Ken sat in his VR pod, thinking.
"Everything here looks amazing," he said, "but all the games suck."
The graphics were better than anything he had ever seen before. Full-body VR. Realistic physics. Neural link control. But all the games? Pure garbage.
Boring. Repetitive. Pay-to-win.
Ken rubbed his temples. Then he remembered something from his old world—a game called Lethal Company.
A small co-op horror game where players explored creepy places to collect scrap, escape monsters, and survive. It was scary, fun, and hilarious with friends. It had heart.
He opened the Developer System.
[New Project: Lethal Company VR]
Ken started building the basics.
First, the setting: abandoned factories, dark research stations, and old bunkers. Everything was dusty, cold, and creepy. He added flickering lights, distant screams, and weird noises in the vents.
Then came the main goal: collect as much scrap as possible before the time runs out. Simple and clear. You can escape... or die trying.
[Objective System: Scrap Quota + Escape Ship Enabled]
He added voice chat. Real voice. No filters. No limits.
Players could hear each other scream, panic, or joke around. He also made sure proximity mattered—so if you wandered too far, you couldn't hear your team anymore.
[Voice Chat: Positional Audio Activated][Death Mics: Enabled]
Ken smiled. "Now for the monsters."
The Developer System helped bring his ideas to life fast.
He made terrifying creatures with unique behaviors. Some hunted by sound. Others waited in the dark. Some chased, some tricked you. He even added one monster that pretended to be your teammate's voice.
[Enemy AI: Custom Behavior Tree Created][Monster Types: 7 Added]
Next, he built the tools—flashlights, stun grenades, shovels, and a walkie-talkie system. He didn't add guns.
"You're not supposed to fight," Ken said. "You're supposed to survive."
The hardest part was the ship.
It was small. Cramped. It had the team's terminal to check scrap goals, monitor cameras, and scream at each other when someone forgot to close the door.
[Ship Hub: Functional + Multiplayer Sync Ready]
He polished it all up, tested a few runs with NPC bots, and finally hit the [Publish] button.
[Game Name: Lethal Company VR][Price: Free][Player Slots: 4 Co-op][Status: LIVE]
That same night, a well-known streamer named ZaneZero was live on the Twitch. He had over 9 million followers. His stream title: "Trying Random VR Trash Again 🤡"
He scrolled through the newest releases. Most of them looked bad—low-effort clones, gacha-filled garbage, or brain-dead idle games.
Then he paused.
"Lethal Company VR?" he muttered. "Free game. Just dropped. Looks sketchy… but it's new. Why not."
He clicked download.
As it installed, he noticed the game info: 4-player co-op horror.
"Wait—co-op?" he said. "Okay, this could be funny."
He sent invites to three friends—two other streamers named LunaByte and Vexxie, both known for chaotic co-op content, and a chill guy named Brogan who mostly played survival games.
All three were already streaming random stuff. They saw Zane's invite and joined instantly.
[Party Formed: ZaneZero, LunaByte, Vexxie, Brogan][Game: Lethal Company VR - Launching]
None of them knew what was about to happen.