Bren's Plan

Author note: Skip until chapter "Level 0 Concerto" if you don't want to read about this side character.

Bren Tchan was more excited than none other on the night of Synergy's release. This virtual reality game had received the most hype out of any thus far. Though the developer was completely unknown, anyone who knew about Synergy *knew* this would be the game to define the new age of VR. In fact, he already formulated a plan with his six friends in order to gather experience points faster than anyone.

*I will have to use my knowledge as an alpha tester to get ahead of the curve!*

The general public knew next to nothing about the game, but Bren had received permission to enter the game as an alpha tester about one year prior to the game's release allowing him to formulate this plan.

The plan was simple.

In Synergy, players would level up to level 1 simply by playing the game for an hour. Because of this, players would gain experience points for doing nothing. Bren also knew about the existence of War Zones and PvP basics, as well as how the leveling system worked. If you killed a player in a War Zone, they would lose up to 1 level's worth of experience. This experience would then be transferred to you. If he killed the people who were stupid enough to walk into the War Zone, he could reach level 1 more than three times faster than the average population.

Bren relayed this plan to his friends over the the most popular VR messaging service known as Concord on the afternoon of Synergy's release.

*>Brent: What do you guys think of this plan?*

*>Allux: Great!*

*>Molotov: We'll definitely be ahead of everyone if we do this!*

*>Adverse: I don't have any better ideas.*

*>Kenshi: As long as we're stronger than everyone we fight, I don't see a problem.*

*>Liuzhi: That's what I was going to say. What if we find someone who can beat us?*

*>Ryozaki: ...*

*>Brent: That should be next to impossible. How long have we been a friend group? And how long have we been playing VR games together? Though we're not apex-tier players, you guys should all know that we're no pushovers in VR games, especially VMA. Didn't I tell you guys the combat mechanics are pretty similar?*

*>Brent: Knowing this, do you guys really think someone can beat all seven of us before we hit level 1? And don't forget that once one of us hits level 1, we'll have no chance of losing to level 0 players whatsoever. On top of that, even if one of us dies, we can just kill whoever killed one of us, effectively loading double XP onto one of us. There are even more reasons why we shouldn't lose, but this should be enough to convince you guys, no?*

After hearing Bren's extensive reasoning, there was a unanimous agreement with the plan.

*>Brent: Great. Meet me in the Uval Hamlet. There's a War Zone there for sure. I know we discussed this before, but make sure your character creation (model and voice mod) is ready to go so we can enter the world immediately. We have no time to lose! Remember! If this plan works, we'll have a significantly higher chance of making varsity on the Academy's team next year! From what I experienced in the alpha test, this game is going to be huge. There's no way the Academy won't have a Synergy team. I wish us all good luck!*

With that parting message, Bren took off his Vbian-01 and got up from his bed. Or rather, "bed" was a loosely accurate word. It was more of a sleeper specialized for the comfort of playing VR games. It resembled a hammock and was much smaller than even a twin sized bed. It was only comfortable for lying down in one position, making it suboptimal for real sleep.

Bren sighed as he looked around his room. As one might suspect of a student of the Royal Academy, the Tchan family naturally wasn't poor. In fact, they were richer than the vast majority of the population. Despite their wealth, though, Bren lived in quite a modest room. There was only one bed, one VR sleeper (with a Vbian helmet, of course), and one desk with a traditional laptop computer. Other facilities such as the wardrobe and washrooms were installed separately.

In a day and age where traditional computers were on the decline for more modern alternatives such as VR helmets, smartphones, and holographic projectors, Bren decided to keep a small one in his room because it gave him a rustic, homey feel.

However, right now he was feeling anything but comfort.

*I wonder when the tryouts are.*

It was always Bren's dream to become a professional virtual sports player. Though e-sports players were among the most popular "athletes" in the world, Bren had a strong feeling that v-sports would be even bigger in the future. Surprisingly, even the conservative Royal Academy was founding a VR team next year. Naturally, Bren wanted to make it to the top.

*I'm going to be a third year at the academy. I must make varsity if I want to prove my skills!*

The current most popular VR game was a fighting game known as Virtual Martial Arts. Bren's friend group, colloquially known as "the Brent Clan", were also avid players of VMA. However, Bren told his friends that they should focus on Synergy the moment it was released. Since the combat mechanics were similar, he knew they would have a head start over new players.

*There's no way this VR game won't become the most popular.*

From what Bren experienced in the alpha test, Synergy contained some of the most groundbreaking technology in VR simulations. It was almost uncanny how ahead of its time the game was, even in its alpha phase.

If he was going to become renowned for any activity, it was going to be v-sports. Bren had already set up a roadmap for his life, assuming his gamble on the v-sports market paid off. There was just one small problem...

*Will I be good enough for varsity?*

His confidence was lacking. He knew there were VMA players at the Royal Academy that were better than him by a significant margin.

*What am I missing?*

As he pondered, Bren nervously accessed the Etherless web from his laptop and searched for the next school year's tryout date.

*It's... in the eighth month. I've got some time, but I can't waste any of it.*

It was currently the beginning of the third month. This gave him roughly two more months at the Academy and three months of holiday to improve.

Bren shut off his laptop and took a deep breath to organize his thoughts.

*I've planned everything so meticulously, there's no way it'll go wrong!*

With that self-assurance, Bren resumed his daily activities as he awaited nightfall.

---

Ten minutes before midnight, Bren booted up his Vbian-01 helmet and prepared to log into Synergy. Anxiously, he checked to see if the game would be ready to launch the moment the clock struck midnight.

*Looks like all of the necessary files are preinstalled. I've got my character model and voice mod ready to go, too. All I need to do now is wait...*

His plan was to relax the few minutes before the game's launch, but he couldn't help himself from deviating from the plan and checking Concord. He anxiously sent some messages to confirm everyone's status.

*>Brent: I can't calm down. Is everyone ready?*

*>Allux: Yessir, I think we're all ready. Everyone's got their models and voice mods prepared, too.*

*>Brent: Perfect. Get through the starter screen as quickly as possible and meet me in the Uval Hamlet's common area. It should be pretty easy to find.*

*>Molotov: Yep, yep! Let's slaughter some noobs!*

One minute before midnight, Bren stopped chatting on Concord and opened Synergy. A countdown to the release of the game was displayed in front of him.

...

*>10 seconds before the world of Synergy opens to the public!*

...

5...

4...

3...

2...

1...

*>Welcome to Synergy!*

The countdown ended and the world turned white as these words appeared in front of him.

"Welcome to Synergy!"

As if on cue, Bren heard a cute feminine voice in front of him. Though a year had passed, the appearance of this miniature blonde fairy in a white dress was unchanged.

"I am Lemieux, and I will guide you as you begin your journey in this world. Think of me as a tutorial bot!"

*Fuck, this dialogue is exactly the same. Can't I skip this?*

Much less the dialogue, even the pose she struck and the tone she used was identical to last year. However, what came next was vastly different, and something that almost nobody would want to hear.

"Oh? You're an alpha tester. Be wary, some changes have been made before the release of the game! Don't rely on everything you've previously learned!"

Bren's heart sank.

*To think they would account for alpha and beta testers... This was such an obvious thing that could have happened, and yet I didn't account for it...*

"Beyonder, what is your name?"

Bren grit his teeth and rushed through the starter screen as fast as he could.

*Please let the changes be small, and please let my plan work!*