Based on the coach's recent instruction, Qin Miao eagerly pulled the cord to start the kart engine and sat inside the kart.
Qin Miao immediately floored the kart's accelerator right in the parking area.
"Screech!"
The rubber tires produced a sharp, grating friction sound with the track's surface as Qin Miao's kart darted forward.
The sudden noise startled the coach and the young lady upstairs, prompting them to quickly rush to the edge of the second-floor railing to look down.
They only slightly relaxed after confirming that Qin Miao, this rookie, hadn't crashed due to an operational mishap.
To be honest, Qin Miao had driven many vehicles in the simulator: GT3, F1, and even WRC rally cars.
But back then, his view of the track was limited to that single 27-inch second-hand screen, missing many details, and the sense of speed wasn't strong.
Now, sitting in a real car, even if it's just an entertainment kart, the thrust from flooring the accelerator was palpable. In the game, when hitting 300 kilometers per hour, Qin Miao felt it was slow, but in the kart, at a mere speed of about 50 kilometers per hour, everything beside him felt like it was rapidly retreating.
The sight of objects rapidly retreating and the unprotected driving environment instinctively triggered a fear in Qin Miao.
However, after the fear subsided, Qin Miao felt another emotion bubbling up—an eager excitement. He wanted to test if his simulator skills and techniques would hold up in reality.
Even if he was driving a GT3 in the simulator, and this was just an entertainment kart in real life.
But the concepts were transferrable.
Racing lines, throttle control, and choosing braking points were like mathematical formulas that could be converted across mediums.
After darting out from the parking zone, Qin Miao began accelerating continuously.
Though he was somewhat absent-minded during the training, he still noted the aerial view of the track and its racing line on the map.
During ACC races, Qin Miao didn't have much time to study track layouts. Usually, he'd just glance at it to identify which corners had higher difficulty ratings before driving and learning from experience.
Qin Miao applied the same method to karting. Once on the track, he achieved lap speeds unimaginable for a first-timer.
Moreover, Qin Miao kept remembering braking points at a pace of two per lap, constantly refining his understanding of the track in his mind.
The skills Qin Miao equipped would prompt alerts every time he completed a lap.
[Ding!]
[Practice Lap Completed, Track Proficiency +1.]
[Current Proficiency: 1.]
...
Qin Miao's speed and line-taking technique made the coach observing the circuit from upstairs smirk slightly.
Seriously, could that speed be achieved by someone who's never played karting?
The way he took the line, maneuvered after exiting corners, and his command over the braking points—some regular patrons couldn't do it this smoothly.
There was even a hint of professional racers in his moves.
Is this a first-time karting attempt? Yeah, right.
The coach smirked, thinking, "Young people these days, learning to act like protagonists in novels, pretending to be weak to fool others. But no one's here to challenge you."
Qin Miao was oblivious to the coach's inner criticisms and was still relishing the novelty of his first real-life racing experience.
It felt like there was an endless reserve of energy in his body as he completed lap after lap at his own pace.
And every lap would prompt a notification from Qin Miao's system.
The rapidly increasing proficiency made Qin Miao more familiar with the track, and his lap times got faster and faster.
When Qin Miao's proficiency level hit 10, he could clearly remember all the braking points on the track and the best angles for corner entry.
However, after reaching a proficiency level of 10, Qin Miao stopped racing.
Given he's a generally non-athletic senior high student, his physical fitness was just average.
Moreover, it was his first time karting, and he didn't quite know how to conserve energy under G-forces.
As he became more familiar with the track, he drove increasingly aggressively, faster and faster, and after ten laps, he was too exhausted to continue.
Slowly guiding the kart back to the parking area, Qin Miao immediately flipped open his helmet visor to greedily gulp fresh air before turning off the engine.
Suppressing his aching hands, Qin Miao clumsily climbed out of the kart, removed his gear, and found a spot to sit down.
After just ten laps and about fifteen minutes, the prominent dents in Qin Miao's hair from his helmet were thoroughly soaked with sweat, limp on his head—not that he needed to worry about looking unkempt in front of classmates.
He casually slicked his hair back, considering it a self-made hairstyle.
Though the ten laps nearly tired him to death on the track, the thrill of pushing tire limits and grazing the tire wall with the chassis every turn was irresistible.
In fact, as he acclimated to the speed, he found the sensation of speed fading and even felt the kart was somewhat slow.
Taking the chance to rest, Qin Miao began to study his system.
Just then, the coach who had gone to the upstairs lounge returned, holding a supermarket receipt-like slip of paper.
He handed it to Qin Miao, saying, "Nice job, young man."
Curious, Qin Miao took the slip, and the information was pretty straightforward:
Car No. 18:
Lap 1: 1:31.77
Lap 2: 1:30.41
Lap 3: 1:29.11
...
Lap 9: 1:27.65
Lap 10: 1:27.98
Fastest Lap: 1:27.65
Total Track Ranking: 19.
While Qin Miao was reading, the coach jokingly remarked, "These times are hard to believe for a first-time kart racer; you're not fooling me, are you? Have you been karting often before?"
While the coach spoke, Qin Miao finished reading the slip's information and, somewhat puzzled, replied, "I really am a first-timer. Why doesn't it seem that way? And my times aren't even that great, are they?"
"Look, I'm not even in the top ten, barely making it into the top twenty."
Upon hearing this, the coach's expression turned odd.
This guy's hiding something for sure, definitely showing off.
But he subconsciously realized that it might genuinely be Qin Miao's first time karting.
Based on Qin Miao's behavior upon entering the kart venue, he truly seemed unfamiliar with many things, looking around with pure curiosity, unlike someone pretending.
Moreover, most boys Qin Miao's age wanting attention would feign expertise to show off, unlike Qin Miao's seemingly genuine display of modest ability.
Yet, staring at Qin Miao's innocent face, he still felt oddly annoyed…what was that about?
At that moment, a group of a dozen young people, around Qin Miao's age, arrived outside the karting area.
One of them, clearly the leader, bragged to his classmates, "Let me tell you, the lap times in this kart track really mean something."
"They have a deal where if you set the fastest lap, you get free races for life, so a lot of professional racers have set lap times here. All the top twenty times are held by pros at this track…"