Chapter 2 — The Clown System
The hospital room was bright, quiet, and painfully sterile. The faint scent of disinfectant lingered in the air while machines hummed softly beside the bed.
In the middle of that stillness, Jack stared at the floating interface before him.
“Ahem… honored System.”
He cleared his throat and forced a stiff smile.
“You meant Crown, right?”
“Not Clown.”
He chuckled weakly, trying to sound optimistic.
“This system is supposed to help me become a king… not a clown… right?”
A pause followed.
“Please.”
“I’m begging you.”
“Answer correctly.”
The screen flickered slightly.
Then it displayed the same line again.
[Welcome to the Best Professional Clown System]
Silence.
Jack’s smile froze.
“…Why do I have to become a clown even in another world?”
His eye twitched.
“Damn it.”
“F***.”
“Sh*t.”
“Bastard—”
Yes.
In his previous life, he had already been a clown.
Bright costumes.
Painted smiles.
Forced laughter.
A life built around entertaining strangers.
But what he hated the most weren’t the performances themselves.
It was the children.
Bratty little monsters running wild through the crowd. Screaming, throwing things, ruining props, and laughing as if the world existed solely for their amusement.
And the parents?
They always said the same thing.
“Just let it go. They’re only children.”
Children.
As if that explained everything.
As if that erased responsibility.
Halloween, however—
Halloween was different.
Dark streets.
Dim lights.
Masks everywhere.
On that night, the rules changed.
He could scare them.
Children.
Adults.
Anyone.
Until laughter turned uneasy.
Until smiles trembled.
Until someone cried.
Haha.
A faint smirk appeared on his face.
Then it faded.
The irritation returned, simmering beneath his skin.
Jack exhaled slowly and focused on the interface again.
[Best Professional Clown System]
[Host: Jack Wilson]
Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
[Points: 0]
[Talent: —]
[Skills: —]
[System Shop] [Inventory]
Zero.
Nothing.
Empty.
So this really was—
a clown system.
He read through the information carefully.
Perform shows.
Earn points.
Exchange those points for Talents and Skills.
“…Alright.”
His voice steadied.
“Let’s see what kind of items are in the System Shop.”
The interface shifted.
[System Shop Categories: Talent — Skills — Accessories]
“Talents first.”
The screen changed again.
Three options appeared.
Only three.
Jack frowned.
“Why are there only three Talents available?”
The descriptions appeared one by one.
[Fear Carrier Lv.1 — 1000 Points]
[Dream Carnival Lv.1 — 1000 Points]
[Comic Stage Lv.1 — 1000 Points]
Jack tapped the first one.
[Fear Carrier: The Host becomes a vessel that carries fear into others.]
Fear.
“…Making people feel fear.”
His gaze sharpened.
“That sounds supernatural.”
“If I max this out…”
He imagined it.
A clown standing at the center of a world trembling in terror.
A cosmic horror in jester colors.
“Haha…”
The laugh that escaped him was quiet.
Uneasy.
He moved on.
The second talent appeared.
[Dream Carnival: The Host can enter and control the dreams of others freely.]
Jack rubbed his temple.
“Dream control?”
“Great.”
“I die once and now I’m choosing between Pennywise and Freddy Krueger.”
Dreams.
Control.
Manipulating someone’s subconscious mind.
He opened the final option.
[Comic Stage: Manipulating a situation when other people’s emotions are in turmoil within a designated stage.]
Jack stared at the description.
Then he laughed again.
“Hahaha…”
“Even the other two were terrifying.”
“But this one isn’t normal either.”
This system wasn’t built for harmless entertainment.
It was something else entirely.
Jack switched categories.
Skills.
This list was much longer.
And far cheaper.
[Card Trick — 25 Points]
[Pantomime — 100 Points]
[Ventriloquism — 50 Points]
[Pianist — 25 Points]
[Magic Trick — 50 Points]
“Skills are cheaper.”
“And there are more of them.”
Next came Accessories.
[Tarot Cards — 5 Points]
[Unicycle — 7 Points]
[Wand — 10 Points]
[Horn Clown — 3 Points]
Jack stared at the last one.
“Three points for humiliation.”
He sighed quietly.
He sighed quietly.
Skills and accessories were support.
