Zhang Yixing - lay1007

       [Basic info]

                           | Name: Zhang Yixing (张艺兴)

                           | Age: 27

                           | Birthday: 7th of October 1991

                           | Hometown: Changsha

                           | Zodiac: Libra/Sheep

                           | Blood type: A

                           | name: lay1007

                           | Speciality: 1st person shooters

                           | Favourite game: Call Of Duty

       [Strengths]

                           | Optimistic

                           | Helpful

                           | Carefree

  [Weaknesses]

                           | Forgetful

                           | Gets lost easily sometimes

                           | Pyrophobia

  [Background]

                           | Father is an animator and

                            | mother works as an audio

                            | engineer. He's a game tester.

                           |

                           | May seem lost or not attentive,

                            | but he knows what's going on.

                            | He may seem nice and lively,

                            | but he can also be strict and

                            | serious.

                           |

                           | Is really protective of his

                            | friends and loved ones.

Ｔｈｅ Ｉｎｖｉｔｅ

A loud “Pling” was heard from the kitchen. Yixing turned his head. The sudden sound had torn him from his state of mind that had been floating somewhere between consciousness and dreaming. It took him a few seconds to come to his senses after having sat there in his gaming chair, spaced out for a while.

The sixth toast of the day was done. He went out to the kitchen to get it, and as expected, it was perfect as always. When his parents came to visit, his mom would always be nagging about how bad it was to eat the same thing every day. But Yixing didn’t live with them anymore, he could handle his own responsibilities. Besides Yixing always thought that he had a special talent for making toast. They just always came out right.

With the toast in hand, Yixing sat down in his chair again. These chairs had been specially designed for people to sit in them comfortably for long periods of time, yet Yixing always started to feel uncomfortable later on in the day, he couldn't quite decide if it was the chair or his mood being affected. The atmosphere always seemed to change when day turned to night. It got harder to stay focused, and harder to stay his positive self.

Yixing realized that his brain was sneaking into his personal coma again, he shook his head. Just one more game left to test today, and he’d be done. Just one more. He booted up his computer. To the untrained eye, his setup might have seemed incomprehensible but he knew every detail to a tee. All the flashing neon lights, although seemingly just for show, each served their own purpose.

Even as his computer turned on, the room was awfully quiet. Gaming computers had become a little too good, Yixing thought as he allowed a little smile to glide across his otherwise exhausted expression. The newest technology allowed the devices to run almost soundlessly.

It had been annoying to have noisy computers, but now that they were silent, it just added to the eerie yet thrilling feeling of late night gaming. Yixing reached out and placed his hand right in front of the ventilation of his computer. He couldn't feel anything either. It was almost as if computers and technology was losing connection with the physical world. “I guess that’s why they say gaming is an escape”, Yixing thought. But how far would this escape go in the future?

At least technology wasn't like in the olden days anymore, he thought. Back then things were so badly constructed that loose sparks of electricity would make buildings catch fire. Fire. Yixing shuddered at the thought of that awful element.

He shook his head again. He was getting too distracted with all these thoughts, there was a job to do. The computer had been ready to receive its name and for a while now, why did he get so easily distracted?

L-a-y-1-0-0-7. He let out a big yawn as he typed in his usual name. Last game of the day to test. Just one more.

As the game started up, it became apparent to Yixing that this was going to be just like all the other games he had reviewed. Same artstyle, similar plot, and of course it was another strategy RPG. Really not his forte. He leaned back in his chair and took a deep breath. here we go again.

After half an hour, the toast was gone, but Yixing was still not done playing the game demo. How annoying it was that all of these games had to be about strategy and puzzle solving! It would be way easier if the game would make it clear who he had to protect and who he had to eliminate. Sadly, his dad didn’t really work on those types of games.

As he finally finished the game and the credits started rolling, sure enough, he spotted his dad’s name under the animator section. Would he ever have gotten work if it wasn’t for his dad being in the industry? Yixing was really good at video games, he knew that, just not the puzzle solving ones. Who knows, now wasn’t the time to think about that.

He stood up from his now not so comfortable gaming chair and stretched his arms over his head. It was gonna be great to get some sleep now. But first, some light stretching and meditation. He opened the window to let in some refreshing air, and sat down on the floor in the middle of the room.

Stretching a bit, or simply just sitting on the floor, feeling his surroundings for a while, always helped him get into a positive mindset before bed. “If you go to bed happy, you will wake up happy”, that was his beliefs, and for the most part, it had not failed him.

For a while, he was like glued to the floorboards. Just sitting in the middle of the room, feeling the cold breeze from the window was really nice after a long day. As time ed, the light from the computer started dimming, going into standby mode. Yixing just kept sitting there, filling his brain with positive thoughts.

His computer screen lit up again. The sudden change in the lighting of the room caught his attention and Yixing decided that he would get up now. Half asleep, he walked over to the computer.

It was just a new email. Probably another game to test. Same old same old. But as he opened the mail, nothing really did seem like the “same old”. The formatting was weird. All the formal information about copyrights, credits and all that other stuff that no one really reads was completely left out. It ittedly seemed kind of fishy, but Yixing just got more and more intrigued and started to read the email.

┌                                                                        ┐

              To: lay1007

              Subject: Mirai

              Hello, Zhang Yixing,

              You have been selected as one

              of the top players, to try out the

              latest virtual reality game, Mirai,

              by the Mirage project by the Kreo

              and Jianyu companies.

              The game will be revealed at the

              Tokyo Game Show Con in Chiba,

               Japan. All expenses are paid for,

              to make this a great experience

              for you.

              *file attached, click to see details*

              For following questions, reply to

              this email asking for Kali.

From the Kreo and Jianyu Co.

└                                                                        ┘

One of the top players! It seemed that someone had finally spotted his skills! It all did still sound a bit weird, but why not just try it out? It seemed exciting! This was an opportunity Yixing had gotten for himself. Not because of his dad. With every second ing, he became more and more sure of it.

He was going.

[#Eilian]