American Football: King of the Bay Area

”Ding! Congratulations on acquiring the Special Skill ’Absolute Step’. Duration: three seconds. Uses: 2/2.”

”Ding! Congratulations on acquiring the Special Skill ’Bullet Time’. Duration: five seconds. Uses: 1/1.”

After the series of dings that followed him opening the Unknown Special Skill Package, Qi’s professional and objective voice rang out once more. Just as he’d hoped, it announced two new Special Skills, and he couldn’t help but rub his hands together in anticipation.

The first Special Skill was ”Absolute Step.” This was a recurring skill, but Lu Ke wasn’t the least bit disappointed; in fact, he was thrilled. Back in the Rookie Training Camp, using Absolute Step had been the key to his excellent performance in the practice game, and it had also laid the foundation for his later tryout with the San Francisco 49ers.

To be honest, Lu Ke’s pocket movement was still a major problem. He had been relentlessly training his footwork, but in a real game, footwork was only the most basic component of pocket mobility. There were many other factors at play.

For instance, he had to multitask, simultaneously searching for passing targets while also anticipating the rush lanes of defensive players. When a defender closed in, physical confrontations like dodging, facing off, blocking, and breaking tackles became crucial. Furthermore, if the Offense Line’s pocket collapsed, his choices under pressure—where to move, who to pass to, how to assess the danger—would all impact his footwork.

It was very difficult for Lu Ke’s pocket mobility to make a fundamental leap in a short period, but the games came week after week, leaving no room to breathe. Now, by obtaining the ”Absolute Step” Special Skill again, he had a trump card. If used at a critical moment, it could absolutely be the key to deciding a game’s outcome.

In today’s game, although Lu Ke had only been sacked once, there were countless instances of hurried throws, vicious tackles, and powerful hits. Sometimes it was due to poor protection from the Offense Line, but other times it was because of his own mistakes in footwork.

After the game, back in the locker room, the first thing Lu Ke did was take an ice bath. With the help of the team doctor and a masseuse, he also received targeted massages for relief. Even so, as the adrenaline from the victory slowly faded, a deep soreness began to seep into his muscles, and he could even feel a dull ache in his bones.

At least, the football experts were right about one thing: Lu Ke was still too light. Forget about tough physical confrontations; his basic ability to protect himself was woefully inadequate.

This showed that ”Absolute Step” would not only be a secret weapon for critical moments, but also a key to his self-preservation.

Clenching his fist, Lu Ke’s gaze then fell upon the second Special Skill.

”Bullet Time.” It was an interesting combination. ”Bullet” represented speed and power, often referring to a pass. ”Time” represented control and mastery, and was closely related to every aspect of the game. Separately, the two words were clear and simple. But put them together, and it was suddenly baffling.

As a journalist, Lu Ke had a knack for divergent thinking. He couldn’t help but let his imagination run wild, and his thoughts grew more and more absurd. By the end, his ideas had nothing to do with ”bullet” or ”time” at all. He started thinking of keywords like ”outer space” and ”black holes”—completely off the mark.

So, Lu Ke gave up on trying to figure it out himself and opened the skill description to read it carefully.

The term ”Bullet Time” is widely used in visual media like commercials, movies, and videos, where it’s also known as ”time-slicing” or ”frozen moment.” It can be simply understood as a slow-motion effect, or even a time-stopping effect.

Later, this technique shot to fame because of the movie series ”The Matrix.” In the movie, the slow-motion scene of the protagonist leaning back to dodge bullets is considered a classic. Thus, the term ”Bullet Time” was born.

The function of this Special Skill was now obvious: to slow down real time by a factor of 1.2!

A 1.2x slowdown! Lu Ke was so stunned his jaw nearly hit the floor. This was an outrageously powerful ability that shattered the laws of reality! It was even more terrifying than Absolute Step!

Imagine a common scene in movies: everyone is frozen still while the protagonist moves through the crowd. When time returns to normal, everyone is walking as usual, but the protagonist appears as a blur streaking past them. For something like that to happen in reality? That would mean ”Harry Potter” and ”X-Men” had become real.

Fortunately, it was a 1.2x slowdown, not a 10x slowdown or a complete time stop. Otherwise, if he ever used it, he’d be seen as non-human. The game probably wouldn’t even be over before Lu Ke was kidnapped by mad scientists for dissection. But even at just a 1.2x factor, the skill was still unbelievable!

Doing the math, if real time slowed by a factor of 1.2 for five seconds, it meant that for every one second that passed in reality, Lu Ke experienced 1.2 seconds. Over five seconds, that totaled six seconds for him, giving him a slight, just a very slight, advantage of 0.2 seconds per second over everyone else. This was acceptable; at least it wouldn’t seem too outrageously shocking.

