Chapter 762: The True Masterpiece
(Contains a large amount of plot content. Readers who are not interested may consider skipping this chapter.)
Time turned, and winter arrived.
The first thing to appear on the screen was a rabbit, with Ellie hunting it using a bow and arrow.
From Ellie's mental state, players could infer that Joel was still alive, but had lost his mobility; otherwise, Ellie wouldn't have been out hunting alone.
While chasing a deer, Ellie encountered two strangers. As she waited for one of them to return with medicine, she and the other stranger were attacked by infected.
It was only when Ellie fought the infected that players realized the little girl who used to just follow behind Joel shouting "awesome" had grown into a qualified warrior. Stealth, assassinations, archery, shooting—all her abilities had been fully unlocked. It was clear that over these past few months, Ellie had endured many difficult battles while taking care of Joel.
After taking down all the infected, just as players thought it was safe, the story took a shocking turn.
This sleazy uncle who had fought alongside Ellie turned out to be the leader of the hunters. The hunters Joel and Ellie had slaughtered in the nearby town while cutting through them like gods—they were all his companions.
However, the sleazy uncle seemed fairly reasonable. He gave Ellie antibiotics and let her go.
But in reality, if players had paid attention to the earlier story, the hunters in that town had mentioned this new leader during their idle chatter. His brutality had even caused dissatisfaction among the hunters, with some choosing to leave rather than work with him. This showed he was a deeply hidden villain.
(Easter egg here: The sleazy uncle and Nathan were played by the same actor.)
Ellie returned to their hideout. Joel was still lying on the ground, unconscious. Ellie had gotten the antibiotics to save him.
In the freezing cold, Joel lay under a blanket, unconscious. Ellie used her backpack as a pillow and lay beside him, taking care of him attentively.
But at dawn, those hunters tracked them down. Ellie decided to lead them away.
Although she took out many hunters, Ellie was eventually captured by their leader.
Waking up in a cell, Ellie saw the hunters outside dissecting a living person—clearly they were going to eat human flesh.
The leader wanted Ellie to stay, but she refused. Enraged, he decided to chop her into Ellie paste.
And just then, Joel, who had been injected with the antibiotics, woke up.
...
Zhao Lei, controlling Joel, was almost crying with joy. You're finally awake!
Clearly, Ellie had been captured. Only Joel arriving in time could save her. Zhao Lei barely bothered to scavenge the room for supplies; he rushed out of the house almost immediately to search for Ellie's trail.
Killing the hunters searching the town for him, Joel captured two alive and tortured them brutally to force out Ellie's whereabouts. This scene of merciless torment didn't feel cruel to Zhao Lei—instead, it felt incredibly satisfying!
But the story didn't fall into the cliché "Joel saves Ellie" trope. Ellie cleverly escaped on her own. The story now ran on two parallel tracks: in the blizzard, Ellie fled, searching for a way out of the town; meanwhile, Joel arrived in the same town, searching for Ellie's trail.
In the town's restaurant, Ellie fought an extremely grueling boss battle against the perverted uncle. Ellie could only sneak through the environment, using a knife to assassinate him, and she had to stab him three times.
Zhao Lei died several times here, but when the final stab landed, the scene switched to Joel.
By the time Joel reached the town, enemy reinforcements had arrived and were searching the entire area. Zhao Lei had no intention of getting tangled up with them; he just searched for Ellie's location.
Ellie finally killed the twisted hunter leader, almost venting her rage as she swung a machete, chopping his head to pieces. Only then did Joel arrive. Ellie sobbed uncontrollably in Joel's arms.
Amidst a low, somber guitar melody, everything fell silent. Only then did Zhao Lei realize his back was soaked with sweat.
...
Up to this point, the entire plot had reached its climax. Players had experienced so much, and the bond between Joel and Ellie had transformed.
From the initial coldness, to gradual trust, and now, the two were inseparable.
When Joel was severely injured, Ellie didn't abandon him. Instead, she went through hell to take care of him, making Joel see her as his own daughter. Their conversations during the journey had noticeably increased. Joel said that when all this was over, he would teach Ellie to play the guitar. It was clear that Joel now saw Ellie as his anchor in the apocalypse, as family.
By now, the players' goal had narrowed to just one: deliver Ellie to the Fireflies so they could develop a vaccine for the virus.
Finally, they arrived at the destination—the hospital. The scene was no longer filled with endless snow and wind, showing that the two had traveled a very long time, taking an entire year to cross America.
In the ruins of the city, there were actually many animals. A giraffe stood below the building, stretching its head up to eat leaves from the upper floor. Joel and Ellie walked over and stroked the soft fur on the giraffe's neck.
The giraffe ate the leaves, its big, watery eyes staring into the camera. Behind it stood a high-rise building lush with green grass.
