The journey from the East Coast of the North Arican continent, Philadelphia, to the West Coast, San Francisco, was a long and arduous one, a full six hours of flying. At the sa ti, they had to turn back the clock by three hours, as if they were traveling from one world to another.
When they left Philadelphia, night had already fallen. The lights of the city supported the dark blue sky, and a hazy glow at the horizon slowly outlined the warmth of the city. But they were chasing the sun, and the lazy orange sunset filled the sky, soft and magnificent, like a paintbrush that, with a few strokes, depicted the vastness and grandeur of the universe, making people want to get lost in it.
After a day of ups and downs, most of the San Francisco 49ers players felt tired. They put on their earphones and eye masks and fell into a deep sleep. Only the reading lights of the coaching staff were still on, as they were busy summarizing the ga.
All the noise, all the passion, all the regrets, and all the thoughts that had been swirling in their minds all day finally settled down, slowly returning to a state of calm.
Earlier, while getting massages and ice baths in the locker room, Lu Ke hadn't opened the system to check the mission completion because he knew that today's ga mission had failed.
This was the first ti since getting the Superstar Football Player System that he had truly failed a mission. The previous interruptions to the daily training missions were just small accidents and couldn't be considered failures, but today's failure had no excuse. Although he had long anticipated that this day would eventually co, now that it had, Lu Ke still needed so ti to process it.
Now, with everything completely quiet, Lu Ke opened the system to review the gains and losses of the day.
"Ding, ding-ding," the familiar ssage sound rang in his mind. But whether it was just Lu Ke's imagination or not, the ssage tone today didn't sound as lively and cheerful as it had for the past three weeks.
Before officially reading the unread ssages, Lu Ke had a question he needed to verify with Little Seven. "Little Seven, there were no special missions this week. Does that an the system has determined that I've fully utilized my current abilities and there's nothing specific that needs attention or improvent, so the outco was a pure reflection of my current level?"
He lost because of a field goal, lacking a little bit of luck at the crucial mont.
"Based on the course of today's ga, the performance of both teams' players was within the normal range. There were no special missions, no special instructions," Little Seven didn't directly answer Lu Ke's question, but after thinking about it, his words could be interpreted as Lu Ke's understanding being basically correct.
The appearance of special missions had a certain pattern, but it wasn't absolute. Sotis, Richard Sherman's taunts would also create a special mission, but at other tis, like today's ga, which had many twists and turns, there was no special mission.
But from another perspective, if today's ga mission had been adjusted and upgraded, did it an that future special missions would also be adjusted and upgraded accordingly? Perhaps the difficulty of completion would be higher, the goals more specific, or the trigger conditions more stringent. All of this was possible.
Clearly, there were many unknown areas of the system that Lu Ke had yet to explore. But ultimately, Lu Ke still needed to constantly improve his skills. This was the most important key to victory.
This ti, Lu Ke didn't hesitate or delay. He went straight to his inbox and started reading the unread ssages.
The completion status of today's ga mission had changed for the first ti.
Touchdowns completed: three, base points plus three. Pass completion rate of at least 60%: completed, base points plus one. Controlled turnovers, interceptions and fumbles equal to or less than two: completed, base points plus one. Controlled the rhythm of the ga: completed, base points plus one. Won the ga: not completed.
In total, he had earned six base points. Although he lost the ga, all the other mission objectives were completed. Lu Ke was initially worried that if the victory mission wasn't completed, all the other missions would also be voided. Fortunately, that didn't happen.
Since there were no special missions, the inbox should have been cleared after he checked the ga mission. But Lu Ke noticed that there was still a red dot on the inbox, indicating that there were unread ssages. He told the system to scroll down, and sure enough, he saw a few more unread ssages.
"Congratulations on completing the hidden mission: 'The Locker Room Integration Series'."
A hidden mission? In addition to the daily, ga, and special missions, there was now a hidden mission?
Lu Ke's mind was full of questions, but after having the system for over a year, he wasn't overly surprised. After a mont of surprise, he cald down and began to read the mission description.
"Hidden Mission: Locker Room Integration, Level 1.
