[Winter tightly holds our hands. In recent days, many people have frozen to death. The only good thing is the reduction in crime, even the bandits can't roam freely anymore.]
[The temperature is still very low. In the besieged Bergren, finding firewood has become increasingly difficult, and people have started collecting anything that can burn.]
At this time, the price of wood is at its highest. The price of a piece of wood has risen dramatically to the point where it's worth two cigarettes.
At this moment, bullets are actually on par with wood.
Yes, that kind of wood can be found everywhere.
Brother Yin had already ended his live stream. He looked at the gray-white game screen and the monitor, tilted his head back, and closed his eyes.
The bright incandescent light stimulated his eyes through his thin eyelids, making his head a bit dizzy.
He played the game for three hours, but it felt like he had lived through three years.
The time he looted the military outpost and found things, was also the first time he broke down.
He found a letter inside.
[A certain letter, Page 1: Mother told me that you want to join the army. I have to tell you something. Last week, we caught a girl who joined the rebels, a sniper. Someone told me that she killed a lot of our brothers, so they wanted to "have some fun" with her. They tied her to a tree and covered her with bombs.
The fuse was very long, long enough for her to recall her entire life.]
[A certain letter, Page 2: Ten minutes later, she was blown up. You know what's the worst? It's not the scattered entrails and blood everywhere, but her expression. After seeing her expression, I felt like I had been hit in the head with a heavy hammer.
I think I'll never forget that scene in my life. You want to join the army for some excitement, right? I don't think it's fun at all, brother.
There's only death and dust here.]
When he saw that letter, he truly broke down.
Even if that girl wasn't the one he killed, he still felt a bit stifled inside, perhaps because he now knew the horrors of war.
Brother Yin took a deep breath. He planned to watch other people play the game.
He wanted to know the different endings of the game, but he didn't want to open the game again.
He searched for "This is My War" and immediately found many game videos. They were scenes from various bloggers playing the game, edited by fans or the livestream moderators.
He was currently watching a video by a blogger named 'Tuanzi'.
Unlike when playing with him, Tuanzi was being extremely cautious in her gameplay.
She had collected a saw blade and cut through a fence. Upon entering a cabinet, she realized that the items inside were clearly labeled as "private belongings."
Brother Yin watched the video while smoking a cigarette. The video had a high number of views, but there weren't many comments.
The items in the cabinet were very conspicuous, though they were labeled as private belongings, they actually contained food.
In the video, Tuanzi stared at the prominent words that occupied almost half of the screen, and her expression froze for several seconds before she sighed and left.
Brother Yin didn't say anything, and neither did the comments.
But at this moment, it seemed as if everyone in the same time and space let out a collective sigh.
In the video, Tuanzi saw that the front door was locked, so she broke it open. Once inside, she encountered a group of people rushing out to beat her up, but she ran away.
She returned home empty-handed that night.
However, she didn't return kindness for kindness and not stealing from others in her gameplay.
On her first day, she was robbed. Those people took her tools and food.
The second day, fearing another robbery, she carried some things from home, leaving behind a few resources.
When she came back, she found her home completely looted, not even a screw left behind.
But fortunately, one person eating is better than a whole family starving, with a lighter burden.
Her home was already in shambles, not even a proper home, because there was a hole in the wall from artillery fire.
She was frequently robbed later, but nothing was taken because there was nothing to take.
Sometimes, Tuanzi would go out at night empty-handed, perhaps after being chased away by someone, running away, not daring to take others' private belongings... and the game system would say, "XXX returned home safely but empty-handed."
Watching her gameplay, Brother Yin couldn't help but laugh. He wondered if those who had robbed her and returned empty-handed would also say to their comrades who had been waiting for supplies, "I'm sorry, I didn't find anything. I disappointed everyone, but I'll try harder next time."
Tuanzi's game went smoothly without any unexpected incidents. Her partner characters managed to escape.
The game ended on the day when the harsh winter arrived.
Her video wasn't very long. After it ended, the comments began to appear in the barrage.
"It's good this way."
"Not killing is also good. If you die, you die. Who can survive in war?"
"If I could, I would also want not to rob anyone. It's really tough later on, and it feels uncomfortable."
...
The barrage continued discussing. Everyone seemed to find it acceptable for Tuanzi to die on the dark night before the harsh winter arrived.
It's really good this way. Perhaps this is the most perfect ending in the game.
Can you truly be happy just by surviving until the end?
Brother Yin also posted a comment, "This is the best gameplay video I've seen."
He didn't want to watch his own gameplay process anymore. Completion?
Just a piece of sh* t.
After closing the video, he refreshed the page. A video with millions of likes appeared before his eyes.
[Game Restricted Zone! The Quiet Cabin!]
Brother Yin's breath hitched, and his heart followed by stopping for a moment.
He remembered this place, but why was it called a Restricted Zone?
His fingers trembled a bit, but he still clicked on the video page.
In the video, a game blogger was controlling his character, looting the peaceful cabin and robbing the defenseless elderly couple.
He was carrying a gun and an axe.
Upon entering, he headed straight for the upstairs, and the elderly man couldn't follow him, only shouting from below, "Put it down, don't steal, you thief!"
Brother Yin remembered this scene because his gameplay was exactly the same.
That time, Brother Yin took everything without any hesitation.
But what was different from himself was that this blogger came a second time, a few days after the first time.
In the video, before he entered, he smirked and said, "The supplies here are really good, enough for a few days."
However, this time, there were no shuffling footsteps or reprimands from the old man.
Even through the screen, it seemed like one could smell the stench of decaying corpses.
There were only two emaciated corpses on the bed, starved to death.
What the f*ck!
Brother Yin covered his chest. The contents of that letter appeared in his mind again, every word and sentence clear.
[War is not fun at all. There's only death and dust here.]
Brother Yin completely shut down his computer. He pounded his fist on the desk, unable to find words.
In this war, civilians had almost no way to escape. Staying at home, soldiers came with household registers and exterminated families one by one.
Running out of the city, soldiers with guns on rooftops, snipers picking them off one by one.
Waiting for rescue, they were still slaughtered.
Hoarding supplies persistently, enduring a five-year siege, with instant noodles having a shelf life of only two years.
What to eat for the remaining three years? Consuming human flesh, consuming loved ones and friends."