HUN Chapter 55: Four-Person Final Circle

The fifth episode's timeline reached approximately the 35th to 47th days of the contestants' solitary survival in the wilderness.

All remaining contestants had experienced the initial adaptation and shelter construction, surviving by leveraging their respective advantages. Now, stable food acquisition and storage had become the most severe core challenge standing before all contestants!

Only four contestants remained on the field!

In the program footage, the experienced Clay Jenkins continued to display his unmatched stability. Although the black-tailed deer meat he had hunted over twenty days ago was more than half consumed, he relied on his exquisite fishing skills to occasionally catch several sizeable northern pike, adding fresh protein to his diet.

Under the camera, he calmly processed his catches in his warm, sturdy wooden shelter or methodically maintained his hunting equipment. That composed demeanor of having everything under control had already led countless North American viewers to mentally crown him as this season's champion.

Among the other contestants still struggling to persevere, veteran Ron unexpectedly discovered a patch of thriving wild allium plants, temporarily alleviating his food acquisition problems.

The Inuit huntress Kayla had seemingly transformed into a "gold medal mouse catcher"! According to statistics, she averaged harvesting two small mice daily. Although each harvest was extremely limited, it allowed her to barely maintain her survival baseline.

However, not everyone could withstand time's relentless erosion and hunger's continuous assault. On the program's thirty-ninth day, Bill the logger, who had always seemed to struggle and mainly subsisted on collecting small amounts of plant fruits and roots, admitted on camera that he had gone without protein supplementation for consecutive days, with his body and spirit reaching the brink of collapse.

Finally, the tough man honestly admitted he simply couldn't withstand the hunger anymore. He wasn't homesick, his mental state was normal, he had simply been defeated by hunger.

He helplessly pressed the yellow distress button, becoming another contestant to depart dejectedly.

Just as viewers lamented Bill's departure and increasingly felt Clay's championship throne was as solid as a mountain, the production team's editing suddenly focused on Lin Yu'an and deliberately created a heart-wrenching tense atmosphere through a series of scenes.

In the footage, Lin Yu'an sat somewhat wearily at the entrance of his stone house shelter, the setting sun's afterglow stretching his shadow long. He spoke to the camera in a much lower voice than usual, "Guys, luck seems to have run out these past few days. The traps I set earlier haven't had any decent catches."

"The fish in the stream are also becoming increasingly difficult to catch. Although I still have stored food, it's being consumed rapidly."

"If... if I can't find new food sources, I might... really have to face some very difficult choices."

The camera then quickly switched to several shots of him walking away somewhat dejectedly from empty traps, as well as nighttime footage of him by the stove, recounting his past.

This series of suggestive buildup instantly made all viewers following Lin Yu'an's heart leap to their throats.

Especially the fans in China watching Bilibili screens, the bullet comments almost flooded the screen:

[No way?! Brother An can't hold on anymore?]

[Please don't! Bro! You're our hope! Hold on!]

[Brother An's background. Human traffickers deserve no good end! Support equal punishment for buyers and sellers!]

[UP +1]

[UP +2]

[UP +10086]

[What do you think, is it possible this is Brother An's calm before the storm? Next second he takes down a bear!]

[It's over, it's over. Could our proud "infrastructure style" really lose to pure hunting tough guys?]

Those North American viewers who had never favored Lin Yu'an, believing he focused too much on shelter comfort while neglecting the core survival element of 'food,' now voiced their foresight on various forums and social media.

"Bro, I said this approach wouldn't work in true long-term survival. Food is the hard truth!"

"His luck ran out. Without those early 'unexpected gains,' he'll immediately run home to mama! Hahaha!"

"What a pity. I thought he might bring us some different surprises, but he's still too young."

However, just when everyone thought Lin Yu'an was about to fall into unprecedented difficulties and might even become the next dropout, the program's narrative pace took a roller coaster turn, delivering a jaw-dropping massive reversal!