Talents defined everything.
Then reality hit him.
“…But my points are zero.”
Nothing to buy.
Nothing to use.
“Do I start street performing already?”
He remembered a few tricks from his previous life.
Card flourishes.
Basic illusions.
Cheap but effective entertainment.
Then another thought surfaced.
“…The Beginner Reward Pack.”
He opened the Inventory tab.
A small golden chest icon floated there.
He tapped it.
The chest trembled violently.
A bell rang.
Clear.
Majestic.
The chest burst open in a flash of light.
[Congratulations! Host has obtained: Clown Outfit]
[Congratulations! Host has obtained: 200 System Points]
[Congratulations! Host has obtained: Face Mask]
Jack blinked slowly.
“…That’s it?”
“An outfit, a mask, and 200 points?”
His voice rose sharply.
“Damn it!!”
The echo faded quickly inside the hospital room.
He inhaled deeply.
“Calm down, Jack.”
“Think.”
Two hundred points.
Not much.
But not nothing either.
Enough to buy a few skills.
Enough to start something.
And the outfit and mask?
Useful.
They would hide his identity and save him money.
Jack reached into the Inventory.
The jester suit appeared instantly in his hands.
Red.
Black.
Diamond patterns.
Layered fabric with long sleeves and wide cuffs.
He touched the material.
Soft.
Like silk.
But firm.
More like leather than cloth.
He pulled slightly.
The fabric didn’t stretch.
It didn’t weaken.
“…Not ordinary.”
His attention shifted toward the hat.
A crown-like jester cap.
Small bells hung from the tips.
They were polished perfectly.
Jack flicked one lightly.
Instead of a cheerful jingle—
it produced a deep vibration.
A low hum.
The sound traveled through his fingers and into his jaw.
His teeth tingled.
Jack froze.
“…That’s not normal.”
He touched it again.
The same vibration returned.
Subtle.
Controlled.
Almost alive.
“This isn’t just clothing.”
“It’s equipment.”
Maybe even something more.
He had expected a ridiculous rainbow wig and oversized clown suit.
Instead—
this looked… surprisingly cool.
The mask matched the outfit perfectly.
Elegant.
Sharp.
Jack felt a small spark of satisfaction.
Then he stored the items back in the inventory.
Two hundred points remained.
“I need to spend them wisely.”
“So once I leave the hospital…”
“I can start performing.”
“And eventually buy a Talent.”
Because one fact remained painfully clear.
If the man who killed the original Jack discovered he was still alive—
He wouldn’t hesitate a second time.
Silence filled the hospital room.
Then—
footsteps.
Fast.
Frantic.
Outside.
“What’s happening?”
Jack stepped into the corridor.
Chaos greeted him.
Nurses rushing between rooms.
Doctors shouting instructions.
Families whispering anxiously.
“…That many injured?”
“Was there an accident?”
A voice nearby answered.
“I heard there was a fire in the industrial district.”
Fire.
Jack’s nose twitched.
A faint scent drifted through the sterile hospital air.
Sharp.
Acrid.
Ozone.
His breath stopped.
For a split second—
the hospital vanished.
Burning lungs.
Scorched air.
Metallic taste.
The night he died.
Jack’s chest tightened.
“…That’s not right.”
They would probably say it was a gas leak.
Or a short circuit.
But ozone—
ozone was different.
His fingers slowly curled.
“That fire…”
“…wasn’t just a fire.”
Something else was behind it.
Something like the power that killed the original Jack.
A realization settled in his mind.
This world was not simple.
It was a battlefield.
And beneath its surface—
something dangerous was moving.
Hidden.
Watching.
Waiting.
Jack returned to his room slowly, anxiety weighing heavily in his chest.
“I need to prepare.”
“As soon as possible.”
He looked at the interface again.
“…This system is a joke.”
A clown.
In a battlefield.
He almost laughed.
“If this world is a battlefield…”
“Then I woke up unarmed.”
No power.
No allies.
No protection.
Only—
a clown system.
Ridiculous.
But then another thought surfaced.
The strongest die first.
The obvious ones become targets.
But the clown?
People laugh at the clown.
And that’s when you move.
Jack exhaled slowly.
This system might be the only thing that can keep me alive.
