Every turn has a cost. Every rival is a risk. But on the streets, silence can't follow you.
---
11:58 PM – Sector 4 Entry Tunnel, Kaminari Pass
The road glistened like black glass, coiled between the hills like a snake.
Rain hammered the concrete overhead. The tunnel smelled of smoke, rubber, and cheap engine oil. Dim headlights lined the underground walls. Barely-legal cars revved like beasts in cages.
I pulled the LFA into the shadows, past the lifted hoods, downturned cigarettes, and phone cameras already streaming the meet to a few hundred eager night rats watching from their beds.
My tires hissed on the wet concrete.
Someone whistled. "Yo, Phantom Redline's here."
Someone else laughed. "Tsk. That guy again. Rich kid in a supercar."
They never saw me outside the car. They only saw the red rings on my wheels and the low, beastly growl of my detuned V10.
No stickers. No sponsors. Just a whisper: "He never loses Sector 4."
I parked with the nose facing downhill and killed the lights.
I didn't need attention.
Just a race.
---
12:02 AM – The Challenger
"Hey. You the mute with the pretty LFA?"
I looked up. Some punk in a soaked hoodie stood next to me, chewing gum like it was his career. Behind him was a jet-black R35 GT-R, engine still ticking from its warm-up laps.
"Name's Riku," he said. "Used to race in Yokohama. Thought I'd check out the legendary Kaminari Pass. But it's been boring so far."
He leaned close. I could smell his cologne—something cheap and aggressive.
"So here's the thing. You race me now. One sector. Downhill. If I win, I post the whole run with your plate number. Your secret life? Blown."
I didn't blink. Didn't answer.
I opened the door and stepped out.
The tunnel grew quiet.
---
12:06 AM – The Launch
My gloves were tight. The engine whispered under my fingers.
I visualized every bend of Sector 4:
The blind downhill S-curve after the bridge
The left hairpin with no guardrail
The wall of moss that had already claimed three bumpers this month
Rain fell heavier now. Visibility was going to be a joke.
Perfect.
---
Someone's phone beeped.
"Three… two… one—GO!"
---
The LFA exploded forward.
No screeching. No wheelspin. Just controlled fury. My rear tires kissed the wet road like dancers on glass.
Riku's GT-R came roaring behind, all torque and noise and arrogance.
But I didn't fight the road.
I danced with it.
My foot feathered the brake. Hands worked the wheel like I was painting each curve. The downforce clicked in as I shifted into third, diving into the infamous Fang Turn.
The car whispered beneath me.
It wasn't loud.
It was lethal.
---
Halfway through, I caught a flash of his headlights in the mirror.
He was closing in.
But I knew his kind—punch-heavy throttle junkies who didn't respect momentum.
We hit the Moss Curve.
I slowed.
He didn't.
In the mirror, I saw it: his back wheel dipped off the edge. Just a bit. But it was enough.
The GT-R lurched wide, skidded into a watery drift, overcorrected—
BANG.
He clipped the wall. Sparks flew like angry fireflies.
I didn't look back.
I never do.
---
12:14 AM – Finish Line
I parked the LFA under a rusted overpass, its nose dripping rain and victory.
The others stared.
One guy muttered, "Didn't even brake at Moss."
Someone else whispered, "Who the hell is he…?"
But I didn't stay.
I pulled the hood of my jacket over my head and slipped away into the night, my footsteps echoing behind me as engines roared back to life.
---
12:35 AM – Home
I opened the door quietly.
Mari's umbrella was still by the rack.
Her bedroom light was off.
But I could hear soft breathing.
I crept into the kitchen and sat down at the table.
Rain pounded the windows like fists.
My hands were still trembling—not from the race… but from the fact I wanted to tell her.
I wanted to tell her everything.
That I was Phantom Redline.
That I risked my life to feel something real.
That every night I drove like it was my last.
And that every morning when she sat beside me—smiling, humming, too close to me—I wondered what it would feel like to tell her the truth…
Or worse…
To hear her whisper:
> "I already know."
[End of Chapter 3]