"Well, that was embarrassing," Danny said. He looked at his position and the number of laps he had passed.

  Position: 10 out of 10.

  Laps: 0 out of five.

  "Why did I have to jinx myself?"

  A few moments earlier...

  Danny was in the middle of two cars—a sports car and a jeep—and they were neck and neck, seeing who would cross the second lap.

  "Come on... Come on," Danny said as he tightened the grip on his steering wheel and gritted his teeth.

  He didn’t have to cross this lap in the first place, but he wanted to. He really wanted to. Maybe it was the adrenaline rush he was feeling, or maybe he was just tired of never winning, but more than anything, he wanted to be first.

  The three cars, still in a deadlock, sped through the track, approaching the lap. Sweat poured down Danny’s real body as his focus remained on what was in front of him. And luckily, after moments of anticipation, Danny crossed the second lap in first place—and remained so.

  "Yes!" It was a small victory, but it was still a victory. This was the first time ever that Danny had placed first.

  "I am glad that you feel a sense of pride in your accomplishment, Danny, but remember the race isn’t over yet," Cane said.

  "I know, Cane. Just let me have this. Alright?" Danny said. Danny was coming closer to another one of the edges.

  'Looks like it’s almost time for me to drift,' Danny thought.

  Just as Danny was about to prepare for the steps to drift away from one of the edges, something unexpected—and very annoying—happened. The muscle car and the jeep caught up to him, and they were once again in a deadlock.

  "Seriously?" Danny asked in an annoyed tone. Danny tried speeding ahead of the two, but it didn’t work; they still remained at the same place. The edge of the track was getting closer and closer. Danny had to pass them before he crashed into it.

  Moments passed and Danny still hadn’t managed to pass the two vehicles.

  "Oh, screw it!" Despite the two vehicles not leaving his side, Danny had to do something.

  He had two options. He could decelerate his vehicle and find an opening he could use to overtake them, or—he could try to get ahead of the two beside him.

  He chose the latter option. It may have seemed foolish. It was foolish, but Danny didn’t care. All he felt was the adrenaline rush of finally getting first place, and he wasn’t about to give it up to these two—thieves.

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  He stomped on the pedal harder. But he was still in the deadlock.

  "Come on, I can do this. I can do this."

  His muscle car finally started to get ahead of the two vehicles, and at the same time, he was moments away from crashing into one of the edges. There was no way he had the reflexes to drift away when he was this close.

  "Beginner’s Edge." Calling out the drift skill, his car attempted to drift away from the edge but was unable to, as he was in the middle of the vehicles.

  This caused him to crash into the sports car on its other side and crash them both into the dead zone.

  After the countdown, Danny appeared at the starting lap, with the laps he had crossed reset to 0.

  "Perhaps it would have been more efficient if you had let the two racers pass you," Cane said.

  "I know," Danny snapped. "I don’t know what I was thinking."

  "It is fine, Danny. You might be delighted to be informed that you are not the only racer to fall prey to the Deadzone at this time," Cane said.

  Just like the A.I. had said, three other vehicles apart from Danny’s had also crashed. Danny, seeing this, grinned. But that's not all he did. He stomped on the pedal in an instant. He saw the opportunity to get out of last place—and he took it.

  His position had now switched to seventh place. The race went along, and Danny was doing quite well. He was yet to use any of his remaining skills. Looking at his digital windscreen, Danny saw he had two more chances to use Beginner’s Edge.

  The race went on, and most of the vehicles had crashed into the dead zone more than a few times—including Danny’s. Most of the time, it was due to other vehicles crashing into his.

  He cursed every time it happened, but he didn’t use Beginner’s Edge or Full Burst whenever he had close calls. He was tempted, but Cane persuaded him not to.

  The windshield now showed Danny was in the fourth lap out of five.

  "Finally," Danny said. He had reached third position with four more lanes to go. Second position was the jeep, and first position was one of the sports cars.

  All Danny had to do was finish the race as one of the first three—but that wasn’t satisfying enough for Danny. After everything he’s been through, he wanted to come out first. He had to.

  To make sure he wouldn’t be slowed down, Danny used the remaining two Beginner’s Edge to drift past two of the edges of the track.

  Now he was in the final lane, close to the finish line. He still remained in third place. The sports car was moments away from crossing the finish line first.

  Danny looked at his windshield. It showed his car was going at 150 miles per hour.

  "Danny, it’s time," Cane said. Danny smirked as he heard this.

  "Full Burst," Danny called out. The single transparent red bar on the windshield disappeared in an instant, and the exhaust pipes let out an explosive red burst, propelling him at an incredible speed.

  In a blur, Danny passed the jeep that was in second place, and when the sports car was inches away from the finish line—Danny stole the win. Crossing the finish line, Danny was greeted by a prompt that caused him to break into a wide grin:

  Congratulations. You have won your first race. Reward: 10 Drive Coins.