The adorable giraffe seemed to awaken Ellie's girlish heart. She started hopping forward, chasing after the giraffe as it ran.
This was a very heartwarming scene. Though brief, it left a deep impression on Zhao Lei. In most zombie-themed stories, apocalyptic scenes were always monotonous gray and black, with rotting zombies bringing true nightmares and doom. But in *The Last of Us*, because the virus was a type of cordyceps fungus that didn't threaten plants or animals, twenty years after the outbreak, nature and animals had reclaimed human territory.
This tender scene was a crucial female perspective, casting a layer of humanity's brilliance over *The Last of Us*. It wasn't just about hormones and killing anymore, not just the cruelty and coldness of the apocalypse—it also had sunshine and warmth.
Accompanied by a gentle, soothing melody, Zhao Lei felt that after all the painful battles before, the story would finally have a happy ending.
Just like the land before him—green grass, trees, giraffes.
At this point, Joel had already thought about backing out. He suggested they could end the journey here. But Ellie decided to keep going. After everything they'd been through, the goal of saving all of humanity was within reach.
The players were also in this extremely conflicted state of mind. They knew it was all about to end, yet they didn't want it to end.
The two worked together skillfully, crossing infected-filled urban areas and surviving many dangers. Finally, they found the Fireflies' base.
When Joel woke up, Marlene was beside him, marveling that they had managed to travel such a long road.
Joel said, "Because of her. She fought tooth and nail to get here. Maybe it was fate."
Joel wanted to see Ellie, but only then did Marlene tell him the truth.
The cordyceps fungus had mutated inside Ellie's body, which was why she was immune to the virus. The doctors had to remove the fungus, which had spread throughout Ellie's entire brain, in order to reverse-engineer a vaccine.
Reality finally tore away the veil of warmth. Joel faced a difficult choice: let Ellie die to develop the vaccine, or save Ellie and put all of humanity's safety aside.
After all, this case of immunity was unique. Humanity might never find another person like Ellie who was immune to the virus.
And Joel chose the latter without hesitation.
Grabbing a gun, interrogating, fighting his way out—Zhao Lei had never felt so exhilarated. He no longer cared about the apocalypse or the vaccine. He just wanted to save Ellie and get out of there.
Zhao Lei felt a deep connection with Joel. Because throughout this long journey, the two had been through so much together, forging a bond even stronger than family.
Joel had experienced the pain of losing a daughter, so he knew exactly what Ellie's death would mean to him—probably even more painful than the apocalypse itself. So he didn't hesitate. For Ellie, he would kill everyone.
On his way to the top floor, Joel found two recordings. One was from a doctor, confirming that Ellie's condition was unprecedented, and already looking forward to a bright future where the vaccine was developed, the world was saved, and all suffering ended. The other was from Marlene. As the Fireflies' leader, she was also conflicted, but ultimately agreed with the doctor's suggestion. Moreover, when Joel arrived, a Firefly soldier suggested killing Joel, but Marlene stopped them.
Finally reaching the operating room, Joel carried Ellie and charged out of the Fireflies' base.
The familiar melody played again. Zhao Lei's eyes welled up. He could almost see Joel and Ellie walking forward, leaning on each other in the apocalyptic landscape.
What is the definition of the apocalypse? A virus outbreak, the collapse of civilization—maybe that's the apocalypse. But for Joel right now, if Ellie died, that would be the true apocalypse.
Killing Marlene, leaving the Fireflies.
In the car driving away, Ellie woke up. They planned to return to Tommy's town to continue their lives. Joel told a white lie, saying the Fireflies had many immune people, but they couldn't do anything and had given up on the vaccine.
The final perspective returned to Ellie.
Joel talked about his deceased daughter, Sarah, saying he thought Ellie and Sarah would have been great friends.
In the final scene, Ellie mentioned her friends—Tess and Sam. They all died from infection, but Ellie survived. Clearly, if Ellie knew her death could end all this, she might have chosen to sacrifice herself.
Ellie made Joel swear that everything he said was true.
Joel looked into Ellie's eyes and said seriously, "I swear."
...
...
With that, the game ended.
Zhao Lei still felt a bit breathless, his heart pounding.
This was the first time he had this strange feeling after finishing an entire game.
Watching the credits roll, Zhao Lei knew this story had come to an end, but there was so much to reflect on.
Every character, every plot point seemed to have its own meaning. But clearly, this was a controversial story. Everyone would have their own judgment, their own ending in their hearts.
*The Last of Us* didn't give players a choice in the ending. It didn't adopt the popular "multiple endings" approach. Instead, like a movie, it told a great story, where the characters each held fast to their own beliefs.
Zhao Lei felt he had so much to say, but didn't know where to start.
He understood that *The Last of Us* would be a true masterpiece.