Chapter 163: recreational garden

SHEN JI YUN led them to the Northern part of the city which was on the opposite side of the city gate. Goldcrest was a very big city in comparison to the other two cities for lower level players – Olkdale and Matlock. It's almost as big as the two cities combined. That's why they needed to hire horses as mounts to take them to their destination.

They only hired two horses because Luo Jin was too small to ride one on his own. So he was currently riding behind Luo Yan on the same horse. Luo Yan actually wanted to let Luo Jin sit in front of him. But his brother made a fuss, almost throwing a tantrum like a true five-year-old. He guessed that for Luo Jin, behaving that way was much less embarrassing compared to being seen sitting in front of him.

Such a shame, really. He thought he'd have a chance to hold Luo Jin again.

"Brother Ji Yun, why does Arcadia not have a mount system?" he suddenly thought of asking. 

It's kind of weird, considering how an mmorpg like this usually had a mount system or the likes. 

It took a few seconds for Shen Ji Yun to answer. He had been distracted by the gnome's small paws clutching at the rabbit's waist. He'd been having a strong urge to pull those paws away. But more than the feeling of irritation, what he's feeling right now was more similar to being envious. 

He was slightly startled. What was he exactly being envious about? He shook that feeling aside and just answered Luo Yan's question.

"It's because of the teleportation scrolls and portals. My uncle doesn't think that there's a need for mounts if the players could easily move from one place to another by teleporting. And if they're in the city and doesn't want to walk, then they could simply rent a mount. Aside from that, now that the pet system is now in place, players could just use their pets as mounts. Adding a mount feature now would just be redundant," he explained.

Luo Yan thought that that actually made sense. Besides, even without the mount system, this game still had plenty of attraction for players. Heck, the fact that it's VR and everything felt almost real like was enough for people to flock to it. Speaking of pets, he still hadn't fed Mana to his Little Ancestor. He'd do it later once he's done with his business here.

Luo Jin glanced at Shen Ji Yun. How come this guy only ever say more than ten words when he was talking to Luo Yan? He was clearly showing his special preference towards his second brother. And yet Luo Yan was still insisting that this guy had no ulterior motives at all. 

He sighed. He suddenly felt like the emotionless iceberg had a point. He really was starting to act like a child. He glared at Shen Ji Yun. It was all this guy's fault. Whenever this guy was around, he always seemed to turn into this unreasonable kid who just wanted to get in between his brother and this annoying guy. 

Shen Ji Yun, of course, felt the glare coming from the gnome. But like always, he ignored him.

Soon, they arrived at their destination. 

Luo Yan looked ahead. They were in an area known as the 'recreational garden'. The players called it that way because there were quite a number of in-game establishments where players could rest or entertain themselves. There's a small hot spring resort, a large lake where players could go boating or fishing, there's a hiking trail that led to a nearby mountain, one could simply stay here and just appreciate the beautiful surroundings. 

He turned to Shen Ji Yun, a bit unsure. "The plot of land is here?"

Shen Ji Yun nodded. "It's here."

"They're selling an empty plot of land here?" Luo Yan asked, still a bit unsure. Because as far as he knew, all the known establishments in this area were in-game related. Meaning there were no players who owned a business here. He didn't even know that one could buy a land here.

"They only opened it and haven't announced it to anyone yet," Shen Ji Yun only said.

The truth was, when he inquired at the programming department about any empty plot of lands here in Goldcrest that were being sold, none of them was a good location to build Luo Yan's Yuexing Pavilion. They were either too small or in between establishments that were simply not in line with the pavilion. The only place in Goldcrest that he thought was perfect for the pavilion was the recreational garden area. But the problem was, the land there was not for sale.

So, he asked Brother Zhao – the head of the programming department – if he could make a little change so that a friend of his could buy a part of the land in the recreational garden area of Goldcrest City. Brother Zhao didn't hesitate to agree. Maybe because he never really made a request like that. Even when he wanted to give him the best items in the game, Shen Ji Yun always declined. Because he didn't want to use his identity as the nephew of the president of Moonlight Media to his advantage. But it seemed like when it came to Luo Yan, he didn't have much qualm in using it.

Of course, there's no need for Luo Yan to know that.

"Then we must hurry and take a look," Luo Yan said, not even suspecting that there's something wrong in Shen Ji Yun's reasoning.

His mind right now was already starting to be filled with ideas. Because this place was really a prime location for a business like Yuexing Pavilion. 

The horses they're riding galloped inside. Everywhere Luo Yan looked there were different kinds of flowers planted. That's why this area was termed as a 'garden'. Because the land areas with no establishment built on it were filled with flowers. What a scenic view.

Shen Ji Yun stopped in front of a huge lake. "The land on the other side of this lake is the one on sale."

Luo Yan stared at the land, its area was more than enough for the size of Yuexing Pavilion. Add that to the lake and the surroundings, it was simply perfect. He could already picture everything inside his mind. 

"Will you take it?" Shen Ji Yun asked.

Luo Yan turned to him, his blue eyes speckled with golden dust were shining brightly. "I'll take it!"

*****

Please read my author's note. There's an important announcement there. Thank you!