From American Internet Celebrity to God Among Men

12: Chapter 12 Before scaling walls and rooftops, first settle the insurance issue.The ”toy” Eric sent arrived—a palm-sized, unremarkable black cube.

Alex connected it to his phone according to the instructions, and as soon as he opened the test app, his face on the screen was so clear he could count his eyelashes.

He tried waving his arm quickly; the image was as steady as if by magic, with no distortion in the background.

”This thing is actually pretty good,” he muttered, fixing the ultra-compact action camera onto the dedicated chest mount.

It was light, almost weightless.

Perfect.

With the equipment ready and skills in his arsenal, Alex rubbed his hands together, ready to get started.

He had long had his eye on an old industrial area downtown, filled with abandoned warehouses, crisscrossing fire escapes, staggered platforms, and back alleys where a few stubborn, old-fashioned neon lights flickered at night—it was practically a natural set for urban Parkour.

But just as he was planning the specific route and moves, the newly acquired knowledge of [Urban Environment Parkour (Mastery)] popped up in his mind like an internal navigation system, constantly flagging risks: ”Risk assessment: There is unidentified broken glass in the landing zone for this move; cleaning or avoidance is recommended.” ”Structural assessment: The target wall shows signs of weathering and peeling; exercise caution with load-bearing.” ”Route planning: The optimal path from Point A to Point B requires incorporating the flickering rhythm of the neon light at Point C at 23:07 to enhance the visual drama.”

That wasn’t all; the knowledge of [Basic Martial Arts Form and Aesthetic Power Generation] joined in as well.

When he conceived a simple wall-run backflip, it automatically optimized his power sequence and aerial posture: ”Knee angle can be adjusted by 3 degrees to increase initial takeoff speed; aerial tuck should be tighter to present a ’bullet leaving the chamber’ sense of lines; land with the toes first, follow through with knee flexion to absorb the impact, imagine you are a feather.”

Alex: ”...”

It felt like having a strict martial arts coach and safety consultant living in his head.

Fine, professionalism is a good thing.

He obediently followed the ”mental coach’s” prompts and did his homework before setting out: he scouted the target area during the day, took photos of environmental details with an ordinary camera, marked potential dangers and the best shooting angles, and even secretly cleaned up broken glass bottles in a few places.

He also precisely calculated the shooting window based on the neon lights’ power-on times.

A few nights later, under a moonless, windy sky (actually, it was just a bit cloudy), it was perfect for ”pulling off something big.”

Alex wore a dark gray, highly elastic, and inconspicuous training suit.

With the action camera strapped on, he slipped into the silent industrial area like a nocturnal cat.

For his first real-world attempt, he decided to start with a relatively simple route: jump from the top of a container about two meters high onto an adjacent low warehouse with a rusted tin roof, requiring a push-off from a protruding metal beam in the middle.

He stood on the edge of the container, taking a deep breath.

The night breeze was cool, and the ”Pawn Shop” neon light not far away was emitting a rhythmic, sickly red glow.

Deep in his body, the instincts of Parkour and martial arts were already activated; his muscles were slightly tense, full of elastic readiness.

Run-up, jump!

His body released like a spring compressed to the limit, stepping precisely onto the beam.

Making almost no sound, he used the faint rebound force to stretch out, gliding across the two or three-meter distance like a predatory night bird.

His other foot landed lightly on the edge of the warehouse roof, followed by a forward roll to dissipate the force, standing steady.

The whole sequence was completed in a few seconds, so fluid that even he was surprised.

The footage from the camera on his chest was incredibly stable, the perspective thrilling and immersive.

”Not bad!” he felt a surge of joy.

Sure enough, anything from the system is quality!

This money was well spent!

He stretched his limbs, feeling his body in peak condition, so he grew bolder and looked at the next target: a wall edge about four meters long and over three meters high.

He needed to run from the warehouse side, jump across, grab the edge with his bare hands, and pull himself up.