Chương 5: The Reaper of Chaos

Ch 05 - The Reaper of Chaos Jester fell silent as he watched the white cloth in his hands change shape. The soft fabric stretched out before gradually hardening. One end narrowed into a long, sturdy handle, while the other split apart as a curved blade emerged from within the cloth itself. The transformation lasted only a few moments before it was complete.

"A scythe...?" Jester murmured under his breath. [Reaper of Chaos | Divine | Weapon | Two-Handed] [STR+125 | AGI+120 | MAG+250] [Weight: 820] [Durability: 5000/5000] [Skills: Chaos Reaping | Harvest Mask | Pandemonium Domain] [Description: A divine scythe born from Primordial Chaos. The more Chaos it devours, the greater the Divine power it can unleash.]"A Divine-grade scythe...? Devours Chaos?" [Reaper of Chaos has returned to your inventory.] [The weapon cannot be wielded until sufficient Chaos has been accumulated.] Jester swallowed hard as he looked at the stats of the weapon he had just obtained. The attribute bonuses alone were unbelievable. 125 Strength, 120 Agility, and 250 Magic. That was nearly 500 attribute points in total, the equivalent of 50 levels. Simply wielding this weapon was like instantly gaining fifty levels. On top of that, the weapon came with three skills, none of which Jester had been able to test.

The moment he obtained the scythe, it had immediately returned to his inventory because he lacked enough Chaos to wield it. Just reading the names of those skills made him wonder what kind of abilities they possessed.

"I'll have to test them one by one. But first... what exactly is Chaos?" He opened the lengthy system notification once more. He noticed several sections that mentioned chaos, but instead of trying to absorb everything at once, he carefully decided to go through each entry one by one. It would be much easier to understand the information that way.

"I need to learn how to fight with a scythe." That was another reason why the game felt incredibly realistic. Owning a weapon did not automatically make someone skilled with it. Players had to learn how to wield their weapons properly. Any combat techniques they practiced in the real world could be carried into the game through muscle memory, allowing them to fight more naturally. The opposite was also true.

The experience and movements repeated inside the game could gradually improve a player's instincts and coordination outside of it as well.

"A clown fighting with a scythe...?" Jester pictured ruthless executioners, infamous villains, and even the Grim Reaper itself. Strangely enough, the image suited him perfectly.

"Seriously... this is so cool. Ridiculously cool. And I haven't even figured out everything this upgrade can do yet." He opened his status screen again. [Jester Lv. 25 - Evil Clown] [HP: 249 | Mana: 176] [Strength: 35 | Agility: 52 | Magic: 22 | Constitution: 19 | Stamina: 12] [Luck: 20] [Available Stats: 150] [Weight: 55 / 210] [Chaos: 0] The 150 available stat points he currently possessed came entirely from leveling up.

He had gained fifteen levels in total, and each level rewarded him with ten stat points, leaving him free to distribute them however he wished. If you come across this story on Amazon, it's taken without permission from the author. Report it. Strength, Agility, Magic, Constitution, and Stamina were his five basic attributes. They would remain unchanged until he decided how to allocate his available stat points. His Health and Mana, on the other hand, were not attributes themselves.

They were derived from the combined values of his five basic attributes. His Luck had also increased, but unlike the five basic attributes, it could not be raised by spending stat points. Luck could only grow through special achievements, unique quests, rare blessings, or other extraordinary opportunities. His current Weight displayed 55/210, which came entirely from the clown costume he was wearing. It was the same costume he had received upon evolving into the Evil Clown class.

[Crimson Grin Visage | Epic | Costume] [Weight: 25] [Durability: 2200/2200] [Skills: Aura of Mockery] [Passively emits a faint aura of dread and unease, marking the wearer as an agent of chaos. Low-tier enemies are naturally disturbed by the wearer's presence.] Aura of Mockery was actually just a passive skill. Its effect was fairly subtle and not much different from the aura granted by his old costume. However, one new attribute immediately caught his attention. It was Chaos.

