Livestreaming the Hunt - Chapter 9

Chapter 9: Little Know-It-All

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

“Done!!!”

Wang Kui stared at the fire like a father looking at a newly born child—he was obviously thrilled, but he was being careful of making a single false move.

Therefore, he only dared to lightly flap it with his hand from above.

The weak breeze brought about some airflow, kicking up some sparks.

“Now is not the time to dally. Now comes the most difficult step!”

Picking up the roundwood, Wang Kui carefully poured the sparking wooden chips into the tinder. Holding everything on his palm, he brought his mouth close and gently blew.

“Phew… Phew…”

As he blew small gusts after small gusts, smoke began to billow and grow in size within the tinder. However, his audience could only see the sparks and not a real flame.

They thought, ‘Could Wang Kui have failed?’

That was when he put down the tinder and picked up his camera. Everyone, having assumed that he had failed to ignite it, felt a little disappointed at that.

They did not expect that Wang Kui was poking around his screen for a bit just to play a song titled ‘Fire’ before smiling meaningfully and saying, “Now, I’ll show everyone the true starting point of human civilization!”

Accompanied by a dramatic piano rhythm, Wang Kui blew one last time at the tinder.

Whoosh!

An orange-red flame instantly shot out, fusing in perfect time to the rising emotion-charged prelude of the tune, almost as if a knight wielding a holy sword had cut a path of light in the darkness!

[Woah! It’s lit, it’s lit!]

[Awesome! That BGM is quite something too—I’m putting it on my playlist!]

[Death to Shills gifted streamer Bank Card x1—Awesome! Awesome!]

[These Breast Valleys Be Dangerous gifted streamer Likes x20—That last blow was so cool!]

[Molested Egg gifted streamer Airplane x2—Lit! I was so excited I slapped myself twice!]

All at once, the screen on Wang Kui’s camera was filled with the word ‘awesome’ while gifts bounced all over his screen. Some were free, while others like the Airplane were worth 200 dollars, which left Wang Kui beside himself in excitement.

“Thank you, everyone. Anyway, this is fire plowing—this is actually slower than starting a fire by wood drilling since the latter only focuses on the friction over a single point and accumulates heat quicker.

“However, it would be difficult for newbies since they might not be used to it. If their hands aren’t quick enough, they could easily crack their skin. In comparison, fire plowing is simpler and more effective, just as demonstrated!”

After a few explanations, Wang Kui picked up the dried twigs he had prepared from before, snapping them into little pieces and throwing them into the fire.

Amidst the fire’s heat, the dried twigs crackled repeatedly, with sparks shooting out and disappearing up in the air.

It was then that the climax of ‘Fire’ arrived. The echoing bass drum overlapped with loud rumbling, driving the atmosphere to a climax just like a certain famous phrase:

Explosion is art!

Many audiences stayed in the livestream channel because of the rhythm.

After all, it was already past six now, and most of the famous livestreamers were starting their own broadcasts, but the fact that they stayed here meant that Wang Kui’s content was extremely attractive!

He then glanced at the concurrent viewers to find that there were over five hundred.

Such a shame. It was still very far from a thousand!

Luckily, he only thought that and did not say it out loud, or there was no telling how many streamers would die from frustration.

Bro, this was just the first day you are livestreaming!

After thinking about it, Wang Kui decided that he would still have more chances in the future.

Hence, puckering his lips and turning around, he walked up to the nearby Chinese Juniper and said, “Fire is one of the most essential survival tools when you are outdoors. With it, you can keep warm as well as chase off mosquitos and animals while maintaining a source of light!”

“It’s a pity that a bonfire only provides a fixed point of illumination. Nevertheless, I still have to get some rocks from the stream just now. That is why I should make a torch now to provide us with a mobile illumination!”

Some of his viewers appeared puzzled at that.

After all, everyone had been watching since Wang Kui had arrived there from the stream, and this place was no more than a hundred meters away from it—was there a need for a torch?

Wang Kui slid a glance at the screen on his watch as he continued to firmly snap off branches. “You would know how important illumination is out in the wild after living in darkness—do not underestimate this hundred over meters.”

“A night out in the wild is very much a daytime map upped to hellish difficulty. All kinds of beasts and snakes will be out and about searching for food, and you might get hurt or even killed when caught off guard!”

“Moreover, we must be sure to extinguish any fires lit at the campsite before leaving. Even if it is now summer and not spring or autumn where fires are prohibited, we should take note of fire safety since hills and forests have been burnt down because of cigarette butts and firecrackers. I don’t think I have to speak much on this since most of you would get the idea.”

The audience in his channel became restless at his words.

[So, is it true that you get twenty-five to life for setting a hill on fire?!]

[Hahaha! It sounds like our streamer here is full of survival instincts!]

[Aren’t you a know-it-all?]

[He sounds like an old veteran the moment he speaks!]

Despite Wang Kui’s explanation, everyone was still questioning the practicality of a torch.

Like matches, if one used a single stick as a torch, the fire would die off soon enough without flammable materials like kerosene or chafing fuel.

When that happened, not only would the fire he started with so much difficulty be lost, he might be caught in danger halfway through his trip.

“Normal sticks will not do. A full torch needs three things: a main branch, flammable materials, and a retainer.”

“For the main branch, I picked a branch from that blooming Chinese Juniper. Since it is growing lushly, it contains substantial nutrients and liquid inside in contrast to dry branches, and it is not easily flammable.”

“For flammable materials, we will choose the tree bark and twigs of the Lacebark Pine. Pine trees would secrete a lot of resin as means of killing bacteria and self-preservation, and it is a plant oil which is flammable, but lasts a while.”

Wang Kui quickly gathered both items.

However, it was not an easy choice when it came to retainers.

Still, he had an idea.

He split open the lacebark pine branch with a rock, sandwiched the pine tree bark in the groove between, and tied some wild grass laced with resin on the outside.

With that, the retainer was fixed. Even if the wild grass was burnt off, the main branch itself would keep the flammable materials from easily falling off.

[That efficiency is just incredible!]

[I’m having a déjà vu of ‘My Word’…]

Wang Kui then ignited the flammable materials, extinguished the bonfire, and picked up his backpack. With the half-meter tall self-made torch in one hand and a camera in the other, he prepared to depart. “I’ve stuffed so much resin that it should keep burning over ten minutes. Let’s go!”

The depths of the mountain were a scary pitch-blackness at night.

Wang Kui adjusted his camera to night vision mode, and the livestream promptly turned to a pale-green shade, and the sights nearby became much clearer.

However, that left his audience even more spooked. The trees that seemed to ‘bare their fangs’ especially prompted the feeling that one was playing a Resident Evil game.

Amidst the grass, the insects of summer were sounding relentlessly.

There would be gnats circling Wang Kui’s torch from time to time as well, their many shadows reflecting upon the ground.

Howl—!