Chapter 4

Contestants organized themselves to search for supplies and then divided their loot.

For a full fortnight, I was nowhere to be seen.

Someone casually remarked, “Maybe she froze to death in some corner long ago. I heard she was lucky to find a cave to hide in, but she couldn’t start a fire.”

Irene laughed smugly. “I told her to stay close to us, but she wouldn’t listen!

“Still, she’s the real heiress. We should search for her, dead or alive.”

Someone grumbled, “Why bother? She signed a waiver. If she’s dead, it’s her own fault.”

“Who told her to join a wilderness survival competition when she knows nothing? She even ran deep into the mountains! Even if she hasn’t starved to death yet, a venomous snake would have killed her. Let’s not look for trouble.”

“Exactly! With this blizzard outside, even if she somehow survived, she’d die eventually. Let’s just stockpile supplies for winter.”

With that, they redoubled their efforts to gather firewood and expand their shelters.

The thought of my death filled Irene with delight.

They were living their best lives and eating two hearty meals a day.

Then, as the snow fell thick and fast, countless shelters collapsed within a single night.

They were shivering with cold as they frantically burned wood for warmth. But the logs were too damp and refused to catch fire.

It was the dead of night when Irene heard a crackling sound.

She had not expected the snowstorm to hit so fiercely. But after just a few hours, it had already piled up to their calves.

In the south, the air was naturally humid. But the weight of the snow was crushing down overwhelmingly on their shelters.

She frowned. “You two, get up! Clear the snow off the roof right now.”

Clearing the snow brought an even bigger problem.

That was famine.

Amid the swirling snow, with no wildlife in sight, their stockpiled food proved woefully insufficient.

As the snow piled up to their waists, some people could no longer hold themselves back and began looting others.

Chaos erupted across the entire area. Even among Irene’s group, there was infighting.

Gritting their teeth, the two men shoved her aside.

“Useless piece of trash! You just barked orders while we did all the heavy lifting. What good are you?”

She landed in the deep snow. She was nearly frozen stiff from the cold.

She frantically pounded on the door. “You can’t do this to me! I’m the one with all the experience!”

They scoffed and said, “Like hell you do! If you weren’t the sponsor’s daughter, we wouldn’t have given you a second glance! We already know all those tricks you came up with. Get lost, or we’ll eat you alive!”

Seeing that Irene still refused to give up, they each landed a punch on her. They hit her till she was seeing stars.

The crunching footsteps on the snow drew nearer.

Shivering violently from the cold, Irene lifted her head toward the sound.

When she recognized me, her eyes widened.

“Lucia? You’re not dead!”