By linking my account to the check-in system, I became a leisurely traveler.

Chapter 184 First Glimpse of Talent in the Training Camp [First Update]

In fact, although the prize money is $100 million, the actual amount received will depend on the combined effects of federal taxes, state taxes, and Chinese personal income tax, so it is certain that the actual amount received will not be $100 million.

However, there are preferential provisions in the China-US tax treaty that can be applied. After deducting all taxes, Li Younan, as a Chinese citizen, can actually receive about 80 US dollars. In addition, with the 100 million RMB reward from Douyin, if he can win the championship, the prize money alone can really reach about 100 million RMB.

However, Li Younan has not yet made up his mind to stay until the end.

Although you might confidently assert your willpower and ability to endure loneliness during an interview, when it comes to actually not wanting to continue, everything can change.

A week later, Li Younan successfully arrived at the training center in the northern wilderness of Canada.

Those who can get here are practically the world's best survival experts, so the training is not as rigorous as Li Younan had imagined.

In fact, they already had enough knowledge in various aspects before they arrived here. The training here mainly focused on explaining the local natural geography, climate, and related wild flora and fauna. In addition, the more professional training included wilderness navigation, first aid, equipment use and maintenance, and psychological adaptation.

Overall, however, the training content was more about form than substance for most of the participants present.

If even these basic things require training, then they probably wouldn't have been selected to come here.

Although the training camp is also in the wilderness, and it provides on-site demonstrations of setting up shelters and processing food in the wilderness, the supplies are very plentiful.

Overall, the living environment at the training camp was quite good, and there was even a dedicated chef in charge of cooking.

For Li Younan, the 7-day training was more like a camping trip with foreign friends.

Pre-match training sessions are generally not shown in the final cut.

Although the training content is not covered by the confidentiality agreement, it is generally somewhat dry and boring. Therefore, looking at the many previous episodes of the wilderness solo living program, very few of them have included this part of the content.

But for Li Younan, the pre-match training was one of the few opportunities to communicate and get to know other players. Once the match officially started, everyone was placed at different starting points, making it very difficult to have any opportunities to communicate.

This year's contestants on the wilderness survival show include 10 challengers, three women and seven men, representing a diverse range of people from four of the five continents, though the majority are Americans.

After spending a day at the training camp, Li Younan noticed that the five Americans and the other five international athletes had subtly formed two camps... It wasn't an open dispute or competition, but rather a subtle sense of rivalry that was revealed in some of the daily training sessions.

When Li Younan first arrived, he underwent survival skills training, which mainly included learning how to use a flint and steel, how to start a fire by friction, and how to find and purify water sources, among other things.

These skills are quite diverse and involve a lot of content. There will be a presentation session for trainees after the training ends.

At this point, when an international competitor performs well, an American competitor will immediately try to perform even better.

After several times, everyone developed this tacit understanding.

In such an atmosphere, Li Younan certainly couldn't remain unaffected.

As the only Asian player, he was naturally identified by the other players as belonging to the international team.

Li Younan didn't care about this. He knew very well that the need for belonging was one of the most basic and primal human needs.

However, this rivalry did not affect the harmonious atmosphere between them.

Over the next two days, training was conducted on wilderness navigation and positioning, as well as first aid knowledge.

The former was the most difficult part of this training. Although many of the participants had solid wilderness survival skills, terrain identification was more of a theoretical skill. Anyone who had systematically studied map reading would know that map reading and using was not as easy as people imagined.

Once everyone is thrown into the wilderness, they will be given a map. This internationally standardized map will serve as a reference for determining one's location. If you don't know how to read a map, even if you are given one, you won't know where you are on it.

Similarly, for Li Younan, a player with top-notch mountaineering skills, reading maps and even judging geological structures was not too difficult. The geological features near Lake Chirko were deeply imprinted in his mind like a steel stamp.

In contrast, two guys on the show seemed a bit clumsy in this course. Li Younan felt that if they got lost after the show started, he wouldn't be surprised at all.

However, everyone has their own strengths and unique understanding of wilderness survival, and not everyone thinks this skill is very important.

The following day was filled with the most exciting part: equipment use and maintenance.

This course teaches participants how to properly use and maintain survival equipment, including knives, ropes, tents, sleeping bags, and even fishing nets, bows and arrows. It is also the perfect opportunity to showcase one's skills (and show off).

