Chapter 3

Irene rolled her eyes at me.

Convinced I was talking nonsense, she picked the wild berries and walked away.

She completely forgot my prediction of heavy snowfall.

In the comments, people mocked me for being clueless and spouting nonsense.

Some had already started building shelters, but I kept climbing upward.

I remembered there was a cave nearby. It was not big but could easily fit a few people.

It was autumn already, and the firewood was already damp. No one would survive the coming blizzard without a safe shelter.

The comments grew suspicious when they saw how well adapted I was.

[This person acts like this wilderness is their home!]

[Yeah. She found a cave so fast! She must’ve walked forever.]

[Can we stop watching this person? She just got lucky finding the cave. Everyone else is already building fires, and she’s still dawdling around here. Does she think the life-and-death agreement was a joke?]

[If you don’t want to watch her, go to another stream. Each contestant has their own dedicated tracking stream. You’re in the wrong place.]

Unaware of the comments, I leisurely began gathering firewood.

I had gathered all the wood nearby in two hours.

The production team had provided each contestant with a machete. Starting a fire was crucial after all.

Autumn nights would be bitterly cold without a fire.

But Irene had deliberately misplaced my machete, leaving me with nothing.

Unfazed, I found a few stones and sat down to craft some tools.

I bound the stones to wooden sticks with vines to fashion makeshift axes.

I also whittled a sharp spear for hunting animals and to ward off large beasts.

While daylight remained, I set several traps to catch wild rabbits.

The forest was vast, and my chosen spot lay deep within the wilderness. Here, wild beasts roamed far more frequently than on the outskirts.

Thus, no one would bother me unless absolutely necessary.

Perhaps my location held little interest because the production crew had placed only a few cameras around my area.

I encountered one occasionally.

Most of them were where Irene was.

Using her experience, Irene quickly mastered the easy art of drilling wood to make fire.

After spending hours to finally get the fire going, she preserved the embers.

She smiled and said, “Let’s gather more stones, stack them up, and build a stove. That way, we can stay warm through winter and keep the fire going.”

The team members praised Irene for her cleverness and eagerly followed her instructions.

Since she possessed important survival skills, many contestants camped near her.

They constantly observed her techniques and copied her methods.

Most contestants clustered in one area, while I remained deep in the mountains, far away.

Since I did not build a fire, I went hungry for two straight days.

The live chat teased.

[Follow Lucia, and you’ll go hungry for sure!]

Gradually, the production team lost interest in me. They shifted the camera to Irene.

I felt relaxed and at ease.

Half a month later, heavy snowfall began. Only then did Irene seem to remember I existed. She asked, “Where’s Lucia?”