NPC Code: Red Riding Hood

Everyone fell silent after hearing the statement of the warrior. Nobody dared to oppose his claim, since many of the players had suffered from the NPCs.

Robin did not retort as he accepted the declaration. He clamped his fist into a ball and remained silent for a complete minute. Friar rested his hand on Robin's stiff shoulder, trying to reassure him with his touch. Robin could only grit his teeth from the reality we were all living.

"I don't want to fight you, Robin, since you are a valuable force in the guild. We do not want to lose someone as powerful as you, green ranger," the warrior added.

Despite his robust and menacing body, the warrior had a kind heart. He was the one who urged the players to fight for our freedom and the leader of the guild. The people had all lost their hope as soon as they heard of the war.

Without warning, the paladin in front whirled his oversized blade. My eyes saw his movements, but it was too nimble for anyone to react. Within a millisecond, the wailing merchant had his head chopped off on the ground. His motionless skull rolled over to the floor and landed beside Robin's feet, with his eyes staring at the player.

Robin wished to retort, but could not do so. He became muted after seeing such a grotesque scene of a body spitting out its crimson blood like a fountain. The red liquid splattered everywhere, but the barrier created by the mage besides the warrior shielded the audience except for the one who killed the NPC.

The man confidently stood on the platform and raised the trader's body near his shoulders. Everyone present in the scenes saw the corpse spewing blood non stop in different places. After a complete minute, bits of nanotechnology surrounded the merchant. The wounds that the merchant had become pixelated in our eyes and slowly consumed his body.

Within a few moments, the sliced body was no more in his arms. The warrior, who knew what would happen, looked at the crowd. He pointed his finger at his clothes, telling us to watch the occurrence.

The blood that was once there vanished in the air and became mosaic bits representing the pixels. After five minutes of the warrior lifting the trader, the lifeless body went with the wind and became dust, hovering in the air.

"Can't you see this, Robin? These creatures that you call people disappear within seconds. They don't have any emotions. They only do what the game developers told them to do, and that is the script. Now that the patterns of these imbeciles became severed, they rebel against us, wanting to fight for their freedom. Don't you understand?" the warrior explained.

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He extended his arms and directed his gaze to the mass. "From now on, we need to fight for our rights. If the game developers are planning to help us, we need to help those who are also in need. What if your children or friends are inside that Elven Kingdom, trapped and killed by those long-eared bastards? What if those dwarves give them the arsenal they need to fight back against us, players, adventurers? We have been playing this game for all of our lives. So let's show them what we are made of!"

The mothers, children, and the players listening to his speech widened their eyes and raised their weapons. Their clamorous cheer echoed through the kingdom as they gave their support for the warrior, the leader of the top guild.

All those gloomy faces brightened up with a sinister smile. The oppressed found their glimmer of hope after hearing such a magnificent speech. However, not everyone had a pleasant expression after perceiving such a statement.

Robin turned around and walked back to the inn with his head hung low. Friar followed suit and went towards the guild. The two of them did not want to counter what the warrior had mentioned before. I stood like a statue, unable to decide who to follow.

I could tag along with the two brothers, but that would mean staying idle for the time being. I needed to save my friend Ryoshi, who was taken by the elves. Although I was a veteran player of this game, I knew nothing about the whereabouts of the elves.

But looking at the paladin, he might have known something about the long-eared kingdom.

"Are you an adventurer?" the warrior asked.

He directed his gaze into my eyes and sauntered towards me. The paladin rested his two-handed blade on his hips and looked at the people surrounding us. A faint smile curved on his lips, thinking about what he had said during his speech.

"Yes, I am," I answered.

"I think I've seen you before. You resemble someone I know. Someone strong and menacing, like a canine"

"You must have mistaken me for someone else," I retorted.

A long pause propped between us as we stared into each other's eyes. The warrior scrutinised my avatar, recalling someone he said that represented my features. The only character that mimics my look was Fenrir, my main account I cannot use.

"Is that so? I must be tired to think that you're Fenrir," the paladin whispered.

I maintained the stern look on my face after hearing such a statement. The warrior must have known something about Fenrir that even I did not know.

"We accept beginners and veteran players in our conquest. By the looks of your avatar, you are a smurf player, are you?" the warrior asked.

A smurfer were professional and skilled players creating new accounts to finish rank D quests from the guild. These newly created avatars also filled the slots for adventuring associations (guilds) and used them for tournaments. Nobody wanted to play against those smurfers since they were somebody playing behind those consoles who were out of their leagues. Novices never ceased sending their complaints to the game developers.

However, their voices were still unheard of despite their continuous attempts to shut down these smurfs in the leaderboard.

"How can you tell?" I asked.

I already wanted to join in their cause. The warrior inviting me over to his group saved me a lot of time and effort.

"With a glance, you looked like a person who would kill anyone in Code without giving a damn," the warrior appended. "Or, you can prove me wrong. Whatever it is, I want you in my team. You can join in with our assembly tomorrow morning."

I spared a glimpse of the building behind me where the two brothers were staying. Robin did not want to fight against anyone who cannot defend themselves. He had a point, but the fighter before me had already charmed the players for war.

If this warrior mentioned nothing about the NPC's emotionless state, would they still fight for the same cause? Or would they spare the time to talk with the elves? I did not know the answer.

"Sure. Lead the way." I answered.

The man gave me a nod and went ahead to the plaza. All the people who listened to his declamation trailed behind me, wanting to join the group attacking the Elven Kingdom.

We headed forth towards the gloomy road with a single working lamppost shone our way. The families and players filled the abandoned inns, trying to find some place to sleep in and call for the night. They had nowhere else to go but secure themselves inside this tiny kingdom of Freiy.

"What happened to the Mainland?" I asked, shattering the silence of our journey.

"Ah, the Mainland? We brought them down and burned the empire to the ground," the warrior pronounced. "The elders who remained inside the castle ordered the knights to seize the players. I witnessed everything. I saw them pinning the helpless players on the wall, even killing them off. Fortunately, my friends and I were always online. We defended our ground and fought our way back, leading to the destruction of the kingdom. After destroying the Mainland, we heard that Code became a death game; whoever died in the game would die in real life."

The warrior took his soaked bag and slurped down the remaining water from his pouch. After letting out an exhale of relief, the paladin resumed telling his story.

"My guild tried visiting each neighbouring kingdom, hoping to find some players trapped inside the town. However, by the time we arrived, we were already too late."

I could only listen to his tale as we arrived at the guild. The building had piles of stones glued together and a wooden sign in the middle. If I can put the place into words, I would say that the dog had a better structure than the primary establishment. It was because of the materials used for the construction that the dog occupied compared to the actual building.

The warrior let out an exhausted sigh and announced, "we're here. Sorry for the dismantled chairs and sofas over there.. We have found no buildings that we can make use of here in Freiy. But please, make yourself at home!"