Reincarnated Jester: Taming Players

"Clear it?" asked one of the players. "But you are…" He couldn't finish his words for fear of Balatro's retribution.

"Try me!" Jung was confident in his abilities, but there was one problem he needed to address. "System, can I use dungeons as well?"

[Yes, you can, but it has a cost.] Her lovely, and eternal voice was music to Jung's ears.

"What do you mean?" he asked, waiting for a steep price.

[After counting your Taming pills, I can use them to send you to that dungeon,] said the system with emotion.

Catching that small detail, Jung stayed quiet. After thinking for a while, he commented, "So this is another use for dungeons. Is this the same for players?"

[No, it only works for you. They don't need to pay for it. THAT system made the dungeons and some special places, but we can still abuse that by using the items we get from them.]

"Your version didn't change, but you are acting weird." Jung pointed out. "What do you mean, we?"

[This was my honest mistake. Pardon me.] She sounded taken aback.

"You aren't fooling me; it was strange, not something you would have done." Not retreating, Jung spoke again.

[And what do you know?] Sides have changed, now, the system attacked.

Silence lingered as the system pushed once more.

[I am asking you Jung, what do you know about me?] Radiating emotions intensified. Her tone gained more depth, not only did she seem sentimental, but more human as well.

"I don't…" Jung tried to answer, but no thought came to his mind.

[Jung.] A name was called more than once.

[Jung, what about you?] Curiosity existed, yes, but there was much more. A deep meaning behind her actions. A reason even she didn't understand.

[Who are you? Are you a rebel, a jester, a lover, or what?]

Words he heard rang in his mind. No longer was it music he could enjoy. It was a demand. he tried to outrun this question, but the system was faster than him.

But this question remained unanswered, Jung was feeling something foreign to him. A specific emotion he had almost forgotten. Elara's disappearance triggered this before, but this time it was more confusing to him than painful.

'What am I?' Even he repeated this question to himself once. There was no solution, no words he could express or describe himself. Yet, something clicked in his mind.

"Why are we talking about this?" His voice was loud, not caring about the surrounding players. "You told me to stay silly!" They had been looking at him weirdly even before this.

"There is no meaning in existence, not in mine and not in yours." After glancing around at the players, he snorted and said even louder, "Look at them, do you honestly believe their hollow lives have any purpose?"

He stopped for a while. Looked at the sky while all the lives he led flashed into his eyes. "No! They don't know who they are, and I don't know who I am. And I don't think we need to know. We don't have to care. We might want to understand ourselves, but ultimately, it's meaningless."

The system was still there. Listening to his almost shouting voice but not revealing anything. "This is as silly as I could be." The boy could tell her emotions when he said all of that. But he didn't care; she asked, and he delivered.

Despite that, the system didn't agree with him. [That is sad and nothing more. Jung, I am disappointed.] She said and went back to slumber.

Her last words hit Jung in the wrong way. Even after his speech, he didn't like what she said.

Nero, still in his heart, added more salt to his wound. "I don't know who you are talking to, but you are full of shit."

No cat should talk like that, but Nero wasn't some ordinary street cat.

Jung almost lost his mood, but after peering through the players, he regained his foolishness and smiled again. 'Look at these losers, looking at me so confused.'

He moved closer to the player who had spoken before. "Lead the way." His intentions were short and clear.

The potato guy obeyed, but with pride and dedication, he presented the route. Other players were whispering behind his back.

"He is mental, right?"

"Yep, not only is he weird, but he is crazy."

"Be quiet! You are courting death!"

Jung strolled to the destination and couldn't care less about those conversations. He tried to push his talk with the system out of his mind and immerse himself in battle.

Dungeon and the recent practice offered a new escape. "This is it," announced the player who had been guiding him.

All Jung could see was a cliff with a small cave in it. However, there was a barrier with a purple hue that blocked everyone.

"We need to wait." The potato explained. "There is a team inside, and you can't go in unless they either die or clear it." He feared Jung might lose his temper and lash out at him.

To his surprise, his reaction was calm. "Sure, no problem."

After thinking for a while, Jung asked. "Are there any difficulty settings?"

His query brought another shock among the listening players. No NPC should know that.

Someone even tried to pry. "How do you know that?" Her friends couldn't stop her curiosity. She was a black-dressed Explorer archetype. Maybe this could explain her nature.

Jung, still calm and collected, claimed with assurance. "I know more than you think, more than I should." His voice remained above the crowd, intense and commanding.

Objectively speaking, his claim should be false. However, it was evident that Jung was beyond common sense.

New rumours were spawned. Some speculated that Balatro was, in fact, a player, a beta tester, or perhaps even one of the developers.

More absurd theories emerged, but Jung cared about none of them.

The barrier crumbled, and the way was shown. "Choose the hardest option for me." He urged the player and got ready to meet this challenge.

It should be mentioned that no player had cleared the easiest part of the dungeon, and it sharpened his resolve to try even harder.

No one said anything about him cutting the line—not only because of fear but also out of interest.

There was one thought in their mind. Could this fool dive into the dungeon and come out victorious?

As for the man in question, he got system notifications, noticing her cold temper.

[Eclipsed mode was chosen.]

[Initiating your descent to the dungeon.]

[The fare has been deducted from your inventory.]

[Good luck.]