The paddock of Catalis International Circuit was different.
It wasn't just bigger. It breathed differently. Tighter air. Colder glances. More cameras. More silence when you walked past.
Because this wasn't a qualifier.
This was Round One.
Twenty teams. Twelve global academy scouts watching. Four official FIA wildcard entries.
And Ghost Line was one of them.
Rai Tanaka sat in a fold-out chair inside their temporary garage. Helmet on his lap. Half-suited. Heart rate low.
Until the HUD pulsed.
The system opened without warning.
Ghost Link Status: STABILIZED
Drive Sync Level: 7
System Trust: 42%
Driver Tier: E-Class (Unranked Rookie)
Primary Trait Unlocked: Adaptive Reflex - Lvl. 1
He blinked. The screen expanded.
[RAI TANAKA – STAT WINDOW]
Drive Tier: E (Pending Evaluation)
Ghost Trust: 42%
Mental Sync: 71.2%
Muscle Feedback Index: 64.5%
Grip Precision: 59.3%
Focus Window Duration: 4.8 sec
Active Traits:
– Adaptive Reflex [Lv.1]: Enhances reaction time during sector transitions by 3.5%.
Hidden Trait Detected: ??? (Locked)
Mission Queue:
– Survive the First Heat
– Trigger Burn Sequence (Optional)
– Surpass Rival "Axel Duren" (Bonus Reward)
Rai didn't say anything.
But he felt it.
The system was leveling him like a player. Like he was inside a simulation that no one else could see.
And every action, every maneuver—was XP.
—
Across the garage, Kiera stared at a monitor.
"Okay, so here's how this weekend works," she said. "We're not officially grid-locked, but if we DNF in any of the three heats, we're out. Period."
Imani added, "And if we finish in the top ten?"
"We get championship points. And a chance to stay in the Provisional Driver Program."
Rai nodded slowly.
But his mind was already ahead.
Survive the First Heat.
Sounded easy.
He looked across the paddock.
Axel Duren.
Already surrounded by his team. Polished. Prepared. Smug.
Sierra Clarke?
Nowhere to be seen.
He didn't like that.
—
The track walk that evening was quiet.
Long shadows stretched over the apexes.
Rai traced the edge of Turn 9 with his glove.
This was the fastest corner. The most dangerous. Drivers usually lifted.
But the Ghost System pulsed.
Line Detected: Full Throttle Window – Frame-Perfect Entry Required
Reward: +3% Focus Duration / +2 System Trust
He smiled.
So this was how it worked now.
—
The next morning, the grid formed under floodlights. First heat.
Short race. Twelve laps. Medium compounds. Full pack.
Twenty cars.
Rai sat P11.
The HUD flared again as the engines revved.
Initiating Ghost Protocol: APEX VEIN
XP Threshold for Level Up: 470 / 1000
Trait Progression: Adaptive Reflex 63% to Lvl. 2
And then, in gold:
Burn Sequence: 0.1% Triggered (Dormant)
What the hell is the Burn Sequence really meant to be…?
No time to ask.
The lights blinked red.
Then black.
—
Race Start.
Chaos.
Turn 1 was a massacre. One car cut across the grass. Another clipped the back marker.
Rai kept his line. Trusted the system.
And the system trusted him back.
Sector Advantage Calculated – Engage Inner Drift Path
Estimated Gain: +1.4s
XP Earned: +37 (Clean Maneuver)
He surged forward into P9.
Luka shouted in comms. "Nice launch! Don't cook the tires—watch rear temps!"
Rai didn't answer. He was in sync.
Heat map overlays danced across his vision. Neural triggers activated. Focus sharpened.
At Turn 5, Axel Duren appeared in his mirrors.
Too soon.
He wants to humiliate me early.
The system offered two options:
[Option A]: Defensive Brake-Tuck (Low Risk, No Gain)
[Option B]: Apex Counter Dive (Mid Risk, High Gain)
Selected: Option B
He dove inside.
The tires protested. The G-force spiked.
But Axel overshot.
Rai slipped under, stealing P7.
The HUD flared.
XP +72 – Overtake Bonus Achieved
Trait Progress: Adaptive Reflex Level 2 Unlocked
[TRAIT UPGRADED!]
– Adaptive Reflex [Lv.2]: Boosts response time by 6.5% during complex maneuvers. Slight prediction unlock.
Prediction…?
A quick flash showed Axel's steering input half a second before he made it.
The system was starting to read minds on track.
—
Final lap.
Two more positions.
Rain began to mist across sector three. Unexpected.
Teams panicked.
But the Ghost System had already calculated:
Grip Loss Detected: Sector 3 Entry
Activate Emergency Stabilizer (Unlockable via Bonus Objective)
Challenge: Maintain full throttle in wet sector? (Y/N)
Reward: New Passive – "Ghost Grip"
Yes.
Rai didn't lift.
He charged through the rain.
The car didn't spin.
The system held him together.
Across the line.
P5.
—
Back in the garage, he exhaled.
The stats window opened automatically.
[POST-RACE SUMMARY]
Position: P5 (Heat One – Intercontinental Circuit)
Total XP Gained: 532
Driver Level: UP (E-Class ➝ D-Class)
New Trait Unlocked:
– Ghost Grip [Passive]: Retain grip integrity in unstable sector zones by 5%
Burn Sequence Trigger: 2.3%
New System Trust: 61%
Kiera stared at him as he pulled the helmet off.
