Lunch hour at Westwood College was always noisy, but today the cafeteria buzzed with an unusual energy. Dozens of students gathered around plastic tables, some scrolling through their phones, others arguing over memes, exams, or weekend plans. The smell of fried rice, cheap curry, and oily noodles filled the air.
At a corner table near the window sat David, a skinny young man with glasses, wearing a faded T-shirt featuring a retro gaming logo. His fork hovered mid-air as he stared intensely at his phone screen.
"Bro," he suddenly said, voice rising with excitement, "have you guys seen the trailer for that new VR game—Desolate World Online? DWO? It looks freaking insane!"
Across from him, Tim, a tall guy with messy hair and an ever-present hoodie, snorted and stabbed at his food. "Marketing gimmick. I'm telling you—there's no way games like that exist right now. Full sensory immersion? Pain simulation? Smells real? Come on."
Beside Tim, John, a slightly chubby student with headphones dangling around his neck, nodded. "Yeah, I thought the same. I've never even heard of their company before. DWO Interactive Studios? Sounds like a scammy mobile-game publisher."
David pushed up his glasses, offended. "No way! I checked the website. The design is too clean to be a scam. The trailer quality is good, and the mechanics page looks legit."
Tim raised a brow. "Bro… scammers can make good websites too."
"True," John agreed. "But this one is going viral everywhere."
David leaned forward, whispering like he was sharing state secrets. "Whatever, man. They're giving beta access to the first 100 people who register. So I signed up. It's free anyway."
Tim and John exchanged glances.
"Free…" Tim repeated thoughtfully.
"That is tempting," John added.
David smirked triumphantly. "See? You guys are tempted too."
"Don't get me wrong," Tim said, shrugging. "If the game actually delivers what the trailer shows, it'll destroy the entire gaming industry. No contest. VR companies are gonna cry."
John chuckled. "I also saw Rick's Gaming—yeah, that Rick—reacting to the trailer."
"No way," Tim said, eyes widening. "The Rick with like seven million subs?"
"Yep," John confirmed. "He did a whole breakdown on the trailer. Said the mechanics are too ambitious to be real, but the visuals… dude, even he looked stunned."
David slapped the table. "Exactly! If even Rick is confused, that means this company is hiding something huge."
Tim nodded slowly. "Or they're hiding a really elaborate scam."
They continued debating while students around them chatted about the same topic.
Around the Cafeteria
"Did you see those zombies in the trailer?" one girl whispered excitedly at a nearby table.
"They looked too real," her friend replied. "Like… horror movie real."
A guy scrolling through Reddit groaned. "People are already making conspiracy theories about the developers being government-funded. LMAO."
Another student chimed in. "I checked their domain registration. Everything looks normal though. And the website loads fast. No ads, no pop-ups."
A group of computer science majors in the corner were discussing it intensely:
"I analyzed the trailer frame-by-frame," one geeky student said. "The lighting effects are advanced. Too advanced."
"Deepfake tech maybe?" another guessed.
"But why waste that level of rendering on a fake game trailer?"
Hype. Confusion. Curiosity.
The cafeteria was practically pulsing with excitement over a game no one had seen before yesterday.
After listening to other students, John folded his arms. "Okay, fine. I'm registering too. If it's a scam, whatever—I'll delete the email."
Tim shrugged. "Yeah, me too. Better to try than regret later when it becomes a global hit."
David grinned proudly. "Welcome to the believers' club."
"Shut up," Tim muttered, but he was smiling too.
Finishing their food, they stood up and headed toward their lecture building.
"Bro," John said as they walked, "if the trailers are real, we're about to experience the future of gaming."
Tim nodded. "Let's hope it's not a disappointment."
The three disappeared into the crowd, laughing and arguing again.
⸻
Unbeknownst to the students, a small invisible camera-shaped drone floated high over the cafeteria corner. Its surface shimmered faintly with holographic camouflage, making it completely undetectable.
It was Mice.
He hovered silently, eyes glowing with analytical light.
"Observation completed," he muttered cheerfully to himself. "Chief asked me to find suitable initial testers. I must select the first five individuals to enter the world!"
A list of 3,203 registrations floated beside him, scrolling rapidly as he analyzed each entry.
Age. Background. Physical condition. Psychological state. Skills. Gaming experience. Reaction to the trailer.
