American Football: King of the Bay Area

Gasping for breath, the turbulent physical reaction slowly subsided. Lu Ke finally gathered his thoughts and began to meticulously and repeatedly examine the changes. ’What exactly happened after I stacked those attributes?’

Physical Fitness: 70

Spiritual Quality: 83

These two overall stats had finally clawed their way out of the bottom tier, reaching the Alliance’s minimum standard. ’But what about the individual sub-stats? Have they changed at all?’

Tactical Awareness: 70

Willpower: 80

Speed: 68

Strength: 58

Acceleration: 63

Explosiveness: 69

Agility: 71

Jumping: 50

This string of stats seemed rather ambiguous; it was hard to tell if there had been any changes. Lu Ke had to carefully recall the relevant stats from when his Physical Fitness was still at 64. In the end, Lu Ke was able to confirm that three base attributes had changed:

First, Speed increased by one base point, from 67 to 68.

Second, Jumping increased by one base point, from 49 to 50.

Third, Strength increased by one base point, from 57 to 58. Of course, this included the eight base points Lu Ke had proactively stacked earlier. His original Strength of only 49 was now just one step away from the passing mark.

Over the past year, Lu Ke’s initial Physical Fitness stat had been 61. Now, it had grown to 70, truly making the qualitative leap. And yet, his individual base attributes had only increased by a total of three points—one each for Speed, Jumping, and Strength. It wasn’t the across-the-board improvement he had imagined.

In other words, his Physical Fitness had improved by nine points—infinitely close, but not quite ten—and the individual sub-stats had correspondingly seen minor changes. This meant there was a connection between them, but not a direct correlation. It was the same principle as when Lu Ke added points to Strength, but his throwing power never changed.

One could understand it this way: Physical Fitness was an option that represented an overall balance, indicating the body’s comprehensive and average level, but it didn’t mean every individual sub-stat could be top-tier. Conversely, a specific sub-stat could be world-class, but that didn’t mean one’s overall Physical Fitness was equally outstanding.

Take Usain Bolt, for example. He’s the king of sprinting, unbeatable in the 100-meter and 200-meter events. His sub-stats for acceleration, explosiveness, and speed might be incredibly outstanding, even maxed out, but that doesn’t mean his other sub-stats are as excellent, nor does it mean his overall Physical Fitness would be a perfect score.

This also meant Lu Ke’s plan for a shortcut was up in smoke.

He had originally planned to stack his Physical Fitness all the way to a perfect 100 in one go, assuming all the sub-stats would rise with the tide. But now it seemed that even if his Physical Fitness reached a perfect score, it would only mean the minimum level for each sub-stat might reach 70 or 75. For a normal person, that was certainly robust, but in the world of competitive sports, it was nowhere near enough to dominate.

’Looks like I should give up on finding loopholes. Hard, honest training is the only true path forward.’

Fifteen base points, gone in what felt like a single breath. Lu Ke secretly clenched his fists. ’I have to go all out in the next game, I absolutely cannot let even the slightest chance of victory slip by! Base points... I need more base points!’

But even getting more base points could wait until tomorrow.

For the past ten days, the entire team, including Lu Ke, had been a united front, charging madly toward a single goal. Now, after today’s victory, they could finally breathe a small sigh of relief. As his mind relaxed, a wave of exhaustion washed over him—or perhaps it was the aftereffects of dumping all those points into his Physical Fitness. Whatever the case, that night, Lu Ke’s sleep was peaceful, deep, and sweet.

He slept soundly until dawn. When he opened his eyes and glanced at his bedside clock, it was five o’clock. Five in the morning.

The day after a game was the players’ official day off—a complete holiday. This was standard practice for every team in the Alliance. Players could sleep in, relax, meet up with friends, go on dates, and generally have a private life. It was a way to maintain balance during the tense season, allowing them to better focus on the next game.

But Lu Ke still woke up at five in the morning, just like every other day for the past year. His biological clock, it seemed, was set in stone and couldn’t be adjusted.

He lay in his warm bed, hesitating for thirty seconds before getting up anyway. It wasn’t just his biological clock; his entire circulatory system and muscle memory had adapted to this rhythm. Besides, his current abilities were far from a level where he could afford to relax. The daily training missions were still a crucial part of his routine. Every little bit helped, after all.

After getting up and washing his face, Lu Ke was about to start his daily training when, just before heading out, he suddenly remembered: yesterday was game day, and he hadn’t completed his training! This meant his year-long perfect attendance streak for daily training was broken!

What was even more surprising than breaking the streak was that the thought of training hadn’t crossed his mind at all yesterday. From the moment he woke up until the game ended, every minute and every second had been crammed with activity. He had been wound so tight, so tense, that there wasn’t even a moment to catch his breath. Training had simply become unimportant.

