A Mask for Vengeance

The room tensed.

Evelyn's gaze pinned me in place, sharp as a scalpel, dissecting me without so much as a twitch of her fingers.

"Who are you really?"

My muscles coiled beneath the mask.

I had known this would happen eventually—Evelyn wasn't the type to ignore an inconsistency, and the sudden appearance of Mr. Dust was more than enough to raise alarms. But she hadn't outright accused me. Not yet. She was testing the waters, seeing how I'd react.

That meant I had time to maneuver.

I tilted my head slightly, just enough to make it seem like I was bored. "What are you talking about?" My voice came out rough, lower than usual, like someone who had been through far too much to entertain stupid questions.

Evelyn didn't smile, didn't shift, just crossed her arms. "Another masked individual, with a name similar to Mr. Fox, appearing just as suddenly as he did. And on top of that…" She leaned forward slightly. "You act familiar. Not just to him, but to someone else."

I kept my body still, but my mind raced.

She was thinking of me.

Not enough to call me out outright, but enough to push. If I reacted wrong—if I sounded too much like Reynard—she'd keep digging.

Fine. If she wanted a different person, I'd be a different person.

Mr. Dust wasn't Mr. Fox. And he sure as hell wasn't Reynard Vale.

I let out a quiet exhale, like this conversation was already wasting my time. "So what? You think I'm some cheap knockoff?" My tone was rough, blunt, dripping with the weight of someone who had seen things and had no patience left for games. "Believe what you want. I don't care."

That made her pause. Just for a second.

Evelyn was used to people being defensive when caught in a lie. But this wasn't defense—this was disinterest. Like her suspicions were beneath me.

I let the silence stretch, then added, "Fox and I are acquainted. That's all you need to know."

Rebecca, who had been silently observing, finally spoke up. "Do you need a job assignment, Mr. Dust?"

I barely looked at her. "No." I waved her off like an afterthought. "I know exactly where I need to go."

Without waiting for a response, I turned and walked out, letting my steps be slow, deliberate. The air of someone who wasn't asking permission for anything.

As soon as I exited the building, I checked my status as I used Copy.

[New Skill Acquired: Psychological Insight (Level 1)]

I smirked beneath the mask. Evelyn's ability to pick apart people's minds, it would surely come in handy.

But I didn't linger.

I had a job to do.

The district police station was quieter than I expected. Officers moved through the space with tired efficiency, filling out reports, taking calls, escorting suspects. The scent of stale coffee and paperwork filled the air.

I walked in without hesitation. Confidence was key—any hint of doubt, and people would question you.

Approaching the front desk, I pulled out my ID card and placed it down. "Detective. Mr. Dust."

The officer behind the counter, a man in his early thirties with dark circles under his eyes, blinked at the card. "B-Rank?" His gaze flicked up to my mask, uncertain. "Haven't heard of you."

"You have now." I didn't give him time to think. "I need to interrogate Sasha, the woman arrested from Station 47."

His brows furrowed. "That's not standard proced—"

I slid a piece of paper across the counter.

A recommendation letter. From Mr. Fox.

The reality? I'd written it myself on the way here.

His hesitation deepened. Mr. Fox was an A-Rank hero, someone who mattered. If he was backing me, there had to be a reason.

The officer glanced at his coworker. They exchanged a silent conversation, then he exhaled sharply. "Fine." He gestured toward the hallway. "Interrogation Room Three. Don't waste our time."

I nodded and walked past.

The hallway felt colder. The lights harsher.

And then I stepped into the room.

Sasha sat at the table, her wrists cuffed, her posture tense. She had the look of someone who thought she had control—like she was still calculating a way out of this.

I pulled out the chair across from her and sat down slowly, deliberately.

Then I leaned forward and smiled though she couldn't see it through the mask.

"Let's talk."

[SYSTEM INTERFACE]

Name: Mr. Dust (Reynard Vale, Mr. Fox)

Job Title: Jobmaster (Rank SSS)

Construction Worker Portfolio (A-Rank)

Endurance Boost (Lv. 9)

Heavy Lifting (Lv. 8)

Material Efficiency (Lv. 5)

Team Coordination (Lv. 6)

Structural Reinforcement (Lv. 7)

Precision Engineering (Lv. 6)

Fast Assembly (Lv. 2)

On-Sight Adaptability (Lv. 2)

Workforce Command (Lv. 2)

Firefighter Portfolio (A-Rank):

Advanced Rescue Mastery (Lv. 8)

Fire Suppression (Lv. 3)

Heat Resistance (Lv. 3)

Command Presence (Lv. 8)

Advanced Hazard Assessment (Lv. 7)

Thermal Perception (Lv. 6)

Endurance Mastery (Lv. 7)

Visible Job Skills:

Strategist (Lv. 4) – Improves planning and problem-solving abilities

Observation (Level 5): Enhances the ability to notice minute details in environments, behavior, and physical evidence. No clue is too small.

Deduction (Level 4): Analyzes information rapidly, connecting dots that others might miss. Patterns reveal themselves like threads in a tapestry.

Interrogation (Level 3): Increases effectiveness in extracting information through questioning. Not just about what people say—but how they say it.

Instinct (Level 4): Heightens gut feelings regarding truth, danger, and deception. A sixth sense honed for survival and clarity.

Psychological Insight (Lv. 1) Reads body language, tone, and behavior to gauge intentions, confidence, and potential

Jobs:

Construction Worker (A-Rank) — Active in Portfolio

Firefighter (A-Rank) — Active in Portfolio

Detective (B-Rank)

Special Skill:

Scan, Absorb, Destroy

Cooldown:

Skill Copy (23h 46m)

Available Rewards:

[3 Construction Worker Skill Keys]