American Football: King of the Bay Area

An extra reward.

This was a complete and utter surprise. It seemed that even by the system’s standards, a 49-3 scoreline was considered a resounding victory. However, Lu Ke didn’t think this was the reason he had exceeded the mission’s requirements; a score like that merely met the conditions of the special mission.

”Gathering the Heart of Candlestick Park” clearly couldn’t be accomplished with a simple victory. As Lu Ke understood it, he needed to unite the entire team and the entire stadium, truly awakening the fighting spirit of the San Francisco 49ers and the passion of Candlestick Park.

First, there were the seven touchdowns. Amidst the cheers of the home crowd, the fans kept demanding ”one more,” and so, Lu Ke delivered the football into the end zone again and again. The fourth quarter was essentially garbage time, but the San Francisco 49ers still managed another Touchdown, truly satisfying the fans’ desires and letting them leave the stadium content.

That vast, surging sea of red was the best proof.

Second was how the seven touchdowns were achieved. The five passing touchdowns were caught by five different receivers. There were also two rushing touchdowns. Today, besides Marcus Lynch, Kendall Hunter and Anthony Dixon also got playing time. Although they didn’t score a Touchdown, they still put up impressive rushing stats.

Combined with the outstanding performances of the special teams and the Defense Team, the entire team, from top to bottom, had entered an all-out sprint mode.

It was, you could say, a complete victory. It was also a victory that united all the players and roused all the fans. Especially after a loss, the weight and significance of this win were even more extraordinary. At least, that was how Lu Ke understood the game he had just played.

And now, it was time to reap the rewards.

”DING! Congratulations on acquiring Special Skill: Offense Team Amplification Aura. Duration: five minutes. Uses: 1/1.”

’An Amplification Aura?’ Lu Ke’s first thought was of the penalty for failing the special mission.

If the special mission had failed, the entire team’s condition would have been negatively affected. Strictly speaking, it could be understood as Lu Ke single-handedly dragging down the whole team. One bad apple spoils the bunch. Fortunately, he had succeeded, avoiding such a consequence.

’Now that I’ve succeeded, the reward is an Amplification Aura. If it’s the opposite of the failure penalty, does that mean I can single-handedly boost the entire team’s performance, like a Mage’s spell in a video game?’

Suppressing his surging excitement, he calmed down and began to carefully read the skill’s description.

The so-called Amplification Aura could be simply understood as a morale boost that, in turn, enhanced performance.

In the last three regular-season games, Lu Ke had experienced it firsthand. The pocket collapsed again and again, the quarterback took heavy hits, and the Offense Line was in terrible shape. If Lu Ke had gotten discouraged or ignored it, the whole team would have fallen apart, unable to escape their slump. So, Lu Ke had temporarily set aside his anger and frustration, focused on cheering on his team, and gradually found his own offensive rhythm.

It was the same in any team sport. In times of crisis, they needed a player to bravely step up, break through the pressure and the gridlock, and seize the initiative to win. That player would then lead the entire team to regroup and press forward.

Unconsciously, the words of Jonathan Baldwin surfaced in Lu Ke’s mind.

Just last week, when the team returned from Philadelphia, the fans had welcomed them at the airport with a grand ceremony. It was there that Jonathan told Lu Ke, ”I’ve always believed that a truly great leader isn’t measured by how much they can do or how high they can reach, but by how much better they can make the people around them, inspiring them to unleash an energy they couldn’t on their own.”

After today’s game, Lu Ke was faintly beginning to understand what those words meant.

To be honest, Lu Ke was not a leader. Not in high school, and certainly not in college. He wasn’t one in the NFL, either.

Although he was a quarterback, the natural leader on a football field, his primary mission had always been to fight for his own spot in the competitive arena. Leading the team into battle and galvanizing their spirit—that wasn’t his job.

Throughout his athletic career, his top priority had always been to improve himself, enrich himself, and strengthen himself. He didn’t have the ability to secure his own position, let alone lead others. He needed to grow first. That was why Lu Ke had never been a leader.

But after the baptism by fire of five regular-season weeks, Lu Ke’s growth had been nothing short of astonishing.

