Reincarnated Jester: Taming Players-Chapter 111: Rocks Rock

The man who was waiting for Jung stood in front of the crater.

He was clad in an elegant, ancient dress.

His visage radiated welcoming and somewhat divine energy, as if he was the one with the world, but with a clear distinction.

"Who is he?" Jung asked aloud, but guessed, anyway. "Is that your brother? And he is a god as well?"

Silence rang in his head.

Vex heard his question, took a minute to contemplate, and then answered,

[Indeed. He is my little brother, the creator god.]

"What an amazing family tree. Don’t tell me the ruler god is your brother as well."

[No, he is not, and as much as I can remember, no other brothers are gods.]

She sounded amused.

Clearly, she was having a blast introducing her family members, even if she barely remembered them.

"How many brothers do you have?" Jung asked in surprise. "What about the sisters? Any hot ones?"

[Five brothers and five sisters, including me. As for their status, I’m not saying that.]

Jung lowered his brows.

He was half-joking when he teased about her huge family, but it seemed even more impressive than he thought.

"Good lord."

Exclaiming with a smile on his face, Jung neared the crater and the creator god.

Ori also showed a reaction upon seeing his little brother.

"Well, well, well. My adorable brother is here to greet me?" he said cheerfully.

"What are you doing here?" the creator asked. "It’s too soon for you to appear."

"I’m travelling with this weird fella. You should know who he is."

"That’s why I am here; to meet him, but I wasn’t expecting to encounter my dear brother."

Jung wanted to say his part as well.

"New trial and creator god. What a weird place, and why would you appear in the ruler god’s realm and conduct his tests?"

The creator glanced at him.

He had blonde hair, green brows, and a black beard.

Unlike his older brother, he looked more mature and tall, but no less peculiar.

His straight hair was combed with care, and he asked Jung as he played with them.

"How was your journey? I hope this tortoise didn’t bore you."

’Even he is calling him tortoise?’ Jung noted.

Then the god pondered as if recalling something, and after pointing to Ori, he changed the direction and introduced himself.

"I’m shocked but delighted you know my identity, but let me formally introduce myself. I’m Samian, the creator, and you can call me Sami."

"Sure, sure."

Jung waved his hands, asking Sami to hurry up.

Unbothered by his rude remarks, the god shook his head in laughter.

"Are all the gods so good-natured, or is it only your brothers?" Nero asked after seeing how well they tolerated Jung.

[Wait until you see my sisters. I feel like they won’t be as friendly, and you already know the ruler. I doubt he is an affable guy.

"True," the cat agreed, clenching her cute fangs.

"Sounds like a hassle, if you ask me," Jung said. "I don’t like them."

"Your last ordeal is to prove the way you have walked," Sami explained.

Hearing the content of this awaited test, Jung wanted to facepalm himself and kill the ruler and other gods for creating such mundane and dull trials.

There was no excitement or real challenge in them.

"I’m disappointed. How could a creator god come up with something so boring?" he asked.

"It wasn’t me. I have a different motive."

"Yet you could have made it more demanding, but your laziness got in the way."

Players, two gods, and Leora glared at him.

For someone to call the god lazy was beyond their experiences, but Jung said it casually, scolding the creator thoughtfully.

Sami closed his eyes.

He had the same feeling Jung experienced when Nero didn’t shut up and spoke into his head.

As a superior being, he was calm and forgiving.

Completely ignoring Jung and his baseless grumblings, he said,

"We will be checking your wits in an old, fashionable way—with the progress you have made after arriving here."

His words were followed by boos, but he continued.

"Go inside the crater, and you should be able to handle the rest."

Jung didn’t argue.

He went straight to the hole, jumping inside it and leaving his remaining thoughts.

"I believed that asshole wanted me dead. Why is he checking me out as if he wants to recruit me?"

Before the answer was considered, he was already gone.

The pit was deep, and it got deeper the more he descended, as if it had no bottom.

It was made of rocks, but individual ones.

The long, enormous rocks stretched around him, swallowing the light and everything within it.

Jung’s falling speed was constant, giving him time to evaluate his progress for a while.

