1000. The judges came to

No wonder the teams from various major media outlets following along all seemed so listless.

It's the end of the year after all, with a lot of big events happening. Most teams already had packed schedules, all vying for traffic. And as for the agricultural channel, a niche segment at best, it's obvious the reporters sent wouldn't be the crème de la crème of the media industry.

Take the team from the FarmHeart Channel, for example. It consisted of a rookie reporter and cameraman, both just one year into their jobs, along with an assistant. Before leaving, their senior colleagues had warned them: "There's nothing groundbreaking or really newsworthy here. Just treat it like you're filming a food show, no pressure, and gain some experience..."

The two rookies didn't have high expectations to begin with, but the problem was, this wasn't anything like the food show they'd imagined! What kind of food show asks you to eat fresh chili peppers raw, straight up, no questions asked?!