"What is Chaos...?" Jester tapped the attribute. [A unique energy generated through chaos and extraordinary performances. It can be consumed to enhance skills or activate Divine powers.]"Alright..." There were only two short sentences, yet the second one explained almost everything. Consume Chaos to enhance abilities or activate Divine powers. In other words, Chaos was a unique resource that belonged exclusively to him.

It was not just another attribute, but a special form of energy that could enhance his abilities and serve as the fuel required to wield Divine powers.

"Isn't that... absolutely incredible?" A grin slowly spread across his face as excitement lit up his eyes. The Divine Artifact had granted him a new class, Evil Clown, along with an entirely new set of skills. At the same time, the artifact itself had transformed into a divine scythe, a weapon directly tied to the Evil Clown class.

"Now... How do I get Chaos Points?" He opened the information tab again, searching for more details about Chaos. There had to be some kind of clue. He had only managed to skim through the description before... Jester immediately froze when he noticed movement. He quickly turned to his right, then to his left, as several figures stepped out from the surrounding forest and revealed themselves. There were three players, all wearing full sets of dark armor that looked both elegant and intimidating.

Their appearance was completely different from his own outfit, which made him look like nothing more than a clown.

"Well, look who finally decided to show his face again," one of them said. They were the same three players who had dragged Jester to this place some time ago. Because of them, he had unexpectedly ended up receiving an incredibly powerful blessing.

"Jester, I thought you'd spend the rest of your life running away and hiding behind that stupid clown mask of yours," another one said. He had short blond hair and a much bigger build than the others. His nostrils were so huge that Jester thought he could probably crawl inside one if he shrank his body.

"You were the ones who said our business was over." Jester slowly raised both hands.

"I didn't find anything in there. You already know that."

"Look at this little guy. Where did he even get that new clown outfit?" the third player said.

"This one somehow looks even more... ridiculous, I think. You're such an idiot, Jester."

"We lost a lot because of this stupid brat. I think it's time we taught him a lesson." By all rights, Jester shouldn't have stood a chance. He was only Level 25, while the three players before him were already above Level 50. This wasn't even a fight. It was outright bullying. One of them pulled out a massive axe and rested it on his shoulder. Another raised a shield. The last one drew a sword.

"I don't think we even need to pull out our weapons just to kill this stupid clown."

"We do. We need to teach him a proper lesson. Each of us will hit him with our strongest skill and crush him."

"He'll just respawn."

"Yeah, then we'll wait at his respawn point and do it again. Over and over until his level drops to zero. That'll make him completely useless." They were already preparing to attack, but...

"You won't get anything from me," Jester said as he kept both hands raised.

"But seriously, if you're looking to kill a clown, I think there's another clown who's much more worth killing. And it isn't me."

"What are you talking about, you idiot?" They had already surrounded Jester and were ready to strike. But then, one of them suddenly froze. The one carrying the shield.

"Baboon! What the hell happened to you?!" he shouted, barely holding back his laughter. The player with the sword also stared with his mouth hanging open.

"Baboon... where the hell did that clown face come from?"

"No way, damn it, Baboon! Why the hell do you look like that?!" Baboon frowned, both confused and annoyed.

"What the hell are you idiots talking about?!" The blond player with the huge nostrils was no longer wearing his own face. Instead, his features had been replaced by a clown's face, complete with wild rainbow-colored hair.

"No way! What the hell?! What's wrong with my face?!" The three of them looked torn between laughing, staring in disbelief, and trying to make sense of what they were seeing. Then, almost at the same moment, their expressions froze. The person they had surrounded just moments ago...... was gone.

"Where the hell did that idiot clown go?!" [You successfully deceived your target.] [Chaos +5] [You successfully diverted your enemies' attention away from yourself.] [Curtain Call has been activated.] [You have become completely invisible for 5 seconds.] Standing only a few steps away, hidden by complete invisibility, Jester grinned from ear to ear.

"Alright... you wanted to teach me a lesson, didn't you? Let's see how well you learn yours."