NPC Code: Red Riding Hood

My hands violently shook at the sight of the archer. All that I thought of was to kill this man with my own hands, even if Match was staring close behind me.

"I don't care. He killed Clementine," I answered Wolf without glancing in his direction.

My entire judgment became clouded with grey thoughts as I charged straight to the ranger. That man shielded himself with a bow, afraid to fight me. He did not even raise any weapons or aimed an arrow in my direction. That bloke resigned himself, thinking that it was right for me to attack him.

Wolf went in front of me and blocked the attack with his claws. Those nails could effortlessly melt my blade like butter if Wolf wanted to. However, that guy contained his strength without injuring me.

I stepped back and created my distance. Since I was up against two people, I did not know to penetrate Wolf's defence alone. I couldn't ask Match for her spells, knowing that this job was my selfish desire… And that desire was my hatred and vengeance for the death of my sister.

"Get out of the way, Wolf, or I will you too," I exclaimed, while motioning my hands.

"I can't…. he's my friend."

My blood boiled after hearing those words as I wished to stain my hands and kill these two. If Wolf would continue defending this man, I had no other choice but to kill him, too.

"And here I thought you understood me… I guess we're not on the same boat, after all."

Since he tapped inside my memories, I assumed Wolf wanted to help me. However, that line of thought never happened in my life. Instead, he became a prize enemy in my sight as soon as he sided with the archer.

"Ryoshi, can you explain what happened? And tell her you're sorry?!" Wolf pleaded to the man with the arrow.

The man named "Ryoshi" met my eyes and apologised to me a myriad of times. He went to his knees and begged for mercy.

"I-I swear I wanted to help you two before! If I could turn back time, I would have given my life to your sister and you! P-Please believe me!" Ryoshi cried.

But my heart set my words to stone, wanting to kill anyone who dares to stand in my way. Those words meant nothing to me right now. All I wanted was that archer's head as my trophy and his body eaten by a horde of monsters. If my sister died because of him, I wanted Ryoshi to die because of me, even if it was the last thing I would ever do in Code.

I rushed towards Ryoshi again, with my blade aimed for his neck. My right eye glowed even brighter than before, giving me an overflowing arcane reaching throughout my body.

Every cell inside of me dialled up to eleven, heightening all my senses for a few seconds. But against this veteran player, I needed more power to deal with Wolf.

Before I could even slit the ranger's throat, Wolf's voice ordered me to hold my ground. Even when I activated my right eye, I still had zero chances against Wolf. I looked behind and gritted my teeth upon hearing and seeing the scene at my rear.

"If you don't want to end this peacefully, I'm going to kill Match in front of you," Wolf claimed.

Wolf blocked my blade and zoomed behind Match at the same time. It was at that moment I realised I had no chance against this fight.

This player had never shown his serious efforts to me. Since the day we met before, Wolf let me live and monitored my actions. If he wanted to kill me, he could do it easily.

"H-How did you?" I asked.

But I knew Wolf would never give me an answer. It was his special ability, after all.

"I am warning you, Red. Let go of the blade, and don't kill my friend," Wolf exclaimed, with his nails still aimed at Match's neck.

Match did not know what to do, so she remained still and waited for my instructions. However, once I rashly moved from my ground, Wolf would kill this girl in front of me. Considering that I wanted to kill someone close to him, Wolf could always do the same for me.

"O-Okami?! OI! A-ARE YOU SURE ABOUT THAT?!" Ryoshi shouted.

"Okami?" I whispered, thinking who the archer guy was calling for.

Ryoshi's eyes looked at Wolf as he shouted a name unknown to me. I could only guess that Okami and Wolf were the same people…, or the real identity of Wolf in front of me.

But that was not the main point right now. The lines that the two players expressed served no purpose to me. However, I still listened to their conversation.

"Shut up, Ryoshi! If you kill my friend, I will kill Match! I ain't kidding, Red."

As soon as Wolf warned me, he slightly cut Match's shoulders, resulting in a wound. The sliced part did not reach the epidermis. But that action was enough to threaten me.

"STOP!" I shouted. "Okay… okay… Leave Match alone, and I will give you this person back," I exclaimed, hoping to trade lives for the sake of that little girl.

Wolf stared into my eyes for a few seconds. After a while, he gave me a nod and nudged Match towards me.

"Now, unhand Ryoshi to me, and we will be on our way," Wolf declared, as he walked in my direction.

I wanted to doublecross Wolf, since this event was my only chance to kill the archer. However, if I disobeyed his words, Wolf would kill Match in front of me without a second to spare….

It was for the best to give up this chance and wait for a perfect moment to strike. That opportunity did not need to be today… As long as I could get my hand on that guy, I did not mind waiting for an eternity to extract my revenge.

"Take this trash away from me, and get away from my sight," I mumbled, while pushing the archer towards Wolf.

Wolf dashed straight in my direction and caught Ryoshi in his arms. After a few seconds, he checked his friend's body, thinking I placed a poison or tracking device on him. Wolf's level of dedication outshined every opponent I met. From all the players and NPCs I killed, Wolf was a different person. I did not know how to outsmart this man in front of me.

If we were in a fight, I would definitely lose my ground. That feeling was the only thing that remained inside my head.

"Match, are you okay? Did it hurt? Did that terrible man do something to you?" I asked.

I went to Match and caressed her hair while checking for any additional grazes or injuries. However, upon inspecting Match, there were no wounds that greeted my eyes. Even the cut that Wolf did earlier vanished from sight.

I thought I was under a magic spell created by Wolf. But upon asking my system, no notification alerted me of any arcane in our vicinity. It only showed that Wolf must have slipped a potion behind my back or did an illusion of hurting Match.

Despite that show, Wolf never wanted to hurt the little girl. That scene was only to threaten me to give away his friend from my latches.

"You tricked me! You fucking bastard!" I yelled, and turned around.

Match pulled the end strings of my clothes, hoping to calm me down. Wolf turned his face towards me and crossed his arms once again.

"I didn't. If worse comes to worst, I would have killed your beloved Match. It's a good thing you're still sane even after that, Red… Believe me, I would have killed Match if you laid a hand on my friend," Wolf retorted, with his dead serious face addressing my orbs.

"Aaww… You'd do that for me, Okami?"

"Shut up, idiot. I would be the one to kill you if you keep talking shit, man."

Wolf did not lie about everything he had said. He would gain nothing if he planned to spread false information about this situation. Although he shared a humorous conversation with his friend, Wolf had determined eyes to kill Match.

He expected the worst. Fortunately enough, the worst did not come.

"So, what do you want to do now?" Wolf asked. "Now that you know the killer of Clementine…"

I couldn't reply to Wolf's question. I thought Wolf would be the only player that I could trust. It turned out that I should have trusted no one but ourselves in this journey. If there was one thing that I know….

"I will still kill your friend, even if it's the last thing I would do, Wolf. Mark my words. I will take Ryoshi's neck off from his body," I roared, while glaring at Wolf and his friend.