Reincarnated Jester: Taming Players-Chapter 117: Smile That Changed Everything

Finally, after struggling so much, wasting time, resources, and a couple of sanity points, Jung reached the room.

It wasn’t just any room.

The ruler god resided inside, expecting his visit, and it was time for their long-awaited meeting.

Jung wasn’t alone—he never was.

Maskera changed his dull life, leaving behind his lonely reincarnations that had filled his life with purpose, but also with an empty existence.

His back was strengthened by players and cats behind him.

Nero, along with a conviction that he would meet Elara and take her home with Baki and Lisa, powered his heart.

As for Leora, she was just there, existing.

"I’m going in!" Jung announced, opening the wooden door.

The light poured into his eyes, making him lose his vision, but it activated his wariness.

With his vision back and two axes in his hand, Jung darted his eyes around, searching for Elara and god and studying the room inside.

Based on his expectations, the ruler should have been sitting on a throne with a proud glare that looked down on everyone.

He should have been divine, immortal, fierce, imposing, eternal, and unbroken.

But instead, he was dead...

The towering throne was clad in magical jewels, radiating an eternal glow, and there he was—the most noble, the god who ruled over the planet and realm—drowned in his own blood.

There was no wound on his body, except a small hole in his neck that endlessly shed red liquid.

His sitting position was unchanged, his face calm and demanding.

Yet, he was still dead.

No matter how magnificent he seemed, his gigantic body and entire existence were no more.

The long hair streaked down to his neck like a scarf, as if his killer mocked him after taking his life, stunning everyone in the room.

Not only did Jung fail the first part of his second quest, but he didn’t even get the notification.

Vex’s absence was felt once more, but it wasn’t all.

Jung’s only lead to find Elara was the ruler god, but after struggling for so long, the ruler was found dead in his own chamber.

There were no tracks left behind by the killer.

It was a cleanly executed kill, but who could assassinate a god in his chamber, in a realm he governed, in a place where even gods became tortoises upon his wishes?

"Who did it?" Jung muttered as he walked towards the corpse.

"Was it Ori or Sami? What if it was Snowshade who was lost as soon as we arrived and after ascending..."

His thoughts raced around, trying to find solutions and explanations.

"No, it can’t be. The brothers were with me this entire time, and they are still outside, waiting for me to finish the business. Snowshade had no motives, nor did she have the strength to kill him."

No other names surfaced in his mind.

The corpse was still warm.

Either the god’s body would never get cold, or he was killed only moments ago.

His blood lacked its usual metallic scent, but the colour seemed almost identical to human blood.

Jung touched him, feeling his warm flesh.

"I wanted to speak with you. You told me to die, die, die, but here you are—dead before we even got the chance to speak."

His voice was calm, just as the face before him.

It had sharp, unique, and somewhat handsome features.

"You are expressionless, like an old carving in a marble stone. But look at you dumbfuck, dying like the dog you are."

The god was dead.

Jung didn’t enjoy the fact one bit because he had to be the one who would take his life.

But it would only happen after a talk about Elara.

Now that the prick was dead, he had to find her on his own, with no leads whatsoever.

’What if she is still here? Somewhere captured, waiting for her big brother to save her?’

Another wave of thoughts and hope danced in his brain, making him raise his voice.

"Nero, please go and find her. Search an entire palace and don’t leave a single shit unturned. Take these losers with you and order them around."

Players were considerably fewer in number, as cats were in the thousands, but compared to their past glory, the survivors constituted only a small part of their former population.

Hearing his soft voice and a request, Nero immediately nodded and meowed for everyone to gather.

As she was already instructed and knew what to do, Jung scanned the deceased god.

The ruler was a titan, his body more massive than any creature Jung had ever seen, but one idea still surfaced in his mind.

’I want to devour it.’

Shifting Cloud had advanced.

Even his life rating was higher, and it should be enough to trigger the Arc.

