American Football: King of the Bay Area

When Lu Ke returned to the locker room, the players were all celebrating, heckling, and roughhousing. The entire space was a chaotic, joyous scene. The celebratory mood felt less like a team of professional adults and more like a bunch of college kids who had never grown up, playing foolish and childish pranks.

In the showers, two pillars of the Defense Team, Justin Smith and Reggie Smith—Justin having joined the league in 2001 and now thirty-three years old—were engaged in a childishly gleeful ”shampoo game.”

The so-called ”shampoo game” was simple: when a player was standing under the showerhead rinsing out their shampoo, you would sneak up behind them, grab the shampoo bottle, and keep pouring it on their head. As a result, no matter how much they rinsed, they couldn’t get clean. Foam just kept coming out, trapping them in an endless cycle.

Such a childish prank was a common trick veteran players used to haze rookies, though it was more popular on college teams and rarely seen among professional ones. Today, the two Smiths teamed up to prank the honest and unassuming Colin Jones. By the time Jones realized what was happening, the two were laughing their heads off, streaking wildly through the locker room.

They really hadn’t grown up.

The 49-3 score told the whole story. For the offense, seven touchdowns demonstrated their absolute firepower. For the special teams, punts, extra points, and kickoffs were all consistently solid. For the Defense Team, they had given up just a single field goal. It was no exaggeration to say this was an all-around victory, and the entire San Francisco 49ers organization was ecstatic.

Such a complete, massive, and crushing victory had been a long time coming for the San Francisco 49ers.

The last time the team had won by such a large margin was way back in 2003. In that season opener, they defeated the visiting Chicago Bears at home with a final score of 49-7.

It was worth noting that the quarterback who led the team to victory in that game was also an undrafted rookie: Jeff Garcia. After going undrafted in 1994, he went to play five seasons of Canadian football before coming to the San Francisco 49ers and becoming their starting quarterback. Now forty-two, Jeff was still active in the league, serving as a backup quarterback for the Houston Texans.

Now, seven years later, the San Francisco 49ers had once again claimed a resounding victory at Candlestick Park, and they once again had an undrafted quarterback. However, all the players and coaches who had achieved that victory years ago had since left the San Francisco 49ers. This was now a brand-new team, a team on the rise.

And so, every player was celebrating with wild abandon, their arms wide open to embrace this perfect moment.

In fact, it wasn’t just the players. The team staff, the coaches—everyone was reveling in the moment. For today, at least, they didn’t have to think about the next game or the possibility of the playoffs. They could let it all go and simply be happy.

The entire locker room was like an erupting volcano. Even the coaches who dared to enter weren’t spared; they were met with a fierce barrage of jerseys and had to beat a hasty retreat. The party was in full swing.

The sudden quiet of the private massage room was jarring, and Lu Ke found it hard to adjust. Under the hands of the team’s dedicated massage therapist, Lucas Berger, Lu Ke gradually began to relax, his muscles unwinding. Even though today’s game hadn’t involved any particularly intense collisions, as the regular season wore on, rest and recovery became increasingly important.

As the chaotic noise in his head finally subsided, Lu Ke took the opportunity to summon the system. Before he could even react, a series of chimes—DING! DING! DING!—erupted like a symphonic sonata. The furious, torrential sound reverberated deep within his mind.

On reflex, Lu Ke rubbed his ears, feeling as if he could still sense the echoes vibrating against his eardrums.

”What’s wrong?” Lucas asked, noticing Lu Ke’s strange movement. ”Is the pressure too much? Or is there a muscle group that’s not feeling right?”

”No, it’s not that.” Lu Ke waved a hand, then realized how absurd the gesture must have looked—the room was perfectly, utterly silent. ”It’s just… I’m not used to the quiet yet. It was so loud out there, it felt like my eardrums were still vibrating. And now it’s suddenly silent.” Thinking quickly, Lu Ke managed to come up with a plausible excuse.

Lucas didn’t seem suspicious and just chuckled. ”It really was a beautiful win today. The whole of Candlestick Park was something else. The magic of competitive sports is enough to make anyone go wild. If we could, we’d look forward to a celebration like this every week.”

”Believe me, every team in the league is thinking the same thing,” Lu Ke said with a lighthearted joke, drawing a smile from Lucas.

