The One Who Refused to Be Caught
The first thing I learned after becoming Katsuragi Ace was that she wasn't Marzensky.
I already knew that.
I just hadn't understood it.
Marzensky could lead because she was simply faster.
If someone reached her shoulder, she accelerated.
If someone challenged her pace, she accelerated again.
If someone somehow managed to pull even...
She won the duel anyway.
Her speed, power, and stamina were all absurd enough that fighting for first place was natural. Holding the lead wasn't a strategy.
It was instinct.
Katsuragi Ace wasn't like that.
The first career run reminded me immediately.
The field reached my shoulder before the first corner.
"...Already?"
I tried to increase the pace.
Nothing happened.
Not because Katsuragi Ace was slow.
Because this wasn't Marzensky's body.
The acceleration came slower.
The response wasn't explosive.
The runner beside me stayed beside me.
By the final straight, Mr. C.B. came flying from the back.
A few strides later...
Rudolf's terrifying late acceleration swallowed both of us.
Third.
Career failed.
Reset.
Second run.
Maybe I just needed to run harder.
I pushed the pace from the gate.
Opened nearly two lengths.
Halfway through the race...
The lead disappeared.
Rudolf calmly reeled me back in.
She never panicked.
Never chased desperately.
She simply waited.
Then exploded.
Second.
Reset.
Third run.
Fourth.
Sixth.
Tenth.
Twentieth.
Nothing changed.
The race always ended the same way.
Mr. C.B.'s closing charge.
Or Rudolf's overwhelming finish.
Sometimes both.
No matter what I tried...
Katsuragi Ace couldn't overpower them.
I sat quietly in the training room after another failed career.
"...What am I missing?"
The answer wasn't stats.
My stats were good enough.
The answer wasn't skills.
They activated correctly.
The answer...
Had to be racing itself.
I stopped playing.
Instead...
I started watching.
Old race footage.
Training recordings.
Anything involving Katsuragi Ace.
Again.
Again.
Again.
The more I watched...
The stranger it became.
She wasn't simply front-running.
She was stretching the race.
The field looked wrong.
Every race.
Instead of a tight pack...
The runners were scattered across the course.
One length.
Three lengths.
Five.
Eight.
Everyone chased.
Nobody drafted.
Nobody conserved energy.
"...Wait."
I paused the video.
Played it again.
The field wasn't losing because Katsuragi Ace was impossibly fast.
They were losing because they were forced to chase individually.
Their rhythm collapsed.
Their positioning disappeared.
Their race...
Stopped being their race.
A smile slowly spread across my face.
"I get it."
Marzensky won because nobody could steal first place.
Katsuragi Ace won because nobody ever reached her in the first place.
Completely different.l
The next reset began.
This time...
I didn't care about my speed.
I cared about theirs
The gate opened.
I broke immediately.
Not recklessly.
Deliberately.
Every stride had a purpose.
Lengthen the field.
Don't duel.
Don't react.
Keep extending.
One length.
Two.
Three.
I never looked behind me.
Looking back meant adjusting.
Adjusting meant slowing.
I trusted the pace.
The corners came.
I refused to fight for perfect racing lines.
Instead...
I exited every corner carrying just enough momentum to stretch the gap another half-length.
Little by little...
The field separated.
By halfway...
Nobody was together anymore.
Good.
Exactly what I wanted.
The final straight arrived.
I heard footsteps.
Mr. C.B.
Of course.
She always came.
The queen of End Closers.
Her acceleration was beautiful.
Terrifying.
Every reset before this one...
She caught me.
This time...
She started too far back.
She closed.
Five lengths.
Four.
Three.
Two.
The finish line arrived.
I won by half a length.
Barely.
The system chimed.
Mr. C.B. defeated.
I smiled.
"...One left."
Rudolf.
The Emperor.
The one who had ended more careers than anyone else.
Unlike Mr. C.B....
Rudolf never hurried.
She understood races.
She understood timing.
She waited until victory became inevitable.
Then...
She took it.
My first attempt against her failed.
Second.
Third.
Fourth.
Every loss looked different.
Every defeat felt identical.
Always...
That overwhelming final acceleration.
She didn't need much space.
She created it herself.
Reset.
Somewhere around the fortieth attempt...
I noticed something.
Rudolf wasn't choosing when to attack.
She was choosing when the race belonged to her.
That was different.
If the pace became comfortable...
She controlled it.
If the field stayed compact...
She controlled it.
If everyone reached the final straight together...
She controlled everything.
"...Then don't let her."
The realization felt almost stupid.
Don't race Rudolf's race.
Make Rudolf race yours.
Next attempt.
The gate opened.
No hesitation.
I attacked immediately.
Not because I wanted speed.
Because I wanted distance.
One length.
Three.
Five.
Every runner behind me had a decision.
Chase now.
Or let the gap grow.
Both answers were wrong.
They chased.
The field stretched.
Exactly as planned.
By the final corner...
Rudolf finally moved.
The atmosphere changed instantly.
Even from the front...
I could feel it.
Pressure.
Power.
Confidence.
She was coming.
The footsteps behind me became louder.
Closer.
Half the field disappeared behind her acceleration.
One length.
Half a length.
She was terrifying.
"...Not yet."
I held my pace.
Didn't panic.
Didn't look back.
The finish line approached.
Rudolf launched everything.
The difference vanished.
Half a length.
A neck.
A shoulder.
The crowd roared.
She reached for first.
The finish line came first.
Victory.
The system froze.
Then...
A familiar panel appeared.
CAREER COMPLETE
Result: Happy Ending
Career Grade: B+
For several seconds...
I simply stared.
Then laughed.
"...Finally."
Not because it was impossible.
Because I finally understood.
Marzensky had taught me overwhelming talent.
Mr. C.B. had taught me timing.
Katsuragi Ace...
Taught me control.
A race wasn't always won by running faster.
Sometimes...
You won before the final straight even existed.
You won by deciding what kind of race everyone else was forced to run.
That was Katsuragi Ace.
She wasn't trying to outrun legends.
She was dragging them into a race they hated.
And somehow...
It worked.
I looked at the completed career screen one last time.
Career Grade: B+
Not A.
Not S.
Just...
A happy ending.
Enough.
The white light of the system slowly surrounded me again.
Another completed life.
Another lesson learned.
Another legend understood.
I closed my eyes.
"...Who's next?"
The world dissolved into white once more.