He spent the last five months doing absolutely nothing new.

Walking, killing monsters he encountered, conversing with his partners, merging and devouring pills, as well as feeding players to aid their sorry asses.

The higher he reached the mountain, the tougher monster settlements he encountered, which provided better-quality pills, giving him resources to play with.

Spending almost every minute of his waking time, Jung dedicated everything to improving himself and even reached Tier IX.

It was the pinnacle of strength.

The humanity’s greater talents and combatants barely reached this rank, and if one managed to do so before the age of 50, they would be regarded as geniuses.

Jung was 14 this year.

He was way ahead of his peers, overtaking even the most revered talents without considering how many archetypes he currently possessed.

It was unimaginable, bizarre, and abnormal.

If one found out about his progress, his standing would rise significantly, the myths would be born, and people might elect him as a hope for the upcoming apocalypse.

But he had to go back before that.

<Archetype Tier: IX

<Archetype Progress: 2%

Countless hours of work and sweat were dedicated to reaching these numbers.

It was rewarding, and he enjoyed every second of it.

There was another counter he tried really hard to fill, but it became even more challenging than he initially predicted.

<Shifting Cloud Stage: 2/5

Progress: 94%

Shifting Cloud rose fast, but the more he slayed, the slower it became.

It was disappointing, but honestly, his hearing was so great that he didn’t give a fuck about any of that.

6% wasn’t something that would impede his progress, and Jung knew he would reach it soon.

Based on his prediction, his next evolved sense would be a sense of touch.

It was hard to distinguish.

But he was becoming sensitive to those things.

All in all, Jung was proud and content with his progress, anticipating the last trial to meet the damn god.

He didn’t know where his confidence was coming from.

Being in a mortal state, he had no shot at defeating the ruler god anytime soon, at least before the second Fracture.

Yet he had neither intention nor time to linger.

The apocalypse scared him.

Not because of his life, but for the family he cared for.

If he wanted to unite it, Elara was the most important factor he cared for, and the upcoming cataclysm was a gamble he didn’t want to risk.

Even if he had to comfort the god.

Something assured him.

Was it Nero and Vex, or the players and Ori he somewhat befriended?

He had no answer to that, but something definitely guided his path, letting him keep his spirit.

As Jung embraced his life and evolution at this moment, the rocks stirred around him.

At first, they changed colours, going from white to brown.

Then they moved in place.

After that, the rocks played music, of course, the rock genre, and no matter how confusing everything felt, they were great musicians.

They lacked a vocalist, but the music itself was enough.

"What the actual fuck is going on?" Jung mused. "Is it like a quest or game completion soundtrack?"

He guessed his success, clapping for the performance.

Knowing that he did nothing but understanding that the crater tested his resolve, confidence, and wits to challenge the god, Jung laughed out loud.

"What dumb motherfuckers. Is it like a condition for being a god? Do I need to be weird, off-putting, and obsessive?"

[Nero would have said that you have a shot at being one as you met all of those requirements.]

Vex answered as she teased him.

"What good friends you are," he said.

Suddenly, Jung’s descent was halted, and instead of falling, he fell back up but at a higher speed.

’So it really ended,’ he thought, not bothered by the wind that assaulted his face.

The music never left his ears, echoing with a catchy melody.

Five minutes later, Jung reached the surface, welcomed the light, waved at the darkness and the music, saying goodbye to them.

"I’m back," he said like a prisoner who was recently released.

Then he walked out of the crater as it closed, erasing every mark of its existence.

"It was good while it lasted."

Shaking his head, Jung neared others.

"Easy peasy. Now that we don’t have to deal with these boring trials, we can finally meet that asshole."

Nero quickly jumped on his shoulders, and players circled him, asking various questions.

As for the two gods and Leora, they were silent.

The latter was like an out-of-place character, but she didn’t display any signs of awkwardness.

"Let me guess," Jung stated, eyeing the creator god. "You are coming with me, right?"

"No, I’m not. We are travelling together."

Repeating the same phrase as his brother, Sami said smugly.

"What a moron," Jung snorted aloud, walking to finally end this long journey.