Chương 6: A Clown’s Cheat Code

Ch 06 - A Clown's Cheat Code [Common - Painted Smile (Active)] [Paint a cursed clown face onto the target, slightly reducing Accuracy and increasing Aggro for 20 seconds.] [Mana Cost: 25] What a cheap trick. This skill literally paints a clown face onto the enemy. And it only costs 25 Mana? The effect is nothing too impressive, only a slight reduction to Accuracy, but at the very least, having their face painted like a clown is enough to throw them off for a brief moment.

And that is exactly where the next skill on Jester's newly acquired skill list comes into play. [Epic - Curtain Call (Conditional Passive)] [Become completely invisible after successfully deceiving an enemy and breaking their line of sight. Duration: 2 seconds. The duration increases by 1 second for each nearby enemy that is successfully distracted.] After evolving into the Evil Clown class, Jester gained several new skills. Among them was Curtain Call, an Epic-grade ability.

It was easily the most remarkable addition to his arsenal. It was an incredibly unique skill because it granted complete invisibility. The only catch was its activation condition. Jester first had to successfully distract his enemies and break free from their line of sight before it would take effect. What made it even more extraordinary was that the skill did not consume any Mana at all. [Curtain Call has been activated.] [3 nearby enemies successfully distracted.] [You have become completely invisible for 5 seconds.] It was an incredible invisibility skill. Even while surrounded, Jester could slip right through the middle of the group, brushing past them without a single one noticing his presence. The downside was that he only had five seconds before the effect wore off. Should he simply run away? Yes, he was going to escape. But not without doing something first. Two seconds had already passed, and the three idiots looked completely confused.

They frantically searched for Jester, but no matter where they looked, they could not find him. In their panic, they even swung their weapons around, hoping to hit him by chance. Jester burst forward and appeared directly behind Baboon. This idiot actually believed that having a higher level was enough to bully weaker players? Hah. Unfortunately for him, this was a game, and in here, skill and strategy mattered far more than level alone.

"Now you're my target." A predatory grin spread across Jester's face. [Epic - Pickpocket (Conditional Active)] [Attempt to steal one random unequipped item from a target. Can only be activated while directly behind an unaware target. The potential value of the stolen item scales with the overall value of the user's Inventory.] [Mana Cost: 250]"Spend 50 available stats on magic!"

[HP: 249 | Mana: 576] [Strength: 35 | Agility: 52 | Magic: 72 | Constitution: 19 | Stamina: 12] [Available Stats: 100] Now he had more Mana to use, allowing him to make full use of the new skills he had just acquired. Jester thrust his hand toward the idiot's back as though reaching into an invisible pocket. At the same moment, a notification appeared before him. [Epic - Pickpocket Activated.] [Calculating your Inventory Value...] [Successfully stole 1 random unequipped item from the target's Inventory.] His fingers closed around something solid. Without wasting another moment, Jester immediately leaped backward. At the same time, Curtain Call reached its limit, and his body slowly reappeared before everyone's eyes. The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. He glanced at the object now resting in his hand. [The value of the stolen item has been determined.] [Pickpocket is now on cooldown.] [Time Remaining: 24: 00: 00]"He's over there!

That idiot was trying to run away!" One of the players finally spotted him, glaring with an expression full of anger.

"You think you can escape, you idiot? Change my face back right now, or you're dead!" Jester simply smiled as he casually held up the blue ticket now resting between his fingers. [Pickpocket successfully stole: Emergency Raid Ticket (Rare+).] [A premium ticket that instantly attracts the nearest Raid Boss to the user's location.] [You successfully stole a valuable item using Pickpocket.] [Chaos +25]"Oh, would you look at this?" Jester said with a grin.

"I just found this lying on the ground. Uh ho ho ho... looks like I'm really lucky. It's an Emergency Raid Ticket." He happily skipped from side to side, proudly holding up the item.

"Oh? It summons a Raid Boss? This is going to be fun. I can't wait to kill a Raid Boss." Baboon's expression instantly changed. He hurriedly opened his Inventory, and his face turned pale.

"Damn it! That's mine! Don't you dare use it, Jester! I swear I'll kill you! I'll hunt you down even outside the game!"

"How the hell did he get it? Did you actually lose it?" one of the other players shouted.

"Idiots!" Baboon roared.

