King of the Wilderness

In this vast and unforgiving land, while one corner enacts the drama of fulfillment and satisfaction, other corners are shrouded in the shadow of hunger and despair.

The weight of survival on the invisible balance scale is tilting visibly towards one side.

About eighty kilometers northeast of Lin Yu’an’s camp, on a coastal tundra, the coastline has long been devoured by ice and floating ice, forming a shattered and rugged white purgatory.

In the evening, Vonia was kneeling beside a huge piece of floating ice, using the back of a logging axe to laboriously strike at the chunk of ice mixed with black rocks and seaweed in front of her.

The cold sea wind showed no sign of weakening, slicing her exposed skin from all directions like countless sharp little knives.

Her pride, a scarf made from a whole Arctic Fox skin, was currently unable to fully resist the piercing chill.

The wind penetrated the seams of the fur, drilling straight into her neck and taking away what little warmth remained in her body.

Her ten fingers had already become somewhat stiff, the sensation in her fingertips long since numb; she couldn’t even feel the pain from the axe’s vibration.

She could only rely on the strength of her wrists and arms, mechanically repeating the actions of striking and digging. With each exertion, the muscles in her shoulders and back would throb with soreness!

Once upon a time, this ice-sealed coast was her promised land.

A few days ago, after a devastating blizzard, she relied on her innate Hunter’s intuition to reach this storm-baptized coast.

Vonia keenly discovered that the raging waves had swept some deep-sea creatures along with seabed rubble ashore.

Then they froze with a large amount of floating ice, forming natural ”seafood sculptures.”

This discovery once made her ecstatic. She thanked nature’s generosity, thinking she had found a ”gold mine” that could continually provide protein.

She paused her actions, turned to look at the fixed camera not far away. Its cold lens like a silent observer, she panted heavily, her exhaled white mist instantly blown away by the fierce wind.

”Look.” She pointed with the axe at the shattered ice block remnants around her.

”Three days ago, this was all treasure! I didn’t even need to hunt; I could easily gather enough food, and I thought at the time, this is amazing, this land loves me!”

”I remember the afternoon of the second day, I chipped out a Snow Crab as big as my palm, it was the most delicious thing I ate here.”

”I cooked it with snow water, the fresh and sweet taste... I even said to the camera, look, this is a champion’s dinner.”

At this point, a bitter smile appeared on her face, ”I was too arrogant, and extravagantly ate a lot of stored mussel meat without restraint.”

”I was full of confidence, thinking the most difficult period of this survival challenge was over, and the scale of victory was tilting towards me.”

Vonia shared her survival experience from the past few days. Initially, she indeed harvested plenty, managing to chip some mussels, Sea Urchins, and occasionally some frozen Snow Crabs from these ice blocks every day.

But obviously, she underestimated the barrenness of this land, and overestimated nature’s generosity. Or rather, she forgot nature’s most basic law - balance.

Vonia only saw generosity, forgetting the stinginess that follows. In the wilderness, these two coexist as an eternal rule.

Today, she spent the entire day delving into this perilous Floating Ice Zone, only to find one piece of ice that might contain food.

”Clang! Clang! Clang!”

The sound of the axe against the ice echoed crisp yet powerless on the vast ice plain, ice chips flew in all directions, some even hitting her face, stinging like needles.

”Crack!”

Finally, the ice cracked open a slit, Vonia’s eyes flashed with hope. She tossed the axe aside, and with stiff fingers, reached into the slit to peel away pieces of ice.

Inside were only a few tiny shellfish the size of fingernails, pitifully little meat, and a clump of seaweed blackened by freezing.

”Not enough... completely not enough.” Looking at that scanty harvest in her hand, Vonia was overwhelmed by a massive sense of helplessness.

”Now, reality has given me a loud slap in the face.” She addressed the camera again, her voice filled with exhaustion and reflection.

”This is the price. When you think you’ve found a shortcut, the wilderness will always have its way of showing you that all gifts come with a hidden price tag.”

She tossed the axe aside, sat wearily on a reasonably flat piece of ice, letting the cold wind tousle her hair.

In her stomach, that familiar, flame-like burning hunger sensation flared up again.

It’s a primal and savage feeling emanating from genes, disregarding your will, trampling your dignity, issuing the simplest, most brutal command to your body - eat.

Her primary protein source, a few pieces of dried rabbit meat, was completely consumed yesterday.

And her proud trap skills seemed so fragile in this harsh environment. All the meticulously crafted Lasso traps were completely destroyed in that blizzard.

The newly set traps, unable to find enough elastic small trees as power sources, could only be made into simple fixed lassos. Two days passed, achieving nothing.