Cyber Squad - Level 1

By: A.K. Mocikat

Narrated by: Zachary Johnson

Length: 10 hrs and 6 mins

Publisher's summary

Kai thought he had the best job in the world. Playing VR games for a living. Not if the games are trying to kill you. The Net is the last great frontier, a wilderness of data filled with mysteries beyond imagination. Bugs, a harmless annoyance in earlier decades, have become a deadly menace in times when gamers connect their brains directly to VR.

The Cyber Squad has been created to hunt them down. What used to be game QA in earlier times has become an elite, special force of the future, risking their lives to keep users safe. At first, joining the Cyber Squad seems like a dream job to Kai. He is paid well to be part of the coolest troop the gaming world has ever seen. But soon he discovers that the Net is a way scarier place than anyone would have suspected, and bugs are the smallest problem he and his team will have to face.

©2022 A.K. Mocikat (P)2021 A.K. Mocikat

Just listen to it!

Obligatory promo review - I'm glad it was given to me since I probably wouldn't have picked up the book otherwise and I'd be missing out on a lot.
This is an awesome story! It was intense and didn't exactly go in the direction I was expecting which was nice since I generally don't care for sci-fi. I loved the world building and all the imagery that came with it. The narration was smooth and at no point did it pull me out of the story. I was able to just listen and get lost in the story itself.
I honestly can't fully put into words how much I liked this book. I will be listening to it again and recommending it to friends. I'm excited to see if the second book will be fully narrated as well.

Best Lit RPG I have read

This series is right up my alley. The world is interesting and the characters are likeable/memorable.

So far so good!

Little different twist on the gaming world. MC is the typical nerdy kid that under estimates his ability and wants the hot girl. Progression on levels have been normal unlike other books that get fast tracked. Definitely want to know where it goes next.

A New Kind of LitRPG

Cyber Squad is different. I don't say this as a bad thing. Within LitRPG there are many established genres. If we had to put Cyber Squad into one then probably VR LitRPG would be the category. That doesn't do this story justice, however. Like I said, Cyber Squad is different. Instead of the game being the setting and the system, it is the backdrop here. Kai and company level and progress, but that all takes place outside of VR. This book is refreshing because it is such a different take on the genre. No one is trapped in a game or portaled to a new world. There is no apocalypse.

We find ourselves following a band of loveable losers trying to keep VR safe. Why are they doing that? They do it because it's their job. Everyone that is a member of a Cyber Squad is a high-level gamer. The top 1%. Kai is our everyman thrust into a job the is one part QA and one part police force. While it seems like it's a harmless gig on the surface, we find there could be nothing further from the truth. The stakes are real and so are the people. There is a giant universe out there and the general public knows nothing about it. That's how it has to be. The Cyber Squad holds the line because if the people knew what was really out there no one would sleep at night.

A note on the narration: Zachary Johnson is a treasure and brings this story to life. As good as this story is, he takes it to another level.

expertly written and performed.

Do not I repeat DO NOT sleep on this book!!!!!

cyber squad is a book that is placed in the future, where VR controls everything and that's about as much as I want to tell you because you need to experience everything else firsthand.

Excellent book

CYBER SQUAD - LEVEL 1: A GAMELIT/LITRPG LITE CYBERPUNK ADVENTURE by Anna Mocikat is a book about a man who gets the job offer of a lifetime: decoding bugs in a massive Elder Scrolls Online-like experience. Well, it's a lot better than the real thing since decoding in this world involves taking your avatar into the game and having them slay homicidal AI. Oh and if you die in the game then there's a non-zero chance that you'll go brain dead as a result. So maybe not the job offer of a lifetime except in the literal sense.

The basic story is about Kai living a fairly average but relatable life of a cruddy job at a Japanese restaurant and blowing off steam online between shifts. He doesn't have a girlfriend, his friends are dorky even by his standards, and his prospects are pretty dim. The chance to join the Cyber Squad happens after a chance encounter with one of their premiere team that saves his guild in virtual reality. Kai ignores the warning signs that his guild is a few members less in the next couple of weeks as it's all just a game after all. Right?

The story actually works primarily as a slice of life story with Kai taking the chance on a job application with the Cyber Squad. They look pretty badass online and it's not like he has much to lose my joining. Much to his surprise, he gets the job in and even getting in at the bottom level (Level 1 because the people at his new employers are cute) is twice his original salary. It also promises a lot more if he can meet their quotas and level up with Level 10 promising six figure salaries.

Kai is a likable enough protagonist and Anna Mocikat's real-life experience in the game development industry shines forth describing behind-the-scenes behavior. Kai's coworkers are a mixture of horny dudes, women struggling to be taken seriously, people doing it for the art, and a variety of super-pleasant corporate types who would rip out your heart without blinking. Okay, maybe that's just how I imagine the real life game industry to function but it's very entertaining to read. Kai quickly develops a crush on a number of the girls present but doesn't believe he has a chance in Hell.

There's a lot of humor to be found here as well as decent action. The whole premise of bug coding requiring you to actually fight it out with monsters doesn't make much sense but I think we all understand that it is a concession to drama. I'm not usually a big fan of LITRPG but I appreciate when attempts are made to make the leveling system make sense in-universe. The action is fun and the world-building is actually set up to become something greater. The ending of the book promises a good deal more in terms of the series.

Much of the book is set up for future volumes with none of the relationships moving beyond their early stages but a lot of groundwork being laid out. I think Kai is a good everyman protagonist and the way he adores his likely future love interest is fun but I hope he actually dates some of his other co-workers first. The supporting cast is also fun and the author gets a lot of humor out of one obsessed with marrying his video game character's spouse.

In conclusion, I recommend this novel and think if you like Lit-RPG then you'll enjoy this. I could have used a bit more spark between Kai and his girlfriends but I think that's destined to happen. It's got a lot of potential and I want to see how it all shakes out. This may only be the story to level 2 but it was well worth the money and I'm picking up the sequel when it comes out.

There Passion in the writing and acting

I unintentionally finished the story in a day the narrator brings the story to life.

great book!

I loved the book and am jumping into the second right away. the narrator did a great job. I thought the book started a little rough, but it quickly hit its stride. I first thought it was going to be another regular litrpg with a fantasy game, but boy was I pleasantly surprised. I really enjoyed the switch up. I hope other authors start branching out into other scenes like this. I can't want for more!

Cyber police?

Loved the new take on AI and VR. It was an amazing read with a good idea if saving the world of VR by battled rogue AI and bugs. Also loved how the MC has to actually recover and its not all just his character died and respawns. Theres real world danger for the dangers he faces.

Loved it

this book is a great book, I don't like how he falls in love with the girl as soon as he sees her. I don't like those love at first sight type of books, but overall. I love it