"Encountered a black bear?"
As soon as Wang Weifeng opened the backend of the Shark live streaming platform, he saw this scene and was instantly intrigued.
He had been unable to stop thinking about this anchor since one of his subordinates mentioned him yesterday, and first thing this morning, he came in to join the crowd of onlookers. Now it seemed, this newcomer was indeed quite interesting.
Even to the point of bringing him a great surprise.
Last night, Wang Weifeng wasn't idle; he had rewatched some of Bi Fang's footage from the past couple of days, which indeed gave him a lot of inspiration.
As a supervisor, Wang Weifeng saw not only a host with great potential but also a path, a new way of outdoor live broadcasting!
Outdoor live broadcasting had always been a weak point for Shark live streaming, or rather for all live streaming platforms. It was not as popular as other categories and lacked enough engaging content.
If he could get other outdoor streamers to lean in this direction...
Wang Weifeng got excited as he thought about it, his heart fluttering, sitting motionless in his chair and suddenly calling out to someone beyond the door.
"Supervisor, did you call for me?"
A young man pushed open the door; it was the staff member who had reported to him yesterday.
Wang Weifeng stood up and patted the young man's shoulder in praise, "Xiao Li, your report yesterday was spot on; you've really done a great job this time!"
"Ahahaha!" Xiao Li scratched his head, beaming with happiness. However, he didn't think Wang Weifeng called him in just to praise him, so he quickly asked, "Should I continue to follow up on it?"
"Of course, follow up, you must!" Wang Weifeng said earnestly, "Not just that, contact Ling Xuefeng as well, have him check out the stream!"
"Ah?" Xiao Li paused momentarily but quickly regained composure, promptly promising to complete the task, before heading out.
Without a doubt, this was the supervisor showing goodwill towards the new host.
He couldn't offer a featured spot without a contract; that was the rule. So Wang Weifeng arranged for a big gamer streamer to raid the channel to help Bi Fang gain some popularity, which would make negotiations easier when it came to signing a contract.
Meanwhile, Bi Fang in the wilderness was restless, his fingers constantly tightening and loosening around the wooden handle of the short spear. As that bold and terrifying plan took shape in his mind, it simply wouldn't go away.
But as the balance wavered, a series of electronic tones sounded, becoming the final weight that completely solidified Bi Fang's resolve!
"Ding, congratulations to the host for triggering a side mission!"
Mission Name: Snatching Food from a Bear's Mouth!
Mission Reward: Skill Advancement Ticket
Accept the mission?
A side mission triggered? With a reward?
Upon hearing the prompt, Bi Fang was initially stunned, then overjoyed.
Why wouldn't he take the reward?
Especially a Skill Advancement Ticket, with it, Bi Fang could easily upgrade his Wilderness Survival Skill to purple!
If a blue skill allowed him to survive in the primeval forest, how powerful would purple be?
"Yes!"
Without hesitation, Bi Fang chose to accept the mission. He was inclined to action in the first place, and now the system mission only reinforced his ideas!
Moreover, the main quest series hadn't shown any progress yet, and Bi Fang couldn't figure out what the system's criteria were. If he went to retrieve the rabbit meat now, he might very well create a new live streaming sensation, and maybe then the completion of the main quest wouldn't be a problem.
Bi Fang hated failure, and since he felt he had a good chance now, he was willing to take the gamble!
After taking several deep breaths, Bi Fang shared his plan with the audience, and needless to say, everyone thought he was crazy.
"A 200-kilogram black bear could slap me dead with one paw..."]
["Master Fang, everyone knows you're amazing, but you really don't have to take such risks."]
["It's fine, worst case scenario, can't he just climb a tree?"]
["Stop dreaming. I study biology, and I can tell you definitively, almost all bears can climb trees. It's not as simple as you think!"]
["Damn, can't even trust the books?"]
["Who said everything in books is correct? They also say playing dead works!"]
So what did Bi Fang have now? Just a few handmade short spears and a stone dagger to take on a black bear weighing over 200 kilograms?
Watching the endless arguments in the bullet comments, Bi Fang was not irritated, knowing that his online friends were just showing concern for him.
