Chapter 207: No Skill, All Stats (4500 characters) (Patreon)

Minami Yuji was flying.

Actually flying.

First he gave a small hop and kicked off the left wall.

Then, riding that outrageous rebound, he shot up more than two meters in an instant, his body pressed against the right wall.

Then another kick off the right wall.

His whole body surged up another big stretch.

And all of it was done in a second or two.

It looked as though Minami Yuji were truly flying along the wall.

He was impossibly light, as if gravity didn't exist for this young man.

Even Kakiya Kenji stood there with his mouth hanging open, utterly incredulous.

It wasn't the left-and-right wall climb itself that stunned him.

For a professional stunt performer, the twin walls were a little tricky, but that was all. Plenty of pros could scale them as easily as Minami Yuji just had, even without equipment.

But the problem was…

Those stunt performers had undergone years of professional training!

That's right.

Moves that looked effortless hid countless hours of sweat and hard work.

You started with the shortest wall, two and a half meters, learning how to generate force and which postures gave you better friction.

Once you got comfortable, you moved up to four meters, then five…

And all the while you used gear to protect yourself from injury.

It was an incredibly gradual process.

But what about Minami Yuji, standing right there?

What on earth was wrong with this actor?!

From Kakiya's point of view, Minami Yuji's rhythm on the wall was absurdly bad! After the left foot kicked off, the right side always hesitated for a beat.

And that wasn't all.

Rhythm aside…

What was up with that posture?!

Normally, for this kind of left-right wall climb, a performer keeps his body as close to the wall as possible.

That gives the legs room to extend and drive.

But Minami Yuji? What was he even doing?

One stomp on the left, one stomp on the right.

Forget staying close to the wall.

The space his legs had to extend into was tiny…

Yet that sloppy, irregular form, the kind that made even a professional action director like him frown, still got him up the wall at least two seconds faster than the performers he'd taught by hand. A full third faster!

Scene after scene, it completely overturned everything Kakiya Kenji understood about stunt performers.

By his estimate, with Minami Yuji's wretched rhythm and form, with no technique and no experience, there was absolutely no way he'd reach the top. At best he'd scrape the wall and slide right back down.

But…

Kakiya Kenji instinctively raised his head.

At the very top of the wall, Minami Yuji was lying across the edge, smiling and waving down at him.

What on earth was going on?

Kakiya Kenji honestly couldn't make sense of it.

He had seen professional stunt performers with naturally explosive power and great strength.

Even if their moves weren't textbook and their form wasn't refined, their superb physiques got them to the top and through all kinds of training.

But even they were nowhere near Minami Yuji.

Because they were merely "not textbook." They still had the professionalism and experience a stunt performer should have.

Minami Yuji had not one shred of technique or experience.

It was pure brute force, the kind that sends bricks flying.

If you wanted to put it in a currently popular phrase…

it would probably be:

"No technique, no talent… it's all stats!"

Kakiya Kenji tilted his head back, staring at Minami Yuji at the top of the wall, and his mouth fell open once more.

…

Minami Yuji came down the stairs behind the wall, and before he could say a word, Kakiya Kenji beside him voiced his displeasure.

"Minami-kun! What do you think you're doing?! That's dangerous, you know! Even our professionals have to be tied to a safety line on a six-meter wall like that!"

Honestly, his reaction was understandable.

What Minami Yuji had done really was dangerous.

Using the facility without permission was bad enough, and he hadn't even put on a safety line.

That wall was a full six meters tall.

It wouldn't kill anyone, but if Minami Yuji lost his grip partway and fell from the edge at three or four meters, a fracture was very likely.

Even worse, Minami Yuji was the foremost actor of the industry's new generation, and a minor.

If something happened on his grounds, if anything went wrong, he, as the adult, would bear the main responsibility.

He wouldn't be able to pay it off even if he emptied out his whole studio!

Minami Yuji, of course, knew his move just now had been rather impulsive, and apologized at once.

"I'm sorry, Coach Kakiya. I was just curious what this equipment was for. Please rest assured, it won't happen again."

His voice was sincere, with no hint of pretense.

Kakiya Kenji just looked at him, then let out a heavy sigh.

"Fine. Honestly, it was partly my fault too, for not supervising properly as the adult here, but—"

His voice paused, and he held up a finger with a serious expression.

"Please, please don't let it happen a second time, okay?"

