Chapter 661: Long-Term Choice
The mission rewards were: a high-level cheat, or a gold point?
Undoubtedly, both of these were genuine, high-level rewards. Both would play a vital role in improving Lu Ke's abilities.
First, the high-level cheat.
After the "Chicken Soup" game against the Pittsburgh Steelers in week 15 of the regular season, Lu Ke completed the Level 2 "Organize the Locker Room" mission. The beginner cheat successfully upgraded to an intermediate one, giving him eight hours of video review time per day. In just six weeks, the intermediate cheat became the best tool to make up for Lu Ke's lack of experience, laying the groundwork for his breakout performance in the playoffs.
Unfortunately, Lu Ke was still too far behind. He needed more time and more games. How could a rookie quarterback avoid being a flash in the pan? Sufficient video review time and enough real-game experience were the only way, the only secret weapon. For Lu Ke, it was an even more urgent need.
Now, before the Level 3 "Organize the Locker Room" mission had even appeared, Lu Ke had already seen the mission reward for the high-level cheat through the Hail Mary special mission. This was undoubtedly a huge surprise.
Compared to the intermediate cheat, the high-level cheat doubled the video review time, giving him a full sixteen hours!
If he could make full use of it, Lu Ke's lack of experience would improve by leaps and bounds, allowing him to catch up to the league's average level and face the challenges of his sophomore season in a better state.
Next, the gold point.
There was no need to say more. The importance of a gold point was self-evident. It was the only way to break through the perfect-score barrier.
Although the point exchange system made it possible to adjust his points, Lu Ke's overall skill level was still in a "severely dehydrated" state. All his technical skills required a large number of basic points. He had no surplus or room to exchange for gold points. He could only take it one step at a time, which made the gold point even more precious.
In addition, once his tactical awareness and long-pass accuracy reached a perfect score, the essence of his ability's transformation could be seen, and he could even clearly feel the change. Although he was held back by his other skills and could not exert his full power, the difference between a perfect score and ninety-nine points was still obvious.
In every aspect, the importance of gold points was evident. This was especially true for Lu Ke, who was currently short on basic points.
So, which of these two mission rewards should he choose?
In fact, Lu Ke wasn't as conflicted and thoughtful as one might imagine. He chose the former without hesitation—the high-level cheat.
It was true that gold points were hard to come by, but the premise was that the offseason had already begun. Even if Lu Ke used a gold point to break through the perfect-score barrier and raise another skill to the perfect level, all his skills would not be put to use until the new season started in September. They would just be sitting there collecting dust.
On the contrary, the high-level cheat could play an unimaginably powerful role in the upcoming offseason.
In his four years of college, Lu Ke only participated in two incomplete official games. Compared to other talented quarterbacks, he was a full four years behind in game experience. This was a huge black hole. Even if he kept sprinting like a rocket, it would be difficult to close the gap in a short amount of time.
Now, from March to September, he had six full months. If he could use the high-level cheat for sixteen hours every day, he would be making up for nearly three thousand hours of lost time. The experience and gains he would accumulate would be immeasurable, and his understanding of the playbook, his control over game changes, and his ability to deal with unexpected situations would be priceless.
Once he truly grew and became stronger, and the new season officially began, then basic points, special points, and even gold points would no longer be a problem. He could rely on his own strength to complete game missions and earn points step by step. That was the correct way to go.
The most important thing right now was the offseason.
This was a simple math problem. Lu Ke quickly calculated the pros and cons and made a choice that was more in line with his long-term goals.
"Ding, congratulations on getting the high-level replay viewing function. You will have sixteen hours of viewing time per day."
Although the Pro Bowl had not yet ended and the offseason would not officially start for another two weeks, for Lu Ke, the offseason period had already begun after the Conference Championship game. Like Watt, they had to give it their all to prepare for their sophomore season. This was not an easy task, but it was also something that filled them with passion and anticipation.
Then, Lu Ke's eyes fell on the five special points.
This would be his last time adding points in his rookie season. After a simple calculation, Lu Ke opened the point exchange system without any hesitation and converted all five special points into fifteen basic points. With the system's notification sound, the five special points were reset to zero, and he got fifteen basic points in return.