Unfortunately, Jung didn’t kill god, meaning it wouldn’t work in any circumstances unless he used a way that he had learned not too long ago.

’I have to eat him. At least a small part of his flesh.’

It was much easier for him to consider feeding on god’s beef than the last time, and it came from the experience and from a situation he was in.

Jung wanted to hurry and meet Elara, so he needed to quicken his pace.

With a swift motion and a smile on his face, he brought his face closer to the god’s hand, biting it with enough force to sever the flesh.

The hand didn’t fight him back, as the meat was soft, devoid of prior toughness that almost nothing could penetrate.

Not that he enjoyed the taste, but Jung gnawed at it deliciously.

There was no need for him to eat it fully, and he had no intention of doing so either, but all he had to do was activate Shifting Cloud to change the body into a black mist.

One bite after another, he chewed it like a luscious, freshly roasted chicken.

Suddenly, it happened.

The mighty ruler god’s immortal body crumbled, transforming into a cloud of mist and drifting towards Jung. freёnovelkiss.com

Then he felt it again.

This time way more closely and intensely, as he was thirsty for more and only the dark mist could quench his hunger.

Moment after moment, his bones were reshaped, his blood cells born anew as every atom was repaired.

It was more than an evolution and metamorphosis, but more like a mix of both worlds.

The pinnacle of life lived inside him, creating Jung from scratch with a comforting sensation, curing every imperfection his body might have sustained.

He was as far from the status of a god as he was far from his human stature.

"I feel great."

Cold mist enveloped his body.

However, it wasn’t dark-coloured, nor did it have an ominous ambience.

The mist was a cold shower, washing his body of weaknesses and leaving him with a cleansed mind.

His archetype progress was frozen because of the system’s absence, but Jung could tell that he advanced.

Shifting Cloud wasn’t an exception, and based on Jung’s estimates, he was at least Tier XI with an almost maxed-out Arc.

With a newfound clarity, he finally decided to leave the throne room.

No remains were left of the glorious god—his flesh, bones, and blood—everything had become a part of him.

Yet the realm remained intact.

The owner was gone, but its domain didn’t perish, leaving Jung with his guesses.

"She would have explained if was here."

He mused, walking out of the room and descending on the staircase.

"Are you talking about me?"

A voice came, alarming and stunning Jung.

It was a familiar speech, belonging to the system, but instead of hearing it in his head, the voice came from behind.

Jung wanted to turn around to see her.

But the voice delivered another message, this time in both his head and ears simultaneously.

"I am back. Do you miss me, darling?"

[I am back. Do you miss me, darling?]

Now that he heard both expressions, Jung found the voice a bit changed and familiar as well.

It was more human than ever—soft, full of emotions, daring—and most of all, she was actually there, behind him.

Not waiting for her another trick, Jung turned around, searching for her physical body.

"Where are you?"

He couldn’t find her.

There was no presence as if she had disappeared.

Just as he was seeking her, she spoke again.

"My functions are back."

[You completed the mission. We are going back, and thanks to you, I received my last evolution.]

She communicated in both ways—sometimes in his ear with a whimsical whisper, and sometimes in his head in a mischievous wonder.

"What do you mean, we are going back? You know I won’t leave before I see Elara. That’s why we came here."

Jung asked in silence.

"She is not here. You will find her on Maskera, not here, not in this realm."

[I am waiting for Nero and we are going back.]

"What do you mean, she is not here?"

Lowering his brows, he speculated about her words, considering her meaning, and felt elated because his sister was safe.

He also continued probing for Vex, using his superior senses, yet it was for nought as he couldn’t locate her.

"Show yourself!" Jung roared.

"Only if you promise not to kiss me." The system said, teasing him in a serious tone.

"I won’t," he replied, shaking his head. "I told you, I am a taken man. It should be me asking you instead because you fell for me long ago."

A stillness followed his words.

Then, instead of an answer, Jung saw her.

To put it more clearly, he saw her smile—and in that instant, his world crumbled.