Reincarnated Jester: Taming Players-Chapter 112: Creation

The journey continued.

Jung, the players, two gods, Leora, and the cat walked through the mountain.

Vex didn’t count because she had no physical body and spoke only in Jung’s mind.

The peak remained hidden behind the sky, not showing itself, no matter how much they walked.

Jung and Nero weren’t the only ones who became bored, and each day drained their batteries.

The horizon was unchanged; the people around them and conversations didn’t excite them.

Players somewhat shared the same sentiment.

They constantly asked for new things as their brains were programmed to devour as much dopamine as possible.

Just strolling around, even with Balatro and gods, didn’t really give them the stimulus they were searching for.

"How long do we need to walk?"

"I want to go back to the real world."

"Me too. I have responsibilities. I bet my family is worried about me."

"Don’t say... Four years is a long time; wonder how they fared about it."

"But there is no information about us on the web. As if nothing happened to us."

"It’s too weird, and I am getting scared."

Players spoke to themselves, analysing their situation.

But none of them could guess that Maskera truly affected Earth and their condition was strictly linked to the gods.

Jung didn’t disclose any information, leaving them in the dark.

The travelling consumed physical energy as well.

Each step became heavier, but not because of the snow or the temperature.

The mountain suddenly developed into a steeper hill, increasing climbing difficulty.

If this wasn’t all, they encountered no monsters after the crater, stagnating their progress. freёweɓnovel.com

Jung didn’t enjoy the experience, either.

His progress counter didn’t move, nor did he get stronger.

The head over his shoulders hurt like hell, not dumping the pain as if it had become his nature and constant state.

His ability to evolve Shifting Cloud was stripped along with a chance to farm pills.

’And here I thought I would meet that asshole with superior senses.’

Nothing changed over the next few months.

Mindless walking continued, and silence between them increased exponentially as Jung was the only one keeping the conversations going.

Unfortunately for him, most of his companions were a boring bunch.

As much as gods were all-powerful with countless experiences, they didn’t really share them, leaving the entertainment to him.

Thankfully, Jung was good at that, and his mouth rarely stopped.

"If we don’t get funnies anytime soon, I will throw myself off this cliff just to get amusement out of it. Any applicants or objections?"

"I think you should have done it long ago."

Leora spoke to him in almost the same manner as before.

Yet she lacked the same malice as if she was doing it solely by habit rather than from an actual hatred.

The same couldn’t be said about Nero.

"I hated that bitch, but now I vibe with her."

Shaking his head, Jung smirked at their reactions and glanced around at the players who kept kissing his ass.

"I am willing to come with you."

"No, take me. I am a professional jumper."

"There is no such thing as a pro jumper, but you might be a pro dick."

...

...

[ You need to last one more month while two months remain on your timer. ]

Even the system commented on her style, conveying seemingly good information that should have brightened his expression.

It didn’t happen.

"30 days of pure misery? I think my soul would jump out of my body before that, and I would have to catch it up there."

He said it with a touch of sarcasm.

The boredom was real, but not his reaction.

Jung enjoyed overexpressing his emotions, acting like he was bored, elevating his experience, and covering his deep, actual feelings.

This entire journey was dedicated to the greater good.

Even if he spent countless lifetimes with the same group of people going up and down like a Sisyphus, he would gladly do it as long as he could save Elara.

It was his genuine attitude.

However, it wasn’t the end.

He was a tsundere, darting eyes between the players, waiting for their attention.

Jung also enjoyed the god’s company.

Ori was still hated to some degree, as it was hard to get rid of the first impression while everyone agreed he was a turtle except him.

This revelation puzzled him to this day.

Based on the theory his greatest mind had come up with, Jung believed everyone agreed to troll him and that they were playing tricks on him.

Leora was the last straw that almost broke him.

She also expressed her fascination that the sage god was a tortoise.

As for Sami, he was less weird in the most tamed way possible.

Most of the time, he didn’t care about others, as if he would spend precious time engaging with anyone.

His brother and sometimes Jung were rare exceptions.

According to the sage god, his little brother was creating something crucial, but it must have been happening in his mind because Jung didn’t see a damn thing he constructed.

Another two weeks passed, yet there were still no changes.

Not even a mob monster was in sight nor were there trials for Jung to "overcome."

