The morning sun shone brightly in the sky. The massive Blue-Ringed Boar, the very beast that had threatened to tear their camp apart just hours ago, was still snoring near the boulders.
Chen Ying stepped out of the tent, the crisp mountain air filling her lungs. She still looked a little tired, a testament to the physical toll the previous day had taken, but her gaze was sharp. She looked at the beast, then at Yang Zixuan, who was already awake and crouched by the fire, sharpening a knife.
"We can't let it wake up," Chen Ying said, her voice sounding raspy but firm. "The sedative is wearing off. If it wakes up in this small clearing, it'll kill us all out of pure territorial panic. We have two choices: we let it go and lose the best food source on the island, or... we eat."
"I vote for eating," a voice chirped from the thick bush at the edge of the clearing.
Wu Haoran, the comedic actor who had spent the last decade making a living off his wit and infectious smile, stumbled into the camp. He looked miserable, his expensive outdoor gear was covered in sand and leaves, and he smelled strongly of bug spray.
"Haoran?" Yang Zixuan raised an eyebrow, pausing his sharpening. "I thought you were with the 'Dream Team'. Did Zhang Rui kick you out for making too many bad jokes?"
Haoran let out a theatrical groan and dropped his heavy bag onto the dirt. "Dream Team? It's a nightmare down there, Zixuan. Zhang Rui is currently soaking his face in a stagnant puddle to stop the itching, and Wang Bai... God, Wang Bai has been crying for three hours because the 'humidity is ruining her complexion'. They spent the entire morning fighting over a single tin of peaches."
He turned his gaze toward Chen Ying, his usual joking expression flickering into something much more sincere. "I tried to play mediator, Ying-jie. I really did. I wanted everyone to get along. But when Wang Bai suggested I should be the one to 'test' the murky swamp water for leeches because 'I'm the strongest and it wouldn't hurt me as much,' I realized I was in the wrong camp. I'm the funny one but not a sacrificial lamb."
He reached into the hidden side-pocket of his bag and pulled out several small, vacuum-sealed packets. "I brought the 'Secret Stash' I smuggled past the production team's initial search. Himalayan pink salt, black pepper, and some dried garlic powder. Do you have room for a chef?"
[System: Ding! Wu Haoran's Favorability: 0 -> 45 (Status: Loyal Teammate).]
[Public Opinion: "LMAO! Even the class clown is jumping ship!"]
Chen Ying looked at the salt packets, then at the massive boar. "If you're staying, you're working. Zixuan, Haoran—get the tools ready. We're going to butcher this properly before the sun gets too high."
The hour that followed was a grounded reality check for the millions of viewers watching the live stream.
Instead of the usual "damsel in distress" routine the audience expected from an heiress, Chen Ying took charge of the operation. She didn't flinch at the sight of the blood or the raw reality of survival. She had done this a million times in other worlds after all.
While Zhou Yaya was tasked with gathering clean water from the spring and keeping the fire at a steady heat, Chen Ying directed the men's cuts with surgical precision.
"Cut along the sternum," she instructed, her voice calm and clinical. "If you puncture the stomach, the meat is ruined. Haoran, help him hold the hind legs. We need to drain the blood toward the downslope so it doesn't attract other predators".
[Comments: "She's actually directing the skinning?! My stomach is turning, but I can't look away. This girl is a hidden boss."]
[Comments: "Look at the teamwork. Even the idol Yaya is helping wash the organs. This feels like a real survival camp, not a scripted reality show. I'm actually impressed."]
By midday, the Highland camp smelled like a five-star restaurant. Haoran had build a functional roasting spit, and the smell of salt and garlic sizzling against the fresh, wild fat wafted through the trees.
Meanwhile, a production drone hovered over the Lowland camp. The scene was pitiful. Wang Bai was sitting alone under a sagging tarp, her white dress stained and her eyes red from crying. She stared hungrily toward the other camp, her stomach growling loud enough for the microphone to catch.
"Rui-ge," Wang Bai whispered to the man currently applying mud to his fly-bitten face. "I think I smell barbecue... Do you think Yingying would share? She has so much, and we have nothing but these sour, bruised peaches."
Zhang Rui glared up the hill, his pride wounded more than his skin. "She owes us! She only won that map because of a fluke and some lucky guesses. If she has meat, she's legally and morally obligated to share it with the entire group! It's the rules of the show!"
[Username 'Bai-er's Shield': Exactly! It's so incredibly selfish of Chen Ying to feast while the others are starving. Where is her humanity?! She's a monster!]
[Username 'RealityCheck': Humanity? She tamed the boar. She invited the guys who actually wanted to work. If Wang Bai wanted meat, she should have picked up a knife instead of a tissue and a victim complex!]
Chen Ying looked down from the ridge, a piece of perfectly seasoned, charred pork in her hand. She could feel the "Luck-Siphoning Jade" in the distance trying to reach out to her again—a desperate tug at her aura, trying to steal the satisfaction she felt.
She didn't even acknowledge them. She turned her back to the camera and the "White Lotus" and took a slow, deliberate bite.
[System: Ding! Target 'Wang Bai' is experiencing 'Mental Breakdown' due to jealousy. 30 Points Earned!]
[Account Balance: 52 Points.]
[Ding! Warning! A production boat is approaching the island docks. The Director is bringing a 'Guest Judge' to evaluate the first day's progress and deliver a special prize. It is your eldest brother, the CEO of Chen Group, Chen Shao.]
Chen Ying's hand froze mid-air. Chen Shao. Her eldest brother. The man who had once been her hero, only to become the person who called her a "brat" and a "disgrace".
He was a puppet whose strings were being pulled by a parasite. In her last life, his coldness had broken her heart. In this life, she didn't hate him, but her heart had already turned cold.
"Perfect," she whispered, her eyes turning cold. "Let him come. I have a lot to show him."