I woke up gasping.
Cold sweat ran down my back. My sheets were twisted, my heart pounding like a drum. For a moment, I couldn't tell where I was, my room, the track, the stands, all blended together.
I remembered the race.
I had stepped onto the G2 track, ready to prove myself. Ready to mark the moment I became invincible. And then… it happened.
Marzensky. The other one. She moved in ways I had never seen. Perfect stride, perfect timing. Every skill triggered at exactly the right moment. Corner recovery, burst start, endurance, guts. And then the final corner. That Red Shift thing… it bent the track around her. She shot forward like she was cheating reality itself.
I tried to match her. I pushed every ounce of strength and training I had. But no matter what I did, she was ahead. She crossed the finish line first. I was left behind.
The system panels, the NPCs, the track, it all felt like a dream. A vivid, impossible dream.
I closed my eyes.
And then she disappeared.
Just like that. The image of her, the glowing, impossible speed, vanished. I was alone again on the track. My legs still trembling, my lungs still burning.
Was that… real?
I felt my heart sink. My chest tightened. My hands shook.
It had to be a dream. Right?
But it felt so real. Every motion, every skill, every calculation she made. I could feel it in my bones, in my muscles. The way she moved, the way she thought, even though I knew nothing about her.
I pulled the sheets tighter around me.
"…Was that… just a dream?"
I didn't know.
All I knew was that the image of Marzensky, unstoppable and impossible, burned in my mind.
And even after waking, I couldn't shake it.
With a sigh, Marzenskii, "well it doesn't matter anyway, it's my retirement race tomorrow."