He realized, as never before, that this was a team sport—one with a delicate division of labor and clearly defined positions. It was like a precision instrument from Germany or a Swiss watch; only when every single part fit together perfectly could it function as a whole.

In soccer or basketball, it’s not common, but not exactly rare, for a single player to have a heaven-defying explosion of skill and dominate the outcome of a game. In football, however, that’s almost impossible. Even trying to win by relying solely on the Defense Team or the offense is incredibly difficult.

They were a single unit. Including the special teams, everyone was part of one complete whole.

As a quarterback, Lu Ke couldn’t just focus on his own growth and improvement; he also needed to progress and work hard alongside his teammates. Last week, Mike Lupati and Anthony Davis had joined the rookie players’ playbook study group, and the results were clearly gratifying, as demonstrated perfectly in today’s game.

Lu Ke understood that he needed to become a leader. The kind of leader Jonathan had described.

It wouldn’t be easy. For Lu Ke, he had no clue where to even start. He only knew one thing: work hard, work harder, and work even harder. Do his job well, and then try his best to lead the offense forward. Beyond that, the question of how to become a leader was a long and arduous subject to tackle.

But the Offense Team Amplification Aura was a start.

”Increases the performance of all members of the Offense Team by ten percent. Duration: five minutes.” This was the effect of the Amplification Aura.

Ten percent. Lu Ke had no way of gauging the exact effect, because he didn’t know the team’s base strength, so the percentage couldn’t be quantified. But based on his previous Special Skills, he could be sure that while it wasn’t a game-breaking, fate-defying ability, it was definitely a practical boost.

Also, five minutes wasn’t long, but it wasn’t short either.

When the offense was rolling smoothly, they might complete three drives in five minutes. For example, if the opposing quarterback threw an interception, it would mean the 49ers’ offense could take the field twice within that five-minute window. But when the offense stalled, a single drive could last six or seven minutes and still end without a Touchdown, settling for just a field goal.

So, in the end, he still had to stay grounded and pour everything into the game to truly maximize the effect of the Special Skill.

So far, among all of Lu Ke’s Special Skills—Absolute Step, Bullet Time, and Copper Skin Iron Bones—all were simple and efficient, and had indeed played a decisive role in the games. But those skills only affected Lu Ke himself. This new amplification skill, however, could boost the entire offense, which was incredibly significant.

The ”Gathering the Heart of Candlestick Park” special mission, from its content and requirements to its rewards, reflected the collective nature of football in every aspect. It also made Lu Ke realize that perhaps the locker room really did need to unite, to truly set aside the conflicts of interest between veteran and rookie players, and to stand shoulder to shoulder for victory.

The ”special” part of the special mission wasn’t just reflected in the first Special Skill, but also in the second reward: a training package. And surprisingly, it was a training package for the playbook.

Unheard of.

This was the first time Lu Ke had ever seen a training package related to the playbook, which was crucial for a quarterback. Moreover, its contents were vastly different from any previous training package.

The description of the training package was very simple: ”After using the Quarterback Training Package, efficiency in watching game film, analyzing game film, and studying the playbook is increased by two hundred percent. Duration: ninety minutes.”

There were no specific training drills or detailed instructional guides. It was less a training package and more another form of Special Skill. However, this skill wasn’t for use on the field, but during training. At the same time, the package gave no clear indication of how the training results would manifest—

Previously, after completing training, he might have seen a direct increase of, say, three base points in his strength attribute. But this time, it was an efficiency boost. Without a baseline metric to reference, it couldn’t really be quantified.

However, another idea surfaced in Lu Ke’s mind.

For a quarterback, watching game film and studying the playbook were incredibly important parts of daily training, something to be done almost every day, including the Monday rest day. The same was true for the other players on the team. Although their analytical perspectives differed, the process of watching game film was the same.

During the team’s regular training, the offense, Defense Team, and special teams would watch game film separately to analyze it from their own perspectives. They would also gather to watch film as a group, analyzing plays and their execution from the perspective of the team as a whole.

’So, when I use this Quarterback Training Package, can I bring my teammates along? Furthermore, will the amplification effect also apply to them?’

”Qi, are there any restrictions on who can use this training package?”