Fated to Die to the Player, I'll Live Freely with My SSS-Class Ship!-Chapter 103: Through Fire and Stone

The straight leading to the U-Turn was nothing but an appetizer. It was a dangerous part, sure, but the racers weren't newbies—they wouldn't make such a basic error, not at this level.

Still, it's an undeniable fact that, thanks to the stunt we pulled, we managed to gain a few precious seconds of head start.

The next segment, however, was where we could stretch that lead even further.

"Up next is the Loops!"

Cassandra announced, fulfilling her role as navigator—though, to be honest, it was mostly for show.

A series of loop-de-loops came into view, designed to drastically reduce ship speeds—and this was also the first part of the track where actual "obstacles" began appearing.

I could already see the first loop forming ahead, about 5 kilometers away, but I made no effort to slow down. Instead, I pushed harder on the throttle, accelerating from 500 m/s to around 1 km/s in just a few moments.

{W-What's this?! The Knights of Camelot... They're not slowing down! This is madness!!!} The female announcer practically shrieked through the radio, the volume spike momentarily breaking my focus.

Seriously, if there were a mute button for them, I'd have pressed it long ago.

Unfortunately, their constant chattering was part of the race—a psychological obstacle, if anything. One more layer of chaos that pilots had to deal with.

The first loop loomed, and when we were just 100 meters from its entry point, I made my move. I yanked the lever diagonally backward, pulling the ship's nose up while twisting it into a corkscrew spin.

Ordinarily, taking the loop in a straightforward fashion—like a coaster ride—was the safest and most energy-efficient option. But considering the traps laid within, this maneuver granted us far better control over our trajectory.

The intense centrifugal forces, coupled with inertial momentum, helped stabilize the ship mid-spin, giving me the agility to respond to sudden changes quickly.

And sure enough, just as we hit the second loop, it happened.

*ZIIIIN!*

A lattice of lasers—blocking the path ahead!

And these weren't just for show. They were actual lasers, capable of slicing through metal like paper. A lethal trap—but also a predictable one, with visible gaps between beams. Especially manageable for racers taking it slow, maintaining a "safe" and "comfortable" pace.

But for us, tearing through at quadruple the average speed, the margin for error was virtually nonexistent.

"Top left!"

Eva called out, pointing to the nearest accessible gap in the laser web. As someone who had memorized the entire track and the timing of every trap, I didn't need her to tell me that—but the confirmation was appreciated.

Reflexively, I eased my grip on the lever, nudging the ship slightly off center. That was enough. We veered gently to the left, slid right through the opening, and avoided the deadly beams without breaking stride.

The moment we cleared the trap, I corrected our angle and re-centered the ship's path, continuing our dizzying spiral through the loop at full speed.

And that laser net? It was just the first of many.

Dozens more appeared ahead.

But we didn't let up.

We kept the pedal buried to the floor, dancing through every single one with precision and speed.

{D-Daredevils! These guys must have a death wish!}

The male announcer's voice cracked with disbelief. After all, a section that should've taken normal racers around 50 seconds—we had crossed in under 10! The gap between us and second place was growing with every second.

Roars erupted in the background, bleeding into the speakers through the commentators' microphones. It was clear that our daring performance had finally struck a chord with the audience.

A slow grin crept onto my face—because they hadn't seen anything yet.

"Next section is the random asteroid field!" Cassandra declared, offering a timely warning.

Beyond the loops, the course twisted into a labyrinth of sharp turns, nestled inside a field of drifting rock debris. This segment was pure chaos, filled with unpredictable hazards.

As the name suggested, it was truly random. There was no way for the organizers to control the precise movements of every asteroid floating through.

That said, they did set limitations.

Each rock could only be so large—at most, one asteroid might block up to 70% of the track. To fully obstruct the route, you'd need at least eight of them moving in perfect unison. Given their scattered positions, the chance of that happening was extremely low. Still, a bit of caution wouldn't hurt.

I tapped the radar, scanning the layout ahead. It needed barely five seconds to lock onto every object's position and trajectory—just enough time for me to keep pressing the pedal, without hesitation.

"Brace yourselves...!"

Time for a real show.

The first turn was a steep, 70° curve to the right, rising diagonally upward. But right away, two asteroids appeared in our path—about 300 meters apart. One hovered near the upper section, the other near the bottom.

At our current speed, dodging the first one by going under it would put us straight into the second. In a normal situation, this would be a forced slowdown. But there was one saving grace—the first asteroid had a narrow 10-meter opening on top between it and the track's edge.

That was all I needed.

I rolled the ship upside down and pulled the lever with precision, steering toward the opening like threading a needle. The wings of Eva's Hunter came within millimeters of brushing the boundary line.

