Live Streaming: Great Adventure in the Wilderness

Chapter 525: Chapter 522: The Hunting Season Begins!

July 12th, 7:00 AM.

The much-anticipated Black Bear hunting season would officially start today at 8:00 AM, and everyone was busily preparing for it.

From the Oak Tree Company to the Japan Office, to all the hunters and audience watching with bated breath, everyone was looking forward to it.

Inside the black sedan beneath the Imperial Hotel, Nobita Nobi raised his wrist and counted down—the live broadcast was only one hour away.

Bi Fang went to the restroom, scooped up a handful of cool water to splash on his face, shook off the excess droplets, and after neatening his hair, he grabbed his backpack, wiped his shoes, and hurried to the elevator.

At 7:40, he arrived at the southernmost tip of the Kii Peninsula, Wakayama Prefecture.

Four drones hovered around Bi Fang, three of them were under his own control, while the other was operated by the Oak Tree Company.

Hunting Black Bears in the wild was an extremely dangerous activity; those reporters who hadn’t undergone professional training wouldn’t dare get close and could only remotely control drones.

Bi Fang proceeded alone into the wilderness, and by mid-July, the weather had become scorchingly hot.

This hunting season, there were a total of thirty-five Black Bear hunters. According to the registration combinations, there were fifteen teams, with more than four-fifths choosing to form teams.

Even the Yōki Hunter was no exception. The Nameless Yōki Hunters were divided into three pairs; Sato was by himself, while the other four split into two teams.

The rest of the pairings were even more extensive: thirty-five people formed four two-person teams, four three-person teams, one four-person team, and six individuals.

The individuals included Mugalen, Bi Fang, Sato, and the other three.

It’s the same old saying.

Black Bears are risky, hunting requires caution.

The Capital is in the East Eighth District, and Japan is in the Eastern Ninth Zone, so Huaxia and Japan are actually only an hour apart. Eight o’clock in the morning in Japan corresponds to seven o’clock on the domestic clock.

Although it’s a bit early, for those who enjoy Bi Fang’s live streams, it’s already quite a friendly timeslot.

Initially, during the Banna Rainforest, one would have to wake up around 6:00 AM to wait for the broadcast.@@novelbin@@

The sun hasn’t risen, but I’m already up.

Oh, June has long days, so that’s fine then.

[Front row seats]

[Waiting for Old Fang to go godlike in the world]

[How long will this live stream last? Is it as long as the last one in Banna?]

[Not sure, a hundred bears, thirty-five people, about three bears each, that should take a while, right?]

[Not sure, never killed one]

[Dare to kill, and I dare to enter]

Inside the official live broadcast room, Kogawa Kobayashi and Shizuka Minamoto introduced the contestants one by one. When it came to Bi Fang, the number of viewers surged once more—regrettably not reaching the peak of excitement seen during the initial selection of hunting ground by the hunters.

“I have a feeling that Bi Fang’s personal live stream is taking away a large chunk of viewership,” complained a staff member wearing a headset.

Another staff member disagreed, pointing to the curves on the panel, “But the engagement is several times higher than before Bi Fang announced his participation. The number of viewers has already exceeded our initial best-case scenario predictions, and this is just the beginning—it’s bound to increase.”

Hearing the two’s discussion, an elder nearby scolded, “Just do your own jobs; these matters are none of your business.”

“Hey, hey, hey, make sure all departments are in sync. Three minutes left—the live broadcast is about to start.”

“Two minutes left…”

“One minute.”

“It’s starting!”

As the seconds ticked down to zero, the departments coordinated their operations, and tens of millions of viewers in front of the screen waited eagerly.

Nearly one third of the audience had gathered in Bi Fang’s live broadcast room.

In the first venue, the lights were fully lit, the oil paintings came to life, and the massive black screen lit up once again, illuminating the entire hall.

A familiar voice resonated from all directions as the classic opening lines were spoken.

“Looking back at the evolutionary journey of humankind, if our ancestors had not ventured and imagined, if they had not been brave to innovate and willing to sacrifice with grandeur and magnificent sentiment, humans would not have taken canoes to surf the seas, to explore the infinite mysteries beyond the ocean.”

[The man at the top of the food chain!]

[A stomach that digests anything and everything!]

[The strongest jungle player in history]

[The freest man on the planet, dog’s head]

“Human curiosity sparks the desire for adventure, human adventure ignites the torch of civilization.”

“Adventure doesn’t just lie in the oceans and mountains of the great outdoors, the deserts, and swamps; it’s also hidden in the densely populated cities,”

Bi Fang stepped on a large rock, looked down the mountain, smiled at the drone hovering midair, and gave a two-finger salute.

“I am Bi Fang, a professional outdoor explorer. Here, I will show you how to survive in some of the most dangerous places on Earth, where without professional skills, you wouldn’t last even a day, and today, I’m back!”

[Panda people series, shake the glow sticks!]

[Wu Hu, Wu Hu, Wu Hu, Master Fang, my male god, hehe]

[Master Fang is about to take his revenge on the Black Bear!]

[Isn’t this hunting season too cruel? Why do humans have the right to arbitrarily take animal lives?]

[Burning incense in temples is all bullshit, you have to look at the live comments to find the real Bodhisattvas.]

