I Spent 100 Days in the Metaverse

A digital rendering of the Golden Gate Bridge is shown with a futuristic city skyline in the background.

"The metaverse. Ever heard of it?"

Setting: digitally rendered San Francisco — bright, daytime

Text: ""the metaverse"", "ever heard of it? ;)"

A low-polygon avatar of Mark Zuckerberg runs in place, then gestures wildly and shouts.

"If not, click off of this video right now. Run as far as you can, as fast as you can, and never click on this video ever again if you care about your life at all."

Setting: virtual studio — bright, cool studio lighting from two large light panels

Text: "CLICK OFF OF THIS VIDEO RIGHT NOW"

The digital rendering of the Golden Gate Bridge is shown again.

"But if you have, welcome. Here's a refresher."

Setting: digitally rendered San Francisco — bright, daytime

Text: "welcome!!! :)", "here's a refresher :]"

A split screen shows a hyper-realistic digital city from 'The Matrix Awakens' on the left and a real-life photo of Chicago on the right.

"It's a one-to-one replica of the real world, all right?"

Setting: Chicago (real and virtual) — diffuse, daylight

Text: "Matrix Awakens Unreal Engine 5", "REALITY Chicago"

A digital avatar of Keanu Reeves speaks, then green 'Matrix' code rains down over his face.

"And the idea is that everyone you know and love exists virtually."

Setting: virtual white room — bright, even studio light

A shot of a white VR headset on a green table, then a cut to the narrator holding a small dog while wearing the headset.

"And a headset like this that costs way too much money. In fact, it costs more than my dog."

Setting: home office/bedroom — bright, natural light from a window

Close-up on the small dog's face, then back to the narrator smiling.

"Don't do this, father. That was me. I said that."

Setting: home office/bedroom — bright, natural light

Text: "don't do this fadder! :("

A letter board on a wall shows the challenge details.

"And I'm going to be spending the next 100 metaverse days in this headset."

Setting: home office/bedroom — bright, natural sunlight casting a shadow

Text: "METAVERSE DAY 1 OF 100"

A quick montage shows the narrator sitting on a toilet while wearing the VR headset, a mini-fridge full of meal replacement drinks, a coffee maker, and a holographic Shrek lamp.

"I've got everything I need to survive."

Setting: bathroom and bedroom — bright, indoor lighting

Text: "i have everything i need to survive"

The narrator taps the side of his VR headset, and the view transitions from a virtual desert landscape to a black-and-white, fisheye view of his real-life bathroom.

"And if I want, I can even tap the headset like this and see my false reality."

Setting: bathroom — bright indoor light

Text: "tap"

The black-and-white fisheye view shows the narrator walking around his room.

"My goal, become the most famous person in the metaverse."

Setting: bedroom — bright, indoor lighting

Text: "MY GOAL? become the most famous person in the metaverse."

A shot of the real Mark Zuckerberg transitions to his low-poly avatar waving.

"Because that person right now is definitely Mark Zuckerberg. Not for long, Marky."

Setting: unspecified / virtual studio — soft, natural light / cool studio light

Text: "MARK ZUCKERBERG (creator of metaverse)", "popularity rating: 100"

The narrator stands in his room, adjusting the VR headset onto his head with a serious expression.

"And as I took my last look at the real world, there was only one question in my mind."

Setting: bedroom — bright, natural light

The narrator continues to adjust his headset, his expression turning slightly worried.

"What if no one likes me?"

Setting: bedroom — bright, natural light

The narrator's expression shifts to a self-deprecating smirk as he continues to fiddle with the headset.

"Yeah, well, that's already true in real life, so."

Setting: bedroom — bright, natural light

He pulls the headset fully over his eyes, and the view switches to the headset's passthrough camera, showing a black-and-white view of the room as a door shuts.

"This is my reality for the next... 100 days."

