NPC Code: Red Riding Hood

We are still in Warner Asimov\'s Point of View (but it will change later on for this epilogue)

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A knock on the door, followed by a high-pitched voice, disrupted our train of thoughts. It was a recognizable sound that I did not forget. I rose from my seat and greeted the boy before he could even step foot inside my office.

"Clement…. It\'s good to see you, my boy! How are you feeling today? Do you need an additional skill? Do you want some cool armour?" I asked, and went to my father-mode. "Are you perhaps hungry? My team and I made something inspired by your favourite fast food! I know you love those burgers, champ. That\'s why I made them all for you."

While that scene happened, I requested Katya to grab a seat for my boy. My secretary rushed towards the side and brought a comfy chair filled with cotton and a blanket. I wanted the best for my son and would give everything to him.

Since I lost Clement before, I never wanted to lose him again.

Clement shook his head and replied, "No, father. We can eat that later. Because right now, I have wonderful news to tell you!"

"Wonderful news?" I narrowed my eyebrows and waited for Clement to finish. "What is it, my son?"

"I killed Red and all the NPCs you\'ve ordered for me to kill! It wasn\'t easy, but I managed, dad!" Clement announced, as he sat on the chair at my fore. "Look at my wounds, dad! I got these from Red. That bitch….. sorry, dad. That woman said that she wanted the freedom of all NPCs…. And avenge the death of someone. I don\'t know. I wasn\'t paying attention."

With a heavy sigh, I rose from my seat and motioned my hands. "As long as you\'ve got home safe and sound, that\'s good enough for me. Come, Clement. It\'s been a long day, my son. You must have been tired from all the fighting you\'ve experienced in this world. Grab yourself a cheeseburger and…. rest inside your room. For now, I will handle things, okay? Let daddy take care of the work."

"But I don\'t want to be idle around, dad!" Clement shook his head and retorted. "I want to explore the world! I want to meet people and fight them like I\'m in a game! And that dream turned into reality!"

"Son!" I roared. "Please listen. The situation has gone out of hand, and there are other NPCs out there in the open."

"We could just kill them, dad!" Clement insisted, as he looked at me dead serious in the eye.

"If you don\'t want to catch a break, I will take mine. Sorry, Clement. I need a cooler…. Okay?"

After our exchange, Clement stormed outside my office. He gave one glance in my direction before slamming the door shut behind him. I heaved out a sigh as I witnessed everything unfold before me, especially involving my son.

"What have I done?" I asked myself, while gazing at the documents before me. It was the people that died inside the game and the list of NPCs who got killed as well.

"I have created a monster, Katya. My son is the jolliest kid you\'d ever found around my hospital. After getting that disease, Clement remained cheerful and continued watching the kids play in the playground. Even though the children couldn\'t play with him, my boy had fun watching them. "

"Clement called my name and asked me if I could play anything on his hospital bed. I told him to wait for the game I created and let him experience how to walk again. This game is for my son….. It\'s meant to relive his previous life where he first walked in front of me." My head quivered as I continued my sentence. "But now, things have changed. Clement died, but I successfully revived him inside Code. It was a scientific discovery unlike any other! We revived the dead and maintained that artificial intelligence with the help of that individual\'s gene, which was my son\'s hair. But if Clement became a killer, I wouldn\'t want this dream anymore…. It feels like my research became nothing. I can\'t change him, Katya….. not anymore."

"You\'re the greatest scientist right now! The modern Albert Einstein! The brains of the entire world! If he\'s really your son, you could talk to him and tell Clement how you feel. If changing one\'s perception would be a difficult task, why not give Clement some time? And maybe he could change his mind."

"Maybe you\'re right about that…. I will try just that. Thank you, Katya…. I couldn\'t do this alone…. or without you, partner."

"You do know that I have a husband, right?"

I shook my head and nervously quivered my hands. "YES! And I meant that as scientist partner. Like a title! A duo….. Come on, you know what I mean."

Katya nodded her head and seconded my claim. "I do."

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Clement\'s Point of View.

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"But if Clement became a killer, I wouldn\'t want this dream anymore…. It feels like my research became nothing. I can\'t change him, Katya….. not anymore."

My father said all of those things behind my back. Little did he know I stayed at the door and never left my post. I wanted to barge in and tell him I did all those things to make him proud. But instead of those blissful moments, my dad called me a monster.

"After all this time, I thought you would finally treasure me like before…. But now I know your true nature, father….. You\'re like this behind my back! I will show you how a monster acts!"

I could only think of one thing that made my father drastically change into another person. Father had gotten soft to those NPCs, which were the ones who kept ruining my game. Code only belonged to me, since my father created it as my gift. But now those players and NPCs joined the fray and entertained themselves without me.

"I will show them that this is my world and my world alone!" I gritted my teeth and glared at the mirror beside me.

The glass shattered into a million pieces, with my reflection staring back at me. But I didn\'t mind those eyes glaring at my figure and remained vigilant in my surroundings.

After saying those words, I rushed towards the hall and grabbed all the soldiers assigned in my hands. I told the army that belonged to my father to conceal my trip, or else they would die. Since I had authority over these guys, those players heeded my call and gave me a nod.

Behind my back were around five hundred soldiers, armed with various weapons. All those arsenals had upgrades in them, which would deal more damage to our enemies. Every soldier I recruited also had their own goals in this game. They wanted to kill the NPCs since those characters killed a squad before they came here.

A scout gave us some information, which involved a coup d\'état. Those NPCs didn\'t want the governance of the game developers and players. Since it had come to this, those non-player characters wanted war against us.

Those NPCs would stop at nothing until they reach their goal. But now that we killed Red, those NPCs couldn\'t dent our faces anymore.

And my goal for today was…..

"We will hunt down every NPC we could find and kill them all. Kill on sight, and let no one alive!" I ordered those players before me as the front gates stretched open.

My father\'s words told the players to place the NPCs in the cells for interrogation. But father never did all of those and remained soft to those NPCs. After cleaning a few of them, father stayed inside his office and thought to himself. Within a few weeks, he changed his mind.

Instead of killing those NPCs, father ordered the soldiers to capture them. Those players placed the NPCs on a cell, which was inside the base.

But that process would end right now. Well, not on my watch.

Within a few minutes, we finally charged straight at every terrain, hunting down survivors. Upon landing on the uncharted roads, we spotted a group of NPCs wandering around the forest. A group of elves spotted our shapes, but it was too late for them. The soldiers pulled the trigger and killed most of the long-eared elves before they could even escape.

"Continuously fire those bullets, but don\'t kill them all! Let some escape while we hunt their nest down, shall we?"

Since these elves moved as a group, there must be a place where they stayed. And since it was currently nighttime, the darkness obstructed the elves\' vision.

"I think we lost them?" an elf murmured, as they placed their bow and arrow at their back.

"We must warn Kouran about this force! Something must have happened inside the human\'s base for them to attack us nonchalantly!"

After ending their conversation, the elves continued racing through the forest…...