Chapter 446: Increased Difficulty

It was finally over. All the commotion had finally ended. It wasn’t until Lu Ke was back in his apartment that the noise in his ears completely faded, and the world grew quiet.

After the game, the team doctor, Walter, gave Lu Ke a basic examination, confirming once again that his right arm was not seriously injured, merely over-fatigued. The next step was a regimen of massage and related recovery exercises—not to treat an injury, but to prevent one from occurring in future games.

But Jim Hubble was still worried. At his insistence, Walter had Lu Ke undergo a more detailed examination. However, the scan results would require a consultation with specialists for further analysis and diagnosis, with the final results not expected until the next day.

After all the examinations were complete, Lu Ke received a special recovery massage. Unlike usual, today’s session was extended by thirty minutes, focusing mainly on his right arm, as well as his entire shoulder and core. The subsequent ice bath was also closely monitored by staff members.

It was clear from every angle that Lu Ke’s treatment by the team was now completely different.

However, throughout the entire examination and massage process, everyone—from his teammates and the medical professionals to even other staff members passing by—was consumed with curiosity. “I heard Leonardo DiCaprio came by? I heard he’s a friend of yours? I heard he came all this way just to watch you play? What’s the real story?”

What was even more incredible was that some people actually rushed over from the office building, crossing half of Candlestick Park just to ask what was going on, dying to catch a glimpse of the famous Leonardo themselves.

It was the first time Lu Ke realized that a gossip culture didn’t just exist in Hollywood. The world of professional sports had a relatively close connection to Hollywood; every Los Angeles Lakers home game featured a star-studded guest list. This proximity made the gossip among team personnel even more unstoppable.

The incessant chatter just wouldn’t stop.

The only quiet moments were when Walter was conducting the basic and comprehensive examinations. But funnily enough, after finishing the check-up, Walter also asked curiously, “So, how exactly did you and Leonardo meet?”

He really didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

Back in his apartment, Lu Ke finally enjoyed a moment of peace and had some time to himself. He thought back on the ups and downs of the game, on the uproar after it ended. Everything felt so unbelievable, like a dream. But Lu Ke knew it was real. All of it was real.

He ought to be grateful that they had narrowly escaped with a win today, keeping their victory streak alive. At the same time, he had to recognize that his fluctuating performance in the second half was a dangerous sign. He had to improve his skills and learn how to make adjustments on the fly during a game.

As the season—and indeed his career—progressed, the games would only get tougher. The number of uncertain factors would increase, and the impact of his on-field performance would become more and more significant. If the same situation from today’s game were to repeat itself, Lu Ke couldn’t guarantee he could replicate the victory.

In competitive sports, skill doesn’t guarantee victory, but it is the key to achieving it.

Michael Jordan in his prime, Peyton Manning in his prime, Diego Maradona in his prime—they were the undisputed kings of their sports, but that didn’t make them invincible.

In every game, there are countless unknown factors that can decide the outcome. A player’s current form and their opponent’s can both sway the game’s direction, not to mention the ever-present surprises in competitive sports. They had to take it one step at a time, genuinely defeating their opponents to earn each victory. This was especially true in team sports.

The same was true for Lu Ke.

Even if all of his stats were maxed out, it wouldn’t mean he could just steamroll the competition. The games still had to be won one by one. But before stepping onto the battlefield, fully preparing himself and comprehensively improving his abilities was the surest path to victory. Besides, Lu Ke didn’t have a single stat maxed out yet.

He let out a soft breath, reeled in his scattered thoughts, and summoned the system to check on his gains for the day.

This week’s game had undoubtedly been special. It was because their opponent was one of the most-watched teams in the country, and also one of the teams with the best record in the Alliance. More importantly, the provocation from Charles Davis had truly ignited a media firestorm.

Charles had provoked Lu Ke once before, a gambit that had ended in failure for him. But things were different now; the situation had changed dramatically.

The first time the bet was made, it wasn’t just Charles. The entire Alliance was filled with voices of doubt and challenge aimed at Lu Ke. Charles’s words were harsh, but he was just one voice in a sea of critics. It was nothing out of the ordinary.