"Hmmmm…" Mice hummed thoughtfully. "Chief wants people capable of adapting quickly and helping the settlement. People who can learn, adjust, and survive."
After a few seconds, he stopped scrolling.
His digital eyes brightened.
"I have selected the five!"
Their profiles enlarged, each accompanied by a small 3D hologram.
(1) Rick
A wildly popular gaming streamer known for sharp instincts, leadership, and adaptability. Massive influence.
Reason: Influences millions. His arrival will draw global attention to DWO.
⸻
(2) Tim
A college student with skepticism but open-minded curiosity. Strong analytical thinking.
Reason: Realistic mindset. Will provide grounded perspective for early feedback.
⸻
(3) John
Average student but extremely passionate about gaming. Calm personality.
Reason: Steady temperament. Good as baseline tester.
⸻
(4) Jin
A 27-year-old mechanical engineer. Extremely dedicated gamer with high problem-solving ability.
Reason: Useful for building, crafting, and engineering tasks inside DWO.
⸻
(5) Shira
A well-known female gamer, competitive and confident, with a large following.
Reason: Influence + combat reflexes. Represents diversity among early testers.
⸻
Mice clapped his metal limbs excitedly.
"Perfect! The first five pioneers of the new civilization!"
He accessed the registration information and automatically generated delivery addresses.
Teleportation beams activated from the Settlement's internal system, condensing into neat triangular packages. Each package contained a glossy DWO VR headset, identical to the model Alex approved earlier.
"Delivery in progress…" Mice announced.
Within seconds—
Fwoooosh.
Five tiny beams shot through dimensional rifts invisible to the human eye.
Headsets delivered.
⸻
"Now to inform Chief…" Mice said.
He materialized a glowing folder and loaded the biodata of the five selected individuals:
• Height
• Weight
• Physical condition
• Genetic blueprint
• Brainwave pattern
• Neural frequency signature
This was everything Alex needed to grow their clone bodies.
The holographic report zipped across the room and appeared in the main settlement hall, where Alex stood next to the cloning pods.
"Clones initialized," Mice announced proudly. "Formation time: 48 hours."
Alex nodded, eyes thoughtful. "Good work."
Mice floated in circles around him. "Chief, are you ready? The players will arrive soon!"
Alex breathed slowly, controlling the excitement rising in his chest.
He turned toward the settlement gates.
Outside, dark clouds drifted over the ruined landscape. The wind howled softly across broken buildings and twisted steel structures.
Alex's fingers curled into a fist.
"Let them come," he whispered.
"This world is about to change."
⸻
Across the World — More Reactions
As night settled across various countries, the hype surged.
A teenage girl in Japan looked at the trailer blinking in shock.
"It looks like a movie… no way this is a game!"
A group of gamers in Germany debated loudly in a Discord call.
"Bro, this is fake."
"No, look at the physics engine!"
"Then where did they get the funding?"
"Government project?"
A VR tech enthusiast in Korea wrote a detailed thread online:
"This level of tech is impossible with current hardware…
unless they discovered something groundbreaking."
A father in the U.S. joked with his son:
"So this is the game you want for your birthday?"
"Dad, it's free! I just need to register!"
"Free? That's suspicious."
"But cool!"
Across forums, divided opinions raged:
Positive reactions:
• "Holy crap, this is revolutionary!"
• "Graphics look like live-action footage."
• "If this is real, Meta and Valve are dead."
Negative reactions:
• "Scam. 100%."
• "Stolen footage maybe?"
• "Fake website. They didn't even reveal the developers' faces."
Conspiracy channels on YouTube started making videos claiming the game was part of "secret military VR training."
Gaming news websites wrote short articles:
"Desolate World Online Trailer Breaks the Internet—But Can It Live Up to the Hype?"
"Is this the future of VR or the biggest scam of 2025?"
Whatever the truth was, one thing became clear:
DWO was now the hottest topic on the Internet.
⸻
Meanwhile… in the Apocalypse World
Alex stood outside the settlement walls, examining sharpened wooden stakes, makeshift barricades, and the perimeter of their small safe zone. He adjusted traps, reinforced weak points, and ensured the area near the cloning chambers remained clean.
His expression was calm.
Focused.
Calculated.
"We're not just inviting players," he murmured to himself. "We're building a society."
The wind whistled past his ears.
In two days, the first players would arrive.
And Alex intended to greet them with a world ready for development.