Culinary God in Wilderness

The helicopter staff stuffed a letter into each contestant’s jacket pocket, zipping it shut to ensure it wouldn’t be blown away during the jump.

"The helicopter will now circle within a one-kilometer radius. When you feel the time is right, you can jump on your own."

The contestants exchanged glances, their expressions varying as they stared down at the sea of trees below the open cabin door.

Some looked expectant, some excited, some calm, but not a single person showed any fear.

Lin Chen glanced out the window. He had been observing the terrain the whole way here.

While everyone else hesitated, he shot to his feet. "I’ll go first." 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

Without waiting for anyone to react, he walked straight to the door and leaped out.

A familiar feeling of weightlessness quickly enveloped him, as if he were back in Alaska, skydiving once again.

His gaze locked onto the distant, sparkling sea.

’From this height, it looks pretty close, but once I’m on the ground, it’s at least a dozen kilometers away. That means I definitely won’t make it there today.’

It was currently noon, with only about six hours left until sunset.

Tropical countries are close to the equator and have no distinct seasons. Day and night are evenly split, each lasting about twelve hours.

He pulled the ripcord on his pack with his right hand.

WHOOSH—

The enormous parachute unfurled in the air. He steered it north, toward the sea.

With him taking the lead, the remaining contestants couldn’t sit still. As if afraid of losing out by being late, they leaped from the moving helicopter one after another.

For a moment, countless parachutes dotted the sky above several kilometers of forest, drifting in all directions.

Unlike before, Lin Chen didn’t care how many other contestants were nearby or whether they posed a threat to him.

He had only one goal: to drift as far north as possible before landing, saving himself even a little bit of travel time.

They were not allowed to take the parachutes with them; a dedicated team would be responsible for recovering them later.

「Ten minutes later.」

Lin Chen aimed for a gap in the forest canopy, using the dense foliage to cushion the impact on his knees as he landed.

The sun-blocking parachute quickly snagged on branches. The force of the impact instantly tore the canopy, ripping countless gashes in the fabric.

Lin Chen had already envisioned this scenario. He drew his combat knife, slashed the straps connecting him to the harness, and used his momentum to roll as he hit the ground, landing safely.

He brushed off the weeds and leaves clinging to him, unbuckled the harness, and tilted his head back, staring at the parachute tangled in the treetops for a few moments.

’I was heading for this tree when I landed. I remember the tree to the right had a very distinct fork in the middle... Found it!’

After a moment of orientation, he quickly located north. He carved a cross on a tree trunk to mark the direction, preventing him from getting mixed up later.

He didn’t rush to set off. Instead, he observed his surroundings.

’Since there’s no way I can reach the coast today, I shouldn’t rush. The priority is to sort out food and water to conserve my energy.’

’Also, I need to build a simple temporary shelter today. The weather in a coastal tropical forest is unpredictable—it could rain at any moment. If I get unlucky and get soaked all night, I’ll definitely get sick.’

He closed his eyes, quickly running through his next few objectives in his mind, then finally started moving north.

The first five days of a survival situation are when the body has the most energy, especially the first three.

He had to use this time to reach the coast and find a suitable location for a shelter.

Every day he was delayed would place a huge burden on his body and could significantly affect his long-term survival. Therefore, planning his journey was more important than anything else.

Of course, making a plan was one thing; actually executing it was another.

The essence of wilderness survival lies in the unknown. You never know what you might encounter in the next minute.

’Oh, right. I almost forgot to open the letter first.’

In front of the camera, he pulled the letter from his pocket and opened it. The contents were, as he expected, mostly information about the current survival challenge and its rules. The prohibition against hunting was specially highlighted in red.

’Nile Tilapia only live in water. And while iguanas are amphibious, they most likely stick close to water sources too. I ate a huge breakfast this morning, so I don’t need to worry about food just yet.’

Bulking up and eating a big meal before the competition was basically an unwritten rule.

Walking on the soft, damp earth, almost every step landed on a deep accumulation of fallen leaves and vegetation. The ground was sometimes slippery, forcing him to slow down and carefully find secure footing.

He hadn’t gone far when he spotted several unidentifiable, rotting bird carcasses strewn about near a cluster of dead bushes.

The state of the corpses was gruesome. Their bodies were contorted, and while their feathers were mostly intact, their flesh was rotting in patches. The un-rotted parts of their skin looked as if they had been corroded by something.

Curious, he moved closer to investigate, only to find several rotting squirrels as well.

’Something’s not right!’

The bizarre scene instantly set off alarm bells in his mind. He stopped dead in his tracks, took several steps back, and looked up at the sky.

’A series of unusual deaths in the same area... that’s no coincidence. There must be some kind of poisonous plant nearby.’

Above him were the dense canopies of towering ancient trees, with flecks of golden light filtering through the gaps in the leaves.

’Those leaves...’

Even though they were some distance away, he felt the shape of the leaves looked familiar.