"What did you just do in Sector 3?"
Rai didn't answer immediately.
Then he looked at her, calm.
"I trusted the ghost."
And somewhere deep inside the system…
Burn Vein Route Confirmed
Initiating Pattern Expansion in next race
The rain came back harder after the race.
By the time Rai stepped out of the press tent, the sky had turned slate-grey and unforgiving. But he didn't flinch. Hair wet, suit half unzipped, body running on raw adrenaline.
Journalists asked nothing. They only watched.
The fifth-fastest lap.
Against sponsored, signed, experienced drivers.
Rai Tanaka wasn't a ghost anymore.
He was a problem.
Inside the garage, Luka handed him a towel.
"You just made half the grid reconsider their careers, bro."
"I'm not here for their careers," Rai muttered. "I'm here to finish something."
Kiera stepped up, flicking open her tablet.
"System telemetry from Sector 3 is still decrypting itself. Do you realize your tire degradation stayed flat while the track got worse?"
He didn't answer.
He already knew.
Because the system was showing him something more.
[LEVEL PROGRESSION: ACTIVE]
Driver Level: D-Class (Rookie Tier Confirmed)
New Stat Unlocked: Neural Mapping Efficiency – 54.6%
Trait Progress: Adaptive Reflex [Lv.2]
Passive: Ghost Grip [Lv.1]
Burn Sequence Charge: 2.3% ➝ 4.1%
"Burn Sequence…"
That term kept coming back.
Like a countdown no one else could hear.
—
Later that night, Rai stood in the simulator trailer.
Lights low. Engine noise humming softly in the background. Kiera had left to review data with Luka.
Only the Ghost System remained.
And this time… it spoke differently.
Initiating Ghost Dive Interface
Warning: Neural Focus Threshold Exceeded – Hallucination Layer Possible
Do you wish to proceed?
Yes.
The sim world shifted.
He was no longer in a trailer.
He was on the track.
But the night was darker. The world… quieter.
Then he saw him.
A shadow.
Same height.
Same gait.
Same stride through Turn 8.
Same fire in his posture.
Elias.
His older brother.
Except he was wearing a helmet that didn't exist anymore.
And a race suit stitched with a name that had been wiped from the records.
Elias didn't look back.
He simply walked to the car—Rai's car—and got in.
Rai stepped forward.
"Elias?"
The shadow didn't answer.
But as the engine fired up, a voice echoed:
"You think this is your system. It's not. It remembers me first."
—
Morning.
Second Heat.
Grid Position: P5.
Race Conditions: Dry–Hot Wind Crossflow.
Tyre Strategy: Soft to Medium Split.
And something new unlocked.
[SYSTEM TRIGGER – PERCEPTION MODE]
Trait: Apex Instinct [Lv.1]
– You may now see optimal lines in real-time
– Warning: Side effect – sensory overload beyond 7.2g force
Burn Sequence: 4.1% ➝ 7.5%
The lights went out.
Race began.
And this time?
The racing line glowed.
A burning trail of blue fire painted across the tarmac—flickering in and out of sight.
The Apex Vein.
He followed it.
—
By Lap 4, he was P3.
Axel was behind.
Noor ahead.
But neither were focused on him anymore.
Because everyone had seen it on the boards:
"GHOST LINE CAR #11 – FASTEST SECTOR 2"
"PROJECTED PODIUM FINISH"
And Sierra Clarke, watching from Seraph Aether's pit, dropped her coffee in disbelief.
Imani radioed in from the garage. "He's not even blinking. Rai, you hearing us? You're under 7g force, you should—"
"I see it."
"See what?"
"The Vein."
"What vein?!"
—
Final sector.
Noor closed in. Her racing was beautiful. Artistic. She danced with the corners.
But Rai?
He devoured them.
The system roared.
Challenge Mode: Activate "Double Apex Flow-Through"
Difficulty: EXTREME
Failure Penalty: Grip Lockout + Black Flag Risk
Reward: ???
Yes.
He triggered it.
A double-curve taken at full tilt.
The world went white for a second.
Then—
He exited with clean rubber.
Noor?
Still in the corner.
—
Finish: P2.
Fastest lap.
Telemetry unreadable by standard computers.
System window exploded open.
[POST-RACE SUMMARY]
Position: P2 (Heat Two – Catalis Circuit)
Total XP Gained: +687
Driver Level: D-Class ➝ C-Class (Pending)
New Trait Unlocked: Apex Instinct [Lv.1]
Burn Sequence: 7.5% ➝ 14.2%
He pulled into the garage.
Helmet off.
Hair soaked with sweat. Eyes locked on something only he could see.
Kiera stared.
"Rai?"
"It's not just a system anymore."
"Then what is it?"
He looked at the car.
"A resurrection."
—
That night, Sierra found him alone under the rear paddock lights.
She didn't say anything for a full minute.
Then, quietly:
"You don't drive like him anymore."
"Who?"
"Elias."
Rai looked at her.
She was radiant in that soft blue glow. Her gaze was tough, but something underneath was breaking.
"Good," he said. "Because I'm not him."
She stepped closer.
For once, no war between them. Just tension. Thin as thread. Close as fire.
Then she whispered, "I hope you know what you're becoming."
"I don't."
"Then maybe I'll find out with you."