Chapter 16 Armed
Li Ang frowned, looking at the newly-unlocked Face-Changing Mask in his inventory.
The mask was oval-shaped, with a smooth, flawless surface and circular notches on the edges, likely for threading to secure it. Made of wood, its surface was painted a deep, ink-black, capable of covering the entire face, including the chin and forehead.
Li Ang paid and left the Pork Intestine Vermicelli Shop, then returned home to test the Face-Changing Mask.
Unlike the Cat’s Eye, this piece of equipment didn’t consume spiritual power when worn. As soon as the inside of the mask touched his facial skin, the black paint on the outside rapidly faded, replaced by an array of bizarre patterns: Tiger, Kamen Rider, a cute bunny-eared girl, Monkey King Sun Wukong, a golden toilet seat, pink fluffy lady slippers...
After playing around for about fifteen minutes, Li Ang finally confirmed that aside from being fun for cosplay, the Face-Changing Mask’s first special effect truly had no practical use whatsoever. Though Li Ang did quite enjoy cosplay.
As for its second special effect, Li Ang specifically went to a comic convention happening in Yin City that afternoon to test it out. The results were quite pleasing. When he chose to reduce his presence, people around him would naturally ignore him as long as he stood still. Even if he walked around casually, others found it difficult to form an impression of him—even when he wore an extremely conspicuous mask. When he chose to enhance his presence, no matter what Li Ang did—even just standing still—he quickly attracted others’ attention. Random impressions like "That masked weirdo is creepy," or "There’s a weirdo here, should we call the police?" emerged among onlookers.
Li Ang quickly figured out other applications for the mask: assassination, infiltration, concealment, eavesdropping, and... blatant voyeurism.
According to Li Ang’s speculation, the strength of the Face-Changing Mask was likely related to an observer’s Perception Attribute; the higher their Perception Attribute, the better they could resist the mask’s disorienting effects.
In any case, acquiring a useful piece of equipment was a good thing. Li Ang put the mask back into his inventory and continued searching for triggerable tasks around Yin City.
In the following days, apart from the arrival of a young and beautiful new female homeroom teacher at school, everything was uneventful. Li Ang waited serenely for a message regarding a delivery from a popular online marketplace.