Voice

A **【voice】** (【声】; koi), almost always written with square brackets, is a term used in *Racing Lagoon*, referring to a mysterious and horrifying voice that haunts several street racers through the game.

## Synopsis

### Drivers

> *"Diablo. The user whites out at the breaking point of extreme mental stress. They then begin hearing a voice that hijacks all emotion, suppressing fear in particular. The user becomes desperate to feel fear, as if they long for their lost humanity."*
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The【voice】is a psychological side effect caused by using and abusing Diablo drug. While the drug allows the user to suppress fear, the brain was overwhelmed by other emotions in a desperate attempt to recover its functionality. A Diablo user will start seeing strange visions and hearing voices that that encourage them to drive faster. The voice will continue haunting a driver so long as the drug has a lingering effect on the user's mind.

Kyoji Nanba firstly mentioned the voice to Sho Akasaki while he fell into a zombie-like state, having abused Diablo to withstand the power of his Diablo-tuned SEVEN, After Nanba's death, Akasaki found out the increasing numbers of people aside himself who also started hearing voices. The most notable was Ikki Fujisawa, who was severely traumatized by the voice, going so far as challenging Akasaki on a duel as a way to be freed from it. Despite this, Fujisawa's continued association with WON-TEC meant he continued to use Diablo, and he was only truly freed from his torment after Akasaki permanently destroys WON-TEC and the D-Project.

Several other Drivers such as Makoto Sawaki and Shinsuke Ishikawa did hear voices, but weren't bothered by them as much. Akira Tsujimoto never heard a voice in his head, for he never took Diablo and admitted he didn't think to himself very much while driving.

### Sho Akasaki's【voice】

Sho Akasaki has suffered from very similar symptoms as Diablo users and was tricked by several people into believing that he's a Driver. However, the voice he manifested actually came from a different source. Unlike the people who took the drug, Akasaki's voice was actually the manifestation of his past self, the true "Yokohama's Fastest Legend". The entity; however, was distorted and corrupted by the intense hatred and anger he felt during the accident 10 years ago, which were overwhelming and redefining the young man when he was put placed into D-Sleep.

Unlike typical voices that try to manipulate and psychologically attack its victim, Akasaki's voice openly antagonizes him, claiming to be the ones who's killed his friends and refusing to answer any questions thrown at him. As the voice becomes stronger, he actively tries to tries to take over Akasaki's body to boast its driving skills and to fulfill its vengeance against WON-TEC. Despite its arrogant outlook, the voice is as clueless as Akasaki about the D-Project and tries to under the truth behind the WON-TEC and the chains of event that led it to be imprisoned for over ten years. As the voice slowly recovers its memory and WON-TEC conspiracy is discovered, the voice gradually warms up to Akasaki. Ultimately, the voice agrees to coexist with Akasaki, saying that it may take over if he feels bored with his life.

In the gameplay, Akasaki can hear the voice as early as the 1st Night. If the player visits the Ancient Bay, the voice will update Akasaki's racing title based on the numbers of UnOfficial Races he has completed.