At some point, it was boring for him to consider fighting against weaker opponents, and the three trials were beyond mentioning.

Now that the situation was flipped and no damn thing appeared in his vision, Jung missed them.

His mind was weak because of the headaches.

They intensified the higher he went to the mountain, sometimes even clouding his judgement and thought process.

Yet, no matter what happened and what life threw at him, Jung still could find shit to do.

Instead of occupying himself with the pill merging, Jung studied the weapons.

Though he didn’t ask others to help him.

Countless broken and rusted weapons around him covered the hill, creating a warfare atmosphere with a scenery that would stir every man’s heart.

Swords, axes, spears, and more were in various shapes and forms.

Overseeing them was like drinking pure testosterone.

Jung shared the same belief, and spending countless hours studying them, he always found something new to learn about them.

It was rarely about their power or workmanship.

Nor did he care how well-made they were in the past.

His sole interest was buried exactly in the past, as his desire to explore their glory filled Jung’s spirit.

The first time he touched a weapon in this realm, he saw the ruler god’s silhouette.

Nothing of the sort had happened ever since, but he enjoyed decoding how the weapons arrived in their current state.

"This was broken when he stabbed himself."

Jung said upon feeling the spearhead.

He didn’t have an eye that magically understood everything, nor was his sense of touch sufficiently developed to feel what the sword felt or experienced.

But he knew how the blood looked.

The position and the marks that were left on the sharp object showed that the ruler god had stabbed himself.

It wasn’t one time, though.

A pattern emerged, showing that the ruler had tried to off himself countless times.

Yet neither of his countless attempts was murderous.

Jung’s mind palace worked to find a reason for it.

"He wanted to harm himself but had no intention of doing it."

The outcome and desire contradicted each other, but it was good studying material for Jung, and he never disclosed it to anyone.

Of course, the system was an exception.

[This is an allegory of his path to godhood. I believe other gods have something similar in their realms.]

She said it in her usual calm manner.

[And remember, the immortality doesn’t make them perfect. It just allows them to make more mistakes.]

"What a profound way to say that they are a bunch of dummies."

Jung answered, leaving the weapons on the ground.

[Check the status window.]

Vex whispered in his head, but it felt like she was speaking in his ears.

She sounded sweet, and Jung opened the interface.

««Archetype System V6.0»»

<Name: Jung (Balatro)

<Archetypes: [Rebel] [Hero] [Wizard] [Keeper] [Explorer]

<Archetype Tier: IX

<Archetype Progress: 50%

<Arcs: [Shifting Cloud]; [Heroic Barrier]; [White Beard]; [Keeping Mask]; [Deep Merge]; [Keep Corpse]

<Archetype Monsters In Your Care: Nero the Shadowpaw

<Quest I: Save Elara and bring her back

<Quest II: Slay the Ruler god, help Nero unite with her beloved family, and save cats from going extinct across the universe

<Quest III: Create your personal, completely new archetype

<Quest IV: Torture and eliminate Walt

<Quest V: Unleash those merged archetypes by killing humans with the same archetype.

<Quest VI: Get back to the Maskera before the apocalypse hits.

«Rewards: Unknown; Unknown; Finding yourself; Ruler Archetype and Three Arcs; Unlocking everyman, caregiver, and innocent archetypes and gaining their boost to your capabilities; My final evolution.

"Perfect 50%—exactly in half."

His progress had never increased this much without pills.

"It’s about godhood, right? I understood something about them, and it made me closer to them. That’s what keeping archetype is for me. I have to become a god with it, with a new, completely fresh archetype that is beyond the control of the Acrheons."

The tales built up in his mind.

He was seriously considering his sudden progress, catching important details on the way and boosting his understanding of this mysterious world.

Two weeks later, the cohort finally saw something different.

It was a dark cloud, towering at the peak of the mountain, hiding it completely.

Visibility was so low that it was impossible even for Jung to study it from this far behind.

They were one day’s walk away.

The sudden motivation allowed them to move with more vigour, and as Jung kept researching the weapons, the creator god yelled out of nowhere, startling everyone.

"I did it. I finally created it. Damn, it feels good. I feel like my shackles are broken, and I can finally breathe. Come here, you little brat; I have a gift for you."

Sami had never spoken in this fashion before.

It was as if he was a new person, but Jung would never decline a present, especially from the god.