NPC Code: Red Riding Hood

But as I placed my foot on the camp, a voice of a humming girl piqued my interest. Its voice resonated through the woodland, bringing mixed emotions to the air. My tears eventually fell through my eyelids as I continued listening to the angelic voice of a woeful choire. 

And that tone belonged to the recognizable sound from Match. Since I had teamed up with her for several occasions, I couldn\'t miss her angelic pitch.

"Jackpot!" I exclaimed, and rushed to the sound\'s origin. 

After a few seconds, I arrived at a ruined place with fallen bungalows and dusted furniture. The forest had also turned bald as if someone had shaved a part of this woodland. When I glanced in every direction, hundreds of corpses greeted my eyes. And that belonged to the villagers who once lived in this area.

Thanks to the death war this game had created, players and NPCs died without any proper burial. It only meant that war was the most cruel thing ever created in two different worlds….No one would win in a war. Everyone would just lose at the end of that finish line.

Mixed with the rubbles was a girl sitting on the corner. She knelt between the two collapsed houses and refrained herself from avoiding those hazards.

  I wanted to stop Match, but there was more to her song. I pushed my personal yearnings aside and listened to the pleasant tune.

NPCs didn\'t have any music that came from our world, except for those unique beats those game developers introduced. Even though Match and Red acquired the system, they still didn\'t know about these tunes.

However, Match perfectly sang an improvised tone of a classical piece. That music meant sorrow and grief, which was an uncommon combination. Although she portrayed it perfectly, our emotions hated those sounds. 

When Match ended her tune, I crept up to her and announced my arrival. "You have a wonderful voice….Too bad Red isn\'t here to listen to you."

Upon turning around, Match widened her eyes as soon as she noticed my presence. Well, she had her doubts when I stood at her fore. Match even raised her guard and stave, while keeping her magic circles behind her back. 

But within a few moments, Match finally believed me and gaped her mouth wide open. "You\'re actually alive….I thought you died from the blast….I saw it with my own eyes!" 

Match couldn\'t believe that I survived the blast from Wonderland\'s citadel. Well, if I was in her shoes, I would\'ve doubted myself too. She looked as if Match saw a ghost that got brought back to life.

Without warning, Match zoomed at my front and wrapped her arms around me. I returned her gesture and embraced the little kid who had tears of joy filling her eyes. Match kept weeping on my chest for around five minutes. When she cried everything inside of her, she unlatched herself from me. And then flashed my face with a beaming smile.

"Red abandoned you….She made a deal with Alice to save me…..Red also said that Alice would save you two. It was part of their deal, which they left me out of," Match mumbled to herself, while looking at the ground. "But Red did that to save all of us. She didn\'t mean to abandon you….I just….Got scared thinking she would do that at the back of her mind, since Red hates Ryoshi."

It was just like Match had mentioned. Red despised Ryoshi, since my best friend killed Clementine. And that girl was Red\'s sister caught by the monstrous event. 

Red saw me as a hero of this world, considering what I did for the NPCs. But ever since she knew that my friend was the murderer of her sister, she hated me for the rest of her life. I had a sister waiting for me behind this console too. And if the situation had turned reverse, I would have done the same thing as Red did.

"How\'s Red? Did you find her? I didn\'t want to disappoint anyone. So I went to the only place near Mainland….Which is….my hometown."

Match also came from the village around Mainland, which ultimately led to their fateful encounter with Red. I didn\'t know where the two met, but that thought didn\'t matter for now. 

Upon hearing Match\'s question, I shook my head and replied, "I don\'t know how to say this….But…"

Before I could even finish my sentence, Match rose from the ground while shaking my hands. "But what? What happened to Red?"

"You could see for yourself on your system….Check for the party status and you\'ll know…."

Just as I had said those words, Match immediately heeded my instructions. She weaved her hands and slid those slides outwards from her sight. As soon as Match arrived at the party system, she couldn\'t hide the shock from her eyes. 

"Okami…..Why is Red\'s name…..dyed in crimson?...Why are our names still bright? Okami, I don\'t get this…...I don\'t want to know…"

Despite Match\'s denial, she kept tugging my arms. That little girl wanted to know about Red\'s grim condition.

I took a  lengthy breath before explaining what had happened to Red from the system. "Red is….gone….for now. She\'s technically dead, but her body is in a comatose position. Something\'s hindering her from dying, but I don\'t know why. But we have a clue where she\'s staying….Well, at least her body\'s staying."

Match wiped off the tears flowing from her eyes and replied, "Where? Do you think those players took her away and killed her? But Red wouldn\'t let herself be killed that easily! Something must have happened to her! Those players must have summoned their wild car to battle."

"No. That can\'t be. The stronger mage below my rank isn\'t that special. In fact, those golems we faced were the strongest I\'ve ever seen since my sister. Anyway, those players and soldiers with their toys won\'t do much against Red. That girl can conjure lightning at her will, which is the fastest thing in this game. Nobody could go against that power, unless that player has the same powers as Red. And I think that\'s very unlikely to happen."

Since Code was a complex game, those developers wouldn\'t add electric current in this world. Those people could, but the codes would hinder them from making an overpowered character. The damage output of that lightning element would cause an outburst to the player\'s body, forcing that individual to die in the game.

But Red mastered the lightning strike and used that ability to her advantage. I couldn\'t imagine anyone outmatching her with other spells, besides helding Match hostage. 

While this occurrence happened, a strange aura emerged from afar. It was an arcane powerful enough to enter my radar and send some shivers down my spine. It wasn\'t as powerful as Alice, who could obliterate an entire island. But the individual approaching us had the strength of a dinosaur. 

But I paid it no mind, since there was no player visiting this place. And we were on our way out from this ruined village and brought Match with our team. But we still needed some escape route if our plan would go south.

Ryoshi could still be searching around this place without noticing that enemy. But I trusted Ryoshi, since he had various ways to escape from trouble. I didn\'t, since I had my hands full with protecting Match.

"Anyway, Match. All the NPCs….all the survivors of this game are preparing for war against those soldiers. I\'m going to send you the location of that cave! Be sure to follow the instructions, okay?" I instructed, and sent the marked map to Match.

"Why are you sending this to me when we could leave this place together?" Match asked, as she pulled my hand onwards.

But I broke free from her grasps and nudged her away from me. "Match, run. Run as fast as you can and don\'t look back!" 

After saying those words, a blue lightning shock travelled in my direction. That attack almost hit Match and I if it weren\'t for my reaction time in this game. I had played thousands of hours to protect my throne as the top ranking player in Code. That cheap assault wouldn\'t scratch me even if that opponent tries.

A black smoke emerged at my fore, where the lightning spell came from. The bluish magic circle greeted my eyes, which made me remember Red\'s ability. She was the only one who could manipulate this element. 

"You\'re not Red….What did you do to her?" I yelled, while transforming into my form.

This person marching in our direction wasn\'t an opponent we could mess with. Alice was the strongest enemy I ever fought in Code. but there were other individuals who would do anything to win a brawl.

It didn\'t take a genius to know that this person had something to deal with Red\'s disappearance….