Panting heavily, the overwhelming physical sensations gradually subsided. Lu Ke then pulled himself together and carefully and repeatedly looked at what had changed after he added the attribute points.
Physical Quality: 70
Mental Quality: 83
These two overall stats had finally moved out of the "poor peasant" class and into the league's minimum standard. So, what about the individual stats? Had they changed?
Tactical Awareness: 70
Willpower: 80
Speed: 68
Strength: 58
Acceleration: 63
Explosiveness: 69
Agility: 71
Jumping: 50
This series of stats was a bit ambiguous, making it hard to tell if there was a change or not. Lu Ke had to carefully recall the stats when his physical quality was still at sixty-four. Finally, Lu Ke could confirm that there were three changes in his basic attributes:
First, his speed increased by one base point, from sixty-seven to sixty-eight.
Second, his jumping increased by one base point, from forty-nine to fifty.
Third, his strength increased by one base point, from fifty-seven to fifty-eight. Of course, this included the eight base points that Lu Ke had added himself before. His original strength score was only forty-nine, and now it was just one step away from a passing grade.
In the past year, Lu Ke's initial physical quality was sixty-one, and now it had increased to seventy, truly transforming from a quantitative change to a qualitative one. But the individual basic attribute stats only increased by three points: one for speed, one for jumping, and one for strength. It wasn't the all-around improvement he had imagined.
In other words, his physical quality increased by nine points—very close to, but not equal to, ten points—and his individual stats changed slightly. This meant that there was a connection between them, but it was not a necessary connection. It was the same logic as how Lu Ke added points to his strength, but his throwing power still didn't change.
It could be understood this way: physical quality is an overall option that represents the body's overall and average level, but it doesn't mean that all the individual stats can be top-tier. The same is true in reverse: a specific individual stat might be top-tier, but that doesn't mean the physical quality is also outstanding.
For example, Usain Bolt. He is the king of short-distance running, invincible in the one-hundred and two-hundred-meter races. His individual stats like acceleration, explosiveness, and speed might be outstanding, even a perfect score. But that doesn't mean his other stats are also excellent, and it certainly doesn't mean his physical quality is a perfect score.
This also meant that Lu Ke's idea of a shortcut was a bust.
He had originally thought that by raising his physical quality to a perfect hundred all at once, his individual stats would also rise accordingly. But now it seemed that even if his physical quality reached a perfect score, it would only mean that the minimum level of his individual stats might reach seventy or seventy-five. For an ordinary person, that would indeed be strong and healthy, but in competitive sports, it would not be enough to dominate.
It was clear that he should stop trying to find loopholes and just train with his feet on the ground. That was the right way to go.
The fifteen base points were spent in just a breath. Lu Ke secretly clenched his fists. He had to give his all in the next game and not let go of any chance to win! He needed more base points!
But even the base points could wait until tomorrow.
In the past ten days, the entire team, including Lu Ke, had been working together towards the same goal. Now that they had won, they could finally take a break. After the mental tension eased, all the fatigue came rushing in—or perhaps the aftereffects of the drastic attribute increase had not completely dissipated yet. In any case, that night, Lu Ke's sleep was peaceful, deep, and sweet.
He woke up the next morning, looked at the alarm clock, and it was five o'clock.
The day after a game is a player's official day off. Every team in the league has this time off. Players can sleep in, relax, meet up with friends, go on dates, and have their own private lives. This allows them to manage their energy during a tense season and be better prepared for the next game.
But Lu Ke still woke up at five in the morning, just like he had every day for the past year. His biological clock seemed to be in a fixed mode that he couldn't adjust.
He lay in bed, hesitated for thirty seconds, and then got up. It wasn't just his biological clock; his entire circulatory system and muscle response system had adapted to a similar lifestyle. Moreover, his current ability was far from being at a reassuring level. Daily training missions were still an important part of his routine. A little something is better than nothing.
After getting up and washing up, Lu Ke was about to start his daily training missions, but before he left the room, he suddenly remembered that yesterday was a game day, and he hadn't completed his training missions on time! This meant that his perfect attendance for daily training missions for an entire year had been broken!
More amazing than the interruption of his training missions was that he hadn't even thought about training yesterday. From the moment he woke up until the end of the game, every minute and every second was filled with all kinds of things. The tension was at its peak, and there was no time to even breathe. So training became unimportant.
Until now.