[Weird, Old Fang put on clothes, it feels strange]

[Add one, I thought I was the only one who felt unaccustomed, I’ve been watching grass skirts for nearly a month, and suddenly it’s a style change]

[Where are you now? I heard you were picking a location but didn’t catch the previous live stream of Japan, can Old Fang explain?]

Bi Fang pointed to the sea in front of him: “Right now, I am on the Kii Peninsula. A peninsula is a landform, half of which protrudes into the sea or lake, and the other half is connected to the continent, generally surrounded by water on three sides. Look, standing from up high, we can easily see the ocean.”

The drone flew up, the camera zoomed out, waves undulated in the sea, and it seemed like seagulls were flying and diving into the water, with the forest stretching behind Bi Fang, surrounded by the sea on three sides.

Surrounded by the sea on three sides with forests at the back, this is an island of dreams.

The rainy season had indeed passed, yesterday’s downpour was an anomaly, but even though the weather was clear today, the ground was still damp, full of muck.

Bi Fang scraped a layer of mud off the soles of his shoes and continued: “This is a peninsula that stretches out from the central part of Japan’s Honshu to the Pacific Ocean, and it is also the largest peninsula in Japan. It includes the entire area of Wakayama Prefecture, as well as parts of southern Nara and Mie Prefectures.”

“I don’t know if you all saw the hunting rules, but the hunters’ activity area is divided according to the two-thirds principle of the prefectures. Based on this rule, my activity area would be around the entire Kii Peninsula.”

The two-thirds principle?

The audience was confused, indicating they had never heard of it.

Fortunately, someone explained it in the live comments, and Bi Fang repeated it once more.

Bi Fang braced himself on one foot, stood up on the boulder, made a light jump, and hopped off the boulder.

Ever since his joints were enhanced, Bi Fang especially liked doing this movement. It felt effortless and very smooth.

“As for the Kii Peninsula, people often mistakenly think that the name comes from Kii Province. In fact, it was a combination of the names of ancient Kii Province and Ise Province, taking half of each. But it seems that Kii Province got the better deal,”

[Hahaha, it reminds me of the joke about two universities merging.]

[Our brothers each contribute a character. Dongnan University provides the ‘south’ and Nanjing University provides the ‘capital,’ so neither has the advantage, dog’s head. ]

[Kii Peninsula, it sounds so familiar. Wasn’t that where Sadako committed suicide in ‘The Ring’?]

Bi Fang shook his head: “You’ve got it wrong. ‘The Ring’ is set on the Izu Peninsula. The story in ‘The Dancing Girl of Izu’ also took place there, not this Kii Peninsula I am currently on. The two are quite different.”

“The Kii Peninsula is mainly composed of mountains, with peaks stretching to the seaside, steep cliffs dropping straight to the seabed as if cleaved by a sword. Being a mountainous region, there is a vast expanse of primeval forest, which is why quite a few hunters chose this place.”

The Kii Peninsula is not the same as Wakayama Prefecture. Wakayama Prefecture is closer to the sea, mostly flatlands. Plus, with Dolphin Bay and villagers regularly patrolling the mountains, the Black Bear population is indeed less compared to other prefectures.

Quite a few hunters chose other prefectural cities on the Kii Peninsula. The junction where the peninsula connects with the island of Honshu is the best hunting point.

That’s why Mugalen was so puzzled to see Bi Fang choose Wakayama Prefecture.

Thanks to the vast expanse of primeval forest and the Japanese peoples’ fondness for “creating gods,” this place can be said to be the birthplace of Japanese Shintoism. Hidden within the large primeval forest are Japan’s oldest Kumano Sanzan, The First Shrine, and the world’s longest and oldest pilgrimage route—the Kumano Kodo.

There are also little towns with populations of only a few thousand people scattered along the coastline, secret train heavens.

However, because the entire peninsula only has one train line, and the dining and commercial businesses are underdeveloped, it’s not well-known to the general public.

Bi Fang moved towards the deeper parts of the forest; currently, he was still on the outskirts. To have a greater chance of encountering Black Bears, he needed to venture further inside.

“In December 1912, a Japanese brown bear that was 2.7 meters tall and weighed 340 kilograms intruded into Shimamaki Village, Tomamae District, Hokkaido, beginning a hunt that lasted 5 days. In this brown bear incident, a total of 7 people died, and 3 were injured,”

“Afterward, Japan organized a hunting party of 600 people. By tracking the brown bear’s footprints, they located it and ultimately shot it dead. To date, this is the most serious bear attack incident in Japan and even worldwide.”

“This incident started Japan’s ‘Human-Bear War,’ especially since entering the 21st century, Japan’s ‘Human-Bear Conflict’ has escalated.”

“According to statistics from Fukui Prefecture in Japan, there were 841 ‘bear incidents’ within 10 years, which means Black Bears appearing in residential areas. By 2014, the number of bear incidents in the prefecture remained as high as 615 times. This prefecture is also where the most hunters gathered.”

Fukui Prefecture is located in the central part of Honshu Island and is quite far from Bi Fang’s current location. However, such a high frequency of bear incidents undoubtedly made it a favorite location for hunters during this hunting season.

The five Nameless Yōki Hunters, without exception, all chose Fukui Prefecture.

As local hunters, they knew best where the Black Bears were most numerous, and they were the quickest to choose their hunting spots after Bi Fang and Mugalen.

Clearly, they had made their preparations early on.