Chapter 5: The oil surge

Hastily lurching to the left again, Haruto was just barely able to avoid the oncoming murder vehicle, which crashed into a concrete wall right behind with a deafening noise.

Heaving and sweating, Haruto turned back to the wheel.

(Shit... That thing almost had me there...!)

He glanced down towards his arm again. He could almost feel the pain itself scream into his body as the checkerboard cloud hungrily ate up at it some more.

"It's growing even further. Damn it!"

The pain was now too much for him to even lift the arm properly, and as the road ahead took full hold over his attention once again, he was forced to leave it lying limply aside, now driving with his left arm alone.

He took another turn and proceeded ahead, trying to keep up his speed build-up.

There seemed to be no more cars there to intercept him, plus the map showed him there was only about half a kilometer left between him and his adversary.

(If I want to win this, I’ll have to overtake him, and fast… Where is he!?)

After two more sharp turns, one of which nearly sent him against another wall, he spotted yet another police car in the distance, which startled him at first. It wasn’t moving towards him, however. It wasn’t moving at all. In fact, it was completely broken down with its body shattered to pieces, turned over along the sidewalk with two wheels still spinning and oil spilling on the floor.

A sudden shiver nearly froze the boy’s spine at the sight, but he quickly disregarded it, continuing on. Nothing could stop him once he’d made up his mind. Well, except for him being here in the first place, but that aside…

(I’m almost there… Just one more turn…)

Not bothering to even slow down, he lurched the old Mustard Roller around the narrow building, taking the path to his right, then squinted his eyes at the road ahead.

Just as promised by the radar, the tattoo freak was right over there, his old gray vehicle sending thick clouds of smoke into the air as it moved forward. There was some noticeable damage on it as well, several scrapes and deep dents visible over the fading paint job of the vehicle, plus the trunk’s window seemed to be broken.

He was running right along the center of the road… And as far as the map showed, there were no more turns ahead, only a clean, straight strip of road.

If Haruto wanted to pass that guy, it would be best to do it here and now. Of course, there would probably still be other obstacles and killer cars ahead, but they were already close to the goal. It was only fifty more kilometers to reach it, after all.

With that in mind, Haruto played his card.

Attempting to approach him from the left, he floored the gas pedal, attempting the maneuver. Even if the space was tight, he was sure he could –

“Kh…!”

The guy’s vehicle suddenly jerked to the left as well, mirroring Haruto’s movement.

(Shit. He’s seeing me, alright.)

Subsequently, before the boy could properly react, the gray car suddenly slowed down, slamming its rear into the Mustard Roller’s front before pulling right back and continuing on its route.

Momentarily losing his grip over the wheel, Haruto wobbled from to one side and then the other, landing over right his arm as a jolt of pain shot through his body once again, earning a shrill yelp out of him.

That still did not deter him, however. Scrambling back to the wheel, he was able to retake control over the vehicle right before it headed off onto the sidewalk, resuming his pursuit.

“Crazy bastard! I’ll get you for that.”

Realizing the guy with the tattoos wouldn’t even hear him properly like this, he instead resorted to honking like a drunken fool, hoping that would get his feeling across more properly.

However, it was useless. No matter what he tried, there was no way he could pass the older man in such conditions. Wherever he tried to move, the gray car was there to intercept him. He was a grown adult, clearly more experienced at driving than some highschool kid barely capable of even understanding how car pedals worked. What could he even do now? Had he exhausted every option he had?

He could hear the fat guy’s voice coming from close ahead, too, shouting at him with glee as his grinning face peered out from the driver’s window.

“What’s wrong, now!? Gonna cry?” he laughed. “Save it for after I crush you for good! Maybe I could even put something nice into the mix.”

Ominously waving his left hand in the air, his opponent returned inside the vehicle, and before Haruto could even think of his next move, his ears were once assaulted by the insufferable announcement voice.

“Assigned skill activated: Oil surge.”

“What the…!?”

Right before his speeding opponent’s motor wheels, a flimsy, white yellow light suddenly started to flash, blocking Haruto’s sight of the  moment. And in the very same place that light had appeared a viscous, thick-looking object suddenly took form. It resembled a small, opaque sphere, similar in size to a soccer ball.

From there, a small, flimsy string of black fluid started to pour over the asphalt, and almost immediately the narrow spill started to grow in size, until the whole of the path ahead was all but drowning in crude oil.

Accelerating, the gray car put some more distance between itself and the Roller, gradually leaving it further behind.

The dirty yellow car had soon started to skid over the long spill, slowly spinning until its front wound up facing the sidewalk.

Try as he might to move the steering wheel to the right, Haruto was unable to stop the car from turning fully on its side, sliding across the thick layer of oil that now covered his path.

He grit his teeth, looking ahead. The sphere of oil behind the fatso was almost fully used up, and thus the oil spill blocking his way would only last up to the next turn. If he could somehow recover control over his vehicle…

He pressed on the gas pedal again, but nothing came of it. Before he knew it, the engine was dead again.

