American Adventure: My Uncle is Don Quixote-Chapter 41 - 38: This Is What You Call a Touchdown While Carrying 2 People
Watching Travis’s confident expression, Li Wei took a noncommittal bite of the fried chicken, which seemed to be mostly batter.
’Damn, this bite feels like it’s half breadcrumbs!’ Li Wei complained silently, quickly swallowing the fried chicken.
"Trust me, I played in the amateur youth league in Brooklyn before," Travis lowered his voice, pointing toward the area of the cafeteria with the loudest, most animated athletes. "Those guys are all assholes. They like to bully newbies, especially an Asian guy like you. During the tryouts later, stick behind me. I’ll protect you."
Li Wei just smiled and didn’t argue.
...
At 2 PM, the late-August New York sun was still scorching. The air was filled with a mixture of dry dust and the scent of fresh-cut grass.
The field walls of Franklin K. Lane High School were covered in layers upon layers of graffiti, making the place look more like a prison than a high school. 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖
[You have arrived at the ’Dueling Court’]
[This is a place for upholding a Knight’s honor and resolving disputes. To defend the glory of Knights, conflicts often break out here.]
"BANG!"
Li Wei and Travis looked toward the center of the field, where two Black teenagers built like iron towers had just slammed into each other. The sound of their helmets colliding was particularly jarring on the empty field.
Li Wei recognized one of the fully-padded teenagers. It was Manu, the defensive tackle he had run into at the gym.
"Hey! You two! What are you doing?"
From under a sunshade, a middle-aged Black man in a gray athletic tank top with a whistle around his neck pushed his way through a crowd of football players.
His skin was dark, his arms covered in the bulging muscles of yesteryear. From behind his sunglasses, a pair of eyes swept over Li Wei and Travis with displeasure.
"If you’ve got no business here, don’t interrupt our practice," he said, his tone hostile. "Or are you here for the tryouts?"
"Travis Watson! I want to try out for running back or safety!" Travis said loudly. "I played in the Brooklyn youth league before."
"I remember you. I have some impression of you," Coach Miller said, sizing up Travis. "You can skip the tryout. You’re on the team. Come to official practice after school starts."
"As for you..." He turned to Li Wei, then slapped his forehead. "Kid, this isn’t the Math Olympiad team. I don’t need nerds who only know how to wipe their noses with a tissue."
The crowd of players in football pads behind him burst into laughter.
"My name is Li Wei," he said, his expression calm. "I want to try out for Quarterback."
At this, not only did the onlooking players erupt in an even louder wave of laughter, but even Coach Miller couldn’t help but let out a snort of amusement.
To put it simply, American football is divided into an offense and a defense. The two teams compete for the football, each hoping their players can carry it into the opposing team’s end zone to score.
Manu’s position is defensive tackle. His job is to directly block the opposing offense and prevent them from entering his team’s side of the field. This position is for the strongest and heaviest players on the team.
Travis’s position is running back. His job on offense is to try to break through the defensive line, a position that demands both power and running speed.
And the core of the entire team is, without a doubt, the Quarterback. The requirements for this position are far more comprehensive. The Quarterback directs who blocks whom and who makes a break for it; he is the brain of the team. When necessary, he can even run the ball himself to break through the opponent’s defensive line.
Coach Miller laughed for a good while before stopping.
"Hmm... kid," he said, looking at Li Wei’s lean but toned build. "Have you ever played football before?"
Li Wei shook his head.
"But you still want to try out for Quarterback?"
Li Wei nodded.
"Listen, since you have no track record and have never played Quarterback before," Miller said, suppressing a laugh, "there’s no way I’m just going to let you take over."
"Then can you give me a chance?" Li Wei was unfazed. "How do I prove myself?"
Coach Miller turned to look at the field, took the whistle from his neck and blew it sharply. He beckoned over several of his starting defensive players, all built like iron towers. A cruel smirk played on his lips.
"On my team, a Quarterback doesn’t just need to know how to throw the ball. He needs to survive against beasts weighing over 265 pounds," Miller said, tucking a clipboard under his arm. "Since you think you’ve got what it takes, we’ll do something simple. Red zone offense. The final five yards. You take the ball. If you can get into the end zone, I’ll give you a shot."