Setting: bedroom (passthrough view) — indoor lighting, slightly dim

Text: "this is my reality for the next...", "*door shuts*"

The narrator stands in the middle of his bedroom, wearing the VR headset and holding controllers, looking around.

"My time will be spent in game as the man I wish I was in the real world."

Setting: bedroom — bright, natural daylight

A close-up of a male VR avatar with long hair, a beard, and a backwards cap. His popularity rating appears.

"Brian."

Setting: VRChat world — neon, purple

Text: "bryan :)", "popularity rating: 0"

The 'Bryan' avatar stands on a beach in a T-pose. Text appears listing his new 'perks'.

"Now I'm 6'4", confident, and not lactose intolerant."

Setting: virtual beach — golden hour, warm

Text: "bryan's perks - 6'4" (tall) - confident - not lactose intolerant"

The 'Bryan' avatar, now with tattoos, stands in a futuristic setting and gestures at himself proudly.

"I have a beard in real life. This is, this is, I look like this."

Setting: VRChat world — neon, purple and blue

Text: "i HAVE a beard"

A spotlight effect reveals a group of avatars cuddling in a modern virtual apartment.

"He didn't look like that. I loaded into my first Metaverse world and I was immediately baffled by what I was witnessing, okay?"

Setting: VRChat world - 'Just B Club' — dimly lit in foreground, brighter in background

Text: "day 1"

The view moves into a luxurious virtual penthouse where multiple anime and furry avatars are piled on a couch, while a golden stormtrooper avatar stands alone looking out the window.

"A group of like seven or eight people all cuddling each other, except for one guy in a Stormtrooper outfit."

Setting: VRChat world — warm, ambient light from ceiling strips and wall fixtures

Text: "the only one not virtually cuddling"

The camera, from the perspective of the narrator's new stormtrooper avatar, approaches the group.

"Yo, is anybody here normal?"

Setting: VRChat world — warm, orange ambient lighting

The golden stormtrooper avatar turns around and speaks.

"I think I'm normal, lol."

Setting: VRChat world — warm, orange ambient lighting

A spotlight focuses on the stormtrooper avatar's helmet.

"If I'm going to survive 100 days here, I need a friend. I need a BFF."

Setting: VRChat world — dim, focused spotlight

Text: "potential metaverse guide, friend, BFF"

The narrator's avatar (with tattooed arm) holds out a hand, and the stormtrooper avatar points at him.

"Accept my friend request. Whatever. I'm the only normal person here. Trust me."

Setting: VRChat world — warm, ambient light

The narrator's avatar opens a notification menu and accepts a friend request from the stormtrooper avatar named 'KlayViktor02'.

"Making friends here is so much easier than in real life. Look at that. I just clicked a button."

Setting: VRChat world — dim, with glowing UI elements

Text: "Notifications", "KlayViktor02 32a7 would like to be your friend."

A dramatic reveal of the stormtrooper avatar, Klay, with a pink, vaporwave background. His popularity rating increases.

"Klay"

Setting: stylized virtual space — bright, pink neon glow

Text: "klay", "popularity rating: +1"

The two avatars, one as the narrator and one as Klay, are in a narrow, tan-colored hallway.

"Call me Brian. Brian. Okay, come on, Brian."

Setting: VRChat world — soft, warm overhead light

Text: "*laughter of deception*"

Klay, the stormtrooper avatar, stands in front of a wood-paneled wall and gestures towards another room.

"Now the weirdest thing you'll see in this game, 100%, is there will be people that will just stand in front of mirrors"

Setting: VRChat world — warm, indoor lighting

The camera pans to show a large group of diverse avatars standing in front of a mirror, including the narrator's 'Bryan' avatar and Klay.

"Clay was right. There were 14 people just looking at themselves in the mirror in the metaverse. Who does that?"

Setting: VRChat world — dim, warm ambient lighting

Text: "(14 people looking at themselves)"

The narrator's 'Bryan' avatar flexes his arms while looking in the mirror. The shot cuts to the real-life narrator mimicking the pose with a look of exertion.

