Culinary God in Wilderness

The screen had just lit up when a stream of "Good morning" messages appeared.

"You’re all up so early? Isn’t it the weekend? No one’s sleeping in?"

Building the shelter had been a huge pain, but taking it down was ridiculously fast.

After untying all the bark ropes, he gave the structure a few hard kicks, and with their supports gone, the branches came crashing down.

He folded and tied up the ropes, all while watching the live comments scroll across his screen.

Soon, a few messages caught his attention.

"What? The production team released several hundred grouse near the Pan-American Highway by Lake Lagobaiano? With white bands tied to their ankles?"

That was something he hadn’t expected. To spice up the hunt, those guys had actually gone to the trouble of internationally shipping and releasing so many grouse.

’Are the white bands just to identify them as released prey? I have a feeling it’s not that simple.’

He quickly sensed something was off.

Grouse aren’t native to the Panama Forest; there’s no way so many would suddenly appear.

Then again, he only knew this because he’d done his homework beforehand. That didn’t mean the other contestants knew.

Without any markings, the other contestants wouldn’t dare hunt the birds even if they saw them.

Huh?

The moment the thought occurred to him, Lin Chen glanced sharply at his wrist device. ’That’s not right. If my fans can tip me off, then people in the other contestants’ chats will be tipping them off too.’

’Once they know the grouse were put here by the staff, they can hunt them without worry. There’s no need for an identifier like a white band.’

’So there’s definitely something more to those bands!’

But as for what that something was, there was no way to know for now. He’d just have to wait for the answer to reveal itself later.

’Don’t tell me they’re used to calculate points?’

He had only walked a few hundred meters when he suddenly stopped, a bold thought striking him.

’If that’s the case, I’ll miss out on all those points by heading straight for the coast.’

’But if I’m wrong, I’ll waste several more days in the forest hunting grouse, and I’d have to build another temporary shelter.’

After weighing his options, he decided to ignore it and stick to his original plan: keep moving.

There was a finite number of released prey, after all. The production team wasn’t backed by some bottomless-pocketed conglomerate, so they couldn’t release too many animals. Besides, the Government of Panama wouldn’t just let them do as they pleased. What if it led to an invasive species problem?

Instead of chasing after grouse, which he’d eaten plenty of times already, he’d rather get to the coast sooner and satisfy his craving for some fresh seafood.

After continuing north for a while longer, the terrain slowly began to slope upwards.

The incline was now clearly visible.

"Looks like my assessment yesterday was correct. I’ve reached the Dalian Mountain Range. I just have to get over the top of one of these mountains—any one of them—and I’ll be able to see the ocean!"

As he climbed, the sky gradually brightened. A few golden rays spilled down from above the dense forest canopy, cutting through the darkness like sacred beams of light.

"I’m at the foot of the mountains right now. The Dalian Mountain Range is located in the eastern to northeastern part of Panama, which is perfectly blocking the light from this angle."

"It looks like the sun is just rising, but it’s probably been daylight everywhere else for a while now."

No sooner had he spoken than the live comments on his wrist device proved him right.

"It’s 7:26 AM."

’It’s been light for an hour already?’

As he walked up the slope, he peeled the remaining half of yesterday’s banana stalk core. He chewed on it like a piece of sugarcane, occasionally biting off a chunk.

Along the way, he spotted plenty of fresh mushrooms hidden in bushes and on tree trunks, but he resisted the urge to pick them.

The main reason was that he didn’t have a basket or any other way to carry them.

By the time he reached the summit, the sun was directly overhead.

"Hooo..."

Lin Chen let out a long sigh. Through a gap in the forest canopy, he could clearly see the azure ocean and its glittering waves.

The mere sight of it seemed to wash away all his fatigue, replacing it with a deep sense of anticipation.

Whenever he used to watch wilderness survival shows, his favorite part was always seeing the contestants catching fish and crabs in rivers, streams, or the ocean.

He’d always thought that if he ever got the chance, he had to taste for himself just how delicious a big Lobster or crab that he’d personally caught from the sea would be.

Many islands of various sizes were dotted along the calm coastline. This was an archipelago known as the San Blas Islands.

Starting from Cologne and stretching east to the nation of Colombia, this entire 250-kilometer-long coastline is dotted with nearly four hundred islands, all part of the San Blas Islands.

These islands collectively belong to ’Kuna Yala,’ the territory of the Kuna People.

Most of the islands are completely undeveloped. A few of the more important ones have air and ferry services, but you need to apply in advance and pay an admission fee to set foot on them.

It was no matter to him, though; he had no plans to get involved with those islands. After all, he wasn’t much of a swimmer yet.

Wading around in the shallows was one thing, but thinking he could swim all the way to one of those uninhabited islands was a pipe dream.

’The hardest part is over. Now I just need to find a suitable spot to build a shelter.’ 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

He didn’t plan on building his shelter right on the coast. The tide would come in at night, and he couldn’t be sure how high it would rise. Besides, vast, strange forests also grew along the Panama coastline.