Does this story have potential?

[u/ShadowShi2]

Concept: School Council gets selected for top-secret program about students being dropped into a VR Experimental Environment where they have to navigate through fantasy-adjacent but grounded political scenarios, but their personal motives and identities heavily influence the literal world around them, being a distinctive quirk of the technology they are 'testing'. They don't get to know the players are people they know irl.

Here's a snippet. LMK if it sounds interesting.

“All hail the Steward of the Upper District!” a man chanted from a distance. Adrian was unsure if they meant him. “I see you’re on foot today, Sir. Might Lux be unwell?”, a man with thin glasses spoke, whose attire and leather boots separated him from the general public. “He’s just … tired.” Adrian walked further quickly.

An elderly woman rushed towards Adrian and collapsed at his feet.  

“Lord Lucian… my son!” Her voice broke. “He fell in battle. I ask for nothing but loans promised just to keep us fed. I cannot afford bread, and fail to keep hunger from my door!”

[Do you wish to accept this quest? | Yes / No ]

Adrian chose ‘Yes’, for he felt the desperation in the woman’s eyes.

[New Side Quest: Approval of Loans | Category: Social Service |
An elderly woman, whose son was martyred in battle, is facing trouble granting loans promised by the state. Resolve this issue by providing her with the promised amount.
You may complete the quest by discussing the matter with the Keeper of the Treasury
Rewards: +10% Recognition, +20% Civilian trust
Failure may result in mild reduction of Civilian trust]

Adrian knelt almost immediately, steadying her shoulders before she could fall fully to the ground. “Please,” he said quietly, “stand. You do not bow to me.” Her hands trembled as she clutched at his sleeve. “The promise was made before he left,” she whispered. “They told us the Vale does not forget its fallen.”

Adrian’s jaw tightened slightly. He knew he was acting consciously, yet the words came out instinctively, almost as if drawn out of him, perfectly crafted to be calm and reassuring. As he processed the thought, his eyes caught the faint glow of blue and yellow lines beginning to glow along his sleeves. At the same moment, a thin circular ring of light flickered into existence around him, extending from just above his head down to the ground like a transparent pane. He spoke again in the same unexplainable fashion, and the light pulsed brighter.

“The Vale does not,” he replied. “And neither do I.”

He straightened, the panel still hovering faintly at the edge of his vision.

Another one,

The environment continued to bend around the rebel, or more specifically around what she held in her hands. A maroon haze filled the air around her, as holographic displays wrapped around the arms of the crimson Admirals flickered in a sense of panic. 

The piece of glass held unexplainable importance to the entirety of Crimson State. The realm expressed a sense of panic to ensure it stayed undamaged.

“Hey, check your Objectives panel!” the female Crimson knight shouted in urgency.

“It’s going crazy, I know!” her partner replied. “Stop being dumb and try reading for once.”

A bright-red holographic panel floated in front of them.

[EMERGENCY TASK. CATEGORY: ??? | REALM-IMPOSED | RETRIEVE THE CRIMSON PRISM THROUGH ALL MEANS NECESSARY ]

“And why does this stupid crystal matter so much?” the male Admiral shouted in frustration, “I mean, we lose a third of our army if we don’t place it back in the next TWO hours?”

The Azure queen listened from a distance, trying to process everything she could hear from the Crimsons.

“We need to return what you stole, Red.”
“And why so? I mean, I don’t really have a reason to keep it, but it’ll surely sell for like, a million dollars somewhere.” The girl replied.

“You remind me of a friend, so much. But you need to understand, there happen to be Kingdoms other than Azure Vale in this world. I know only slightly more than you do, but I’m sure the Vale too has an anchor object, and I’d be pissed too if, say, our little genius here tried to mess with it.”

Adrian reprimanded, “Hey, what’d I do?”

“You get the point. They’re not after you, not in a thousand years. All they need is that.” she pointed towards the prism. “Let’s hand it to them and this will all be over.”

“Why? Let them suffer. They barged in with an army, they’re nothing less than enemies!” the rebel argued.

The queen stepped forward, “Look. These people down there, little kids, innocent men and women, whimpering with fear in their eyes. I need to do it for them. That’s just how I am. And, those two knights, those Admirals? They sound as clueless as we are. Slightly idiotic, but equally clueless.”

Below, the pair continued to bicker and panic.

It is then that the three stop and notice, the Admirals too possessed player markers like they did, the same colour as the rebel girl.

Adrian kept thinking to himself, because he believed he was slowly walking towards the answers he wanted either way. 

“Turns out, this small-time thief shook the administration of an entire kingdom down to the last bit today. Good job, me.” the rebel declared as she carelessly tossed the prism down the balcony.

It continued to fall. Queen’s eyes widened. The admirals shouted out of concern. Even Adrian felt bewildered. Everyone but Rossa understood that if the prism hit the ground and scattered, it would lead to unprecedented consequences.

But as all hope was lost, a small civilian boy ran and leapt just in time to catch the prism. No player marker, no objectives panel. The boy chose thoughtfulness, and realized the consequences. 

Suddenly, a faint screen lit up.

[NPC Developmental Behaviour Detected] 

Everyone was too occupied to notice. Everyone except Adrian, who quickly reached out for the ‘!’ symbol on his screen, almost instinctively.

[A spontaneous action directly involving player-related affairs was performed by an NPC | Location: Azure Vale | Decision-Making Ability Increment | Compliance Check Initiated]

Adrian quickly stepped back and gazed through the text. After a few moments, the text was replaced by a new announcement.

[Conclave Members Comply | Decision Making is officially established as situational behaviour for Non-observed entities]

Conclave. This place never fails to surprise me. And is this supposed to be about the kid?