NPC Code: Red Riding Hood

When I realised that I escaped from Clement's latch, I let go of the two brothers and gasped for air. 

"What the fuck are you doing?!" Friar yelled at me, and glared at my eyes.

He  tried grappling my nape with his hands and pinning me on the wall. But thanks to Robin's intervention, he swooped through my rear and pulled Friar backwards. Friar landed on the ground, butt first, as he caressed his bottom.

"What was that for?" Friar asked, as he slowly rose from the ground. "He's the reason why player killers, the death game, and our problems exist! Not to mention, my family is in danger because of him!"

"I know. You have your own reasons. But Wolf saved our lives. Give him at least that," Robin replied, as he returned my gaze. "Kid, you should explain yourself why you went inside this base, and what happened in this game. You may know something more than we do." 

"Look, Wolf. I know you're not the bad guy. And we all know you're a player killer in the past, since you're also Fenrir. And, well, you also killed hundreds of soldiers sent in this game. Even after that, I want to know the reason behind those….violent reactions," Robin continued, and offered me a hand. "If you want to kill us, you would've already sliced our throats without thinking. And I tried killing you too. We've swam through rough waters now, kid. But now, we're on the same boat….Let's kick some NPC's ass. I mean, Clement's ass."

I grabbed his hand and accepted Robin's offer. "It's about time you've gotten into your senses!" 

All the players I met always wanted my ass, especially if they heard my name. I was the strongest player in Code, and a player killer throughout the game time. Since everyone feared me, they would all run away or try killing me for the bounty. And that also happened to these two brothers, who initially helped me in Code. But when they found out my identity, they wanted me dead, like the rest of the NPC.

But as soon as this situation arised, Robin and Friar had no other choice but to help me. 

"Let me lead this fight, so we can have the advantage. I know that the two of you already studied the lay-outs of this place. But your maps aren't that good compared to mine. I unlocked my appraisal without placing any skill points in it so I wouldn't worry about anything. And since I'm the strongest from the two of you combined, I know how to deal with Clement and other soldiers if we ever encounter them soon," I exclaimed, and walked ahead.

Those two brothers had a hint of doubt after hearing my words. But Robin and Friar had already made an enemy out of this base, where the soldiers would hunt them down. All they could do was to listen to my instructions and place their trust on me.

"As long as we save my wife, I'm fine with that. Usually, Robin's the one commanding the party. He's the most levelled up player in our group, followed by some random kids he teaches. But since half of them have gone mad and killed each other, well...You know the rest," Friar said.

"Don't worry about it. We're already on our way towards your wife. I made her our priority for this trip," I answered, while pointing my finger at our fore. "And we're already there, fellas!" 

As soon as we took a sharp turn at the hallway's end, a door greeted our eyes. Those soldiers guarding the place didn't have any time to react as we punched our way through the gates. We made sure to spare their lives, since these soldiers were still players. 

If they died in this game, those soldiers would die in real life too. So killing them was not an option we could take, unless it was necessary.

The three of us bashed through the door and destroyed it with our sheer strength. We didn't care if the soldiers readied some traps for us on the other side, since we're running into borrowed time. There was a big boy chasing us, with his stick clipped in his hands. If Clement found us inside this room, he would kill us upon sight.

"We better find your wife around this place before Clement arrives. She's around that room, with some guards protecting that door," I announced, and pinpointed the location of someone stuck inside.

According to my map, there were countless blue dots around this corner. Although my system could view the entire base, it still gave me limited legends that I could follow. I just placed those people who didn't have any weapons in hand colour red, while unarmed victims with blue hue. 

But if Friar's wife equipped herself with a weapon, that would be a problem. That blue dot may be someone else imprisoned by these guards. There were tons of other game developers, scientists, and players inside this base that refused cooperating with the military.

I just hoped we could find the person we were looking for before facing another problem.

The three of us cleared the way and defeated the dozen armed players inside this room. As soon as we rendered them immobile, we continued onwards and went to the door. But upon opening the lights, a couple of tied scientists greeted our eyes. And when Friar searched the room, he didn't find his wife together with the rest of them. 

Since we were inside the room, the three of us freed the scientists from their restraint. They all had different nationalities, which piqued my interest. Each of them rose from the ground and bowed their heads, thanking us for freeing them.

"Where is my wife! Have you seen Katya!? Where is she?! Do you know where Katya is?!" 

Friar kept asking those questions to the game developers but none of them gave him an answer. Despite working for the same game, Warner Asimov kept the station filled with secrecy. 

"What happened here?" I asked, while looking around. "Aren't you workers of Code? Who in the right mind would tie you up?"

"Clement, Asimov's son. He created that monster and gave everything his son wished to him, including this game. When we opposed deleting some features of this game, Clement had gone mad and ordered the guards to seize us. Some soldiers tried fighting Clement, but they didn't win. Since most of them were Asimov's personal soldiers, that army escorted us down here. It's a good thing that they accommodated us with whatever we needed and tried hacking into the game's server. Up until now, Clement couldn't find a way to bypass the security we installed for Code….But with the help of Warner, I doubt that our firewall would stand for any longer," the game developer explained, with the rest of the victims nodding behind him.

I acknowledged whatever information I received from the man and guided them outside. Since these people knew the game's mechanics, I ordered them to arm themselves with the weapons lying around.

"These guns will protect you from those soldiers! Don't worry! Hitting someone with these guns won't immediately kill those soldiers! You would deal an enormous amount of damage, but it won't be enough to kill them!" I narrated, and moved back to the hallway.

"It's no use….My wife's not here. I don't know where we could find her anymore…." Friar said, as he fought his tears from falling on his cheek.

Robin tapped his shoulder and gave him some emotional support he needed to overcome this challenge. However, I doubted that helped him go through the pain he was going on to….If the worst happened, Friar might have lost his partner in this world.

But before we could exit the room, a game developer went to my back. Someone tugged my clothing, which alerted my senses. Upon turning around, a kid met my eyes and pointed at the wall behind the two of us. While that happened, a man ran straight in our direction and carried his child.

"Hey, little kid. What are you up to? Is something out there?" I asked. 

The boy nodded and whispered, "I heard someone over there and placed something inside when we arrived here."

As soon as the kid finished his sentence, the man picked the boy in his arms and lowered his head. "Apologies for the delay, but my boy must have heard something. I'm just a janitor working in this base. Even though this is a game, I still need to clean. But when Clement saw me, he included me with the group. Please, just leave us alone. My son keeps hearing things that we can't hear."

I raised my hand and shook my head. "First of all, janitors are awesome. Without you, this place would be dirty. Look at it! It's spotless because of you! And second, your son must have the appraisal skill maxed on because of luck. And the thing he heard over that wall must be something worth checking for."

I thanked the man and his kid after listening to that information.. I also asked Fenrir and Robin to guard the two as I checked the wall the kid eyed earlier.