Prologue

....

In the year 2140, a popular game called "Code" emerged and stormed the entire world. Everyone came rushing to the store and bought the newest edition of the Holographic Reality, or HR. The company noted four billion people out of seven billion owned the game.

Who would decline such an offer when the game itself rewarded real-time money to players? They can cash in their checks, earn, and live inside the game. It even reached the government, where presidential elections were all held inside the fantasy world.

The game even offered jobs related to the actual world. Virtual reality became a product of testing children for the jobs they seek, unlike the online classes experienced on the computer screens.

What set the game and reality apart is this realistic holographic system. With a flick of your finger, you can summon the platform and play the game right there and now. It was easy to use and cheap, considering the number of advertisements earned by the game developer.

Code had holographic set wrapped around the head like a helmet. It allowed the players to transfer their thoughts inside the world filled with magic and monsters. People could become villains or heroes inside the world, and nobody could stop them, not even the game developers.

NPC were the ones who sent their requests, quests, and missions. The game developers did not control what these quests would become.

As long as the NPC wished for something, the players could choose to do it or decline the missions. The reward granted will come from the game developers and not from the non-playable characters.

These NPC characters had their own scripts and intelligence.

If the game inflicted damage, you would feel it on your skin, depending on the pain scale of the settings. It also manipulated the sense of touch of the players. This sensation includes coldness, warmth, wind, and different textures. It was the 4-dimensional that played the mind, thinking that it was the actual world.

The scientist behind the game wanted to relive the moments of his dead son, Clement Asimov. It was his sole inspiration in creating Code. Clement's last request was to play a game and re-create his life inside the new world.

He died on his hospital bed, immobile because of a deadly and incurable disease. It rendered him motionless, as if he was in a coma. His father, Warner Asimov, did everything that he could to stop the cells from multiplying.

Alas, Warner's efforts became futile against the virus and killed his son. He was too late to destroy the genes, hence the results of the aftermath.

However, things had changed until now since the hero is none other than Clement Asimov inside his own virtual game. It was an update that everyone had waited for the entirety of Code.

.....

Chapter 1-Breaking the Rules

...

A dome surrounded the kingdom, with the citadel nestled in the middle. We were a tiny extension from the mainland, far from this land. Despite the miniature town compared to the empire, our village continued to prosper in our marine goodies and vegetable fields.

Players come and go inside our kingdom, with the merchants and other guests visiting our place. If one would venture inside, a myriad of blacksmiths, shops, and stores awaited these hungry adventurers.

"Step right up, citizens of Freiy! We have the lowest deals that could pique your interest!" the smith waved his swords, trying to show it off to the world.

The glimmering blade attracted the attention of the citizens window-shopping inside the town. It was not too long before the shop had a mob of customers purchasing the stock. Thousands of roar filled the place as the people continued flocking the stalls.

"Go grab me some cucumber in the forest, okay?" the blacksmith instructed his little boy while marking the vines from the jungle.

Beside him was his son, who was now running towards the forest, waving goodbye to his father. The dirt on his slippers attached to his feet, and eventually tripping over the boy. After a second, the lad stood up, brushed his clothes, and carried on with his adventure.

It was the same occurrence every day.

Everyone surrounding me did the same as they attempted to grab the attention of the adventurers, looking for valuable things they would need for their quests. Even the lazed alchemists, vendors, and other villagers danced along with the crowded market, wanting to sell their goods at those hungry mercenaries.

I was one of the buzzing masses around the market. I advertised my fresh fishes, fruits and vegetables that my parents harvested from the fields near the lake not too long ago. Those products were the only thing that I had with me, but I loved my job! It was enough to pay off our bills and expenses, since we are only villagers in the Freiy Kingdom.

A smile emerged from my face, thinking about what I had in life. There were many villagers outside our kingdom who were not fortunate enough to eat their loaves of bread. My father always told stories about the world beyond the walls filled with monsters and creatures living their life.

I lived with my parents and sister, who loved me for who I am. There was not a thing in this world I hate about my life, except for the players stirring up trouble inside the plaza.

People called me "Red Riding Hood", given my scarlet hoodie that masked my identity. Hence, the name that I had received. My actual name is Red Rose, also taken from the legends. Despite my blonde-looking hair, the nickname stood atop. The neighbours remembered the name like in the legends.

Red Riding Hood. It had a memorable tone.

My parents called me Red, but that did not matter for now.

"Please, adventurer, choose what you like!" a grin flashed on my face at the wandering man and presented my merchandise to him.

