Culinary God in Wilderness

As the idea surfaced, his eyes lit up; the more he thought about it, the more plausible it seemed.

The only problem was how to haul all that mud back from the riverbank. It was a full half-hour trip from his shelter to the river.

If he used his backpack, it would be pretty much ruined by the time the heated bed was finished.

Without his backpack, he’d have to weave a grass basket... ’Wait, could tree bark work too?’

His gaze snapped to the simple spoon he had made earlier.

Spruce bark was too rough and unsuitable, but birch bark was very smooth.

’Should I wait five days and ask Andre for help?’

He hesitated for a moment before dismissing the idea.

The quality of one’s shelter directly impacted their survival time. The heated bed was a game-changer for winter, a true secret weapon. If he just let someone else learn how to build it, wouldn’t he be creating a formidable competitor for no reason?

He hoped some people would last a long time so he’d have someone to talk to, but he didn’t want anyone to actually threaten his own victory.

After all, he had no real wilderness survival experience. Jumping straight into a 100-day challenge, in winter no less, was like setting the difficulty to Nightmare Mode.

If it weren’t for Alaska’s rich biodiversity, which meant you didn’t have to worry about food, few people would likely survive for more than a month.

As he was mulling over the details of building the heated bed, the sound of helicopter rotors gradually filled the air outside.

’Is it time for the routine medical check-up again?’

He glanced at his soaking wet shoes and felt no urge to get up. Robert and the crew could monitor his condition in real-time through the livestream anyway.

The previous checkups had all been in the morning. The change to the afternoon was probably because he’d been out since dawn.

The thundering engine noise overhead slowly faded. He waited patiently for about ten minutes, and just as he expected, he heard familiar footsteps outside.

"Lin! Quick, let me see your hand."

Ariana was the first to rush in, grabbing his right hand.

Her job was simply to check the contestants’ physical condition and assess if they could continue the challenge, not to provide direct treatment.

"It’s already scabbed over."

Lin Chen smiled and nodded at her, then looked toward Robert. "How many people are left?"

"Ten."

Robert looked completely unfazed. The people eliminated this early didn’t bring in any viewers, so he wasn’t sorry to see them go. In fact, it just reduced the crew’s workload.

"Right now, there are four fan-favorite contestants. Lin, because of your many recent standout moments, you’ve pulled ahead and are solidly in first place, in a league of your own."

"The other three contestants have about the same number of viewers in their livestreams. One of them is Andre, whom you’ve already met."

"What about the other two?"

"The carpenter and the farmer."

"The farmer??"

Hearing the unexpected name, Lin Chen couldn’t help but raise his eyebrows.

"That’s right. His performance has been surprisingly good. He’s the contestant whose popularity has been climbing the fastest lately."

It wasn’t just Robert; even Daniel looked at a loss for words at the mention of the farmer.

"Do you have any idea how absurd he is? Ever since his run-in with a Coyote last week, his viewership started to climb. Everyone wanted to see if he was going to fight it."

"A Coyote..."

Lin Chen grew pensive, recalling what he knew about Coyotes.

Unlike Yukon Wolves, they’re small. And while they’re social animals, they hunt alone. They don’t have the same pack mentality as Yukon Wolves, so you don’t have to worry about provoking one and having its packmates show up for revenge.

"Yep," Daniel said, rolling his eyes dramatically. "And you’ll never guess what happened next."

"And then..."

Whatever caused the viewership to spike couldn’t have been anything conventional. Killing it with a bow was probably off the table.

Remembering the farmer’s bio from before the competition, an incredibly bold idea suddenly struck him.

"Don’t tell me he tamed that Coyote?"

"Exactly!!"

Daniel slapped his thigh, his expression like he’d just seen a ghost.

"I mean, I know dogs were domesticated from wolves, but that took countless years of evolution! Taming a wolf in such a short time... That’s a first for me!"

Having his suspicion confirmed, Lin Chen was also at a loss for words.

’I’m not sure how the guy pulled it off,’ he thought, ’but one thing’s for sure: after such a short time, that wolf’s loyalty can’t be very high.’

Taming a creature that wild was like playing with fire; it could turn on you and bite you at any moment.

No wonder his viewership was skyrocketing.

"What about the doctor?"

"Him? Nothing out of the ordinary, really. He’s just your standard case. But he is the contestant who’s teamed up with others the most so far."

"There’s no medicine out here. Are his skills even useful?"

Lin Chen asked, puzzled. This question had been bothering him for a while.

"He isn’t giving checkups or treating illnesses. Quite the opposite, he’s providing advice on prevention and management—like how to prevent frostbite, how to treat it if you get it, and what to do for burns and scrapes."

"Ah, I see..."

"Lin, your wound is healing very well—better than I expected, actually," Ariana said as she re-dressed it, looking at him curiously. "The first-aid course for chefs doesn’t cover wound treatment, does it? As I recall, it’s just Hyklim first aid and emergency burn care, right?"

"That’s right. But I’m a wilderness survival enthusiast, you know?"

She nodded, accepting his explanation. After all, the facts were right in front of her; there was nothing to doubt.

Just as the three of them finished the routine checkup and were about to leave, Lin Chen suddenly called out to Robert.

"Robert, I have a suggestion. I wonder if you’d be interested in hearing it?"

"What suggestion?"

Robert turned to the side, his eyes wary. He was afraid this cunning young man was trying to set him up again.

"Do you really think just dropping contestants with specific professions into the wilderness is enough to unlock the show’s full potential?"

"Huh?" Robert nodded, confused. "Well, yes. It’s proven to be effective."

"Then what about the butcher?"

Lin Chen said calmly, "A butcher’s skills are slaughtering and butchery. You threw him out into the wild, and he was eliminated before he could use his skills at all. What was the point of that?"

"And the doctor. Western doctors, unlike Eastern ones, just diagnose symptoms and prescribe medication. In a situation without medicine, more than ninety percent of his skillset is rendered useless."

"Or, to put it another way, with this beautiful lady present, the doctor’s existence seems rather replaceable."

Catching the unexpected compliment from Lin Chen, Ariana puffed out her chest, tossed her loose hair over her shoulder, and shot a subtle glance at the two older men, her eyes filled with triumph.

Robert and Daniel didn’t notice her at all. After exchanging a glance, Robert asked tentatively.

"So what you’re saying is?"