"This seems perfect."
Ren reached across the table and took the mask from Lu Changcheng's outstretched hand. The leather felt warm against his palms, as if it had absorbed heat from Lu's body, and the weight was substantial without being burdensome. He turned it over, examining the brass fittings and the carefully crafted ventilation holes in the beak.
Without hesitation, he lifted the mask to his face and secured the straps behind his head. The interior padding pressed comfortably against his skin, and the eye holes aligned perfectly with his vision. Through the dark lenses, the conference room took on a shadowy, otherworldly quality.
The moment the mask settled into place, something shifted in the atmosphere. Every person in the room felt it. a creeping sensation that crawled up their spines like ice water. The air itself seemed to thicken, carrying an undercurrent of wrongness that made their primitive hindbrain scream warnings.
Evan's hand unconsciously moved toward his weapon. Sir Armand's fingers tightened on his prayer beads. Even Lu Changcheng, who had provided the mask, found himself suppressing a shiver.
It wasn't fear exactly, but something deeper and more unsettling. Ren still looked human, still moved like a human, but there was something fundamentally off about his presence now. The mask transformed him into something that existed in the uncanny valley between familiar and foreign, between man and monster.
The effect was magnified by his current appearance. The formal suit he wore had been torn and stained during the recent battle, giving him the appearance of a gentleman who had walked through hell and emerged changed. Combined with the plague doctor mask, he looked like he'd stepped out of a Victorian nightmare part medical professional, part harbinger of doom.
"Fitting for your class, huh, Mr. Abomination Doctor," Veyra said, though her usual mocking tone carried a tremor she couldn't quite suppress.
Elias leaned forward in his chair, his scientific curiosity overriding his discomfort.
"Wow, Ren, you really look like you stepped out of a horror movie. I really want to study you."
Ren sighed, the sound emerging as a hollow whisper through the mask's beak. The mechanical quality of his breathing added another layer to the unsettling atmosphere.
Then he activated his ability.
The transformation was both beautiful and horrifying to witness. The mask began to unfurl like a mechanical lotus, each piece moving with precision and purpose. Metal components slid apart with soft clicking sounds, revealing the darker truth beneath. Where Ren's head should have been, ten black tentacles burst forth, writhing with alien life.
The tentacles moved with their own intelligence, each one as thick as a man's arm and covered in what looked like wet, organic armor. They twisted and coiled in the air, occasionally brushing against each other with sounds like leather on leather. The sight was mesmerizing and nauseating in equal measure.
"Wow, it's so convenient," Ren said, his voice now emanating from somewhere within the mass of tentacles, distorted and layered as if multiple beings were speaking in unison.
He deactivated the ability as smoothly as he'd triggered it. The tentacles retracted with the same fluid motion, sliding back into whatever dimensional space they occupied. The mask components clicked back into place, sealing the horror away behind the porcelain facade of the plague doctor once more.
"Wow, is Cthulhu going to appear next? It fits the theme so perfectly. Cosmic horror that's the theme of the Abomination Doctor class, right?" Elias's excitement was palpable, his academic mind already cataloguing the implications.
At his words, a collective realization dawned on everyone in the room. The pieces fell into place with uncomfortable clarity.
"So that's it, huh," Evan muttered, running a hand through his hair.
The truth was that some unique classes did indeed follow thematic patterns. Lu Changcheng's abilities drew heavily from Xianxia traditions, cultivation, spiritual energy, and ancient martial arts philosophy. Sir Armand's powers had distinctly religious overtones, featuring divine light, protective blessings, and holy weapons. Each hunter's abilities reflected not just their personal nature but some deeper archetypal pattern.
And Ren's theme was unmistakably eldritch horror. Cosmic dread made manifest, tentacles and transformations that spoke of realities beyond human comprehension. It was a theme that would mark him as fundamentally different, no matter how he tried to blend in.
"I don't envy him at all," Veyra said quietly.
"He'll struggle with misunderstandings constantly with this kind of theme."
Everyone, including Lu Changcheng, shared the same thought. The cosmic horror theme was perhaps the worst possible aesthetic for someone trying to integrate into normal society. Other hunters might attack him on sight, mistaking him for a Humanoid Cataclysmic rank monster. Civilians would flee in terror. Even allies would find it difficult to trust someone whose very presence suggested otherworldly corruption.
Ren felt confused as he noticed the pitying gazes directed his way. Through the mask's eye holes, he could see the mixture of sympathy and unease on every face around the table. Even these powerful hunters, who had seen horrors that would drive ordinary people insane, were looking at him like he'd drawn the short straw in life's lottery.
Clap. Clap.
Master Lu's sharp handclaps cut through the moment of awkward silence, drawing everyone's attention back to practical matters.
"Now, now, let's decide on an alias that you'll use. Do you have something in mind?"
Ren considered the question carefully. He needed a name that wasn't too edgy…that would be embarrassing at his age but it had to fit the aesthetic he was apparently stuck with. Nothing too mundane like Bobby, but also nothing that would make him cringe every time someone said it.
His mind wandered to a boss from a certain video game, one where the protagonist had sacrificed himself to seal away Nyx, the goddess of darkness. The name had stuck with him because of the mythological associations and the tragic nobility of the story.
"The male version should be... Nox," he thought.
"How about Nox?" he said, the name emerging clearly through the mask's filters.
The reaction was immediate and telling.
"Huh?"
"Ha..."
"Whoa."
Ren looked around the table, noting the surprised expressions on everyone's faces.
"What is it? Why are you guys looking at me like that?"
Elias scratched his cheek sheepishly. "How do I put this... it sounds kind of cool?"
Veyra nodded slowly. "It's less edgy than I expected, honestly."
"Hey, I'm almost thirty, by the way,"
Ren protested, his voice carrying a note of wounded dignity.
"I can't be too cringe, right?"
The comment broke the tension, and everyone chuckled. There was something endearing about a cosmic horror entity worrying about being age appropriate in his choice of alias.
Lu Changcheng smiled, the expression visible even through his typically stoic demeanor. "How about a class designation? We can't use 'Abomination Doctor,' right?"
Ren paused to think. His mind drifted to another game, one featuring a knight with insect themes, hollow spaces, and a distinctly gothic atmosphere. The aesthetic fit surprisingly well with his current situation something that appeared noble on the surface but concealed darker truths beneath.
"Well, how about 'Hollow Doctor'?"
Everyone's eyes widened slightly at the suggestion. The name carried implications of emptiness, of something that appeared whole but was missing essential parts. It suggested medical knowledge corrupted by otherworldly influence, healing that came at a terrible cost.
"Pfft." Veyra let out a laugh, unable to contain herself.
"I change my mind. You're definitely edgy."