The room fell silent once more. Lucas focused on his work, and Lu Ke closed his eyes, ready to check his earnings from the game.

Ever since he’d gotten the Rugby Superstar System, this had been Lu Ke’s most decisive and satisfying victory, which meant the point rewards had absolutely exploded. That explained the rousing, powerful music when he opened the system. Involuntarily, his anticipation began to build.

First, the completion status of the match objectives.

He had earned five base points for completing five passing touchdowns; one base point for attempting at least thirty-five passes; one base point for passing for at least two hundred yards; one base point for rushing for at least five yards; and three base points for winning the game.

All told, he had earned a total of eleven base points. Aside from the very first game of his career, this was the most base points he had ever received from a single match. It proved that victory was always the best way to earn points. Beyond the elation of the win, the bountiful rewards made it all the sweeter.

Next was the status of the Special Quest.

This Special Quest hadn’t appeared during the game but was assigned before it even started. But that wasn’t the most unusual part; the most unusual part was the objective itself.

”Quest Objective: Achieve a resounding and decisive victory.” That was it. There were no further details, no specific parameters. It was like a hidden quest—even if he wanted to complete it, he had no clear target to aim for.

’A two-touchdown margin? A ten-point margin? Or did it require a lead of three or four touchdowns? Or maybe I had to dominate the opponent’s Defense Team statistically? Or were there other, more specific requirements?’

’And what about the quest’s name: ”Gathering the Heart of Candlestick Park”? How was I supposed to ”gather” a heart? Did it mean unity within the San Francisco 49ers Team? Or unity between the fans and the team? Or was just the offense’s unity enough?’

Without detailed instructions, he had no benchmark for what to do or how hard he needed to push. That was why, even when the game entered garbage time, Lu Ke hadn’t let his guard down for a second. He played at high intensity from start to finish, desperate to complete this Special Quest.

In truth, the rewards for this Special Quest were rather underwhelming: just one Unknown Special Skill Package and one Unknown Quarterback Training Package. It wasn’t creative, nor was it generous in quantity—in fact, it was even more modest than the reward from his very first Special Quest. But Lu Ke was convinced that this quest hadn’t been assigned for no reason; it had to be significant.

Give his all, fight with every ounce of his being, and battle to the very end—this was Lu Ke’s unwavering creed.

Even if the Special Quest’s rewards ended up being unsatisfying, he knew that the game’s progress and outcome would surely bring other benefits outside of the system. The Gatorade Bath, for instance, was another sign that the team’s atmosphere was slowly changing.

Besides, the penalty for failing the quest was something Lu Ke had been desperate to avoid: in the sixth week of the regular season, the entire team’s performance level would drop by twenty percent, and for the week after, training effectiveness would decrease by ten percent.

For a young team like the San Francisco 49ers, who lacked overwhelming talent, every game in the fiercely competitive NFL had to be fought for with everything they had. The slightest mistake could lead to a loss, or even a total collapse—just like what happened to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers today. If he failed this Special Quest, his failure would drag down the entire team.

This was the first time the system had ever shown the ability to affect the entire team, which was a major reason why Lu Ke felt he absolutely had to complete the quest.

Now that the game was over, the moment of truth had arrived. Five passing touchdowns and two rushing touchdowns, a 49-3 final score—was a victory like this enough to meet the special quest’s requirements?

He opened the unread notification and read it carefully. He then realized that he hadn’t just completed the Special Quest—he had overachieved. The notification contained not only the quest reward but a bonus reward as well.

He had earned a bonus reward once before, for his outstanding performance during his second Special Quest back at Rookie Training Camp. This was the second time.

”Congratulations on completing the Special Quest, Gathering the Heart of Candlestick Park. Quest rewards are as follows: Unknown Special Skill Package +1, Unknown Quarterback Training Package +1.”

”Congratulations on exceeding the requirements of the Special Quest. Bonus reward is as follows: Unknown Bonus Reward Package.”

Suspense. The system had actually left him in suspense. It felt just like opening presents on Christmas morning. Three large gift boxes were laid out before him, waiting to be unwrapped. That feeling—a mixture of anticipation and nervousness—was incredible. Unable to wait any longer, Lu Ke opened all three packages one by one to reap his rewards.

Amidst a cascade of reward notifications, Lu Ke’s eyes flew open—not just in his mind’s eye, but in reality as well. They truly lit up.