If you do something because the majority of novels also do it, question it. Reassess it. Is it really needed? Is there a better way to do it? Doing so will force you step outside the norm and thus add some unique elements into your work, at the least.
----- Example
[You have lost 10 hp.]
----- Notes
First off, this issue is a bit different. The issue is that there's a ping to the player whenever/everytime their health drops, not that the writer writes said ping. You can write about the ping as long as it's done in moderation, what we're focusing on here is the ping itself.
Every MMO I've played never had an hp alert for low hp, not to mention when something hit. All it had were some hp bars and it relied on the user's skill to notice and keep track of it.
It's the same for MMMORPGs except the numbers are optional and there's a log of what lead to your death if you died. Most people turn the numbers off because it floods the screen, so imagine being flooded with system messages to the point you can't see anything (idea for an attack by the way).
If you yeet this aspect into VRMMO and VRMMORPGs, then most players would forget that it's a game since they wouldn't have the constant reminder of it.
How do you keep track of hp then? Just like other MMOs. Then write the "damage" like other action scenes that don't take place in VRMMO. If you do it well enough, your readers will forget it's a VRMMO too and it'll add to the atmosphere; bonus points for using this as a critical point in an arc.
If that's to difficult for you, just have your mc or another char keep the hp bar in the corner of their eyes, those are basic skills anyways. Our eyes, especially a gamer's, are naturally attracted to motion. More so if it's fast. So an attack that would hit for half the hp bar, or even a quarter, would catch the player's eyes instantly.
It would also open up a new trolling and skill avenue since you would have to play while keeping the hp bar in mind but the hyper-realistic game style makes it hard. Then you'd have players who ignore or just turn it off and immerse themselves completely into the game and go with the feel.
See? All that good content just for tossing out something minor.