Chapter 175: On the Way to Victory
“Oh… Oh…”
After an assault and a suspension. My father summoned me to his study, where I hadn’t been in years.
I guess he knows what happened. He looked so emaciated, older than his age.
Oh, here you are.
That menacing voice that used to make me shiver just by listening to it… Now it’s hushed and somewhat weak.
He glared at me with a grim look in his eyes, but his power was gone.
“You lost a fight, and now you’re assaulting a man… How stupid.”
He turned his head and shivered.
… And then… My father would whisper, like a beggar, “Please… Please…” “Please…
“What?”
“Please… Please just die.
“Nah…”
I couldn’t believe my ears.
“Please. Somewhere where people won’t bother you… Somewhere quiet. Die like no one will ever find you. Die like you never existed… Please… Just die as if I never existed…”
I was… My own father cried and begged me to die.
“In all my glorious, glorious life… You are the only blemish on my life. Your birth is your greatest misfortune. It’s a shame you’re alive… Please… Don’t make my life a living hell… Please. Please, please, please, please, please. I’ve made a mistake living this life… Please die… Please die… Please…”
In the end, he begged me like I was a stranger.
After that day, my life, which was never a good one to begin with, got even worse. Drinking, smoking, gambling… I’d never touched those things before because I thought they were vulgar…
It was around this time that I got an offer from Kaminaga Enterprises’ Era P to work on a VR game.
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“Ggh… What the fuck? Fuck… I can’t move.
But thanks to Era P’s trickery, he’s now in the distorted state of being half human on top and half motorcycle on the bottom.
Moreover, its status is lowered and it cannot move properly in this form, which is of no benefit.
Calm down, Kakeru. Can’t you deactivate the skill?
“Oh, no! I can’t even use my other skills anymore!
“Hmm… Is it a bug?”
“Damn… Fuck… We can’t lose… We can’t lose… We can’t lose… Even God has forsaken us…
“–[swamp generation]!!!”
Seeing Buddha Qiye and the others’ confusion as an opportunity to win, the Black Goat activates his skill. Half of the battlefield turns into a swamp.
The scaffold…?
“Damn…”
Knowing the specifications of the swamp, Dine bites his lip. If he sinks, he loses without question. He realizes that his victory is over.
“It’s an opportunity, Masuo.”
“Mmm. Our victory is at hand. I’ll be with you.
Avenger Masho, having obtained swamp aptitude through [Resistance Link] magic on the black goat, gallops towards the enemy at a leisurely pace.
“Oh, you’re forgetting me, aren’t you? –The doomwatch!
DINE plays an aggressive melody to intercept Masuo, but Masuo comes in with a cool look on his face.
“Hey–why isn’t my playing working?
“Stupid.”
Avenger Masuo pointed to his ear with his best smug grin.
There’s an item called [Ultra High Performance Earplugs]. Well, it’s originally an accessory that negates a monster’s roar attack.
“I was watching the battle between you and the Demon King Johann… and something vaguely occurred to me. [“The item called ‘Ultra-High-Performance Earplugs’…”
Earplugs are accessories that disable enemy’s roar which gives [Flinch] or [Stun]. Of course, it is an item to disable only attacks, but you can hear conversations between players as usual.
“Ready– [Impact Lance]!”
“G– ahhh?”
Masuo’s spear hits DINE. DINE is not damaged, but he is blown away by [Impact Lance] for more than 10 meters.
Well, we’ve got everyone out of the way. Let’s start with you.
Avenger Masuo then slowly approached Buddha Qi with half of his body already submerged.
“Oh. You’re not going to fight?”
Seeing Buddha Qi with his eyes downcast in resignation, Masuo grinned and said .
“Oh… I’m done… I wanted to give her another shot. But I guess that’s not gonna happen.”
(Oh, yeah. Nobody wants me to win… Nobody wants that. Even if I tried, even if I won… From the beginning…)
“Hmm, what’s wrong with you? You’ve already lost your heart just because you lost once or twice?”
“Once… Twice? Don’t be stupid. Once you lose, that’s the end of the world!
“You’re a fool, you fool. If you give up after one defeat… Then you’ve lost. We will keep trying until we win, no matter how many times we lose. Yes, until we win.
“You’re a pussy…”
“You think so? But you know what? No matter how many times we lose, we will never give up winning. Yes, as long as we don’t give up on winning. Then all our defeats will be ’cause we’re on the way to winning.”
“…. …”
Avenger Masuo’s words as if to say that failure is the source of success. Although he was thinking how positive he was, for some reason, Masuo’s confident words struck a chord with Qi.
“Can I lose… “Even if you lose…”
“Hmm. Exactly. You should win at the end. Then the losses in the middle will be part of the beauty of the story.”
For Avenger Masuo, it was a natural thought. Therefore, there was no intention to encourage him.
However, it was because he spoke in such a natural way that his words touched Buddha Qiye’s heart.
‘I’ve always admired you… But I’m too weak to say such a thing. But today, I was happy to win against you!
The day I lost my first race, a young racer who had won the first place asked me to shake his hand. The racer did not have good results and was not the kind of person that Frenchman would pay attention to. However, he kept on trying hard and defeated Qi and came in first place.
