Reincarnated Jester: Taming Players

For a second, there was absolute silence, and no sound was uttered. Overall, players were confused and angry even.

Then someone dared to voice their opinion, and it started a wave of frustration.

"Who is this guy?"

"Why does he think we will obey him?"

"Wait, did he actually call us his sidekicks?"

Due to this, loud noises were heard. Jung himself didn't find this particular scenario quite pleasing. But he had a solution, and it meant teaching some brats their place.

Swoosh.

He moved like a wind—his movements rough but delightful to watch. Smacking the loudest players, he birthed another quietness. Dead bodies pixelated before their eyes.

Another second passed, and Jung was back to his previous place. Essentially, acting like nothing happened, but everyone saw his sudden dash and the brutality he demonstrated.

"I am not here to bully you guys," he announced with a voice and action that couldn't prove his point. "Work for me, and you will get resources and quests. Sounds too good to be true, right? I am just your friendly neighbourhood NPC who will help you reach greatness in this world."

Jung might look harsh and demanding, but it was true that his behaviour was nothing like your average Joe. This led to him speaking like a human who knew about the game aspect of this world.

Players had 2 major weaknesses—excitement and quests, which Jung knew and used to his advantage.

"What do you want?" A skinny and short boy came forth. He stared at Jung with conviction, with no signs of fear.

"Oho," Jung called out and clapped. "Would you look at that? We have our first brave warrior." It was hard to tell if his voice was mocking or not. "Tell me your nickname or username, or anything, really."

His attitude was friendly, contrary to his previous responses.

"HugeP." Stuttering, the boy had a hard time saying his name before this truly enormous crowd.

Jung giggled but corrected his posture. "What a peculiar name you have, my friend. Don't be embarrassed because of that. Stand proud and welcome to my team." Soon after finishing his speech, Jung clapped like he was presenting HugeP to others.

"I," he thought for a while. He needed a new name, something to call himself. Eventually, he adopted a fitting alias and resumed. "I, Balatro, appoint HugeP as the first commander of my army."

Another cheer erupted. It was louder than the last time. More players took part in this applause, some of them even jealous of HugeP's early success.

"As for the quests I am going to give you." Jung wasn't done. "You guys should probably know about pills, right? If not, I don't care, it's your problem. I want Rebel Pills, no matter the rank. Give them to me, as much as you can. In return, I have some spare Pills I can trade. As for quests, ask your system."

This was his finishing touch. The reason he was so happy when these slaves arrived. "Go forth, my warriors, and work with HugeP," Jung smirked as he said his next line. "I have huge hopes for him." Finally, he finished his objectives and left the place. Not a single person snickered at his joke.

He left chaos and disappeared.

Some players were chatting cheerfully.

"I got a quest. It says we need to get him some pills."

"Whoa, me too. Let's go!"

Parties were made, and a couple of players even went all alone. But most of them stood before HugeP, asking for the plan.

The boy was still in turmoil. He acted solely on impulse, with no thoughts behind it. But he had to lead these players and do what? Work for some shady NPC?

While HugeP was cursing his decision and his life, Jung was hopping around, clearly excited.

He chose the moniker Balatro, with no specific grounds whatsoever, though an obvious explanation might be that he still felt like a Jester, a part of his identity he couldn't just abandon.

But why specifically jester? He lived 12 lives before that, and being a jester wasn't something so spectacular he couldn't let go.

With no answer in his mind, he left the city again to kill some monsters.

'But would there be a sufficient amount?' Jung asked the system. 'I had a hard time finding one monster, let alone enough for these hungry players.'

[After players arrived, the number of monsters increased significantly.] Here it was, the eternal voice that was soothing and warm. Previous evolution made her more generous.

"So I will have more monsters to kill?"

[So you will have more beasts to slaughter.] The system corrected his point with a grim tone.

"Ahh, easy there, my dear." Jung cried in surprise, stopping his movement. "I felt some passion. Care to explain?"

But no answer was heard.

"Okay, you don't have to answer. We are just getting to know each other. I would guess it wasn't your doing. Increasing the number of monsters, I mean." Jung was different, at least for now, while he talked to the system.

He felt sympathy, and for what? A system, a mechanical entity he didn't know or understand.

What caused his, or even her emotions? It was hard and honestly too annoying for Jung to decipher.

[It wasn't me.] Said the system, with no coldness or warmness in her speech.

"Then it was the second system? The one that players have?"

[No, it wasn't. That Junk couldn't have done that.] This time it was cynicism.

An emotion Jung loved and didn't miss. He didn't make any specific comment about that and waited for the system to explain.

[It was the world itself. To balance things.] Said the system shortly as it was exhausted by all these ramblings.

"Noted!" Jung thought a bit more, noticing a group of players walking in his direction.

Based on their expression and body language, Jung could tell that they had no clue who he was.

'Guess I have to unleash my asshole side once more.' He lunged at them, channelled persona power, and used his first active skill.

'This is bound to be entertaining.'