Chapter 123: Final Slot Determination

"Qin, thank you—I won't forget you."

Holding Qin Yun, Laura's Jidong emotions had calmed. Both had already washed up; Laura was once again the elegant blonde beauty.

Qin Yun had shed the traces of hardship, but days in the wild still clung to him in the form of a strong wilderness scent.

He gently patted Laura's back, his gaze sweeping over a few foreigners nearby, filled with quiet reflection. Without him, Laura might truly have died far from home.

"Laura, you have my number. We're in a global village now—getting in touch is as simple as that."

Laura let out a soft "pfft" laugh, released Qin Yun, and brushed her hair back with her right hand.

"Qin, you're right—I'll come find you. When I do, I'll bring you a gift. But this isn't payment for saving me—no gift can repay that debt. I'll carry it in my heart for life."

"I look forward to it."

Laura nodded firmly, kissed Qin Yun's cheek one last time, then waved goodbye.

…

The next day, Qin Yun took a bus from Mangya City back to the departure point, retrieved his stored belongings from the hotel, got in his car, and headed for the airport.

Last night, he received a call from Liu Wei: the final communication for the China region of Wild Survival would be held on the 16th. As the only contestant who skipped the preliminary round and advanced directly to the final, he had to show up.

This season of Wild Survival granted China two slots, and since the livestreams, Liu Wei's recommendation of Qin Yun had gained increasing support among TikTok's upper management.

Liu Wei said he was coming on the 16th purely for formality—Qin Yun's slot was virtually guaranteed.

Had it not been for the initial promise of unified communication, even now, announcing Qin Yun's selection would likely draw no objections.

The preliminary interviews for Wild Survival had been ongoing since the announcement.

Know that any program tied to wilderness survival draws massive traffic on TikTok—Wilderness Living, Wilderness Overnight, Wilderness Construction, even borderline wilderness eating streams【dog head】have huge followings.

But most of these are foreign content.

Only after Qin Yun entered this space did his few episodes of Wild Survival livestreams become known.

TikTok's collaboration with Wild Survival has indirectly boosted the entire China region's enthusiasm for wilderness survival, evident in Qin Yun's current fan count.

His fanbase has now surpassed forty million. His backend is flooded with messages offering to buy his account—starting bids of five million yuan, absurd yet realistic.

Originally, Qin Yun joined Wild Survival for the money.

The winner gets two million U. . dollars, plus two million RMB from TikTok—a huge lure for Qin Yun, who at the time had far fewer fans.

Who could have imagined that in just over a month, his livestream earnings had reached a level where he could now say: I'm not interested in money.

It's fucking lucrative.

Take this Qaidam Desert livestream: six days scheduled, but barely five full days.

In those few days, his gift revenue reached over five million yuan. Though mostly from a few big donors, even excluding their tips, his gifts still totaled two million.

That's more than he earned in ten years of working a regular job.

Yet he still wanted to go.

One reason, naturally, was money. The other was his fans overseas.

As time passes, his domestic fanbase will soon hit a ceiling—look at TikTok's current top ten, their numbers haven't moved.

Meanwhile, a single "Wu Yu Ge" has nearly 300 million followers across all platforms.

He's a nonsense figure. If Qin Yun could break out, capture global fans, he believed—with his system skills—he could earn foreign currency far more easily than RMB.

So this time, joining Wild Survival was less about the show and more about using it as a breakthrough.

After confirming multiple times that daily fees had a cap, Qin Yun parked his car safely in an airport lot—afraid of the endless headlines about exorbitant parking fees.

He feared returning to a parking bill that was insane.

The flight from Qinghai to Beijing was short—just over two hours—and he landed at Daxing Airport before he'd even driven from his hotel to Qinghai Airport.

As he stepped out of the airport, he immediately saw Shen Hu and several others.

"Holy shit, how'd you all show up?"

Qin Yun stared at Shen Hu, Zhang Chao, Jiang Bingbing, and Fan Chen—he'd only told Shen Hu to pick him up, yet the others had come too.

Back in Beijing, only these five from their class remained.

He'd left because he married early; Shen Hu and Zhang Chao were locals; Jiang Bingbing and Fan Chen were the only two left as workers.

After he left, only these four remained.

"Hey, you've become a big internet celebrity now—talking real cocky."

Jiang Bingbing—name sounds female, but he's a giant from Shandong, taller than Qin Yun, nearly 1. meters.

He slung an arm around Qin Yun's shoulder, then gasped: "Damn, I didn't feel it in the videos—this is real muscle. You on steroids?"

"Where? Let me feel."

Fan Chen was the opposite—only 1. meters tall, soft-spoken, but secretly mischievous.

He only opened up around close friends.

Zhang Chao wore a suit, looking every inch the high-ranking official.

"Let go!" Qin Yun shook off Jiang Bingbing and Fan Chen, turned to Zhang Chao: "Aren't you supposed to be working? Why'd you skip out too?"

