F1: Starting with a Simulator Master

Just like Sherlock Holmes' mental palace, Luo Xiu built the entire Suzuka Circuit in his mind with his bare hands.

He personally laid out every shoulder, adjusted the wind speed of every crosswind, and even precisely calculated the temperature difference on the track caused by the clouds blocking the sun.

The most bizarre thing is that this world refuses to "fast forward".

In pursuit of the ultimate realistic feel, he chose a time flow rate that was completely synchronized with reality in this simulated track.

As reality passes by in a second, the timer in your mind also ticks by in a second.

He even created a data dashboard for himself.

When he's not racing, Luo Xiu likes to pull up his own driver's overall ability chart in his mental library.

He even added a touch of ceremony to the panel's appearance.

Accompanied by a simple entrance sound effect, several lines of ice-blue data streams unfolded in front of him, like a sophisticated telemetry interface.

Lap speed: S-class

Because he can get 6000+ points on iRacing and has a 70% pole-to-win win rate over the past year.

(Pole to Win, or PTW for short, refers to maintaining first place from pole position until the end of the race.)

(Pole position means starting first in qualifying and starting first on the grid in the race.)

Fetal maintenance ability: S-level

He can always make the tires gradually wear down along the ideal curve within a single stint.

(Stint refers to the continuous driving time on the track from start to pit stop in a race.)

Match Strategy: SS Level

Last season, Spa was a rainy battle that went from dry to wet.

Despite starting in 17th place after a poor qualifying start, he executed three pit stops precisely to complete multiple undercuts by utilizing yellow flags and pit stop strategies.

They surged from 17th to 1st and ultimately brought home the victory.

(Undercut refers to a tactic in racing where a lagging car pits first to change tires, thus gaining the lead over opponents without having to overtake them directly on the track.)

Combat ability: A-level

He can predict every move his opponent makes through calculations in his mental palace, and he can also see the intention behind every feint. In most cases, he is accurate.

As for physical fitness, he gave it a grade of C.

Luo Xiu knew that real-world racing required a high level of physical fitness, but he only had simulator experience and lacked a reference point.

Thinking that he could complete the 4-hour Nürburgring endurance race on the simulator with his heart rate around 120, he made a confident judgment.

Luo Xiu also created a proficiency index for every track he had run and every car he had driven, calculated as a percentage. These were all things he earned little by little over time.

My proficiency with the F1 circuit is 99%, and my proficiency with the Nürburgring is also 99%.

Luo Xiu is very honest with himself.

Data is data. Judgments based on existing information and feedback should not be lied to. This is the most basic quality of a race car driver.

It is precisely because of this terrifying amount of computation that his body's blood sugar reserves are being squeezed at all times.

So his dependence on sugar, like a severe addict, wasn't simply because he loved sweets.

Instead, if the power supply is not continuous, this magnificent virtual world will collapse in the next second.

There's just one thing: he only drinks iced Coca-Cola.

Under normal circumstances, he considers other brands to be heretics, and sugar-free cola to be nothing more than a placebo.

Thinking of this, Luo Xiu took out the half-finished cola and took another sip.

The English teacher felt a deep sense of powerlessness.

Her students were either a group of rich second-generation heirs who had no interest in learning, or oddballs who were incredibly talented but refused to learn English.

She grumbled, wondering why get out of class wasn't over yet.

……

Another uneventful day at school came to an end.

The aroma of grilled sausages wafting from the convenience store near the school gate softened the tense atmosphere of a high school evening.

Xu Zihang rubbed the bump on his forehead and casually hooked one arm around Luo Xiu's shoulder.

"Ignore Zhang Wei and his gang, they don't know anything. Pan Zi did cut the corner too late, I watched the replay four or five times before I noticed it, but you noticed it at a glance, that's talent."

As Luo Xiu's only best friend, and the only one who thought he knew just how abnormal Luo Xiu's racing talent was.

Xu Zihang had an almost blind worship of Luo Xiu.

After all, his iRating score was boosted by Luo Xiu's help, but after Xu Zihang logged in on his own, it only took him a few games for his score to drop back to 800.

"Tomorrow is Saturday, my birthday. My family just took over a go-kart track in Nanshan. Lots of my classmates are going. Why don't you come too?"

Xu Zihang lowered his voice, like a spy trading black market intelligence, and winked at Luo Xiu.

