From not paying much attention at first, to smiling at some of the funny moments and scenes in the game…
Then falling into deep silence, feeling the cruelty that war brings.
All the players were drawn into the game's story.
Luckily, the next part of Karl's story revealed that Karl hadn't actually died.
He had swapped his dog tag with another dead soldier's, making people think he was dead.
In reality, he was doing everything he could to get back to his wife at the farm in Saint-Mihiel.
On the other side, Emile, who heard about Karl's death, didn't know it was fake. He was heartbroken and fell seriously ill.
Meanwhile, Freddie drove the old professor's modified tank to the Somme, cutting through obstacles along the way and finally defeating Baron Von Dorf on the battlefield.
In the end, Baron Von Dorf was removed from the front lines—a wish many soldiers would have been happy to see.
But for someone like Baron Von Dorf, this was worse than death, because it meant his military and political career was over.
At this moment, Luke felt no joy or excitement over revenge.
Right now, what she cared about most was whether Karl was really dead.
And what would happen to Emile.
With those thoughts, the game screen switched back to Karl. While escaping, he came across Anna and the dog, and finally reached Saint-Mihiel, the same place where Emile had once been recruited.
But times had changed. Now the place had become a German training camp for new soldiers.
Here, the rescue dog met his original owner again, just like what had happened earlier in the mines.
The next moment, the French began shelling Saint-Mihiel. With the help of new friends, Karl and the dog were the first to rush into a building—only for Karl to be killed instantly by an explosion.
Sitting in front of the computer, watching this scene play out, Luke pressed his lips together.
By this point, he no longer knew how to describe what he was feeling.
After escaping the camp, the French army began using poison gas. After countless hardships, Karl finally made it back to his family's farm—only for disaster to strike.
A poison gas shell fell from the sky. Emile's farm was destroyed in an instant, and his wife Marie and their son were trapped under the collapsed house.
Karl searched for a long time before finally finding Marie and his son.
Marie gave a makeshift gas mask to their son, leaving herself exposed to the poison.
Seeing this, Karl didn't hesitate—he took off his own gas mask and put it on Marie.
Without his mask, Karl dragged Marie toward the outside.
As they moved, Karl kept trying to comfort the unconscious Marie.
"Marie… it's me… I'm here!"
In the end, without the gas mask, he couldn't hold on any longer and collapsed.
In Luke's headphones came the heartbreaking sound of the boy crying.
Sitting at the computer, Luke's eyes turned red.
At the same time, there was still a faint hope—
A hope that the game's creators wouldn't be so cruel as to let Karl and Marie die here.
But clearly, the game wasn't going to tell the player what happened to Karl next.
The screen shifted to Emile's side of the story.
April 16, 1917. Emile was still sick, but at the front, a general named Nivelle ordered all soldiers who could still stand to join his massive attack.
The lighthearted style from earlier in the game was gone. Now the whole scene was dark and grim.
At the ruined front lines, an officer waved his sword and yelled at Emile to gather soldiers who could still charge.
The French army launched another assault.
Once again, it was another battle that might end the war.
But before this, they had already fought in countless battles like it.
Watching the game now, Luke no longer chatted or made comments like before—he was simply experiencing the story.
Following the officer's orders, the soldiers used piles of broken corpses as cover and kept charging forward.
Compared to earlier levels, this last one was much harder.
The enemy's attacks were too intense, and every good opening had to be timed perfectly.
In the game, all the soldiers seemed numb.
They were all afraid, but under the officer's threats, they had no choice but to attack.
This stage gave Luke—and every player—only one feeling: overwhelming pressure.
The ground was covered with bodies, the blood soaking the earth red.
The game's colors were as dark as the night sky.
Under heavy gunfire, Emile and his teammates pushed forward little by little, while the men beside him kept falling one after another.
The only choice was to keep charging—any pause or retreat, and the officers behind would shoot you on the spot.
They charged using the bodies of fallen comrades, even using corpse-filled carts to push forward.
The number of attackers grew smaller and smaller, until only Emile was left.
Even then, the officer behind him still raised his gun and ordered the soldiers to keep charging.
A shell exploded next to Emile, knocking him unconscious. But the officer still forced the trembling soldiers forward.
When Emile came to, he saw the officer shouting and the terrified soldiers shuffling ahead. Slowly, he stepped forward.
The game didn't give any hints here, but players everywhere made the same choice—just as Emile believed was right.
He swung his shovel hard at the officer's head, ending the pointless charge and sacrifice.
"The Nivelle Offensive was a bloodbath, a massacre."
"Soon, mutinies broke out among the French infantry, bringing the attack to an end."
Emile and another soldier were put in jail, waiting for the verdict of the military court.
Emile was going to be tried?
Seeing this, Luke, sitting in front of his computer, felt a chill in his heart and had a bad feeling.
But the next moment, the camera switched again, now showing Karl.
Compared to the hellish, suffocating atmosphere earlier, there seemed to be a ray of sunlight here.
The dog — a German rescue dog — had dragged Karl and his family out of the poison gas, then traveled a great distance to find Anna and bring her to Karl's farm.
After some quick emergency care, Karl was sent to a field hospital and finally woke up.
After years of war, the family was finally reunited.
Seeing Karl hugging Marie and their son, Luke let out a long sigh of relief in front of his computer.
At the same time, he also felt a flicker of hope.
Even though the earlier story had been too cruel, too dark, seeing Karl's warm family scene now made him think — maybe things would also take a turn for the better for Emile?
With that hope in mind, Luke continued playing the game.
(End of The Chapter)
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