Culinary God in Wilderness

’I haven’t felt any happiness recently because my life is no longer in crisis. It’s become as placid as still water, devoid of any anticipation.’

With his knowledge of flora and fauna, he could use subtle clues to identify nearby animals and plan ahead to avoid danger.

With Basic Bow Mastery, he had a fighting chance against wolf packs and Black Bears. Combined with his intellect and relevant knowledge, he could even turn the tables and kill them.

With the abundant schools of migrating King Salmon, the riverside warehouse, and the natural low temperatures acting as a refrigerator, he didn’t have to worry about food.

He could trade excess protein with the production team for seasonings and rare ingredients, ensuring he didn’t have to eat the same thing every day. Every now and then, he could even cook a feast for a change of pace.

He had a sturdy shelter, a warm earthen kang bed, and an inexhaustible supply of snow he could use whenever he needed.

As long as there were still animals in the forest, he felt like he could survive here forever.

Having reached this level of security, how could he possibly feel a sense of crisis? Naturally, he wouldn’t feel any happiness either.

’After all, I’m here for a survival competition. I can’t just abandon such a perfect shelter and go looking for trouble.’

He felt like he was caught in a vicious cycle.

If he couldn’t gain more happiness, he couldn’t redeem new skills.

Without new skills, his hunting range would be limited.

If he couldn’t get new prey, he couldn’t enjoy the sense of accomplishment from hunting or the curiosity of cooking new ingredients.

Without these feelings, he wouldn’t trigger any happiness.

Without new happiness, he couldn’t redeem new skills.

’What am I supposed to do?’

Alaska didn’t have a huge variety of animal species. After all, it was located in the frigid Arctic Circle, unlike tropical regions with their abundant biodiversity.

He had already encountered most of the inland species. The few other common ones generally lived near the river mouth, and catching them would require him to leave his shelter and embark on a long journey.

’No matter how I think about it, that’s an impractical idea.’

’What if I change my approach and shift my focus away from hunting? What other ways are there to gain happiness?’

He lay on the gradually warming kang bed, a faint, gamy smell of bear wafting to his nose. As he felt his cold body slowly warm up, his thoughts became much more nimble.

’Right, I think I considered this before. Making tools with my own hands could also bring a sense of accomplishment, but with my current knowledge, that’s obviously impossible.’

’Maybe... I should go find the ’Carpenter’?’

’That’s a good idea.’

’But the problem is, I have no idea where the Carpenter is, nor do I know the locations of the other contestants.’

’I should’ve asked Andre or Connor to see if they had any useful information.’

...

Deep in sleep, Lin Chen suddenly felt someone patting his shoulder. He groggily opened his eyes.

The first thing he saw was a familiar face with delicate features.

"Sorry to interrupt your sweet dream, Lin, but it’s time for your routine check-up. We still have several other places to get to."

Lin Chen dazedly rubbed his eyes and sat up instinctively, letting Ariana perform the physical examination.

"Lin, is there anything you want to trade for this time?"

Robert, smiling cheerfully, handed him an item list.

He took it and glanced over it. When he saw the exchange prices, his eyes shot wide open, and he was instantly wide awake.

"What the hell? You crook! The prices went up?!"

He immediately grabbed the mini-camera from the bedside and aimed it at the list, filming it furiously.

"Chili powder, cumin powder, pepper—these spices were 5 kilograms per portion last time, and now they’re up to 7 kilograms."

"The price of the cookware set went up to 100 kilograms? Even the price of sea salt rose to 10 kilograms!"

"And flour! It went from 5 kilograms for 500 grams to 10 kilograms for 500 grams. Heh, I’ve never seen a merchant double their prices like that! How is this any different from robbery?"

"Lin, don’t be hasty. Calm down and let me explain."

Robert, still wearing that same cheerful smile, put his hands on Lin Chen’s shoulders and made him sit back down on the bed.

"About the prices... here’s the thing. After we went back last time, we observed for two days and had an internal meeting. We unanimously agreed that your current standard of living has far surpassed the other contestants."

"At your level, it’s much easier for you to acquire prey. If we don’t raise the exchange prices, it will only widen the gap between you and the other contestants, which would be unfair to them."

"So, after some discussion, we’ve devised a new strategy: the lower a contestant’s survival pressure, the higher their exchange prices. Conversely, we’ll moderately lower the prices for others to balance the gap between you."

"Of course, you’re also aware that these exchange items can’t directly change the outcome. At most, they just make the contestants’ lives a bit more flavorful and convenient."

’Isn’t this just a classic case of robbing the rich to feed the poor?!’

Lin Chen rolled his eyes internally and casually handed the list back. "You should know, I haven’t been hunting much these past few days. I couldn’t afford anything in the first place, and now you’ve raised the prices. There’s even less for me to trade for now."

Robert folded the list, tucked it back into his pocket, and said patiently, "Don’t worry, this policy isn’t just targeting you. The prices will go up for Connor as well. Of course, he didn’t trade for anything last time, and he might not this time either."

"What kind of list did you give him?"

"Things that fit his profession’s characteristics, like seeds suitable for winter planting, feed for animals, trapping tools, and so on."

"...If I were him, I wouldn’t trade either."

"Can’t be helped," Robert sighed. "The items we offer must match the profession’s characteristics. If we just gave out anything, it would ruin the professional balance. You wouldn’t want us to open up the seasoning trade to contestants of other professions, would you?"

"I don’t care. If having the ingredients was all it took, what would be the point of a chef?"

