Chapter 530: Moral Dilemma Choices (Requesting Subscriptions, Monthly Passes)

If Song Ren were to describe his biggest impression of The Witcher: Wild Hunt before, it would have been:

The incredibly addictive Gwent mini-game, which compelled him to search for every NPC he could challenge, and to scrutinize every vendor's shop interface for rare Gwent cards.

He was also captivated by the game's environmental depiction and its rich side quest narratives.

But now, Song Ren's strongest impression was the ripple effect of in-game choices on subsequent events.

In Red Dead Redemption, for instance, various missions also presented choices, such as whether to kill a character or not. However, these choices didn't significantly alter the main plot, or at least not the bigger picture.

In The Witcher: Wild Hunt, it was entirely different. Choices genuinely impacted subsequent developments.

Before this, Song Ren had experienced many missions requiring him to make decisions. But his feelings weren't as profound then, as the consequences were not much different from killing or sparing an NPC in Red Dead Redemption.

Now, Song Ren truly felt the repercussions brought by different mission choices.

Instead of abandoning the Bloody Baron, Song Ren's Geralt chose to help him save his wife, Anna.

However, before rescuing the Baron's wife, the player had already encountered the Crones, those three old hags. At that time, the player also accepted a mission: to venture deep into the forest and kill a creature called the botchling.

This creature possessed a human soul, and the choice to kill or spare it would lead to two different outcomes for the Baron's quest.

Initially, Song Ren chose not to kill the botchling. The warnings from the elf sorcerer they met in Keira's underground ruins, coupled with the disgusting appearance of the three old hags, made Song Ren instinctively distrust them. He didn't believe a word they said, thinking that by freeing the botchling, he might gain an ally for a potential showdown with the Crones.

But what happened? After being rescued, the botchling transformed into a black whirlwind, sweeping through the entire village and killing its inhabitants. Then, facing the three old hags who had caused its misery, the botchling didn't even dare to fart before scurrying away. The only humane thing it did was rescue the orphans from the swamp.

Yet, when Geralt tried to lift the curse from the Baron's wife, he discovered that the old hags had anticipated everything. The curse had erupted, turning her into a monster. She regained her original form just before dying, reconciling with the Baron.

But witnessing her mother's death, the Baron's daughter still couldn't forgive him and chose to leave Velen with the witch hunters. In the end, with all his loved ones gone, the heartbroken Baron hanged himself from a tree outside his home.

This ending was hard for Song Ren to accept. After all, though the Baron wasn't a good person, he wasn't entirely evil either. Song Ren wanted the Baron to live, so, as a player, he decisively used the save-loading trick!

But would the other ending yield a better result?

Reloading the save, Song Ren repeated the mission. This time, he chose to kill the botchling. However, the final outcome was still not pleasant.

After killing the botchling, all the children abducted by the old hags were murdered. The Baron's wife, Anna, who had cared for those children as her own, suffered a breakdown from such a blow and became insane.

Finally, the Baron took his wife to the distant Blue Mountains for treatment, while his daughter went north with the witch hunters.

Which ending was better?

Song Ren couldn't say.

Watching the Baron depart with Anna, and returning to Crow's Perch to see the domineering deputy commander, Song Ren fell silent. If his mood had been relatively light and pleasant before, it was completely different now.

He felt it; that familiar Mr. Chen was back. He even vaguely saw Chen Xu's smile before his eyes, so brilliant, as if it had long pierced through everything.

It was an utterly classic trolley problem-style moral dilemma. No matter the choice, a perfect ending was impossible.

Just as Arthur Morgan was destined to die in Red Dead Redemption, and as despair and darkness were inevitable in Bloodborne and Dark Souls.

Geralt was not an omnipotent savior, and there was no absolute good or evil in this world. Faced with this cruel world, Geralt could do nothing.

Taking a deep breath, Song Ren felt a stir in his heart. Undoubtedly, from this moment, he experienced the powerful allure of The Witcher: Wild Hunt.

What would you do if a contract sent you to hunt down a supposed villain, but when you caught them, they begged for mercy and told you a story revealing the client was the true villain?

What if you encountered a werewolf monster that had never actively harmed anyone, but due to human jealousy and cunning, it unwittingly killed someone? As a witcher, would you kill the werewolf or simply ignore it?

What would you feel if you saved someone on your journey, only to encounter them two days later in a village, where you discover the person you saved is a bandit who has killed countless people, and the entire village has been massacred by him?

And then there were all sorts of other mission choices. Sometimes, being a good person and showing empathy would only earn you meager rewards. But if you were ruthless, you could gain substantial compensation. How would you choose then?

These myriad missions and the consequences of their choices made Song Ren truly feel that this world was real. Everything Geralt did genuinely affected it.

“I hope, Baron, you can cure Anna’s illness,” Song Ren exhaled slowly, looking at Crow's Perch without the Baron.

Every ending held regrets. But from his own perspective, Song Ren still wished for the Baron to live.

So, in the end, Song Ren chose that particular ending.

After a brief sigh, Song Ren was no longer in the mood to clear the remaining side quests in Velen. He decided to follow the main quest to Novigrad, continuing his search for Ciri and advancing the main story, temporarily escaping this somewhat oppressive map.

But at that moment, on a table in the Baron's castle's main hall, Song Ren spotted a card.

'Sigismund Dijkstra? This is the Baron's Gwent card! A 4-power spy, my deck is getting stronger!'

Looking at the Gwent card on the table, a delighted expression appeared on Song Ren's face.

(End of Chapter) <>