"Absolutely, absolutely."

Minami Yuji smiled apologetically and nodded again and again.

He wasn't Ruby Hoshino, who insisted on doing exactly what people told her not to.

"All right, since you say so, Minami-kun, let's get to the main topic." Kakiya Kenji's expression shifted, his eyes brimming with curiosity. "How did you do that just now?"

It couldn't be helped. No professional action director could watch what Minami Yuji had just done without being curious.

How had he reached the top with such wretched rhythm and form?

In answer to the question, Minami Yuji replied very simply.

"'How'… You just kick off the left, then the right, and you're up, no? Is that hard?"

He gestured casually as he answered, and by the end he was even giving Kakiya Kenji a puzzled look.

As if Kakiya Kenji were the one who'd asked something strange.

But the problem was…

The strange one here was obviously you, okay?!

Under Minami Yuji's gaze, Kakiya Kenji really couldn't hold it together anymore.

What the hell kind of "kick left, kick right, and you're up" was that?

Did he think this was one of those bouncy bubble walls in a kids' playground, where anyone could just climb up?

He was speechless.

But at the same time, having heard Minami Yuji's words, he'd also settled one thing for good.

This black-haired young man really was a stat freak!

And a downright terrifying one at that!

Those terrifying stats even stirred a flicker of anticipation in Kakiya Kenji.

Because brute force alone let the guy pull this off.

So if he got Kakiya Kenji's personal instruction… what would Minami Yuji evolve into?

Technique and experience, plus absurdly high stats…

Thinking of that,

Kakiya Kenji's interest flared at once.

Without hesitation, he spoke up. "In that case, let's start your training right now, Minami-kun."

That's right!

He wanted to see whether this industry prodigy could fully absorb everything he taught over the coming days.

…

"Hff…"

He exhaled a heavy plume of smoke, then raised his wrist.

"Already five in the afternoon. By my count, Minami-kun's training should be wrapped up for today."

Glancing at the time, Nakashima Tetsuya set down the documents in his hand.

After dropping Minami Yuji off at Kakiya's studio, he had left right away.

After all, he wasn't an actor like Minami Yuji.

As the director, besides keeping an eye on the lead's training progress, he also had to handle location scouting, negotiations with shooting venues, and more.

So ever since returning to the crew, he'd been busy until just now, when he could finally take a short break.

By his count, Minami Yuji's training for the day should be over.

After a moment's thought, Nakashima Tetsuya took his phone from his coat, softly blew out another breath of smoke, and dialed Kakiya Kenji, who was in charge of the instruction.

The call connected surprisingly fast.

It rang maybe twice.

Then Kakiya Kenji picked up on the other end.

"Hello, Kakiya-san? Sorry for calling out of the blue. I wanted to ask how Minami-kun's training went today. Does he have a knack for this sort of thing?"

Stubbing out his cigarette, Nakashima Tetsuya asked.

It seemed like a perfectly ordinary question.

After all, Minami Yuji was the lead, and in a sense his performance would affect the shooting schedule of the whole film.

At least Nakashima Tetsuya saw nothing wrong with what he'd said.

But in response to this utterly normal question, Kakiya Kenji on the other end suddenly burst out laughing.

The laugh sounded like relief, but really it was the sound of a man at his wits' end.

It made Nakashima Tetsuya blink.

What was going on?

Could it be that Minami Yuji had no talent whatsoever, and Kakiya Kenji had been "tortured" all day long?

But that didn't seem right either.

In his memory, Kakiya Kenji was a very driven young man.

As long as Minami Yuji was diligent and eager to learn, even without much talent, Kakiya Kenji should have taught him patiently.

So what was this?

Why would Kakiya Kenji burst out in a laugh of relief while teaching?

He couldn't make sense of it.

Soon, though, he heard Kakiya Kenji's voice settle after a pause.

"It's not even a question of whether he has talent… That guy, Minami-kun… he's just… way too talented!"

His voice stuttered, and he said something Nakashima Tetsuya had never imagined hearing.

"Huh?"

The fingers stubbing out the cigarette stopped for a moment.

Nakashima Tetsuya truly didn't understand now.

The main point was that Minami Yuji had talent.

Wasn't that a great thing?

It would save training time and shorten the shooting schedule, so the film could hit theaters sooner.

Even Kakiya Kenji would have less teaching work…

Wasn't it all good news?