(I was so frustrated and scared that I didn’t get first place… He smiled and asked me to shake his hand and I punched him… I was… Oh my god…)
He didn’t blame Qi. It was his fault for asking for a handshake right after the race. He apologized that it was his fault for asking for a handshake right after the race.
(I was afraid of losing. I was afraid of losing. Because I had to win. Because if I didn’t win, no one would recognize me. No, it’s all my fault. We all lose sometimes. But I just… I wasn’t strong enough to get up from that defeat… I didn’t have the strength that they took for granted… I didn’t have it.)
“Ha… I’m glad I got to fight you.
“Hmm. Well, what did I say?”
“Yeah, I told you. I said, “Get the fuck out of here!”
“Well… You look good.”
Buddha Qi looked at his reflection in the water. He thought it was ridiculous and ugly. But the man in front of him has the true strength to stand up no matter how many times he loses.
I was hoping you’d break yourself like that.
Avenger Masuo raises his spear and strikes.
“–[Graviton Lance]!”
With a single concentrated strike, Buddha Qi’s body completely sinks into the swamp and his HP is reduced to zero.
“Hmm. I don’t know what’s been troubling you. I wish you the best of luck, my enemy. I’m praying for you.”
After that, DINE, who was the only one left, declared that he was going to give up easily.
In the first round of the tag team duel tournament, the first match was won by the pairing of Avenger Masuo and Black Goat.
Extra 175 stories after that.
After losing the battle, Kakeru and DINE respawn in a dimly lit passageway offstage at the stadium. Waiting for them there was an unexpected person.
Are you sure you’re…?
He recognized the muscular and strong player leaning against the wall.
“Yo!”
This mighty man’s name is Bison. He’s a member of the Guild’s Killing Hobby Club. He remembers what he did on the first day he logged in, and he makes a bitter face.
They were having a great time racing and I just couldn’t help myself.
“Oops, do you think I should take it off?”
Dine, who had sensed that Bison’s goal was to get the Buddha’s Qiyamat, logged out first, perhaps out of concern for Dine’s safety.
Retaliation?
No way. I thought I’d give you this today.
“… What?
Bison sent me the Gear 4WD body that was distributed at the collaboration event. Butsugi takes it in his hand.
“This is… I’ve missed this.”
I remember that there was a time when I wanted to get the real thing after watching the anime. But that was a distant memory. In his strict household, there was hardly any time to watch TV.
“I heard. You’re not racing anymore, are you?”
“Well. You’re banned. But what does that have to do with this?”
“It’s a shame you won’t be able to do any real racing. But instead, why don’t you come down to the GOO and race with us? We’ll race.”
“… Why?”
Because you like to race, don’t you?
“…?!”
I’m so sorry.
(Yeah… How did I forget…)
Butuan Qi’s father was a man who was obsessed with winning. And he forced his children to do the same. But he never specified which field his children should go into. That was the only freedom he gave to Kakeru.
Why did I choose to race when there were so many other options?
(I think… That’s…)
I participated in a bike race when I was a kid. But the feeling of joy when I was able to finish the race. The feeling of the wind as you became one with the bike. I wanted to experience that feeling for as long as I could, so I decided to race.
(The days of competition where you can never lose…) Under pressure to always win, while running on the edge of foul play… I forgot… The fun of just running and competing with other racers.)
“Hmph…”
I thought I had nothing left in my life. It was funny that a hot flame had been lit in his heart, and Buddha Qiye laughed quietly.
Then, Buddha Qi returned the Gear 4×4 body to Bison. Bison’s eyebrows lowered a little sadly.
The toy called Gear 4WD has been going through a period of prosperity and decline. There was a time when the population was so small, you couldn’t race with anyone. The bison knew this, and as soon as they saw a promising prospect, they’d start recruiting them.
“Whoa, get in, will you? I’m sorry. When I see a guy with a racer’s soul, I just have to recruit him. Bad habit.”
What the hell are you doing?
“What?”
“This account is on loan from Kaminaga. All the items he gave me will be taken away by the shitty P. I’ll make my own account and come see you later. I’ll make my own account and come see you later. When I do… I’ll be counting on you.
“What? You mean you’re going to join the Killing Hobby Club?”
“It’s… I don’t know. I’m just trying to have a good race right now.
“Huh. If that’s the way it’s gonna be… I’ll be waiting for you.
“Yeah. Give my regards to the kids. I’m sorry. I don’t know if they’ll ever forgive me.
“Hey, they’re a lot more mature than we think. If you apologize sincerely, they’ll understand.”
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Well… I gotta find a job.
After logging out and disconnecting the VR connection, Buddha Qi stretched and muttered to himself. The actuality that there’s still some money left over from the race, it’s not as if he’s going to be able to eat for the rest of his life.
You should get a regular job.
“So, about that… I’m actually looking for a driver.
DINE, who had logged out earlier, speaks to you in his usual lighthearted tone.
“You’re a good driver, aren’t you? I’ll give you a shot at the paycheck.”
There was no reason for Qiye to refuse this unexpected offer.
“Thank God. The driver… Not bad. I’ll get you to work as fast as I can!
“No, I’d rather play it safe…”
“Ha, no.”
They looked at each other and laughed. When they leave the room, they are not greeted by the staff. But that’s okay.
He left Kaminaga Tower, saying that he was satisfied as long as the money was paid.