Many of them are experts in their respective fields, and even if they cannot be said to be proficient in these tools, they are basically adept at using them.

After spending several days together, Li Younan was deeply impressed by several of the survival experts here. In his opinion, the most competitive one was the lumberjack from the United States named Pasini.

Although he's called a lumberjack, his background is somewhat complicated. He served in the U.S. Marine Corps as soon as he came of age, sharing similar military experiences with many top survival experts. He retired before he was even 30, having worked as a firearms instructor, a farmer, and other jobs. Now, he's a part-time lumberjack, which, in his words, is also a form of training for him. This guy has very thick arms, clearly possessing great strength.

Besides that, what impressed Li Younan the most was a wealthy middle-aged man. That guy was very rich and participated in the show not because of the 100 million yuan prize, but simply because he liked the idea of ​​living alone in the wilderness. To him, it was more like a game.

After the day's lessons ended, the students took turns showcasing their work. In an open area near the camp, they were demonstrating their archery skills.

Before long, Li Younan heard several exclamations from the other end. It turned out that Pasini had shot several amazing arrows, hitting apples on tree trunks 30 meters away in succession.

Pacini slowly took the bow down, laughed heartily, and said, "Guys, it looks like I'm having a lucky day."

He didn't think it was anything special, but he did enjoy the feeling of being the center of attention. Even in a survival show like this, people who are proficient in archery are still a very small minority, and in each episode, there are always quite a few people who don't even choose to use a bow and arrow.

Being proficient in archery is a great advantage.

Although he didn't think it was anything to brag about, several international athletes still secretly harbored the idea of ​​competing with him.

Immediately, a bearded European man was eager to try it out, saying he wanted to give it a shot too.

He tried to nock the bow. This American hunting bow had a weight of 50 pounds, and his posture while holding the bow looked quite professional. He then aimed at an apple fixed to a tree trunk 30 meters away and shot an arrow, but it went far off course and didn't even hit the tree trunk.

The bearded man was humiliated, so he quickly grabbed another arrow and tried again. This time, the arrow hit the tree trunk, but it still missed the apple.

He said somewhat embarrassedly, "Well, guys, it looks like I still need to practice more."

Li Younan lay leisurely on the folding chair he had just used for the lecture, and the scene before him made him feel comfortable.

Regardless of everyone's initial motivation for participating in this program, one thing is certain: every contestant here has a pure love for nature and is not particularly hostile. Overall, everyone is quite optimistic and kind. Although they are competitors, everyone seems to be able to accept their own shortcomings with equanimity.

Li Younan considers the program from a different perspective. Although it was originally created for commercial purposes, the presentation of this relationship between people and the land may also make the audience think about things such as the relationship between modern civilization and nature.

Just then, several international athletes suddenly turned their attention to Li Younan.

A few days here was enough for them to get to know Li Younan, the only Asian contestant. They all knew that Li Younan's archery skills were amazing.

The bearded man took the bow down, walked over to Li Younan with a smile, and said, "Buddy, why don't you give it a try? They all say your archery is amazing. You have to make us international athletes proud."

This remark made the Americans present burst into laughter.

Li Younan didn't stand on ceremony. He smiled, stood up, took the bow and arrow, and without walking over, simply stood there and began to nock the arrow.

The bearded man said with some surprise, "Isn't this place too far?"

Li Younan remained silent, only displaying a confident smile on his face.

Faced with these novice foreigners, Li Younan changed his usual low-key style from when he was in China.

He knew very well that in this kind of cultural atmosphere, simply being low-key wouldn't earn him respect; he had to show his edge and his abilities to gain genuine respect.

His gaze sharpened, fixed on the apple in the distance, and then, with a soft thud, a small but powerful sound, a testament to the power of Chinese archery, accompanied the arrow as it flew out.

The arrow struck the apple on the tree trunk with a firm grip, its fletching even trembling slightly.

The atmosphere at the scene became lively again.

"Incredible Lee!"

Everyone praised him in this way, including Pacini.

Li Younan knew very well that in just a few days of training camp, he had already earned everyone's respect solely with his archery skills.

But he was also well aware that others only respected his archery skills, but did not necessarily think that archery represented the entirety of wilderness survival.

The training camp was drawing to a close, and the day finally arrived for the athletes to officially enter the competition venue.

Meanwhile, far away in China, this season of "Living Alone in the Wilderness" has become incredibly popular with unprecedented attention.

(End of this chapter)