Chapter 474 - 303: A Unique Gaming Experience (Part 2)

Chapter 474: Chapter 303: A Unique Gaming Experience (Part 2)

The words were harsh, but true. They’d already taken the stuff, so what was the point of pretending to be good people?

This time, her colleagues didn’t argue. They were in complete agreement about taking the medicine.

They had to take it.

Uffie did the same.

’I’ll just return two bottles of medicine later.’

With the same justification she’d used when taking the food, Uffie successfully convinced herself.

The total supplies brought back from this outing weren’t much, but they were all desperately needed.

After taking the medicine, the cook was able to move again.

The female journalist returned the next day, bringing back some precious supplies with her.

Not only that, but a new character arrived at the shelter.

Romance.

His photo looked intimidating.

His backstory was that of a deserter who had received professional military training, making him an extremely powerful fighter.

Uffie quickly discovered this new character’s strengths.

He was an incredible fighter.

He could take on bandits head-on with just a small knife.

After getting used to controlling Romance, Uffie made a bold decision: go rob the robbers!

’There’s no guilt in dealing with robbers.’

After taking down a bandits’ den, for the first time in hours of playing, Uffie felt she had plenty of supplies.

’This feels amazing.’

There wasn’t just ample food and several bottles of medicine, but also a large number of parts to build better equipment.

There was even a good amount of tobacco and alcohol. Smoking and drinking were bad, but in this environment... ’Might as well have a little,’ she thought. It could restore a good chunk of the mood meter.

’If reality is too cruel, perhaps losing oneself and escaping it is another way to survive.’

A plot of land for farming was also opened up in the shelter, allowing Uffie to grow her own fresh vegetables.

Although the game made no distinction between fresh and non-fresh food—it was all consumed the same way.

But when she put herself in the characters’ shoes, fresh food just felt better.

Besides, it was a stable source of food.

Everything seemed to be heading in the right direction.

She was turning a war survival game into a farming and development sim, even finding joy in hoarding supplies.

It was time to fulfill her earlier promise.

Uffie hadn’t forgotten that the things she’d taken from the Silent Cabin had helped her survive the most difficult period.

It was time to repay the old man’s family many times over.

Even if the old man hadn’t exactly helped her voluntarily.

’I still have to return what I took.’

Uffie filled the athlete’s backpack with food and medicine and headed to the Silent Cabin at night.

Just as she was about to go inside, new dialogue appeared from the house.

The old woman said to her husband, "I’m not feeling well. Could you help make dinner and get me some medicine?"

"I can’t, dear. Most of our supplies were taken. We’ve been robbed."

"War... Life is so hard..."

"That’s just how war is. Tomorrow, I’ll try asking the neighbors for some food."

"I suppose we have to. You don’t sound well."

’There’s no need to beg!’

’I’ve brought you supplies!’

Uffie thought to herself that, in this moment, she felt the joy of being about to save a life.

She impatiently rushed into the cabin.

However, only a terrified old man greeted her.

"We have nothing left here. Please, spare two poor old people."

But...

’I came to...’

In the game, the player character couldn’t speak.

The old man’s reaction was completely understandable. How could he not be terrified, facing the person who had robbed them of their food and medicine—a person who had ignored their desperate pleas?

Uffie controlled the athlete, moving him further inside. The old man just stood in a panic in front of his wife, still making no move to attack.

How could an old, starving man possibly defeat a former professional athlete?

With no other choice, Uffie placed the supplies in the storage container by the door and left.

It was all she could do.

But by the next day, she was still worried.

’If there was new dialogue last time, will there be new content if I go again today?’

’Maybe the old couple’s lives have improved because of the supplies I left.’

Uffie knew that Zog loved to design things with these kinds of details.

Every action a player took resulted in feedback, giving them a powerful sense of accomplishment through exploration.

This was something Mr. Zhuoge had taught her.

’So, since I left them supplies, that family will surely be alright.’

Uffie decided to go check on them again.

That night, she returned to the Silent Cabin.

Unlike before, this time, the cabin was truly silent.

There were no ripples on the screen indicating speech.

Peeking through the crack in the door, she saw that the old couple she had met a few times was not in the living room.

Uffie suddenly had a bad feeling.

Zog had indeed designed feedback.

But it might not be positive feedback.

She entered the cabin. The old couple was truly gone. Next, she checked the storage container where she had left the supplies.

The food and medicine were gone, too.

’Did the two of them take it, or...?’

Uffie began searching the cabin for the two elders.

Not on the first floor, not in the basement. She climbed out and went up the stairs to the second floor.

The bedroom was on the second floor.

’Maybe they’ve already gone to sleep.’

Uffie pushed the door open. There were indeed two people lying on the bed.

However, it was slightly different from what she had expected.

Lying there were two cold corpses.

Uffie suddenly found it hard to breathe. Her first thought was that she had caused the old couple’s death.

She had robbed this family, and although she had tried to make amends, it was obviously too late.

Then, she turned her anger to Zog. Why would he design a storyline that only made the player feel terrible?

He had clearly taught her before that games were supposed to make players happy.

’How is this fun in any way?’

Tempting the player with a pile of easily obtainable supplies, only to make them fall into a spiral of self-reproach.

She was so upset she was even starting to feel angry.

Her colleagues, who had been watching, also fell silent. This sudden, gut-wrenching twist had broken through their composure.

Uffie even felt like slamming her mouse down. At that moment, she wanted to quit the game.

She had tried to make things right, but it was useless.

Why would Zog design it like this?

But after her brief bout of anger, Uffie suddenly understood.

This was, in fact, the most logical design.

Two elderly people with limited mobility, with no ability to fight back, had their home broken into while they still had plenty of precious supplies.

In a warzone teeming with starving people, bandits, and an inhumane army, how could they possibly survive unscathed?

Tragedy was their inevitable fate.

And Uffie had become one of the people who contributed to this tragedy.

She hadn’t taken much. She needed to save her companions. She had very good reasons.

None of that changed the fact that she had caused harm.

It was war that had truly brought about all this misery.

And at the old couple’s bedside, Uffie found a letter.

It was an unsent letter from the grandfather, Bernard, to his grandson, Allen.

"I’m so glad to hear you enjoy living with your aunt. The war isn’t so bad, just a bit boring for a child.

"Everyone says this war will be over soon, so don’t worry about us.

"Grandma’s been doing a little better lately. She told me not to tell you, but she’s secretly saved some flour to make your favorite cookies as a surprise.

"As for me, these old bones are still holding up. I promise, by the time you come back, the swing set at home will be fixed..."

It was a simple, heartfelt letter that mentioned nothing of their tragic circumstances, but paired with the old couple’s fate, Uffie felt a heavy, suffocating weight in her chest.

It wasn’t the kind of sadness that made her want to cry.

It was a pure, oppressive feeling. ’Why did the world have to be like this?’

Although this story might not be real, there was no shortage of true stories from war zones online.

Similar stories, the same despair.

Uffie understood how Zog conveyed his anti-war message.

He didn’t depict the direct horrors of the battlefield. Instead, he simply showed the hardships of the civilians affected by the war.

He expressed it very directly, without any extra embellishment or dramatization, placing these events in one corner after another, waiting for players to discover them.

He didn’t directly say, "Oppose the war." Instead, he presented what war brings and let the players decide for themselves whether to oppose or support it.

It was precisely this straightforward presentation that was so impactful.

There weren’t that many heroes; there were more lonely souls who died in the ruins, their names never to be remembered.

Uffie felt that her characters were no longer just tools for gameplay, but living, breathing beings.

She wanted to lead them through the war, to see them survive.