Mask

My body came apart. First it was noticeable, my fingers from my hands, and my toes from my feet, but after all my main limbs came apart, everything else started to come apart too, as if I were a puzzle and someone decided to mess me up of their own volition.

I was split into billions―no trillions of pieces. I was everywhere and nowhere, and I was at peace.

Darkness unlike any other I'd ever experienced, this darkness was thick, cold, and draining. While that probably shouldn't have been inviting in the slightest, it was as if I was lying in a comfortable bed and just didn't want to get up for anything.

Then the universe was suddenly filled with different things.

Lightning, fire, a void, ghosts and demons, torrential rain, unstoppable winds, mountains of riches, the emptiness of death, destruction, and ruin, and finally, the power of creation and preservation.

It was all beautiful, and disgusting.

I forgot who I was, where I was, and why I was doing what I was doing.

For a moment, everything meant nothing. I felt like I knew the secrets of the universe, and it simply made my life insignificant―

Then I was back, grounded with the earth under my feet and the sky above my head.

I opened my eyes―my nine eyes―two where they were supposed to be but the other seven alongside my forehead. I could move them just as if they were my normal eyes, but they felt… odd. They weren't connected to me like everything else, but they were still acting to provide me the normal information you'd get when you look around.

I reached up to feel my face, genuinely worried if the mask had fused into my skin. It hadn't, resting comfortably exactly where I sat it.

I looked to my fingers, moving them in and out to make sure I wasn't tripping out or anything. They had full functionality, and looked entirely normal, if… clearer than before.

In fact, everything was clearer.

Before I could investigate more―

"Why are you wearing a mask?" Manami questioned, certainly unaware of what I'd just experienced.

Ah, I guess it would've looked pretty weird, huh? I just put a mask on out of nowhere after all.

"Ah, well, I got some new items," I relayed the information of the items to Dabi and Manami, receiving small nods from the duo.

As I looked over them though, light shined from their bodies. I could see them perfectly clear, but there was also more I could see of them.

Dabi and Manami were overlayed by blue and pink energy respectively, and the energy swirled around where their hearts should've been, pumping rhythmically as if they were the life-filling organs.

"What does the mask do?" Dabi questioned.

I was a little preoccupied as I glanced around, noting that the energy wasn't limited to human beings. Insects lit up underneath my gaze, and even the air itself seemed… supercharged. My original eyes blinked in unison with the new seven eyes―and my god, I was already getting used to that.

The structure of the building was filled with that energy as well. Metals were different from woods, woods were different than concretes, and concretes were different than metals, but they all were like one another. The best way I could explain it was by comparing the materials of the buildings to shades of blue. There was blue, navy blue, berry blue, arctic blue, light blue, etc. They were all different, but close enough that they could all be classified as "blue."

However, when they weren't connected, they weren't all "blue."

I stepped outside of the building, looking around at what should've been dark buildings and trees. Instead, it was lit up as if it were a normal day, and I could see everything nigh perfectly.

Trees were strong, vibrant greens, metals were sharp, sparkly silvers, and the concretes were dull, boorish greys. I could tell what they were before I even knew what I was looking at.

I looked at myself―with my original eyes―and ignored the notifications in front of me. I just wanted to see what I looked like underneath this weird vision.

I was covered in black flames but wasn't burning. Unlike everyone and everything else I'd seen, my flames were… waiting?

They weren't bouncing around for more energy, and before I knew it, they shifted.

The flames pulled into my body, leaving me with nothing but my bare body before new flames came back out, this time purple. The two colors continued to switch, both biding their time. Both flames had scales built underneath them, only visible to me under the sight of this mask.

Just the same, my fingers extended into certified talons, but such a change was only visible to me now of all times. If that was the case, then….

"Minoru," Dabi sounded… not worried, but very cognizant that I may not be myself underneath this mask. "Are you okay? The mask didn't possess you like in Yakuza Hero, did it…?"

A smile crept on my face.

I was about to turn to them but didn't because of how smiling with nine eyes could have only been damn-near demonic. Instead, I held up a quick thumbs-up before responding.

"Yeah, I'm alright," I tried to ignore the overwhelming effects of the mask as I turned back to the duo.

