From American Internet Celebrity to God Among Men

15: Chapter 15 On Set, Games and Out-of-Control AR GlassesThe set of the movie ’Messenger 2077’ was filled with a peculiar scent—a mixture of burning plastic, dust, and cheap hairspray. This was an abandoned auto repair warehouse, transformed by the art department into a ”Post-Apocalyptic Communication Hub”—everywhere were fake pipes wrapped in duct tape, flickering LED tubes, and piles of foam plastic sprayed with rust-colored paint.

Alex, wearing the crew’s distressed dark brown jumpsuit with a few streaks of grease on his face, was listening to the stunt coordinator explain the scene they were about to shoot: the messenger he played needed to traverse this cluttered hub, move quickly using environmental cover during the gaps between the virtual scans of several ”guardian robots” (added in post-production via CG), and finally jump over a broken mesh floor, grabbing a hanging cable to slide down to the lower level.

The movement itself wasn’t complicated, but it required high precision in timing and fluidity to match the rhythm of the post-production special effects.

”Understood, I’ll run through it once,” Alex nodded. He walked to the starting position and looked around. The cluttered obstacles in the warehouse, the light and shadow zones projected by the lights, and the movement markers on the ground were automatically constructed into a clear, time-stamped optimal path within his enhanced Dynamic Vision. He could even predict that if he jumped using that tilted metal plate for leverage, the seemingly stable cardboard box prop next to the landing spot was actually a bit wobbly.

”Action!” the director shouted.

Alex moved. He didn’t display exaggerated ”superhuman” speed, but every step landed precisely on the designated safety points. His muscle control during the roll was excellent, appearing agile without kicking up too much dust that would affect the shoot. When jumping onto the tilted metal plate, he deliberately chose a more stable edge for his landing, pushed off lightly, his body stretching out, and landed silently like a cat. The entire process was smooth and fluid; he nailed it in one take.

”Cut! Very good!” The director looked at the monitor, quite satisfied. ”Alex, your positioning is very accurate; it saved us a lot of trouble. Keep it up!”

The next shot required him to jump down from a stack of cargo crates about two and a half meters high, and at the moment of landing, perform a side roll to hide behind a low wall. The crates were made of solid wood and sturdy, but the surface was a bit slippery.

Alex climbed up and stood on the edge. Below was a floor covered with soft mats, but the landing area was small, and filming equipment was right next to it.

”Do you need a stunt double? This height is a bit...” the stunt coordinator asked, looking up.

”I’ll try it first.” Alex took a deep breath and focused. His enhanced neurological reflexes brought his body control to a new level. He eyed the landing spot and jumped lightly.

In the air, his sense of time seemed to subtly stretch. He could clearly perceive his body’s posture, the speed of his descent, and the flow of the surrounding air. This gave him enough time to make micro-adjustments in mid-air, ensuring his feet touched the ground at the optimal angle. At the moment of landing, the impact was smoothly conducted and dispersed; he followed through with a side roll, the movement clean and crisp, stopping exactly on the marker behind the low wall.

”Good!” The stunt coordinator couldn’t help but shout, ”Beautiful! That core strength and control are amazing!”

The director also laughed: ”Alex, were you a gymnast before? You’ve even saved us the need for safety gear.”

A few young female crew members and makeup assistants on set gathered together, watching Alex with bright eyes and whispering: ”That move he just made when jumping down... so handsome!” ”He looks even better in person than in the videos. He makes that jumpsuit look like something a model would wear.” ”I heard he’s a student at USC? With looks and skills like that, it’s a waste not to be a movie star.”

Alex brushed the dust off himself and responded to the surrounding praise with a polite smile, though he thought to himself: This enhanced body control really makes filming action scenes twice as effective with half the effort.

The day’s shooting ended, and the director specifically came over and patted him on the shoulder: ”High efficiency today. Tomorrow you have a major scene, a chase sequence on the top floor of the parking garage that requires more Parkour moves. Prepare well.”

”No problem, Director.”

Leaving the set, Alex went straight to the testing location agreed upon with the Reality Maze company—underneath that abandoned railway bridge where graffiti was permitted. The person in charge, Leo, was already waiting there with a bulging backpack and a ruggedized tablet in his hand.

”Alex! Just in time!” Leo excitedly came up to greet him, ”Today we’re testing the new version of the AR navigation and obstacle marking system. We’ve optimized the brightness and fit of the virtual indicator lines, and added dynamic difficulty adjustment—changing the timing and density of virtual obstacles based on your real-time speed and position.”

He handed Alex a pair of AR glasses that looked lighter with larger lenses, and a micro-sensor to be attached to his arm. ”Put this on. The goal of the game is to follow the green light path, avoid the suddenly appearing red virtual obstacle walls, and complete a gesture ’hack’ in front of designated ’Data Nodes’ (which are the specific graffiti spots on those bridge piers). The whole process will be timed and your movement efficiency evaluated.”

Alex put on the equipment and started the program. Instantly, a translucent digital layer was superimposed over the real world before his eyes: clear green arrows and light bands flowed on the ground, rotating blue cubes floated on several bridge piers, and a huge virtual halo marked the entrance to the bridge tunnel in the distance.

”Ready? Go!” Leo swiped on the tablet.

Alex immediately started running along the green light flow. It went smoothly at first; the AR indicators were clear and perfectly aligned with the real environment. He easily avoided the red light walls that suddenly ”rose” from the ground, quickly ran to the first graffiti pier, and followed the prompt to complete a virtual swipe-to-unlock gesture; the blue cube ”popped” and exploded into particle effects.