[You have triggered a mission in the ’Dueling Court’: Triumph!]
[As a Knight, you must use true strength to shatter the doubts of others. Triumph!]
[Mission Reward: Free Attribute Points +0.1]
[Hidden Reward: Based on the degree of strength displayed, you can receive up to an additional 0.1 Free Attribute Points.]
Hearing this ridiculous demand, Travis’s eyes widened and he was about to speak, but Li Wei stopped him.
"Isn’t this racial discrimination?" Li Wei asked, carefully eyeing the behemoths who were each two sizes bigger than him. "As far as I know, a Quarterback’s abilities don’t require powerful breakthrough skills."
"Discrimination? No. As long as you can prove your strength, I treat every goddamn race the same. And if you’re a useless piece of shit with no balls, I’ll kick your ass," Miller shrugged. "This is my team! What I say goes on my team. Even the principal couldn’t change my mind."
"Fuck your mother, you stupid nigger," Li Wei said calmly in Chinese.
"But you said it yourself? If I can make a touchdown, I’m on the team?" he asked, switching back to English.
"That’s right," Miller knew Li Wei was cursing him, but he didn’t care. He was practically gloating. "I keep my word."
"Wait, Coach, something’s up!" Manu suddenly recognized Li Wei, his expression changing drastically. He immediately raised his hand. "Coach, I have to use the bathroom!"
"You dumbass, you’re always full of shit. Get lost!" Miller said, annoyed. He picked another defensive tackle, slightly smaller than Manu. "Tony, you’re up!"
"Are there any spare pads?" Li Wei readily accepted. "You don’t expect me to go in without protection, do you?"
Although Miller looked down on Li Wei from the bottom of his heart, he didn’t dare let him go on the field without any pads. He had a player bring over a spare set of pads for Li Wei to put on, and even gave him a brand-new mouthguard.
Then, he had the three defensive tackles get into position, standing shoulder to shoulder on the five-yard line. They were so large they practically blocked out all the sunlight in Li Wei’s line of sight.
The moment Miller put the whistle to his lips, Li Wei activated [Berserk]!
[Strength 1.8] -> [Strength 3.6]
[Constitution 1.5] -> [Constitution 3.0]
[Agility 1.6] -> [Agility 3.2]
"THUMP—THUMP—THUMP—"
Li Wei could clearly hear his own heartbeat. His entire body felt like it had been set on fire, and the sound of blood rushing through his veins was like a great, surging river.
"Go!"
With a blast from Coach Miller’s whistle, Li Wei shot forward like a lit cannonball. He clutched the ball and charged straight for the center of the defensive line, following the simple, unadorned logic that a straight line is the shortest distance between two points.
The world blurred in front of Tony, the player in the middle. Before he could even react, he felt as if he were flying, his entire body sailing uncontrollably to the side.
His body, weighing over 265 pounds, seemed to be made of paper in front of Li Wei. He was mercilessly blown aside, creating a gap in the line.
Seeing this, the two tackles on either side pounced like madmen from the flanks. One wrapped his arms around Li Wei’s waist, while the other simply jumped up and hung from Li Wei’s shoulders, trying to drag him down.
This was a common football tactic: piling on top of a player to pin them down and break the offense.
Yet, under the immense pressure, Li Wei’s steps faltered for less than half a second.
Empowered by 3.6 Strength, his power had completely surpassed human limits. His legs pumped like hydraulic pistons, and his whole body became a bulldozer at full throttle, forcefully shoving the two ’mountains of meat’ backward!
No matter how the two linemen, with a combined weight of over 550 pounds, tried to stop him—even digging their cleats into the turf—their efforts were as futile as a mantis trying to stop a chariot before Li Wei’s strength.
Their weight was their fortress wall, but today, before Li Wei, that so-called wall was as laughable as a mound of dirt washed away by a tsunami.
One step! Two steps! Three steps!
As Li Wei took the final step, his center of gravity pitched forward, and he crashed heavily over the white line of the end zone, carrying the two men still clinging to him. The entire field fell deathly silent.
[Mission Complete: Triumph!]
[This was a perfect, crushing victory!]
[Reward: Free Attribute Points +0.2]
