Chapter 212: Well-Deserved Rewards
The screen flashed and the roaring engine of a Ferrari Tributo sped ahead of Calvin. The Ferrari was immediately met with a crowd of computer-generated and controlled cars, but Grace made an ornate drift to avoid them all.
Despite the Ferrari's speed, it still managed to make a horizontal drift into an empty slot in the road, positioning itself in a way that not only gave it an advantage but also blocked Calvin's route in the track.
"Hahaha, how are you going to penetrate this phalanx of cars?" Grace chuckled in glee.
"I don't have to. There are five laps left in this track, why the rush?" Calvin remained nonchalant as ever as he sped up behind Grace.
In front of his Ford Mustang was an array of cars moving at a constant, calculated speed.
Since all of the cars were in all of the available lanes, Calvin needed to skillfully insert himself in between the cars so he could overtake them and rush ahead.
However, Calvin wasn't doing all of these. He remained behind the crowd of cars and Grace was having the time of her life as she continued to mock Calvin.
"What now, Calvin? Your tone of voice earlier was filled with confidence, yet what are you doing now?" Grace laughed out loud, "You still haven't passed this phalanx of cars? Are they really that hard to overtake?" Grace even added salt to Calvin's wounds as she maneuvered her car out of the slot and wiggled the backside of her car to Calvin.
"Here, here, come here..." Grace teased, "Fat chance!"
At the very next moment, she went back to the available slot and blocked Calvin's way.
"Hahaha..."
Grace boisterously laughed, "This is enjoyable indeed!"
"Stay there and be defeated! I'll end your misery, now!" All of a sudden, Grace sped up and left the phalanx of cars. Since she had left the blockage, Calvin was now able to insert himself and overtake the cars ahead of him.
Calvin couldn't help but comment, "Grace, are you sure you won't regret your decision of letting me overtake those cars?"
The road was now empty as the computer-generated cars vanished.
Only Calvin's Ford Mustang and Grace's Ferrari Tributo existed on the roads of London Bridge.
"Why would I regret my decision? I'm giving you a handicap? It would be bad if you lost too badly and complained to me that I was too ruthless." Grace waved her hand in a nonchalant manner as her Ferrari continued to race on the track.
Up ahead was the first of the U-Turn turns, Grace deftly drifted over it to overcome the steep curve.
By the time the second U-Turn had arrived, Grace had almost busted her own guts for laughing.
The race was now on its final lap.
Calvin started to speed up.
"Oh? You're finally taking this seriously, eh? But are you sure that it's not too late?" Grace stared at Calvin with a sneer.
"It's not done until it's game over," Calvin said with this mysterious smirk on his face, "I have to win this for the sake of that reward."
"Well, I hope you'll do your best and struggle," Grace's smile deepened, "Entertain me until the end!"
Gradually, the distance between the two cards grew closer and closer.
The Ford Mustang's maneuverability had earned it enough speed that it was now about to overcome Grace's Ferrari Tributo.
However, Grace was far cunning than Calvin had expected.
Seeing that she was about to be overtaken, she swayed the bottom-end of her Ferrari and took a sharp position for the next U-Turn.
Her actions slowed down the Mustang...
Calvin was forced to take a disadvantageous lane since Grace was blocking his way.
"Not bad, not bad, I didn't expect you to actually catch up to me. But as long as I'm still in the lead, victory will still be mine in the end!"
Grace declared.
The two cars started running side by side.
Up ahead of them was the final U-Turn curve that they needed to take in order to decide the victory.
As they moved about, Grace deftly controlled her Ferrari, not allowing Calvin's Ford Mustang to overtake her car.
The U-Turn was fast approaching.
Grace's pupils flashed in a sinister light.
Every U-Turn in London Bridge needed a successful and powerful drift for a car to overcome it.
In other words, if Calvin's drift was even a beat slower than hers, then she should be able to take this victory.
No, she will definitely win this!
Grace's eyes surged with schadenfreude.
"Here it goes!" She suddenly roared as the controller in her hands creaked the instant Grace exerted her strength.
"Sure enough, the break is malfunctioning..." Calvin didn't know what to say as he glanced over at Grace.
