NPC Code: Red Riding Hood

The surrounding town was like a graveyard that had no people but tombstones. Not even an animal or a monster lurked in the forest as we headed forward. It was as if this place was a ghost town for spiritual beings.

I brushed the towering leaves and peered into my eyes at the village. Although the townlet felt empty, the window showed otherwise. If nobody inhabited this place, some panels must be open to our plain view. However, someone had shut all the windows tight to the guests who had entered the village.

Those guests included us, travellers from the Mainland.

"It feels quiet," I remarked, and moved towards the gates. "Too quiet for a village."

Match wrapped her arms around my shoulder as we went onwards. We passed the entrance and stepped closer to the village. We had yet to hear any sound at all, not until now.

A part of a house on the north wiggled the wooden plank. If I had to guess right, it might be a person who tumbled to the ground after hiding for so long. There was also a grunt that resounded from the inside. But that person cut off the sound as soon as that individual noticed.

"Are we sure we want to go to this place?" Match asked.

Match's hands quivered in fright as she continued to glue her arms around mine. She refused to let go of me, even if she knew it would hinder my movements. I could also sense an arcane aura spiralling in her palms, preparing to launch a spell at our fore.

"Is anybody there?" I called out, hoping to receive an answer.

Despite my brave front, I nudged my hand to my pockets and grabbed the handle of my blade. I knew it was too early for me to assume that this place was a dangerous site, but I needed to trade goodies with the spare coins I had in my stash. Match and I were running out of resources, and we needed some spare nourishments along the way. We also wanted to learn any shortcuts that would lead us closer to the dwarves.

The quicker we could complete the task and seize the obelisks, the better.

Match and I waited for a few minutes before leaving the place. If these people did not want to see us, we would just be on our way ahead. We cannot force these townspeople to meet us, and the two of us cannot force ourselves to barge in straight to their houses.

All we had to do was to check once more and wait for a reply.

"Are these people really coming out?" Match said, as she grew impatient from the scene.

I was also on the verge of lashing out my waiting time and opening the door at our fore. But before my hands reached out for the gate, the doorknob twisted and creaked open. The hole inside revealed a woman with a grey cloak who looked older than me.

This girl carried a pouch at her sides, which acted as her bag. Although the bag seemed pocket-size, it served as an [astral bag] like what players had. However, that sack the girl carried acted more like a finite bag that she needed to bring everywhere. If she lost the hazel bag, the girl would lose all her belongings stacked inside.

"Who are you?" I asked.

The girl opened her bag and revealed empty flasks, common herbs, and shrubs found on the meadows. These items did not give any benefits to us or our journey. The girl could only offer objects we did not need.

I pointed my finger at the empty bottle and looked at the price. It revealed that the woman was selling this item for around fifty silver coins. It was quite a hefty amount if somebody would ask me. There was an alternative if a potential patron could not afford such a price. However, that alternative required giving the girl five boar lumps of meat for the piece of the valueless container.

This merchant had her goods sold in an overpriced set-up that none of the villagers from my town could afford. If this girl could sell her products to the Mainland, the merchants would toss her out from the market because of the silly fee.

It was not just the flask that had unaffordable prices, but the other items as well. Each of them had the same amount of price tags that skyrocketed every price I knew from the market! None of these objects had the cost of the regular products in the Mainland from what I had remembered. Even the herbs had an amount of twenty silver coins, which was an absurd amount.

It was an absurd occurrence I had ever seen in my life. But I knew that the war against players and NPCs costs this inflation. All non-player characters received notifications about the Code, and some players were attacking the villages with no warnings.

The Mainland's economy had dried out thanks to these clashes against those players. It was not them who had suffered a lot, but the citizens outside of the borders. Those severe trades affected the citizens that relied on their goods. Now that the players and the humans had cut off the connection, transferring goods became a pipe dream.

"I'm a merchant in this village," the girl answered, and looked at the ground. "Do you mind if you can buy my things…"

The girl's answers confirmed people live in this lonely village. Although she only mentioned that she was a trader in this village, I saw nobody else besides her. But for now, that was not my concern.

I observed the woman's figure and studied her actions.

She had a diffident look at her line of job. That girl refused to look me in the eye and continued gawking at the soil. Her feet wiggled at each side, hoping that this madness would end. But she needed to feed her family, which was why she was standing in front of me.

"Which do you prefer, food or money?" I straightforwardly asked the merchant.

I took advantage of the information I saw earlier. The girl placed these overpriced products for food that she could eat for today. She might even distribute the meal she could earn to her family if she had one. There might be people circling behind her, since I was a stranger to their eyes. They must be afraid to meet my stark figure waiting at the door.

I armed myself with a blade, so I knew the girl could not trust me yet. But that thought changed as soon as I asked what she needed the most.

"Did you say food? Do you have food? I want food more than money!" the girl reacted. Her emotionless expression shifted into a more feral animal that yearned for a full course meal.

After witnessing my dazed facial features, the girl reverted to her actual form.

The merchant cleared her throat and corrected herself. "I'm sorry for acting strangely before. Please forgive me. Please don't leave as other players and villagers did."

"Wait. So players and villagers visited this place?" I asked.

The girl gave me a nod. "Yes. Townspeople and other players from different places visited this town. But as soon as they realised our resources were scarce, all of them packed their things. Those foreign villagers and players left saying nothing to us. We wanted to trade their foods for our bonfires. But they took everything and ran away."

The merchant clenched her fist and growled. "The people that did not leave this place do not know what to do. We have not eaten for days. None of us can't hunt boars or fight monsters in the wild. Our population was continuously declining. Please help us, players!"

She had a determined look on her face as the merchant asked for our aid. My eyes expanded as soon as I heard the girl calling us players rather than NPCs like her. Although Match and I changed our titles in my identification window as a player and not an NPC, the merchant treated us as adventurers.

"We will hunt boars on our way out. In exchange, can you help us lodge for tonight? The little girl and I need a place to stay for the day. We also need to find any directions leading to the dwarves," I confessed.

The merchant studied our faces and gave us a nod. A smile even emerged on her face as she heard we would help her find meat. "Of course! You can stay inside this house for the time being! We can't thank you enough for helping us, strangers!"

"I'm not a little girl! My name is Match!" Match waved her hand and introduced herself.

I did the same and stated my name. "My name is Red. We are players that came from the Mainland. We need to go to the dwarven empire as soon as possible. So we thank you for your cooperation."

If she were lying about her problems, I would abandon this girl and leave her to rot in this place. It was not my responsibility to feed and accompany her.. I had more things to do besides babysitting a girl that gives false information when I wanted to help her.