NPC Code: Red Riding Hood

Olivia moved in front and raised her hands. The creeping plants from various directions twirled and diverged, revealing the players firing those magical projectiles. It also created an entrance for us to ambush these players.

There were five players in front of us, while the rest of their team hid around the trees. These players really outdid themselves, considering that we haven\'t seen themselves in the woodland.

But for now, we need to take out these adventurers before alerting their team. If we could kill at least these five players, we might stand a chance against the rest of them hiding in the shadows.

The only thing that I needed to do now was to attack the players from behind using my penitent\'s blade.

And that\'s what I did.

I hid behind the shrubs and prepared myself to launch an attack. The two players stationed at the side focused their observations on the village that they did not know something moved around the weeds.

I took my chance and swung my sword, slitting the two of them at the same time. My blade cut their necks deep and killed them in an instant. However, as I looked in front, the three players glimpsed my figure.

"We\'ve found a playe-!"

Before the three men could finish reporting their findings, a vine wrapped around and covered their mouths. That saved me some time as I used that chance to get on top of those players. After killing them off, as I did with the two, the players turned into pixelated particles. Within a few moments, their bodies left this world.

My eyes wandered around and inspected the site, looking for any survivors or watchers from afar. But my line of sight stumbled upon the weapons that the players used to attack the village.

I picked the weapon and examined it. It was not the staves that I became accustomed to in this world.

"What is that?" Olivia asked, and leaned closer to the weapon.

The armament that these players brought had an original design to the ones I knew. These players made this equipment with metal. I effortlessly lifted the weapon with my two arms. Suddenly, a notification appeared in front of me, explaining the description of this weapon in my hand.

[k987 Gun (Assault Rifle)- It is a weapon incorporating a metal tube from which explosive force propels bullets, shells, or other missiles, typically making a characteristic loud, sharp noise. This gun allows users to fire at a certain distance using arcane bullets. (Author\'s note: information came from a dictionary: Oxford languages)]

"A gun?" I asked. "And bullets? What do these items mean?"

All of this information felt new to me. Thanks to my system, I knew the descriptions of these objects. Olivia and Match knew nothing about this weapon as I showed it to them. Usually, the game updates everyone that the game developers released a new weapon. The dwarves would be the first ones to learn about these changes, since they were the ones who made these armaments.

However, this gun might not be the case in this situation. This product could have been a unique instalment in the game...

I tried using the gun, but I did not know how to manipulate it. I\'ve never seen such a weapon before, so I did not know how to use this thing called a gun.

"For now, I will place it inside my [astral space] and study it later," I whispered, and summoned my storage spell. I threw the gun away inside my [astral space] and continued where we had left from this occurrence.

"All clear-,"

"R-Red…." Match croaked, as she rubbed her hands. She looked at the ground and continued her sentence. "D-DId you… kill them?"

However, there was one thing that I missed. All this time, the little girl witnessed everything…

Match saw me killing these players in front of her for the first time. She usually considered my work as hurting these adventurers, but not killing these people. However, right now there was no other choice but to tell her the truth.

"Yes. If we don\'t, these people will kill the villagers. All players are bad people." I answered, and wrapped my hands around Match\'s body.

The little girl returned my gesture and enveloped her hands around mine. A feeling of warmth surged through my skin, which calmed my senses.

"I\'m sorry for hiding the truth from you. I\'m scared you won\'t accept it. So I hope you understand, Match. I do this to protect you."

Amidst the battle, Match and I exchanged a few words about the situation. We were fortunate enough that the killing spree did not alarm the players still concealed behind the bushes. Olivia had a worried expression carved on her face, but she knew this embrace meant a lot to Match and me. She could only watch for any intruders that might be on our tail.

"I know… But I can\'t do it… Not yet… And I hope we won\'t get to kill these players again... There might be players out there that we can talk to without fighting." Match expressed her thoughts as she released me from her embrace.

I caressed her head and gave her my reply. "I know. But from what they did with our sisters, I think we can never see a player as kind as the rest of NPCs, Match."

It was the truth that everyone needs to know. All the players inside this game only cared about their entertainment. Even before this death game happened, these players did what they wanted to do with their lives. Since this world remained disconnected from theirs, players abused their powers.

But that was far from the truth, since others wanted to help us non-player characters. And that person who still glued himself inside my mind was a man named Fenrir. He was the only adventurer that I deemed heroic. The rest of the players should die in this game!

"I\'d love to talk about this for more, Match, but I need to… clean those players out of our way," I said to Match.

"What do I need to do? Do I have to kill players too?"

"No, Match. If you don\'t want to kill these people, you don\'t have to. We will be the ones to dirty our hands. So don\'t worry about anything, okay?"

Match gave me a nod after hearing my statement. I directed my forefinger ahead and continued where I left from my sentence.

"Do you see bushes and trees, Match? I need you to spark a flame in that direction. You can burn this place to the ground. But always remember not to overuse your powers, or else you would burn yourself too."

My hands shivered after recalling the events that happened before. I shook my head every time that past haunted my brain. I was fortunate enough to store two sets of potions for Match when she first used her powers. But right now, I did not have any blue and crimson flasks that could regenerate Match\'s injuries.

"I trust you to limit your powers, Match? Did I make myself clear?"

Match nodded at me while clenching her fist. She wanted to prove herself as a girl that I could depend on when I needed her the most, and right now, it was Match turn to shine.

Match stepped forward and aimed her hands at the trees that I told her before. The little girl\'s left eye glowed a vermilion light, telling me she was preparing her magic. Magic circles formed around both of her arms as she fired a ball of fire in that direction. Upon contact, the orange blaze spread itself through the forest, claiming the lives of those trees in an instant.

Dozens of screams echoed from the forest, with the players putting out the fire stuck on their uniforms. All those players concealing themselves behind the trees ran away and looked for the nearby lake. But I would not let them escape that easily, considering that these adventurers might attack us soon.

It was better to take the initiative rather than waiting for a defensive plan. So Olivia and I ambushed these players. Olivia used her plant abilities and trapped them inside the fire. Their corpses turned into charcoal as these players remained in the fire. The only thing we heard from the players were their agonistic screams, pleading for mercy.

I also did my job and killed these players by slicing them in the neck. Using my ability [shadow walk], I utilised my darkened environment and cut the players. These adventurers did not see what came after them since the fog took away their vision. I, with my right eye glowing bright, knew their locations, even with this smog.

And the rest became history.

Those players finally saw our figures and called their forces to attack us. During that time, we knew that more players stood by, waiting for our presence.. These adventurers surrounded us like ants flocking over their meal.