But he was confident in his plan!
Ignoring the viewers' admonitions, Bi Fang stretched out his right hand to sense the direction of the wind with his fingertips.
The gentle breeze of the forest caressed the pads of his fingers, slipping through the gaps of his bones.
East, south, west, north.
An entire flat map emerged clearly in Bi Fang's mind, the location where food and innards were buried and his own position were clearly marked on this map.
At the tail end of the vertical line of a Y-shaped orientation, if the Black Bear was at the left side of the Y where the innards were buried, as long as the wind blew in his direction...
Yes, the wind was blowing downward!
After sensing the wind direction, Bi Fang clenched his fist fiercely; his plan was completely feasible!
Without delay, once he confirmed his plan was workable, Bi Fang immediately ran towards the location where he hung the meat. However, he did not head over directly, but approached from a farther distance.
After all, no one knew exactly where the Black Bear was—it was only Bi Fang's speculation all along, and it was always best to err on the side of caution.
"Black Bears may look clumsy when they walk, and seem a bit unsteady on their feet, but in fact, they move quite agilely. Moreover, Black Bears walk with their full foot, which is called 'plantigrade', making very little noise in the forest and can run quickly, so we need to be cautious and observe our surroundings as much as possible."
Taking a long detour, Bi Fang began to stealthily approach the hanging point of the rabbit meat.
In the live broadcast room, ominous and terrifying background music started to play, startling all the focused viewers.
"[Damn, this BGM, trying to scare the hell out of me?]"
"[Crap, almost pissed myself]"
"[It's got that horror movie vibe]"
Bi Fang did not expect this, but his attention was not on it now, because even before getting close, he had already spotted several traces of the Black Bear's presence.
In the Qinling mountains, not everywhere was muddy ground that left footprints easily, there were more abundant grasslands. These types of grounds did not keep footprints well, thereby making other methods of detection crucial.
"Look at that tree, there are distinct rub marks on the trunk, and Black Bears often like to rub against trees. Its paws cannot reach its own back, so when it feels itchy, it uses this motion to scratch itself, indicating this Black Bear has already been here!"
The girth of the large tree was such that it could only be embraced by one person, and the bark at the bottom had been almost entirely rubbed off, indicating the staggering size of this Black Bear.
Just imagine how massive the size and strength of this Black Bear must be; this was not a force humans could recklessly confront.
Bi Fang was not foolish enough to engage directly. Humans, as the most intelligent of beings, do not rely on sharp teeth, claws, or explosive strength, but rather their unparalleled intelligence.
Moving against the wind direction, Bi Fang bent over as he walked, continuously looking for cover.
Although he had not yet seen the Black Bear, it was better to be safe than sorry.
When he was less than ten meters away from the hanging smoked rabbit meat, Bi Fang even resorted to crawling.
Once he could clearly see the tree holding the meat, Bi Fang, lying on the ground, looked up and, sure enough, saw the smoked rabbit meat, tied up securely with reeds and vines, hanging intact on the tree.
Beneath the tree, however, were plenty of black hairs and footprints, and claw marks riddled the tree trunk.
"It seems my guess was correct; the Black Bear really came here, but it did not reach the smoked rabbit meat!"
Seeing the situation was as he had analyzed, Bi Fang couldn't help feeling a bit smug.
"This aligns with my initial speculation. Between me, the innards, and the smoked rabbit meat is a gradation, with each step being more enticing to the hungry Black Bear. If it couldn't reach the smoked meat, it would settle for the innards, and then finally come after me!"
But the more Bi Fang's analysis was heard by the online friends, the more anxious they became. However, at this point, they could do nothing to help.
Since they could not dissuade Master Fang, all they could do was pray that his actions would go smoothly.
However, in Bi Fang's plan, nearly every move relied on timing the Black Bear's actions perfectly, and a single error in analysis could cost him his life!
On one side was a dominant predator of the jungle, on the other, an exceptionally experienced wilderness explorer— which of them would have the upper hand?
Who is the mantis, and who is the oriole?
With such questions in mind, every viewer was on edge, as if watching a performance danced on the edge of a knife.
One misstep...
Everyone shivered!