Manami's… heart was uncalm, palpitating in mismatched patterns. Despite that though, she smiled at me.

"Geez, don't be weird. We can't have this entire plan going out the window because you stupidly… equipped an item," She sighed with nonchalance I wasn't sure she had.

Dabi nodded, but I didn't really catch what part he was agreeing with. His heart was calm though, when compared to Manami's.

"What does it do? Well, besides make you look like a creepy bastard," Dabi questioned, and I thought about it for a moment.

I was seeing some type of energy, but it couldn't be anything like electricity or fire so….

I summoned a Pop-Off ball within my hand, and once I glanced at it, I confirmed my suspicions.

Under the bizarre gaze of my mask, my hand was filled with dense purple energy, just like the energy that covered my body. That same energy, while in different colors and densities, was in seemingly everything to some extent.

"I think I can see mana, even before it's used. And…." I glanced at my stats, noticing a boost to Wisdom. "And it gives me a Wisdom boost."

"For free?" Manami asked.

"Well…." I hesitated, finally giving the notification windows before me some proper attention.

[Status "The Wise Madman" has been granted by the item "Vasukak."]

[Status "Patala's King of Despair" has been granted by the item "Vasukak."]

[Status "Wealth of the Foolish Dragon" has been granted by the item "Vasukak."]

[Status "Who Rules Above Them?" has been granted by the item "Vasukak."]

[Status "Waking Up the Animal" has been granted by the item "Ishikori."]

[Set Bonus! Status "Mind over Matter" has been granted due to simultaneous use of the items "Vasukak" and "Ishikori."]

[Status "The Wise Madman" has been partially negated by "Gamer's Mind."]

[Status "Patala's King of Despair" has been partially negated by "Gamer's Mind."]

[Status "Wealth of a Foolish Dragon" has been partially negated by "Gamer's Body" and "Gamer's Mind."]

[Status "Who Rules Above Them?" has been partially negated by "Gamer's Body."]

I mean… damn.

Of course, I didn't know the severity of those notifications in the slightest, but I suddenly felt incredibly grateful that my power was willing to assist me. Giving me something like this and giving me the skills to use it was beyond useful.

"Uh," I began. "It seems like the very, very bad parts of it have been negated by my skills, but I definitely don't want to see anyone else wearing a mask like this. Ah, and the cloak is another drop. Give me a second to check some stuff out…."

I called up my status screen once more, investigating it more closely. I didn't notice it upon checking my stats specifically before, but it was… hard to identify. I almost felt like I wasn't looking at my own status screen.

It had my name at the top but even that was questionable if I looked away from it for too long. It almost made me question just who I was before I let out a low hum.

"Odd, my status screen is really… weird," I frowned, curious as to which of my many status effects could have caused this to happen.

"You're really weird," Dabi interjected. "I don't know what it is, but you're not the same as a few minutes ago."

"If I didn't know who you were, I'd question if you were even real. You don't seem like you're… here. Does that make sense?" Manami added, squinting at me with a huff.

My nine eyes―yeah, that still wasn't normal―blinked before I looked back at my body.

"Really?" I hummed. "I feel like I can see myself fine. I'm still me."

"You're…." Dabi groaned. "It's hard to explain. You don't seem like you're… you. I know it's probably an effect of the mask and cloak, but it doesn't mean that it makes it easier to distinguish where you end and someone else begins. Like I said, it's hard to explain."

I nodded, clicking on the top notification for any hope of clarification.

[The Wise Madman: ???]

I let out a huff.

"What's up?" Manami questioned, receiving a soft sigh from me.

"it's just my Quirk being finicky. Let me try again."

[Patala's King of Despair: Under the guise of Patala's King, an aura unlike one you've never experienced will descend upon you and will shield you from attempts of identification, even from yourself. Rather than a lack of presence, you will be filled with the presence of a king, forcing others—and yourself--to look at you as such. Greatly decreases the success chances of identification of the user, regardless of the source. Partially disabled by Gamer's Mind.]

God… is my Quirk just going to constantly scare the wits out of me?

"What's with the expression?" Dabi asked, causing me to realize I'd made a face upon my less than savory discovery. I explained the mask's effect to them once more, receiving nods from them.

