Chapter 148 146: Hidden Attributes
The first regular-season game was over.
For Lu Ke, that was all that mattered.
The champagne-soaked celebration in the locker room, the provocations and doubts from Charles Davis, the Alliance experts watching the drama unfold, the challenges of next week's game... All of it was temporarily pushed to the back of his mind. This afternoon, Lu Ke was celebrating with abandon, savoring the joy of his career's first start and first victory.
It wasn't just Lu Ke, and it wasn't just the players. The entire team, from top to bottom, including the coaching staff, was celebrating wildly.
The frustration and gloom of the preseason were swept away by the victory in the first game of the regular season, leaving a feeling of pure exhilaration. At least until tomorrow, they could celebrate without restraint.
In fact, the party atmosphere spread throughout the city. Even back home, there was no exception. Everyone gathered in Lu Ke's backyard—besides the Newman family, it seemed like the entire street had sent representatives. Household after household congregated in the small world of the backyard, drinking champagne, singing loudly, and losing themselves in joy.
The celebration continued until nightfall. Only then did Lu Ke finally get a moment of peace to quiet his mind and properly review his gains from the game.
The truth was, the moment the referee blew the final whistle, the DING DING DING of the system notification had sounded in his mind. But at that time, Lu Ke had to go shake hands with the Seattle Seahawks' quarterback, followed by a relentless series of celebrations that left no room to breathe. That's why it had been delayed until now.
He opened the unread messages and carefully read through the mission objectives, finally confirming his rewards from today's game.
First, the game mission.
First pass, complete, +1 base point; first Touchdown, complete, +1 base point; complete five Touchdowns, +5 base points; at least 150 passing yards, complete, +1 base point; at least 55% pass completion rate, complete, +1 base point; interceptions less than or equal to two, complete, +1 base point; achieve first victory, complete, +5 base points.
Fifteen base points. In just one game, Lu Ke had earned a full fifteen base points. It was almost like landing a critical hit on a raid boss, easily making this the game where he had reaped the most base points so far.
However, Lu Ke also understood that this was the first game of his professional career. Its significance was unique, and the missions and their rewards were exceptionally generous. In the upcoming regular-season games, the rewards were unlikely to be so lucrative. He guessed the playoff game missions would be on a different level of difficulty and scale.
Second, the special mission.
Win the game, achieve at least three Touchdowns, complete; beat Richard Sherman at least twice, complete.
This was Lu Ke's third special mission. At a rough glance, the difficulty seemed lower this time. But on closer inspection, the single objective of "win the game" was already incredibly difficult, considering this was Lu Ke's first official game as a rookie player. From that perspective, this special mission was probably his most difficult one yet.
Of course, the corresponding rewards were also the richest yet: "Unknown Quarterback Training Skills Package +2, Unknown Special Skill Package +2, Unlock Hidden Attributes +1."
Although there were no additional base points, the three rewards were substantial and exciting. Especially the third one: Unlock Hidden Attributes. This had never appeared before. So, Lu Ke temporarily set aside the Quarterback Training Skills Package and the Unknown Special Skill Package and eagerly opened the Hidden Attributes.
"DING. Congratulations, you have unlocked the Hidden Attribute: Anticipation." Qi's voice sounded again. This was the first time since he had received the Special Skill 'Absolute Step' that he'd heard Qi announce a mission reward. From this alone, he could tell this Hidden Attribute was no mere trifle.
Anticipation?
Lu Ke didn't rush to speculate. Instead, he clicked on the explanation and quickly scanned it. Simply put, it could be understood as a quarterback's ability to capture details and predict movements on the field.
For example, when a quarterback reads the defense, having a wide field of vision doesn't mean they can observe every detail in the tense atmosphere of a game. After all, human vision always has blind spots. Even if they see the defensive formation, they might not be able to make an accurate prediction in the heat of the moment. There's only one Peyton Manning.
Another example: when a quarterback moves and passes from the pocket, they have to spot their own teammates' positions and running routes amidst a crowd of bodies, while also accurately judging the movements of defensive players—not just to complete a pass, but also to avoid an interception. This has to be done in less than a millisecond, and even then, the anticipation might not be accurate. There's also only one Aaron Rodgers.
In situations like these, amidst the high-stakes, tense atmosphere of a game, a quarterback often needs to make a multitude of judgments and decisions in a thousandth of a second—
An average quarterback relies solely on instinct, and their instincts have a high error rate. A good quarterback relies on intuition, like an animal's sense of smell, to seize opportunities and achieve their goal. An elite quarterback relies on talent and ability—judging, choosing, deciding, and executing in a flash of light, perceiving the truth of the situation.
