Luke had only eaten a couple of rice cakes before standing up to warm up.
They were about to shoot one of the movie's most important action scenes—definitely not the time to eat too much.
"Are you sure you don't want to tweak this action sequence a bit?" Bob asked. "Even Brother Chen Long (Jackie Chan) in his younger days might've had a hard time pulling this one off."
"You already know this movie doesn't have a lot of selling points," Luke replied with a grin. "If I don't go all in, how are we supposed to make it work?"
"Even if you're dead set on doing it, why not shoot it during the day? The visibility at night is terrible—it's way more dangerous."
"That nighttime vibe is what makes it scary," Luke said, still smiling. "You can't get that same feeling in daylight. If you're worried, just double-check the setup for me, make sure everything's secure."
"You're insane!" Bob muttered, but he didn't argue further. He jogged off to recheck the equipment.
Seeing this, Director Johnston—standing not too far away—looked a bit uneasy and got to his feet as well.
One of the crew members noticed and asked, "Director, are you worried about him?"
"Yes," Johnston admitted. "I want to stop him, but rationally, I just… can't."
"I get it," the crew member said softly. "If Luke actually pulls this off tonight, we'll have a scene that goes down in film history."
"By the way," the director asked, "I heard you guys set up a betting pool for this scene?"
"Uh… yeah," the crew member said awkwardly. He figured he'd get chewed out for that.
But Johnston just asked, "So what are the odds?"
"Two-to-one if he pulls it off in one take."
There weren't any options for "two takes or more," since if Luke failed once, he'd probably be too injured to try again.
The director blinked. "Two-to-one? Seriously? That's it? The odds don't even match the risk!"
"And people are still betting on that?"
"Yeah. The total bets are up to about two hundred thousand dollars."
"What about betting on him failing completely?" Johnston asked curiously. "That's the most likely outcome, right?"
"There's no such bet."
"What do you mean, no such bet?"
Johnston was stunned. That made no sense—wasn't the house guaranteed to win otherwise?
"Yes, sir," the crew member said. "Everyone agreed on it. If Luke fails… all the money goes to him."
And then Johnston understood.
The crew was worried that if Luke got hurt—or worse—he'd be left with nothing. Since insurance companies never cover these "crazy stunt guys," this was their way of crowdfunding a safety net for him.
The entire crew was showing their love and support in the only way they could.
Johnston was genuinely moved. Smiling, he asked, "So who's the house? If Luke actually succeeds in one take, someone's gonna be out a lot of money."
"It's Bob," the crew member said. "At first we just wanted to pool the money together. But Bob said Luke wouldn't accept it that way, so he volunteered to act as the bookmaker instead."
Johnston chuckled.
There's no way Bob could afford to pay that out if Luke won. Obviously, Luke himself was behind this—he must've told Bob to do it.
Luke had seen the crew's goodwill and, instead of taking their money directly, turned it into a bet—a clever, humble way to return their kindness.
But was he really that confident?
"You asked if I was worried, right?" Johnston said suddenly.
"Yes, sir."
"Well, I'm not anymore," he said, eyes shining. "Do me a favor."
"What's that?"
"Raise the payout to three-to-one. I'll cover the extra."
Johnston's heart was full of pride and admiration for the crew. Their spirit deserved to be rewarded.
As for the extra twenty grand, he didn't care. If Luke succeeded, the box office returns would more than make up for it.
He genuinely liked this kid. At that moment, Johnston finally understood why Director Cohen admired this young actor so much—
Brave. Smart. And full of heart.
He smiled at Luke, who returned the gesture with a calm, confident wave, signaling that he was ready to start.
Johnston lifted his radio. "All departments, are we set?"
"Camera rig ready!"
"Lighting team ready!"
"Medical team in position!"
…
At the center of it all, Luke calmly asked his internal system: Assess the difficulty and success rate of this stunt.
> [Stunt danger level: C. Success rate: 70%.]
> [Completing this stunt will award 2 attribute points.]
After finishing Fast & Furious, the system had only rated his C-level stunts at a 50% success rate.
But now, with master-level parkour skills and increased strength and endurance, that number had risen to 70%.
Worth the risk.
The scene was to be shot in one take, no CGI, in a real forest set.
Luke would be sprinting through the woods, chased by three velociraptors.
He focused completely—he only had one shot at this, succeed or fail.
"Action!"
Clap!
As the slate snapped, three raptors lunged out of the dark, forming a triangle as they closed in on Luke.
He turned and bolted, the raptors crashing through the undergrowth behind him.
The entire chase path had been carefully designed to show off his parkour mastery.
Through uneven forest terrain, Luke moved like a panther—swift, fluid, precise—dodging rocks and branches with incredible agility.
But no matter how fast a man can run, he's still no match for a predator. One of the raptors leapt forward, jaws wide, ready to tear him apart—
At that exact moment, Luke pushed off hard with his right foot, launching himself into the air.
He twisted into a clean backflip, tucked his knees, then kicked off a nearby tree to spring himself backward in a stunning rebound jump.
It was a wall-jump long leap, a parkour move executed at a master's level, made even flashier by that mid-air backflip.
It took not just skill, but incredible physical power.
The raptors didn't expect that. They tried to stop, but their momentum was too strong.
Thud!
One of them slammed headfirst into a tree and collapsed.
"Beautiful! That backflip-to-rebound combo!" Director Johnston shouted, practically giddy.
"Clean and smooth—Jackie Chan himself couldn't do it better!"
"God, look at those thighs. I'd pay money just to touch them!" one female crew member swooned.
"You're such a freak," another woman giggled, "but count me in."
