Formula 1: The GOAT

[CHALLENGE MISSION: EUROPEAN PROVING GROUND]

STATUS: COMPLETE

EVENT 1: 42nd Trofeo delle Industrie (Lonato)

Objective: Podium Finish (Top 3)

Result: P1 – WINNER

Assessment: OBJECTIVE EXCEEDED

[PER-EVENT SP BREAKDOWN]

Milestone 1 (Participation): +10 SP

Milestone 2 (Pole Position – Final): +10 SP

Milestone 3 (Fastest Lap): +5 SP

Milestone 4 (Race Finish – P1): +25 SP

Milestone 5 (Driver of the Weekend): +5 SP

Additional Rewards (Per-Action):

Overtake: 41 overtakes = +41 SP

Brilliant Overtake: 7 = +35 SP

Defense: 8 = +8 SP

Brilliant Defense: 2 = +10 SP

Perfect Weekend Bonus: NOT ACHIEVED

[EVENT 1 SUBTOTAL: +149 SP]

EVENT 2: CIK-FIA World Karting Championship (La Conca)

Objective: Race Win (Wildcard entry)

Result: P1 – WINNER

Assessment: OBJECTIVE MET & EXCEEDED

[PER-EVENT SP BREAKDOWN]

Milestone 1 (Participation): +10 SP

Milestone 2 (Pole Position – Final): +10 SP

Milestone 3 (Fastest Lap): +5 SP

Milestone 4 (Race Finish – P1): +25 SP

Milestone 5 (Driver of the Weekend): +5 SP

Additional Rewards (Per-Action):

Overtake: 91 overtakes = +91 SP

Brilliant Overtake: 12 = +60 SP

Defense: 4 = +4 SP

Brilliant Defense: 1 = +5 SP

Perfect Weekend Bonus: NOT ACHIEVED (due to DNQ recovery)

[EVENT 2 SUBTOTAL: +215 SP]

EVENT 3: WSK Final Cup (7 Laghi)

Objective: Podium Finish (Top 3)

Result: P1 – WINNER

Assessment: OBJECTIVE EXCEEDED

[PER-EVENT SP BREAKDOWN]

Milestone 1 (Participation): +10 SP

Milestone 2 (Pole Position – Final): +10 SP

Milestone 3 (Fastest Lap): +5 SP

Milestone 4 (Race Finish – P1): +25 SP

Milestone 5 (Driver of the Weekend): +5 SP

Additional Rewards (Per-Action):

Overtake: 0 = +0 SP

Defense: 0 = +0 SP

Perfect Weekend Bonus: +50 SP

[EVENT 3 SUBTOTAL: +105 SP]

FINAL REWARD CALCULATION

[Base Mission Rewards]

New Ability Unlocked: [Setup Mastery (Good)]

Base SP Reward: +500 SP

[Bonus Rewards for Exceeding Objectives]

“The Phoenix” Achievement (Trofeo delle Industrie): For winning after qualifying outside the top 15: +150 SP

“Against All Odds” Achievement (CIK-FIA World Karting Championship): For winning after a DNQ and starting all heats from last: +250 SP

“Supremacy” Achievement (WSK Final Cup): For a perfect “Grand Slam” weekend: +100 SP

[Hidden Achievements]

Breaking a track lap record ninety-one times = +91 SP

First international Grand Slam = +50 SP

Won after DNQ = +25 SP

Risky Setup Gamble (first to attempt & succeed at a critical international event) = +25 SP

Unbroken Streak (Three international debut wins) = +30 SP

International Debut (first event outside home) = +5 SP

[Total SP Calculation]

Event 1 SP: 149 SP

Event 2 SP: 215 SP

Event 3 SP: 105 SP

Base Mission SP: +500 SP

Achievement Bonuses: +500 SP

Hidden Achievements: +226 SP

TOTAL SP GAINED: 1695 SP

……

“Mmph!” Fatih groaned for a moment as he felt the ability being imprinted on him.

He didn’t feel anything new since he was not yet driving a kart, but he knew the ability [Setup Mastery (Good)] had finally been given to him.

“I have been curious for a while now. Is there a difference between gaining an ability after having practiced heavily for it and just buying it outright?” Fatih asked Apollo.

“Yes. The one you practiced for, like Setup Mastery, after going through a hell of a lot of practice, would be very cheap to purchase from the system. Following the purchase, the only thing the system will do is consolidate all of that experience under a single name and filter information related to the ability into a more concentrated and controlled form. But for an ability you have no experience in, apart from it being more expensive to compensate for the lack of experience, you will also have to practice after getting it in order to fully perfect it. That’s unlike the one you have experience in, which would allow you to plug and play the moment you purchased it,” Apollo answered as he floated around Fatih, rereading the system’s mission screen.

