After high school, Luke got into five colleges 'cause of his killer grades and a bomb personal statement. He ended up picking UCLA for its journalism program, but let's be real, it was mostly 'cause of their epic football scene. Dude wanted to keep his football dreams alive.
LA ain't cheap, and the combo of tuition and living costs was a real wallet-buster. Luke's folks are immigrants, but not the rich kind. His dad's a coder and his mom's an accountant. They got here on their skills, so they're doing okay, but they're not rolling in dough.
To save some cash and get the full college experience, Luke decided to share an apartment. He ended up in a three-bedroom place with Logan and another dude, Jay Fox.
Jay was in the same department and year as Luke. They got paired up for a project in their freshman communication class, hit it off, and eventually became roommates.
When Luke and Logan got back to the apartment, Jay was in the living room, eyes glued to his game. He barely looked up and said, "Training done? Wanna hop in a game? Chill for a bit?"
"I'm down!" Logan said, diving onto their beat-up couch they snagged from the curb. It looked like crap but was super comfy. Perfect for vegging out.
Normally, Luke would've been all about chilling too, but today he had bigger fish to fry. After saying hey to his roommates, he headed to his room, fired up the system, and saw an unread message in the corner.
He opened it and found one message: "Daily Training Task: Endurance Run, 33,000 feet; Time Limit: None; Reward: Basic Points +1."
Luke's eyes lit up. Finally, he got how to earn those basic points. He asked, "Seven, are there other tasks besides the daily ones?"
"Yep. Tasks are split into daily tasks, competition tasks, and special tasks," Seven's voice replied, all business. "Each task has its own rewards."
"Task interface." As soon as Luke thought about it, the system page switched. The same blue semi-transparent interface popped up, with three sections: Daily Tasks, Competition Tasks, and Special Tasks.
From what he could tell, the three-on-three match was a competition task, and the current one was a daily task. But what about special tasks?
Sensing Luke's confusion, Seven chimed in, "You currently don't have access to the special tasks option."
Luke laughed, "Just say it straight. I'm not high enough level yet; I get it." He wasn't even a benchwarmer, and getting a competition task was already a stroke of luck. No way he was ready for special tasks. He needed to take it slow and steady. At least now he knew how to rack up those basic points.
Even though Luke was itching to start training right away, he knew rushing it would be a bad move. After a long, crazy day, what he really needed was some solid rest to recharge. Then he could hit the ground running the next morning.
So, Luke decided to chill. He opened his door and yelled to the guys on the couch, "Hey, count me in! Time to school you and take over the game!"
"Get lost." "Bring it on, I'll make you cry." "Yeah, right. Come over here and get wrecked."
The next morning, around 5:30, Luke was already up. He threw on his workout gear, left the house, and started jogging.
LA is all about sunshine, with a chill climate year-round. The wide streets, tall palm trees, and low houses give the city an open, bright vibe, totally different from the packed, floral style of San Francisco. Luke's place was in West Hollywood, just a fifteen-minute drive from UCLA. Every morning, he saw tons of joggers, all getting their sweat on to start the day.
Endurance running is part of daily football training, but it's not the main deal. Short sprints, explosive power, and quick acceleration are way more important. So, their usual runs were like 3,300 feet or 6,600 feet, tops two sets.
Maybe it was all in his head, but because he had this task hanging over him, Luke kept counting the distance. After just 5,000 feet, he felt his breathing getting all messed up, like his stamina was draining faster than usual. Endurance was his strong suit, so no way he was giving up that easy.
Given this, Luke decided to ditch the task stress and just get lost in his morning run. Forget the distance, just run. He took off from West Hollywood and made his way to the Santa Monica Pier. From a distance, he could see the clear blue sky with the pale pink sunlight turning golden, spreading over the endless sea, shimmering like some kind of divine miracle.
The calm of the morning, the roar of the ocean, the peaceful sunrise, and the pier waking up—all of it created this crazy energy between noise and silence. The sea breeze carried that vibe, making you wanna spread your arms, let the wild wind pass through your hands, turn into wings, and just fly, soaking in the stunning view.
Fully into his run, drenched in sweat, the whole world suddenly seemed brighter. It felt so awesome that Luke couldn't help but cheer towards the ocean waves. The hot air in his chest was released, making him feel refreshed both physically and mentally.
He stopped at the end of the pier, soaking in the sunlight and sea breeze. Checking his watch, Luke realized he had been running for an hour. After catching his breath, he summoned the system again and noticed a new message in the inbox. Opening it, he saw that the task was completed.
"Congrats, daily training task completed, basic points +1."
After confirming, the basic points in the top right corner changed from "0" to "1". Before Luke could think about how to use this point, another task popped up with a crisp sound. Unsurprisingly, it was another new daily training task.
Opening it, the content got more intense.
"Daily Training Task:
Endurance Run, 33,000 feet;
Weighted Squats, three sets of ten reps each;
Sit-ups, three sets of ten reps each;
Pull-ups, three sets of ten reps each;
Bench Press, three sets of fifteen reps each;
Footwork Drills, three sets of fifteen reps each;
Single-arm Quick Throws, five sets of twenty reps each;
Kneeling Passes, five sets of twenty reps each;
Steady Running Passes, five sets of twenty reps each;
40-yard Shuttle Runs, three sets of ten reps each;
Time Limit: Three consecutive days (0/3);
Task Reward: Basic Points +1."
A series of tasks made Luke's head spin. These were all basic quarterback training exercises, nothing too technical, just fundamental drills. But the first task was just an endurance run, and now it had blown up to ten tasks, a tenfold increase, catching him off guard.
More importantly, "Seven, what does 'three consecutive days' mean?" Luke noticed this crucial detail. He already had an idea but needed Seven's confirmation.
"The task must be completed for three consecutive days, finishing all exercises each day. If the task is interrupted, it resets to zero and starts over." Seven's answer confirmed Luke's guess. He couldn't help but rub his forehead and further asked, "Will the next daily task include even more exercises? Not just basic ones, but also specialized technical drills?"
"Yes," Seven answered straightforwardly.
The tasks would increase in number and difficulty, becoming more specialized. This meant that becoming a top quarterback required unimaginable effort and hardship. In fact, reaching the top in any field was never easy.
Over the past years, from high school to college, Luke had persevered, turning his interest into a dream, from amateur to professional, or at least trying to become professional. Even as a practice squad player, he never gave up. Now, he had even less reason to give up. On the contrary, he would work twice as hard.
Standing on the Santa Monica Pier, he couldn't do the ball-handling drills, but he could try the basic exercises, like pull-ups.
Next to the pier, Luke found a row of pull-up bars. Grabbing one, he used his arm strength to start doing pull-ups. Ten pull-ups per set wasn't difficult. After completing the first set, he rested briefly, then did the second set, followed by the third set. Thirty pull-ups were quickly done.
Summoning the system again, Luke found no unread messages. Was it because the entire task wasn't completed, so there was no message? But opening the task page, he saw a number added next to the pull-ups option, (6/30).
If he understood correctly, this number meant he had only completed six pull-ups. But the problem was, he had clearly done thirty pull-ups. His math was good; he definitely didn't miscount. So why did it only show six?
"Seven?" Luke frowned, calling for help.