LUO YAN was sitting in between his younger brother and the big brother he just met. They were already at the auditorium, sitting at the seats designated for the family members of the graduates and waiting for the ceremony to start. For some reason, Luo Yan couldn’t help but feel that there was some budding tension between the two people sitting on both his sides.
He turned to the big brother on his left side. "Big brother, do you also have a family member who’s graduating today?" he asked, since this big brother was not a student here then that’s the only reason he thought why he would be sitting here with them was because he also had an acquiantance who’s about to graduate.
"No."
"Then what the hell are you even doing here, gatecrashing?" Luo Jin said, not the least bit polite.
The big brother turned to Luo Yan, completely ignoring Luo Jin. "Shen Ji Yun," he said instead of answering. "My name."
"Oh." So, he’s name was Shen Ji Yun. He almost forgot that they hadn’t yet introduced themselves to each other. "I’m Luo Yan, this is my younger brother, Luo Jin."
"Yan, don’t just blabber your name to a random stranger," Luo Jin said, clearly annoyed.
"Ah Jin, Brother Ji Yun is not a bad person. Don’t be too harsh on him." After all, this Shen Ji Yun did help Luo Yan. If he didn’t, that scene with that pervert earlier would definitely end up with a much bigger fanfare than necessary.
Luo Jin only snorted as an answer.
’Brother Ji Yun’. Shen Ji Yun was definitely satisfied with the rabbit calling him that. "My uncle is the guest speaker," he said, answering Luo Yan’s first question.
Luo Yan nodded. If Shen Ji Yun’s uncle was the guest speaker, then he’s probably a very successful person. After all, F University was a one of the most prominent university in the country. They wouldn’t just ask a random businessman to be its guest speaker on one of their commencement exercises.
Soon, the undergraduate commencement exercise finally started. After a little introduction from the president of the university, he gave the mic to the vice president who in turn introduced the guest speaker.
"I’d like to welcome the man who changed the trend of online gaming in our country. The creator of the current most popular online game - Arcadia. And the president and CEO of Moonlight Media. Please welcome, Mr. Shen Yi Mu."
There was a loud applause in the crowd. Then a man wearing crisp black suit walked towards the podium. He had a clean and gentle temperament. The golden rimmed glasses on his face only added to his gentlemanly appeal.
"Good day to all of you," he started in a gentle voice.
Luo Yan’s eyes suddenly brightened. Moonlight Media was the company he was supposed to work for before he was killed by that potted plant. Their game, Arcadia, was one of his favorite from way back. It was actually the reason why he chose computer science as an undergraduate major. That’s why he was so ecstatic when he received a job offer from Moonlight Media the last semester of his college years.
But before he could even enjoy that, that blasted potted plant fell on his head. Although he didn’t totally die and he did like the life he had now, it was still kind of frustrating.
Now that he thought about it, he hadn’t checked Arcadia since his rebirth. He wondered what happened to his old account. The last he heard, seven years ago, Moonlight Media was planning a virtual reality version of the game. That’s probably already implemented by now. Knowing Moonlight Media, it would definitely be of high quality. Maybe he should check it once they got back home.
Now, the president of Moonlight Media and the creator of Arcadia was standing just a few feet from where he was sitting. Luo Yan couldn’t help but feel excited.
Shen Ji Yun, of course, noticed the rabbit’s excitement. How could he not when his peach blossom eyes were bursting like starlight. "Do you play Arcadia?" he asked, because that’s the only reason he could think of why the rabbit would suddenly get excited when his uncle appeared.
"My brother doesn’t play games," the taciturn younger brother answered.
[Ah Jin, please don’t be too antagonistic.] "Actually, I read about Arcadia online the other day. I’m kind of interested in playing it."
Luo Jin then turned to his second brother when he heard that. "You are?"
Luo Yan nodded. Now that his health was already back to normal, he really wanted to try the VR version of Arcadia.
Luo Jin frowned. Because the first thing he thought of was if playing that kind of game wouldn’t affect his second brother’s brain activity. "Let’s talk to Dad first before you try playing by yourself."
"Okay." Luo Yan knew he wouldn’t be able to play if their father refused him to. After all, a VR helmet probably cost a lot of money that he would definitely not be able to buy by himself.
"If you’re planning to play Arcadia, I could send you a VR helmet that was personally made by Moonlight Media for the game," Shen Ji Yun said as if he’s just giving away a piece of candy.
"No need. Our family can certainly buy a hundred of those VR helmets," Luo Jin said with his usual annoyed tone.
"Thank you for the offer though," Luo Yan added. "But I couldn’t really accept something so expensive."
Shen Ji Yun only nodded. He understood. It’s probably because the rabbit only thought of him as a stranger. For some reason he couldn’t explain, that idea didn’t really sit well with him.
Luo Yan continued to listen to Shen Yi Mu’s speech attentively. It was interesting so he didn’t really get bored. Before he knew it, the speech was already finished and Shen Yi Mu was already walking off the stage.
Then Shen Ji Yun received a message on his WeChat.
Uncle Yi Mu: [I’m already done with my speech. We could go now. Just meet me on the parking lot.]
Before replying, Shen Ji Yun glanced at the rabbit sitting beside him. He wanted to stay for a bit longer but he knew that his uncle still had a meeting after this. And they needed to go back to B City immediately. In the end, he still replied;
Ji Yun: [Okay.]
He stood up, making the rabbit looked up at him. "I need to go. Nice meeting you, silly rabbit," he said and didn’t hesitate to pinch the rabbit’s soft cheek. Then he walked away.
He already left when Luo Yan realized what he just said. Who’s the silly rabbit?
Shen Ji Yun just walked out of the auditorium, his fingers could still feel the softness of the cheek he just pinched. Somehow, he felt kind of regretful that he didn’t even ask for the rabbit’s WeChat ID. Maybe this would be their last encounter. For some reason, he hated that idea.
While inside the auditorium, Luo Yan already put this encounter at the very back of his head.