The Return of the God Level Assassin Chapter 1354: THE BOY NAMED LUO YAN

"THE boy had loving parents. They lived in a simple two-bedroom apartment. They weren’t rich, but they weren’t poor either. The parents gave all their love to the boy, and their apartment was always filled with laughter and joy. But it didn’t last. When the boy was four, his parents died in a car accident."

Luo Yan had to pause for a moment. He couldn’t remember much of his parents anymore, but the memory of losing them still hurt. It never really went away, no matter how many good memories he had made since then.

"No relatives wanted to take the boy in. Some of them even fought over his parents’ meager belongings. In the end, the boy was sent to an orphanage. He barely understood what was happening. He was confused, alone, and scared. Being the new kid, the older children tormented him. They took his food, pushed him around, and made fun of him whenever they could. All the boy could do was cry.

"Days turned into weeks, and weeks turned into months and years. Eventually, the boy learned that crying wouldn’t help him. So he started to adapt. He forced himself to smile even when there was nothing to smile about. He praised people even when he didn’t mean it. He pretended to be stupid even though he wasn’t. He did whatever it took to make the hurt stop.

"And then when he was ten, he was finally adopted. For the first time in years, the boy felt real happiness. The couple who took him in looked kind, and he began to imagine what his new life would be like. He would have parents who cared for him. He would have his own room. He would have new clothes and good food. Hope started to grow in his chest. But that hope was shattered just as fast."

Remembering what happened in that house made Luo Yan want to shut his eyes and skip ahead. But he knew leaving that part out would make the story, his story, incomplete. So he pulled those memories out from the far corners of his mind and forced himself to keep going.

"At first, the couple was kind to him. But soon, things started to feel off. It began with his clothes. He had to wear what they picked out for him. He didn’t think much of it at the time. Then came the food. He wasn’t allowed to eat certain things, especially anything with dairy. One morning, he accidentally ate a piece of cheese. The woman who had become his mother reached into his mouth and pulled it out. He was scared, but she looked so worried afterward that he started to believe maybe cheese really wasn’t good for him. Then came the things he was supposed to like. They insisted he loved playing the violin, even though he had never touched one. When they handed him a violin and asked him to play their favorite song, he froze. He told them he didn’t know how. That was the first time they looked at him with disgust. It was also the first time the man who had become his father hit him. He hit him over and over until the boy promised to learn, just to make it stop. That night, for the first time in a long while, the boy cried himself to sleep."

Luo Yan had to stop for a moment to catch his breath. It felt like he was back in that house again. He hated thinking about it. He hated it so much that he had buried it deep enough to almost forget it ever happened. Almost.

Then, he felt a warm hand settle over his. He looked up and saw Shen Ji Yun watching him with a worried expression. It was clear he wanted to ask if Luo Yan was okay, but he had promised not to speak until the story was done. He was holding himself back. Luo Yan appreciated that. Even without knowing the full truth, Shen Ji Yun had still reached out. Just to let him know he was there. That small gesture helped loosen the tightness in Luo Yan’s chest.

So, he continued.

"The boy told himself it would only happen once. That they wouldn’t hurt him again. But it happened again. And again. Every time he did something they didn’t like, they would hurt him. So he tried his best to be exactly what they wanted. Then one day, he found a picture frame. Inside it was a boy his age, wearing the same clothes he was forced to wear, holding a violin. That was when the boy understood. They didn’t want him. They wanted the boy in the picture. No matter what he did, they would never love him. So he made a plan to leave that place.

"On the day they hit him again, with fresh wounds and bruises on his body, he ran out of the house. He knew he wouldn’t get far, so when he saw a family of three walking toward him, he ran up to them and cried as hard as he could. When they asked what was wrong, he showed them his wounds and told them he was being hurt by the people who adopted him. Just as he had hoped, when they saw the bruises, they called the police.

"And so, the boy was placed in another orphanage. This time, he promised himself he would never let himself be adopted again. He made sure the director and the other children liked him. By then, it had become easy. He had become a very good actor. He lived there in peace and, in his own way, found happiness. He put all his energy into studying because he knew that a good education was the only way out. The only thing that could lift his life up.

"The boy did well on his college entrance exam and got into one of the top universities in the country. He worked jobs on the side to support himself while studying. It was hard. Some days he barely slept. But he made it. He graduated and even landed a job at his dream company. He thought things were finally going to get better. That he could finally live a decent life. That he could give back to the orphanage director for everything she had done for him. But on the day he was set to move out of the dorm, a potted plant fell on his head. And he died."

Luo Yan almost laughed at the absurdity of it. It felt like some cruel joke. Like the universe had decided he wasn’t allowed to be happy, so it made sure he died on the very day things were supposed to get better. It was so unfair. After all those years of struggling, it all ended up meaning nothing. Every plan he had made, every dream he had held onto, gone in an instant. Just like that.

He stiffened when he felt warm hands cup his face. Shen Ji Yun gently lifted his head until their eyes met. Luo Yan was confused by the pained look on Shen Ji Yun’s face. Then Shen Ji Yun brushed his thumbs across his cheeks, and only then did Luo Yan realize that he must have been crying.

He took a long, shaky breath. He had to finish this.

"That boy then woke up in the body of a seventeen-year-old who had been in a coma for seven years. That boy had the same name as him." He paused, then gave a small, sad smile as he leaned into Shen Ji Yun’s touch. "His name is Luo Yan."