Culinary God in Wilderness

He’d already made the boast. If he didn’t eat it in front of countless viewers, there was no telling how much viewership his stream would lose.

He had joined the show for two reasons. One was to put a capstone on his thirty years of wilderness survival experience. The other, more pressing reason, was that he was desperately poor.

A man who spent all his time wandering the wilderness didn’t have a proper job. He could only occasionally take on work as a guide, which was nowhere near enough to support a family.

More importantly, for reasons he couldn’t bring himself to mention, he was in dire need of money right now.

The thought of his wife and daughter’s expectant gazes when they eventually reunited filled him with unparalleled courage. He picked up a piece of the bear paw and stuffed it into his mouth.

The moment it entered his mouth.

There was none of the gamy, rank taste he remembered, nor any other strange flavor. All he could taste was the mellow fragrance of soy sauce and a rich, perfectly balanced sweet-and-savory sauce.

The skinned and deboned bear paw was stewed until it was completely tender, almost like Jell-O. The softest parts hardly needed chewing; with a gentle slurp, they melted in his mouth.

Distributed throughout the paw were some chewier sections. He was familiar with the texture—it was the distinct feel of tendons found in an animal’s paw.

The difference was, the ones he had eaten before were so tough he could barely bite through them. It took ages of strenuous chewing just to break them down enough to swallow.

But this piece in his mouth was the complete opposite.

"Lin, did you just say you stewed this stuff for an entire night?"

"That’s right. It was my first time making it, so I wasn’t sure how long it would take to get tender. Plus, it was getting pretty late last night, so I just let it simmer slowly over the charcoal fire with the lid on. That kept the broth from boiling too hard and prevented the water from evaporating too quickly."

"So that’s how..."

He nodded thoughtfully, finally understanding why his previous attempts had been too tough to chew.

’Not enough cooking time!’

"So how did you get rid of the paw’s gamy smell?"

"...You can watch the replay of the show when you get back. These are the skills I rely on to survive, after all. If you learned all my tricks, wouldn’t I just be creating a powerful rival for myself?"

Andre’s expression froze. He gave an embarrassed smile, realizing he had indeed asked too many questions.

But even though the bear paw tasted good, he still couldn’t quite stomach the thick, gelatinous texture. For the sake of survival, however, forcing it down wasn’t difficult.

Eat to live, or spit it out and die. It was a simple principle.

He wouldn’t allow himself to waste food unless he was on the verge of physically gagging.

After they finished the bear paw, only the fragrant noodles remained in the pot. The frown on his face visibly smoothed out.

"SLURP—"

The firm yet smooth handmade noodles tasted completely different from what he’d imagined.

They didn’t have the hard texture of spaghetti; instead, they were very soft, yet with a perfect al dente firmness.

The thickness of the noodles was also perfect, allowing them to cling to the rich broth from the bear paw. That, combined with their own faint, wheaty aroma and saltiness, created a marvelous flavor he had never tasted before in his life.

"Hey, Lin, these noodles are amazing! They’re not like spaghetti, which doesn’t have much flavor on its own and relies entirely on the sauce. I feel like these would be delicious even by themselves."

This time, he was smart enough not to ask for the recipe. Even if he knew it, he couldn’t make them without flour. It was better not to ask and leave a good impression.

After finishing the strange yet delicious breakfast, Andre patted his full, round belly contentedly, but the smile on his face slowly turned bitter.

"Lin, I’m already starting to regret it."

"Regretting our partnership?" Lin Chen didn’t seem surprised, as if he had already guessed what Andre was thinking.

"Yeah," Andre nodded. "After I went back last week, I tried roasting some meat a few times with the method you taught me. It was definitely tastier than my old way, but I got sick of it after two days straight."

"Starting on the third day, I started missing your cooking like crazy. You have no idea how I managed to get through the next few days. Thankfully, I had crab soup and roasted grouse to add some variety."

"Once I go back this time, I’ll be stuck eating the same old stuff again. I could never replicate what you made today. The most I could try is the bone broth or the offal soup, but since I don’t know how to get rid of the gamy taste, it definitely won’t be as good as yours."

’The way he’s talking, anyone who didn’t know better would think I was torturing him!’

The two chatted inside for a while before Andre got up. He was ready to take Lin Chen to the river to check on the warehouse they had rushed to build the night before and see if any touch-ups were needed.

They had just gotten their gear on and stepped out of the yard, slipping through the small gate by the cliff face outside the fence. Before they could set off, they spotted a dark figure in the distance, heading their way across the snow.

"Hey, looks like we have another visitor."

Andre seemed even more excited than Lin Chen. After all, getting a taste of good food after living a hard life, only to have to go back to it, was pure torture.

’Misery loves company. This kind of suffering is best shared with everyone.’

Lin Chen hadn’t expected things to be so lively these past few days, with visitors showing up one after another. He decided not to leave just yet, waiting for the person to get closer to see what was happening.

Whether to cooperate was his decision alone. The competition was judged on survival duration and the value of hunted prey, after all. Too much cooperation would just be an unnecessary drain on his physical and mental energy, and it would disrupt his own routine.

As the dark figure drew closer, both men narrowed their eyes. They exchanged a glance, each seeing a flicker of surprise in the other’s eyes.

"Connor?"

"I thought that kid had run home with his tail between his legs. Didn’t expect him to actually come back."

