Finding an Adventurer's Spirit Beyond Suzuka Circuit

Saturday, Week 1#

When I came back on Saturday, the top time had been updated to 1:31.686.

This game obviously favors experienced players. Apparently the record holder in 1st has the same kind of controller setup at home. There’s no way someone who’s run a grand total of 4 laps can beat that.

Or so I thought, until the rule change was announced. As long as nobody else was waiting, the number of attempts was now unlimited.

That changes everything. Maybe, if I grind like crazy, taking 1st isn’t impossible.

I think I ran about 5 laps that day. Result: 1:36.331. 6th place, a whole 4.7 seconds off the top.

But I had cut 10 seconds in a single day. I only need to cut 4.7 more. This might actually be doable.

On the other hand, I heard something ominous. The top record holder has apparently been bringing a friend who also has a racing sim setup at home.

This is really bad. If word of this event gets around and the pros start showing up one after another, beating them is hopeless.

The only way to avoid that is to win and run as early as possible, ideally this very week.

Sunday, Week 1#

The first tally day arrived. I watched world-record videos in the 1:26 range and studied racing lines, then headed to the shop, where the top time was unchanged from 1:31.686.

There were no other customers, so I could run almost freely for the 90 minutes until closing. In fact, my limit was my own stamina. With breaks in between, I probably ran about 40 laps.

My best time was 1:32.090.

• S1: 33.502
• S2: 41.522
• S3: 18.259

I missed 1st place by 0.4 seconds. And that lap isn’t even legitimate, because I got hit with a shortcut penalty at the chicane on the previous lap. It would have no effect on the final result, so they kindly put it on the leaderboard as a courtesy.

My legitimate best lap was 1:33.471. 1.8 seconds behind 1st.

• S1: 34.079
• S2: 41.132
• S3: 18.259

Frustrating. But on the other hand, taking 1st doesn’t seem completely impossible.

Wednesday, Week 2#

A 30-minute session. My best was 1:34.052. 1st place on the leaderboard: 1:31.569.

Thursday, Week 2#

I took the day off work and started at 13:00. Two hours later, I got the following time:

1:30.988

• S1: 33.014
• S2: 40.107
• S3: 17.865

I finally snatched 1st place! And it was the first 1:30 in the history of this event. If this holds, victory is mine.

I went back again that night, but couldn’t beat that time.

Friday, Week 2#

When I arrived at 14:00, my glorious record from yesterday had been updated to 1:30.937. An improvement of just 0.051 seconds. This should not be allowed to happen.

Challenge started. Four hours later, I got the following time:

1:30.921

• S1: 32.930
• S2: 40.115
• S3: 17.874

I took the lead back by 0.016 seconds over 2nd place. But I couldn’t let my guard down yet. Tomorrow is Saturday. And Sunday is the tally. That’s far too weak a record to try to run away with.

So I kept going. Ninety minutes later, I clocked 1:30.284!!!

(I forgot to write down the sector times.)

That’s a 0.64-second improvement on my personal best.

Surely I can call this a win. The rival who had passed me by 0.051 seconds had now been passed back by more than 10 times that, 0.64 seconds. Even if he came in the next day, his spirit would be broken and he wouldn’t try.

An Aside#

By the way, this game is brutal on the body. There’s force feedback through the steering wheel, so your arms get really tired.

The seat is hard plastic, and there’s a lot of vibration through it too. If you keep going, your lower back starts to hurt. Add the muscle aches in my arms and legs, and I’m a complete wreck.

And needless to say, it’s brutal on the mind too. To shave off a hundredth of a second, you run dozens of laps. No matter how well it’s going up to that point, one mistake at the last chicane ruins everything.

An intense adrenaline rush, the kind I hadn’t experienced in the past year, was coursing through my whole body. In fact, after taking back the record following four hours of attempts, my fingers kept shaking for about 10 minutes.

Saturday, Week 2#

I went to challenge it again this day, but there was no change on the leaderboard. I kept 1st with 1:30.284. The standings were also unchanged.

Apparently this time is 0.2 seconds faster than that of the English-speaking staff member dispatched for the event. He taught me a lot about technique and tips (in English), and I had finally surpassed my master.

What a beautiful ending. I beat my rival, I beat my master. That’s plenty for a story. Let it end here. Please, nobody beat it again. My arms, legs and lower back are all at their limit.

…Or so I thought, but during the 60 minutes I was there, my master set a 1:30.160. He’s staff, so it doesn’t affect the leaderboard, but it’s hardly a beautiful ending.

My master said something cool like “I did it to give you a reason to keep challenging.” I took on the challenge right away, but my best that day stopped at 1:30.547.

Also, that day, the current top three on the leaderboard were all gathered in the shop at once.

I had been scheming to keep the secret of my speed hidden, but once I actually sat in the seat, I couldn’t help but do my best.

A friendly atmosphere, yet with an eerie quiet to it.

Sunday, Week 2#

Tally day finally came. If I could get through this day, I would officially be the winner of this event.

I was in 1st on the leaderboard, but I still had my goal of surpassing my master. And there was always a non-zero chance that someone else would snatch 1st.

