Wilderness Survival with Druid System-Chapter 446 - 115: Eight Extremes Challenge

"So exaggerated?"

Chen Wen looked incredulous.

After all, "Alone in the Wilderness" was the most authoritative survival competition he knew.

Suddenly, something with a name that sounded so unimpressive popped up, claiming its authority was even higher than "Alone in the Wilderness.

It’s hard to believe.

Hearing this, Adam nodded, "I’m not exaggerating at all, I might even have understated it."

"Let me put it this way, currently, no one in the world can complete the Eight Extremes Challenge!"

No one completed it?

Chen Wen became interested, "Tell me more, I want to see how tough this thing is."

Adam looked troubled, "That will take a long time."

"Are we in a hurry?"

Chen Wen retorted, "The show’s crew needs a while to get here, I just took a call from Abel, they need to arrange some transport trucks to bring them back."

Of course, Chen Wen was talking about his special animal friends.

"Alright then."

Adam thought for a moment and continued, "Let’s start from the beginning."

"The Eight Extremes Challenge, if you trace its origins, comes from a rivalry."

Rivalry?

Chen Wen looked at Adam, confused about how a survival contest could be related to a rivalry.

At that moment, Adam said, "Have you heard of the names Amundsen and Scott?"

"Anyone who loves exploration wouldn’t be unfamiliar with these two names."

Chen Wen replied, "Amundsen’s team was the first to reach the South Pole, and Scott’s team was second."

"Yes."

Adam nodded, "And the origin of the Eight Extremes Challenge is the competition for the South Pole between Amundsen and Scott."

"How should I put it? Amundsen might be the first person in the world to systematically study wilderness survival. When he rushed to the South Pole, he applied his knowledge of wilderness survival to the sprint, arriving in advance."

"Amundsen took photos at the South Pole and even left a letter for the following Scott. They were both rivals and friends."

Rock interjected casually, "Kind of like you two."

"A bit, yes."

Chen Wen said with a smile.

Adam nodded in agreement and continued, "But unlike the deeply researched Amundsen, Scott was a bit lacking. He arrived later and got lost on the return journey, eventually dying on the vast ice fields."

"Amundsen was very distressed about this matter and even said he was willing to give up all honors and money to spare Scott such a tragedy. However, Amundsen later didn’t make it out of the Arctic ice fields during a rescue mission there."

"These two best friends and rivals, one buried in the Antarctic, the other dead in the Arctic, were deeply mourned by the exploration world for their friendship and achievements. Decades later, an explorer—whose name is now unknown—proposed an activity to commemorate them, retracing their route to the Antarctic."

"At the time, the world’s exploration was nearing its end, with most places already reached, and explorers were looking for new challenges. So, after this activity was proposed, many people participated and signed up. This became one of the Eight Extremes Challenge elements, the Cold Pole—Exile to the Ice Desert."

"Afterward, more and more explorers created similar exploration activities, eventually forming the Eight Extremes Challenge."

"The challenge is divided into eight parts, each in one of the world’s most dangerous areas, conducting extreme survival there, hence the name Eight Extremes Challenge."

Adam recalled the materials he had read and said, "But this challenge isn’t open to the public, it’s only internal to our Explorer Association."

Chen Wen, playing along, was quite competent.

He immediately asked, "Why?"

"Because it has changed."

Adam’s expression was complex, "Chen Wen, you must know that from primitive society to feudal dynasties, and even now, people have always pursued spiritual pleasure, and gambling is a highly efficient way to obtain such pleasure."

"About fifty years ago, someone realized the potential benefits of the Eight Extremes Challenge. People can gamble with dice, chickens, and horses, so naturally, some people would use humans to gamble!"

"And the Eight Extremes Challenge is quite a suitable way for human gambling."

"Thus, forty-eight years ago, what we call the first Eight Extremes Challenge began. The wealthy and gamblers bet everything on those participating explorers, and the explorers, in pursuit of thrill, not only didn’t resist but even bet their fortunes as well."

"The first Eight Extremes Challenge created numerous powerful elites, but also led to countless bankruptcies."

"Afterward, the Eight Extremes Challenge continued as a high-end betting circle, but since the new century began, explorer associations worldwide have been established, and they gradually dilute the gambling features, moving overt betting into the shadows."

"The current Eight Extremes Challenge can be seen as a grand gathering of survivors from around the world, surviving in eight extreme areas to commemorate predecessors’ deeds. It can also be viewed as a gladiatorial contest for the world’s wealthy and gamblers seeking excitement."

Listening to Adam, Chen Wen’s expression changed slightly, "So, if we participate, we’d turn into racehorses, competing in the wilderness?"

"It’s not that extreme."

Rock interjected, "It’s actually not that different from ’Alone in the Wilderness.’ After all, ’Alone in the Wilderness’ also has people betting on it, with some of the world’s famous gambling websites behind its investors."

Foreigners, in this regard, really are...

Chen Wen didn’t know what to say.

He had received education since childhood to stay away from the ’three vices’—gambling, drugs, and explicit content, often jokingly removing the explicit content from the list.

But seriously, Chen Wen resists all three vices.

However, Adam said at this point, "Gambling is something that can’t be completely eradicated, and this is a consensus among national survival associations. So, associations use their influence to regularize the gambling behind the Eight Extremes Challenge. Many explorer associations fund their operations from this."

Chen Wen sighed and said, "Alright, I sort of get it; it’s a legalized gladiator show."

"By the way, you mentioned eight challenges, what are they, and has anyone completed them all?"

Adam nodded and said, "No one has completed them all—very few, even less than a hundred people, have completed even half."

"Currently, there are seven people who have completed the most challenges and are still alive. They are Mr. Liu from Hua Country, our president, the president and a vice president from the United Kingdom, a vice president from Australia, a vice president from Russia, and a vice president from Norway."

"They have collectively completed six of the challenges."

"As for the specific challenge names, I’m not clear; I only know the Antarctic one. After all, information on the Eight Extremes Challenge is confidential to the Survival Association, and I don’t have clearance to know more."

"But I’ve heard that among the two challenges your Mr. Liu hasn’t completed, the Antarctic one is included."

With that, Adam showed an expression of genuine regret, "But most explorers who have completed six challenges can only finish those six in their lifetime."