American Football: King of the Bay Area

”...” Silence. Not a single sound echoed in his mind. Lu Ke couldn’t help but quip, ”Hello? Are we sure I’m not playing a single-player game? Do NPCs go offline now?”

”No, it’s not. The yoga you’re practicing is the kind from Earth.” Qi’s voice was as frosty as ever, but having grown accustomed to it, Lu Ke could now discern the subtle shifts in its intonation. Right now, it was a mix of exasperation and resignation. If Qi were a real person, it would probably be rolling its eyes in annoyance. ”No, you will not transform into a Super Saiyan. And lastly, yoga has no direct connection with football, but it does have a direct connection with the quarterback position.”

Qi’s tone then returned to normal as it began its dutiful explanation. ”Yoga can improve your body control, allowing you to tap into more of your physical potential under extreme conditions. It also enhances your muscle flexibility. A quarterback doesn’t need the ability to collide, block, or intercept. What’s more important is the ability to dodge, break through, and feint. Therefore, you should avoid bulky, powerful muscles, keep your body light and agile, and simultaneously increase your ability to take a hit.”

”Finally, yoga can also sharpen your five senses, increasing your feel for and control over the football. Wrist flexibility, body coordination, and balance—these are all crucial for passing accuracy and will be improved.” Qi rattled off the entire explanation, then paused for a moment, awaiting Lu Ke’s response. ”Any more questions?”

Lu Ke was certain that last question was a deliberate jab at him, and he couldn’t help but laugh. ”But, why now?”

”Because you weren’t qualified enough before.” Just when Lu Ke was starting to think Qi had developed a bit of a ”human touch,” it delivered a fatal blow, mercilessly plunging a dagger into his chest. ”Strictly speaking, you still don’t meet the standard. However, yoga is a cumulative process. It takes at least three months of training from the time you start for it to become ingrained in your muscles.”

Three months.

The pieces instantly clicked into place for Lu Ke, and his eyes lit up. ”The Rookie Training Camp!”

For any player, the most convenient and direct path into the Alliance was always the Rookie Training Camp. For draftees and Undrafted Players alike, the Rookie Training Camp was a centralized stage to showcase their talents, and it served as the best platform for teams to make their judgments and assessments.

”So, how should I start training yoga?” This was a realm entirely unknown to Lu Ke, but then it dawned on him. ”The videos!”

Every training mission came with a dedicated video that guided Lu Ke through the system’s tasks with meticulous detail. However, since no new training missions had been added for several months, he had almost forgotten about the omnipotent system.

He pulled up the videos, and a bewildering page of thumbnails appeared before him. A quick scan revealed thirty videos in total.

Lu Ke’s eyes went wide. ”Do I have to do all of these every day?” The pose in the first video alone seemed absurd to him. ’How is such a difficult-looking posture even possible? The other twenty-nine must be completely inconceivable.’

”No, only the first five poses.” Prompted by Qi, Lu Ke then noticed that only the first five video thumbnails were lit up; the other twenty-five were dimmed, indicating they couldn’t be selected yet.

Thirty minutes, five poses. Still difficult, but at least it didn’t seem so outrageous anymore. ”Will more yoga poses be added later? Or is it just these thirty forever?” Lu Ke wondered, but then immediately shook his head. ”Actually, don’t tell me. These first five are already enough of a headache.”

For the time being, Lu Ke put the headache-inducing yoga out of his mind. After finishing his workout, he began to fulfill his duties as a student.

As he’d joked about earlier, the end-of-semester exams were only two weeks away—and that wasn’t a joke, it was reality. The Christmas holiday would begin right after the exams ended, and these tests were crucial for every student, with athletes being no exception.

The United States has strict regulations regarding this. In the professional Alliance, sports are a job. But in the NCAA, that’s not the case. All participants are students first and foremost; sports are merely a secondary pursuit. The NCAA has strict eligibility standards and academic requirements. No matter how immensely talented a player is on the field, they can’t play if their grades don’t meet the standard.

Throughout history, countless student-athletes—football players, basketball players, baseball players, and more—have been forced to sit on the bench and retake exams over and over because their grades didn’t meet NCAA eligibility requirements.

The famous NBA player Dwyane Wade is a prime example. During his college years, his grades didn’t meet the standard, forcing him to sit out his entire freshman season. He then failed the qualifying exam three consecutive times, leaving him in tears of frustration and utterly helpless.