Mission Description: Joined the team as an undrafted rookie, still an outsider, unable to fully integrate. Just a placeholder player, a tool for the team, unable to control or be a part of the ga.
Mission Objective: Integrate into the locker room and earn the genuine approval of your teammates.
Mission Reward: Initial offline video-watching feature, with regular summaries.
Failure Penalty: None. This is a passive-trigger mission."
All the content was clearly laid out, with only one question. "Little Seven, it says here that the hidden mission is passively triggered. Does that an if it's not triggered, it won't appear? But if it doesn't appear, how can I complete it?"
"Then the mission completion will be affected. Hidden missions are passively triggered based on the host's ga status and mission completion. Before it is completed, you cannot know any information about the hidden mission," Little Seven explained dutifully.
Lu Ke's mouth was slightly agape. "So, you're saying I just have to guess?"
"There is no fixed pattern for hidden missions." With that short sentence, Little Seven's explanation was cut off, leaving an open end.
Lu Ke closed his mouth and laughed to himself, nodding slightly. "I understand. If you can't figure it out, you're an idiot. That's what you an, right?"
Thinking about it seriously, it wasn't surprising. In gas, hidden missions can't be discovered casually. They require skill. The only difference is that in gas, once a hidden mission is triggered, you can follow the instructions to complete it, but with the system, the mission completion status is directly based on Lu Ke's actual situation.
It was just like the special mission he had back then. After over-completing it, he got an extra reward. But that only happened once and never again.
So, as Lu Ke said, it requires wisdom to discover and complete them. Lu Ke was a little curious if he had missed any hidden missions in the past year, or maybe many of them. But Lu Ke decided not to ask. If he found out he had been a fool, he wouldn't know how to handle it.
He looked over the hidden mission again. It wasn't complicated; it was about the locker room atmosphere. After a loss, they had beco more united. Was this a blessing in disguise?
"Little Seven, is it fast to complete a hidden mission in four gas?" Lu Ke's journalistic instincts kicked in again. His curiosity was strong, and his divergent thinking skills were also outstanding.
Little Seven didn't answer imdiately. He paused for a mont, as if he was retrieving historical records or thinking about how to answer. "The mission reward is a top-tier reward." This was a roundabout confirmation of Lu Ke's guess: integrating into the locker room in four gas was definitely super fast and of a high standard.
So, Lu Ke was very satisfied as he looked at the mission reward and read the description. Even though he had witnessed the incredible special ability of Bullet Ti, Lu Ke couldn't help but open his mouth slightly.
The so-called "offline video-watching feature" was exactly what it sounded like. Just like in computer gas, where a character can continue playing even when the player is offline, this feature allowed Lu Ke to watch ga videos while he was offline.
For any team or any player, watching ga footage was an incredibly important but tedious process. It was not only for preparing for gas but also for summarizing them and learning from them. The worst part was that there were no shortcuts. One hour of watching ga footage versus a hundred hours would yield completely different results.
For coaches, to prepare for a ga, they often had to watch 50 hours of footage or more. Fifty hours literally ant 50 hours, with no shortcuts.
The sa was true for Lu Ke. More specifically, for a rookie player, especially one with a lack of ga experience like Lu Ke, watching ga footage was the best way to learn tactics, adapt to the ga, and accumulate experience. In the past four weeks, Lu Ke had spent an average of at least 20 hours a week watching gas.
Twenty hours. In addition to that, Lu Ke also had to continue his daily training, read his playbook, and attend team etings. Almost all of his free ti was spent watching ga footage. And there were only six days to prepare for a ga.
In fact, watching ga footage was incredibly boring. He would often start to feel sleepy, and his eyes would ache. If his mind wandered, he might miss an important part of the ga and have to rewind and watch it again. But this was Lu Ke's most valuable learning ti. Not only for him but for all rookies like Colin Kaepernick and Scott Tolzien.
If he could, he would even give up sleep to continue watching ga footage.
Now, Lu Ke could actually do it—watch ga footage while he was sleeping. No wonder Little Seven had said that this was a top-tier reward. Lu Ke had no doubt about that.
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