So why did Kakiya Kenji's voice carry not one trace of "joy" and instead sound like a man questioning his whole existence?

Perhaps sensing what was on Nakashima Tetsuya's mind, Kakiya Kenji on the other end finally cracked.

"His talent goes way beyond that kind of thing!"

A sound came over the line like someone clutching his head, and Nakashima Tetsuya could almost picture Kakiya Kenji on the other end, staring at his phone and doubting his entire life.

"Can you imagine it, Director Nakashima? Whatever I teach him, he gets it after one look, and the next second he reproduces it perfectly."

It was true.

Kakiya Kenji could hardly believe how he'd gotten through this whole afternoon.

Rather than him teaching Minami Yuji,

it was more that Minami Yuji took one glance and copied the movement flawlessly.

The man was like a printer.

His learning ability was frighteningly strong.

Breakfalls, wall straddling, front flips, back flips, even the wall-kick backflip required for Dragon Among Men.

Minami Yuji only had to watch the first demonstration, and by the second he could do it himself.

The kicker was that his moves were cleaner and more polished than Kakiya's own!

That performance had made even Kakiya Kenji doubt his life choices on the spot.

He'd suffered countless hardships in Hong Kong, China, taken plenty of falls, and endured plenty of pain to reach his current position.

And Minami Yuji?

The guy was simply plug-and-play!

What was he, a Cybertronian?

He'd originally figured it would take at least ten days or half a month to get Minami Yuji through the basics, so he could apply them perfectly during filming.

But now…?

Ten days or half a month? Who needed that?

Kakiya Kenji reckoned that by tomorrow Minami Yuji would have sucked him dry like a mummy.

And on top of that, the guy's stats were terrifyingly high.

One casual jump took him higher than Kakiya himself was tall.

His movements were crisp and clean, with an obvious grounding in fighting.

That made teaching him smoother and easier still.

Was that a good thing? Of course it was.

It saved him a huge amount of time.

But the problem was…

"Can the human species really do something this ridiculous?"

By the end, Kakiya Kenji, who had just realized for the first time how vast the gap between people could be, posed the question in a dazed voice.

"…" Nakashima Tetsuya.

Nakashima Tetsuya was speechless.

What was all this about?

He never imagined that simply asking Kakiya Kenji to help coach Minami Yuji would somehow turn out like this.

Doubting his life was one thing, but now he was dragging in questions about "the human species"…

Was that really necessary?

He shook his head, thinking Kakiya Kenji's words were wildly exaggerated, but out of politeness he exchanged a few pleasantries before ending the call.

Meanwhile, on the other side of town,

"Mm… That was a fruitful session."

After parking his motorcycle and recalling the day's lessons, Minami Yuji nodded, thoroughly satisfied.

It had indeed been fruitful.

Minami Yuji had never systematically studied action work before.

He hadn't known there were so many ins and outs.

Even a simple fall had plenty of nuances.

How to fall, at what angle, whether to tense the body or keep it loose, how to avoid injury… all of it mattered.

With his 9 points of Learning, his Level 9 Learning skill, plus Level 8 Physique and Level 9 Modern Combat Arts,

Minami Yuji felt he had more or less absorbed everything Kakiya Kenji had explained.

Only…

"Something about Kakiya-san's expression toward the end seemed a little off."

Rubbing his chin, Minami Yuji replayed the changes in Kakiya Kenji's face.

At the start, the man had undoubtedly been thrilled and interested.

There were all the explanations, plus videos, plus hands-on demonstrations.

But partway through, Minami Yuji clearly felt his enthusiasm drop sharply, and now and then he'd look at Yuji with the eyes of someone who'd found an alien.

Minami Yuji found it hard to understand.

He was just learning some moves, right?

Was that really worth staring at him like that?

It bothered him a little, but since the explanations stayed meticulous, he didn't say anything.

Thinking about it now…

"Could it be that I have no foundation and only so-so talent…?"

Minami Yuji's eyebrows twitched.

But that couldn't be right either.

His learning skill, his physique, and the rest of his base stats were all right there.

His talent couldn't possibly be mediocre.

Yet Kakiya Kenji's enthusiasm dropping later on was a hard fact.

Minami Yuji hummed thoughtfully, then simply shook his head.

Never mind.

He'd go again tomorrow.

At the very least, he'd work harder than today! Give it everything he had!

And make Kakiya Kenji satisfied!