American Football: King of the Bay Area

The Special Skill Package. This was a familiar face. Copper Skin Iron Bones had three uses in total, and Absolute Step had one use remaining. If used reasonably, they could be powerful tools for turning a game around.

But the Point Lottery Ticket was brand new. This was the first time he had seen it, and he was completely clueless.

Lu Ke tentatively clicked on the lottery ticket. BANG! BANG BANG! Fireworks instantly bloomed against the azure background of his mind, and then Qi’s professional, cold voice came through. ”Congratulations. You have opened a Point Lottery Ticket and won five basic points and one special point.”

The emotionless voice, combined with the sound of fireworks, created a rather dissonant scene, but Lu Ke was already used to it. Unfazed, his eyes lit up slightly. ’Is this a point lottery ticket? Like a soccer lottery or a welfare lottery ticket?’

”Yes. Opening a Point Lottery Ticket gives you a chance to randomly obtain points,” Qi explained dutifully.

Lu Ke’s face immediately lit up with joy. He had just been pondering his point allocation strategy. As the games progressed, his weaknesses and shortcomings seemed to be increasing, and his need for points was growing. The seven basic points he had earned from game missions in each of the past two weeks were still just a drop in the bucket. Now, a Point Lottery Ticket had appeared and naturally given him more points.

’Is this a reward from the system?’ Lu Ke chuckled. ’Did even you think my growth was too slow? Or maybe my opponents are figuring me out too quickly? Is that why this lottery ticket showed up? The difference in game intensity between the NFL and NCAA is truly night and day.’

After the initial excitement, Lu Ke carefully read the description for the Point Lottery Ticket, and the smile on his face froze, nearly disappearing altogether. ”Qi, is the upper limit for a Point Lottery Ticket twenty points?”

”Yes,” Qi explained dutifully. ”The upper limit is twenty points, and the lower limit is zero. Congratulations, your luck was pretty good today.”

”...” Lu Ke was left speechless, frozen in place. On second thought, it made sense.

From zero to twenty was a very wide range. It could be heaven or it could be hell. At least he hadn’t drawn a pathetic zero, otherwise, it would have been a true case of getting his hopes up for nothing. Although it wasn’t the maximum of twenty, one couldn’t be too greedy.

Everyone knows the principle, but it was hard not to feel a little disappointed. Lu Ke could only sigh deeply and force himself to look away from the lottery ticket’s description.

Within the Point Lottery Ticket, there was a chance to get basic points and special points. The range for basic points was ”0-20,” while the range for special points was ”0-5.” With explosive luck, one ticket could make you rich. But with bad luck, even having a Point Lottery Ticket could leave you with nothing.

Just as Qi said, Lu Ke’s luck today wasn’t top-tier, but at least he had drawn some points, and he’d gotten both special and technical points. ’A person can be ambitious, but not too greedy.’

After composing himself and regaining his calm, Lu Ke began to consider his point allocation plan.

Before diving into serious thought, he added the one special point to the ”Anticipation” option.

Currently, this was the only Hidden Attribute point he had, so there was no need to hesitate. After adding the point, his ”Anticipation” skill reached seventy-eight. For a quarterback, this was an incredibly rare attribute, and its effectiveness would be even greater when paired with Tactical Awareness and Observation Field of View.

Then, Lu Ke settled down and started to weigh his options. He had seven basic points from the game mission, plus five from the Point Lottery Ticket, meaning he now had a total of twelve basic points to allocate.

After the first week’s game, he had chosen to add points to his physical attributes, gradually adapting to the intensity and rhythm of the NFL. This had been vividly demonstrated in today’s game.

After the second week’s game, he had returned to his strengths as a quarterback, continuing to enhance his specialized QB skills, especially the Tactical Awareness component, which became the key to winning today’s game.

So, what about today?

He carefully reviewed today’s game and the special mission, his eyes scanning back and forth over the various skills. Finally, Lu Ke made his choice. He firmly believed that there were no wrong choices, only suitable ones. He had to allocate his points based on his current situation.

First, Lu Ke added five basic points to Tactical Awareness.

This skill, already at seventy-five, was one of Lu Ke’s strengths. Now, it soared to eighty in one go. It became the fourth individual skill Lu Ke had raised to eighty, after Spiritual Quality, Willpower, and Long Pass Accuracy.

Next, Lu Ke chose to add another five basic points to Observation Field of View.

This was also one of Lu Ke’s strengths. It was previously seventy, and now it was seventy-five. His ability to read the defense and find open passing lanes was bound to improve further.

With this, a seventy-five Observation Field of View, an eighty Tactical Awareness, a seventy-eight Anticipation, and an eighty Willpower, Lu Ke’s passing artistry would be further enhanced, perhaps even reaching a whole new level.