”Nice!” Leo watched the data jumping on the tablet. But as the test progressed, the difficulty began to increase. Virtual obstacles appeared faster and denser, and started ”popping out” from 3D space, not just limited to the ground. Alex had to increase his speed, change direction and jump more frequently, and even use the steel beam structure of the railway bridge itself to evade them.

His enhanced reflexes and Dynamic Vision played a huge role at this moment. The AR prompts and fast-flashing obstacles, which might be dazzling to an ordinary person, were clear and organized in his eyes. He could predict the appearance position of the virtual walls a fraction of a second in advance, plan the most effortless evasion route, and his gesture unlocking was fast and accurate.

”Holy... Is that human reaction speed?” Leo stared, dumbfounded, at Alex’s efficiency curve on the tablet, which far exceeded the test model. ”Our AI thought you couldn’t keep up, but it turns out you ran right through the difficulty curve preset by the AI!”

The test entered the final stage, which was also the most complex part: he needed to pass quickly through a narrow passage under the bridge stacked with old tires and debris, while dealing with a ”siege” of virtual obstacles from multiple directions.

Alex was fully focused, his body weaving rapidly between physical obstacles and virtual light walls, his movements fast and steady. Just as he was about to pass through the passage, the display area of the AR glasses for his right eye suddenly flickered violently a few times, and then turned into a blinding screen of static noise!

”Damn it!” He instinctively wanted to stop, but his body was still rushing forward due to inertia. The view his left eye saw was the normal green path and the last Data Node, while his right eye was a mess of interference. His enhanced neurological reflexes saved him at this moment. He didn’t panic; instead, he instantly blocked out the chaotic information from his right eye, relying entirely on the clear vision remaining in his left eye and his body’s memory and perception of the real space. He made micro-adjustments to his steps, narrowly brushing past the edge of a real old wooden crate, and then stopped precisely in front of the last graffiti pier, completing the final unlocking gesture.

”Done!” He gasped for air and ripped off the malfunctioning AR glasses.

Leo ran over holding the tablet, looking apologetic and shocked: ”Sorry, sorry! The prototype glasses just overloaded; there’s a heat dissipation issue! Are you okay? That last part... you basically ran half of it blind? And you still finished??”

”The right eye display went fuzzy, so I relied on my left eye and my senses.” Alex calmed his breathing, feeling a lingering fear in his heart. If he didn’t have the enhanced reflexes, he likely would have crashed into something just now.

”Too strong... that adaptability is incredible.” Leo said, checking the glasses while clicking his tongue in wonder, ”But this also exposes a big problem: the equipment reliability isn’t up to par. But your test data is so valuable, especially your reactions and adaptation strategies in extreme situations! This will help us optimize our safety redundancy!”

The test ended, and the two sat by the pier to rest. Leo gulped down some water, looked at Alex, and suddenly said: ”Seriously, Alex, have you considered turning this ’AR Real-World Parkour’ into content? Not game testing, but like your previous videos—more artistic, more watchable short films. Our company can provide the latest stable version of the equipment and technical support, and even some exclusive access to small venues.”

His eyes lit up: ”Think about it, Parkour interwoven with reality and virtuality—the visual effects would be absolutely explosive! We could co-brand the release; it would be excellent publicity for both of us. Plus, the process itself can continue to help us optimize the system.”

Alex felt a stir in his heart. This idea was indeed great. Combining AR virtual elements with the real-world Parkour and visual storytelling he excelled at, to create an unprecedented video experience... This was the perfect opportunity to showcase his comprehensive abilities while attracting greater attention.

”Sounds interesting,” he said cautiously but with interest, ”We can talk about it in detail.”

”Great!” Leo rubbed his hands excitedly.

With the preliminary concept for the new project and a pair of AR prototype glasses that needed repairs, Alex returned to his apartment. Although he had experienced a small accident today, the harvest was bountiful: the movie shoot went smoothly, the AR test found problems but also demonstrated value, and it also facilitated a new content collaboration with huge potential.

He took a shower, looked at his body in the mirror, slightly glistening from the exercise, and felt the power contained within his muscles, more easily controlled than before. The skill of Neurological Reflexes and Dynamic Visual Enhancement was no longer just about ”seeing clearly” and ”reacting fast”; it was blending deeper into his action instincts, allowing him to handle the complex challenges of the real world with more composure.

The system interface appeared; his popularity had steadily grown to around 6500 points, stimulated by the small amount of leaked footage from the movie shoot and the anticipation of the upcoming new project. He scanned the store; several new skill options related to ”Creative Tech Fusion” or ”Extreme Environment Adaptability” were glowing slightly because of today’s AR testing experience, as if tempting him.

But he suppressed the urge to redeem them immediately. There was still a movie chase scene to film tomorrow, and he needed to maintain his best physical condition. Besides, the new collaboration with Leo also needed careful planning.

He lay in bed, closing his eyes and recalling that sense of fragmentation under the railway bridge today—the static in his right eye and the clarity in his left, and the instinctive adjustments his body made in that instant. That feeling of walking on the edge of reality and virtuality, order and chaos, was dangerous, yet inexplicably... fascinating. Perhaps the next adventure in the ”Wonderful World” should begin at this very intersection.

Outside the window, the city lights were like another form of eternal, never-extinguishing neon. The corner of Alex’s mouth curled into an arc of anticipation in the darkness.

The chase on the set, the game testing, and the upcoming new creation that would interweave reality and virtuality... Life was truly getting more and more exciting.