Player 1

Chapter 42 Level 3(10)
"Let me be clear," said Artemis, "we help you through the third door, and you reward us with a bounty?"

"No, if I win, whether you help me or not, I will share the gains with you. So whether you help me or not, the choice is in your hands."

"Do you have time to write a contract or something?" Artemis said.

I thought for a while, then opened the personal camera control menu and started live recording.In this way, every viewer (now more than [-] million viewers) can watch my speech on a private TV channel. "Hello," I said, "I'm Wade Watts, or rather, Parsifal as you know him. Today, I swear in front of the world that if I find the Halliday egg, I will I will share the prize equally with Artemis, Edge, and Soto. I solemnly swear on the honor of the hunter, and I will never break this oath. If I break the oath, I will be like the 'sixth man' forever."

After the live broadcast ended, Artemis couldn't help shouting: "Are you stupid?! I'm joking!"

"Oh, this, I know."

I didn't say any more, but collected myself, cracked my knuckles, and flew into the door, disappearing into the sea of ​​stars.

0037
It was dark and silent.I can't see the walls or the ceiling, but there must be a ground, it has a down-to-earth feel after all.I waited for a while, not knowing what to do.Then suddenly a booming electronic synthesizer sounded in my ears, which sounded rather rough and primitive, probably from games contemporaneous with "Potter Q Genie" [144] and "Gorf" [145]. "Break the record or die!" the voice declared.A light appeared, and it shone directly in front of me from a very high place. In the center of the beam of light stood a slot machine.I recognized it right away: Atari's 1980 game, Tempest.

I closed my eyes and cursed, "Damn, I'm not good at this."

"Oh," I heard Artemis say, "don't you know that The Tempest must be part of the third door. So obvious."

"really? Why?"

"Because the last page of the almanac says," she repeated, "because I'm afraid that too easy an acquisition will make one look down on the object of his pursuit.[146]"

"I know that line," I said angrily, "Shakespeare said it, but I think Halliday wrote it just to let us know how hard the egg hunt is."

"Yes," said Artemis, "but this passage is from Shakespeare's last play, The Tempest."

"Damn it!" I yelled, "how could I not have thought of that?"

"I've never thought of this layer either," Edge said. "Amazing, Artemis."

“The Tempest game was also featured in the Clash video,” she adds. “Crash is Halliday’s favorite, and it’s hard not to notice it.”

"Wow," Soto said, "she's amazing."

"Come! Come!" I cried. "It's so obvious that there's no need to tell it!"

"I guess you haven't played the game much, Wade?" Edge asked.

"I did, but it was a long time ago," I said, "and it's not good enough. You look at the high score record." I pointed to the monitor, and the record holder was named JDH—ha again Liddy, the score is displayed as 728329.Also, as I feared, the number on the coin counter at the bottom of the screen just showed "1".

"Damn it," Edge said, "Does Halliday really think we are him, and he can pass "Black Tiger" for one coin?"

I remembered that I still had the obsolete life-saving coin in my inventory, so I took it out.But when I put it into the coin slot, it rolled out of the coin slot. I reached out to pick it up and found that it said on the coin slot: Tokens only.

"It won't work," I said. "There don't seem to be any money exchanges around here."

"It seemed like we only had one chance," Edge said, "to win all or lose all."

"Guys," I said, "I haven't played Tempest in years," I said, "it's so rusty, it's impossible to beat Halliday's high score the first time."

"Don't worry," said Artemis, "check the copyright year."

I glimpsed the bottom of the screen: CMLXXX Atari.

"An old version from 1980?" Edge asked. "What's the use of that?"

"That is to say, what we have in front of us is the initial version of "Tempest," Artemis said. "This version has a BUG. When "Tempest" landed on arcades, players discovered that as long as they die on some fixed points, Instead, the consoles give you a bunch of free credits."

"Oh," I said, a little ashamed, "I didn't know anything about that."

"If you have studied this game like I have," said Artemis, "you will know it too."

"Wow, girl," Edge said, "you've seen a lot."

"Thanks, this is an inherent property of the dead house."

Everyone laughed, except me.I'm on high tension right now.

"Alright, Artemis, how can I get free games?"

"I'm checking my diary." The sound of paper turning.She seemed to be flipping through a physical book.

"Do you have a paper diary with you?" I asked.