"Here, let me check the other ones…."

I checked the other statuses, but "Wealth of a Foolish Dragon" wasn't visible to me while "Who Rules Above Them?" had similar effects to "Patala's King of Despair." "Waking Up the Animal" and "Mind over Matter" were both huge boosts to my Electricity affinity, with the latter enhancing the effects of a fascinating―but expensive―ability.

After I relayed the information to the duo, Manami slowly hummed before Dabi spoke up.

"I've never seen a Quirk quite like yours, but it would make sense that your Quirk isn't trying to kill you. Even though these items seem dangerous, you can still use them, so it isn't impossible for them to be custom made by your Quirk for your exclusive use. I'd hate to see that mask on somebody else though," Dabi noted.

"That makes sense, but I still can't figure it out. There may be abilities to my mask that aren't activated because of Gamer's Mind and Gamer's Body, but more than that, they may not be activated because I can't see them. I'll level up Observe more and check them out the hard way. But if this was just a drop…." I didn't finish my sentence as I bit my lip nervously.

If it was a drop, how much of it was luck versus Luck?

Worse, were such dangerous items designed for me?

The Electricity affinity boosts were certainly nice, but also came soon after getting an Electricity Manipulation book from Manami, when my ability had originally led me to her.

Was my Quirk manipulating me?

It wasn't unheard of for games to give you a "Unique" or "Key" item for a specific boss or quest, especially with the more plot heavy points of games. Personally, I thought stealing the Ultraphone would be a pretty plot-heavy point of my life when comparing it to games.

Were all these dungeons meant for me to go to? If so, how? My Quirk manifested after they formed, so they couldn't my doing. Was it my destiny to destroy the dungeons and get stronger?

But then… what did my Quirk want from me? Did it just want me to become stronger?

I wouldn't thought that it wanted as I wanted, but because it urged me to meet Manami, I doubted that.

And, if my Quirk wanted something, who was programming my game? Was it subconsciously me? Or was it another person?

I'd never heard of a Quirk that was operated by another person, but I guess it wasn't impossible either. There was still a whole lot about Quirks that were questionable in the grand scheme of things.

Were my broken abilities handed to me by someone else, or did I deserve them? Was I playing a linear and planned game or an open-world one? Could my Quirk affect someone else beyond the Party System? Was I put under a set of restrictions that I didn't know about, like invisible walls or boundaries?

Was I just overthinking things?

But honestly, did it matter?

Of all the things I was facing, I didn't know if it did. The process of a lot of my abilities were still beyond me, but I don't think it mattered at the current moment.

Even if I suddenly learned that my "Gamemaster" was an evil supervillain who planned to kill me whenever I got strong, I'd face that problem when I get there. Simply put, I'd get strong enough to not worry about such things.

So, I'd still help people, that what I'd always wanted to do.

I felt like a weight was lifted off my chest as I softly smiled to myself. It was nice to have clear thoughts of my future. Even under my mask and cloak, I was still me, wishes and all.

"Mineta?" Manami called out to me, pulling me out of my thoughts.

"Huh?" I met the duos' confused gazes at once, blinking. "Ah, sorry, I got caught up in thoughts. Oh yeah, I got some titles after killing the boss. One was 'The Dragon's Child' while the other was 'Amateur Monster Hunter,'" I informed my two partners before absorbing the skill book the monster dropped.

[You have absorbed a skill book. Skill: Poison Affliction.]

The skill was useful, but I'd probably use it for paralysis over anything else, at least while fighting against humans. The more fatal poisons would be useful against strong bosses, but I'd probably be using it casually instead of relying on it for big changes until it leveled up.

"'The Dragon's Child?'" Manami repeated, which caused me to further explain the requirements for the title. When I finished, I could see several gears turning in her head.

"I've got an idea regarding your disguise," Manami hummed, holding a hand to her chin in thought.

"This isn't enough?" I gestured to my mask and cloak but received a swift "No" from Manami.

"If there's even the slightest chance of somebody getting through that mask and cloak's identification weirdness, or if they were to take them from you in the mission, it's only 'Minoru Mineta' underneath that mask. That's dangerous. We want you to be entirely disconnected from this, and that title may help you out with that."