“No!”

Hastily, he restarted the car, forcing down the gas pedal once again.

However, the car did not regain its previous trajectory, and instead just kept on sliding sideways, slowly approaching the edge of the spilled-over area. And meanwhile, the bastard was getting away.

An instant later, he had reached the other side of the spill, at last. He was still not safe, however. His tires were covered in oil, and the car wouldn’t even turn properly in the direction he swerved it to.

Haruto tightened his fingers over the steering wheel. He couldn’t end up like this. What would happen if he lost that race? Would he be sent to some other place? Would he just straight up stop existing? He couldn’t allow himself to lose so easily.

“What was that back there, even!? ‘Assigned skill’? Why does he even have something like that? Now he’s getting away because of it…”

Then it came over him. ‘Assigned skill’. He’d heard of that term before. He’d seen it somewhere, rather. Had it been one of those weird menus? Could there perhaps be some way he could make use of it?

He tried to recall. What had the other guy done back there? He’d waved his hand in the air and…

Haruto tried to mimic his movement. After a moment of waving his left arm weakly over his head, and odd symbol appeared next to it. A blue heart, with a black, jagged line passing over it. He reached for it with his index finger. It had the same glassy texture as the other menus he’d seen before, and, just as he touched it, the symbol vanished into thin air.

“Assigned skill activated: On-site crafting.”

Haruto felt the air freeze over. Nothing around him seemed to change, as far his eyes could see. However, there was certainly a difference.

He looked around. His car was stuck to the same place, unable to start. The motor had failed again. He tried to turn the keys again and force it back on, but there was nothing. Only silence.

“No, no… What did I just do…? What kind of ‘skill’ even is this!?”

And while he was once again stuck to the same place, the gray car was already… stuck to the same place as well?

He squinted his eyes. On the road far ahead, the gray vehicle should have already turned to the left and disappeared, but instead it was actually stopped in the middle of the path, not moving either.

It seemed he had frozen both of their cars, preventing them from moving even an inch. Or rather, it was almost as though time had been stopped entirely.

Several splashes of oil were stuck floating in the air on his left, even though they should have hit the windows of his car already.

Opening the door did nothing. Haruto was stuck inside his own machine.

“... What now…?”

He noticed a new ‘glass’ menu open on his right.

‘Choose one component to fix.’ it said at the top.

Below was a messy-looking schematic of the Mustard Roller.

Somewhat puzzled, the boy brought his finger to one of the motor wheels, placing it over the tire.

At the bottom of the window, more words came: ‘Choose number and position of tires.’

But there were no numbered options in sight or anything of the sort.

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“H-How do I even…? Huh, all four…?”

Another row of text replaced it: ‘No substitute tires found in inventory. Search area for crafting supplies?”

“Yes…”

‘Searching tool available. Touch materials directly to add them to inventory.”

The driver’s door opened at once, and Haruto got out, looking around.

“Alright… That’s one way to do it… But how do I find supplies to make new tires, exactly?”

He had no idea how car tires were made, or if he could even be sure whatever he made with this ‘crafting’ option would fit in the Mustard Roller. In any case, it wasn’t like he had better ideas.

“Wait…”

He suddenly realized how foolish he was being. Ever since he had entered this ghost town and driven along the streets here, there had been cars parked around along the sidewalk occasionally from what he remembered. And while there weren’t any on this particular area…

Haruto ran forward as fast as he could, heading for the same turn his opponent was about to make, and, after no longer than a single minute, passing him by completely and entering the path immediately to the left. Just as he’d hoped, there was an irregular row of cars parked along the right side of the street, and after that, a wide, flashing red wall blocking the rest of the way, with a white cross symbol running in its middle. It likely signaled the limit of how far he could go on foot while time was frozen.

“Interesting to know…”

He approached one of the vehicles, whose wheels appeared to be at least somewhat close to his own in size. Crouching down next to it, he brought his left hand over one of the tires, being careful not to move his right arm too much. The strange cloud was still in place, looking stronger by the second.

“Okay, so… Acquire, I guess?” he commanded

“Item acquired.” he heard the ominous voice from before.

The vehicle’s tire suddenly disappeared, leaving only a naked wheel.

He then moved to the next tire.

“Acquire.”

“Item acquired.”

He finished up with the other tires, then stood back up, leaving the tireless car floating cartoonishly in the air. They weren’t anything special, but from the looks of them, at the very least they were in better shape than the ones he had. If nothing else, at least they had a good amount of tread left, and weren’t completely covered in spilled oil.

“Now, then… How do I… Huh… Open inventory?”

There was nothing. He tried waving his left hand, but there was nothing, either. Weakly waving his right hand around as far as he could, fighting the pain, he was finally able to access the inventory menu. Completely empty, aside from the four tires. But that was fine. He had what he needed.

