Plastic Mask

"Why don't you come to work today?" His mother squinted at Luck.

"Just because you own your own business, you think you can skip work and play games every chance you get?"

Shying away from his mother's angry expression, Luck thought, "Maybe it wasn't a good idea to tell Mum to work at Monster Burger.

The reason his mother thought he was going to play again was that she had caught him playing as soon as he entered Luck's room.

Turning off the computer because his game was finished, Luck said, "I haven't played in a long time, Mum! When I woke up I thought I'd play until I had breakfast, but no, I'm not going to play all day, I've got other things to do!"

His mother put her hand on his waist and said condescendingly, "What are you going to do today?"

"I'm meeting with various suppliers, it's not like the shop doesn't get frozen food out of thin air, maybe I can even buy an ice cream machine for the shop" 

As Luck lied-explained- his mother's expression softened.

Luck, who was preparing to strike the last blow in order not to be told off more by his mother, said, "You know, I built this business all by myself, mum, I'm not as useless as you think."

Turning her eyes away from Luck, his mother said, "Okay, okay, do what you want then! I'm going to the shop."

...

Checking the plastic mask he had put on his face after his mother left in the mirror, Luck had turned into a completely different person.

"Let's leave the weapons here for now, I'll go and meet Horace first, then I need to buy Star Beast meat and stock up.

Luck, who checked his clothes and face mask for the last time, passed through the door and emerged from a door in the old ruined house in Gliese.

Immediately after Luck passed through the door, "Who the hell are you?!"

"Huh?" Luck saw Horace sitting on the dirty sofa in the room.

Luck was surprised to hear Horace shout "Horace, I was coming to see you!" 

"Who the hell are you? How do you know me and why were you coming to see me! And where's Luck?!"

Luck, overwhelmed by Horace's barrage of questions, raised his hands and signaled Horace to calm down.

"Horace, I'm Luck!"

Horace, who approached the door to escape with small steps, said, "Stop lying! Luck doesn't look like you, even though you sound like you!"

Realizing why Horace didn't recognize him, Luck slapped his forehead "Look, it's a mask!"

Luck started to unbutton the chest button of his clothes. 

Horace didn't know what the old man he didn't recognize was calling a mask, but when he realized that he was taking off his clothes, he started to back away in horror.

"Stop what are you doing?! I'm not that kind of man!"

Luck looked at Horace in astonishment as he removed the mask "You're not that kind of man? What does that mean?"

Horace fell to the ground in surprise when Luck suddenly appeared out of the old man in front of him.

"Oh, my God! Luck, are you a lizard man? You've shed your skin!"

'Lizardman? Is that a thing?' Luck thought in astonishment.

Luck tried to explain, "No, it's a plastic mask, think of it as make-up." 

This time Horace thought in astonishment 'What is a plastic mask? And what is make-up?"

...

Horace was staring at the plastic mask in fascination when Luck finished explaining himself.

"I never thought such a thing could exist! It's amazing how something so ordinary without star power can be so impressive! There are artifacts in the royal capital that change people's appearances, but they're very expensive!"

Luck waved his hand as if to say whatever, he wasn't in the mood to run off about any magical artifacts at the moment "How are my staff doing?"

Still examining the mask, Horace said, "I've hidden them in a secluded part of the city, I don't think they'll have any problems other than boredom for now."

Lifting his head from the plastic mask, Horace said, "Why don't you get one of those masks for them, so we can get them out of town without any trouble."

Luck, who had never thought of this before, froze, "Even if we can get them out of town, is there a place where they will be safe? I don't want them to be attacked by star monsters outside of town."

"Apart from towns and cities, there are adventurer settlements where you can live if you have money, they don't bother to check people's identities, the only thing that matters to them is money."

Luck was relieved and worried at the same time.

His first thought was at least there were places I could get in and out of other than towns and cities, that's good.

His second thought was that his non-star-powered employees might be in danger if they went to such a place.

"Then it must be like a home for criminals! I can't send them there."

Horace waved his hand "Yes, even if such a place is like a home for criminals, they won't dare to cause trouble easily, an adventurer or a team of adventurers who are strong enough to build a settlement won't allow trouble to occur in the settlement where they earn money."

Noticing Luck's indecision, Horace continued, "If you pay a protection fee to the Blood Adventurers' compound closest to here, their lives will be guaranteed. The leader of the Blood Adventurers is a 5-star starfighter."

Luck said with confusion, "Can a 5-star starfighter guarantee their lives? I've seen a 5-star wizard named Alec around here in the past few months."

Horace continued to explain, "Someone with 5-star power is a god-like being in a secluded place like Victory Town. Someone like Alec wouldn't stay here for long, he was a 5-star star mage who was passing through."

Luck seemed a little convinced by Horace's explanation.

"What about Aden Star? How many stars is his power? Can he cause trouble for my staff at the Blood Adventurers' compound?"

"I've heard that Aden Star's power is at least four stars. He's a four-star star mage. I think he's trying to get hold of your employees to blackmail you, but if he doesn't know where they're going, he can't cause any trouble."

Luck was relieved. 

'At least my employees will be safe,' he thought.

Luck, who tried to put the plastic mask he took off back on his face, said, "Okay, then I'll bring the plastic masks. Let's meet back here tomorrow."

When Horace realized that Luck was getting ready to leave the house, he asked curiously, "Where are you going?" 

"To the butcher's, I've got to get some meat."

Horace was puzzled.

He thought, "Man, your shop just burned down, why are you going to buy meat?" but he didn't ask Luck anything.

AN: I am waiting for your opinions about my book, good or bad! Please comment.