Chapter 761: Massive Spoilers
Many reviewers from well-known domestic and international gaming media outlets were also experiencing the storyline of *The Last of Us*.
At first, these reviewers didn’t take it too seriously. After all, the game’s marketing hadn’t been particularly enthusiastic, and the premise didn’t offer many surprises.
But as the game progressed, everyone became completely absorbed.
This was an extraordinary gaming experience—desperate yet real.
Especially for foreign gaming media like TGN, since the story was set in the United States, the game gave them an uncanny sense of familiarity.
Many scenes felt eerily recognizable, and many concepts resonated deeply.
Even the Capitol building scene was an exact replica of the real Capitol, creating an illusion that *The Last of Us* was a real event, with every character having their own distinct personality and feeling alive.
Moreover, the English title of the game, *The Last of Us*, struck a chord with them.
...
Joel and Ellie found Bill, hoping to get a car from him. But after exhausting themselves to reach the destination, Bill discovered his stuff was missing. Joel and Bill had a heated argument, but just then, Bill noticed the corpse of his partner, Frank, hanging from a beam.
Frank had taken Bill’s parts, fixed the car, and tried to leave, but he got bitten by an infected. In despair, the poor man hanged himself. However, the repaired car saved Joel a lot of trouble.
Joel found Frank’s letter in the room—a farewell note to Bill. It said Frank was tired of the town and decided to leave, and he had fixed the battery for Bill.
If the player found Frank’s letter and gave it to Bill, it would trigger a special scene.
After reading the letter, Bill’s voice trembled: “So that’s how you felt? Screw you, Frank. Screw you, you idiot.”
Though Bill was a crude madman, it was clear he was deeply saddened when he saw that letter.
After leaving, Bill, who had argued with Joel many times, muttered discouraging words like “You can’t do it,” but still tossed Joel some gas and kindly reminded him the car didn’t have much fuel left.
...
Arriving in the town of Pittsburgh, Joel was attacked by a group of people. These so-called “Hunters” survived by preying on other humans. The area was littered with piles of clothes, clearly stripped from victims, and there were lists of loot taken from those they had killed. Beneath a wall, Joel found a massive pile of burned corpses. Many of these people hadn’t even been infected, yet they were still murdered by the Hunters.
Here, the number of Hunters was beyond imagination. Joel planned to go down alone and fight his way through, but Ellie insisted that letting her help would improve their chances. Joel handed Ellie the shotgun he had just acquired and taught her how to shoot.
Joel didn’t think much of it at first, but he was surprised to find Ellie incredibly reliable. Whenever Joel fired to alert enemies, Ellie would shoot back, and her aim was surprisingly good.
After clearing the area, Joel changed his attitude and handed Ellie a pistol.
...
In the ruins of a residential building, Joel encountered a pair of Black brothers, Henry and Sam. They were the only survivors of a small group that had been scattered after an attack by Hunters. With just the two brothers left, their youth bridged the gap between Joel and Henry, and the four decided to travel together.
At a toy store, the younger brother wanted to take a small toy, but Henry stopped him.
The four decided to find a military radio to continue searching for the Fireflies.
While climbing to a high point, the ladder broke. The Black brothers didn’t hesitate to abandon Joel and leave, but Ellie jumped down without a second thought.
When they met up again, Joel was furious, but he understood that Henry didn’t want to risk his brother’s life. If Joel had been in Henry’s place, he would have made the same choice.
When passing through a gate, Ellie got trapped on the other side. Joel and Henry had to split up, with Joel taking Sam and Henry taking Ellie—essentially swapping partners. During this time, players felt a strange sensation. Though Sam helped just like Ellie, players still missed Ellie and couldn’t wait to see her again.
After finally dealing with the infected and Hunters, the four found a place to rest.
Joel and Henry cooked food, chatting about the world before the outbreak and about motorcycles. Everything felt warm and cozy.
Ellie specially brought Sam the toy he had wanted earlier. But after Ellie left, Sam threw the toy on the ground.
On his leg was a clear scratch mark, already festering.
In the morning, Sam turned. Henry, in despair, shot himself.
...
The story was simple yet heartbreaking. Though the deaths were logical, they still felt so sudden.
Unconsciously, Joel’s attitude toward Ellie was subtly changing, and players could clearly sense it.
Joel was no longer cold toward Ellie as before. Risking his life to escort her was no longer just a transaction but more like a mission.
Arriving at the University of Eastern Colorado, they continued searching for the Fireflies’ lab, but it was empty again—everyone had already evacuated.
On the way out, Joel ran into Hunters. During the fight, Joel fell from a height and was impaled through the abdomen by a steel rod.
Joel became extremely weak. Even climbing over a wall caused him to collapse, splattering blood everywhere. But at this point, Ellie stepped up, charging ahead to deal with enemies and helping Joel move forward.
This stretch wasn’t long, but with severe blood loss, Joel could barely move. The player’s vision, like Joel’s, became blurry, with him stumbling and even blacking out at times. Ellie supported Joel, constantly talking to him to keep him conscious.
At that moment, players suddenly realized that Ellie was no longer the little girl who just followed behind and couldn’t do anything. She had truly become a reliable helper—or rather, a reliable companion. Perhaps for Joel, he was beginning to see Ellie as a daughter.
In the end, the two rode away on horseback, but Joel fell off due to blood loss and lost consciousness.
A long black screen followed, and time jumped to winter.
This was the first time Joel faced such a critical life-or-death crisis.
Before, though Joel was an ordinary man, he had carefully handled every infected and enemy, always narrowly escaping danger.
But players understood that this injury couldn’t be fixed with just a few bandages.
All players felt as anxious as Ellie, worrying about Joel’s safety.
After such a long journey, Joel and Ellie had become two people who were hard to separate.
Many players were fully immersed in the story, desperate to know if Joel would recover, and whether they could find the Fireflies and develop a vaccine against the virus.
Genius remembers this site’s address in one second: