Live Streaming: Great Adventure in the Wilderness

However, in this world without Bear Grylls or Grandpa De, these exciting programs had not appeared, but once Bi Fang introduced the concept of wilderness survival in the form of live streaming entertainment and achieved great success, it was as if people had a breakthrough, understanding everything all at once.

Discovery Channel was among the best of them, quickly becoming innovative. Following Bi Fang’s 21 Days of Sea Survival, they launched the brand-new program Wilderness Arena.

Numerous wilderness survivalists competed on the same stage, undertaking challenges of wilderness survival for 300 hours, or twelve days.

During this time, those who were eliminated received no reward. The remaining contestants were ranked based on Bi Fang’s evaluation, with the first place receiving a hundred thousand Ugly Gold, second place fifty thousand, and third place ten thousand, including all medical expenses covered.

If no one remained, then no reward would be given.

This was a race system that could be called cruel, yet full of allure.

The first-place prize of one hundred thousand US Dollars was a very generous reward, and with the program covering all medical and travel expenses, it was a completely unrestricted one hundred thousand US Dollars.

As for Bi Fang, he played multiple roles throughout the program, serving as both commentator and safety advisor, responsible for handling any potential crisis situations, and also the final judge.

The judges were more than one, but Bi Fang had the most authority, with the final say and decision-making power, while the other judges only had advisory rights, which showed how much Discovery Channel valued him.

On one hand, Bi Fang’s fame was too great, having accomplished many well-known feats. Ordinary people living off a single one of these for a lifetime were common, but when all these feats happened to one person, he became synonymous with legend.

Moreover, from any perspective, Bi Fang was also a master at crisis management. There seemed to be no situation he couldn’t resolve, no matter how desperate the circumstances, he always turned danger into safety, boosting his reputation even higher.

Ugly Country, a certain restaurant.

Bi Fang met Jerret and Pondy again. As one of the much-anticipated programs, Jerret still naturally wielded the reins of this program, and having a foundation of cooperation with Bi Fang, he was a very suitable partner.

Upon meeting, Jerret proudly showed off a couple of Chinese phrases he’d just learned.

“Mr. Bi, Happy New Year.”

Even though the other party’s Chinese carried a strong garlic accent, Bi Fang still praised, “Your Chinese is not bad.”

Hearing this, Jerret became animated, as this was the result of a month’s study. His quick effectiveness boosted his eagerness to show off, but he was directly interrupted by Bi Fang’s fluent English.

Better to let foreigners give up learning Chinese—it was torture for the ears.

Sitting down, Jerret passed the menu, “Did you see the list?”

“I have, they are all very capable.”

Bi Fang took the menu, ordered two items at random, and looked at the 16 contestants, all of whom had relevant experience. Twelve had military backgrounds, and several were especially memorable to him.

The Deer Hunter, Mugalen, needed no further mention. Bi Fang had experienced his skill firsthand; he was a seasoned hunter and a strong contender for first place.

Besides him, there were many other contestants worth noting.

Bono Cross, a member of the United States Marine Corps who later joined the Ranger Regiment, became one of the elite special forces with expertise in various combat techniques and wilderness survival experience. His military quality was extremely strong.

Doligong Hawk, an elite firefighter at the Canadian National Forest Park responsible for forest conservation and wildlife protection, had once faced off against a bear over two and a half meters tall and managed to escape, a close call even more harrowing than Bi Fang’s first live encounter with a black bear, making him a formidable natural fighter.

Apart from these, many were experienced hunters, and there was even a Chinese participant, retired from a Special Police detachment, whose combat abilities were comparable to a special forces operative.

Honestly, when Bi Fang first saw the list, he was surprised. For a show in Ugly Country, he did not expect to meet a fellow countryman.

He immediately put his mind to work. If this person was capable enough to survive in the wilderness, he wondered if he could entice them to join his own club as an instructor, especially since they were short on staff.

After all, not everyone from the troops is an expert in survival, just as not everyone is like Bear Grylls.

“Has the exact time for the show’s premiere been set?”

Jerret nodded, “In three days, at ten in the morning, the show will officially begin. In the Rocky Mountains, these people will be randomly airdropped, just like how you were dropped onto the sea surface that time. We’re still going with our four-man team to capture them one by one.”

The Rocky Mountains?

Bi Fang nodded, finding it an excellent choice.

If he remembered correctly, Bear Grylls had been there in his past life, featuring mountains, water, and ferocious beasts, home to five national parks, evidencing how “wild” it was.

As for the four-man team, Bi Fang still had high hopes for them, although their first performance was quite comical. However, that was because they had encountered him, so it wasn’t their fault.

“Moreover, we’ve made some changes to the competition format,” Jerret suddenly said, handing over a map. “To add to the fun, our production team has built some cabins in the forest with some survival supplies inside, not much, but helpful. Finding them won’t deduct points, nor will it add any.”

Bi Fang raised an eyebrow, quite surprised.

He took the map and noticed that the locations were marked; green for the cabins and red for where the participants would be airdropped.

“Quite interesting.”

Bi Fang could hardly wait to see how this group would perform.

Surviving twelve days in the forest for sixteen people was definitely a tough challenge, but he believed that surely some of them would persevere.

Moreover, many of the locations were relatively close to each other, which he assumed was a test set by the production team.

The competition did not mandate going solo. Teaming up was allowed, but it was clearly stated that this would result in points being deducted. The larger the team, the more points would be taken off. To win, one would need to put in more effort.

Hunting game, establishing a camp’s safety index, whether one could escape outright, and the survival status index after were all points-adding factors. Team members hoping to take first place would have to weigh the pros and cons.

“By the way, are you just giving me this distribution chart? Aren’t you afraid I might leak it?”

Bi Fang held the “airdrop chart,” surprised at the trust the production team had in him.

Unexpectedly, Jerret laughed, “It’s just a hundred thousand US Dollars. Do you think Mr. Bi would care? If you want, our channel can give it to you directly.”

Indeed.

Bi Fang laughed at his own thought, too. A hundred thousand US Dollars was a lot to the average person, but it really didn’t matter to him with his current net worth.

“We’ll be relying on Mr. Bi a lot this time. Your presence means our show is already on unbeatable ground,” said Jerret as he and Pondy raised their glasses in a toast. In their eyes, Bi Fang’s participation was the biggest support they could hope for.

If a three-point rating was expected, then just by announcing Bi Fang’s name, they could account for two points. The remaining point came from the appeal of the Wilderness Survival theme.

Bi Fang also raised his glass, with a slight sense of reflection in his heart.

Back when he first live-streamed with the Sharks, he had needed Ling Xuefeng to bring in viewers. Half a year later, he had become the hottest topic himself.

Times had indeed changed.