The NCAA always puts academics first, and the reason is simple. Ultimately, only a minority of players make it to the professional leagues after college. The vast majority will pursue other careers and jobs after graduation. Without a solid educational foundation, their future prospects would be severely limited. Prioritizing academics is a way of being responsible for the student-athletes.

For seniors like Lu Ke, these were their final exams before graduation. Afterward, they would have to focus on preparing their graduation theses. Therefore, these exams were directly tied to their diplomas, and no one could afford to take them lightly, not even the star players who had already proven themselves on the NCAA stage.

In the professional football leagues, players must undergo IQ tests and specialized psychological evaluations during the Rookie Training Camp. A player’s college grades are also one of the reference criteria. While academics have nothing to do with athletic talent, they can genuinely affect a player’s draft position, potentially causing a first-round prospect to fall to the second or even third round.

Attending classes diligently, borrowing notes, asking questions, conferring with the teaching assistant... In the blink of an eye, another day of his routine came to an end.

However, today’s routine was a little different from usual—strictly speaking, it was a world of difference. In the hallways, classrooms, and the quad, everyone he passed—literally, *everyone*—greeted Lu Ke in some way, at the very least with a nod and a smile. Even a professor singled him out before class started. ”Lu Ke, great game last night!” he said, prompting all the students in the lecture hall to erupt with whistles and thunderous desk-banging.

The victory from the previous night was affecting the entire campus in all sorts of ways!

After his classes, Lu Ke didn’t head straight home. Instead, he went to a sporting goods store to buy some yoga equipment. Athletes understood the importance of professional gear better than anyone. The principle ”to do a good job, you must first have the right tools” was something they took to heart, especially those who wanted to earn a spot in the professional leagues.

With his brand-new equipment in hand, Lu Ke jogged back to his apartment. By the time he arrived, his warm-up was complete. After a quick cooldown and stretch, he was ready to begin his exploration of yoga.

First, he laid out a yoga mat in the living room, then summoned the system and clicked on the first video. It wasn’t that he was impatient to start training—his daily training quota was already complete and the timer would reset tomorrow, so any practice today wouldn’t count. He was starting today for two reasons: one, the team didn’t have official practice, so he was home early; and two, he wanted to familiarize himself with the yoga poses in preparation for tomorrow’s official training.

The first video began to play, and Lu Ke carefully observed the movements of the 3D projection on the screen.

The pose didn’t look complex, even appearing somewhat simple. It involved standing on the right foot, using the left hand to pull the left foot up and back until the legs formed a standing split, then extending the right arm forward to stretch the body out, with one’s entire weight supported only by the right leg. And yet, this seemingly straightforward pose was incredibly difficult.

Visually, it looked like an impossible pose. Lu Ke felt his brain short-circuiting; he couldn’t even fathom how the required muscle engagement and balance were maintained. However, once the video began to play, some text appeared beside it. Reading it carefully, he discovered it was a detailed explanation of the pose and a list of key points to keep in mind.

The pose was called the Standing Bow-Pulling Pose. It placed stringent demands on the muscles of the arms, hips, glutes, calves, and back. Furthermore, it helped improve the body’s flexibility and coordination, promoted blood circulation, and enhanced cardiopulmonary function. More importantly, it was a pose that required an immense amount of concentration and was beneficial for developing abilities like patience and determination.

After reading the description, Lu Ke began to try and follow the movements in the video.

The pose looked difficult enough, but executing it was even harder. Lu Ke had a vague sense that this was somehow different from real-life yoga, but since he had never formally practiced it, he had no way of telling what the differences were. To be more precise, he found it incredibly strenuous just to complete the first pose.

Every time he managed to hoist himself into position, his center of gravity would start to waver. He’d begin to shake violently before he even had a chance to extend forward. Sometimes he’d lose his balance and stumble away before he could even let go of his left leg. Other times, the moment his left hand released, his entire center of gravity would shift backward and he’d collapse onto the floor. Or he would just pitch forward, every muscle in his body screaming in protest.

After many consecutive attempts, Lu Ke finally managed to hold his balance for a moment. But the system still indicated that his form was incorrect.

’How is that possible?’ Lu Ke felt he had met the standard. ’Did I not hold the pose for three seconds? Or is it three minutes?’ He studied it again, only to realize the issue wasn’t the duration, but his form—his center of gravity had started to waver again. Forget three minutes, holding it for even three seconds was a struggle.

This was, it seemed, a pretty terrible start.