NPC Code: Red Riding Hood

Chapter 116 - Secret Underground Tunnel

"I'm not coming without Wolf and Hunter!" Snow White bemoaned, with her eyes staring at Wolf. "I am only going if they're going!"

It was no use to drag someone's body if that person did not want to come. It all mattered if Wolf wished to help me or not in this situation.

And that theory came to light as Wolf himself walked in my direction. My body instinctively jerked, waiting for any surprised attack under his sleeves.

But the worst never happened. Wolf shattered my expectations as he looked Snow White in the eye. Wolf also slid his eyes to the slide, stealing glances at me. He thought I wouldn't know. But I did.

"We will come with you. Now, follow Red's lead. She won't bring you to any harmful place. And I doubt she could even do that to you, Snow White," Wolf claimed, while glaring at the queen of dwarves.

With a squeal, Snow White surrendered herself to me. Despite our conflicts, all of Wolf's words held the truth. Draven tasked me to find Snow White, and I was just here to bring her back to the shelter. I had a benevolent cause, regardless of killing these two players with my own hands.

"And what did you say? Oh-ho, you're not coming with me, Wolf. You're coming with him to the graveyard!" I shouted, while pointing my hand at the archer's figure.

A humane hiss echoed beside me. When I turned around, Match gripped my hand and continued shrilling at Wolf and the ranger.

Ryoshi trembled backwards and even almost slipped himself from the smooth soil. If it were not for his Elven shoes, that ranger would have died from hitting his head on the ground. It would have been a pathetic death if he had not recovered his balance.

"A-Are you sure about this, Wolf? That girl is going to kill me!" Ryoshi claimed it out loud.

He was not wrong about that since I planned on taking his life. That guy named Ryoshi should have run away from me if he still wanted to see the sun for tomorrow.

Despite hearing Ryoshi's reasons, Wolf gave him a nod and answered, "I am well away. But Red knows how to complete the game. We can't trust anyone but her and the NPCs. Those humans would kill everything in sight, Ryoshi. And you know that. This world is still a game for them."

It was my first time to hear such words coming from Wolf's mouth. Since it had always been the players doing the crimes, I never realised that there was still one person who wanted change. However, fate played a trick in my life. The man who I adored was a friend of my sister's killer.

I cannot bring myself to shake hands with the murder of Clementine.

But I needed to do what Draven had told me. If he wanted to see Snow White, I would happily comply. I was just doing this for the boat that Draven promised.

"You will just escort us inside the shelter, Wolf. I'd love for you to leave your friend behind, but I doubt you would listen to me. So, once all of this is over, I want you to get out of my sight. And never meet me again. Did I make myself clear, Wolf?"

"As clear as the stars above, Red. You have both my ears," Wolf answered.

I looked at the clear sky, with the sun basking its light on my face. The clouds diverged at all angles, letting the azure atmosphere greet my eyes. Everything we saw was the world I believed in, but became a lie.

And then I realised that the only star raised above was the sun. However, that metaphor did not sink inside my brain as I continued walking down the road.

Every night, I snuck outside from our camp and tried ambushing the ranger. However, Wolf never gave me a chance as he outsmarted my every plan. It almost looked as if I was playing on his palm, circling Wolf's scheme.

"If you have to kill someone, you could do better than that, Red," Wolf mocked, as he flashed me a grin.

There was also a time where I went in front of Ryoshi and revealed my knife.

"If sneak attack won't work, maybe coming upfront would do the trick!" I thought.

However, that plan might be the stupidest one I made. Even Match never ceased laughing after witnessing such a spectacle.

It took us dozens of hours before arriving at the place where Draven instructed. As I squinted my eyes, the rabbit hole came into view, waiting for all of us to fit it inside. That sight broke our exhaustion and anger dwelling inside of everyone.

But that anger living inside of me never escaped my cage.

"How are we going to go inside here?" Snow White asked, as he stared at the pit with wandering eyes.

"I thought you knew this place!" I yelled.

"Yes! But I never used it! Who would use the emergency exit when you could flee from the entrance!" Snow White continued, while filling her words with a chuckle.

"Maybe we just have to stomp our feet?" Ryoshi suggested.

He jumped and landed on both his feet on the ground, resulting in a violent quiver. The soil moved and became a blanket of some sort, waving through an endless loop. As soon as Ryoshi felt the vibration, everyone braced themselves for the inevitable.

"Whatever we do, don't make a-," Wolf said, but it was already too late.

"WE'RE ALL GOING TO DIE!" Ryoshi shouted, which made our condition worse.

The entire ground crumbled down into pieces, creating fissures and shattered roads. Within a few seconds, the soil we remembered fell below ground. That crack stretched throughout the bunny hole into a massive abyss.

Wolf and I immediately reacted and activated both of our abilities; [shadow walk] and [wolf walk]. I did not know what Wolf could do, but I knew Wolf had the same abilities as me. He even stated that when we first met.

Wolf chased after his friend, Ryoshi, and stuck himself on the wall. Within a flash, the archer that I wished died from the accident, got saved by Wolf.

I also did the same thing and saved Match from the occurrence. Match knew what was about to happen, so she accepted my hands and grabbed my waist. I used my [shadow walk] to dash straight towards the stone. That rock served as my platform from hauling me downward towards my death.

Although it looked like Wolf and I forgot to save Snow White, that titan girl pierced her hammer on the wall and rescued herself. We already knew that the dwarf wouldn't die an embarrassing death.

And that assumption turned out to be true.

"Is everyone alright? Did everyone survive?" Wolf asked, checking everyone's conditions. "Hunter and I are alright! I'm just letting you guys know!"

"That's too bad, Wolf! You could've just explored the depths of this cave! Maybe you could find something beyond what you know about this game!" I answered.

"I would love to after completing this game! If you could help me fix this world, maybe I would think about it!"

After our exchange, the world surrounding us fell silent, telling everyone that the natural disaster stopped. That silence became the window for the five of us to escape out from this situation alive before the ground could devour our bodies.

Wolf and I used the last ounce of our strength to flee from this tunnel. Even Snow White readied herself to jump from the terrain. However, suddenly, the ground moved again, pushing all of our hands towards the hole.

Wolf and I let loose of the people we wanted to protect as we reclined our faith to gravity, dragging us below. Darkness filled the air as we continued plummeting to the continuous rabbit hole.

.........

The first thing I touched was the wetland soaking my hands. As I peeled my eyes open, the interior design of a cavern greeted my eyes, with the pillars of stone dangling above the ceiling. One wrong move and those pinecones made of rocks could crush my bones.

But before I could even worry about that future, I got back up and looked for the little girl.

"Match! Where are you, Match?!" I shouted, while shifting my head from every direction.

After a few seconds, the figure of Match beside me welcomed my eyes. I jerked forward and wrapped my arms around that little girl whilst checking if she was still alive. As soon as I felt Match's pulse, I knew she kept her life inside her body.

Upon raising my head, the shapes of the two players and Snow White emerged from my view. They were all still unconscious after falling from that height. It was a miracle that all of us were still alive despite what had happened from the pit.

If I had to describe the event, we landed on a miracle bed inside the dwarven village.