She was the Goddess of Compassion and Light. A legitimate subject of worship for the people of Las Felipinas yet little did they know that their Goddess was someone who would do anything that she could—to win.
Calvin's expression turned serious.
He stared at the U-Turn up ahead and realized that he definitely needed his brakes and create a drift if he didn't want to slam his car on the cliffside.
But with his brakes malfunctioning, how could he possibly do a drift?
Calvin scanned the cliffside and his serious expression suddenly beamed into a smile.
'I actually don't need my brakes!' Calvin screamed in his heart.
Under normal circumstances, it would be impossible for anyone to do what he was planning to do. However, the car that he chose had the highest maneuverability stat out of all cars in Grand Turismo.
Furthermore, Calvin wasn't that much of a greenhorn when it came to racing games.
He predicted that precise adjustments were necessary if he wanted to win.
And that was what he planned on doing!
"Oh, you've finally discovered that you can't slow down? Hahaha! I've won this competition!"
Grace noticed the veins popping on Calvin's forehead as his fingers subtly trembled on the controller.
Grace could see that Calvin had dedicated all of his attention to the game, but what could he do without his brakes? Drifting was impossible with a malfunctioning brake in this game!
In her heart, she had already won.
Grace deliberately slowed down and enjoyed watching the struggle on Calvin's face as his Ford Mustang arrived at the U-Turn!
"You're dead!" Grace boisterously laughed.
But the scene that she had expected didn't happen.
Instead of crashing against the cliffside with his car bursting into an inferno of flames...
Calvin's Ford Mustang struck the railings and flew towards the cliffside.
Then, with an incredible display of defiance against physics...
Calvin's Ford Mustang ran across the cliffside and followed it to eventually make it out of the U-Turn!
"Impossible!" Grace abruptly stood up from the couch as she stared at Calvin with wide-eyes.
"Heh, nothing is impossible. Hey, the game is not over yet, why are you standing up?" Calvin sneered. He gave a warning and Grace immediately went back to her seat and pushed her car forward, but it was too late...
Calvin had accumulated so much speed and momentum that even her Ferrari Tributo that had the fastest speed stat in the game wasn't able to overtake Calvin's Ford Mustang in the final lap.
Eventually, the Ford Mustang crossed over the finish line, and bold striking words flashed across the screen.
"VICTORY!"
"Impossible..." Grace dropped the controller onto the floor.
The moment it struck the ground, it dissipated into innumerable light crystals as Grace was unable to maintain the form of the cube anymore due to the emotional turmoil that she was currently experiencing.
"How? How did you do it?" Grace stared at Calvin, "Did you cheat?"
"Cheat?" Calvin almost keeled over onto the floor, "That's my line! You made my brakes malfunction there, right?"
"What?!" Grace awakened from her trance and denied his allegation in a fluster, "Why would I cheat? Why would I—the Goddess of Compassion and Light, go so low as to cheat in a video game?"
"You were just unfortunate. That's it."
"Oh? Are you saying that you didn't cheat?" Calvin lifted an eyebrow.
"Yes!" Grace stood her ground.
"Well, in that case, do you want to race again? Give me the Ferrari Tributo and you can choose whatever car you want." Calvin snickered.
"No, no, no... I won't race anymore! You're a dirty player, so I won't play with you anymore!" Grace pointed a finger at him.
"Madame, you're the one that's dirty..."
"The reason why you probably wanted to choose your car first earlier was that you've rigged this game from the start, am I right?"
"If my theory is correct, then every car in Grand Turismo apart from that Ferrari Tributo of yours probably have malfunctioning brakes!" Calvin glared at Grace.
Grace was so stunned and shocked by Calvin's deductions that she had to take a step backward. The sight of her face going pale made her look incredibly pitiful as Calvin walked over to her and said, "Don't worry, just admit it. I won't criticize you for it. Every gamer out there had once cheated in a game. Of course, that includes me..."
"I won't pretend to be a thief to rebuke the prostitute since that would be the same as the pot calling the kettle black."
Calvin reassured her.
Grace puffed her cheeks and sighed, "Okay, I cheated, okay? Are you happy now?"
