The day before the race, I burned my car and announced my withdrawal.

Overnight, my fanbase collapsed. Supporters unfollowed in droves, and casual fans turned on me just as viciously.

Jasper, the man who had always treated me as his only real rival, put on a show of false concern.

“Without him, the race feels too lonely. No matter what, I still hope he’ll return to the track and face me properly.”

I sneered.

In my previous life, the racecar I had painstakingly modified ended up identical to his.

No matter how many videos I released of full recordings of every step I personally took, all Jasper had to do was tearfully tell his fans, “Then let Finn use it. He needs it more than I do. I’ll win on my own strength.”

And just like that, I became the shameless thief in everyone’s eyes.

Later, the moment I started my car, the components inside exploded, and I was left in a vegetative state.

His fans called it karma.

Even on the day my fiancée pulled out my oxygen tube and watched me die, I still couldn’t understand.

Why had everything that belonged to me—my career, my girlfriend—all become Jasper’s?

When I opened my eyes again, I was back on the day the race schedule was first announced.

“The fiftieth test run, and we’re still in first place!”

Grayson excitedly slapped my back, and I staggered forward.

Wait, I wasn’t a vegetable who couldn’t move…

I had been reborn!

“This is what you deserve!” Grayson laughed, thinking I was happy about the car’s performance. He urged me to hurry up and prepare for tomorrow’s race.

“Wait!” I suddenly called out, stopping him. “Don’t submit the car data yet. Let me take another look.”

As I ran toward the garage, I pulled up the data Jasper had released earlier.

Every parameter was completely different from my current car. That was why I hadn’t noticed anything wrong in my previous life.

However, just as I reached my racecar, the webpage refreshed.

“Finn! What’s going on?! Jasper updated his data. It’s exactly the same as ours!”

Grayson rushed over, his face dark. He immediately tried to make a call to complain about Jasper.

My expression sank, but I raised a hand to stop him. “Data submission doesn’t close until midnight. There’s no rush.”

In my previous life, Jasper had seemingly uploaded two identical sets of data and used that to rally his fans against me.

All because of this one minute.

I hurriedly posted proof of the modifications I had personally done, only for his fans to mock me.

[Technology is really advanced now. Even videos can be faked.]

[Everyone knows top racers compete with tuning skills. Why don’t you just steal Jasper himself and have him drive for you?]

[Jasper is risking his entire future for this honor, and you’re using power to suppress him. Is there no justice?]

My entire team was dragged into it as well. When they went out, they were pelted with rotten eggs, so some didn’t even dare go home.

With no other choice, I tried to make them believe through my skills.

However, the moment the car started, it exploded on the spot!

Across the entire track, only Jasper was unaffected. He smoothly took the championship and enjoyed all the glory.

As for my car, even after professional researchers examined it over and over, they couldn’t find any cause that could have triggered the explosion.

That only led to Jasper’s fans claiming I had done something shameful and suffered divine punishment.

They said I deserved it.

Even after I fell into a vegetative state in a hospital bed, I endured inhumane abuse every day.

I couldn’t even cry for help and could only pray that someone kind would give me a quick end.

Then my parents were cyber-bullied into depression and jumped to their deaths.

My fiancée, Myra, stood beside Jasper. Pretending to be a fan, she pulled out my oxygen tube and later told the public that I, in a vegetative state, had committed suicide.

I died wronged.

Now that fate has given me another chance, I will make the truly guilty pay the price!

“This race doesn’t even happen once in decades. You’ve waited your whole life for this chance. How can you give it up over this?!

“Don’t worry about Jasper. Check the car properly. No matter what, we’re racing!”

Grayson snatched my phone away and locked both me and the car inside the underground garage.

I clenched my teeth and went over the car again, inside and out.

Even if someone had deliberately leaked information, a difference of even a fraction in the parts would show up clearly in the data.

With all my components still intact, how could Jasper possibly find parts that were completely identical to mine?

And if he somehow did, under the same conditions, why was it only my car that exploded?!

I racked my brain, replaying everything from that day.

Jasper was good at marketing himself. Fans were always crowding around him, so there was no chance for him to get close to my car.

Then I remembered the person he had his arm around back then was none other than my girlfriend, Myra!

My heart tightened as if an invisible hand had grabbed it.

I had been certain she would exchange rings with me after eight years together. Instead, she was holding the arm of the man who framed me, cutting off my way out.

Well, I couldn’t care less anymore!

I stood up abruptly and cleared my mind.

Then I began dismantling every single part of the car.

I had been preparing for this race for three years and had grown attached to these cold pieces of metal. They weren’t something I could easily discard.

However, thinking of my last life, being driven into a corner and watching my parents jump from the hospital window while I couldn’t even collect their bodies, my hands only moved faster.

After finishing that, I went to the storage room and dug out another pile of dust-covered parts.

This was the original version of my racecar design. Even now, it could still be called perfect.

However, my love for racing never stopped. In my dreams, I kept thinking about how to improve it. That was how I ended up with the current version—one with almost no weaknesses.

Jasper might’ve stolen my equipment, but my strength was still there. He could ride a rocket and still wouldn’t beat me.

In just a few minutes, the car was fully assembled again.