"I keep my notebook with me all the time, uh," she said, "which is a good thing, because now everything in my Oasis account is gone." Turning a few more pages, she mutters, "It's just Here! First, you get 180000 points, then die when the last two digits are 06, 11, or 12, and then you get up to forty free games."

"you sure?"

"Couldn't be more sure."

"Okay, let's get started."

I stretched my arms, pressed my fingers, and shook my head from side to side, doing warm-up exercises.

"My God, do you think Patsy can make it? I'm so nervous right now," Edge said.

"Quiet!" Soto said. "Can't you let him calm down for a while?"

Thank goodness they finally stopped making noise. "Ready," I said finally, and pressed the flashing single-player option.

"The Tempest" still uses the old-fashioned vector graphics technology, and the picture is constructed by a dark screen with bright colored lights in between.Players look down at the tunnel from above, and use a joystick to control their character - "sharpshooter" - to advance along the edge of the tunnel.Your task in the game is to shoot the monsters crawling out of the tunnels towards you, while avoiding their attacks and other obstacles.As the level increases, the geometry of the tunnel will become more and more complex, and there will be more and more enemies and obstacles.

Halliday designed the machine to be in tournament mode, and I can only start up to level nine.It took me a quarter of an hour to get 180000 points after losing two bloods.This sucks, my skills are more rusty than expected, and after the score became 189912, I deliberately took my last life.Then the scoreboard of the game popped up, and I nervously entered the three characters of WOW on it.

Press the end option, the game starts again, and the coins below show that I really got forty chances to restart.

The cheers from my friends were so earth-shattering that I almost scared the shit out of me. "Artemis, you are a genius!" I sighed.

"of course."

I started the solo mode again, trying to beat Halliday's record.The feeling of anxiety is still lingering in my heart, but it has been relieved a lot. Even if it can't be done this time, there are still 39 chances.

During the intermission, Artemis asked: "What is the WOW, O you typed?"

"O is egg, which means stupid." I replied.

She laughed. "Honestly."

"Owen."

"Owen," she repeated, "Wade Owen Watts, good name." Then she fell silent.I died again a few minutes later with a score of 219584, not too bad, but far from the mark.

"Not bad," Edge said.

"Well, it's not great, though," Soto said, suddenly remembering that I could hear it too, "I mean—well—much better, Parsifal, you did a good job."

"Thanks for the encouragement, Soto."

"Hey, listen to this," Artemis read her diary, "The designer of "The Tempest", Dave Taylor, got his inspiration from a nightmare, in the dream, he was killed by a group of people from the cave. The monsters crawling out of it." Then there was a silver bell-like laughter, I haven't heard her laugh so happily for a long time. "Cool, Wade?" she asked.

"Cool." That voice soothes my nerves, and I think the other person knows that, which is why she speaks in my ear.I felt full of strength all over my body, and started the third attempt.

They all looked at me quietly, and it took nearly an hour before I lost my last life this time, and the score stopped at 437977.

Edge's voice rang out: "Bad news, buddy."

"what happened?"

"We're right. When the big bang happened, there was a team of 'sixth men' waiting outside. Now they're coming straight to the third door. They—" Her voice suddenly dropped.

"What happened to them?"

"They went through the door in about five minutes," Artemis replied. "The door closed after you went in, but the 'Sixth Man' reopened it with their three keys."

"You mean the 'Sixth Man' is in the door right now?"

"Eighteen people," Edge said, "they entered their respective Tempest simulations, and like us, they also exploited the loophole to get forty chances to play the game. Personally fierce, I think it was Sorrento, he just started his second--"

"Wait a minute!" I interrupted him, "How do you know?"

"Because we can see," Soto said, "everyone who logs into Oasis can see them, and you."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

“As soon as someone goes through the third door, their live feed will be at the top of the score board,” Artemis said. “Obviously Halliday wanted to make the last door game live.”

"Wait, you're saying the whole world has watched me play The Tempest for an hour."

"That's right," said Artemis, "they can see you talking to us too. Be careful what comes out of your mouth."

"Why the hell didn't you tell me just now?" I yelled.

"Don't want to make you nervous," Edge said, "or disturb you."

"Good! Great! Thank you so much!" I was a little hysterical.

"Calm down, Patsy," Artemis said, "get on with it, the real game has begun, and there are eighteen 'sixth men' behind you, so you have to get it done as soon as possible, understand? "

"Well," I took a slow breath, "I understand."