This time, however, the context of the bet was different. The San Francisco 49ers had a seven-and-one record. People could dislike Lu Ke, but no one could deny the reality of their wins. Naturally, all of this made the game special—so special that even the system acknowledged it.

In addition to the regular game mission, there was a special mission—one he absolutely could not afford to lose!

“Special Mission: The Disdain of Charles Davis.” Forgetting the mission description, requirements, and rewards, the failure penalty alone was enough to become Lu Ke’s greatest motivation—

“Failure Penalty: A random attribute -5; ‘Resentful Reporter’ skill enters a three-week cooldown; performance in the following week’s game will decrease by ten percent.”

If he failed the mission, five base points would be deducted from a random attribute. Lu Ke didn’t know what would be worse: taking a hit to his highest-scoring attribute, Tactical Awareness, or losing points from his lowest-scoring specialized technique, Fake Pass Action.

Of course, there was a slim chance the affected attribute might be a receiving ability only indirectly related to his quarterback skills—for example, his Route Running, Extreme Catch, Crowd Reception, or Instant Burst, which were all at a flat fifteen points. In that case, it wouldn’t be a major issue, and the negative impact would be minimized.

However, Lu Ke couldn’t afford to take such a risk. This was a special mission he had to complete. There was no room for failure.

After opening the system, the first thing he did was open the special mission, his gaze falling upon the requirements:

“Lead the team to victory; achieve a higher quarterback rating and PFF score than Eli Manning; commit no turnovers via interception or quarterback fumble.”

He was sure he had met the first and third requirements. The problem was the second: achieving a higher quarterback rating and PFF score than Eli Manning. That was still an unknown.

Clearly, from the system’s perspective, one victory wasn’t enough to make Charles completely shut up. Lu Ke also had to win the quarterback matchup—outperforming Little Manning. But the difficulty of that was far greater than it sounded on paper.

The quarterback rating was just a rigid formula, calculated from a player’s various stats for an easy, at-a-glance comparison. The PFF score, however, involved the opinions of professionals, making it a subjective judgment. In other words, if someone on the PFF grading team agreed with Charles Davis and thought Lu Ke’s performance was inferior to Little Manning’s, then the PFF score would become unpredictable.

In other words, Lu Ke could give his all to win the game and deliver a spectacular performance, but whether he would complete the special mission was still a ticking time bomb.

Recalling his fluctuating performance during the game, especially his utterly terrible third quarter, Lu Ke felt even more helpless. Besides, Little Manning’s performance today had also been brilliant. His clutch play in the second half had nearly sparked a comeback.

Now, all he could do was be thankful that he hadn’t thrown an interception or fumbled the ball. At least that prevented his quarterback rating from becoming a disaster. Otherwise, even with the win, the special mission could have still ended in failure, and that…

…and that would have meant all the base points he earned from the game mission would have gone toward covering the penalty from the failed special mission.

Realizing this, Lu Ke couldn’t help but rub his temples. The difficulty of the missions was steadily increasing, and the difficulty of the games was rising right along with it. ‘Skill, skill, skill,’ he thought. ‘I have to improve as fast as I can, or my growth is going to slow down.’

He carefully reviewed the detailed requirements of the special mission one more time, then opened his inbox to check for unread messages. His gaze fell directly on the most important one:

“Congratulations on completing Special Mission: The Disdain of Charles Davis.”

The sword of Damocles hanging over his head had finally been removed. He had thought the quarterback rating and PFF score data wouldn’t be calculated so quickly, meaning the mission result would have to be confirmed later. But now, it seemed the system had already made its judgment in advance. Lu Ke’s performance had met the requirements. ‘Or perhaps,’ he wondered, ‘the system already got a peek at the two scores?’

Then, Lu Ke saw the details of the mission’s completion in the message, which were noted below:

“Eli Manning: Quarterback Rating 115.2, PFF Score 1.1; Lu Ke: Quarterback Rating 122.4, PFF Score 1.4. Mission Judgment: Requirement Met.”

The two quarterbacks’ stats were actually very close. Strictly speaking, if it weren’t for the fact that Little Manning had two interceptions while Lu Ke had none, Little Manning’s quarterback rating and PFF score would have both surpassed Lu Ke’s. On the football field, it was common for the quarterback with the better performance to lose the game.

Fortunately, that kind of upset didn’t happen today.