Compared to hidden attributes, Lu Ke's technical skills needed a more comprehensive improvement. Fifteen basic points were not a lot, but they could play an important role as the offseason approached.
First, his play-action ability.
This was an absolute weakness of Lu Ke's, with a score of only forty-five. For a traditional pocket quarterback, it could even be called a fatal flaw.
In a pocket quarterback's tactical combinations, the run-pass balance was an important way for them to contain the defense. By using play-action passes or fake runs, they could blur the defense's focus, relieve the pressure on the passing offense, and open up multiple ways to attack. Only then could the passing power be maximized. Otherwise, the quarterback would be exposed to the concentrated fire and be completely powerless.
Lu Ke had always paid attention to this, but he was always distracted by other technical skills. His attention was never truly focused. He kept putting it off again and again, and the forty-five-point score for his play-action ability was truly a sore spot.
In the Conference Championship game, this weakness was magnified to the extreme.
When Ginn and Crabtree left the field due to injuries, Williams and Swain could not provide enough containment. Lu Ke also couldn't use Marcus to divert attention. He directly or indirectly gave the Giants' defense too many simple defensive points of focus, compressing his passing space and increasing his passing pressure.
Compared to Lu Ke's other technical skills, this score was truly too low.
Now that the offseason had begun, play-action was undoubtedly one of his main training points.
So, he first added five points, raising it from forty-five to fifty points. When he entered his sophomore season, this skill must become a key training project in his arsenal.
Second, his ball security.
This was another one of Lu Ke's weaknesses, with a score of only fifty-nine.
Although Lu Ke only had one forced fumble throughout the long season, in the end, it was because he used a large number of special skills, such as Absolute Footwork or Bullet Time, to escape from sacks and hits, which prevented the disaster of a fumble.
Otherwise, if any player on the field couldn't secure the football, it would be a fatal wound. A quarterback's mistake was even more terrifying, because he was the player standing at the very back of the team. Once he fumbled, it could very likely lead to a scoop-and-score touchdown, causing the maximum amount of damage.
For all kinds of reasons, he had been putting off adding points and improving this skill, but now he had no more excuses. During the offseason, he didn't have to rush to improve his other main quarterback skills. Breaking through his weaknesses was a top priority, so Lu Ke had no reason to ignore it any longer.
From fifty-nine to sixty-five points, Lu Ke used six basic points, temporarily bringing his ball security to a passing level.
Finally, recovery speed.
After the system's prompt, Lu Ke also understood that the importance of adding these points for the offseason was self-evident. Compared to his previous points, he should consider his long-term goals more. This was true for his choice of the high-level cheat, and it was also true for his choice of these three skills.
His short-pass accuracy, mid-pass accuracy, and other passing skills still had room for improvement. His passing on the run, and his running with the ball, as well as his other movements in and out of the pocket, were all major weaknesses of Lu Ke's right now. Not to mention the many related physical skills that all needed attention.
If he wanted to improve his overall average ability, there were still many skills that Lu Ke needed to take care of, but none of these were the core focus of the offseason.
During the offseason, Lu Ke had an enormous training plan. He would train intensely and diligently, work through his bottlenecks, and break his shackles step by step. Even if he couldn't get a fundamental improvement, he had to be prepared for the most difficult training, to lay a solid foundation and polish his skills and physical fitness.
And the premise of all this was: avoid injuries. He absolutely could not get unnecessary injuries due to overtraining.
Although his injury resistance was a perfect score, it didn't mean that Lu Ke wouldn't get injured. He was still a human, not an alien. He was still a normal person, not the Hulk.
So, his recovery speed became very important.
This could not only provide more assurance for his continuous training, but it could also prevent sports injuries during training. More importantly, it could play an irreplaceable role in the extension of his training.
So, Lu Ke generously gave the remaining four basic points to his recovery speed, raising it from eighty to eighty-four points, to be fully prepared for the offseason.
Once again, all fifteen basic points were used up. This also meant that his rookie season in 2011 had officially come to an end. Once he clicked confirm, he would embrace the 2012 season. With a mix of nervousness and anticipation, Lu Ke opened the system again, clicked the confirm button, and welcomed the system upgrade.
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