"Dude, my arms look massive."

Setting: bedroom — bright, natural light

Klay leads the narrator's avatar into a virtual bathroom.

"We need to change your avatar to something more like-"

Setting: VRChat world — soft, warm indoor lighting

A split screen shows the 'Bryan' avatar on the right and a real-life picture of the YouTuber MoistCr1tikal (penguinz0) on the left, highlighting their resemblance.

"Turns out my avatar is a direct clone of a real life YouTuber, MoistCr1tikal."

Setting: bedroom / VRChat — indoor lighting / neon

Text: "moistcr1tikal"

Klay, the stormtrooper avatar, gives a thumbs-up gesture.

"I mean, you could be a stormtrooper with me if you want."

Setting: VRChat world — soft, warm indoor lighting

A close-up on the narrator's face, visible below the VR headset, shows him with a wide, excited grin.

"Did you hear what I just heard? You can be a stormtrooper."

Setting: bedroom — bright, natural light

Two stormtrooper avatars dance energetically in a virtual bathroom, raising their arms and pointing their fingers in the air.

Setting: VRChat world — bright, with color-shifting effects (orange, red, pink)

The real-life narrator, wearing the VR headset, dances enthusiastically in his room, mimicking the avatar's movements.

"I'm having so much fun!"

Setting: bedroom — bright, natural light

Text: "*genuine laughter*"

In a virtual restaurant, Klay's stormtrooper avatar is frozen mid-gesture while another anime-style avatar looks on.

"Klay completely froze."

Setting: VRChat world — soft, warm indoor lighting

Text: "klay completely froze :("

An anime avatar with gray hair smiles and speaks as Klay's frozen avatar stands nearby.

"I think the, uh, helmet is restricting the blood to his head."

Setting: VRChat world — warm, indoor lighting

Klay's stormtrooper avatar has fallen to the floor, lying on its side against a small A-frame sign.

"Oh, Klay, he's on the floor."

Setting: VRChat world — warm, indoor lighting

The narrator's stormtrooper avatar runs along a virtual beach at sunset in slow motion.

"Yep, it was confirmed. We lost Klay."

Setting: virtual beach — golden hour

Text: "popularity rating: -1"

A first-person view of the stormtrooper avatar's hands and shadow on the sand.

"That was day five."

Setting: virtual beach — bright, daylight

Text: "day 5"

A montage of chaotic interactions in a virtual world, with avatars yelling.

"On day seven I tried talking to people and got so scared."

Setting: VRChat world — dim, indoor lighting

Text: "day 7"

The narrator's avatar plays mini-golf in a foggy, green virtual world, and a scoreboard shows a terrible score.

"Anyways, on day nine I played minigolf by myself, horribly by the way."

Setting: virtual mini-golf course — overcast, diffuse

Text: "day 9"

In a neon-lit virtual game room, the narrator's avatar looks at a notification menu showing an invite from Klay.

"Oh, wow. I just got an invite from Klay."

Setting: VRChat world — dark with bright neon glows

Text: "KlayViktor02 32a7 would like you to join them in VRChat Home: "its klay""

The narrator's stormtrooper avatar reunites with Klay's stormtrooper avatar in a virtual room. They are standing near a chess set.

"Brian! Klay! What's up, dude?"

Setting: VRChat Home — warm, indoor lighting

A letter board on a wall shows 'METAVERSE DAY 12 OF 100'.

"It had been a full week in the metaverse without him."

Setting: home office/bedroom — bright, natural light

Text: "METAVERSE DAY 12 OF 100"

Klay's stormtrooper avatar bends down and makes petting motions while standing over a virtual chessboard.

"Klay and I caught up over a game of chess when he started petting his dog in real life."

Setting: VRChat Home — warm, indoor lighting

Two stormtrooper avatars dance in front of a mirror in a modern virtual living room.

"Then we danced in the mirror. Klay called it shaky breaky."

Setting: VRChat world — bright, indoor lighting

Text: "shaky breaky <3"

Two stormtrooper avatars stand on a dock by a lake, surrounded by virtual ducks and other cartoonish avatars.

"On day 12, Klay and I just played with some ducks."

Setting: virtual park — bright, sunny day

Text: "day 12"

A stormtrooper avatar shoots a laser at a futuristic vehicle, causing a large explosion.

"So, day 13, we had a blast at a military base."

Setting: virtual military base — warm, sunset glow

Text: "day 13"

In a dark room with red and purple neon lights, Klay's stormtrooper avatar confronts the narrator's avatar.

"How tall are you in real life, Brian? Be honest with me."

Setting: VRChat world — dim, with red and purple neon lights

The stormtrooper avatar stands in the neon-lit room, looking conflicted.

"Do I lie? Do I lie to Klay right now? Do I tell him the truth? Is he going to like me if I'm 5'8"?"

Setting: VRChat world — dim, with red and purple neon lights

Text: "do i lie?", "I AM 5'8""

The narrator, wearing the VR headset, stands in his bedroom and states his lie.

"6'4"."

Setting: bedroom — bright, natural daylight

Klay's avatar reacts with disbelief, tilting its head.

"What? You don't look 6'4"."

Setting: VRChat world — dim, with red and purple neon lights

The narrator's avatar asks Klay his height, and Klay responds.

"How tall are you? I'm 5'10"."

Setting: VRChat world — dim, with red and purple neon lights

Klay's avatar gives a motivational speech to the narrator's avatar.

"You've come to the best possible person. Look at me. Mano a mano, stormtrooper to stormtrooper."

Setting: VRChat world — dim, with red and purple neon lights

Klay's avatar promises to help and then gestures for a hug. The two stormtrooper avatars embrace.

"And I will campaign for you. Come here."

Setting: VRChat world — dim, with red and purple neon lights

A young woman (Haley) enters the narrator's bedroom, seen through the headset's black-and-white passthrough camera.

"Hey. Whoa. I can see what you're seeing."

Setting: bedroom (passthrough view) — bright, indoor lighting

Haley hands the narrator a burrito wrapped in foil. The view is still from the headset's passthrough camera.

"I know. Is this my burrito? Yeah. Oh, thank you so much. Oh, this is so trippy."

Setting: bedroom (passthrough view) — bright, indoor lighting

The narrator explains he has to return to the game. Haley leaves the room.

"I actually have to go back to the metaverse and talk to my friend Klay, so. All right, well, I'll see ya. That's Brian to you. Okay, Brian."

Setting: bedroom (passthrough view) — bright, indoor lighting

A montage shows Klay's stormtrooper avatar talking to various other avatars, including one resembling Darth Vader.

"But Klay and I were on a mission. He literally went up to countless people telling them I was the king of the metaverse."

Setting: VRChat world — dim, warm ambient lighting

A small, simple robot avatar speaks to another avatar in a neon-lit room.

"Brian is the king of the metaverse, and he has a huge..."

Setting: VRChat world — dim, with red and purple neon lights

Text: ""BRYAN IS THE KING OF THE METAVERSE!!!""

An anime girl avatar in a red outfit offers to add the narrator as a friend. He accepts the friend request on his UI menu.

"Yeah, Brian, I'm going to add you. Since you're going to be famous one day. Dude, add me. I'm going to be the king of the metaverse."

Setting: VRChat world — dim, with red and purple neon lights

The two stormtrooper avatars are talking when one of them starts to glitch and fade, indicating a low battery.

Setting: VRChat world — dim, with red and purple neon lights

Klay's avatar is glitching badly, hands outstretched, while gasping for air.

"I can't feel my hands."

Setting: VRChat world — dim, red lighting

Text: "*gasping for air*"

The two avatars embrace one last time before Klay's avatar disappears.

"Brian, give me a hug before I go. No. Come here, my brother."