The reason elite quarterbacks are called elite is simple: even without the help of top-tier Wide Receivers and Tight Ends, even without the support of a top-tier Offense Line, they can lead their team to victory on their own—perhaps stumbling, perhaps facing immense difficulty, perhaps buckling under the pressure, but the fact is, they possess that ability.
Anticipation is a quarterback's natural sixth sense.
'So-called Hidden Attributes... This means it existed before, but it's only just now surfaced.'
Lu Ke quickly opened his Attribute Panel and scrolled down carefully. Right at the very bottom, even below the "Injury" related attributes, a brand-new section appeared: "Hidden Attributes."
Currently, under "Hidden Attributes," there was only one item: Anticipation. And the score was... seventy-five.
Anticipation wasn't prediction or foresight, but a judgment made based on one's own abilities. Related attributes included Tactical Awareness, Observation Field of View, Willpower, and so on.
It was like the first offensive drive in today's game. Lu Ke's read of the Seattle Seahawks' defensive formation was spot-on, allowing him to make an accurate judgment. That's why he audaciously chose a long pass and successfully executed it—it wasn't a risk or a gamble, but a rational judgment.
This all stemmed from Lu Ke's pre-game preparation: over forty hours of watching game film, over ten hours of tactical meeting discussions, covering the Seattle Seahawks' preseason tactical deployments this year, Pete Carroll's defensive habits, and even the defensive positions and routes of certain star players.
In summary, it was Tactical Awareness. Tactical Awareness encompassed both pre-game preparation and on-field application, as well as a quarterback's innate ability to understand, read, and interpret the game.
Lu Ke had always been a quarterback who played with his head. Tactical Awareness, seventy; Observation Field of View, seventy; Willpower, eighty; plus a perfect score on the Fonderick test. All these related attributes combined to produce today's Hidden Attribute, the seventy-five-point Anticipation.
This wasn't at the level of an elite quarterback, nor a top-tier one, but it was certainly above the standard of an average Alliance quarterback and ranked among the upper echelon. After all, this was a matter of intuition, feel, and judgment. Post-birth preparation could provide a lot of support, but the foundation still came from talent—something that couldn't be forced or sought after.
'Now that Anticipation has appeared on the Personal Attribute Panel, does that mean the attribute can be increased?'
'Imagine, during an official game, a quarterback who can not only read the defensive formation but also anticipate the routes of the first and second-line defensive players, then make real-time tactical changes or adjust at the moment of the throw. This would give the offense an unimaginable advantage.'
'What would happen if this Hidden Attribute of Anticipation was maxed out at one hundred points?'
Lu Ke happened to have a large number of base points on hand, so he decided to give it a try. But after one attempt, the points for Anticipation didn't budge at all; there was no change. He tried again, with the same result. Only then did Lu Ke notice that the "Anticipation" attribute was grayed out and couldn't be changed.
"Qi, can Hidden Attributes not be changed?" Lu Ke voiced his question. This was the first time he had encountered such a situation.
Qi's voice immediately sounded in his mind. "Hidden Attributes cannot be increased with base points."
It was a standard, by-the-book answer, with no further elaboration. Lu Ke couldn't help but guess, 'You mean, base points can only modify basic skill options, but Hidden Attributes require special points or Hidden Points to be modified, is that right?'
Qi did not answer.
Lu Ke waited for a moment, but his mind remained silent. In Lu Ke's view, however, this was as good as a confirmation. The reason Qi didn't answer was simply because the time wasn't right yet. It was just like the Hidden Attributes, which had only appeared in today's special mission; when the time was right, the answer would naturally reveal itself.
Lu Ke guessed that the Hidden Points needed to increase Hidden Attributes would also be obtained through special missions, and the difficulty would likely be high. Otherwise, they wouldn't deserve to be called Hidden Attributes.
"Are there other Hidden Attributes besides Anticipation?" Lu Ke changed the question.
"Yes." This time, Qi did not remain silent, giving a crisp, affirmative answer.
Lu Ke thoughtfully rubbed his chin. Clearly, the system still held many unknowns waiting to be explored. In one year, he had only uncovered the tip of the iceberg. At the very least, he now knew he possessed the ability of "Anticipation," and it could become another weapon in his arsenal on the field in the future.
The Hidden Attribute certainly hadn't disappointed him. The next moment, Lu Ke's gaze fell upon the Quarterback Training Skills Package and the Unknown Special Skill Package—especially the latter. What kind of Special Skill would he get this time?