YM778.TV Chapter 308: 305 All's Well That Ends Well
The wilderness was vast, as if a golden layer of sunshine had been draped over it.
“Spring is here, huh.”
Bi Fang stood in the wild, the air rushing into his nostrils, the strong scent telling him that the sight before him was surely a swath of vibrant green, even without looking.
From February to March, everyone had witnessed, through drone observation, the Rocky Mountains welcoming its spring, watching the earth’s colors change and change again.
The wind brought moisture and warmth from the Pacific Ocean, the snow line on the mountains climbed higher, and huge icy armors cracked, with meltwater flowing from the crevices like honey.
The long-silent land was exposed to the sunlight once more, breathing in fresh air to its heart’s content, with delicate grass pushing through the ground, like a surge of emerald spring water rising from the depth of the earth, spilling over the undulating wilderness all the way to the horizon.
The winter jasmine bloomed first.
With a robust vitality, like weeds, they scattered across the entire world, planting their flags in every corner of Earth.
They grew crawling on the ground, sprouting branches from the leaf axils, producing long stalks with tender yellow five-petaled flowers. The tender yellow of the flowers overwhelmed the green of the wild grass, extending all the way to the sky, forming a huge blanket of blooms with no visible end.
Vibrant with life.
Even the audience felt joy in their hearts. In modern society, how many people have such an opportunity to be close to nature and spring?
In just over ten days, such changes truly made people feel the presence of “spring,” instead of it just being a concept in books, or a fleeting glimpse during a hectic weekend.
Even worse, those without even a weekend off…
It was the true emergence from nothingness.
“Only half an hour left.”
Bi Fang rolled up his sleeves, unveiling a watch identical to those of the contestants; the digits now shifted from the initial 299:59:59 to the current 000:31:12.
“Has Mugalen arrived yet?”
“He’s already here.”
Pondy pointed to a small figure in the distance, draped in a huge bearskin, the massive bear’s head sitting atop Mugalen’s own. If one didn’t look closely, they might even think an actual brown bear was approaching.
And not to be afraid of being shot.
In these times, poachers were not scarce, and a bear’s worth was far more than a hundred thousand Ugly Gold. Walking through the forest in a bearskin, it was indeed possible to be accidentally shot.
In the distance, Mugalen also saw the helicopter parked by the road, giving a thumbs-up to the drone’s camera, and shouted toward Bi Fang and the others.
“Am I the first one?”
Bi Fang smiled and nodded, “If no miracle happens in the remaining half hour, then indeed you are.”
“Ha!”
Mugalen laughed out loud, extremely pleased with the outcome.
But there was still half an hour left before the program officially ended, so he wasn’t in a rush. He made himself at home on the helicopter, flopped down into a chair, swayed from side to side, and heaved a sigh of relief.
Damn, it’s more comfortable here; he would have to become a commentator in the future.
Half an hour later, no miracle occurred. Ava and Lisa were still nearly a hundred kilometers away from human habitation, failing the crossing.
The production team dispatched helicopters to pick up the participants one by one and discuss the final award ceremony process.
Bi Fang was discussing with the other judges. The first and second places were without a doubt, belonging to Mugalen and Ji Zuodong, but the third…
Who would it go to?
The judges had a dispute, between Avrilisa and the guy who survived in the Wilderness for twelve days, who would take third place?
After all, crossing over is harder than just surviving, and even though they didn’t make it, Avrilisa are women, and are naturally physically weaker; they should be given extra consideration, and the conditions should be relaxed a bit…
“Enough, Aojinka third!”
The judges were arguing noisily, and Bi Fang, annoyed, directly made the call for third place.
“Ah, this…”
The judges looked at each other, those who supported Aojinka were naturally happy, while those who didn’t felt choked up and uncomfortable; all the conditions they listed were ignored.
Bi Fang scornfully curled his lip; all these judges were from the Ugly Country, probably brainwashed.
In his view, a failure was a failure; there were not so many excuses.
He definitely admired the will and ability of Avrilisa; women’s inherent conditions were indeed weaker, but if they were to win because of this, that would be the true lack of respect.
Do real strong women need your pity?
With these judges, let Lisa come over, and she would knock them out one by one with a punch.
Moreover, this wasn’t fair to Aojinka either; he actually won by skill, firm for twelve days, continuously catching small game, showing real ability, understanding how to find animal paths, and his shelter was well built and fortified. It was indeed very impressive.
Jerret naturally had no objections to this decision; when he first invited Bi Fang over, he made it clear that Bi Fang was the primary judge with the decisive power, while the others only had the right to suggest.
Not satisfied?
Fine, go hunt a black bear and come back to talk, otherwise, hold your peace.
Seeing that no one had any more objections, Bi Fang walked over to Mugalen, grabbed his hand and lifted it high.
“Then let us congratulate Mr. Mugalen Abufus Viller, our champion! The king who conquered the Rocky Mountains, the warrior who hunted the brown bear!”
Nearby, the staff immediately brought over the trophy, which had Mugalen’s full name engraved on it, along with a large cheque.
Mugalen didn’t care about the darn trophy; he was here for the hundred thousand Ugly Gold, but upon receiving it, he saw it wasn’t a hundred thousand, but a full six hundred thousand!
The audience’s breath nearly stopped when they saw it, six hundred thousand?
Wasn’t that nearly four million Red Tickets?
Oh my god!
Mugalen’s mind went blank, wondering if the show had made a mistake.
Jerret, however, explained with a smile, “Actually, it was Bi Fang’s idea; he felt that a hundred thousand simply didn’t match your performance, so he suggested adding all the tips from the audience during those two days plus any tips from segments you appeared in. The production team just rounded it up. The other survivors got their share too; everyone got the tips from the segments they appeared in.”
Ji Zuodong, who came second, and Aojinka, who came third, also received cheques; looking down, it was indeed as he said, their earnings were several times more than the pre-set amounts!
Even Avrilisa, who failed the challenge, got their share; as long as they hung in there, they all received prize money, making their half-month struggle worthwhile.
In an instant, the live studio was filled with congratulations and cheers; for the first place winner, Mugalen, they had absolutely no objections, a true heavyweight. Hearing the prize money had increased, everyone was genuinely happy from the bottom of their hearts.
Likewise, Bi Fang’s generosity had to be praised; after all, he didn’t actually have to share the money, and no one would naturally assume that Bi Fang shouldn’t take the money.
If it wasn’t for him, the show wouldn’t have been as popular as it is now. It might have been in the future, but certainly not in the first season.
The audience who spent money tipping generally came for Bi Fang.
After all, for a new show, no matter how exciting or popular, there’s always a lag; it’s usually the later audience watching the recording, not at all like now with so many live viewers.
A reward exceeding a million Ugly Gold, in any show, could be considered generous, and it laid the best foundation for Wilderness Arena. Even if Bi Fang wasn’t there in the future, the Explorers’ Channel was confident they could continue it.
Everyone was happy!