Alice suddenly woke up in an empty white space with nothing around it. Her eyes widened as she looked around and noticed something in the distance. She began walking towards the thing, and as she got closer, she saw a giant metal door with the number 33 on it. She tried pushing the door but it seemed locked.

"Locked, there must be a way to open this door." Alice muttered to herself.

Alice stares at the door determined to open it, she begins looking around to find something that could help her open the metal door. She felt something in her pockets and reached inside it. She felt something and pulled it out from her pocket, it was a metal key that seemed to fit the keyhole.

"A metal key, could this be the key?" Alice muttered to herself again.

Alice placed the key inside the keyhole and turned it. The door suddenly shines bright and the door disappears. The empty white space turns into darkness, then she notices someone in the distance. Alice began walking towards the person, feeling a bit scared. As she approached the person, she saw a man on his knees, his face censored with glitching pixels.

"Who is this person? Why is he like that?" She muttered to herself.

She bent over to inspect the man but suddenly large chains appeared out of thin air and began constricting him. 5 giant padlocks appeared and moved around her. The padlocks went up to the chains and locked him up.

"W-What the-? Why is he being constricted?" Alice said in shock.

Alice was confused about why the man was being locked up like that. She tried to talk to him but he seemed unresponsive. She got closer and tried to reach out to him. But suddenly the man began thrashing around in the chains and the pixels on his face began glitching.

"Save me, please save me!" The man screamed.

The pixels disappeared on his face momentarily and Alice saw his face, it was Sugimoto with a panicked face who was trying to get out of the chains.

"S-Senpai?" Alice muttered.

Alice looked in horror seeing Sugimot locked up like that. Suddenly the void began swallowing him into the ground. Alice notices it tries to help him but she feels herself being restrained as well.

"Kid save me please, don't leave me here!" Sugimoto screamed.

Alice tried to fight through it to save him but couldn't move a muscle. She saw Sugimot sinking into the ground with only his head above the ground. Sugimoto looked at her with a terrified face.

"KID!-"

"Senpai!" Alice screamed at him.

Alice woke up from her slumber in shock from the nightmare she had. She looks around her surroundings and notices that it's still dark outside. She sat up trying to understand what just happened.

"Why did I just dream about Senpai... Why was he locked up like that?" Alice muttered to herself.

Alice looked at the time and saw it was three o'clock in the morning.

"Man, I really get weird dreams when I work hard on myself." She muttered to herself and tried to go back to sleep.

She woke up that morning and began getting ready to go to school. She had breakfast with her grandpa and then went out and walked to school. As she got there, a row of students and teachers greeted her.

"Congratulations Alice."

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"Good job Alice."

"Congrats on your win Alice."

The message has spread to her school and everyone praised her for her win. The principal greeted her and praised her for her achievements. Alice nodded and began making her way to her class. As Alice sat down, her classmates and even other students from the other class flocked to her and asked many questions. Throughout the day, Alice is approached by people she doesn't know well. During recess, Alice was dragged out by teachers who wanted to talk to her about her achievements.

"Man Alice is so popular now, I guess that race was a big deal huh?" Raani told the girls.

"Yep, she even made national headlines too." Airi scrolled on her phone checking some articles.

"Come on guys, we should be proud of her for this. Weren't you the one who asked Airi to spread the news to our school?" Aini teased her.

"True, but it feels weird not having someone to hug every recess." Raani expresses her frustration.

"I mean you have Airi over there, why not give her a try?" Aini suggested.

"Eh?" Airi gasped.

Raani tackled and hugged Airi but she didn't feel satisfied with it.

"It's not the same." Raani cried as she hugged Airi.

"I'm glad I won't be a replacement hugging pillow for you." Airi chuckled.

Alice disappeared throughout the day as she was dragged out by everyone for the entire school period. Alice who was exhausted finally went back to class, the class was almost empty but her friends stuck by for a while.

"Alice!" Raani screamed and tackled her and hugged her.

"Hey now, what's wrong with you?" Alice asked confusedly.

As Raani hugged her, Aini and Airi walked over towards her and joined in the hug.

"Eh?! Seriously what's wrong with all of you guys?" Alice was confused by their sudden actions.

"We missed you." They all muttered to Alice and hugged her tightly.

As they hugged for a while, her phone rang and the gang broke up the hug so Alice could answer the phone. She answered the phone and mumbled for a while, she hung up and turned to her friends with money symbols in her eyes.

"Mama's rich girls!" Alice told them.

They all seemed confused by her statement but later understood what she meant. They began asking for absurd requests and Alice denied all of them. They walked out of school and waved goodbye to each other as they parted ways. Alice went towards the bus stop and took a bus to the circuit, after getting off the bus, she went directly to the manager's office. As she got there, she noticed Sugimoto standing outside his office.

"Hey kid, here to claim your winnings?" He chuckled.

"Yup, I'm gonna get myself a new phone since mine's a bit outdated. How about you Senpai?" Alice asked him.

"I don't know, probably booze." He told her.

"Jeez Senpai, you really gotta lay down on that stuff, you were out cold last night." Alice teased him.

"True, I can't even remember what I did last night haha" He said and chuckled.

As they waited, the manager called Alice's name from his office and Alice went in and greeted the manager. She sat down on the chair in front of his desk.

"Thanks for coming Alice, here's 2 checks. One from your salary and one from the prize winnings. Totaling to 55,500 dollars." The manager told her while handing her the check.

"This is a lot of money for someone like me, I don't know what to do with all of it!" Alice said seemingly shocked by the amount she received.

"Spend it wisely Alice, don't spend it all in one go. At least try saving half of it and invest some of it." The manager gave her some financial advice.

"Sure, I'll ask Grandpa about investing later. Thanks again, manager!" She told him.

"No problem, you may leave now." He told her with a smile.

Alice exits his office and sees Sugimoto still standing there. She teased him by showing off her check but was instead countered by his head pat. Soon after that, Sugimoto was called and he entered his office. After she waited for him, Sugimoto walked out with a check in his hand.

"Welp I got my money, let's go back home!" Sugimoto told her as he waved his check.

Alice gazed at him, his face lit up by the glowing sunset as he smiled. But suddenly for a glimpse, she saw Sugimoto with a pixelated face as everything around him turned black and white. Everything returns to normal and Sugimoto notices Alice is staring at him.

"Hey kid, you okay?" Sugimoto asked her.

"Oh, nothing." She chuckled slightly.

"I know I'm good looking but don't stare too much." Sugimoto said jokingly to her.

"In your dreams Senpai." Alice laughs.

"Hey since I'm rich, how about I treat you to some Borinos?" Sugimoto offered her.

"Sure thing, I'm going to get the most expensive thing there then." Alice teased him,

"I don't mind, I'm rich!" He chuckled.

As they begin walking down the corridor. Alice ponders about the event that just happened to her and the dream she experienced. She felt shivers in her spine as they continued walking down the dark hallways filled with rays of sunlight.

"Why did his face turn like that, is it because... he's hiding something from me?" Alice pondered as they walked together exiting the building towards the sunset.

They walked out of the main building and the sunset blinds them. Alice's professional racing career has started off with a bang, will she be able to maintain her momentum? Only fate can decide that.