The armed adventurer had a blade with him, even taller than my sister, who was still roaming around the town, trying to trade the last piece of rice for bronze coins. He even had this arcane aura surrounding him, as if guarding him continuously from any surprise attacks.

"Who would buy such cheap products?" The bloke scowled at me and hurled the table away, tossing my remaining marine life and plants that I wanted to sell. His lips curled upwards for a snicker as he tumbled the table around.

"No! My precious products!" I hurriedly pick the fallen valuables back to my table. Thankfully, the floor did not dirty my goods. It would become a disaster if I could not sell these products by the end of the day.

As I turned around, the man had already departed from the other shop and bought their stock. He kept grunting while looking at my location with a snicker forming on his lips. The doughs perched on his hand with the products on the other.

It was a store that sells the exact goods that I have, but they imbued it with magic compared to mine. That was the trend that I found queer in the world.

Magic existed in our generation.

Arcane could enhance the capacity of an adventurer when eaten raw or cooked under the blazing embers. Nourishments and other poultries could not compare to the likes of those magic supplements made by mages and alchemists.

The world did not gift us with magic, my mother told me. She wanted to teach me something, but every time she tried, an unseeable force stopped her tracks. I did not learn magic, but knew how to live without one. We were merely villagers found everywhere inside this town.

"Red! What happened here?" My little sister, Clementine, saw me from afar, and scrambled over in my direction. She then lent me a hand to fix the board while collecting the pieces of fishes and plants on the ground.

My hands reached out for her head and caressed her crazed hair, sliding from her cheeks. I wiped a tear falling from her eyes, assuring what had happened was nothing to worry about.

"Don't worry about a single thing, Clementine! Your big sister is doing what she can to sell these," I affirmed her with vibrant words, hoping she would cease worrying about me.

Fortunately, my plan worked, as Clementine energetically picking up the products on the ground. She pressed her drooping cheeks back to their place and beamed me a smile. After tidying things up, she walked up to me and offered to help with my stall.

It was more than enough for me to feel elated. As long as I can see Clementine smile, everything was alright.

I shook my head and said, "I am fine, Clementine. You just need to help mum and dad to gather the fishes or harvest the remaining plants in our backyard."

My sister feverishly nodded with enthusiasm and bolted off towards the south, where our parents are doing their jobs.

Suddenly, the cloud started changing colours from white to grey, notifying everyone something was about to come. This occurrence was typical for the locals. It even sent us transparent screens with texts written on the pad. But upon gazing at the sky, I changed my mind.

[Attention all players of the Freiy Kingdom! We advise everyone to please listen to the adventurers until the Heroes and his party arrives in the village. To those who can fight, please help evacuate all the villagers and protect the town!]

[Reward: 10 gold coins for every three families saved]

[Reward:1 bronze coin for every monster you had slain]

[That is everything I wanted to tell you. May the odds be in your favour, players.]

"An event?" I asked, and glanced behind.

The trees continued crumbling from the forest. Peering my eyes open, a hideous shadow with crimson eyes glared at me with killing intentions. All of our body froze upon looking at the distorted figure of a bear hidden among the leaves.

However, I jerked my body and forced my muscles to move. Everyone else near me became still like a statue, afraid of doing something. After a moment, they moved in unison and escaped the village, leaving behind everything and everyone.

These people became like puppets, running in a specific direction towards the castle.

A sound of something shattering into pieces happened beside me. But I paid it no mind and resumed my sprint.

[Monster Horde event is now running! Prepare to defend the village and receive your rewards with coins and experience!] The azure screen popped up in front of the adventures, in which I knew it was the work of the gods.

"Clementine!" I bolted away and went towards the south, where my family was doing their tasks. It was the closest area to the monster I had seen extensively in the forest.

It did not matter to me who I face, as long as I could save my family. All that was running inside my mind was to dart straight towards the lake and evacuate my family. I will even cross the sea or climb the mountain's peak if I have to reach out my hands for them.

I passed by the townspeople, desperately running away from the catastrophe. They were all heading towards the safer haven surrounding the castle. It was where the stronghold of the knights and mages, safeguarding the people who had safely arrived in their fort.

But those who were slow enough paid their lives to the monsters.

After a minute of darting towards the forest, I soon met the creature before me. It was a grizzly bear with demonic scarlet eyes leering at me while baring its teeth. The mammoth-sized being then blared with all its might, making me dazed and confused.

[Run away!]

