Culinary God in Wilderness

The first video was simple enough. Like most celebrities or even regular people who’d been on TV, he used a title like, "I’m [So-and-So], and I’ve joined the platform!"

He didn’t bother with an introduction, simply clipping a segment from a promotional trailer previously released by the *Wild Survival* production team and slapping on a couple of trending hashtags.

And what do you know, just a few hours after the video was posted, some *Wild Survival* fans actually recognized him.

Seeing the view count steadily climb gave him a boost of confidence. It was a great start, so he immediately threw a thousand bucks at promoting the post to test the waters.

As it turned out, the domestic fanbase for wilderness shows was massive. This stuff—along with hoof trimming, hornet nest removal, catching field mice, and fishing videos—is a total rabbit hole for guys. Once you click, it’s almost impossible to leave.

By the time he woke up, his notifications had blown up. He couldn’t possibly read all the private messages, the video had shot past ten thousand likes, and he’d gained over five thousand followers.

He was tempted to strike while the iron was hot and post another video—leaking intel about the next season to really stir up the hype—but he managed to resist the urge.

Leaking information before the official announcement wouldn’t just be uncooperative; it would be illegal.

But just because he couldn’t capitalize on that specific hype didn’t mean there was no hype to be had.

So, he went and filmed another video with Andre for future content, then finally set off for Toronto.

...

「One month later.」

With a few days left before February, he had already arrived at Panama International Airport with Robert’s permission and was set up in a local hotel.

Although technically all part of North America, the United States and Canada are generally cold countries, ranging from the north temperate to the arctic zone. Central America, on the other hand, is tropical, with a climate that’s warm and humid year-round. 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

Don’t be fooled by how close they look on a map; only by actually being here could you viscerally experience how different it was. It was like arriving in a whole new world.

The ubiquitous plants along the roadside, the humidity in the air, the warm sea breeze on his face—it all told him he had gone from winter to summer and it was time to shed his padded jacket and long johns for a short-sleeved shirt!

More importantly, just north of Central America is Mexico, a place hailed as the culinary capital of North America. The food here retained the characteristics of Western cuisine while incorporating a wealth of Mexican specialties, and it was so mouth-watering he could hardly walk away.

While he was indulging in a feast of seafood and fruit, the *Wild Survival* production team finally, and quietly, released a poster for the new season.

The poster’s background was half beach and ocean, half lush primeval forest with fruit-laden banana and mango trees.

In the dense thicket, a pair of Jaguar eyes stared intently ahead, while a sloth and a spider monkey hung from a tree.

The central dividing line between the two terrains was a river, where an American crocodile lurked beneath the surface. By the riverbank, two capybaras were spacing out, and a massive Harpy Eagle circled in the sky.

On the sea, a humpback whale was spouting water, and a shark fin cut through the waves.

On either side of the river in the center of the poster, the giant faces of Lin Chen and Andre stared at each other from across the distance, sparks flying from their eyes.

Behind them were several mysterious silhouettes, yet to be revealed.

No text, no introduction. Just the poster.

Not even two minutes after it was posted, the comment section had completely exploded.

"A new season is coming out this soon??"

"Mamma mia, when the last season ended, I felt like the score between these two wasn’t settled. I couldn’t believe it ended like that. I didn’t expect it to carry over into this season!"

"Enough talk, when does it air?"

"Bananas and mangoes? This season is definitely in the tropics. And there’s an ocean. It’s probably in some country in Central America."

"Interesting, so interesting! The survival difficulty in a tropical rainforest is way higher than in Alaska. Plus, the variety of food is richer, giving Lin Neng infinite possibilities for his cooking."

"What am I seeing? A Jaguar? A giant crocodile? Sharks? My god, that’s so much more dangerous than wolves."

"A bunch of you newbies think Black Bears and wolves are so dangerous. That’s only when they’re starving and have no food. Most of the time, they’ll avoid people. But in a tropical rainforest, it’s a completely different story."

"Drop it now! Drop it now! I demand it airs tomorrow!!"

"I don’t have many requests, I just hope they don’t trade their game for supplies like last season. That’s such a cheat. If this is about survival, there shouldn’t be any external intervention."

"I disagree. The cooking part of the survival show is what I look forward to most, especially watching Lin Bian creatively prepare and cook the ingredients. As long as the seasonings they can trade for don’t affect the outcome of their survival, I think conditional trades are acceptable."

Aside from the massive influx of *Wild Survival* fans, a few scattered comments were completely lost in the flood, failing to make even a ripple.

"Lin! When are you going to open your food stall?!"

"Didn’t you say you’d come back and make us steamed buns and noodles after you won the prize money? Why did you run off to join the next season? Is *Wild Survival* that addictive?"

"I regret it. The last season was two months, don’t tell me this one is another two months. If I’d known, I wouldn’t have encouraged you to compete. Without your Roujiamo for lunch, I’ve lost several pounds."

While the hype was steadily climbing on the official *Wild Survival* homepage, the two people involved were completely oblivious, enjoying a wonderful vacation by the sea.

"Lin, are you kidding me? You can’t swim??"