Blonde hair, side ponytail, high school uniform, and white knee-high socks—even the scratches on their clothes were identical.
No, even their expressions were the same—that calm and serious gaze would be extremely difficult to imitate.
“You’re back? Did you find anything?”
Both spoke simultaneously, their voices indistinguishable, creating a scene reminiscent of the true and false Monkey King.
“There’s a major discovery. Which one of you is Mai?” Yuuki looked left and right, finding it increasingly strange.
“Of course it’s me. You’ve held me, how could you forget after being apart for just a moment?”
“Hey, don’t talk nonsense.”
“Didn’t he hold you when we left the ancient castle?” The Ai on the left slapped her head, revealing a strange smile: “I forgot, he kicked you. It hurt a lot, right? How about we kick him back together?”
It was amusing to watch two identical people argue, and Yuuki had figured out who was who.
Sure enough, the blonde girl on the right wiped her face, removed a pure white mask, revealing her black hair, then glared fiercely at Yuuki.
Ai-chan, can you stop making me enemies?
Can you please not remind Mai-senpai about the butt-kicking?
He silently looked at Ai, who had her hands clasped as if apologizing, then at the deeply victimized Mai, deciding to skip the topic entirely.
“Ahem, is this your Ego Characteristic?”
“Yes, the Fool’s Mask. It’s interesting, and a bit embarrassing.”
It was indeed embarrassing, essentially exposing a person’s core essence.
Setting aside trump cards, how could one tell other players without mutual trust?
But life was more important than face.
Ai returned to her player form and described her ability in a few concise sentences, causing Yuuki to nod repeatedly.
She had two masks, and if she was familiar enough with a target, she could infuse a personality into a mask, then give the mask to someone else, making them reproduce the infused personality and appearance.
Imitation?
Acting?
No, it was beyond that.
Besides the appearance, even the demeanor could be reproduced.
Unfortunately, there was no memory, so there was still a possibility of being exposed.
If she wasn’t too familiar, she could only imitate the appearance, which was like a high-level costume, enough to deceive people.
Yuuki constantly analyzed in his mind, then asked, “What are the restrictions?”
“The current trial doesn’t count. The effect lasts for one hour, with a cooldown of six hours. There are only two masks, and she cannot control the person wearing the mask,” Ai said succinctly.
“A characteristic specifically for disguise and infiltration.” Yuuki nodded.
This was a support characteristic, with no direct offensive power.
Characteristics could be upgraded with specialization points, and he imagined the changes would be greater the deeper they went.
What if there were countless masks, and she infused her own personality, and then gained the ability to control others?
“Perhaps by the end, the entire dungeon will be filled with you.” He couldn’t help but think of a certain man with a monocle.
Moreover, this also fit Ai’s characteristics.
Besides Shinomiya Kaguya, who dared to claim they saw through the heart of this maid?
No, with a simple disguise, many people couldn’t even guess her surface identity.
The entire dungeon filled with me?
Ai raised her head, as if lost in fantasy, looking a bit dazed, then blinked and frowned, scanning the small room.
“Huh, where did Mai-san go?”
She had almost forgotten about this person just now, which was a bit strange.
“I’m right here.”
With a soft whisper tinged with a little pride, Mai reappeared in her sight, having not moved an inch.
“Invisibility?!”
“To be precise, it interferes with your observation, making you forget her existence. It’s not like optical invisibility; it’s a higher-level thing,” Yuuki explained.
He had also forgotten Mai for a moment just now, focusing on talking to Ai.
This should be related to the degree of familiarity.
Someone who had only met Mai once would likely forget her for a longer time.
“How do you know?” Mai looked at him in astonishment.
She hadn’t even started explaining yet.
“Mai-senpai, please don’t underestimate a stalker’s intelligence-gathering abilities.”
Yuuki adjusted his non-existent glasses, almost laughing at Mai-senpai’s half-believing, half-doubting expression, before listening to her description of the characteristic.
Unlike the original version of Puberty Syndrome, Mai, if she subjectively wished, could interact with people during the skill’s duration.
‘As expected, I gambled correctly.
This characteristic isn’t as powerful as the original, but it’s controllable.
At this stage, it can maintain an ‘invisible’ effect for twenty minutes, with a two-hour cooldown.
Likewise, this trial doesn’t count.’
He listened and analyzed, much like Ai, and also, like a career planner, envisioned the future of the characteristic.
“If I’m not mistaken, when this Ego Characteristic is strengthened to its extreme, Mai will be able to disappear from the world out of thin air.”
“How does she disappear?”
“When the characteristic is activated, she will be erased from all memories, history, and records because she doesn’t want to be seen. The result is that the world will forget her. Of course, this is related to the player’s familiarity with her.”
“Quantum decoherence theory?”
Ai nodded slightly.
As a ‘poor student’ who could precisely control her ranking, words like ‘diagonalization of reduced density matrix,’ ‘off-diagonal elements,’ and’superposition’ flashed through her mind.
She first took a deep look at Mai, then looked suspicious.
Undoubtedly, this Ego Characteristic was incredibly powerful, already touching the causal level, instantly raising its value by dozens of times, transforming her from an Ordinary Person who didn’t hold them back into an indispensable teammate.
Also, if I had this characteristic, it would be great.
Isn’t this an incredibly strong assassin skill, killing people invisibly?
As for turning Mai into a cold-blooded assassin?
Ai carefully scrutinized Mai, then slowly shook her head.
That would require her to be twisted beyond recognition.
“I feel like you’re betting prematurely. You don’t have some kind of future-predicting trump card, do you?” She looked at Yuuki with some suspicion, always feeling something was off.
“Impossible, absolutely impossible.”
“Then why did you value her so much from the start? That doesn’t make sense, does it?”
“Mai-senpai was dressed so provocatively, I’m not afraid to say it to make you laugh.” Yuuki placed his right hand on his chest, his face serious: “As a gentleman, it’s only reasonable to be interested, isn’t it?”
Slap.
No sooner had he spoken than he received a hard slap on his back.
Mai bit her lip, her face slightly flushed.
How many times would he repeat this embarrassing story?
How could I have been so hot-headed to wear that outfit?
“Forget it immediately, don’t mention it again.”
“Sorry, it’s already deeply engraved in my mind.”
“So forget it!”
Seeing the two chasing each other, Ai watched with interest, raising her head slightly.
Reasonable?
Nonsense, he wasn’t telling the truth at all.
This man is similar to me, as if he has several faces.
At this moment, his talkativeness and willingness to be hit seem more like an attempt to lighten the mood, but for most of the time Under the Red Moon…
She thought for a moment, many images flashing before her eyes, yet she couldn’t accurately describe them.
Ruthless?
Decisive?
Acting?
Words flashed by, and Ai still returned to her first impression: a Professional Player.