PERMISSION TO PLAY

"I'M done, Teacher," Luo Yan said handing his answer sheet to the woman standing in front of him.

The woman was his language tutor, one of the three tutors his father hired. They each spent two hours teaching him. So he spent six hours a day studying for the past two days. The three tutors were excellent teachers. If he really was a 17 year old amnesiac with a ten year old mentality, it would be really easy for him to learn everything they're trying to teach. But since he's not, it just all became kind of boring and really tiring as well.

He'd been a studybug ever since he was a kid. Growing up at an orphanage, he knew it wasn't enough to just have good grades for him to ensure a good future. He needed to be the best. So he always studied with all his might so he could be the best in his grade. Which paid off since he was admitted at the university considered the best in the country. So answering all of these elementary level questions was just simply a piece of cake for him.

It was a good thing that all his three tutors were kind and gentle to him. Though it was most probably because his father asked them to be not too strict to him. He smiled a little. His father and brothers really do spoil him a lot. If this continued, he might really end up being quite useless.

The female teacher looked over the answer sheet and was pleasantly surprised to see that all the answers were correct. She already noticed for the past two days that she'd been teaching him that this kid was really smart. He could easily understand everything that's being taught to him. At this rate, they might jump to middle school level faster than she expected.

"Very good. Everything is correct. Young master is really smart."

"Thank you, Teacher."

"Well then, let's stop here for today. I'll see the young master tomorrow."

Luo Yan smiled. "Okay. See you again tomorrow, teacher."

When the teacher left, Luo Yan finally relaxed and showed a lazy posture. He took his phone and search the latest information about Arcadia. According to what he found, the game's new update would be released three days from now. He really wanted to play it. He just hoped that his father would allow it. When Luo Yan told his father about him wanting to play Arcadia, he said that he would ask Doctor Han first if it was safe for him to play a VR game. He hadn't receive an answer yet.

Arcadia was just like any other MMORPG out. It was set in a Western fantasy land where players could complete different tasks, raid dungeons, and get wonderful weapons and treasures. The thing that probably set it off from other games of the same genre was its super high quality characters and world design which didn't really hinder any of its gameplay. Because there were times when some games sacrificed its gameplay in favor of beautiful designs and the same could be said the other way around.

The backstories for each dungeon boss and even some of the NPCs were all quite interesting. Another thing was its race-class system. In other games, a race could be constrained in only one or two classes. Like a certain race could only be this and that. But in Arcadia, you could pick any race and class you wanted without worrying that the class didn't fit with the race you picked. Strengthening a character all depended on the player's ability and understanding of their character and the game as a whole.

Luo Yan started playing Arcadia during high school. It was just a way for him to let out stress at first. He couldn't really play it all the time since he didn't have his own PC or laptop. So he only played it when his stress piled up. But when he entered college and had his own laptop, he started playing it more often.

The university environment was really stressful for him. Aside from maintaining his good grades, he also needed to be this perfect prince in front of everyone. So playing Arcadia had been a way for him to release all those pent up emotions. There, he could kill a lot of monsters and also a lot of players. Which was why he chose a class that's very good in melee combat and PvP - assassin.

And he turned out to be really good at it. No, not just good, he was the best in the server he was in.

When Luo Yan wanted to check his old account, he found out that one could no longer play Arcadia using a PC or laptop. It now completely transitioned to a VRMMORPG. One couldn't play it without the VR helmet personally made by the game developer for the game - which in this case was Moonlight Media.

According to the game FAQs he read, he could no longer play using his old account. Because the time to transfer an account from the PC version to the VR version already expired a year after the VR version was released six years ago. They needed to do that to truly complete the transition from PC to VR. It's just a shame that Luo Yan could not get all the items and weapons he had in his old account.

Though it's probably better that way. With that, he would no longer be tempted to log in using his old account. All his three room mates in college knew about his game account. Because all of them played Arcadia and even raid dungeons together. If he started playing again using his old account, and then in the off chance that one of his former room mates found him, it would definitely cause a lot of trouble. Because he was technically already dead. He didn't want to take a chance when it came to something that might affect the current life he had.

He shook his head and decided not to think about it anymore. It's not even sure yet if his father would let him to play.

When it's already near the time when his father went back home, Luo Yan stood up and walked out of the library. The library was the place in the house where he was being tutored. He chose it since he really didn't want others to enter his room and he also didn't want to study at the living room.

When he reached the living room, he saw his younger brother sitting on the sofa, looking down on his phone. He walked towards him and sat beside him.

Luo Jin glanced at him. "Your tutor didn't give you any assignment?"

"Nope."

"Tch. Those three are definitely being too soft on you."

[Hey, younger brother, do you actually want this cute brother of yours to be tortured by those teachers?] "No. They're not giving me assignment because I'm smart and obedient."

Luo Jin didn't have the time to answer because their father just walked inside the house.

Luo Yan stood up and walked to him. "Welcome home, Dad. Where's Brother?"

Luo Ren just graduated but he was already working at their family's company.

"Your brother's doing overtime."

"Overtime? Dad, you're not bullying Brother, are you?"

Luo Wei Tian only laughed. "Of course not. Your older brother is just trying to do his best."

"Then, Dad, did you already ask Doctor Han if I could play Arcadia?" Luo Yan suddenly asked, completely changing the topic.

Luo Wei Tian looked down at his son, his peach blossom eyes full of expectation. "I did. And he said that there won't be any problems if you play. But Xiao Yan, that kind of game brings very real experience. That means when you get hurt, you will feel pain. Do you still want to play despite that?" he asked seriously.

"I do," Luo Yan answered without hesitation.

"Don't worry, Dad. I'll also play with him so I could look after him while we're playing," Luo Jin suddenly interjected. Though he's not really interested in that kind of game, he couldn't just let his second brother play it by himself. His brother was so cute. What if someone tried to bully him? Lou Jin couldn't let that happen.

Luo Yan turned to his younger brother who had a look on his face as if saying, 'Don't worry, I got your back. I'll definitely protect you'. [Younger brother, trust me. When it comes to Arcadia, I don't think I'll be needing your protection.]

Luo Wei Tian could only sigh. "Then I'll let assistant Wen buy two VR helmets for the both of you."

Luo Yan jumped happily and hugged his father. "Thank you, Dad!"

Now he could finally play Arcadia.