So I decided to go into the final day fully prepared.

Right then, the anime Akagi was available free for a limited time, and I’d been watching it. Just as Akagi chugged energy drinks while taking on Washizu Mahjong, I decided to take a biochemical approach.

First, I drank 400 ml of coffee, which I’d normally spread out over a whole day, all at once at noon, for the caffeine. On top of that, 30 minutes before the challenge, I drank an energy drink containing 160 mg of caffeine. That’s about 350 mg of caffeine in total.

On top of this, I smoked sage. Sage apparently boosts memory, and I did it hoping for that effect.

And finally, I took a massive whiff of a rosemary essential oil sample at the MUJI near the shop. Rosemary apparently improves concentration and memory. It just smelled really good, so I ended up buying a whole bottle.

Week 2, the Final 4 Hours#

I arrived at 16:00 and fell into despair. My record of 1:30.284 had been beaten by 1:30.277. A difference of 0.007 seconds.

According to the staff, that rival showed up around noon like a comet and casually broke the record. He’s a friend of the former 2nd place, and of course has a racing sim at home.

An extremely bad situation. On paper, all I had to do was run almost exactly like I did on Friday, just a tiny bit better, and I’d take 1st back. But easier said than done. Honestly, I didn’t think I could reproduce a record that took me four hours to achieve.

That day, I had brought a friend along as a witness. He seemed less to be rooting for my challenge than to be appalled by how absorbed I was.

One Hour Left#

There’s a conversation I’ll never forget. Three hours into my attempt, he pointed out to me, “It’s not good to be obsessed.”

Running hundreds of laps of Suzuka Circuit almost every day, for hours at a time, even skipping work: it was an all-too-reasonable thing to say to a grown adult.

Furious, I replied, “Anyone who can’t take life’s side quests seriously will fail at everything.”

That’s right! This is a side quest of life.

Looking back, this is such a Genshin Impact kind of event. There’s a limited-time event, it has a minigame in it, and you get rewards depending on your score.

I want to be a Traveler (as in Genshin Impact). And I defined a Traveler before as someone who strives to bloom into their own potential. In Kantian terms, as a rational being, a human being has a duty to cultivate their own potential.

A human being has a duty to himself to cultivate his natural powers (powers of the spirit, mind, and body), as a means to all sorts of possible ends. He owes it to himself (as a rational being) not to leave idle and, as it were, rusting away the natural predispositions and capacities that his reason can some day use.

Hence, “anyone who can’t take life’s side quests seriously will fail at everything.” You could also rephrase it as “anyone with no spiritual ambition is a fool.”

This challenge, which I’d started on a whim, had somehow ascended into a holy war fought on pure stubbornness.

The prize was no longer the point. It was a battle to prove that I am a rational being, that I am a Traveler, and that these beliefs of mine are right.

30 Minutes Left#

Almost all the customers had left, and a rig was free. I went for my final attempt.

En aften ved svanefossen

Out on Spotify now!!! https://open.spotify.com/album/78uk9mOp6j8OXOQU7Fbo8iComposer: Henrik Bålerud HaugenElectric Guitar: Henrik Bålerud HaugenAcoustic Guit...

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(BGM: En aften ved svanefossen - Henrik Bålerud Haugen)

Into Turn 1, I carry speed deep before braking. With the throttle on, I steer to the limit and slow down just enough to run over the outside curb.

Through the S-curves, I run over every curb using only throttle control. Here, if you turn the wheel too much, the assist system forcibly cuts the throttle. Be careful and smooth.

At the last right-hander of the S-curves, I brake briefly just before entry to slow down and attack right up against the inside curb.

The first right-hand corner of the Degner Curve, I take flat out. Turn right around the 50 m marker so that the right wheels just barely touch the curb, and you can exit while barely staying stable.

After exiting, don’t relax: immediately turn right again and exit the second corner while slowing down. Once you pass the apex, get on the throttle right away.

At the Hairpin, I start slowing right after passing the right-hand curb and turn hard to the left. When the rotation is mostly done, I get on the throttle and slowly unwind the steering.

At Spoon Curve, I brake for a moment just before entering the first left-hand corner, and run wide until only the left wheels remain on the track. I bring the wheel straight for an instant, then turn left again with about 20% brake. The goal is to carry as much speed as possible out of the corner and exceed 285 km/h at the first arch.

After that, I don’t lift until the chicane. At the chicane, it’s full brakes just before the 50 m marker. Wait a beat, turn right, and pass as close to the pole as I can without knocking it over. Hugging slightly too far right sets me up to take the following left-hander stably and exit with speed.

After that, I avoid the curbs, stay along the right edge, and cross the finish line.

On my 4th session of the day, on lap 11, with 13 minutes left until the tally, I got this run.

1:30.020

• S1: 32.763
• S2: 39.823
• S3: 17.433

I finally took 1st back, by 0.25 seconds! No other challengers showed up, and 10 minutes later, tally time finally came.

The staff updated the leaderboard, and I became the winner of week 2.