THEIR FIRST (VR) MEAL TOGETHER (II)

"AH, that was good," Luo Yan said while patting his stomach.  

They just finish all the dishes ordered by Shen Ji Yun, most of it ended up in his stomach or at least his virtual one anyway.  Despite that, he still didn't feel like he'd eaten too much.  The wonders of VR.  This was truly heaven for those people who liked to eat but didn't want to increase their weight.  He and Luo Jin should really go food tripping here sometimes.

Then he suddenly remembered the reason why they're here in the first place.  Shen Ji Yun invited him here so that he could answer those survey questions.  But he became too engrossed in eating that he totally forgot about it.

"Brother Ji Yun, about those survey questions, please feel free to ask them," he said.  "Sorry, you must have been wanting to ask them since earlier."

"It's okay.  It's just some routine stuff anyway," Shen Ji Yun answered.

Looking at his cold expression that seemed not to care, Luo Yan was a bit amazed.  Because he didn't think that he would be such a patient guy.  He waited here for more than an hour, then when Luo Yan finally came, he prioritized eating instead of voluntarily talking about those survey questions.  But he didn't even get annoyed.  If it was him, he definitely would.    

"Then please, ask away.  I don't want to waste Brother Ji Yun's time anymore."

Shen Ji Yun looked at him, his expression strangely serious.  "You're not wasting my time."

"Okay," he just said because he didn't really know how to answer that.

Like Shen Ji Yun said, the things he asked were all routine questions when it came to testing for game bugs.  Like if he encountered any glitches or if some of the NPCs were not acting right, things like that.  He answered them one by one.  He managed to finish answering all the questions just after ten minutes.

"Are those answers enough?" he asked.

"Yes, they're already plenty enough."

"Does Brother Ji Yun often do things like this?  Asking survey questions to players, I mean?"

"No, this is just a one-time thing.  The head of the programming team pleaded me to do it." But if 'Noctis' didn't turn out to be the silly rabbit, he probably wouldn't bother to put much effort just to ask some survey questions.

Luo Yan thought so.  Shen Ji Yun was the nephew of Moonlight Media's CEO after all.  Why would he go around asking survey questions to players?  

"Then you and that person must be really close," he just said.  "Because you readily agreed to his request."

"Not really.  I was just curious, by this player called 'Noctis'. Coincidentally, it turned out to be you."

Well, that was kind of unexpected.  "How did Brother Ji Yun hear about me?"

He'd only been playing for a week and this was only the second day where he interacted with other players.  How could he be famous in such a short amount of time?  Could his name spread that fast by just relying with his sheer beauty alone?

"When there is a new update, especially like this one where new races were added, the programming team observed the account of those new players who managed to get any of the newly added race.  To check for bugs and other such things.  Of course, that was only at the beginning, when the players were still at their Origin Village.  Any more than that and it would invade the players' privacy.

"The head of the programming team said that you were quite the interesting player.  You have a good grasp of the game even though you're only a beginner.  It piqued my interest.  But mostly, I thought that he was probably just exaggerating.  Then I saw you fight at the Arena yesterday and I was immediately proven wrong.  You really are quite good."

Luo Yan could only let out an awkward laugh.  He'd been boasted so seriously that he didn't know how to react.  He couldn't possibly say that it was because he had played the PC version and he was considered one of the best back then.  His transition to VR was actually not that hard.  His experience back then probably played a big part.  

Because he had a good understanding of the game, he could fully integrate himself in it.  It was easy for him to think of a move and this virtual body would immediately enact it fluidly.  He should probably be grateful that this body had a fast brain activity despite being in a coma for seven years.  Or maybe it was the result of his soul being plugged into this body.  

Being reborn in a new body was something already unthinkable under normal circumstances.  So his theory was probably not far off from the truth.   

"Maybe my brain is just suitable for this type of game," he said scratching the tip of his nose.

Shen Ji Yun unconsciously stared at Luo Yan's nose.  Looking at his small movement and that slightly awkward smile, all he could think of was; [How cute.]

He cleared his throat and drank the tea in front of him.  Seriously, what was he thinking?  It seemed like ever since he met this rabbit, his mind would be filled with weird thoughts from time to time – like how cute this rabbit was or something.  Could it be that he's a secret small fluffy animal control?  And meeting this rabbit actually awaken that?

Despite the weird direction Shen Ji Yun's brain was taking, none of his thoughts showed on his face.  In Luo Yan's view, he still looked cold and expressionless, like a doll with no emotion.

"If you have any questions regarding the game, just ask me," Shen Ji Yun said, changing the subject.

"Oh, I actually have one.  You see, the task I got when I was applying for a task was actually kind of weird." Luo Yan then proceeded on telling Shen Ji Yun about his task.  "Are tasks with back stories like that actually common in this game?"

Luo Yan asked because in the PC version, back stories were not really a big part of the task.  It was usually shown as some cut scene or something.  A player could actually skip all those and still managed to finish the task successfully.  But in this VR version, it's inevitable to go through everything.  Because if you didn't, then you might miss something and that would eventually lead to failure.

"No, it's not.  It's actually pretty rare.  You're lucky you got one this early.  Task like that usually yield high quality rewards," Shen Ji Yun answered.

Luo Yan remembered the hidden task in his Origin Village that gave him that Umbra metal which could really be considered as high quality.  And now this class application task gave him that Skill Book.  He still hadn't check it yet.  But considering what Shen Ji Yun said, could it be a very high level skill?  

He smiled happily just thinking about that.  "I really am lucky then."

Shen Ji Yun stared at this smile.  Even though the rabbit's game avatar veered off to the beautiful type, he still couldn't stop thinking about how cute he was.  He clenched his fists, his hands were just itching to pinch the rabbit's cheeks.

Maybe he should just go and adopt a rabbit for real.