Irene rolled her eyes at me.

Convinced I was talking nonsense, she picked the wild berries and walked away.

She completely forgot my prediction of heavy snowfall.

In the comments, people mocked me for being clueless and spouting nonsense.

Some had already started building shelters, but I kept climbing upward.

I remembered there was a cave nearby. It was not big but could easily fit a few people.

It was autumn already, and the firewood was already damp. No one would survive the coming blizzard without a safe shelter.

The comments grew suspicious when they saw how well adapted I was.

[This person acts like this wilderness is their home!]

[Yeah. She found a cave so fast! She must’ve walked forever.]

[Can we stop watching this person? She just got lucky finding the cave. Everyone else is already building fires, and she’s still dawdling around here. Does she think the life-and-death agreement was a joke?]

[If you don’t want to watch her, go to another stream. Each contestant has their own dedicated tracking stream. You’re in the wrong place.]

Unaware of the comments, I leisurely began gathering firewood.

I had gathered all the wood nearby in two hours.

The production team had provided each contestant with a machete. Starting a fire was crucial after all.

Autumn nights would be bitterly cold without a fire.

But Irene had deliberately misplaced my machete, leaving me with nothing.

Unfazed, I found a few stones and sat down to craft some tools.

I bound the stones to wooden sticks with vines to fashion makeshift axes.

I also whittled a sharp spear for hunting animals and to ward off large beasts.

While daylight remained, I set several traps to catch wild rabbits.

The forest was vast, and my chosen spot lay deep within the wilderness. Here, wild beasts roamed far more frequently than on the outskirts.

Thus, no one would bother me unless absolutely necessary.

Perhaps my location held little interest because the production crew had placed only a few cameras around my area.

I encountered one occasionally.

Most of them were where Irene was.

Using her experience, Irene quickly mastered the easy art of drilling wood to make fire.

After spending hours to finally get the fire going, she preserved the embers.

She smiled and said, “Let’s gather more stones, stack them up, and build a stove. That way, we can stay warm through winter and keep the fire going.”

The team members praised Irene for her cleverness and eagerly followed her instructions.

Since she possessed important survival skills, many contestants camped near her.

They constantly observed her techniques and copied her methods.

Most contestants clustered in one area, while I remained deep in the mountains, far away.

Since I did not build a fire, I went hungry for two straight days.

The live chat teased.

[Follow Lucia, and you’ll go hungry for sure!]

Gradually, the production team lost interest in me. They shifted the camera to Irene.

I felt relaxed and at ease.

Half a month later, heavy snowfall began. Only then did Irene seem to remember I existed. She asked, “Where’s Lucia?”

Contestants organized themselves to search for supplies and then divided their loot.

For a full fortnight, I was nowhere to be seen.

Someone casually remarked, “Maybe she froze to death in some corner long ago. I heard she was lucky to find a cave to hide in, but she couldn’t start a fire.”

Irene laughed smugly. “I told her to stay close to us, but she wouldn’t listen!

“Still, she’s the real heiress. We should search for her, dead or alive.”

Someone grumbled, “Why bother? She signed a waiver. If she’s dead, it’s her own fault.”

“Who told her to join a wilderness survival competition when she knows nothing? She even ran deep into the mountains! Even if she hasn’t starved to death yet, a venomous snake would have killed her. Let’s not look for trouble.”

“Exactly! With this blizzard outside, even if she somehow survived, she’d die eventually. Let’s just stockpile supplies for winter.”

With that, they redoubled their efforts to gather firewood and expand their shelters.

The thought of my death filled Irene with delight.

They were living their best lives and eating two hearty meals a day.

Then, as the snow fell thick and fast, countless shelters collapsed within a single night.

They were shivering with cold as they frantically burned wood for warmth. But the logs were too damp and refused to catch fire.

It was the dead of night when Irene heard a crackling sound.

She had not expected the snowstorm to hit so fiercely. But after just a few hours, it had already piled up to their calves.

In the south, the air was naturally humid. But the weight of the snow was crushing down overwhelmingly on their shelters.

She frowned. “You two, get up! Clear the snow off the roof right now.”

Clearing the snow brought an even bigger problem.

That was famine.

Amid the swirling snow, with no wildlife in sight, their stockpiled food proved woefully insufficient.

As the snow piled up to their waists, some people could no longer hold themselves back and began looting others.

Chaos erupted across the entire area. Even among Irene’s group, there was infighting.

Gritting their teeth, the two men shoved her aside.

“Useless piece of trash! You just barked orders while we did all the heavy lifting. What good are you?”

She landed in the deep snow. She was nearly frozen stiff from the cold.

She frantically pounded on the door. “You can’t do this to me! I’m the one with all the experience!”

They scoffed and said, “Like hell you do! If you weren’t the sponsor’s daughter, we wouldn’t have given you a second glance! We already know all those tricks you came up with. Get lost, or we’ll eat you alive!”

Seeing that Irene still refused to give up, they each landed a punch on her. They hit her till she was seeing stars.

The crunching footsteps on the snow drew nearer.

Shivering violently from the cold, Irene lifted her head toward the sound.

When she recognized me, her eyes widened.

“Lucia? You’re not dead!”