HUN Chapter 77: Medical Team Arrival

Time had reached day eighty-seven.

The harsh winter at Chilko Lake had mercilessly displayed its power.

Days of continuous overcast weather and snowfall had made the entire world appear gray and oppressive.

Outside Clay Jenkins' log cabin shelter, the gill net that he had once placed such high hopes on had yielded nothing for three consecutive days.

And today, the gill net that had achieved such brilliant success for him was completely frozen at the lakeside. He had completely lost one pathway for obtaining food.

He could still barely fish now, but when the bait sank into the icy lake water, there was no longer any movement whatsoever.

His stored deer jerky had only a few strips left, and the smoked fish was also nearly gone.

But this wasn't even the worst part.

Even more terrifying was the mental exhaustion and the infinitely magnified sense of loneliness, as well as the longing for his family.

He had now lost the desire to actively explore, with his daily activity range limited to just the short hundred-meter distance between his shelter and the ice fishing hole.

He no longer spoke to the cameras, only silently and mechanically repeating the minimum requirements for survival: adding firewood, melting snow, cooking jerky, waiting.

At noon that day, a familiar helicopter rotor sound approached from far to near, breaking the deathly silence of this land.

It was the production team's routine medical examination helicopter.

Clay slowly walked out of the log cabin, watching the helicopter land in the nearby snow.

He didn't tidy his appearance as usual, but just stood there quietly, his eyes carrying a nearly numb calmness.

Safety supervisor David and accompanying doctor Anderson jumped down from the cabin and quickly walked toward him.

"Clay, how are you feeling?"

David looked at his obviously thinner and somewhat haggard face, asking with concern.

Clay just shook his head without speaking.

Doctor Anderson immediately opened his medical kit and began conducting a series of physical examinations on Clay.

He measured Clay's blood pressure and heart rate, checked his weight loss, and drew a small vial of blood for rapid health indicator analysis.

The examination results were not optimistic.

Doctor Anderson's expression was unusually serious as he showed Clay the data on his tablet computer.

"Clay, your weight has dropped by more than 30%, your blood pressure is low, and your heart rate is also unstable."

"More importantly, your blood tests show that multiple key trace elements and sugar levels have fallen below safe values."

"This can easily cause problems with your psychological state, and your body is also beginning to 'consume' itself."

He paused, saying with a heavy tone, "From a medical perspective, your current physical condition is already very poor. If this continues, it may cause irreversible damage to your overall bodily functions."

"Clay, the purpose of 'Alone' is to challenge limits, but absolutely not at the cost of sacrificing life!"

"As the program's medical supervisor, I must be responsible for your health. I strongly recommend that you immediately end this challenge."

Clay listened quietly without rebutting. He knew that everything Doctor Anderson said was fact.

He could clearly feel his body's weakness. Every time he stood up, he would feel dizzy, and at night he found it difficult to sleep due to hunger and cold.

Clay remained silent for a long time, his gaze turning toward the distant snow-capped mountains, as if making a final struggle.

He was a proud hunter, a tenacious Marine reconnaissance soldier. He had never imagined he would end this way.

Finally, he still nodded heavily and spoke with a hoarse voice, "I... I accept this result."

The moment he spoke this decision, he seemed to be drained of all his strength. A tremendous silent sense of loss completely overwhelmed him!

He looked up at David and asked the last question in his heart, the one he cared about most.

"Who else... who else is still persisting?"

"Is it Ron? That veteran?"

In his view, only someone like Ron, a retired soldier with firm will, could possibly persist until now like him.

David and Anderson exchanged glances, both seeing a trace of complex emotion in each other's eyes.

David stepped forward, gently patting Clay's shoulder, his tone filled with respect.

"No, Clay. Ron already quit when it was over seventy days."

He looked at Clay's bewildered expression and decided to let him know that his loss wasn't disgraceful.

"Clay, the one who has persisted until now is still one person. It's Lin, that young man from China."

"Lin?"

A flash of surprise crossed Clay's eyes.

In his vague impression, that was a college student who didn't focus on "proper business."

David continued, "Moreover... shortly after you hunted that black-tailed deer, around the fortieth day or so, he also successfully killed a slightly larger mule deer."

This news made Clay's pupils contract slightly! He also hunted a deer?

However, what David said next was like real thunder, exploding in Clay's mind!

"Moreover, this isn't all. Just about two weeks ago, on the seventy-third day."

"Lin... he alone, using a bow and arrow, fought head-on and successfully killed an adult American black bear."

"What!"

Clay suddenly raised his head, and for the first time, his face, which had appeared numb due to weakness, showed an expression of disbelief and extreme shock!

He even suspected whether he was experiencing auditory hallucinations due to hunger.

Lin killed an adult black bear!

He himself was a top hunting guide. He understood better than anyone how terrifying the skills, courage, and luck needed to accomplish such a feat alone in this wilderness without a gun!

That had already surpassed the scope of ordinary hunting. That was a genuine life-and-death battle!

Only those who had personally survived on this land could truly understand the difficulty and danger involved!

Clay was so shocked he couldn't speak. The face of that young, even somewhat delicate-looking Eastern man floated in his mind, and he couldn't connect him at all with a bear-hunting warrior.

At this moment, all the unwillingness and loss were instantly replaced by a more complex emotion: that was heartfelt admiration for a stronger opponent!

He had lost, and he lost with complete conviction.

Clay slowly exhaled, and the pride and pressure he had carried as a frontrunner completely vanished at this moment.

A bitter but relieved smile appeared on his face. So he, Clay, had always been the chaser! Then this result was enough for him to be proud of!

He murmured to himself, "Black bear... that kid... he's really a strong one."

Clay looked at David again, his eyes no longer holding the previous confusion, but instead showing a trace of curiosity and anticipation.

He said sincerely, "If there's a chance, I really want... really want to meet him. I want to know how he did it."

In the tremendous roar of the helicopter rotors, he was slowly lifted up and sent into the warm cabin.

After speaking, he took one last look at this land where he had fought for eighty-seven days and walked toward the helicopter that could return him to the civilized world.

When the helicopter slowly took off, he looked through the porthole for one final glance below.

White snow, forest, glacial rivers... everything seemed so distant, so unreal.

A strong warrior had fallen, while another new legend was alone in this frozen wilderness, waiting for the final coronation!

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