I made slight changes compared to before, but its overall performance jumped by a huge margin, like a leopard ready to pounce at any moment!

Still riding that sense of relief, I sent the new data to Grayson.

Everything had happened too suddenly.

This time, I was also the only one in the garage the entire time. Even if Jasper had hired a master thief, there was no way he could copy it.

I had just relaxed a little when Grayson appeared in front of me again, his face deathly pale.

A bad feeling surged up instantly.

Then I heard him say, “Jasper just posted his original concept online. The data… is exactly the same as ours after the modification.”

“That’s impossible!”

I rushed forward and grabbed the phone.

On the screen, Jasper said regretfully, “Actually, when I first reached this stage, I already felt it was enough. It was perfect. However, someone managed to steal the most critical component.

“So I had no choice but to create this new version, an even more perfect one.”

I refreshed the official site.

Jasper’s car data had changed again!

Below it, fans were piling on praise, each comment more exaggerated than the last. Meanwhile, my face grew paler by the second.

How could this be…

A large portion of these parts came from when I went back to the countryside!

Those materials weren’t even circulating on the market anymore.

I had even spent months grinding and lubricating them before finally producing a few usable pieces, then selecting the one with the best performance.

And during the time it was left unused, rainwater had just happened to wear down its edges, allowing it to mesh perfectly with the machinery.

To meet all those conditions was harder than reaching the sky.

Yet the one Jasper had in his hands was one with my highest completion level, the most perfect result. Even the data matched completely!

I opened the hood and carefully removed that component.

It was small, radiating a scorching heat in my palm.

Could it be this?

The source of the explosion.

The countless days and nights I spent refining it in my previous life, along with the curses echoing in that empty hospital room at the end, all flooded my mind at once.

Clutching it, I walked silently to the furnace.

Ignoring the workers’ looks of regret, I threw the component in with all my strength.

Listening to it melt, I turned around and went straight back into the garage without hesitation.

In this life, I will only choose the path that benefits me the most!

Grayson watched me do all of this, his eyes rimmed with tears.

After all, the only two sets of equipment I could use now had been destroyed by my own hands.

“Finn, what do we do now?”

I took the phone and glanced at it.

As expected, fans had already flooded my comment section, speaking up aggressively for Jasper.

[Weren’t you acting all arrogant before? Jasper has released everything. If you won’t do the same, is it because you’re not good enough? Just withdraw from the race already!]

[In past races, Finn’s style was really similar to Jasper’s. Could he have been copying him all along? Now that data has to be made public, he’s panicking!]

…

In just a few lines, some fans had already convicted me.

Meanwhile, my gaze landed on a message from my girlfriend, someone who hadn’t spoken to me for days.

[Stop messing with those mechanical parts. Come out and have some fun with me tonight.]

I had never told her what I was doing.

She also knew that before a race, I needed absolute focus and never chatted with me.

Yet this time, she kept sending message after message, coming up with different excuses to force me out of the garage.

She even sent a voice message, her voice trembling with sobs. “Finn, give up. If you keep going like this, you’ll die.”

I simply turned off my phone and smiled lightly at Grayson.

“It’s fine. There’s still time. I’ll make another set.”

I took a deep breath and turned on “Do Not Disturb”.

Then I sat back down at the workbench.

Starting from scratch, I drew the plans based on the parts I could find and began assembling.

This could even be called the simplest setup I had ever made. It took just two hours to finish completely.

While organizing the data and sending it to Grayson for review, I lit a cigarette and sorted through my thoughts.

On the surface, this setup could only be considered average, something a rich kid might use as an entry-level toy.

However, I had changed the most critical part.

On the outside, this car was beginner-level. In reality, because of my modification, the moment it entered a professional track, its performance would spike to its absolute peak.

This method was something I had painfully figured out during the ten years of humiliation I endured on a hospital bed.

It was dangerous, but the final result would be dazzling.

Jasper would never have that experience, let alone see through its secret.

Yet, the very next second, I refreshed my feed and saw a “special announcement” from Jasper’s team.

[We’ve heard that some fans who like Jasper want to get into racing. Before the competition, Jasper had this beginner-friendly version specially prepared for everyone. If you’re interested, don’t miss it!]

The moment I read that line, my hands started shaking.

I didn’t even dare open the message Grayson had sent.

How could there be such a coincidence?

I had just finished mine.

Jasper, who had been out enjoying himself all afternoon, had immediately produced one as well. Even the functions, strengths, and weaknesses were exactly the same as mine.

Clenching my fists tightly, I tapped into the detailed data.

Everything was the same!

Still, a sliver of hope remained in my heart.

As long as Jasper hadn’t discovered the most critical part and continued using his previous version during the race, I could completely clear myself of suspicion.

With that thought, I opened the official website without hesitation.

The data flashed before my eyes, but in the next second, the page suddenly displayed: Under Maintenance.

“Bang!”

Grayson slammed his fist into the wall, furious. “Damn it, Jasper!

“He’s definitely pulling tricks again!

“Once data is uploaded, it can’t be changed. Yet he can get the organizer to help him under the table again and again, and no one does anything?! I’m going to find someone and deal with him!”

I lifted my head from the scattered parts on the floor, my expression dark.

“No. I need to deal with the organizer personally.”