King of the Wilderness

These casual writings depict a vibrant soul more vividly than any data could.

Next to a note on equipment failure, Mai Ke drew a small, sad little cartoon character, with the words: ”Damn you, thermal circulation pump! Do you particularly like to go on strike at minus thirty degrees? I swear, I’m going to smash you into a modern art piece when I get back!”

Lin Yu’an couldn’t help but smile. He could even imagine her stomping her feet and huffing white steam, writing this in her journal with her frostbitten crimson fingers, looking adorably frustrated.

He gently ran his fingertips over the sad little cartoon, as if he could feel the temperature and emotions that belonged to a different time and space under the page.

He turned to another page, the top half of which was recorded in an exacting, meticulous script, detailing the phototaxis response data of certain krill at different salinity gradients, with meticulous tables, even the decimal places were completely uniform.

However, beneath these rigorous records, Mai Ke had scribbled a comment in her wildly different, carelessly flamboyant handwriting.

”J.C insists we only need to record data, but I secretly observed sample 17 for a full ten minutes, and it kept trying to ’scratch’ the glass wall with its limbs, like a clumsy puppy. These little guys seem a lot more interesting than J.C.”

Lin Yu’an laughed aloud, he could almost instantly conjure up an image of J.C, a researcher so rigorous he was practically rigid, perhaps a colleague or superior, seeing only data and procedures, completely overlooking the lively fun details behind the science.

Yet Mai Ke, clearly, was the soul who would find the spark of life hidden behind monotonous data.

Lin Yu’an could imagine how when she excitedly shared this discovery that ”krill scratch themselves” with J.C, the response might only be a confused or slightly reproachful look, followed by, ”This is irrelevant to our research topic.”

And so this complaint was born, and the unlucky J.C probably would never know that his dullness had been recorded.

Lin Yu’an continued flipping through the journal and even found a very simple four-panel comic drawn in pencil.

The first panel is of her happily drilling an ice core.

The second panel shows the ice core sample accidentally dropping.

The third panel has her reaching out in horror to catch it.

The fourth panel shows her lying on the ice, staring into a bottomless ice hole, with a string of angry symbols (#%&*!).

Just a few strokes and a young scientist, passionate about her work but occasionally clumsy and frantic, is vividly portrayed.

Lin Yu’an shook his head with a wry smile; he knew the feeling all too well!

In polar environments, even a minor slip-up could render all prior efforts futile, the descent from heaven to hell enough to make one scream across the ice field.

That’s why for over 50 days of wilderness survival, he stricted himself to following plans to ensure strategies were adjusted promptly, avoiding situations that would cause regret.

Lin Yu’an closed the journal and let out a long sigh, yet the ”heat” in his heart had nowhere to vent.

He imagined that aside from him, it seemed there was this voice by his ear griping about the weather, teasing companions, as if she were right there beside him.

Her existence would no longer be just a cold photo but lively memories, a silent yet amusing companionship, helping him through these harsh, cold times.

The thought was somewhat absurd, even untimely, yet it brought an unprecedented comfort to Lin Yu’an’s heart.

But after this comfort, Lin Yu’an began to miss Aliya uncontrollably, miss Ethan and Olivia, and even... Emily.

————

(It’s 5 o’clock, lads, time for breakfast or sleep! JC)

(ps: If I found a diary, I would definitely read it, as would the protagonist, adding a bit of fun amidst the tense survival. If you’re unmoved, I’d call you a true god.)

(There will be other contestants’ perspectives later, stop rushing me, thanks.)