A video appears on Bilibili, drawing the attention of many netizens.
Deserted island, underground, massive secret realm – these keywords are incredibly eye-catching.
Many netizens, drawn by the gossip, click to watch the video.
A dark cave, unseen monsters lurking within, devouring contestant after contestant.
Jiang Fan, Zhou Niannian, Dai Xiaomei, and even Yao, who entered later, are all given close-ups.
This is followed by urgent background music, a cinematic underground wooden roller coaster, taking viewers straight to hell.
On a mine cart without safety belts, the nearly 90-degree descent alone makes people exclaim in thrill.
The swift underground river, at a certain moment, transforms into sweet golden liquid, and the waterfall flowing into the abyss, under an invisible force, becomes a magnificent upward-flowing cascade.
Jiang Fan and Zhou Niannian, held by ropes, while Dai Xiaomei, with no protection, pass through the waterfall and are flung into the ocean.
Not to mention the boundless golden ocean, the underground sun, the scenery from ten thousand meters in the sky, and the colossal jungle facing the ocean!
Jiang Fan and the others experience a night's worth of events, which Zhou Ye edits into a 45-minute extended video.
Thanks to the high-definition quality of the wooden orb 'Observer', the 4K lossless footage is maximized, making all the details clear and understandable.
At the end of the video, Zhou Ye specifically adds a note.
[All footage used is from the 'Wilderness Survival Competition' officially organized by Shark Platform. No processing has been done other than editing order.]
The final line of text causes netizens, who initially thought it was a self-produced film, to fill the comments with question marks.
"??? Wait, this isn't a movie? Uploader, you're saying this is real? If that's the case, I'm wide awake!"
"If it's a movie, it's a masterpiece, but if it's real... People aren't fools these days, no need to lie."
"Ahhh, this guy in the video is so professional! I'm a fan. Does anyone have a link to his live stream?"
"Guys, hurry to the live stream! The biggest live stream on Shark Platform's homepage is it. The jungle and the golden ocean flowing upwards are too spectacular!!!"
"I feel like the uploader is in danger. Posting such classified video, aren't you afraid of being interrogated?"
"What's there to be afraid of? Shark Platform dares to stream it, so the uploader dares to edit it, right uploader?"
An exciting video quickly attracts more and more attention.
Likes, coins, favorites...
The speed of the triple engagement is astonishing. Less than an hour after the video was uploaded, it has tens of millions of views.
The traffic grows like a snowball, constantly expanding.
More and more newcomers enter the live stream, with the viewership approaching 200 million.
The director and the middle-aged man, however, have no time to deal with all this. They gaze at the frozen image beside them.
It is the vast jungle that Jiang Fan and the others saw in the sky earlier!
"Another world underground, they really did it, they actually found it!"
The middle-aged man finally shows a cheerful smile, happy for his wish to be fulfilled.
The older generation at their research institute, throughout their lives, wanted to decipher the high-tech artifacts unearthed from the ruins, but achieved nothing.
Tracing back to the source, they discovered that these things originated from a world that had sunk underground, a place where the most ancient and glorious civilization of Blue Star's history lay buried.
He thought he would have to wait until he was old and dead to see that world, and then have his descendants burn the records of this civilization for him.
Who would have thought these three streamers would be so promising!!!
The director already knew his friend's obsession since joining the research institute as a youth, and seeing it realized, he was genuinely happy for his friend.
But now, it's more important to tell him what's going on.
He smiles and punches the middle-aged man's shoulder.
"Alright, stop grinning foolishly. What exactly is that place?"
"Hukalo."
...
While the audience cheers and the director and the middle-aged man discuss the ancient civilization, Jiang Fan and the other two finally regain their senses.
Mainly, they were hungry after spending so much time getting to this place.
Jiang Fan gets up from the ground, casually pulling Zhou Niannian up.
Zhou Niannian then pulls up Dai Xiaomei.
The two women dust themselves off, survey the jungle they are in, exchange glances, and then burst into laughter.
"Like another survival challenge."
"I think so too."
After so many incidents, they have finally come to terms with it.
It's just a wilderness survival challenge in an underground jungle, right?
As long as they persevere long enough, they will eventually return to the surface!
Ignoring the hidden fear in each other's eyes, perhaps they were as excited and happy as they claimed to be.
Jiang Fan merely glanced at them, not exposing them, and turned his attention to the system's voice that sounded upon their landing.
Perhaps, having explored the vast jungle hidden within the mine, the mission has changed.
[Ding! Arrived at Hukalo, Lirita Jungle Garden. Hidden mission unlocked.]
[Explore Lirita Jungle Garden, current progress 1%.]
[Reward: Antidote (Medicine).]
"Lirita Jungle Garden..."
Jiang Fan's gaze fixates on the name. After a moment's thought, he concludes that calling this boundless place a garden is too much of an exaggeration.
But more importantly, there's the reward.
During exploration, one never knows what dangers might be encountered.
A mosquito might even be fatal.
Moreover, in this underground jungle world, he has already seen many extinct plants and animals.
However, a medicine that can cure all poisons is, to some extent, equivalent to an extra life.
Thinking this, Jiang Fan finds even more reason to explore.
An environment never seen before, a brand new adventure.
This excites Jiang Fan, who loves exploration.
He glances at his personal status panel.
The store and skills have all undergone new changes.
[Wilderness Survival System]
Host: Jiang Fan
Physique: 58 (Healthy)
Strength: 95 (Superhuman strength)
Speed: 50 (Average)
Luck: 75 (Heaven-sent Koi)
Skills: Wind Summoning (Cooldown 71:36:29)
Talents: [Humidity Detection], [Fire Starting Mastery], [Perfect Aim], [Herbalism Mastery], [Beast Intimidation], [Salt Making Mastery], [Construction Mastery].
Survival Points: 0
[Mall Entrance]
Achievements Unlocked: [First Parachute Jump], [First Crafting], [First Fire Starting], [First Hunt], [First Camp Setup], [First Bow Making], [First Salt Making].
...
The mall entrance icon is no longer grayed out but is a clickable azure blue.
Skills now include Wind Summoning, which he just used, with a cooldown of three days.
Combined with his constantly improving physique, exploring this underground world should not be too problematic.
With this thought, Jiang Fan calms down and joins Zhou Niannian and Dai Xiaomei's discussion.
"Sister Zhou, which way should we go now?"
"Let's see what Jiang Fan thinks."
"Our clothes are wet, and we've expended a lot of energy. Let's stop and rest for a bit."
Jiang Fan replies and is the first to take off his backpack.
Zhou Niannian and Dai Xiaomei exchange glances at his decision and both nod in agreement.