[Warning! Run away from the scene!]

A notification appeared in front of my face, wanting to move my body against my will. But somehow, I thrust the alerting screen aside and continued jumping the vines and stones in the environment.

The brown bear saw me swaying with the breeze and promptly followed my figure, since I was the closest prey that it had found.

Hundreds of ancient trees fell off on the ground as the bruin chased me away, even at the borders of the lake.

I used the hole from the log and quickly hid inside, hoping to avoid its line of sight. Luckily, villagers were coming from the lake that attracted the attention of the frenzied mammal and attacked them with everything it had. It was enough to buy me some time to carry on with my journey and save my family.

As I glanced back at the scene, the enormous claws of the bear cleaved the blacksmith in half. The smithy was the man from before who was waving his swords at the patrons. Right next to his corpse was the alchemist's relatives who had come from the lake.

They met their terrible fate as soon as they witnessed the monster before me. If I were a second late from secreting myself inside this bark, then I would have been the one who died a dreadful death.

That did not stop me from my tracks as I discreetly ventured onto the road.

[Caution! Get back from the village and follow the instruction of the knights!]

The message appeared in front of me once again, this time producing sounds that irritated my ears.

"I need to save my family!" I thrashed the azure screen and proceeded at the ruins and eventually reached the lake.

Upon arriving at the site, hundreds of corpses lying on the ground and floating on the lake greeted my eyes. The cerise colour of the blood filled the water with despair as the monsters continued creating a scene.

Three alligator creatures were chomping the remaining people who got left behind to rot. My family was at the far end of the lake, clashing against the reptile, using the make-shift twig as their blade. It was my father who had been trying to fend off the monster, away from my mother and sister.

"Dad! Mum! Clementine!" I shouted at the top of my lungs and threw a stone resting beside my feet, hoping to shift the alligator's attention to me.

As luck would have it, the pebble was enough to force the monster to come in my direction. It swiftly charged forth and used its tail to attack me.

I instinctively dodged the strike and crawled my way towards safety. The only place that I thought of was at the top of the tree. Therefore, I sprung into action and grappled my way skywards in the distance, where the creature could not catch me.

But I had thought wrong. As soon as I saw the cayman, the animal beat its head on the bark, hoping to take it down. It even used its teeth to grit away from the trunk and dismantled the balance of the tree.

The plant fell on the ground, hitting the nearby trees like dominos, tumbling one after the other.

I found my hands gripping at the branch by chance, still aligned with the leaning tree. It was the saving grace that kept me alive, away from the reptile below my ground.

I manoeuvred my body into a ball and launched myself out from the trees. Upon landing on the ground, the two hungry alligators glared at me, uncovering their teeth.

Before the animals attacked, my father jumped in front of me and blocked the monster's blitz using his temporary spear. He then shoved me near my mother and Clementine and gestured for me to leave.

"I will buy you two some time! Leave this place and go for the kingdom!" My father swayed the twig and pierced the monster's eye using the tip, wounding the cayman. My mother rushed to his side and used her spell, a fireball, and distracted the uninjured alligator.

"Take Clementine with you and survive, my dear, Red." My mother gave me a nod and marked the path towards the castle.

The image of the citadel emerged from the leaves and illuminated the road.

"Mummy! Daddy! Don't leave us, please!" Clementine cried out a river of tears as I abruptly gyrated around, grabbed my sister, and fled from the scene.

It was the only way for the two of us to survive this place. I escaped the area, bringing Clementine with me on our way out.

"Mother, Father, I hope you will be fine," I muttered to myself while shedding a tear, knowing that my wish can never come true.

As I glimpsed from behind, I saw my father's head fluttering to the sky, with my mother hugging him from behind. The fountain of blood spurted out from their bodies, with their corpses gradually falling on the soil.

"Don't look, Clementine. Our parents will catch up." I grabbed my sister's head and forced her to look straight at the castle.

My hands were quivering non-stop as I held Clementine in my arms. I wanted to turn back, but it was already too late. Nothing can save us except running away.

I sprinted towards the limitless pavement of the forest with my hands wrapped around Clementine's body. On each side, wild monsters appeared out of nowhere and seized a couple of villagers, crying out for any help from the adventurers.

"What is happening, Red?" my sister asked.

Clementine caught sight of the cruel scene with the mountain of dead bodies obstructing our road.

"Bad creatures are surrounding us.. We don't want bad things happening to us, right?" I tried my best to compose myself while providing my sister with an answer.