“Looks like the system has become stricter with my rewards, or else I should have received ’First International Fastest Lap,’ ’Pole,’ ’Race Win,’ and a few more,” Fatih said as he reread the screen as well.

“You can’t be serious, right? You better be happy that the system didn’t just shut itself off until you reach Formula 1. At the moment, you are doing nothing but bullying the kids in your category, no different than the lion vs. coughing baby debate or a trillion lions vs. the sun,” Apollo teased, reminding Fatih that his abilities are a cheat.

“But don’t they have age on their side, meaning more experience? Shouldn’t that act as a leveler, since I’m younger, with a weaker body, mentality, and less experience?”

“If I weren’t a supernatural entity, I would have prayed for lightning to strike you for your shamelessness.”

“Don’t worry, I will use all of the advantages I have shamelessly, the same way rich kids don’t try to act poor just because their father is their advantage.”

“But you are rich as well.”

“Unlike Papa Stroll, mine is on paper.”

“Forget that and the bitcoins, don’t you have millions already?”

“Evaluation of my company alone.”

“I’m talking about the cash you have on hand.”

“I don’t. It’s all in shares at the moment.”

“Let’s start practice. I need to see you crash a little bit to calm my nerves,” Apollo said, feigning anger as he teleported Fatih into a kart. The kart was traveling at a very high but controllable speed before Apollo induced a puncture. This was both to symbolically vent his anger and to see how Fatih would react to an unexpected situation that hadn’t been practiced beforehand, since all the real problems on track would come from things he wasn’t expecting.

The moment Fatih found himself in the kart, he instantly felt the effects of the new ability. He instantly grasped what setup it was in, how to drive it the fastest, and how to drive it the slowest. But before he could even enjoy the new feeling, the front right exploded, forcing him to instantly try to counter-steer. The amount of vibration that went through him was enough to make it clear that he couldn’t keep it for much longer. Using his new understanding of how the puncture affected the kart’s setup, he fully lifted and braked for a moment before pressing the gas again as he initiated a turn. This forced a wheelspin that sent the kart spinning. He caught it mid-turn, bleeding as much speed as possible while sliding in donuts before coming to a full stop after a nearly fifty-meter slide that chewed through the tire and the metal rim on the right side.

“One day, I ought to crash into you or something when you are least expecting it,” Fatih said with a smile on his face. Unlike what his words suggested, he quite enjoyed this situation. With the risk of real-life injury gone, he could push himself beyond limits without having to take anything into consideration. Plus, with the recent races lacking the wheel-to-wheel battles that pushed his mentality to the limit, these surprises replaced that dopamine hit.

“Your face says something different entirely,” Apollo said, appearing behind Fatih as he examined the kart and its condition.

“I mean, if we keep doing this, then I won’t have the peace of mind of knowing nothing is going to happen when I’m just driving,” Fatih complained, as he had a few times found himself driving in the real world with the same vigilance he needed in VR to be prepared for Apollo’s shenanigans.

“That is what I want from you: to have hyper-vigilance for the entirety of the races, both here and in the real world. Because if you have the ability to do that passively while also focusing on other things and enjoying racing, then not much will come as a surprise to you regarding your car. Only then will you have the peace of mind to push the car to the max it can handle without the fear of it breaking down midway,” Apollo said, for the first time revealing the broader picture of what he was doing.

It wasn’t that hidden in the first place, but Fatih had missed it because most of these practices were done with another objective being the centerpiece. The constant setup changes were done with the objective of him adapting to new setups as fast as possible, but they still also instilled this hyper-focus. The same went for other surprise practices like punctures or being teleported to a track at high speed and given seconds to deduce where he was and how to get out of the predicament. All of them instilled the idea that anything can happen, and for the body to be ready for it, to have it on the back of his mind constantly and passively.

“How long do you think it will take for me to gain that ability?” Fatih asked, finally understanding the actual reason behind these torture-esque practices.

“I don’t know, anywhere between three to five years, depending on the practice schedule or if you use SP to supplement the training. But by the time you can use SP for that, it should have already developed for quite a period, and only a few pieces should remain.”

“Good, let’s do that then,” Fatih said calmly, preparing himself for the broken bones and more that he would experience during this period. All his future driving in the VR would be done under the assumption that Apollo was going to take the moment he lost focus to cause problems, even if he was in the middle of practicing for something else, just to force the brain to maintain that “Apollo is watching” mentality until it became passive.