Speed Is King

Kara adjusted herself and leaned back on her seat to prepare for the car's stupidly powerful acceleration.

"Two thousand one hundred horsepower, huh? Let's see how that feels." She couldn't help but grin lightly in excitement.

She pressed her little foot down almost entirely and was slammed back to her seat!

ROARRR!!!!

The Bugatti Chiron Classic III literally EXPLODED forward with extreme speed!

"WHOA! AWESOME!!" Kara's eyes shot wide open and her breath came in short gasps as she skillfully controlled the Chiron Classic III around the first high speed corner.

SCREEE!!

The Chiron handled beautifully and was the perfect Grade A race car. The faster Kara drove around the track, the more she felt one with the car.

After three high speed laps around the track, Kara was able to control the car as though it was custom made for her.

And she had cut her lap time by two full minutes!

"Keep going! The more I practice, the better I'll be, and the more chances I will have to get first place!" Kara thought to herself.

Kara was by no means a professional racer.

She was a senior in the California Military School for Girls and was trained in combat driving. Although one of the modules in combat driving was for high-speed driving, it focused mostly on survival, blocking the enemy and killing them.

She wasn't taught how to efficiently navigate a race track and press a vehicle to the edges of its performance.

Thankfully, she knew all about braking, entry and exit speeds for cornering, aerodynamics and most importantly, she knew all about keeping her cool and making the most rational decision in the heat of combat.

For a racer, all of the above would be enough.

Especially for a racer of a dungeon race that allowed for dirty driving.

Finally, it was time.

[Ding! Practice time is over. Please proceed to the starting section. Randomizing starting number.]

[Kara Rose - Position eleven.]

Kara was absolutely unperturbed by the low starting number. She was already in survival race mode, and nothing would bring down her spirits.

If she had to start from the back, then so be it! She would be in perfect position to mow down the ten cars in front of her!

They quickly got into position. Judging by the mess that most of the cars made in trying to get into their proper place, Kara deduced that she would have absolutely no problems at all.

Only two or three cars managed to do it well and without a fuss.

"I only have three or four real opponents in this race." Kara realized. "Good."

[Race start in three.]

[Two.]

[One.]

[GO!]

SCREEEEEEEEEEE!!!

It was extremely clear from the start who her opponents were. Even with high tech launch control, only four cars managed to burst forward at maximum acceleration.

In addition to herself, there was a bright blue one and a neon green one in front of her, and a completely black one behind her.

The four cars quickly avoided the other eight cars and blasted forward at high speed. The twelve-way race had devolved to be a four-way race from the get go.

Kara's eyes flicked rapidly to her rearview mirror and then back ahead for three counts, before flicking back again.

She felt an incredible pressure emanating from the black Chiron, and decided that it was probably her most dangerous opponent. She needed to keep an eye on it.

With all four Chirons having exactly the same acceleration and top speed, they quickly fell into a tense formation as they thundered down the first straightway.

The neon green Chiron was at first place, the bright blue Chiron second, Kara at third and the black Chiron fourth.

Very quickly, the first low-speed corner came up.

The bright blue Chiron failed to estimate his braking power accurately and braked a second too early! He was immediately overtaken by the other three Chirons who braked at the right time.

SCREEEE!!!

VROAAAARRR!!!

The turbo-charged engines of all four Chirons roared out like angry monsters as they churned out more than five hundred horsepower to each of all their four wheels, flinging them forward out of the corner at eye-popping speed.

The neon green Chiron was in the lead, but Kara's blue-red Chiron had already eaten half a wheel into its lead.

Kara was the better driver when cornering.

However, to her slight dismay, the black Chiron behind her had cut half a wheel into HER lead over him too!

There was no time to worry much about that though, as the second low speed corner loomed straight ahead.

Once more, the four Chirons braked heavily..

VROO! VROO! VROO! VROO!

Their engines barked out four times as they shifted four gears down to reach the correct entry speed for the corner.

However, the neon green Chiron crept ahead by an entire car's length as he purposely reduced his braking power to attempt to take the corner at a higher entry speed.

SCREEEE!!!

"WHAT?!" Kara shouted in disbelief as the neon green Chiron oversteer slightly to throw its rear out and then countersteered heavily to throw his car into a high speed drift to clear the corner smoothly!

"He drifted with high-grip tires? Impossible!!" Kara muttered to herself as she exited the corner and began to chase after the neon green Chiron who had extended his lead by almost two car lengths.

"Unless he purposely picked a lower-grip tire for the race. But that way, he would really suffer during the final two laps. Who cares! I'll just stick to my strategy and keep going at full speed!" Kara's training helped her overcome the shock of seeing the neon green car drift so effectively and resumed driving her best.

In many ways, control over one's emotions and mood was as crucial as driving skills in a real race, much less a survival race like the one Kara was in.

Kara was definitely in her element at that moment. She had a real chance of getting first place in the Hidden Dungeon Challenge, and securing the fabulous first prize!!

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