Chapter 118: Chapter 118: The Sleepless Netizens

The first episode opened with Amu discussing the high price of cars with Fujiwara Takumi at school.

Owen quickly realized the main character was only eighteen and still in high school.

To help everyone understand the various models, Jiang Qin had thoughtfully posted a vehicle guide on her account.

The show even included a prompt suggesting that viewers who weren’t familiar with the cars check out the guide first.

The guide detailed all the car models from that era.

With their enhanced abilities, Interstellar People only needed a single glance to determine a car’s strengths, weaknesses, and stats like horsepower. No further explanation was necessary.

This was especially true for a Flying Car enthusiast like Owen.

He watched the show while cross-referencing the vehicles mentioned with the guide he had saved.

The plot soon reached the scene where Amu invited Fujiwara Takumi to go for a late-night race in an upperclassman’s car.

Then, an out-of-town crew, the Red Sun Team, appeared and challenged the fastest local driver.

The upperclassman, believing his Akina Speed Stars to be the fastest local team, accepted the challenge.

The race was set for the following Saturday, but both sides first began a battle to familiarize themselves with the course.

The result? Everyone was utterly demoralized.

They couldn’t even keep up with the other team’s backup driver.

This was usually the moment for the protagonist to arrive and prove everyone wrong.

In the early hours of the morning, Takumi started his tofu delivery, speeding down Akina Mountain in his family’s AE86.

He unintentionally overtook the Red Sun Team’s FD. Using a perfect inertia drift, he successfully passed the car, leaving the other driver’s eyes wide with shock.

The scene was absolutely epic!

It was so thrilling that Owen completely forgot how he had initially written off racing in such antique cars.

While he liked antique cars, that didn’t stop him from thinking they were slower than a child’s toy.

’The director must be a genius,’ Owen thought. ’To create such a tense, thrilling atmosphere with such an unremarkable antique car.’

’And there’s this weirdly satisfying feeling, too.’

In any case, Owen felt a desperate urge to keep watching. He binged one episode after another until, suddenly, he ran out.

’Who feels my pain?!’

’It ended right at the most critical moment!!’

Unable to bear it any longer, he went to the comments section to demand more episodes.

[Seriously, aren’t these episodes a little too short? Can’t you post more?]

Others in the comments were also demanding more.

[New creator? Three episodes a day? They’re so short… without the opening and ending credits, they barely add up to an hour of animation.]

[Seriously, who is this supposed to be enough for? Isn’t there an option to pay for early access?]

[Are you asleep, creator? Because I can’t sleep.]

[So thrilling! I never knew antique cars could be this intense!!]

[AHHHH, does anyone know how to build antique cars? I want an AE86 exactly like the one in the show!]

[Jiang Qin? Hiss… that name sounds familiar. Isn’t that the composer who just won the championship a couple of days ago?]

[Is it just a coincidence?]

…

Only the Imperial people suspected it was a coincidence. Not a single person from the Federation doubted it.

After all, they all knew Jiang Qin could direct movies, so what was one more skill like producing animation? It seemed perfectly normal… not!

[I’m starting to think I’m just a background character in this world.]

[With so many geniuses around, why not me?]

[Jiang Qin is just too versatile. I find it hilarious when I think about how her haters always harp on the fact that she’s “uneducated.” Really makes you wonder who the ignorant ones are…]

…

Tao Haochuan also stumbled upon the anime and watched the whole thing.

He then excitedly shared a link to the anime in their team’s group chat.

Tao Haochuan: “Guys, you have to see this! This must be what Yu was talking about—winning through pure skill, right?”

Gu Tianyou was sprawled on his bed when he saw the message. Mildly curious, he clicked the link.

He, too, was immediately captivated by the opening trailer.

Two hours later, he had finished all five episodes. He saw Takumi’s 86 beat Kotaro’s FD, winning him the full tank of gas his father had promised.

Just as Gu Tianyou was dying to see what happened next, he discovered… there was no more!!

???

’A show in the Interstellar era that you can’t pay to watch in advance?’ He felt as if his world was collapsing.

The ranks of the sleepless had gained another member tonight, but he had a Flying Car race tomorrow and absolutely had to get some rest!

Itching with unbearable curiosity, he desperately wanted to know if Takumi could beat Kotaro’s older brother, Ryoji, in the episodes to come.

In the fifth episode, Ryoji had confidently declared that he was the only one who could defeat Akina’s downhill specialist!

But Gu Tianyou refused to believe it.

This was despite the fact that Ryoji had already analyzed the reason Takumi could overtake on corners.

He remained a firm believer that skill could compensate for a hardware deficit.

It was just as Shaoyu had said: if it was purely a comparison of vehicle performance and hardware, then why not just use autopilot?

At that thought, he immediately placed a call to Lan Shaoyu.

When the call connected, he asked excitedly, “Have you clicked the link that kid Tao Haochuan posted in the group chat?”

“No,” Lan Shaoyu replied, confused. “I’m studying replays of the Imperial Team’s past races.”

“Well, you have to watch it. Seriously, I feel like I’ve had a major epiphany!”

“Gotta go. I’m too hyped to calm down. I’m going to watch it all over again.”

??

Before Lan Shaoyu could ask another question, Gu Tianyou hung up.

Needless to say, his curiosity was piqued.

So, he clicked the link in the team chat…

Five minutes…

Half an hour…

A little over an hour later…

After finishing the five 23-minute-long videos—the only ones on the creator’s page—Lan Shaoyu didn’t move.

His mind was consumed by the protagonist’s technique.

’Practice makes perfect?’

’Because he had driven that mountain road so many times, he could gradually complete the trip faster and faster.’

A thought suddenly struck Lan Shaoyu.

He pinged everyone in the group chat:

[Everyone, go to the creator’s page from the link in chat and watch all five videos immediately.]

[We’ll meet up at the simulation track on the Star Network in two hours.]

[Everyone get your refreshing potions ready for tonight. I’ve got a new idea!]

’If Takumi could use drifting to overtake on corners, couldn’t they also use certain sections of the track to pull off some unbelievable maneuvers?’

He had never considered such a thing before because the performance gap between Flying Cars always felt so hopelessly insurmountable.

They had been too narrow-minded, always thinking they had to rely on modifications to overtake.

Or have teammates run interference.

But now, Lan Shaoyu felt that perhaps they could do more. Much more!

It was destined to be a sleepless night.

While netizens clamored for more content on Jiang Qin’s account, the Flying Car team trained all night on the Star Network’s simulation track.

And Jiang Qin, for her part, worked through the night.

She was busy finishing the subsequent episodes, because once the competition began, she likely wouldn’t have as much free time to produce them.

So she wanted to finish the first season ahead of time.

As for whether there would be a second season, that would depend on its reception. It was a decision she would consider after returning to the Federation.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep