“……”

Jiang Ye could obviously hear the sarcasm in that tone.

So he helplessly rephrased his question: “Then… what’s the maximum multiplier you can modify it to?”

The Mask Master glared at him, speaking firmly and clearly, word by word:

“This hundredfold survival point effect—can’t be changed! Not even by one extra multiplier!”

“This [Enforcer Mask] of yours is already extraordinary. Its parameters are extremely limited!”

“Let me break it down for you—listen carefully—”

“If I’m not mistaken, your request to modify the [Maniac Mask] earlier was to use it in tandem with this [Enforcer Mask], right?”

“Well, I’m telling you now—you’re overthinking it—”

“According to the effect of this [Enforcer Mask], when you use it to kill a so-called ‘maniac,’ it will automatically destroy the [Maniac Mask]!”

“In other words, each [Maniac Mask] can only be used once to trigger the hundredfold survival point bonus!”

“So your idea of letting multiple people wear the same mask and farming the bonus repeatedly? Not going to happen!”

Ah… crap.

That meant Jiang Ye had gotten excited for nothing.

He quickly asked the bald man, “Then what kind of modification would maximize the benefits?”

The bald man let out a deep breath: “Ordinary maniac masks definitely can’t be reused to farm the bonus.”

“But your mask is Special-Class…”

He paused in thought. “Maybe you can utilize its 100 usage slots to trigger the bonus 100 times.”

Seeing that Jiang Ye was about to say something more, he preemptively cut him off: “One hundred times max. No more!”

Fair enough.

A hundred times still meant ten thousand survival points.

Combined with maniac masks dropped from killing administrators, he could probably still get rich quick.

Jiang Ye accepted that setup, but then quickly added:

“Then, on top of all that, can you embed another effect into this [Enforcer Mask]?”

“Like nest another mask inside it, so I can use a mask combo?”

That kind of modification was simple enough. This time, the bald man agreed without hesitation:

“Sure. That’s your second modification used up.”

Now for the third.

Jiang Ye looked at the eight masks he’d brought and said:

“Can you make a set out of these eight masks?”

“Like, I want to be able to use any one individually or freely combine any number of them?”

The bald man inhaled sharply and answered bluntly:

“Nope!”

“These eight masks aren’t even in the same category.”

“Some of them—like the [Maniac Mask] and the [Enforcer Mask]—are even opposites.”

“Those two absolutely cannot exist in the same mask set.”

“If you really want a modular set, you’ll have to pick just these five—”

“[Soulstealer Ghost Mask], [Plague Doctor Bird Mask], [Mourner’s Death Mask], plus the [Faceless Mask] and [Disguise Mask].”

“These five I can combine into a set. The other three? No way.”

The three excluded ones were the [Enforcer Mask], [Maniac Mask], and [Mask of Deceit].

Jiang Ye thought about each mask’s usage and finally nodded in agreement:

“Alright then, go with those five for the set.”

The bald man finally let out a deep breath, oddly feeling like a heavy burden had lifted.

That meant out of the eight masks Jiang Ye brought, all but the [Mask of Deceit] were being modified.

The Mask Master gathered up the seven masks to be worked on. As his gaze passed over the [Mask of Deceit], his expression shifted slightly.

Eventually, he sighed and said:

“The seven modified masks—[Maniac Mask] and [Enforcer Mask]—will be ready for pickup 10 minutes after you leave; the other five in the set will be ready in 30 minutes.”

“That leaves only one reward left from your [Today’s Special Offer]—”

“Choose one mask from my Disguise Mask Collection.”

As he spoke, he waved his hand grandly.

A light screen appeared in front of Jiang Ye.

Inside the projected display was a massive grid of disguise masks.

There must’ve been tens of thousands of them!

However, as Jiang Ye stared at the light screen floating in the air, he suddenly had a bad feeling.

He couldn’t help but ask, “These disguise masks… they’re not all defaulted to your bald face, are they?”

The bald man rolled his eyes at him: “Of course not, I’m not that petty.”

Though he said that, Jiang Ye still caught a clear scheming glint in the shopkeeper’s eyes.

Sure enough, before he could ask anything else, the bald man chuckled brightly:

“Heh, I did leave a trap for you—”

“There are so many disguise masks, but from the outside, you can’t tell who they mimic or how valuable they are.”