She crossed her arms in front of her chest and continued, "Yes, I'm a cheater! I play games, but I always cheat because I can't win in a normal game! I can't even win against bots, I'm that pathetic, all right? Are you happy now?"
Calvin shook his head, "I am not going to deny your words, nor I would console you. It's true that you're a shitty and pathetic gamer, but that's only because you haven't had a real competitor and a mentor to learn from."
"You've probably peeked at Earth once and saw their way of living, but as a Goddess... I know that you cannot possibly go there and mingle with the Earthlings since your presence alone would collapse the planet from inside out with your power..."
"So, how about this?"
Calvin stared at Grace with a smile.
"You give me my rewards from that quest and also the rewards for the duel. Then, I might find it in my heart to teach you how to play games the genuine way, without any cheats whatsoever, so you can experience the rush of winning in a legitimate manner."
Grace was moved by his words.
"Really?"
"Yup... But of course, you should also let me train here for a thousand years since you know... You said that time flows slower here when compared to the outside world, right?" Calvin replied.
"No, I can't do that..." Grace shook her head, "It's true that time flows slower here than in the outside world. I could make it so that a thousand years here is only a day in the outside world, but that doesn't mean that your body won't grow older as time passes by here in my Heavenly Abode..."
"In short, only a day might've passed in the outside world, but you would experience a thousand years in my Heavenly Abode..."
"As a mortal with an ordinary lifespan, you might not even last a hundred years."
Grace stared at Calvin in certainty.
"Fuck! And here I thought I could take advantage of that slowed time! I knew it was too good to be true!"
Calvin couldn't help but curse.
"All right, let's forget about that."
"Can you just give me my rewards?" Calvin requested.
Grace nodded her head, "Yes, I'll give it to you. It is what you deserve for your efforts, and you've done a great job putting the disciple of that bitch in his place."
"B-B-Bitch?"
"What?" Grace raised her brows. She seemed to be in a bad mood.
"Nothing... I just didn't think that you'd be capable of swearing."
"Are you mocking me?"
"Of course, not..." Calvin bitterly smiled.
Grace proceeded to alter the world within the cube and an entire house was built right under Calvin's eyes.
In just five seconds, he was now inside the living room of a lavish house.
"Follow me upstairs." Grace signaled.
Calvin followed suit and the two reached a bedroom that was so huge it had everything that a gamer cared about.
Consoles, massage chairs, ergonomic gaming chairs, and gaming computers...
Everything was in this room.
Grace then turned around to look at him, "You need to come here at least once a week."
"What?"
"Didn't you say that you're going to teach me how to play games?"
"Ah, yes... Sorry, I didn't expect that you'd agree to it so easily."
"Well, why would I refuse such a good offer?" Grace crossed her arms in front of her chest, "But you better do a good job of teaching me."
"Of course, of course, just leave it to me..." Calvin nodded his head, "And my rewards?"
"Oh..."
Grace let out an absentminded response as she nonchalantly waved her hand in front of Calvin.
A beam of concentrated divine light buried itself into Calvin's glabella as numerous system notifications appeared in front of him.
[You have received 2 Skill Slots]
[You have received Heavenly Abode Visitation Pass - With the corresponding technique, you are able to enter the designated Heavenly Abode at will with your physical body. There is no cooldown to the entry, but it is recommended that the user does not enter the Heavenly Abode more than three times a week to prevent any adverse effects in the body.]
[You have received 415 Experience Points]
[Congratulations, you have ascended to Scribe!]
[Class: Golden Class-Scribe]
[Skills Available in Slot: 3/???]
[Skills Slotted: 0/???]
[Experience Points: 1203/10,000]
[8797 Experience Points necessary for Ascension to Historian.]
[Ultimate Skill: Reversal of Fate is now available!]
[Ultimate Skill: Reversal of Fate - Copies the skill that the enemy is using. The strength of the copied skill is half of the original's, but its duration is as long as the original. There are no restrictions to using [Reversal of Fate] but the stronger the skill being copied, the less its strength and duration would be...]
[A skill can only be copied if it is being used by the original owner and the user saw it being used. When [Reversal of Fate] has been activated successfully, the original owner of the skill would temporarily be unable to use the skill until the duration of the copied skill ends.
Cooldown: Once a day, resets every 5 am.]