"This isn't a backpack! It's an Inventory System! How could I possibly lose it?!"

"You moron, Baboon! I spent money on that ticket too!" He glared at Jester with bloodshot eyes.

"Give it back! Right now! Do you have any idea how valuable that thing is?!"

"Really?" Jester tilted his head innocently as a slow grin spread across his face.

"But isn't this the ticket that summons a Raid Boss? Oh... that sounds like fun."

"Kill him! Don't let him use it!" Baboon screamed as he charged forward once more. But they were already too late. Jester had already torn the ticket in half. A notification immediately appeared before him. [Emergency Raid Ticket Activated.] [A nearby Raid Boss has detected the signal.] [Estimated Arrival: 5 seconds.] Jester's smile widened into a full grin. A deafening explosion echoed through the forest as the earth violently shook beneath their feet. Dark clouds gathered overhead.

Lightning struck one after another. A terrifying roar echoed across the battlefield, followed by a hurricane-like gust that bent the surrounding trees. A colossal figure came crashing through the forest with a tremendous leap, shattering towering trees along its path before landing with a thunderous impact that shook the ground beneath everyone's feet. Standing nearly three times taller than the players, the monster possessed a muscular humanoid body covered in coarse black fur.

Two enormous curved horns extended from its head, while a skull-like mask fused to its face concealed everything except a pair of crimson eyes that burned like molten lava. Heavy chains wrapped around both of its arms, each ending in a massive iron pillar that scraped across the ground, leaving deep trenches wherever it moved. [Raid Boss: Abyss Horn Tyrant Lv. 95] The monster let out another earth-shaking roar before slamming one of its iron pillars into the ground.

The impact blasted rocks and dirt into the air, leaving a massive crater beneath its feet. At that exact moment, all three players completely forgot about Jester. Their attention was now locked onto the monster. [25 Chaos consumed.] [Pocket Form: Chaos Version activated.] Jester's body shrank until he was no bigger than a doll. Unlike before, however, his smaller body made him even faster and more agile. This was Pocket Form, the only ability he had inherited from his original Clown class.

On its own, it offered almost nothing in combat. It had no offensive power whatsoever and was generally considered little more than a novelty skill. But now… Jester had access to Chaos. Instead of using the usual 50 Mana, he spent 25 Chaos to activate its Chaos Version. And the ability gained an incredible upgrade. [Chaos: Shrink body to miniature size while ignoring movement penalties. Presence becomes difficult to detect and perception abilities are significantly less effective.]"Ha ha ha!"

Jester burst into laughter as his tiny body shot through the tall grass at incredible speed. With the Chaos Version of Pocket Form, he became unbelievably fast. Every leap launched him far ahead, and despite his tiny size, he moved even faster than he ever could in his normal form. He raced across the open plain, heading straight for the nearest road. The closest city was only a short distance away, and that was exactly where he intended to go.

With these new abilities, Jester was certain he could accomplish far more than before. Deception. Theft. Chaos. This was what it meant to be an Evil Clown. So if he ended up committing a few crimes, could anyone really blame him? The game itself had designed his class around exactly that. He could escape simply by distracting his enemies. He could even steal items directly from another player's Inventory. Seriously... wasn't that completely absurd?

The value of whatever Pickpocket stole depended on the overall value of his Inventory. And with a Divine-grade scythe sitting inside it... Didn't that mean his Inventory Value would always be far higher than almost anyone else's? This was practically a cheat code. Baboon and his two teammates had a much bigger problem to worry about now. There was no way they could escape that monster. A Level 95 Raid Boss was never meant to be challenged by just three players.

A creature like that normally required a large raid group of around forty players, all with levels close to its own. They would simply be wiped out. It would not take long before they were crushed. However... Jester gradually slowed down. Instead of leaving the forest, he suddenly changed direction and dashed into the trees on his left, keeping himself hidden among the dense undergrowth. He spotted something approaching through the forest.

A group of riders charged between the trees on the backs of massive Dire Wolves, racing straight toward the source of the commotion.

"No mistakes! We've found the target! Surround the area and don't let it escape!" the leading rider shouted. At the front of the group rode a young man who looked to be in his early twenties. He wore elegant royal attire, its colors dominated by deep maroon with black and gold accents. But one thing immediately caught Jester's attention. The man was wearing... A crown?