Until now.

His perfect attendance for daily training had been broken, just like that, without a sound. He suddenly felt a wave of emptiness. ’Does this mean I don’t have to train today?’

After half a second of thought, Lu Ke summoned the system in his mind. His gaze fell upon the daily training tasks, and he discovered a pleasant surprise: the mission had changed again!

The first and most obvious change was the mission’s time limit. It used to be ”14 consecutive days,” but now it had changed to ”two consecutive weeks.” The same duration, but expressed differently.

The difference was that ”14 consecutive days” meant continuous training without any breaks or rest, which was why Lu Ke had maintained his perfect attendance for over a year. ”Two consecutive weeks,” however, was different. Within each training cycle, there was a two-day gap for game days. In other words, he could now legitimately skip daily training on game days!

Since game days weren’t fixed—they could be on a Thursday, Sunday, or Monday—each week’s game schedule was different, and thus the training plan had to be as well. So, the system had adjusted accordingly.

So, the previous mission progress tracker was ”0/14,” whereas the new one was ”(0/12 + 0/2).” The former represented daily training, the latter, game days. This meant the system was now taking the regular season into account, moving one step closer on the path to creating a Rugby Superstar.

The second change was the arrangement of the training missions. Previously, the content of the daily training was the same every day, repeating the same routine day in and day out. Now, however, the tasks were different each day.

It made corresponding adjustments based on the Alliance’s game schedule. Monday and Tuesday were rest days and recovery days, so the training missions focused on cardio and yoga. Wednesday was for recovery training, and Thursday was for game preparation, so the training missions changed to match the schedule.

Simply put, it was more logical and scientific. The system would create different combinations of existing exercises based on Lu Ke’s physical condition and the progression of the regular season, then formulate the most suitable training plan to help Lu Ke adapt to the pace and intensity of the games as quickly as possible.

Third, while there were still 40 training items, their specific content had changed.

A quick browse revealed that the quarterback passing skills training had been reduced by ten items, replaced by ten new strength training exercises. He didn’t need a list; they were the exact same ten items from yesterday’s Quarterback Training Skill Package!

The Quarterback Training Skill Package he opened yesterday actually contained eleven exercises, but the last two were separate dumbbell exercises for the left and right hands. Now that they were part of the daily training, those two tasks had been merged into one. At the same time, the training requirements had been lowered. Most exercises now only required two sets, and the number of repetitions per set was reduced by thirty percent.

Clearly, unlike the one-off Skill Package, the system had made adjustments and arrangements based on Lu Ke’s personal abilities and innate talent. The goal was to gradually improve Lu Ke’s durability through daily accumulation.

Lu Ke believed that as long as he could persevere with his daily training, just as he had for the past year, his various physical sub-stats would naturally see greater improvement, beyond just the bonus from base points. After all, the focus of his real-world training had already shifted.

But the problem was...

”Qi, you can’t be serious? Strength training?” Lu Ke couldn’t help but let out a wail.

Strength training and muscle building were undoubtedly the most arduous, difficult, and painful parts of any training regimen. At least, that’s how it was for Lu Ke. Over the past year, he had never actually given up on strength training and had invested a great deal of energy into it, but the process and the results had always been a source of frustration.

Subconsciously, Lu Ke couldn’t help but feel an aversion to it. By comparison, a 10,000-meter interval run or the quarterback passing drills felt like a luxury.

Last night, when Lu Ke saw the Quarterback Training Skill Package, he’d sucked in a sharp breath. After the initial shock, however, he was at least thankful that it was just a one-time Skill Package that wouldn’t require long-term commitment. And now, today, his nightmare had come true.

These strength exercises were more comprehensive and, at the same time, more intense.

The weighted portions alone were pushing Lu Ke’s personal limits—and ’limits’ was meant in the most literal sense. The system had perfectly gauged his current abilities and was steadily challenging the absolute maximum he could endure.

What’s more, he had to keep this up day after day.

Evidently, Lu Ke’s wail received no response. He had to take a deep breath and ask again, confirming his suspicion, ”Qi, this isn’t all of it, is it? In the future, the strength training will adjust based on my progress and keep challenging my limits, won’t it?”

After a year together, Lu Ke knew the system well enough.

”Only by challenging your limits can you break the shackles of your barriers.” Qi’s reply was formal and bookish, sounding like a philosophical declaration, but it was impossible to refute.

Lu Ke took a deep breath and let it out slowly. ”I guess this is the path I have to take to grow from a mediocre practice player into an elite quarterback. I need to pick up the pace, or I’m going to fall behind.”

This time, Lu Ke didn’t hesitate. He opened the door, stepped out, and began his daily training.