NPC Code: Red Riding Hood

Chapter 6 - Match's Story

Every two o'clock in the afternoon, the villagers, townspeople, guards, and other locals gather around the obelisk, sending their quests and missions for the players or the adventurers. The messages sent will become notification windows that the gamers can open and accept or reject. These non-player characters can send their requests every twenty-four hours in the game.

The mass missions addressed by the non-player characters will end around four o'clock. Since the quests had a limited and immediate duration, many NPC did not want to wait for the players to accomplish the job in the evening.

The game coordinator posted these on the holographic bulletin board at the tower. Anyone could view the information there on the wall.

As I discerned the floating screen before me, I knew I needed to do something soon.

"Let us say in for the night," I suggested, while offering my hand to the little girl by my side.

Match was still a child at heart and in size. She knew nothing about the system and the world, but was not ignorant of the matter. Her eyes glistened as we spoke about the topic while staring at the obelisk in front of us.

The girl wanted to explore the reasons behind the horde by having me around. After hearing my invitation, the little girl reached out her hand and latched onto mine.

With a smile painted on her face, Match and I travelled across the town, finding an inn that we could stay in for the night. As we looked around, we noticed the prices were all the same.

Each of the houses offered three silver coins per night. Within three months and a few spared days, the innkeepers will send us off on the streets, considering if we stayed in the infrastructure.

I glanced at my tattered pouch and counted the two golden coins the dragonewt gave me from before. One gold coin had an equivalent exchange of one hundred silver coins, and five hundred bronze coins for a silver coin. That currency had been with us since the time I remembered.

These coins were enough to secure us a place for months and the meals that we would eat. However, I never planned on living the habitual life again.

A hint of tears slid from my side, thinking of the dark future ahead of us.

I can remember the memory still fresh inside my mind. The warm, drooping blood exploding from Clementine and eventually splashing me on the face. Some of the metallic taste resurfaced from my tongue every time I reminisced about the crimson liquid entering my mouth. Her wails became a ghost inside my head, thinking about how I could not save my sister despite having a chance.

My hands quivered at the thought as it repeated the events all over again.

I wanted answers and would seek revenge for the creators behind the monster hunt announcement. With all these doleful events happening to me, I thought to myself about a scheme. Those people involved in the game world surrounding me will pay for their lives.

But there was no means of communicating with them. Although I had a system, the settings refused to link with the game developers.

According to the automated voice talking to me, players had this setting to send a message to the creators. It was a quick task that made these gamers feel relieved since they had means of sending and sharing bugs from the game. Players can send these glitches to the game master for fixing.

But I did not understand the meaning of bugs and glitches that the system mentioned.

[There should be a red protruding button on the upper side you can press at the screen] the machine-like voice reverberates through my earlobes, instructing me about the features of the system. [You will see a title, like a name.]

When I looked around, I saw nothing but air floating before me. I reached out for the open space and tried tapping the upper part direction, yet nothing happened.

For the last time, I peered my eyes wide open and noticed minuscule texts written on the left side of the board. The word NPC or non-playable character appeared on the lines.

It still labelled me as an NPC, not a player.

Our legs grew tired from walking around the plaza, so I proposed staying inside an inn within our vicinity. It was the first lounge we found and cheaper among the rest.

We entered inside and noticed the tranquil atmosphere surrounding the desk. Everywhere we looked, we greeted the mousy wall made of wood. The scent of alcohol and nature mixing from the bar alarmed us as we glanced beside.

"Welcome to the Wolf Bound Inn! How can I help you?" A young girl with grey fur covering her body addressed us. Match and I took a step back after seeing her cheery demeanour catching us off guard.

The woman had a petite body with a round chest enough to captivate my eyes. She wore a hazel-coloured uniform, pairing it with the designs of the tavern. The girl also had pointed ears that represented her like a cat. Her distinguishable paws and a tail wagged back and forth from her rear as he resumed conversing with me. Behind her was a room that looked similar to a kitchen. With all the smokes coming from the inside, I knew they were cooking up a storm.

With a broadened smile, I responded. "Can I pay in advance? We plan on staying here for two days."

"Two days it is!"

The innkeeper nodded and gave me a logbook and a feather pen. "Please place your name here, how many people will stay, and the nights you will request."

I took the note from her hands and flickered the cover open. As soon as I found the blank sheet, I listed my name using the ink provided in a container with two people resenting the unit. After finishing and affiliating my signature, I returned the pad to the keeper and provided her with ten silver coins.

They charged five silver coins per night since this was no shabby inn for financially challenged adventurers.

"I am surprised that you can read." The desk lady appended, but immediately retracted what she mentioned. "I did not mean you were both stupid! It just surprised me to see villagers learning how to write and read these days."

The lady received my sum and, in return, gave me a key to the room. A faint laugh and beam escaped from her face as the lady stretched with her hands on the stairs. Her face flushed bright red after recalling what she brought up earlier. But after I held her hand, the woman finally felt calmer.

"I understand," I stated.

We concluded our talk and resumed going the steps leading upstairs. After turning to our right, the two of us located the number of our room.

Match was the first one to enter inside. I stepped on my foot afterwards and tidied the dust on the floor by kicking them outdoors. With the cloud forming near the gates, I closed the door and slammed my body on the bed.

Match already laid herself on the mattress while glaring at the ceiling above us. I matched her view and stared into nothingness as the atmosphere between us pulled our arms closer to one another.

But the little girl destroyed the silence as she wailed a thousand tears. Every cry she produced shattered a shard inside my heart, as if reminding the lonely kid inside of me.

The next thing I knew, my arms wrapped around hers and sensed her warm touch and pulsating body.

Match hugged me tighter, not letting any chances of letting go. She continued raining down her salty tears behind me and became invulnerable like a child. Within a few moments, she reverted into reality while caressing my back.

"I miss my sister." The youngster confessed as she fought back the teardrop sliding from her sockets.

"Your sister loves you. Remember that."

"How do you know?"

"Because I do,"

I stared into her eyes and claimed my sentence. Determined to tell her what she needed to hear, I shifted beside her as I watched her cry with all the weight descending her to the ground.

"My sister died from an adventurer. I saw the knights running in our direction, but a bear was chasing behind us. The soldiers that came to protect us fired their sharp weapons to the sky, towards us."

"And then what happened?" I urged her to continue her story.

"She pushed me away from harm, but it ended up killing her. Her body refused to wake up no matter how hard I shook her; my sister was dead in my arms all because of me."

Marth braced me once again with the teardrops finally overwhelming her emotions. I remembered what my mother said to me when I was still her age. She would always tell me to release everything dwelling inside of me.

I did the same to Match and let her finish the pain trapping her inside.