Chapter 23: The Multiple Endings of Undertale

Chapter 23: The Multiple Endings of Undertale

Setting aside the META elements, the story of Undertale itself is actually already exceptionally well-crafted.

The game is filled with many interesting and charming characters.

For instance, Sans, who holds a fart cushion and shakes hands with the protagonist, and his brother Papyrus, who is obsessed with blocking the protagonist with puzzles.

Seemingly lazy and indifferent, Sans enjoys making puns related to skeletons, teasing his brother Papyrus.

His brother Papyrus, on the other hand, enthusiastically sets up puzzle traps to stop the protagonist, yet when the protagonist fails to solve them or chooses not to, he deliberately reveals the answers himself.

The scientist who acts like a shut-in girl.

What shocks players the most is Sans’s speech in the magnificent corridor just before the final BOSS battle.

Here, Sans begins judging everything the player has done.

From Sans’s words, EXP is not "experience points" as players assume, but "execution points"—the number of executions carried out.

And LV is not what players think it is, nor is it simply LOVE. It stands for Level of Violence—the degree of violence.

Every time the player kills a monster, the execution points increase, and as execution points rise, so does the Level of Violence.

Not experience, not character level—this is the game’s violence index.

This is where Undertale overturns traditional RPG conventions.

Killing monsters to level up—this is something most RPG players take for granted.

But in Undertale, it’s different.

For most players experiencing the game for the first time, they reach the first Regular Ending and are shocked by Flowey’s content.

But if, at the end of the Regular Ending, the player chooses not to kill Flowey, they will learn from him how to achieve the Pacifist Ending.

In the Pacifist Ending, the player must not kill any monsters, instead befriending each one through dialogue.

Along the way, players discover that each monster has unique characteristics.

Monsters that look terrifying actually have adorable sides—for example, Undyne is the textbook definition of a tsundere!

[Hear me, human. We're not just going to be friends.]

[We're going to be best friends!]

[I'm gonna make you fall so hard for me, you won't be able to escape!]

[That's my perfect revenge.]

Under Papyrus’s reverse psychology, the legendary captain of the Royal Guard accepts the protagonist as a friend.

She even gives him a cooking lesson—though the lesson ends up burning down her house.

The skeleton brothers, Toriel, Undyne…

Especially when facing Asriel, the final BOSS and the son of Asgore and Toriel—the moment brings countless players to tears.

In this battle,

When death occurs, the game doesn’t display "Game Over."

Instead, a line of text appears: "Your determination refused to let you die."

Finally, with the collective determination of all the friends made, the player defeats Asriel.

And from Asriel’s words, the player learns part of the game’s backstory.

Long, long ago, a human child fell into the underground and was accidentally rescued by Asriel. The child was then taken in by Asgore and Toriel.

They became the best of friends. But later, for some reason, Asriel lost this friend.

So Asriel absorbed the first human’s soul, becoming an immensely powerful being with the ability to cross the barrier. Asriel left the underground to fulfill his friend’s final wish.

But humans misunderstood him, believing he had killed the child, and attacked him. Injured and bleeding, Asriel staggered back home, collapsed, and dissolved into dust, scattering across the garden.

His determination infused into a golden flower—this is how Flowey was born.

In this final battle, Asriel finally finds peace and release, letting go of the suffering he had clung to for so long.

Both the Regular Ending and the Pacifist Ending have been achieved.

It seems players should be satisfied—yet curiosity is human nature.

Violence points, execution points, Flowey’s dark side—all seem to drive players toward another ending.

And in this ending, players truly feel an indescribable shock and a profound mental reflection.

………………

Sitting in front of the computer, Jiang Ping’s expression was very serious.

‘3 monsters remaining in current scene.’

A notification appeared on the screen.

In the underground world, monsters had been slaughtered to extinction. Only three remaining monsters were still unlocated in this area.

The map was empty. The once-bustling tavern was now dead silent.

At this moment, Jiang Ping felt an indescribable sensation.

Because of the gentleman’s game Mirror (Game), he had also become deeply curious about Chen Xu’s new work, Undertale.

From initial disdain upon entering the game, to being profoundly shaken upon completion.

After achieving both the Regular and Pacifist Endings, he grew curious about the so-called Genocide Route.

But now, he felt a hint of regret.

In the previous game, monsters who had once been his friends were now killed one by one—just to satisfy the conditions of the game’s storyline.

Including Papyrus, that angelic little skeleton, who even in his final moments still believed the protagonist could redeem himself.

[What a convenient excuse? You must understand better than anyone how relieving this method feels!]

[But at least we're better than those hypocrites who watch evil unfold with cold eyes—those pitiful creatures who crave to witness it all, yet are too cowardly to act themselves!]

The game’s narration was filled with irony.

Yet he didn’t stop.

Every single monster was instantly killed in one blow.

Until he encountered Undyne, captain of the Royal Guard, once again.

Beside a waterfall, Undyne appeared and took a fatal blow meant for a tiny yellow-bean-like monster.

As captain of the Royal Guard, she had always protected the monsters of the underground. But now, she said she had let everyone down.

Just as she was about to die, an intense BGM began to play.

Wind roared, white light flashed.

Undyne the Undying appeared.

[This hero reshaped herself through the 'determination' to save the world.]

Listening to the stirring BGM titled "Battle Against a True Hero," Jiang Ping felt an immense sense of irony.

The game’s monsters were hailed as heroes.

Yet the protagonist he controlled was doing exactly what monsters should do.

This was the hardest battle he had faced so far in the game.

After exhausting effort, he finally defeated Undyne and pressed forward.

Finally, he reached a familiar place.

The throne room antechamber, magnificent and resplendent. Ahead, a familiar figure awaited.

Previously, Sans would judge the player’s actions.

Now?

No extra words.

Straight into battle.

[What a beautiful day it is!]

[The birds are singing, the flowers are blooming!]

[On a day like this, someone like you…]

[Should be burning… in hell!]

As the words faded, a tide-like assault surged forward, instantly killing Jiang Ping, who had no defenses.

Repeated attempts, relentless effort.

Finally, just as victory over Sans seemed within reach,

In-game Sans appeared to come up with a strategy—remaining motionless during his own turn.

But sadly, Sans still failed.

Taking advantage of Sans’s pause, Jiang Ping quietly moved into attack range, launched a sneak attack, and killed Sans.

Then Flowey appeared. Unlike the Flowey in the Regular Ending, this Flowey was filled with terror toward the protagonist, begging not to be killed.

The next moment, eight consecutive slashes tore it into shreds.

Everything seemed to end—yet at that moment, a figure appeared that left Jiang Ping taken aback.

Chara—the first human to ever fall into the underground world—was awakened from death.

Two choices appeared before him: destroy the world, or do not destroy it.

Facing the dead silence of darkness and the eerie presence of Chara,

Jiang Ping felt overwhelming oppression.

At first, he only wanted to know the story of this ending.

Midway, he regretted—but didn’t stop.

Now, that regret had grown even deeper.

So he chose "No."

But the next moment, Chara’s expression turned sinister.

[You seem to misunderstand something. Since when did you get to decide?]

As Chara’s words appeared, blade flashes cut through.

The game graphics trembled. Blood-red damage numbers—strings of 9999—filled the screen.

Then the entire game shut down automatically.

Is this the ending of the Genocide Route?

Sitting in front of the computer, Jiang Ping took a deep breath and pressed his lips together.

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