It was supposed to be a casual game, but the Long March dungeon brought tears to everyone's eye

The sound of Hawkeye's keyboard suddenly stopped in the voice channel.

The flame on Kuang Ge's lighter also went out.

A chilling silence spread through the channel.

A long time passed.

Hawkeye's voice came through the headphones, sounding somewhat strained.

"Soft."

"Stop eating."

Ruan Ruan was taken aback. "Huh? What's wrong, Hawkeye? I was just trying to remember..."

"That's not candy," Hawkeye interrupted her.

"What?" Ruan Ruan didn't react.

Hawkeye hesitated for a moment, then lowered his voice and told the truth.

"That's... salt."

"Huh?" The macaron that Ruan Ruan was holding, still unopened, fell onto the keyboard with a "thud".

"Salt……?"

Ruan Ruan instinctively retorted, her voice trembling.

"Impossible! It was definitely sweet! I tasted it clearly, it was sweet!"

"That's your brain lying to you." Hawkeye no longer hesitated, showing no mercy whatsoever.

"When a person is in a near-death state with extreme sodium deficiency and complete electrolyte collapse, their taste buds will become disordered."

"You'll perceive anything that could save your life as sweet."

"More importantly..." Hawkeye paused for a moment, then sighed.

"In that era, in that environment."

Salt is more precious than gold.

"It was the only fuel that kept the entire squad of soldiers energized and prevented them from collapsing from cramps."

"The few grains of salt in the old squad leader's pocket were originally meant for Xiao Hu, or for him to get through the next mountain pass."

"But he gave it all to you."

"He shoved half the lives of the entire class into your mouth and then lied and said it was candy."

After listening, Ruan Ruan's mind went completely blank.

She sat there blankly, the lingering sweetness of chocolate in her mouth suddenly turning into a nauseating bitterness.

It turned out to be like this...

There was actually no sugar at all.

The so-called "healing" was nothing more than someone pulling her back from the brink of death, but in doing so, extinguishing her own last bit of life.

She remembered the old squad leader's face covered in frostbite, and how his rough hands rummaged around in his pockets for a long time before carefully squeezing out those few dusty grains.

That's fate.

A sob was heard.

Ruan Ruan lay on the table, burying her face in her arms, and suddenly felt that she was being very stupid.

She was laughing foolishly in the live stream, saying that her old squad leader was really good to her and even saved candy for her.

As a result, no one reminded her that it wasn't candy at all.

This game even makes the illusions so realistic, old bastard Luo, you have no heart!

"Alright! Stop crying!" Crazy Bro suddenly yelled into the microphone, "If you cry any more, you'll go blind!"

"The Grassland arc is about to start, who do you want to be blind and drag down?"

Although Kuang Ge speaks fiercely, everyone can tell that his voice has a heavy nasal tone.

"Hawkeye, you shut up too. Why tell her the truth? We have to coax her."

Crazy Brother cursed in frustration.

"Let's get down to business."

Kuang Ge cleared his throat and forcibly changed the subject.

"Our previous customs clearance and settlement were only 90% complete."

The moment this number was announced, the atmosphere, which had just been filled with sorrow, instantly became heavy.

90%.

For professional gamers or streamers like them, this number is simply glaring.

Whether it's Crazy Bro or Hawkeye, when they used to play games, they had to achieve a 100% perfect completion and all achievements. If they missed even one hidden treasure chest, they would go back and replay the game.

But this time, the missing 10% felt like a thorn stuck in everyone's heart.

"The system gave a settlement notification because of Lao Li," Hawkeye said, frowning in thought before drawing a conclusion.

"Among the core NPCs, Old Squad Leader, Little Tiger, and Little Bean have all survived."

"Only Old Li from the cookhouse died in the blizzard."

"The system determines that a perfect victory requires all members to survive."

Silence followed again in the voice message.

Everyone knows how Old Li died.

The blizzard was so severe that day that visibility was less than a meter.

Old Li carried that large marching pot on his back and walked at the very back of the column.

To prevent the pot from being blown away by the wind and to keep the fire inside from going out, he lay flat on top of the pot, protecting it with his body.

When they found him, he had frozen into a hard, rock-hard stone.

But the pot beneath him was still warm.

"The forum is already in an uproar."

Hawkeye casually shared a link in the group.

"The whole internet is now studying 'The Rescue of Old Li' strategy."

"Since we failed, it means there is an even better solution."

"Someone suggested that we go back and replay the Snow Mountain dungeon to try and get 100% completion."