"Took a day off," Zhang Chao smiled. "Came to see how our class's big internet celebrity turned out. I didn't know you had so many talents—I never noticed before."

"Pfft!" Shen Hu punched Qin Yun's chest. "Who'd guess he could do this? Even Song Ya didn't know—otherwise she wouldn't be kicking herself."

"Don't bring her up," Qin Yun waved off, laughing. "Since we're all here, let's eat—I'm treating."

"Obviously you're treating—you're a TikTok superstar. We're salary slaves, earning a few grand a month."

Crowding around Qin Yun, the five got in the car and sped toward downtown.

Though they said Qin Yun was treating, they all secretly paid their own shares.

He politely declined Shen Hu's invitation to stay at his place, instead booking a nearby hotel.

Shen Hu was living with his girlfriend now—Qin Yun had no interest in listening to bedroom noises.

…

"Master Qin!"

Seeing the familiar figure, Liu Wei's eyes lit up—he rushed over shouting.

"Director Liu, hello."

Qin Yun reached out and shook his hand.

"The communication starts at 10: 0. Master Qin, follow me."

This was ByteDance's Beijing headquarters, in Haidian District.

"Master Qin, including you, five people are competing for two slots today." Inside the elevator, empty, Liu Wei spoke plainly. "But your Qaidam Desert livestream convinced nearly all senior staff—you're basically locked in. As long as nothing goes wrong, Mr. George won't object."

"Mr. George?"

Liu Wei nodded. "George Bryant—one of the producers and deputy directors of Wild Survival. He has major influence on the show. He's been in Beijing for days."

"He's watched your livestreams too—he admires you. I'm sure there's no issue."

Qin Yun nodded, feeling nothing. Whether foreign or Chinese, if he failed this selection, he'd rather not cooperate with the show.

Not confidence—just common sense.

The elevator doors opened. As they walked down the corridor, Qin Yun suddenly felt a hostile gaze—he looked up.

A burly man, mid-thirties. In mid-November, he wore only a T-shirt—his thick arms stretched the sleeves to bursting.

He glanced at Qin Yun, then followed another man into a room.

"That's Luo Jiahai," Liu Wei whispered. "He's unhappy about your being pre-selected."

Luo Jiahai?

Qin Yun raised an eyebrow—he recognized the name, just hadn't placed it. Luo was also an outdoor livestreamer on TikTok, with over thirty million followers—a true internet celebrity.

But his outdoor content wasn't about pushing limits like Qin Yun's—it was long-term stays on so-called uninhabited islands.

Clearly backed by a team.

Before Qin Yun appeared, this format was very popular on TikTok—many people never left their own cities, let alone remote islands.

So watching Luo Jiahai live there was fascinating.

Over time, he built a loyal fanbase.

He wasn't fake—he had real skills, or he couldn't have amassed such a following.

But why the hostility toward me? We're not even in the same category.

I didn't get pre-selected—I didn't choose it. The show did. What's it to me?

Soon, Liu Wei led Qin Yun into a large office. It had clearly been prepared in advance, and two other contestants were already inside.

One was Luo Jiahai. The other, a sly-looking man around thirty, sharp and wiry, approached before Liu Wei could introduce him.

He eagerly shook Qin Yun's hand: "Master Qin! It's really you! I knew you'd come to the final interview—great!"

"I'm He Jian, an outdoor streamer on Constable. But after watching your livestreams, I realized mine are child's play."

"Haha, Brother He, don't say that. I just know more tricks—you're the veteran. Let's exchange tips."

Qin Yun was like this: if others were polite, he was polite. If someone like Luo Jiahai acted hostile, he wouldn't even waste a glance.

Seeing Qin Yun so approachable, He Jian—who'd just been rebuffed by Luo Jiahai—was even happier: "I could never pull off your moves. I watched your Qaidam Desert survival—so thrilling. Especially those two wolf-pack fights—I got chills."

Luo Jiahai sat in the center of the sofa, eyes closed, silent—internally sneering.

"Hmph. Team behind him, but pretends it's solo. Annoying. I'll expose you someday."

Qin Yun didn't know Luo Jiahai's thoughts—he preferred silence.

He chatted warmly with He Jian. Soon, two more arrived under TikTok staff guidance.

Qin Yun met them: one was Shang Bo, a retired soldier with reconnaissance background; the other was Guo Yao—a girl, quite attractive, though her skin was rough, a livestreamer on Douyu.

In outdoor livestreaming, Douyu had always done better than TikTok and Constable.

But as times changed, Douyu's market share had been slowly declining.

So Guo Yao also wanted to try stepping out, viewing this wilderness survival show's selection as a great opportunity.

If selected as one of the show's contestants, even if she couldn't win, she would surely become popular on Douyin, and moving to Douyin would then be a natural step.

Yet as she looked at the people before her, she had not the slightest confidence.