I took another deep breath and chose single player mode again.

Competition always makes me stronger.This time, my mind was clear, and my hands moved like flying according to instinct.Slowly, everything in the world was thrown away, leaving only me and the game itself.

More than an hour passed unconsciously, and after passing the 81st level, cheers sounded in my ears. "You made it, man!" I heard Soto yell.

I moved my eyes to the top of the screen, 802 points.

But I can't stop, I also want to get as high a score as possible.Fortunately, Artemis cleared her throat loudly, and I realized that there was no need to continue the game.I've actually wasted several seconds of precious time.God, the "Sixth Man" is still right behind.I killed myself quickly and used up all my life.After the words "Game Over" appeared on the screen, I entered WOW again.This time, the new score was at the top of the record, ahead of Halliday.And then, suddenly there was a blank in front of my eyes, and a text appeared in the center of my field of vision:
Well done, Parsifal!

Get ready for the second stage!

The arcade disappeared, along with Parsifal.

When I saw things again, I was walking on a foggy hillside. I guessed that I was riding a horse, because not only the sound of hoofbeats came, but also my eyes were shaking up and down.On the opposite side, a familiar castle slowly emerged from the mist.

But when I lowered my head, I found that there was no horse under my crotch, but my own two legs.I was wearing chain mail, and my hands were clasped in front of me, as if I were pulling the bridle, but my hands were empty.

I stopped, and the sound of hooves stopped, but only after a few seconds of delay.I turned my head to look at the source of the sound. It was not a horse, but two coconut shells.The buddies in the back simulated the sound of "bang bang" by beating each other with coconut shells.

I know where I am now.Monty Python's Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

Halliday's favorite movie, and probably still his favorite.

Like "War Games" in The First Door, it's another synchronous film.

I’m King Arthur, I’m wearing a Graham Chapman costume, and the guy who’s slapping the coconut — it dawned on me — is my squire Patch, played by Terry Gilliam.

When I looked at Patch he saluted me, but said nothing.

"The python and the holy grail!" Soto shouted excitedly.

"Quiet," I suddenly forgot who I was and where I was, "I know, Soto."

A warning of wrong dialogue came into view, and my score was reduced by 100.

"Be careful, relax." Artemis whispered.

"If you want us to help, Z," Edge said, "hands down for a little tip."

I nodded and gave a thumbs up, but really, I don't need any help, I've seen this movie hundreds of times over the past six years and know it like the back of my head.

I glanced at the castle behind me and knew exactly what was going to happen there.I headed for the castle, continuing to hold the nonexistent reins, and Patch followed me again.When I reached the castle, I put down my horse and walked towards the gate.

"Who's there?!" I yelled.

Scores reverted to their original numbers.

Two soldiers emerged, leaning their bodies across the battlements. "Who's down there?" one of them yelled at us.

"It is I, Arthur, son of Uther Pandoragon of Camelot, King of Britain! Destroyer of the Saxons! Ruler of all England!"

The score increased by 500, and there was information that it included rewards for accent and intonation. I immediately felt a lot more relaxed and had fun.

"What about the other one?"

"Preparing to be introduced," I continued, "this is Patch, my loyal squire, and we have come riding in search of knights who would join the council of Camelot[147]. I will speak to your master and The lord here speaks!"

Another 500 points.Appreciation and applause from friends came from my ears.

"What?" another soldier asked. "By riding?"

"Yes!" 100 points.

"You have coconuts!"

"What?" 100 points.

"You have two coconuts, and you're still beating them."

"What's the matter? We set out in the snow and ice, through the kingdom of Mercia [148], and passed--" Another 500 points.

"Where did you get the coconuts?"

……

The plot continues, the scene changes, and I keep switching with the character with the most lines in different scenes.Unbelievable, I only forgot a half-dozen words during that time, but when it comes to this kind of situation, just stop, spread your palms - and Edge, Artemis and Soto will tell me what to say next what.For the rest of the time, they kept silent as much as possible. Of course, it is very difficult to completely control the laughter in such an absurd film, especially in the scene of the castle in Antlas, Artemis reads Carol Cliff I couldn't help snickering a few times when I read Lan's lines.The system deducted me a few points for this.Aside from these minor issues, the entire film is light-hearted, and getting a high score is a piece of cake.

Syncing this movie was a blast.

(End of this chapter)