"I only dare to be so arrogant because my dad and the others are not in the country."

Otherwise, they won't let me ride go-karts, or even bumper cars.

No one can nag me this time, you absolutely have to come! I heard it's the only national-level racetrack in the entire province!

Luo Xiu shook his head, his body swaying limply under Xu Zihang's force.

"No money, not going, too tiring. There's an online match tonight."

"Don't be so quick to refuse," Xu Zihang said, moving closer to him.

"With me around, you don't need to spend any money. My family is organizing an event for the reopening of the racetrack. The fastest lap of the day will win you 5000 yuan."

Luo Xiu slowed his pace by half a beat, but didn't stop.

5000 yuan is indeed a lot of money, but to break my own sleep schedule for this...

"Moreover," Xu Zihang played his trump card,

"If you win, I'll give you the 3090 graphics card I just replaced."

Luo Xiu stopped chewing on the grilled sausage.

The whole world seemed to fall silent for a moment.

The noisy students, car horns, and hawkers' calls all disappeared.

Even the Suzuka racetrack that was speeding along in my mind came to a standstill.

Instead, there was a picture of his five-year-old Logitech G29 steering wheel in his bedroom, its gears turning like a tractor.

There's also that image from a GTX 1060 graphics card that can only maintain a 3440*1440 resolution and 60 frames per second refresh rate in iRacing with the lowest graphics settings and even the rearview mirror view having to be adjusted to the lowest setting.

The lowest graphics settings mean no lighting or shadows, which means that details on the road surface are blurred.

Most importantly, the braking point is missed due to frame drops caused by performance issues.

And 3090...

That's ray tracing at full power.

That's 4K 144Hz.

That's the ultimate solution for triple-screen setups.

That's several 5000 yuan.

Luo Xiu's family background was not bad. His parents were both wage earners, and their monthly allowance was considered average among ordinary high school students.

But the problem is that he fell into this trap called iRacing a year ago.

This isn't one of those single-player games that you buy out for a few hundred dollars.

It's less of a game and more of a professionally designed, realistic racing simulation training software that leeches off users monthly.

After all, almost all active professional race car drivers in the real world are its loyal fans.

Membership requires a monthly fee, each high-precision laser-scanned track must be purchased separately, and each new car also requires a separate charge.

Some people have calculated that if you want to dominate the entire series, the cost of the track and the cars alone would be tens of thousands of RMB.

Luo Xiu's goal was to dominate the entire series, so he spent almost all of his monthly allowance of a few hundred yuan into this bottomless pit.

Given the choice between better hardware and more track maps, Luo Xiu chose the latter without hesitation.

After all, for him, the cheap feel of the Logitech G29's gear-driven mechanism, though resembling driving a tractor, didn't stop him from dominating the virtual world.

Luo Xiu is not a gear enthusiast.

Because a true master never complains that his sword is not sharp enough.

RTX3090.

Although Luo Xiu wasn't a gear enthusiast, he didn't reject a sharper sword.

For the first time, Xu Zihang saw Luo Xiu's usually half-open, dead fish eyes light up.

Because that kind of light was the only look in his eyes that he had when the five red lights went out in front of the simulator screen.

Heart flutter, excitement, greed, and absolute focus.

Luo Xiu's originally hunched back straightened up to a height that he only achieved during physical examinations in that instant.

He grabbed Xu Zihang's arm with his other hand, so tightly that Xu Zihang couldn't break free.

What time on Saturday?

"At... 10 a.m.." Xu Zihang was startled by this sudden aura.

"OK."

Luo Xiu released his grip, and the sharp aura he had displayed for a moment quickly dissipated, causing him to revert to his half-dead, energy-saving mode.

"But I don't have a driver's license, so let's make it clear beforehand that I can only drive in closed areas."

Xu Zihang rubbed his arm, which was pinched so hard, but laughed heartlessly.

With no one at home to supervise him, he could run his own brothel as he pleased, and finally, the strongest backer in the entire school agreed to come out of retirement.

This was probably the most perfect birthday he'd had in sixteen years.

"Hey, what kind of license do you need for go-karting! You can only drive on tracks; it's a competitive sport!"

He nudged Luo Xiu's ribs with his elbow and laughed.

"See you tomorrow, God Luo."

Xu Zihang turned and sat in the Maybach in front of him, muttering to himself.

"You'd better come, I'm waiting for you."