Luke had only eaten a couple of rice cakes before standing up to warm up.
They were about to shoot one of the movie's most important action scenes—definitely not the time to eat too much.
"Are you sure you don't want to tweak this action sequence a bit?" Bob asked. "Even Brother Chen Long (Jackie Chan) in his younger days might've had a hard time pulling this one off."
"You already know this movie doesn't have a lot of selling points," Luke replied with a grin. "If I don't go all in, how are we supposed to make it work?"
"Even if you're dead set on doing it, why not shoot it during the day? The visibility at night is terrible—it's way more dangerous."
"That nighttime vibe is what makes it scary," Luke said, still smiling. "You can't get that same feeling in daylight. If you're worried, just double-check the setup for me, make sure everything's secure."
"You're insane!" Bob muttered, but he didn't argue further. He jogged off to recheck the equipment.
Seeing this, Director Johnston—standing not too far away—looked a bit uneasy and got to his feet as well.
One of the crew members noticed and asked, "Director, are you worried about him?"
"Yes," Johnston admitted. "I want to stop him, but rationally, I just… can't."
"I get it," the crew member said softly. "If Luke actually pulls this off tonight, we'll have a scene that goes down in film history."
"By the way," the director asked, "I heard you guys set up a betting pool for this scene?"
"Uh… yeah," the crew member said awkwardly. He figured he'd get chewed out for that.
But Johnston just asked, "So what are the odds?"
"Two-to-one if he pulls it off in one take."
There weren't any options for "two takes or more," since if Luke failed once, he'd probably be too injured to try again.
The director blinked. "Two-to-one? Seriously? That's it? The odds don't even match the risk!"
"And people are still betting on that?"
"Yeah. The total bets are up to about two hundred thousand dollars."
"What about betting on him failing completely?" Johnston asked curiously. "That's the most likely outcome, right?"
"There's no such bet."
"What do you mean, no such bet?"
Johnston was stunned. That made no sense—wasn't the house guaranteed to win otherwise?
"Yes, sir," the crew member said. "Everyone agreed on it. If Luke fails… all the money goes to him."
And then Johnston understood.
The crew was worried that if Luke got hurt—or worse—he'd be left with nothing. Since insurance companies never cover these "crazy stunt guys," this was their way of crowdfunding a safety net for him.
The entire crew was showing their love and support in the only way they could.
Johnston was genuinely moved. Smiling, he asked, "So who's the house? If Luke actually succeeds in one take, someone's gonna be out a lot of money."
"It's Bob," the crew member said. "At first we just wanted to pool the money together. But Bob said Luke wouldn't accept it that way, so he volunteered to act as the bookmaker instead."
Johnston chuckled.
There's no way Bob could afford to pay that out if Luke won. Obviously, Luke himself was behind this—he must've told Bob to do it.
Luke had seen the crew's goodwill and, instead of taking their money directly, turned it into a bet—a clever, humble way to return their kindness.
But was he really that confident?
"You asked if I was worried, right?" Johnston said suddenly.
"Yes, sir."
"Well, I'm not anymore," he said, eyes shining. "Do me a favor."
"What's that?"
"Raise the payout to three-to-one. I'll cover the extra."
Johnston's heart was full of pride and admiration for the crew. Their spirit deserved to be rewarded.
As for the extra twenty grand, he didn't care. If Luke succeeded, the box office returns would more than make up for it.
He genuinely liked this kid. At that moment, Johnston finally understood why Director Cohen admired this young actor so much—
Brave. Smart. And full of heart.
He smiled at Luke, who returned the gesture with a calm, confident wave, signaling that he was ready to start.
Johnston lifted his radio. "All departments, are we set?"
"Camera rig ready!"
"Lighting team ready!"
"Medical team in position!"
…
At the center of it all, Luke calmly asked his internal system: Assess the difficulty and success rate of this stunt.
> [Stunt danger level: C. Success rate: 70%.]
> [Completing this stunt will award 2 attribute points.]
After finishing Fast & Furious, the system had only rated his C-level stunts at a 50% success rate.
But now, with master-level parkour skills and increased strength and endurance, that number had risen to 70%.
Worth the risk.
The scene was to be shot in one take, no CGI, in a real forest set.
Luke would be sprinting through the woods, chased by three velociraptors.
He focused completely—he only had one shot at this, succeed or fail.
"Action!"
Clap!
As the slate snapped, three raptors lunged out of the dark, forming a triangle as they closed in on Luke.
He turned and bolted, the raptors crashing through the undergrowth behind him.
The entire chase path had been carefully designed to show off his parkour mastery.
Through uneven forest terrain, Luke moved like a panther—swift, fluid, precise—dodging rocks and branches with incredible agility.
But no matter how fast a man can run, he's still no match for a predator. One of the raptors leapt forward, jaws wide, ready to tear him apart—
At that exact moment, Luke pushed off hard with his right foot, launching himself into the air.
He twisted into a clean backflip, tucked his knees, then kicked off a nearby tree to spring himself backward in a stunning rebound jump.
It was a wall-jump long leap, a parkour move executed at a master's level, made even flashier by that mid-air backflip.
It took not just skill, but incredible physical power.
The raptors didn't expect that. They tried to stop, but their momentum was too strong.
Thud!
One of them slammed headfirst into a tree and collapsed.
"Beautiful! That backflip-to-rebound combo!" Director Johnston shouted, practically giddy.
"Clean and smooth—Jackie Chan himself couldn't do it better!"
"God, look at those thighs. I'd pay money just to touch them!" one female crew member swooned.
"You're such a freak," another woman giggled, "but count me in."