The story itself is quite independent with the only connection being some characters appearing in both games. You have to be quite thick if you don't understand VLR without playing 999. They try to draw your attention to 999, in case that you haven't played it, instead of spoiling it.
Now, the sequel to VLR will be much more tied to it's predecessor than the latter to the original game. At least, that's what it would seem seeing how VLR ended..
I agree, it's not vritual![]()