"Brother, this isn't the time for—"
"Trust me"
Rex said firmly. The reason for Sarah stopping wasn't because of his speech but because she finally saw his appearance. Since the time he had came in to her room, she was focused on her monitor as well as guilty to maintain eye contact face to face and didn't see how he had changed. But looking at his handsome face, she was absentminded.
"Even if I lose, I will give you back the money for all your losses today on the promise that you won't bet on these races again"
"Huh, yea sure"
Even though she replied, whether she had really listened to what he had said, it was clear as light and day. After coming out of her daze, she wanted to ask what had happened to him. She didn't think care about the race anymore. She had a backup doing triple or nothing for the bet, though she had to take out from her piggybank. But before she could ask what had happened to him, her sight went back to the monitor to see that he was actually doing well on the track.
Vines draped down from the trees, swaying ominously as it blocked the line of sight from time to time. Branches and vines of the trees poked out at dangerous angles on the road. Despite the obstacles, Rex didn't let he car slow down on the speed, the car's engine roared. Beside him, Sarah was already biting her nails, her eyes darting between the car and the incoming obstacles.
"Brother, slow down, there's a root right there!"
She shouted, panic creeping into her voice as the car narrowed towards a tree root on the side of the road. Rex's finger moved the controller swiftly and deftly manoeuvring the car to barely scrape past the root.
Sarah's scream echoed in the room as the car passed the tree root, but Rex didn't flinch. Instead, he dodged left, narrowly avoiding a fallen tree trunk, and then curved right, evading a cluster of low hanging branches. Every time the car came dangerously close to an obstacle, Sarah gasped as she moved along with the car as if she herself moving would make the car dodge.
"Brother, a deer"
Sarah exclaimed in surprise as a deer suddenly darted across the track. Without hesitation, Rex executed a drift, sending the car sliding sideways while maintaining speed. The deer passed by unscathed, and the car straightened out perfectly on the track. Sarah was too stunned to react, her brother's skill was nothing of what she expected which made her think whether he had played this game before. He had but compared to her hours, it was nothing and this game came out only a few months back.
The track continued to twist and turn through the forest. A sharp curve loomed ahead, with the jagged edges of broken rails marking the boundaries. Sarah's heart leapt into her throat.
"Brother, that turn is impossible to take at this speed, slow down"
To her scream, Rex only smirked. Before they had came to this turn, they encountered a power-up choice. Among the three options, a double arrow icon which was a double booster, a shield, and a plus icon with a repair tool on it which was a heal, Rex chose the booster without hesitation.
Sarah's eyes widened in disbelief as she saw the icon of the power up usage light up.
"Don't use that now, you'll fly off the track"
Sarah screamed but Rex had already activated it. The car's speed surged dramatically, and before Sarah could react, the vehicle launched itself off the sharp turn, flying over the broken rails. Sarah shut her eyes, unable to watch what she assumed would be a catastrophic crash.
The sound of rushing wind filled her ears, and she braced herself for the worst. Hearing the sound of the engine's roar, she finally opened her eyes and the car was miraculously back on the track, skidding slightly but stabilizing with the control of Rex. The health meter on the screen read 81%, just one percent above the threshold for a significant speed drop. Sarah's jaw dropped.
"How... how did you do that?!"
Rex shrugged nonchalantly and replied.
"It's just about timing"
Sarah couldn't believe what she had just witnessed. That shortcut or rather be called skip in this game that she saw from her brother wasn't just dangerous, it was insane. No player she knew had ever attempted it, let alone pulled it off successfully. Her thoughts raced.
'Did he watch professional videos?'
She shook her head, dismissing the idea. This wasn't something you learned from watching someone else not only because no professional would ever take this path that they took due to statistics alone compared to the other path that DarKnight71 took due to the amount of danger it had as well as the power-ups had the chance of being bombs. If all the three power up choices were bombs or other types of obstacle, either you slow down going between it or risk it and try to take the chance with the one with lower damage.
The race wasn't over yet, though. Rex kept the car at top speed, expertly dodging more obstacles along the way. Another drop of power-ups appeared on the road ahead, but the placement was far from ideal.
A heal boost was dangerously close to a bomb, and a smaller speed boost sat slightly off to the side.
"Take the small boost"
"You can use it later"
Using it in this sharp and windy path was nearly insane but what she didn't expect was that ignoring her suggestion, Rex maneuverered the car to snag the heal boost without triggering the bomb. Sarah gawked at the screen.
"How are you even doing this"
She muttered under her breath, equal parts amazed and confused. Sarah had never really seen her brother play racing games nor other types of games apart from gacha games. The car's health was restored, and the increase in speed though not much was still fruitful as in calculations would be worth more than the small boost because of the situation they were in. For the first time in the race, Sarah stopped worrying and started cheering.
"Yes! Keep going, brother" She shouted, her earlier doubts forgotten. She absolutely believed in her brother.
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Note: Totally didn't listen to Deja Vu while writing this!