-five percent boost to a vehicle.

  The Blue Nitro: This color of nitro gives a hundred percent boost to a vehicle.”

  “I am yet to determine the prices of each type of nitro.”

  “Thanks, Cane, as always,” Danny said. Did the data book mention this? Maybe it did but didn’t explain it well enough. The more I think about it, I really am lucky I found Cane. If I didn’t, I might have had to pay more for this information. But what I will have to pay for are those nitros. Cane’s right—those things are game changers in a race. I can’t afford not to have them. Well, I’m not sure I can afford them either. Cane said he’ll find out the price later; hopefully, they’re not too expensive.

  “There is also the White Nitro,” Cane said.

  This broke Danny out of his thoughts. “There’s more?” Danny asked.

  “To be precise, there’s only one more,” Cane said.

  “Well, don’t leave me hanging. Tell me—how much faster does it make a vehicle?” Danny asked.

  Cane remained silent.

  “Cane!” Danny called out.

  “Apologies. I couldn’t find any information about the White Nitro,” Cane said.

  Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

  “What? You mean it’s encrypted like the others?” Danny said.

  “No. It is not encrypted. Searching through the databases, there is a mention of a White Nitro, but there are no details about its effects on a vehicle,” Cane explained.

  “Huh. That’s weird,” Danny said.

  “A correct word to use to describe the situation. Unlike your other attempts,” Cane said.

  After Danny heard this, he gave Cane a stink eye.

  “Reminder, Danny: you are the only one who can have a conversation with me. It would be beneficial to you if you didn’t make such strange facial expressions in the presence of other racers,” Cane said.

  Danny immediately changed his facial expression back to normal and worriedly looked left and right. Luckily for him, the other racers were too focused on the race to pay attention to him.

  Danny let out a sigh of relief. “Phew! I don’t think I could handle another awkward situation,” Danny thought.

  Soon, all the racers taking part in the basic race started using nitro to propel their vehicles forward.

  The backs of every car in the race showed a colorful blend of red, blue, and yellow flames.

  “It kinda looks beautiful,” Danny said.

  Soon, more than half of the vehicles’ nitro flames died down, slowly returning to their natural speed. The rest of the cars’ nitro flames started to dwindle, causing the racers to only use nitro in short bursts.

  “I guess nitro isn’t infinite,” Danny commented.

  “Correct. If racers had no limit on how much nitro they could use, it would make the game incredibly unfair,” Cane said. “Nitro is a resource, and like real-world resources, it must be used wisely. Otherwise, you’d waste a great advantage presented to you.”

  The race continued with racers who had exhausted their nitro and others who barely had any remaining. The pickup truck was surprisingly in the lead, while the armored S.U.V. was in the last position. Danny wasn’t surprised about that. Once the racer of the S.U.V. ran out of nitro, it was only a matter of time before they ended up in the last position.

  Danny had his eye on the black supercar. It was in fifth position. Surprisingly, throughout the race, the driver of the supercar was the only one that hadn’t used nitro to make their car faster.

  Does he not have enough Drive Coins? Judging by how good that car looks, I’m guessing he used it all up to buy it. Bad move. You gotta have spare credits for situations like this.

  The race was in the final lap. The screen displaying the race showed how many laps were remaining in its corners. The race only had three laps and was nearing its end.

  The pickup truck, using Blue Nitro, was able to secure first position, far ahead of the other vehicles, and was moments away from crossing the final lap.

  “I guess you were right, Cane,” Danny uttered.

  Then something surprising happened.

  The exhaust pipes of the supercar started to bring out blue flames, propelling the supercar at an even greater speed than it was already going.

  The pickup truck was inches away from crossing the lap only to be overtaken by the supercar in a quick burst.

  The race was over. The game announced the name of the driver.

  Danny was moments from screaming an I told you so at Cane but quickly stopped himself as he remembered the other racers. “Ha!” Danny muttered quietly. “I told you so.”

  “You have told many things, Danny. Could you please be specific?” Cane asked.

  “I told you the supercar would win. I was right,” Danny said.

  “You are half-right. I cannot deny your prediction of the outcome of the race was true, but it wasn’t for the reason you thought,” Cane said.

  “What do you mean?” Danny asked.

  “You were so sure that the supercar would win simply because of its stats. That did help, but the racer driving it would have no doubt lost if they didn’t possess certain skills.”

  “While the other drivers were burning away their nitro, the driver of the supercar waited patiently and found the right moment to use theirs, making them the winner of the race. So my statement stands. It wasn’t just better stats that determined the outcome of the race.”

  Danny rolled his eyes. He sounds like a sore loser. But—maybe he does have a point. Those other racers burned through their nitro from the get-go. That was wasteful. Maybe there’s a smarter way to use them, Danny thought.

  As soon as he had that thought, his personal digital screen appeared right in front of him with a notification:

  Danny Rider, your race has been successfully scheduled. Basic Race will commence in two days.