Reincarnated Jester: Taming Players-Chapter 57: Reaching The Cave

Jung’s group consisted of seven people.

Six of them were students, including him, and the last one was a young woman leading their team.

One more guy was present.

The cohort had to add a boy named Barni.

He was cheerful, funny, and an outgoing Tier II jester archetype.

So much so that Jung ignored him instantly, saving his head from the trouble. ’Is this how they feel about me?’ he thought, silently walking.

The teacher was called Gwen.

She was the lover archetype, and even though she only talked when it was necessary, her brown eyes radiated a warmth of many kinds.

"Our paths will lead us to the cave," she said, not letting students out of her sight. "The way there should be safe, but be careful; no one knows what might happen."

Barni had questions to ask.

"What monsters are we going to encounter?"

Mira, Leora, and Astra shared his interest, anticipating the answer.

"I was about to explain that. The principal herself cleared this place from the high-ranking monsters, leaving only beasts appropriate for your tiers,"

Gwen said and continued.

"We will only meet Tier II and Tier III goblins..." Then she started describing their characteristics.

Of course, Jung didn’t listen to her.

Although he had never seen goblins in real life, his knowledge of them was so abundant that he couldn’t even force himself to pay attention.

As someone from Earth, he had read, played, and watched enough media in his first life to understand goblins.

And if that wasn’t sufficient, Lisa had been his teacher at one point, meaning she had drilled information about common monsters into his mind.

’Players would like this place,’ he thought cheerfully and reminisced about them.

This whole time, Jung couldn’t escape the ominous feeling.

’Is this because I know something is going to happen?’ he asked himself and got answers from two different sources.

"I don’t know what this Tier VII teacher is talking about, because I certainly feel the stronger presence. The good thing is, it’s not too close," said Nero telepathically, expressing her concerns.

Vex didn’t stay quiet this time around.

[Ding!]

A short announcement was heard, followed by the notifications.

[Promised Arc is being delivered.]

[You are Tier V.]

[New Arc was created for your Keeper Archetype.]

[Check your Status.]

Whenever the system showed notifications, she sounded robotic, nothing like her current self. Listening to her, Jung’s desire to evolve her soared even further.

Not wasting time, he checked the hovering panel before him.

««Archetype System V5.0»»

<Name: Jung (Balatro)

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

<Archetype Tier: V

<Archetype Progress: 8%

<Arcs: [Shifting Cloud]; [Heroic Barrier]; [White Beard]; [Keeping Mask]

<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: Slay the Chosen One and replace them.

«Rewards: Unknown; Unknown; Finding yourself. The Messiah identity.»

"Why are you making me read this whole thing when the only thing that was added is one Arc?" Jung protested.

Yet, seeing that Vex wouldn’t answer him, Jung dived into it and the description.

<Keeper Mask

-Manifesting mask that lasts 10 seconds. During this duration, you receive a boost to all of your abilities, but you’re bound to act within a randomly assigned archetype.

"Holy..." Jung exclaimed. "What is this skill? Why on Maskera is this so descriptive?"

"I want to smack your face. One time you cried because the description was too short, and now you complain that it’s too long," said Nero in anger.

Thankfully, she contained herself and didn’t leave Jung’s heart.

As Jung was brewing, come back to the Nero, the system said urgently.

[Archeons might act again. Not right now, and they won’t be able to take your abilities, but they don’t like how strong you become.]

Jung smiled as if her words didn’t even register in his mind.

"Stop it... You don’t have to compliment me."

[The worst thing might happen when you slay their Chosen One. I warned you. This is the most I can do,] Vex said, unvexed by his antics.

"You are so sweet," Jung said, flirting in his usual manner.

However, he felt anger surging in Nero and stopped his silliness. "Chill, dude! I get it."

Having said that, Jung thought about his new Arc, feeling both excited and eager at the same time. ƒrēenovelkiss.com

’I was waiting for something with progression like Shifting Cloud, but as a beggar, I can’t ask for more.’

Suddenly, the path he was walking along with his party narrowed.

Noticing, Gwen informed them they were approaching their destination.

Indifferent, Jung didn’t bat an eye.

His thought process was still ongoing.

’So, I am going to test two new Arcs. Collect deaths for Shifting Cloud and Truth Lantern, butcher that fucker, and... I am forgetting something for sure.’

If everything went according to his wishes, Jung would fulfil the fourth quest and finally turn himself into the true Chosen One.

All the other things were bonuses that would have happened eventually.

Feeling lost in his ambitions and silly thoughts, Jung heard a voice telling him something.

"Miss, is that the cave you mentioned?" Barni asked proudly.

Jung was the first one to react, snorting, he said. "Wow, good job discovering something we were literally looking at, too."

His mocking tone persisted throughout his entire monologue. "Nice find, though. I think you proved your worth and unlocked the great privilege of bait."

"And here I was confused about why this asshole stayed silent this whole time," Leora said, no longer hiding her hatred.

"Ah, I call for another standing ovation in the hall."

Jung clapped with a witty demeanour. "We have a talking bitch who thinks that we need to hear her every rotten thought."

His words struck a nerve.

But after glancing at her brother, Leora gritted her teeth, swallowing her response.

As for the Barni, he was puzzled.

He didn’t understand why the whole situation was so tense, or why everyone was on edge around Jung.

"That’s not a nice way of speaking to your friends."

Gwen proved her lover archetype’s side, scolded Jung and tried to reconcile them.

Jung opened his mouth in bewilderment and acting as if he was upset by his own words, he said,

"My bad. It wasn’t the very chill guy of me to speak that way."

Five minutes went by before they reached the cave.

The first one to enter was the teacher, and she was followed by the twins, Ronan and Mira, and lastly Jung and the new guy.

[Ding!]

Out of nowhere, another system notification sounded.

It showed Jung another quest, making his eyes gleam with hunger.

After reading it, Jung looked over at Barni and whispered. "You are going to see a magic trick."