Zero-point-two seconds. It sounded like nothing, gone in the blink of an eye before you could even utter a syllable. But in a real game, that was the split second that could make all the difference in a critical moment!

Of course, all of this was just Lu Ke’s own speculation. The actual effects would have to be tested in a real game. The only shame was that the Special Skills didn’t have a practice mode. Otherwise, Lu Ke would have tested them out in training before using them in a match. But, he couldn’t be too greedy.

”Absolute Step,” two uses; ”Bullet Time,” one use.

The former was fine. Even when he used the skill, it wouldn’t look out of the ordinary. It could be easily explained away as a sudden adrenaline rush during an offensive drive, causing a spike in his performance. The latter, however, was just too outrageously powerful. A single careless use could shatter the semblance of reality, which was probably why it only had one use.

The first regular season game had only just ended this afternoon, yet Lu Ke was already eagerly plotting how to use these two Special Skills in the next one.

In his debut, Lu Ke had been a surprise weapon, catching his opponents off guard to secure the win. Moreover, the Seattle Seahawks’ offense had struggled to catch up, failing to apply much pressure on the scoreboard. The game wasn’t even as tense as the one against the Trojans. But this was the NFL, a highly professional league. After just one game, Lu Ke would become the subject of everyone’s analysis. Once the element of surprise was gone, he would have to rely on genuine skill and strength.

Winning was great, but a winning streak would be even better.

Constantly improving one’s own strength was the iron law of competitive sports. So, after receiving the Hidden Attributes and two Special Skills, Lu Ke opened two Quarterback Training Skills.

The first Quarterback Training Skill Package was a familiar one. The reward for the second special mission back at the Rookie Training Camp had been the same package—basic training for a quarterback’s footwork. However, the training exercises were slightly different this time.

”Complete the following training:

Cone Weaving: twenty sets, eight round trips per set;

4-Corner Cone Drill: twenty sets, four round trips per set;

Ladder Drills (Lateral and Linear): twenty sets, four round trips per set;

Tackle Bag Impact: twenty sets, twelve reps per set;

Knee-Squeeze Ball Weaving: ten sets, eight round trips per set.

Training Rewards: blocking ability +1, dribbling ability +1, illusionary ability +1.”

Although it was still basic footwork training, this package clearly had a different focus: the ability to handle physical contact and maneuver in tight spaces.

Take the last drill, for example: Knee-Squeeze Ball Weaving. This is an exercise primarily for quarterbacks and running backs.

In this drill, a player squeezes a resistance ball between their knees. The balls come in different sizes to match the player’s build, but the largest is no bigger than a tennis ball. The player must then weave through cones in a small area on the condition that the ball doesn’t fall out. If it does, the rep doesn’t count.

This exercise improves a player’s footwork adjustments, body control, and muscle flexibility. It looks simple, but each session is enough to leave a player drenched in sweat. The whole experience feels like a bear trying to thread a needle.

That’s why the final rewards from the Skill Package were different, focusing on blocking ability, dribbling ability, and illusionary ability.

Clearly, Lu Ke’s footwork was still not up to par, which was why the system prioritized it when creating the training package.

The second Quarterback Training Skill Package, on the other hand... was a bit strange. Lu Ke didn’t quite know how to describe it.

”Complete the following training:

225-pound Bench Press: three sets, fifteen reps per set;

225-pound Weighted Squats: three sets, fifteen reps per set;

225-pound Chest Flys: three sets, twenty-five reps per set;

35-pound Weighted Sit-ups: three sets, fifteen reps per set;

30-pound Weighted Pull-ups: three sets, fifteen reps per set;

35-pound Weighted Plank: three sets, sixty seconds per set;

20-pound Dumbbell Rows: three sets, thirty seconds per set;

High Cable Rows: three sets, thirty seconds per set;

Parallel Bar Dips: three sets, twenty-five reps per set;

112-pound Left-Hand Dumbbell Press: three sets, twenty-five reps per set;

112-pound Right-Hand Dumbbell Press: three sets, twenty-five reps per set.

Training Rewards: Strength +3, Explosiveness +1.”

Just a quick scan of the list made Lu Ke feel his head spin. The number of exercises was staggering, and nearly every single one was a weighted exercise.

The bench press was a standard event at the Rookie Training Camp. The 225-pound bench press was the official, standard weight used to test a player’s strength. However, quarterbacks and Wide Receivers were exempt from this test.

But now, the system’s Quarterback Training Skill Package was brazenly demanding that Lu Ke complete it. The message couldn’t be clearer: ’If this bean sprout doesn’t bulk up, I’m in big trouble.’