NPC Code: Red Riding Hood

Before moving onwards, Okami suggested we would stay at the door for a few seconds. He told us to wait for Ryoshi to wake up, since that guy was still an asset to our team. Although we cannot use that shield arrows for a few minutes, Ryoshi could still shoot elemental arrows from his quiver.

We cannot wake Ryoshi up from his sleep, since the world did not allow it. According to Ryoshi, if the player fainted or slept, the player itself would remain blank, as if sleeping in the real world. The game would affect both the players and characters in Code, which would make them "realistic".

But I did not get any of that information, since I was an NPC.

Match, Okami, and I all asked each other about our conditions. Okami stressed out that we needed to rest before attacking Alice. He was even willing to wait for the barrier arrows to cooldown before attacking that princess girl.

"Alice is the strongest NPC in this game.. I overpowered her with my main account. But this fight will be different since I'm not using that account," Okami explained. "We also need to replenish our mana, especially you, Match. You're the only mage at our party."

Even though we won the fight against the golems, we still needed to prepare to battle against Alice soon. We did not have any moment to rest, considering the situation we were in.

Alice created those golems to hinder us from entering her base. We barely even made it through inside this castle, exhausting every ability we had in our arsenal. If it were not for Ryoshi's indestructible arrows, we would not reach this place.

I hated to admit it, but Ryoshi played a vital role in this mission. So we cannot proceed if he was still sleeping on the floor. We needed all four of us to face Alice, the hidden gem inside the mines.

It took around thirty minutes for Ryoshi to wake up from his dream. As soon as he opened his eyes, Ryoshi panicked and jerked both of his hands. He reached for his arrows and did a defensive stance, thinking that the fight had yet ended.

Fortunately, Okami stopped his hands in the nick of time. We did not want Ryoshi to hurt any teammates, considering we were all recovering from the battle.

"It's me, Ryoshi... We arrived inside the castle. We won that round, but we still need to fight Alice," Okami explained.

Ryoshi needed a few minutes before recovering his senses. After those moments passed by, Ryoshi finally replied to Okami.

"Is that so…. Thank god we won that battle. I thought we're all goners against those puppets."

Ryoshi did not tell a lie when he mentioned those lines. Even I thought we would not make that fight alive, especially after considering the golem's strength. Those enemies overwhelmed us with both magical prowess and strength. Thanks to Okami and Ryoshi's cooperation, we slipped through their defences and caged them for good.

"Well, here we are now, man. We're alive, and we're still going to fight," Okami confessed, and offered his hand.

Ryoshi accepted the gesture and used Okami's hand to lift himself from the ground. The two met each other's gaze, telling everyone their bro-ship throughout their personal journey.

I cared nothing about their story, considering that Ryoshi killed Clementine. And Okami still accepted that murderer as his friend.

But there was nothing I could do to stop their friendship from happening since I was a nobody in this game. All I wanted was to instil justice for the game developers sitting in their seats, watching NPCs suffer in vain.

It would not be fun if those rotten game developers only had the power to control our lives. I also wanted to show them the consequences of their actions, since they all asked for it.

After recovering our manas and health points, Okami announced we were all set and ready to go. All four of us stared at the long road ahead of us, with nothing but dark mist covering the place.

"Be careful, everyone. We're inside the lion's den. It won't be a surprise if an army of puppets attacks us," Okami warned, and instructed us to arm ourselves with our weapons. "Red, use your [shadow walk] too while walking. The two of us would scout the area before proceeding inside."

Okami used his form already and activated his [wolf walk]. I also used my ability called [shadow walk], which did the same thing as Wolf's skills. According to him, the two of us would act as scouts and view the first few blocks of this castle. Since we had these skills, it became our responsibility to check everything out, including the corners of this citadel.

Match revealed her stave while Ryoshi prepared a few arrows in his bow. Match even created some magic circles, especially the fire shield and wind boosters below our feet. She would activate those two spells if we all spotted an enemy. So until now, Match readied those magic circles to save some mana against Alice.

Match also reserved a skill called "lava". If she activated that skill, Match would spit scorching flames. That blaze would even melt the toughest material inside this game. And I would love to see that in action as we progress inside these hallways.

Upon walking inside a room, our systems sent us a message. As we slid our screens open, Alice's message greeted our eyes.

[I've never guessed you lots would make it this far!] cried Alice. [This place is your safe room. And I'm pretty sure that Fenrir and Hunter knew the meaning behind those words. If you wish to fight me, you shall freely enter this room. Prepare all the things you want, since you'll probably need it.]

Okami leaned his head towards Match and me and explained, "A safe room is a place where you cannot be attacked or die. All of us benefit from this room. including Alice, if she wishes to. The safe room also does not allow any usage of spells, excluding buffs and healing magic. There are only two safe rooms inside this game. I don't know where the other one is located. But that's not important right now."

The box slid to the side, opening another set of windows filled with new texts. [my butler will appear at that door if you're ready to enter. Don't worry, players…. and fellow non-player characters, my butler does not bite. He would only amputate your limbs until you die…. But I will save that thought for next time…. See you soon. Ah, don't worry about your meal. Since this would be the last time I will meet you, I prepared something…. a little treat for your party, Fenrir. Don't worry, I didn't coat them with poison. If I did, you can kill me right now and here. If you want to order more, my butler would request more dishes. It's nice to have some company inside this empty castle. It would be better if I could join you guys with your meals. You could stay inside that safe room for as long as you like….. You could keep me company forever if you want to, Fenrir….]

As soon as Alice said her fill, the room illuminated by itself. The dark atmosphere disappeared, revealing the items and furniture hidden in the shadows. Both Okami and I deactivated our skills since we were inside the safe room. Ryoshi also had their spells deactivated, since the room did not allow any magic inside of it. Since Match used a buff spell, her magic circles did not wear off.

Chairs, tables, spare beds, and delicious meals magically appeared before us. The smell of fried chicken and soup charmed me towards the table. Alice even offered some fancy drinks served only inside a castle.

"It has been quite a time since we ate something nice," I exclaimed, and dug into my meal.

Okami stared at the food and whispered to himself, "It's been a long time since I tasted Himari's cooking."

"Are you sure this is okay to eat, Fenrir? The enemy boss offered us some food…. and we're just waltzing inside as if nothing happened," Ryoshi asked, and used Okami's in game name and not his real name.

Since we're inside Alice's castle, these two knew to conceal their identities in front of Alice. She must be looking at us from afar, watching our every move.

"Relax, Hunter," Okami replied. "If there's one thing Alice is, she's not a liar. I've fought her once. I know she always tells the truth. Even though Alice turned crooked, she still holds his position high as a princess."

[Thank you for saying that, Fenrir…. or Wolf. I am pleased to hear you defending my name.] A message appeared, which belonged to Alice.

"I didn't defend you. I just know that you have your goals intact inside your head. But I keep telling you revenge is not the answer!" Okami shouted, which lost his cool.