His perfect attendance for daily training was broken so quietly, and he suddenly felt a sense of emptiness. Did this mean he didn't have to train today?
After thinking for half a second, Lu Ke summoned the system in his mind. His eyes fell on the daily training missions and then he discovered a pleasant surprise: the missions had changed again!
The first and most obvious change was the mission time limit. The previous time limit was "fourteen consecutive days," but now it had become "two consecutive weeks," which was the same duration but a different way of saying it.
The difference was: "fourteen consecutive days" required continuous training with no breaks or pauses, which was why Lu Ke had maintained perfect attendance for over a year. But "two consecutive weeks" was different. In each training cycle, there were two days off for games. In other words, on game days, it was legal to skip daily training!
Because game days are not set in stone, they could be a Thursday, a Sunday, or a Monday. The game schedule is different every week, so the training plan is also different. So, the system made corresponding adjustments.
Therefore, the previous mission time limit was "0/14," but now it was "(0/12 + 0/2)." The former was for daily training, and the latter was for game days. This meant that the system had taken the regular season into account and had taken another step forward on the road to building a football superstar.
The second change was the arrangement of the training missions. The previous daily training missions had the same content every day, a repetition of the same set of exercises. But now, every day was different.
The system made corresponding adjustments based on the league's game schedule. Mondays and Tuesdays were rest days and recovery days, so the training missions were mainly aerobic exercises and yoga. Wednesday was for recovery training, and Thursday was for game preparation training, so the training missions also changed accordingly.
In short, it was more reasonable and scientific. The system would make different combinations and arrangements of the existing training exercises based on Lu Ke's physical condition and the progression of the regular season, and then create the most suitable training plan to help Lu Ke adapt to the pace and intensity of the games as quickly as possible.
The third change was that the training exercises still numbered forty, but the specific content had changed.
After a careful look, he saw that the quarterback passing skill training had been reduced by ten, replaced by ten strength training exercises. He didn't even need to list them; they were the ten from the quarterback skill training pack he received yesterday!
The quarterback skill training pack he opened yesterday actually had eleven training exercises, but the last two were dumbbell training for the left and right hands. Today, after they were added to his daily training missions, the two missions were merged into one. At the same time, the training requirements were also lowered. He only had to complete two sets for almost every exercise, and the number of reps per set was also reduced by thirty percent.
It was clear that unlike the training skill pack, the system had made corresponding adjustments and arrangements based on Lu Ke's personal ability and talent. By training consistently, he would gradually achieve the goal of improving Lu Ke's ability to withstand a hit.
Lu Ke believed that as long as he could keep up with his daily training as he had for the past year, in addition to the base point bonuses, his physical stats would naturally improve more. After all, the focus of his real-life training had shifted.
But the problem was...
"Little Seven, you're kidding me, right? Strength training?" Lu Ke couldn't help but let out a wail.
Strength training and muscle-building training are undoubtedly the most strenuous, most difficult, and most painful parts of all training. At least, that's how it was for Lu Ke. Over the past year, he had never given up on strength training and had put in a lot of effort, but the process and results were always full of frustration.
Subconsciously, it was hard for Lu Ke to not feel a sense of rejection. In comparison, running ten thousand meters or a quarterback's passing training was a pure joy.
Yesterday, when Lu Ke saw the quarterback training skill pack, he couldn't help but gasp. But after the surprise, he could at least be happy that it was a one-time skill pack and didn't require long-term dedication. And then, today, his nightmare came true.
These strength training exercises were more comprehensive and also more intense.
Just the weight part alone was challenging Lu Ke's personal limits—the word "limit" was meant literally. The system had a perfect grasp of Lu Ke's current ability and was steadily challenging the highest limit he could endure.
What's more, this required him to persist day after day.
It was clear that Lu Ke's wail did not get any response. He had to take a deep breath and ask again to confirm his guess, "Little Seven, this isn't all, is it? In the future, will the strength training also be adjusted according to the actual situation and continue to challenge my limits?"
After a year of being together, Lu Ke had a good understanding of the system.
"Only by challenging your limits can you break the constraints of your barriers," Little Seven's response was elegant, sounding like a philosophical statement, but it was impossible to argue with.
Lu Ke took a deep breath and let out a long sigh. "I guess, the path from a mediocre practice player to an elite quarterback has to be this way. I have to speed up now, or I'll fall behind."
This time, Lu Ke didn't hesitate. He opened the door, stepped outside, and began his daily training.
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