Chapter 906: The Hidden Ending
As the audience stared in bewilderment, all the mysteries of the plot were finally unraveled.
It turned out that Vincent was not a bank clerk at all, but a police officer. His younger brother was also a cop—the very buyer who had been killed during the rendezvous with Harvey.
After being arrested, Leo remained silent. No matter how the police questioned him, he refused to divulge any information. To avenge his brother, Vincent went undercover in the prison, investigating Leo, Harvey, and the truth behind the events.
Enraged, Harvey snatched the gun from Vincent, took him hostage, and drove off in a car. During the struggle inside the vehicle, it plunged into a river. Leo escaped by boat, while Vincent gave chase.
The female police officer and Vincent split up to pursue Leo. But the damn female officer ended up handing over her gun, leading to the final showdown between Leo and Vincent.
Old P: "Holy crap? So now we two are supposed to have a shootout? Same weapons, same health bars?"
Qin An: "Ah, well, sorry about that."
In less than a second, the two seamlessly switched roles—from comrades fighting side by side to mortal enemies locked in a life-or-death struggle, with no transition in between...
The audience got hyped too. Old P and Qin An—two FPS legends going head-to-head!
"Wow, this is like gods fighting!"
"Both of them have insane aim! It feels like the outcome hinges on a single thought!"
"But I feel like Master Qin still has the edge!"
"Haha, after all, Master Qin is a human aimbot. Is Old P regretting not asking Lin Xue or Little Fatty to play this game with him?"
"He must be regretting it! At this rate, Old P is gonna lose!"
Before their final hand-to-hand combat, they shed their heavy bulletproof vests, trading blows that landed flesh on flesh.
Amid a mournful melody, scenes from the past flooded back like a revolving lantern, replaying over and over.
Vincent's daughter was born.
Leo hugged his wife and child.
Vincent proposed to his wife.
Leo taught his child to build a wooden cart.
...
The two men, battered and bruised, had once been close comrades, sharing life-and-death experiences. But now, betrayal had turned them into enemies fighting to the death, both gravely wounded and clinging to life.
Just then, they both spotted the gun lying on the ground not far away.
They began crawling desperately toward it.
But Vincent was clearly faster.
Bullet time—everything seemed to freeze.
Leo was still lunging forward, while Vincent's gun locked onto his chest.
Qin An: "Sorry, this gun can only aim at the chest. Can't move it."
"Bang!"
The gunshot rang out. Leo seemed to have all his strength drained in an instant. He stumbled over to a nearby metal frame and slumped down, defeated.
Silence.
Vincent staggered toward him. They stared at each other without a word.
Finally, Vincent reached out his right hand to Leo.
Leo extended his hand too, and their hands clasped tightly together.
A sorrowful BGM played, and the audience burst into tears.
In their final moments, neither spoke. They just held hands quietly like this until Leo finally died.
In split-screen mode, Leo's screen disappeared. Vincent turned and walked away.
In the final ending, Vincent went to Leo's residence and told Leo's wife the whole story. Then, Vincent returned home, handed the letter to his own wife, and the two reconciled.
At Leo's grave, his wife and child supported each other as they faded from the camera's view.
In the distance, a few leaves drifted down.
This time, it was truly the end.
Old P sighed: "This game is great, but it's a bit heartbreaking... Can we choose not to shoot?"
Qin An: "No, that's how the game is designed."
Old P: "So, one of us has to die?"
Qin An: "Looks like it."
...
...
The ending of *A Way Out* sparked heated debates among players.
No matter whether Vincent got the gun or Leo did, they had to shoot, and the target area couldn't be changed.
In other words, one of them was bound to die.
Vincent's death ending was even more gut-wrenching. Leo stuffed Vincent's letter into Vincent's home and fled far away with his wife and child. In the cemetery, Vincent, as a police officer, received a solemn funeral. His wife, holding their baby, sobbed uncontrollably.
As Leo drove away, his gaze fixed ahead, no one knew what he was thinking.
Was he reminiscing about the days of adventure with Vincent?
Or regretting that final shot?
No one knew.
Players immediately started arguing, and it got fierce.
Some identified with Vincent, others with Leo. No matter who died, it broke a lot of hearts.
Moreover, the debate over the ending escalated to discussions about values and character. Supporters of Vincent argued that he was just doing his duty as a cop—Leo was a criminal, so why should he escape justice? Supporters of Leo felt that Leo trusted Vincent completely, only to be betrayed and manipulated from start to finish. Given his personality, it would have been unreasonable not to kill Vincent.
The neutral players had it the worst. They didn't want to join the argument at all; they just wanted to flip Chen Mo the bird: "F**k, both endings are total NGs! How can you screw us over like this?! Are you forcing us to break up our friendship?!"
"Can't we have a good ending? Can't both of them survive?"
But some players disagreed: "A happy ending is too fake. Think about it—if you were one of them, at that point, if you hesitated for even a second, the other would grab the gun and kill you. Would you hesitate? Their positions had become absolute opposites. Only with one of them dead could that bond be completely severed!"
After much back-and-forth, the players reluctantly accepted it.
Admittedly, *A Way Out* gave everyone an unforgettable experience. Though the ending made players wipe away tears, the game's cinematic split-screen direction and script, along with its thought-provoking and moving story, offered an indescribably brilliant experience.
...
But a few hours later, a player excitedly posted on the forum: "*A Way Out* has a perfect ending! Both survive! Both survive!"
The post instantly went viral. At first, other players thought it was just a bait post, but then they found there was actually a video!
The first half of the ending video was the same as the normal playthrough, but a segment was added at the end.
After Vincent and Leo exchanged fire for a while, both checked their magazines—their bullets were almost gone. Before the final hand-to-hand fight, Leo ran out of ammo, while Vincent had only one bullet left.
In the final struggle, whether Vincent or Leo got the gun, an extra option appeared. If they aimed at the chest for three seconds without pulling the trigger, the gun would automatically shift to the other's right shoulder.
If Vincent fired, Leo, wounded, would turn and flee to survive, while Vincent, exhausted, couldn't give chase and had no bullets left.
If Leo fired, Vincent, wounded, would choose to drop the gun and escape.
At the end of the game, Leo embarked on a long journey of escape with his wife and child, while Vincent returned home with the letter and began a peaceful life with his wife.
After watching this segment, players exclaimed: "Sarent is a true gem of the industry! This game actually has a hidden ending!"
But the question was, how do you unlock this ending?
Many players had tried countless times but never found any special trigger conditions.