The journey from the East Coast of the North American continent, Philadelphia, to the West Coast, San Francisco, was a long and arduous one, a full six hours of flying. At the same time, 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 game.
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 game mission had failed.
This was the first time 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 come, now that it had, Lu Ke still needed some time 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 message sound rang in his mind. But whether it was just Lu Ke's imagination or not, the message tone today didn't sound as lively and cheerful as it had for the past three weeks.
Before officially reading the unread messages, Lu Ke had a question he needed to verify with Little Seven. "Little Seven, there were no special missions this week. Does that mean the system has determined that I've fully utilized my current abilities and there's nothing specific that needs attention or improvement, so the outcome was a pure reflection of my current level?"
He lost because of a field goal, lacking a little bit of luck at the crucial moment.
"Based on the course of today's game, 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. Sometimes, Richard Sherman's taunts would also create a special mission, but at other times, like today's game, which had many twists and turns, there was no special mission.
But from another perspective, if today's game mission had been adjusted and upgraded, did it mean 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 time, Lu Ke didn't hesitate or delay. He went straight to his inbox and started reading the unread messages.
The completion status of today's game mission had changed for the first time.
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 game: completed, base points plus one. Won the game: not completed.
In total, he had earned six base points. Although he lost the game, 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 game mission. But Lu Ke noticed that there was still a red dot on the inbox, indicating that there were unread messages. He told the system to scroll down, and sure enough, he saw a few more unread messages.
"Congratulations on completing the hidden mission: 'The Locker Room Integration Series'."
A hidden mission? In addition to the daily, game, 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 moment of surprise, he calmed 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 game.
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 mean 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 game 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 mean, right?"
Thinking about it seriously, it wasn't surprising. In games, hidden missions can't be discovered casually. They require skill. The only difference is that in games, 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 become more united. Was this a blessing in disguise?
"Little Seven, is it fast to complete a hidden mission in four games?" 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 immediately. He paused for a moment, 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 games 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 Time, 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 games, where a character can continue playing even when the player is offline, this feature allowed Lu Ke to watch game videos while he was offline.
For any team or any player, watching game footage was an incredibly important but tedious process. It was not only for preparing for games but also for summarizing them and learning from them. The worst part was that there were no shortcuts. One hour of watching game footage versus a hundred hours would yield completely different results.
For coaches, to prepare for a game, they often had to watch 50 hours of footage or more. Fifty hours literally meant 50 hours, with no shortcuts.
The same was true for Lu Ke. More specifically, for a rookie player, especially one with a lack of game experience like Lu Ke, watching game footage was the best way to learn tactics, adapt to the game, and accumulate experience. In the past four weeks, Lu Ke had spent an average of at least 20 hours a week watching games.
Twenty hours. In addition to that, Lu Ke also had to continue his daily training, read his playbook, and attend team meetings. Almost all of his free time was spent watching game footage. And there were only six days to prepare for a game.
In fact, watching game 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 game and have to rewind and watch it again. But this was Lu Ke's most valuable learning time. 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 game footage.
Now, Lu Ke could actually do it—watch game 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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