NPC Code: Red Riding Hood

Chapter 25 - The Scheme

There were four obelisks found in Code that governed the different races. We had the diamond, emerald, ruby, and sapphire gemstones at every monolith. Each of the pillars had resins worn by the non-player character wearers or users, not players, since these NPCs needed to rule the lands, and the players could not.

If someone stole the resin from the wearer, that individual would die, and the arcane coming from the resin will transfer itself to the new bearer of the gemstone. The previous owner will eventually die because of the sudden collapse of the magic transfer coming from the stone.

We can find the ruby obelisk at the dragonewt's kingdom, near a remote island with a volcano that served as their landmark. Some people said that the ruby allowed the wearer to manipulate the fire element at will. It can also increase the surrounding temperature up to three thousand four hundred twenty Celsius.

The ruby had the same heat capacity as the tungsten.

Legends told that the wearer was a dragonewt born with peculiar arcane. People had caught sightings about him from before, but the dragonewt seemed nowhere seen in Code. It was as if he disappeared without a trace.

However, not even Code, the game, could provide much information about this eerie crown.

Sapphire obelisk, also called the Wonderland Obelisk, stood tall at Wonderland Island. People assumed that the stories about the islet remained a myth since nobody had ever witnessed the place. The dwarves knew them from aeons ago, specifically the second millennium from now.

My system claimed that a doll named Alice was the princess of the tiny kingdom. Deep blue sea water surrounded the island, with great marine monsters guarding the underwater trench.

Below the reef, a vicious monster continues to swim at the depths of the raging water. Or so the legends told.

The emerald obelisk remained untouched inside the Elven Kingdom. The merchant told me that the bearer of the resin was none other than La Finta herself, the Grandmother of the elves. She was the sole ruler of the long-eared elf factions and continued guarding the gemstone with her life.

The towering viridescent obelisk stood tall at the centre of the empire. It gave the elves quests and missions for the fresh players entering the game as elves.

The automated voice inside my head gave me interesting information about these players. These adventurers who became elves were the only ones that the long-eared creatures trust.

But with the constant strife and the exclusive news from the war, there might be a time that they will doubt these players and hold them hostage inside their dungeon.

The last obelisk was the diamond gemstone found on the mainland. It was the same pillar I used to send the request to kill the king, and the system gave the players tasks for them to do.

King Arthur was not the one who held the resin. It was someone else hidden inside the castle. Nobody knew the whereabouts of the gemstone, but the kingdom concealed the diamond inside the mainland. The game developers did not want the players to complete this ultimate mission. Thus, they hid it somewhere that nobody could expect.

These were the words written on the scroll.

The merchant stood up from the bench and touched the space from the monitor coming out from the screen. With a high pitch sound, the screen zoomed in. It afterwards revealed the map that I travelled and charted.

His forefinger pointed at the middle of the four pillars standing tall like a square. The trader circled the place and looked at me in the eyes, telling me that the information was something that I should note.

"After getting the four resins, you will see a pillar emerging at the centre. It would be your ticket to see the game developer you wished to seek," the broker said, and grinned at me.

I looked at the four obelisks and marked them with my fingers. All four colours: red, green, blue, and white, appeared at the landmarks, circling them continuously.

The emerald resin was the easiest to get since I could just stir up some trouble here in the Elven Kingdom and kill La Finta, just like I did with King Arthur. Although this job might be too difficult for me to do, I must accomplish the task with no mistakes.

It was my only opportunity to meet the bastard game developers, and I will never let this chance slip by my grasp!

The boiling blood reached my head and even flushed my cheeks bright red. My eyes narrowed while placing all of my anger at the innocent trees in the distance. As I glanced at my hands, the warm and sticky liquid dripped from my fingers, creating a metallic smell whiffing through the air.

I shook off the wet feeling and stepped on the puddle of blood. I did not want anyone to see my weakness and get the better out of me.

My primary concern was the sapphire obelisk, which appeared closer at the Elven Kingdom in the monitor. It was just fifty miles away from here compared to the ruby pillar.

I will leave the mainland for the last as if it was a dessert from my main course meal.

As if the merchant could read my thoughts, he cleared his throat and caught my attention. I raised my head and laid my ears, ready to listen to the broker.

"Before going to Wonderland, you first need a ship. The seven dwarves will help you make one, and you have half a billion gold coins or a palladium bar. If you made it that far, you would meet a girl named Snow White. She is the Dwarven's present Queen, ruler of their race," the trader evenly spoke. "That girl will help you slay Alice and the magical beast that guards the sea. You can never defeat Alice alone, especially when she is living in Wonderland."

I nodded my head and gave my acknowledgements to the dragonewt. The merchant grinned in return and brushed his scaly chin as if it was a moustache growing from his face.

"Not bad for half a billion gold coins for this information, my dearest customer?" The dragonewt added.

I let out a laugh and beamed the merchant a smile, thanking him for everything he had done for me until now.

It was all still fresh inside my head from what happened back then to me. The people I love perished before my eyes and sacrificed their lives to save mine. I could do nothing but cower away, bathing my face with these salty tears.

But the game had changed. I am a player now, more equipped and prepared for battle. I killed guiltless people with these hands of mine, still drenched with the cold blood coming from their body. Pixelated or not, the liquid continued flowing through my veins, reminding me of the monster I have become.

"Match should not see this side of me,"

A whisper escaped my lips as I shed a tear. If the child saw her only saviour becoming a monster, not even the game developers could do anything to help her mind. Nobody would trust a murderer, not even me.

But Match was the only person I have and would stick by my side through thick or thin in this journey. Match would rely on me. She thinks of me as her sister. I was an older sister to Match and protected her in times of need.

I will definitely hide my secrets from the kid.

"Are you sure about your fate, Red Rose?" the merchant asked, disrupting my thoughts.

He stared right through me and pierced my soul. There was no turning back now. Only I can bring justice to my fallen family, watching me from above... or even from the codes scripted from the game.

"I will take the four obelisks and summon the last pillar, just like what you have said," I announced.

My firm voice echoed through the garden, reminding me of my goal. I became a monster, and I will cherish that title for the sake of revenge. Nobody deserved this life. The game developers designed everyone I see here as puppets as they watched the entire game.

They found entertainment when we lost our lives, while I suffered from the loss of my family. We lived in an unfair world where these gods kept messing with our heads. If the game developers wished to, they could delete us within a flash.

If the players desired our bodies, they could assault us without getting punished. The non-player characters needed to strive to sell foods for about one copper per bag. The finance was insufficient for our family, and so the rest of the villagers.

Footsteps came from the stairs. They then paired it with the eager voice coming from a child that aroused me from my thoughts. I gazed at the merchant and asked my last question.

"How did you know all of this? And why are you helping me?"

The merchant returned his cloak to his face. I could not see his expression, but I knew he was smiling behind the mask. He cracked up a laugh and went silent afterwards.

"Because you are one of us, Red Rose," He said, and summoned his black crows from before. "You will be the one who can free us all from this despair!"

The merchant vanished from my sight, together with the obsidian birds fluttering above.