The scene shifted to Lin Yu'an noticing deer hoofprints during exploration!

This was followed by him risking a canoe trip to the island, relying on tracking subtle traces to successfully track down a massive male mule deer and successfully hitting the target with his 50-pound American hunting bow!

The subsequent footage made all viewers' blood boil! Lin Yu'an followed the blood trail and deer tracks, finally finding that huge prey in a dense forest! When Lin Yu'an used his unique Chinese shoulder pole to transport the heavy, portioned venison back to the Pioneer and luckily discovered large patches of wild onions on the return journey!

The entire "Alone" audience, whether North American or Chinese, supporters finally dared to speak loudly!!!

Bilibili's bullet comments and comment sections instantly transformed from previous worry and anxiety to overwhelming amazement, celebration, and the satisfaction of "slapping haters in the face"!

[Holy shit!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (countless exclamation marks flooding the screen)]

[Kill! Kill! Kill! Brother An is awesome beyond words!!!!!!!!!!!]

[Damn, damn, damn! Who just said Brother An wasn't good enough? Stick your face out for me to slap twice!]

[Oh my, surprise means I'll pay a million, for you to join Alone, and carry my viewership ratings! Understand?]

[Surprise means after thirty days, giving you a million dollars, hunting deer, finding onions, eating hotpot while singing, winning the championship, carrying his viewership ratings!]

[Big brother, so this is surprise! Little brother is willing to wait thirty days for you!]

[Hahahaha! This kills me! One second worrying about Brother An's food supply, the next second it's a full imperial feast rhythm!]

[This lucky timing is too perfect! This is practically official cheats from the production team!]

[And that shoulder pole! Wisdom passed down from our ancestors! Shining brilliantly in foreign wilderness! So face-lifting!]

[Above, please clarify, shoulder poles have always been intangible cultural heritage of the Republic of Korea!]

[Ten-year veteran fan reporting! I declare Lin Yu'an is this season's only champion! Not a virtual champion! I accept no rebuttals!]

[Didn't you all see? Even here there are stick people stealing?]

[Where are those who made sarcastic remarks earlier? Collectively silent? Or slapped in the face! Gone to corners to lick corpse rice for nutrition?]

North American viewers were equally shocked by Lin Yu'an's amazing performance, with social media and forum sentiment instantly shifting.

“OMG! I can't believe what I just saw! This is incredible!”

“F*ck! He actually hunted a deer! Then used that... that 'Chinese shoulder pole' to carry away at least 130+ pounds of spoils all at once?”

“I have to admit, this guy is one lucky beast! He also found wild onions? Unbelievable luck!”

“Well, Clay now has a very, very strong challenger! This season just got more exciting!”

Of course, the program didn't let the suspense end there.

At the end of the fourth episode, the camera returned to the still composed Clay Jenkins.

Clay's carefully placed large fishing nets at the lakeside also began to deliver consistently and steadily. In just one week, he had actually caught a full twelve massive northern pike from the cold Chilko Lake!

One after another, over half-meter-long, silver-gleaming large fish were removed from his nets and piled beside his sturdy wooden shelter, creating an equally spectacular scene.

Clay faced the camera and said calmly, "A stable food source is key to long-term survival. This lake is generous. Thank you, nature."

The broadcast of the fourth episode undoubtedly pushed "Alone: Grizzly Mountain's" viewership and global discussion to an unprecedented peak.

Lin Yu'an, through one amazing hunt and unexpected abundant discovery, completely reversed many viewers' fixed impressions of him and thoroughly "slapped the face" of those voices that had previously questioned his 'shelter-first' survival philosophy.

Clay, with his continuous and efficient food acquisition ability, once again proved his terrifying strength as the championship favorite, filling all viewers with endless anticipation and imagination for subsequent episodes.

As winter approached, a battle of kings was unfolding the most intense competition in the final circle!

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