New Challenge

Lin Yuan ate a couple of rice cakes, then got to his feet to warm up.

The most important action scene was about to be filmed, and eating too much would not be appropriate.

"Are you really not going to change this action scene? Even Jackie Chan might not have been able to pull it off when he was young," Meng Tao advised.

"You know this movie doesn't have enough selling points. How can I not go all out?"

"Even if you insist on doing this, couldn't you film it during the day? Visibility is so poor at night. It's much more dangerous."

"The atmosphere at night will make it scarier. You can't get that effect during the day. If you're worried about me, then help me check the reliability of the equipment one more time." Lin Yuan smiled.

"You're unbelievable!" Meng Tao stopped trying to persuade him and ran off to inspect the equipment.

Seeing Meng Tao's actions, Director Johnston, who was not far away, also rose to his feet with some concern.

A staff member beside him could not help asking:

"Director, are you worried?"

"Yes. I want to stop him, but my reason won't allow me to do that." The director nodded.

"I understand. If Lin succeeds tonight, we'll have a classic scene that will go down in film history."

"By the way, I heard you set up bets for tonight's scene?" the director asked.

"Yes..."

The staff member was somewhat embarrassed to say it aloud. Would the director chew them out for gambling on this?

But Director Johnston asked, "What are the odds?"

"Two to one for getting it in one take."

There was no option for succeeding in two or more takes. Failing once would be bad enough; there would be no chance to try again.

The director froze when he heard those odds. What kind of ridiculous odds were those?

He did not think Lin Yuan had a high chance of getting it in one take. Just two to one? The risk and reward were completely disproportionate!

"And people are placing bets?"

"The total wager has reached two hundred thousand dollars," the staff member answered.

"Then what are the odds for total failure?"

The director asked curiously. That was the likeliest outcome, so surely the most people would bet on it?

"There aren't any."

"There aren't any?"

Director Johnston found it absurd. Who set up bets like that? Wouldn't the bookie be almost guaranteed to profit?

"That's right. Everyone agreed on it. If Lin unfortunately fails, all the wagered money will go to him."

The director immediately understood. Everyone was worried that if something happened to Lin Yuan, this crowdfunded money might at least provide him with some security in the future.

Insurance companies always turned away action actors who did these "suicidal" stunts, so they endured injuries without any protection at all.

That was why the entire crew was using this method to express their support and concern for Lin Yuan.

Director Johnston could not help feeling moved as well. Smiling, he asked, "Who's the bookie? If Lin Yuan really succeeds in one take, won't he be paying through the nose?"

"It's Meng Tao. At first, we didn't plan to set up bets. We only wanted to pool money together directly. But Meng Tao came over and said Lin Yuan wouldn't accept it that way, so we had to go about it indirectly. He offered to be the bookie."

Hearing that answer, the director smiled.

What Meng Tao? How could a stuntman possibly have the money to cover the payouts as the bookie?

There was no need to think about it. Lin Yuan must have asked Meng Tao to step forward on his behalf.

Lin Yuan had seen the crew's kindness in pooling money together to give him some protection, so he had simply set up this bet and acted as the bookie himself to repay everyone's goodwill.

But was he really that confident?

"You asked me earlier whether I was worried?"

"Yes, Director."

"I'm not worried anymore! Do me a favor."

"Hm?"

"Raise the odds on Lin Yuan succeeding to three to one. I'll cover the additional payout!"

Director Johnston was filled with bold spirit at that moment.

He truly liked this crew. Their kindness deserved a greater reward.

As for spending an extra two hundred thousand dollars, he did not care in the slightest. If Lin Yuan succeeded, his share of the box office profits would only increase.

He liked Lin Yuan as well. At that moment, Director Johnston suddenly understood why Director Cohen admired this young Chinese man so much.

Brave, smart, and full of humanity...

He smiled at Lin Yuan, his gaze gentle.

Lin Yuan, who had already finished warming up, also smiled and waved, signaling that they could begin filming.

Seeing this, Director Johnston picked up his walkie-talkie. "Are all departments ready?"

"Camera tracks in position!"

"Lighting team in position!"

"Medical emergency team in position!"

At the center of attention, Lin Yuan calmly asked the system to assess the difficulty and success rate of this action scene.

Action Scene Danger Level: C. Host success rate: 70%.

Completing an action scene of this difficulty will earn 2 attribute points.

When he had just finished filming The Fast and the Furious, the system had assessed his success rate for C-level difficulty at only 50%.

After acquiring Master Parkour and gaining one point each in strength and constitution, his success rate had risen to 70%.

It was worth the gamble.

Today's action scene would also be shot on location in a long take.

He would film a scene of fleeing through a forest while being chased by a pack of velociraptors.

Lin Yuan focused with every ounce of his attention, because he knew he had only one chance, whether he succeeded or failed.

"Action!"

Smack!

The instant the clapperboard snapped shut, three velociraptors leaped out and closed in on Lin Yuan in a triangular formation.

Lin Yuan turned and ran at the sight of them, with the velociraptors close behind.

The entire escape route had been meticulously designed and arranged by Lin Yuan, allowing his Master Parkour skills to be fully displayed.

In the rugged woodland, Lin Yuan ran like a swift cheetah, constantly dodging obstacles such as rocks.

But no matter what, a human could not outrun wild beasts. The velociraptors had already caught up.

One of them opened its blood-filled jaws and lunged forward. In the next second, its sharp teeth would tear Lin Yuan to pieces.

At that moment, Lin Yuan drove off hard with his right foot and launched himself into the air.

He executed a stylish backflip in midair, bent his legs to gather force, then kicked off a large tree and used the momentum to complete a beautiful rebound jump.

This was a wall-kick long jump in parkour. Performed at Lin Yuan's Master Level, with a backflip linked into it first, it looked even more dazzling.

All of this relied not only on his technique, but also displayed Lin Yuan's exceptionally powerful physique.

The velociraptors clearly had not expected their prey to do something like that. After rebounding off the tree and coming back toward them, they could not stop in time due to their immense momentum.

Thud!

One of the velociraptors failed to dodge in time and slammed viciously into the tree, going limp as it blacked out.

"Beautiful! That backflip into the rebound jump!" Director Johnston shouted excitedly.

"Clean and decisive. Even Jackie Chen would be no better!"

"Those powerful thighs... I really want to touch them. I'd even pay for it!" a female staff member said dreamily.

"You're such a pervert, but count me in," another female staff member said.