“If you just pick one at random, odds are you’ll end up with someone like Zhang San or Li Si—just an average player’s disguise.”

“But, if you give me a disguise mask made from your own face…”

“Then I can recommend a suitable one for you from my collection, tailored to your needs.”

“For example, you already have the [Mask of Deceit]…”

“And the [Mask of Deceit] must have a disguise mask embedded inside it to complete the illusion.”

“So that means you either already have a specific disguise target in mind;”

“Or you’re looking for a powerful target to sync their abilities using the [Mask of Deceit].”

“Am I right?”

That was exactly it.

Jiang Ye originally had little interest in disguise masks.

It was only because of the [Mask of Deceit] that he needed one now.

And since he was being rewarded through the [Today’s Special Offer], he wanted to try out syncing with a strong target to see how the [Mask of Deceit] performed.

As for giving the Mask Master a disguise mask based on his own face, Jiang Ye couldn’t care less—in fact, he’d be glad to hand over hundreds of them if needed!

But of course, he couldn’t reveal that too easily.

He deliberately didn’t answer right away. After a moment’s thought, he looked at the projection full of disguise masks and asked the bald man:

“I’m genuinely curious—”

“Why do you collect so many disguise masks?”

“Is it just some mask enthusiast’s collector fetish?”

The Mask Master had always seemed easygoing.

But when asked why he collected so many disguise masks, he raised an eyebrow and responded in a joking tone:

“Yep, mask enthusiast collector fetish…”

“See, my dream isn’t just to be a Mask Master.”

“I want to become a Mask Grandmaster—or even a Masked Rider!”

…Masked Rider, seriously?

That statement was beyond childish.

Of course, he’d clearly said it in jest.

Like a little kid saying they want to save the world—it wasn’t something anyone would take seriously.

But at that moment, Jiang Ye’s eyes lit up, and he guessed out loud:

“So—”

“This [Mask Master] permission-based identity can be evolved into [Mask Grandmaster], maybe even [Masked Rider]?”

“And the condition for that evolution is collecting a certain number of disguise masks?”

The moment he said that—

The playful smile on the bald man’s face froze in place.

His eyes widened as he stared at Jiang Ye for a long while. “You little punk…”

“You actually know about permission identity evolutions?”

Bingo!

Jiang Ye was right!

It wasn’t just the 4444 Administrator identity that could evolve.

Other identities could too!

Of course, not necessarily all of them.

But it seemed like the more advanced ones could.

As he was thinking this, the bald man proactively clarified:

“‘Masked Rider’ was just me talking crap. But a title like [Mask Grandmaster]—that one probably does exist.”

That simple admission…

Prompted Jiang Ye to guess again: “Because other Master-type shopkeepers have already evolved into Grandmasters?”

The bald man looked at him with an increasingly complicated expression, then gave a snorting laugh:

“You really are a strange one.”

“When you were rambling about mask modifications, you seemed like a total newbie.”

“But now, you’re throwing around secrets about identity evolution like it’s nothing.”

“Don’t tell me—you’ve met a Grandmaster-level shopkeeper before?”

Jiang Ye shook his head instinctively, but then—

He thought about how he had evolved from [4444 Administrator] to [Reincarnator], and could still switch back whenever he wanted.

So he asked: “A Grandmaster-level shopkeeper can revert to a Master-level shopkeeper identity, right?”

The bald man immediately understood where this was going:

“So you have met other shopkeepers. You encountered someone who looked like a Master, but you suspected they were actually a Grandmaster?”

Jiang Ye didn’t hide it anymore and nodded.

Both he and Zhang Minghan had dealt with another shopkeeper before—the Glyph Master.

Now, Jiang Ye suspected that the Glyph Master might actually be a Glyph Grandmaster, or something even higher.

After briefly chatting about permission identity evolutions, Jiang Ye finally understood why the Mask Master collected disguise masks.

It also brought him a little closer to the shopkeeper.

After some quick thought, he made his decision:

“Since this will help you evolve into a [Mask Grandmaster]—”

“Then I’ll offer up a [Disguise Mask] made from my own face, in exchange for your recommendation of the most suitable disguise mask from your collection.”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep