Sometime after midnight, the party came to an end.
Waves of guests departed—some intoxicated by excitement, others simply intoxicated.
Outside the tall windows, city lights blinked lazily as the music faded into silence. Only Leo and the two girls remained, and they, too, soon headed back to their studio.
At the studio, in the office lounge, three individuals—Leo, Tina, and Melina—sat around a small table. A few half-finished glasses of juice rested nearby, while the distant glow of digital advertisements flickered across the skyline beyond the windows.
With her arms folded, Tina reclined in her chair. "Well, that was enjoyable. What comes next?"
Melina brushed her black hair behind her ear with a sly smile. "Obviously, we're going to make a VR game."
Leo took a moment to reply. His eyes were calm and serious as he gazed at his reflection in the dark glass.
"Let's get to work," he said at last.
The days that followed were busy.
Even Leo, with his experience in scripting, systems, and game mechanics, had to admit that virtual reality was different. It wasn't just another platform—it was an entirely new level.
He took out the International Association's VR Dev Kit. When the MindForge Node—a sleek, compact cube—unfolded into a fully interactive display, it revealed layered data streams and engine modules far more advanced than those found on conventional platforms.
As part of Leo's licensing incentive, the team had established their headquarters in a state-of-the-art studio. Holo-displays floated mid-air for rapid simulation and concept sketching, while the floors responded to foot pressure for precise motion capture.
Tina was studying the system's Immersion Sync Layer, which linked brainwave signals to responsive gameplay.
"So this thing... learns the player's reflexes in real time?"
Melina gave the screen a tap. "Yes, and it adjusts to fit. It requires constant tuning because of that. If it moves too quickly, it feels inhuman. If it moves too slowly, it feels broken."
Leo nodded. "Control and graphics are no longer the most important things in VR. It's all about presence. We're not just creating a game—we're creating an experience."
For the next week, they immersed themselves in manuals, virtual lessons, old dev logs from past VR pioneers, and AI-guided demos.
Three main pillars supported the process:
1. Core Realm Design: The development of the physical logic of the game world, including the environment and terrain physics, haptics, and movement feel.
2. Soul Echo Sync: This involves adjusting the VR engine to react to the user's natural intention without requiring awkward input, such as reacting, dodging, or aiming.
3. Partners in the AI Framework Here, AI was more than just adversaries or non-player characters; it was a co-developer with the ability to optimize code, test builds automatically, and simulate thousands of matches to fine-tune balance.
The majority of the technical setup was led by Leo, while Tina handled task coordination and system maintenance.
Melina focused on modifying language models for player dialogue and emotional response triggers, working closely with the AI modules.
By the second week, they had already constructed the foundation.
One morning, Leo stood in front of the glowing 3D model of their map and declared, "This is VastField-9."
It would be the first battlefield in virtual reality—abandoned towns, dense forests, icy cliffs, and underground bunkers all scattered across a vast open terrain.
Each section was created using a combination of hand-crafted structure and procedural generation.
Unlike other games, VastField-9 would gradually alter the lighting, layout, and resource spawns in each match to ensure that no two runs ever felt the same.
At first, Leo had considered involving more people in the project. However, after analyzing the current state of the VR market, he came to a realization.
He told the team, "Right now, VR battle royales aren't even a recognized genre—and the game we're making isn't focused on high-end graphics."
"Thus, we don't need more developers. What we need is precision. We're already ahead with this technology—our AI system and our engine."
So the three of them pressed on: daily reviews, long hours, and digital testers running simulated playtests. Intelligent systems worked in the background, swiftly fixing any crashes or imbalances.
The first teaser was released at the end of the third week.
It wasn't long.
Just 29 seconds.
A dusty helmet sat in the middle of an open road. The wind howled. A swift shadow passed. In the distance—gunfire.
Then the following line appeared: "No second chances. There is just one left. GROUNDZERO [VR] PROJECT: Coming Soon."
The internet exploded.
Streamers analyzed every frame. Fans speculated about movement systems, factions, and loadouts.
Many were already familiar with Leo's style from his previous games—deep mechanics, a minimal user interface, and sharp visual storytelling.
The competition reacted quickly. Within days, several mid-level studios released their own VR game trailers, clearly inspired by Leo's teaser.
One competitor even replicated the open terrain concept almost shot-for-shot. However, their systems lacked refinement. Their trailers were flashy but underwhelming.
Leo showed no reaction as he watched them. He simply said that although they had seen the shadow, they couldn't recognize its source.
The final phase was brutal.
Polishing the game demanded constant effort, even with the support of the integrated VRNet Engine and high-speed AI optimizers.
Tina managed thousands of AI-simulated matches, sorting through bug reports and runtime errors.
Melina improved the player feedback loops and narrative hints. To ensure that everything "felt real," even within a simulation, Leo revised the adaptive user interface and weapon handling.
Muscle memory was mapped to dynamic recoil for every weapon, and terrain physics affected jump arcs. Additionally, the death system's "Neural Collapse" mechanism blurred the line between emotional impact and digital failure. By the final day, the build was stable.
That same evening, the full launch trailer was released.