"He’s got a point," Daniel, who had been standing idly by, nodded thoughtfully.

"It’s like if I grabbed a random person off the street, dragged them into the forest, and gave them a wilderness survival guide. Would they be able to compare to me, a veteran guide with decades of wilderness survival experience?"

Robert scratched his head. "So what are you saying? You mean we should open up all the profession-specific trade lists and let all four contestants trade for whatever they want?"

"That’s something for you and the production team to consider. Don’t ask me, I’m just a cook... AH!!"

"Be quiet!"

Ariana silently moved her hand, only withdrawing the stethoscope after a few seconds.

"My beautiful Miss Ariana, I’m just saying, could you please warm up the stethoscope beforehand next time? In this freezing weather, suddenly pressing a sub-zero piece of metal against my chest over my heart—couldn’t that cause some kind of injury or shock response?!"

"I’ll be more careful next time," Ariana said, nodding coolly. Unexpectedly, she seemed to accept his suggestion.

’Does that mean it could actually cause some kind of unforeseen problem??’

Lin Chen suddenly recalled a medical science video he had scrolled past before. It said you shouldn’t drink large amounts of ice water right after exercising because it can easily cause vasoconstriction, increasing the burden on the heart, and gastrointestinal spasms. In severe cases, it could even be fatal.

’Isn’t this the same principle?!’

He whipped his head toward Ariana, only to see the ice-faced woman silently packing her examination tools one by one into the first-aid kit.

Through her cascading long hair, he could faintly see that her pale earlobes seemed to be a little red.

Lin Chen blinked a few times. He suddenly felt like he had discovered a new continent.

Perhaps feeling uncomfortable under Lin Chen’s strange gaze, Ariana pretended to be calm as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

"How am I supposed to warm it up? Metal conducts heat quickly; in this cold environment, it would cool down in a minute or two. Am I supposed to boil some water and soak it before the next check-up?"

"You could stick it inside your clothes and use your body heat to warm it up,"

Lin Chen blurted out without thinking.

"That way you won’t always be freezing other people with it. You can freeze yourself for a change."

Ariana rolled her eyes, turned, and walked out.

Robert and Daniel waved at him. "See you in five days. The production team will have another meeting to discuss the trade items."

Lin Chen had intended to watch them leave, but as he watched, he suddenly felt that something was off.

’Wait a minute, a helicopter engine is so loud. How could I have slept through that?’

Remembering that Daniel had mentioned last time that they were considering a different method for the house-call check-ups, his interest was immediately piqued.

He draped the warm bearskin over his shoulders, put on his Black Bear gloves, and followed them outside.

Through the gaps between the branches of the fence, he clearly saw the three of them get into a high-chassis SUV that was starting its engine.

’A Toyota?’

The moment he saw the car, Lin Chen had a sudden realization.

The Toyota 4Runner was practically the official car of the Alaska Province. Its powerful four-wheel drive, combined with a sturdy frame and high chassis, made it one of the best choices for harsh weather.

There were similar vehicles, like Fords, Chevrolets, Wranglers, and pickup trucks, but he wasn’t very familiar with cars. At most, he could recognize a logo, but he generally couldn’t distinguish specific models.

The reason he recognized this one was that he had ridden in one before the competition and listened to the enthusiastic driver go on and on about it for a long time.

’So they’re driving a car in the snow... That’s actually a good idea. It’s not too loud, but I’d be worried about something going wrong. Breaking down in the middle of a snowfield would be a huge pain.’

Back in the house, he boiled some meat broth for a light meal as usual, changed into his regular clothes and outerwear, and grabbed his weapons and gear. He prepared to head to the Musk Ox herd’s habitat once again to check things out.

But the result was no different. The Musk Ox herd was still huddled tightly together, giving him no opportunity to strike.

Furthermore, compared to the previous two days, their position had clearly shifted a hundred or two hundred meters north. Everywhere they passed, the snow was completely overturned, and the ground was bare, with no vegetation left.

For three days in a row, he came here every day to observe the Musk Ox herd’s movements and habits. On his longest trip, including travel time, he spent a full four hours in the wild.

After nearly a week of acclimatization, he felt his resistance to the cold was significantly stronger than before. At least his limbs no longer grew cold and numb so quickly, which had previously hindered his movement.

...

「Day Thirty-Nine.」

Lin Chen went to the bank of the Yukon River early in the morning and pulled his gillnet out of the water.

Seven or eight arm-length King Salmon were struggling fiercely, but their bodies were caught fast in the net. No matter how much they thrashed, it was useless.

"The catch has been getting bigger every day. Looks like the peak migration period for the King Salmon is almost here."

For the past few days, he had made time to come to the river every day. He would clean the captured fish and pack them in the warehouse to freeze, tossing the guts and other parts back into the gillnet as bait.

This bait wasn’t meant to attract King Salmon. Like Red Salmon, they stop eating during their migration period.

The purpose of the bait was mainly to catch other creatures.

The occasional dead King Salmon, along with their refusal to eat, provided abundant nutrients for the entire Yukon River. These nutrients nourished the other creatures in the river, allowing them to grow much larger.

He lifted the gillnet, laid the eight King Salmon out on the snow, raised his Engineer Shovel high over his head, and brought it down hard.

WHACK

WHACK

The stunned King Salmon quickly stopped struggling. Only their lips still opened and closed as they lay quietly in the snow, awaiting death.

"A good haul today. There was also a nest of Freshwater Lobster hidden in the gillnet."