Setting: VRChat world — dim, red lighting

The narrator's 'Bryan' avatar stands in the neon room as another avatar (Vlad) announces Klay's 'death'.

"Klay is dead."

Setting: VRChat world — dim, with red and purple neon lights

Text: "klay is dead."

The narrator talks to the camera filming him, which is visible in the passthrough view of his headset.

"Oh, this is so weird. I feel like I'm actually in a video game myself. Stop watching me!"

Setting: bedroom (passthrough view) — bright, indoor lighting

A letter board on the wall shows 'METAVERSE DAY 22 OF 100'.

"This is frankly becoming crazier and more nauseating by the second."

Setting: home office/bedroom — bright, natural light

The narrator, sitting at his desk at night, orders a pizza on his phone.

"Yes, it's going to be for Brian."

Setting: bedroom — dim, warm light from a lamp

The narrator performs his nighttime routine, brushing his teeth in the bathroom, all seen through the headset's passthrough camera.

"First, I brush my teeth."

Setting: bathroom (passthrough view) — bright, indoor lighting

Text: "METAVERSE night time routine hehe :) <3"

The narrator wakes up in his messy room, still wearing the VR headset, and gives a thumbs up.

"Yay."

Setting: bedroom — bright, natural daylight

The narrator's 'Bryan' avatar is in the VRChat main menu, showing that no friends are online.

"Metaverse, day 36. We have no friends online whatsoever."

Setting: VRChat main menu — neon, purple and blue

A quick cut shows the avatar named Vlad, who previously announced Klay's 'death'.

"Yeah, that guy."

Setting: VRChat world — dim, with red and purple neon lights

Text: "klay is dead."

An avatar wearing a Darth Vader helmet asks a question in a virtual movie theater.

"I have a question. Who's your grandpa?"

Setting: VRChat world — dim, with light from the screen

A photo of the narrator with Dr. Phil is shown, with an arrow pointing to Dr. Phil.

Setting: photo — flash photography

Text: "i want this man to be my grandpa ok"

A graphic shows the subscriber count difference between Ryan Trahan and Dr. Phil, indicating he is close to passing him.

Setting: graphic — n/a

Text: "Dr. Phil 6.09M subscribers", "Ryan Trahan 5.88M subscribers", "ONLY 200K TO GO!!!!!!!!"

Hands are shown changing a letter board from 'DAY 50' to 'DAY 51'.

"We made it halfway."

Setting: bedroom — bright, natural light

The narrator, wearing the VR headset, holds up a large McDonald's delivery bag with excitement.

"I got McDonald's!"

Setting: bedroom — bright, natural light

A split screen shows the 'Bryan' avatar with a popularity rating of 18, and the Mark Zuckerberg avatar with a rating of 100.

"Again, the goal is to be the most famous person in the metaverse."

Setting: virtual spaces — neon/studio

Text: "popularity rating: 18", "popularity rating: 100"

The narrator eats a chicken nugget while wearing the VR headset, then points at the camera with determination.

"I'm going to throw the biggest party the metaverse has ever seen. Metta Bryan will be a household name."

Setting: bedroom — bright, natural light

The narrator's stormtrooper avatar invites several other avatars in a virtual lounge to a party.

"I'm throwing a crazy party tonight! It's private."

Setting: VRChat world — warm, indoor lighting

The narrator's avatar gestures to a large crowd of avatars that have gathered.

"It's invite-only. I'm giving away $100,000.00."

Setting: VRChat world — dim, warm ambient lighting

Text: "$100,000.00"

The narrator's avatar enters a chaotic virtual nightclub with flashing lights and loud music.

"Woo!"

Setting: virtual nightclub — strobe lights, lasers, bright neon purple and green

Text: "WOOOOOO!!!!!!"

The narrator, in real life, dances ecstatically in his messy room, mirroring the party atmosphere.

Setting: bedroom — dim, with light from a lamp

Text: "popularity rating: 82"

An avatar with the face of the 'Hasbulla' meme dances in the virtual club.