He ran back to his vehicle, passing by the gray car once again. He stopped next to it for a moment, looking inside the vehicle. You couldn’t see much, with the fogged-out windows in the way, the outline of the big guy on the other side was discernible enough to him, sending chills down his back. He might be nothing but some fat schmuck, but compared to him, Haruto was a twig. He’d have been done for, if that guy had caught him all the way back at the bridge.

He could feel his lip tremble. His legs. His fingers.

Haruto shook his head, forcing himself to keep running.

“Calm down, Maekawa. Calm down… This is a race, not a fist fight. You’ll be okay… I hope.” he muttered, trying as he might to soothe his dying will.

Finally reaching the Roller, he took a look at its unsightly tires, then voiced his wish.

“So... Fix my tires now, please?”

“Request granted. Replacement components detected.”

The oil covered tires disappeared from the yellow car’s wheels, instantly replaced by the new ones. Haruto then heard a low thump, prompting him to look back. The old tires had landed haphazardly on the sidewalk right behind him.

“... Interesting…”

“Components successfully fixed. Resuming operations.”

Taking the announcement as his cue, Haruto rushed back inside, closing the door with force.

Regular events were resuming. He could hear the oil splashing messily by his side. He could hear the bald tires of his enemy screeching deafeningly in the distance. He could see the new timer appearing in the lowest left corner of his field of vision, telling him when his strange ability would be available again. ‘7:00 minutes until new use’, which he figured would start counting from now. If the other guy’s ability was the same, that meant he wouldn’t be able to do his little oil trick again, at least for a while. If he wanted to pass him, it had to be now.

Starting the car again, he pressed hard on the gas pedal, preparing to snap the car straight as soon as possible. He needed it right on its way, not turned sideways.

By the time he was able to fully turn the right way, the gray car was already on the other side of the corner. No matter, however. Haruto would be right next to him soon.

The feeling of the ‘new’ tires scratching against the road assured him he wouldn’t be skidding anytime soon, with or without oil. He could make that turn just fine while barely slowing down. He could do most light turns while barely slowing down, now that his wheels were stuck tight to the asphalt.

The vehicle was accelerating faster now, to the point it even scared the boy of crashing. However, he would not slow down unless faced with no other choice.

The gap between the two cars was shrinking more and more. Soon, Haruto would finally be able to overtake his opponent. Or so he thought.

Another loud round of police sirens started to blare around.

More cars were speeding from ahead towards the two of them, heading straight for his opponent.

He seemed to realize this, and promptly swerved to the left, in order to dodge the first one. Haruto hastily did the same, closely following his movements.

Another patrol reached them, and the two cars immediately avoided it, moving further to the left.

He had to be careful. With the right timing, all the guy in front of him would have to do to get rid of him would be…

“Shit–”

Suddenly, the gray car lurched to the side at an odd angle, seemingly heading for the left, but then suddenly retreating and switching to the right.

“...!!”

The boy tried to follow him, but he was too slow. Barely avoiding a frontal collision, he was hit by one of the speeding vehicles on the side, knocking him onto the sidewalk.

And right at that moment, the last of the ghastly seekers came into sight, heading right for him like a stray bullet in a shootout. He soon realized there was nothing he could do. It was approaching fast, singling him out diagonally while completely ignoring the other racer ahead of him. No matter where he tried to move now, he would never be able to avoid a direct collision between the two cars.

His hands trembled for the hundredth time that day. His right arm was still in pain. As far as he could see, there was no hope for escape.

“Good grief… So this is what was causing all that fog back there, huh?”

“Wha–”

There had been no time to even address that odd voice. It had come suddenly from behind him, and from tone alone he could tell it did not belong to the announcer.

“Assigned skill activated: Fireblast.”

Right there, right before him, the patrol car he had just a moment ago thought to be his end immediately blew into an aimless, flaming husk of itself, veering off to the side and crashing into a building nearby.

In his rear view, a bizarre blur of reds seemed to take form, caught intermittently by the corner of his eye. It dashed right by Haruto’s side, without stopping even once, like a blinding streak of flame.

Contrary to the boy’s expectations, however, that was no sports car. In front of him ran a gaudy, roaring motorcycle in orange and scarlet tones. Its rider wore a girl’s highschool uniform. Although their face was concealed under a black and white helmet, he could clearly see the long strands of red hair coming from beneath it, waving haphazardly against the strong wind outside.

However, completely crushing its way through the boy’s puzzlement, the newcomer’s voice reached him once again, coming from the road ahead.

“My apologies. I understand this must be a very important moment for you. However, I am afraid I have no concern for it. You are currently interfering with my endeavors.”

It was undoubtedly a girl’s voice, not matter how he put it. And as she spoke, her tone contrastingly cold, she suddenly turned back to face him, raising an open hand in his direction.

“I have no time to waste here, and cannot allow you to keep hogging the road. For that reason…”

With the snap of her fingers, a wide, crackling flame encased it, much like an urchin’s shell.

“Do me a favor and die for me right now. Okay~?”

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