As today’s special mission stated, pitting a quarterback’s strengths against the Defense Team’s strengths was the priority. At his core, Lu Ke was still a pocket quarterback. To become a mobile quarterback like Cam Newton, or even a more well-rounded one like Aaron Rodgers, would take much more time. He couldn’t build Rome in a day.

However, Lu Ke didn’t allocate all twelve basic points. He held back two and added them to the Speed category.

Speed, previously at sixty-eight, now reached seventy.

In fact, Lu Ke had weighed his options carefully. He wanted to add points to the four physical attributes—Speed, Acceleration, Burst, and Strength—patching up his weaknesses bit by bit like a tinkerer. While the quarterback’s brain is the core of the team, he also had to ensure he wouldn’t get injured in unexpected situations.

Comparatively, adding to Strength would have been the most direct way to improve his ability to handle physical contact. That category was currently only at sixty-one, his lowest basic stat besides Agility, which was at fifty.

But considering the ”Copper Skin Iron Bones” Special Skill he had just obtained, he now had three uses of enhanced durability for close-quarters confrontations, especially against blindside blitzes. This crisis was temporarily alleviated; it wasn’t a pressing issue, at least not in the short term.

Beyond the blindside, if a defensive player broke through from another direction in an attempt to blitz, it was a crisis Lu Ke could spot with his peripheral vision. Flexible footwork and sufficient speed would create a sliver of hope for him to evade the sack. Moreover, his Running Pass and Ball-Carrying Run skills were both already at seventy, which meant he had a certain ability to escape pressure and create offensive opportunities.

For these reasons, Lu Ke chose to add points to Speed. Of course, part of the reason was also that after adding these two basic points, his Speed reached seventy, a quantitative change leading to a qualitative one. The situation would be different now.

With these skill upgrades complete, Lu Ke’s quarterback abilities and pocket survival skills were further enhanced.

The biggest regret, however, was that his Play-Action Pass and ball protection ability skills still hadn’t been improved.

For now, Lu Ke could only hope that he could anticipate threats early and that his pocket protection would be solid, or that his own two feet would be fast enough to avoid vicious sacks. Adding points to Play-Action Pass and ball protection ability would have to wait for the next opportunity.

After all the trade-offs, the twelve basic points were once again spent. Only then did Lu Ke notice: Mid-range Pass Accuracy!

He had forgotten to add points to Mid-range Pass Accuracy. The skill was still only at sixty-seven. Most of his incomplete passes today had been in the mid-range area. He had been thinking that if he got basic points, he had to raise his Mid-range Pass Accuracy to seventy as soon as possible. Otherwise, relying only on short and long passes would be too limiting for his tactical choices.

But he had actually forgotten!

It was too late now. Looking at his basic points, which had returned to zero, Lu Ke let out a soft breath and convinced himself to take things one step at a time, to eat his meal one bite at a time. He shouldn’t be too hasty. Just like with the daily training missions, if he persisted long enough, the rewards would eventually come.

The team bus swayed and rattled as it arrived at their hotel.

Today’s game had an early morning kickoff. By the time the game ended, it wasn’t even past lunchtime, but after all the time spent in the locker room, it was now well past the mealtime.

Bobby Ingram stood at the door of the bus and announced loudly, ”Alright, everyone head to the buffet for lunch first. You have forty-five minutes. Forty-five minutes to finish your meal. After that, go back to your rooms and pack your luggage. We need to gather in the hotel lobby at 3:30 PM to head to the airport.”

This was the reality of away games. They had to arrive in an unfamiliar city early to prepare, and after the game, they had a long journey home. If given the choice, every team would want to play at home.

”Got it? Forty-five minutes to eat! Pack your bags and meet at 3:30! Don’t be late!” Bobby emphasized again, then stepped aside to let the players get off the bus.

Lu Ke, along with Logan, Marcus, and a few others, followed the players off the bus, laughing and chatting. They were talking about Jay Fox. After graduating from college, they had all gone their separate ways, but to meet again in such a clever way was truly a kind of fate—they were rookie players, Jay was a rookie reporter, and helping each other out seemed like a pretty good arrangement.

”Bambi.” Amidst the boisterous chatter of the players, Bobby’s voice rang out, causing Logan and Marcus to start jeering again, teasing Lu Ke about his ”special treatment.” But as they followed the sound of the voice, they all paused, slightly stunned.

Bobby wasn’t alone. Standing beside him was an elderly man with graying hair, impeccably dressed in a suit, his posture as straight as a pine tree. A warm smile graced his face. ”Pardon me for interrupting your lunch. May we have a talk? If I have the honor, we could have lunch together.”

Lu Ke’s mouth fell slightly open, clearly not having expected this visitor. Then he chuckled in bemusement and nodded lightly. ”No problem.” Turning around, he gave Logan and Marcus a wave and a signal, then started walking toward the old man.