"YES!!!"

Setting: virtual nightclub — neon purple and blue

Text: "koi the boi"

The narrator's avatar points and dances in the club as lasers flash everywhere.

"YEAH! SHAKY BREAKY!"

Setting: virtual nightclub — intense, multi-colored lasers

An anime-style avatar with cat ears leans in for a kiss, and the narrator's real-life self recoils in his room.

"Oh gosh, hey, whoa, whoa, whoa. I'm married."

Setting: bedroom — dim, indoor lighting

The narrator sits on his bed, exhausted, as the party in the metaverse ends. His popularity rating is shown as +100.

Setting: bedroom — dim, warm light from a lamp

Text: "popularity rating: +100"

In a green, abstract room, the narrator's stormtrooper avatar reaches out a hand.

"One person. Where are you, Klay?"

Setting: virtual room — bright, green ambient light

Klay's avatar appears in the green room and gives a thumbs up.

"We did it. That was kind of the craziest party of the year."

Setting: virtual room — bright, green ambient light

The narrator's avatar confronts Klay's avatar, who looks down.

"Shaky breaky? That's your thing, Klay."

Setting: virtual room — bright, green ambient light

The narrator's avatar does the 'shaky breaky' dance one last time.

"I promised myself this would be my last shaky breaky ever."

Setting: virtual room — bright, green ambient light

The narrator's avatar is on a virtual beach at sunset, looking at an empty striped beach chair.

"I tried to run away from my emotions, but everywhere I look, I see like an empty chair. Really? That's convenient."

Setting: virtual beach — warm, sunset glow

The narrator, in his messy room, flops backwards onto his bed, still wearing the VR headset.

"At this point, I'm ready to be done with this."

Setting: bedroom — dim, indoor lighting

The narrator, in a black-and-white passthrough view, looks at himself in the bathroom mirror.

"We did it."

Setting: bathroom (passthrough view) — bright, indoor lighting

Text: "popularity rating: 237"

The narrator is back in his room, scratching his leg, clearly uncomfortable from wearing the headset for so long.

"Ah, it's so itchy."

Setting: bedroom — dim, indoor lighting

The narrator lies down in his messy bed, still wearing the headset, and says goodnight.

"Good night. I'm probably going to do one of those cool transitions."

Setting: bedroom — very dim, night time

Text: "good niiight :]"

The narrator's avatar stands in a snowy, Japanese-style landscape at sunrise.

"You are about to witness my final day in this headset, like Earth Day."

Setting: virtual snowy landscape — soft, morning light

The narrator, in a dimly lit room, slowly removes his VR headset, looking directly at the camera with a tired but determined expression.

"And for this to work, I finally got to take off my headset."

Setting: bedroom — dim, cool blue and green light

Text: "day 100"

A shot of a glowing McDonald's sign at night.

"Is that him?"

Setting: McDonald's parking lot — night, illuminated by the sign and streetlights

Text: "2 weeks later"

The narrator, now in real life and without a headset, sees his friend Klay in a McDonald's parking lot and runs towards him excitedly.

"Yooo! What's up, Klay?! How's it goin', bro?"

Setting: McDonald's parking lot — parking lot lights

The narrator and Klay embrace in a hug in the parking lot.

"Hey buddy, how you doing? Good to see ya!"

Setting: McDonald's parking lot — parking lot lights

The narrator holds up a chicken nugget while talking to Klay inside the McDonald's.

Setting: inside McDonald's — warm, indoor restaurant lighting

The narrator and Klay, in real life, perform the 'shaky breaky' dance together in front of a camera on a tripod.

"Maybe the metaverse won't be so bad."

Setting: unspecified room — bright, indoor lighting

The two friends walk out of frame, leaving the camera on the tripod as the final shot.

"Or maybe we just need to spend more time being ourselves."

Setting: unspecified room — bright, indoor lighting