"Look what he’s dragging behind him. It’s wrapped in a tarp. Must be something big, right?"

Andre had excellent eyesight, able to see that clearly from a hundred or two hundred meters away.

Skeptical, Lin Chen tried to look as well, but he found he could only make out Connor’s blurry facial features and the black dot he was dragging. The finer details were impossible to see.

Behind Connor, a smaller black dot flickered in and out of view. It was most likely the Coyote he had tamed.

"Interesting. That little fella is still around. Did he really manage to tame it?"

"That can’t be right. That’s a genuine wild Coyote, not some stray dog. A species that goes into a frenzy at the smell of blood... how can it coexist with a human?"

Both men were a bit stunned by the Coyote’s presence, since they had no way of knowing what Connor had been through.

Lin Chen nodded to himself. ’No wonder Robert told me Connor’s stream viewership caught up in just a few days, jumping into second place. Looks like I’d better not underestimate him.’

「A dozen or so minutes later.」

Connor finally appeared before them.

He was panting heavily, his face flushed red. With a look of pure triumph, he casually tossed the rope to Andre.

"Open it and take a look."

Behind him, the small Coyote stood quietly in the snow about ten meters away, showing no intention of approaching.

Andre grabbed the rope and gave it a tug.

It didn’t budge.

Surprised, he glanced up at Connor, then exchanged a look with Lin Chen. He wrapped the paracord around his hand, gripped it tightly, braced his core, and yanked with all his might.

The heavy bundle was dragged in front of him, carving a deep groove in the snow.

"Judging by the size, this has to be at least a medium-sized animal. A deer? Or a sheep?"

It could also be a Yukon Wolf, but Andre didn’t think that was very likely.

Connor only had himself and the Coyote, with no shelter for protection. It was highly unlikely he would risk attacking a wolf pack and being targeted by them in the wild.

As for animals of this size and weight, that basically left only those two possibilities.

He muttered to himself as he bent down and untied the bundle.

In an instant, the faint smell of blood hit him.

"A deer?"

He took a sniff and immediately confirmed his suspicion.

"Come on, Lin, I’ll help you carry it inside. Our partnership period isn’t over yet, after all. Leave the manual labor to me."

He hadn’t seen the entire animal and didn’t know the exact species, but he could tell from the feel that this deer weighed at least seventy kilograms.

’That kid Connor... he’s got a real competitive streak.’

He sighed inwardly, his estimation of Connor rising a few notches.

The three of them worked together to haul the kill over the fence and into the yard. Lin Chen put some water on to boil for Connor, then prepared to head to the river with Andre to check on the warehouse.

"Go on, I’m going to get some sleep. We can talk about partnering up later, no rush."

Having been awake all night, Connor’s eyes were bloodshot. He was completely exhausted and had no appetite whatsoever; all he could think about was sleep.

The only thing that had kept him going was the drive to show Andre up.

The moment he saw the look of surprise on Andre’s face, that energy vanished.

Lin Chen and Andre had barely stepped out of the yard when they heard snores coming from behind them.

’He fell asleep in an instant.’

’Just how exhausted must he be?’

Lin Chen made a mental note of Connor’s personality. He’d have to avoid saying anything that might provoke his unnecessary competitiveness if they partnered up.

’But this is both a good and a bad thing.’

’It’s true that an excessive competitive drive can unlock a person’s potential, but in the wilderness, it usually just gets you into unnecessary trouble.’

’If I can make good use of this...’

Lost in thought, he followed Andre out into the wind and snow.

The warehouse Andre had built wasn’t far from the banks of the Yukon River, only a hundred meters or so, situated right at the edge of the forest.

With the various bear species likely to begin hibernating at any time, the only real danger to guard against was wolf packs.

Wolf packs prefer to hunt prey that runs. They would only resort to fishing by the river in times of desperate hunger.

They only came to the river for one reason: to find prey that was there to drink.

So the warehouse didn’t need any defensive measures; it just had to be windproof and snowproof.

"I scouted the area yesterday. It’s close to where we set the traps last time, there are a lot of wild animals around, and it’s near the river. After a hunt, you can process the kill nearby and store it here."

"The only problem is that the smell of blood might attract the attention of wolf packs. That’s an issue you’ll have to figure out how to solve yourself."

"No problem. Thanks."

Lin Chen waved his hand dismissively as his gaze swept over the interior of the warehouse.

The structure was similar to the shelter Andre had renovated for him before. In other words, it was a typical forest cabin design, with a timber frame and a roof made of branches and leaves.

The warehouse wasn’t large, only about two square meters, but that was more than enough for temporary food storage.

"If there’s nothing else, I’m going to head out," Andre said.

He was too full from breakfast to even think about eating anything else for a while.

He could probably force something down after a few hours of rest, but this was a survival situation. Hunger was the norm. Eating until you were stuffed could weaken your resolve when you had to go hungry, which wasn’t good for long-term survival.

So he wasn’t going to trouble Lin Chen for lunch. While he was still warm, he waded directly across the river and vanished into the forest on the other side.

Seeing how easily Andre had crossed, a skeptical Lin Chen walked to the river’s edge, squatted down, and tested the water temperature with his hand.

"Holy shit?!"

The instant his fingertips touched the water, it felt like he’d been hit with an electric shock. An intense, biting cold shot straight to his brain, and he instinctively snatched his hand back.

"Seriously? How thick-skinned is that guy to handle water this cold?"