She laughed. "You're insane."
I sat in my hideout, playing Halliday's favorite movie for the 147th time: Monty Python and the Holy Grail . Aech had given up on this clue. "It's a dead end, Wade. He wouldn't hide a key in a comedy."
"The high ground's taken," Art3mis said, drawing her katana.
I called Art3mis. Her real name was Samantha. She lived in Canada. She picked up on the first ring. ready-player-one
Now it was the Third Key. The one no one could find.
All ten thousand of them. Led by Sorrento's avatar, a black knight with a burning crown.
The Second Gate was a Blade Runner cityscape. The key was hidden in a replicant's locket. I had to recite Roy Batty's "tears in rain" monologue perfectly while dodging spinner cars. My throat was dry, my heart hammering against my ribs. She laughed
And somewhere in the OASIS, on a forgotten server, a 1980s van flickered to life. Its radio played "Rebel Yell" by Billy Idol. And inside, two avatars held hands, watching the sun rise over a digital world that had just become worth saving.
Six months later, I wasn't alone. Art3mis, a red-haired assassin with a chip on her shoulder, found the Second Key an hour after me. Aech, my best friend, found it a day later. Then Daito and Shoto—the Japanese brothers who moved as one.
But my bank account now had $240 billion in it. And more importantly—I had a list. Every player who'd fought beside me. Every gunter who'd bled pixels. "It's a dead end, Wade
"You don't understand," I said, bleeding pixels. "Halliday didn't want a warrior. He wanted a friend."
I held up a quarter—the same quarter Halliday had used to play Pac-Man for the first time. It wasn't a weapon. It was a token.
Behind me, the sky filled with avatars. Art3mis. Aech. Daito and Shoto. And then hundreds. Thousands. Millions.
He handed me a single golden contract. The deed to the OASIS.