Culinary God in Wilderness

"Third, we evaluate each contestant’s daily condition and various health metrics, including Ariana’s physical exam."

"We’ve reached a preliminary result for these three criteria. I’m pleased to tell you that you have a commanding lead in the first two. Andre is in second place—as you’re probably aware, his score is high mainly due to the points from that Musk Ox. But you have a Black Bear on top of that."

’Even across all previous seasons, the only one who ever managed to hunt both a Black Bear and a Musk Ox was the legendary Lola. His name is practically revered as god-tier in the world of wilderness survival shows.’

’It might look like I’ve achieved a similar feat, but that’s only because I have a cheat.’

’Without the system, I probably wouldn’t have even made it through the first month.’

He knew this full well, which was why he had always kept a low profile.

"As for the third criterion, several contestants are actually neck and neck, so it’s hard to rank you. But based on the overall score, you’re the contestant most likely to win."

"Now, it all comes down to whether you can survive until the very end in this extreme cold and still maintain the highest overall score."

"Also, we’ll be announcing these scores to all the contestants. If anyone wants to challenge your position, they’ll need to hunt at least one Musk Ox weighing no less than four hundred kilograms, one Black Bear, and nearly ten adult Yukon Wolves just to have a chance of catching up to your score."

To be honest, after hearing the information Robert announced, Lin Chen was completely unfazed.

’Ever since I hunted those two large animals, I didn’t think anyone would be able to catch up to me. At most, maybe that guy Andre could.’

’With his archery skills, it wouldn’t be that hard for him to take on a Black Bear alone. Especially since the bears have started hibernating now and are completely unable to fight back.’

’As long as he can find where they’re hibernating, even a grizzly bear couldn’t survive a direct critical hit from an arrow.’

’But there’s another problem.’

’A bear’s hibernation isn’t a deep, dead-to-the-world sleep. They can be woken up at any moment. They might even wake up to give birth to a cub and then go right back to sleep.’

’They don’t enter a relatively deep hibernation until around December, and even then, they can still be woken up.’

’Judging by Andre’s cautious personality, he won’t necessarily take such a risk to go looking for trouble with a Black Bear or a grizzly.’

’Of course, if he’s desperate for the prize money, he just might take the risk.’

After leaving Lin Chen, the production team didn’t head to Andre’s camp. Their vehicle couldn’t cross the river, so they had to take a detour and visit the other contestants along the way first.

"What did you say?! Lin and Andre teamed up half a month ago and killed two Musk Oxen? And Lin also hunted a Black Bear and around ten adult Yukon Wolves by himself?!"

Hearing this news, Connor, who had just woken up, was completely dumbfounded. He felt as if the sky were falling.

’Ever since I tasted Lin’s cooking last time, I knew I absolutely could not go back for more.’

’In a resource-limited environment like the wilderness, once you get hooked on delicious food, going back to your regular survival diet becomes incredibly difficult.’

’But I never would have imagined that in less than two months, Lin—the contestant everyone wrote off before the start—would suddenly emerge as a dark horse and pull off such an insane, nearly impossible-to-replicate achievement.’

’I thought hunting five deer with my Coyote partner’s help was a pretty good score... but compared to a Musk Ox and a Black Bear...’

’There’s no way I can hunt a Musk Ox on my own. Unless I team up with someone... Right, what if I go find Andre?’

’No, no, that won’t work. He’s also a top contender. I definitely can’t team up with him.’

Robert and his team didn’t stay long, soon heading to the next contestant’s location.

"Oh my God, am I dreaming? How could anyone kill a monster like that with just a bow?"

’There are still forty-four days left. If I team up with someone, maybe I could give it a shot. But the Carpenter and the Doctor aren’t skilled hunters, and I don’t know where the Farmer is... This is going to be tough.’

Nearly all the contestants who had made it this far were mentally tough. They all believed they could last until the end. After all, there was an abundance of game in Alaska, so the survival difficulty was certainly lower than in previous seasons.

Plus, with the option to team up, it wasn’t out of the question for them to try and make a push.

"I quit."

Beside a treehouse built about a meter off the ground, the ’Doctor’ immediately raised his right hand after hearing Robert announce the scores.

Next to him sat another man, dark-skinned with brown hair, whittling a piece of wood with a stone knife. The frame of an unfinished wooden chair rested nearby.

Hearing his decision, the man sighed in resignation.

"Neither of us is skilled at hunting. Even if we teamed up with someone else, we couldn’t really help them. There’s no hope of a comeback if we just try to tough it out. It’s better to just go home early."

He casually tossed aside the sharp stone knife and raised his right hand as well. "Then I’ll quit, too."

"Are you two sure? You won’t reconsider?"

These two were both ’professional’ contestants. If they both quit at the same time, the other contestants nearby would lose the opportunity to team up with them.

Although, given their hunting skills, it was true they couldn’t have helped much. At best, they could only have handled support tasks.

The addition of these ’professional’ contestants this season was an experiment for the show, and the concept hadn’t been fully thought through.

A person’s energy is limited; when you specialize in one or two fields, you inevitably neglect others.