NPC Code: Red Riding Hood

Chapter 87 - Sympathy

There was no point in fighting them head-on when I could kill all of them with the element of surprise. I was an assassin, for heaven's sake, which made me differ from other classes in Code.

And besides, it was easier for me to do it this way. Impaling ten ogres with my blades from behind than fighting against those worthless monsters would be a better deal.

The howls of those creatures would turn into an orchestra of myriad instruments in my ears. With the blood stains splattering from elsewhere, the show would conclude afterwards.

This character was still underleveled, and even if I could take all of them at once, it would tire me to do it.

I also needed to keep the boar for last, since that animal would serve as food for tonight. However, this would be my first time eating demonic meat. Some players said that eating devilish flesh would increase one's status points, while others warned of it as poisons.

I went to the side of the trees and watched the fighting scene. My hands made sure I would not create any sound to attract the attention of the monsters. Ten ogres fought against a demonic beast, so I had a lot of leisure time to analyse the situation.

I leapt from the branch and perched on the grey stone. The bough swayed like a dancer on the bridge as I advanced. After a second of balancing myself, the bridge came to a halt. It did not dare to move in any direction, since I was still like a statue.

That site was the perfect place to monitor the eleven beasts while waiting for an opening for me to strike. It was any other assassin's dream.

As the set began, seven ogres charged straight towards the boar while the remaining three went to the sides. That trio had something in mind, but I kept my focus on what was in front of me.

The demonic hog eluded all of those tackles, despite having a mammoth-sized mass that broke the physics of my world. After a few seconds of dodging all the ogre's attacks, the devilish boar stood still near the rock.

It was the gravest mistake that the animal made. But that hog did not die just yet when I was still around. I was like an angel in disguise and a grim reaper that would take the animal's life afterwards.

My feet vaulted from the plant as I took ogre out, who was far from the group. The nine ogres never noticed their comrade's absence, as the monster was already beside me.

I slit the creature's neck open and covered it with the green pads found everywhere on the ground. An undistinguishable sound came afterwards, but I paid it no mind.

After a few moments, the ogre died in my hands, showing me I did a good job. But there were still nine of them aiming for the hog, which was still a great number for me to deal with alone.

The only saving grace that I had was my concealment. I was still oblivious to the remaining ogres, which would give me an advantage when killing them. But the question was, how am I going to do that?

The demonic pig did not back down despite the ogres cornering it on the boulder. It used the tusk as its weapon, charging straight forward to the three ogres in front. All those ogres could not dodge the strike on time as they took the entire hit of the horns. The two horns from the pig impaled the gigantic ogres, instantly killing the three off from their existence.

However, because of the attack, the hog got itself stuck in a sticky situation. The swine shook its entire body from left to right, hoping to remove the three corpses of the ogres glued on its horns.

The remaining six ogres took this chance and punched the pig in its abdomen. It was a devastating blow that made the hog hovered in the distance, slamming its body on an ancient bark.

The hog winced in pain and let out a high-pitch moan, with its back covered with crimson blood. That animal drenched itself with its own puddle of blood-forming beneath the ground. The acrid smell of blood charmed the six ogres, amplifying their aggression by two folds.

All the hopes of the boar left it for good, and the only way to escape its death was to plead for its life. The pig oinked its last breath, wishing that the ogres would have sympathy over the dying animal.

However, those ugly beasts called themselves monsters for a reason. No heartwarming scene could shake their resolve in brutally killing and devouring any living beings in Code. I had seen the ogres first-hand, killing a child with his family before. It was an unfortunate story for the boy and a gruesome scene for me.

I found my resolve and entered the fray with my sword clipped in my hand. Although this part of me was uncouth for assassins, I hated to see that boar dying from these ogres.

In the blink of an eye, my blade reached the neck of the ogre standing behind. I took one out from the equation and faced the remaining five in front of me.

All of those ogres finally noticed my figure. They all looked around, dazed and confused about their lost comrades. After a few moments of realisation, the ogres let out a horrendous roar, enough to deafen my eardrums.

"You… killed… my friends!" the ogre snarled while raising its fist. "You… pay! I kill you too!"

According to the legends of Code, these ogres knew how to use our mother tongue. They studied it somewhere from the wilds to get more trades and trick people into visiting their place. However, that was not all. Because of those events, the NPCs noticed their schemes, forcing them to run away from their camps.

But in reality, the game developers scripted the ogre's thoughts as their mindless slaves… It was entertaining to play it but terrible when faced against these creatures in an actual situation.

And that included what was happening right now.

Three of the ogres tried tackling me with their humongous bodies. One slam of that massive muscle would break my bones, or even worse, death.

I dodged the raging ogre and went to my sides, using the vines as ropes for me to swing around. Once I landed on the bough, I changed course and went for the isolated monster on the flank.

The ogre raised its hands, attempting to block my blade from reaching its head. But it was too late, as I manoeuvred my body in mid-air and made a summersault for me to reach the back head of the ogre. With one slice of my beginner knife, the ogre died once again. The creature glared at me for the last time before kissing the ground.

"One down, four to go."

The four ogres saw me taking down one of the friends. They hesitated at first before charging straight at me once again. Like the game always explained in the tutorials, "these monsters never learned."

I used the vines as my tool to reach one branch after the other. It was a useful way for me to get out of a sticky situation. But one ogre perceived those creeping plants as it took out every tree that I used.

"Not bad!" I exclaimed, but it was already too late for the ogres.

I surged to the ground and slid between the legs of the ogre. A smile emerged from my lips as I killed another ogre in front of me. I did not use the vines, since most of them got destroyed by the pesky creature.

With my claws reaching for the abdomen of the monster, the ogre plummeted to the ground. The lifeless body of the ogre almost hit me. However, my reaction time saved the day as I slipped through the sides once again.

"Anyone else that wants to dance?" I asked, but no one gave me an answer.

The three ogres who witnessed the scene sprawled off to the other side, running away from me. They knew that if they fought me again, those beasts would lose. I already had a plan if that was the case, but it ended up quicker than I had expected.

I turned around and approached the quivering boar, who also watched the scene. Although its instincts told the boar to run away, it did not. The pig knew that if it careered to the other side, I would effortlessly chase it and kill it.

"We need to eat too," I whispered, and knelt in front of the hog.

I knew that eating nourishments in Code would do nothing to our actual bodies our characters also needed to eat. That digested meat would become stamina that would strengthen our attacks.

But seeing this frightened boar right now… shattered something inside my heart.