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.”

It was 10.24 p.m.

If I wanted to continue the race, I had to resolve everything and complete registration within an hour and a half.

Contacting the organizer, waiting for the website to be fixed, producing proof that Jasper had stolen my data, reclaiming my justice—all of it took time.

However, the race wouldn’t wait for me.

Taking a deep breath, I sat down in the driver’s seat and started the engine.

Time was tight.

Right now, all I could do was gamble on one possibility, which was that Jasper hadn’t been able to completely steal my final product.

If I won, using this car would be enough to prove my true strength.

However, before that, I had to eliminate the last possibility—the sudden explosion that happened when my car entered the track in my previous life.

Clenching my teeth, I slammed down on the accelerator!

The car shot forward like an arrow released from a bow, and in that instant, my heart leaped into my throat.

Something was wrong.

I had practically lived with this car day and night, so I sensed it immediately.

Even if it was only a few millimeters, the entire car was drifting to the left toward the driver’s seat.

In racing, this was fatal!

Moreover, in a place I couldn’t see, the left front wheel was already scraping against the ground, sparks flying.

I cursed under my breath. No matter how unwilling I was, at the critical moment, I flung open the door and jumped out of the car.

The instant I left the driver’s seat, a deafening explosion erupted behind me.

The shockwave and heat hurled me more than ten meters away.

I rolled several times before slamming heavily into the ground. Ignoring the pain tearing through my body, I forced myself to look up toward my car.

Flames roared, and the wind howled.

My car had exploded!

It took a long time before I finally came back to my senses.

Most of the left side of my body was scraped raw from the ground. The pain, mixed with sweat, drilled straight into my flesh.

However, what was strange was that the car that had just exploded was now standing there intact.

Only the half-open door reminded me that everything had been real, that I had jumped out of it myself.

I clenched my fist, then loosened it.

My girlfriend’s words, “You’ll die,” kept echoing in my mind.

Was it my life, or taking one last gamble for my ideals?

My answer had never changed.

Thinking of that, I immediately called Grayson over to help me with some quick bandaging. Then, despite his attempts to stop me, I limped my way to the hotel.

10.50 p.m.

The organizer’s room was brightly lit, and excited shouts from a card game could be heard inside.

After listening for a moment, I confirmed that Jasper was in there as well.

Had the organizer leaked my data to him?

Only the first time had my car gone through their inspection, though. What about the second and third times?

Thinking further was pointless. I made a decision and knocked on the door.

Seven or eight knocks later, there was still no response.

They didn’t answer calls either.

Left with no choice, I went straight to Jasper’s comment section and called him out publicly.

[Jasper, you changed one set of data three times. Which backer is protecting you this hard? You might as well just ask the organizer to hand you the trophy.]

The internet exploded instantly.

Even though the posts were deleted quickly, screenshots spread everywhere.

But my question wasn’t taken seriously at all. Instead, it was turned into all kinds of memes and circulated widely.

[So you finally realized you’re worse and got anxious? Totally cracked.]

[This guy is hilarious. I’ve never seen someone rush so hard to become a clown. Look, does Jasper even acknowledge you?]

I ignored all of it because the door in front of me finally opened.

The organizer held a laptop, smiling politely. “Jasper only submitted his data once, on the first day of the competition.

“As for you, you’ve taken so long without producing anything. Have you run out of ideas? It’s fine. Go back and practice more. There will be chances in the future.”

Every word he said was immediately uploaded online by Jasper.

Watching the comments scroll past, I knew I truly had nowhere left to retreat.

Fortunately, I had records of every data change.

I immediately pulled out the photos and handed them to the organizer.

He only glanced at them before laughing.

“Three screenshots of a website under maintenance, and that’s your evidence for slandering Jasper?”

Jasper stood there with a confident, assured smile. At some point, he had turned on a livestream, the camera pointed straight at me.

“Finn, are you under too much pressure?

“But accusing me like this won’t make you feel any better, will it?”

I stared at the screen in disbelief.

There really was only a single line: Website under maintenance.

A chill ran down my spine.

I quickly entered his livestream, hoping some quick-handed fans had saved screenshots from earlier.

But there was nothing, only insults.

[Desperate to win? Looks like a plagiarist who couldn’t copy the data in time and started blaming others.]

[This guy is still living in the Stone Age. I can’t believe I used to like him for his skills. Turns out it was probably all hype. Refund!]

[What’s with all that blood on him? Don’t tell me he just started training now?]

My hands trembled so badly that I could barely hold my phone.

However, in their eyes, that only became proof of guilt, and the insults rained down even harder.

The more you tried to hide, the more suspicious you looked.

So I didn’t back down.

I stared straight at the organizer and demanded an explanation. “What can Jasper give you that you’d even crash the website just to protect him? What everyone wants is a fair race!”

At that moment, Jasper smiled considerately.

“Since you insist on thinking this way, why don’t we just wait for the website to be fixed and let everyone see the truth for themselves?”

I couldn’t tell what he was plotting. I ignored him and kept my eyes locked on the organizer.

“All set!”

A technician suddenly walked over with a laptop and turned the screen toward me.

The data Jasper had submitted was unmistakably my latest version!