Kuang Ge clicked on the link and glanced at it.

Good guy.

#Even if it costs me my life, I'll save Old Li!#

This post has been pushed to the top of the trending searches.

Countless players offered suggestions and advice in the comments.

Some said, "If the player took off their clothes and covered the pot, wouldn't Old Li have survived?"

Some said, "Could we ask Brother Kuang to carry the old squad leader and run faster? As long as we get to the camp before the blizzard arrives, Lao Li won't fall behind."

Even more ruthless: "If all else fails, the three of us players will take turns shielding Old Li from the wind! One player dies, one NPC is traded – a huge profit!"

Looking at these comments, Kuang Ge didn't say anything, but just sneered.

He lit a cigarette, took a deep drag, and the smoke he exhaled blurred the gray portrait of Old Li on the screen.

"Hawkeye, what do you think?" Madman asked. "From a technical standpoint, is it possible to save them?"

Hawkeye was silent for two seconds.

"Theoretically, yes."

"But in reality, it was a dead end."

"At that time, the ambient temperature was minus forty degrees Celsius, and the wind force was level ten."

"If Old Li doesn't protect the pot, it will surely fly away, and the fire will surely go out."

"Without hot water, the whole class will die that night."

"If the player goes to protect the pot..." Hawkeye paused, "taking off his clothes will mean certain death, and not taking off his clothes won't block the wind."

"The so-called strategy has only one core logic—to use the player's life to exchange for Old Li's life."

"But..." Hawkeye's voice turned somewhat cold, "players can be resurrected after they die."

"But in the system logic, once a player dies, the game will restart."

"Old Li, whom we saved, only exists in the timeline where we died."

"For those of us who survived the game, Old Li's death was perhaps inevitable."

This is an unsolvable trolley problem; even Hawkeye couldn't think of a better solution.

This is also the cruelest aspect of Luo'an's "Civilization Torch" system.

History has no "what ifs".

A sacrifice is a sacrifice, and it cannot be undone.

"I'm not swiping anymore."

Kuang Ge stubbed out his cigarette in the ashtray with a resolute voice.

"I also disagree with replaying it."

Ruan Ruan, who had been crying the whole time, suddenly spoke up.

She took a tissue and blew her nose hard.

"That kind of pain, experiencing it once is enough."

"And..." Ruan Ruan looked at the group photo on the screen.

"If it's just to get a 100% achievement, then drag the old squad leader and the others back into that hell and torture them all over again..."

"I think that's an insult to them."

"Yes." Kuang Ge chimed in, his hand unconsciously reaching for his chest.

In reality, there's nothing there.

But in the game data, there lies a [torn half-belt].

Those were Old Li's belongings.

It was left behind when Old Li handed the pot to him.

"Old Li gave me the blame," Kuang Ge said in a low voice. "Then I have to take the blame for him."

"I will walk the path he didn't finish."

"I'll see the meadow he didn't see."

"This is what this damn game... or rather, this damn history, is really trying to tell us."

Kuang Ge raised his head, his eyes revealing a fierce look.

"Keep moving forward, don't look back."

"With this 90% regret, with this life, I'll die at the finish line."

"This is the best explanation for Lao Li."

Hawkeye tapped a few times on the keyboard, seemingly closing some strategy guide pages.

I second that.

These two simple words represent the final decision of the three-person team at the Snow Mountain Demolition Office.

Imperfection is the most authentic form of history.

"Now let's talk about the grassland arc."

Hawkeye quickly entered tactical command mode, speaking faster.

"The official announcement has just been updated again."

"Red Expedition: Grassland Chapter is a brand new, super-large map with an environment five times more complex than the snow mountain."

"Furthermore, the system indicates that this will be a 'multi-unit cooperative' instance."

Recommended team size: 5 people.

Hawkeye circled the line of text in red.

There are only three of us.

"Besides, Brother Kuang, you're the main force carrying the load, with the burden on your back, your movement is restricted, and you're so soft..."

Hawkeye paused, too embarrassed to say that Ruan Ruan was a burden.

"Ruan Ruan is a medic, and her physical strength is weak."

"I only have that Hanyang rifle, which is severely lacking in firepower."

"If we enter the battlefield with an incomplete force, our chances of being wiped out are as high as 98% when facing the swamp and potential skirmishes."

"In the live stream and private messages, at least two hundred professional players and retired veterans have applied to join our team."

"There was even a tycoon who offered a million dollars just to be taken into the grassland."

"Brother Kuang, what's the deal? Should we call for reinforcements?"