If they did, even for a second, the system would mark it as going off-course—resulting in a hefty 5-second penalty. With our goal of a sub-3-minute lap, that would be devastating.

But with my handling?

It wasn't even close to dangerous. That 10-meter gap was practically a runway.

We slipped through effortlessly, bypassing the second asteroid with room to spare, and surged ahead toward the next bend.

Only then did the commentators come back on air—like they had just remembered how to breathe.

{F-Fuck...! My heart almost stopped watching this crazy team! They slipped through a 10 meter gap with speeds reaching 3 km/s!}

{If they as much as brushed the asteroid with the tip of their ship's wings—even with its energy shields up—they would have been reduced to fine scraps from the sudden inertial change!}

As expected, this Jolo announcer knows his stuff well. His explanation was accurate down to the finest detail.

At such speed, even a slight touch—be it the wingtip or any section of the ship—would cause a violent tug. That sudden shift would redirect the entire ship, and with the sheer inertia we carried, it would flatten us like a soda can against the asteroid's unforgiving surface.

Cassandra, who hadn't fully understood the danger before, suddenly went pale—but Eva remained expressionless. She was long past the stage of doubting my piloting skills, after all.

This entire asteroid field stretched roughly 300 kilometers in length. And without skipping a beat, we tore through it in exactly 100 seconds flat.

Two minutes gone, and we were two-thirds into the track now. Perfectly on schedule.

Just as we crossed into the next sector, one of the rear-view monitors flickered with a burst of light—an explosion from behind. A flash of smoke marked the screen.

{O-Oh no! Racer No. 21 from the Trinity Force Tech crashed into one of the asteroids! Are they still alive?!}

{Tsk tsk... Idiots, trying to copy the risky maneuver the Knights of Camelot did...}

"..."

Human greed knows no bounds. It seemed our reckless spectacle had caught the attention of the other racers. But to mimic our stunt? Unless they had drilled it hundreds of thousands of times, there was no chance they'd succeed on their first attempt.

Out of sixteen racers, two were now eliminated in the asteroid sector. Their pilots were heavily injured, forcing them out of the race. Only fourteen competitors remained.

"No..." Eva muttered, eyes focused as she reviewed the footage. "They didn't crash because of bad control... It was interference from the ship in front—Eden Company."

"I see... So that's what happened."

I wasn't shocked. I had anticipated they'd pull some underhanded move to knock out the competition... But for them to act during the very first lap? Perhaps our performance had put them on edge sooner than expected.

Anyway, the next two zones weren't nearly as difficult as the asteroid field.

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The upcoming section consisted of sharp, twisting zigzags—not just side-to-side, but also vertical and depth-based: up, down, forward, and back. Simple enough to handle without requiring any special stunt work.

The traps here, though—lasers and EMP Mines—were a real nuisance to evade. Especially the mines. They were placed deliberately at trap corners to trigger right as a ship turned sharply.

The EMPs exploded in a split second, spreading their effect at the speed of light. If triggered, the blast would instantly disable a ship's systems for a brief moment, throwing it into complete disarray. At that point, regaining control was next to impossible.

There was only one countermeasure: don't trigger them at all.

Fortunately, the traps were visible to the naked eye, making them easier to dodge—if flying at a moderate, controllable speed. We, of course, were flooring it. At our pace, tight cornering wasn't an option. No—technically, it shouldn't have been.

But every EMP mine had one fatal flaw. They were concentrated around the central track area. The outer edges were left clear—and that's exactly where we slipped through.

By letting Eva's Hunter Frigate hug the track's very edge and applying the same rapid turning method we'd used back at the U-Turn, we managed to navigate the entire section without decelerating at all.

After all, regaining speed after a sudden turn has lower time loss than slowing down from afar and speeding back up from scratch.

The Zigzag sector was cleared in just 40 seconds, leaving only the final portion of the lap. Like the opening stretch, this one was a straightaway, giving the ship freedom to accelerate without restriction.

Of course, I didn't hold anything back. I kept my foot pressed hard on the pedal, not once easing up, and—

{A-Amazing! That's all I can say! What an unbelievable record time...!}

{This... I-It's gotta be just for one lap. No way can they keep pulling those stunts with perfect execution fifty times in a row!}

The commentators babbled in shock, but the numbers flashing on our primary visualizers didn't lie.

[Lap 1/50]

[Lap time: 00:02:59.01]

[Total Race Time: 00:02:59.01]

"...Good enough for a first lap." I grinned. "Now, we just need to keep this pace."

One lap down—only forty-nine more to go!