Ready Player One

Aech clears the First Gate the following day. Wade returns to school, where many of the students and staff are missing due to renewed interest in the Hunt. I-r0k tries to blackmail Aech and Wade into telling him what they know. When they refuse, he posts information about them online.

Two more avatars, Daito and Shoto, clear the First Gate. Wade puzzles over the Jade Key, unable to make any headway on the riddle. He also spends his time sorting through the millions of emails he’s received: “Letters of congratulation. Pleas for help. Death threats. Interview requests” (130). Along with fan mail, Wade receives endorsement offers, which he accepts on the condition that his true identity remains hidden. He calculates that if he lives “frugally” he will “have enough to move out of the stacks and rent a small efficiency apartment somewhere” (131).

Wade finds 5,000 copies of the same email from IOI, demanding that he contact them immediately. Their message indicates that they want to recruit or bribe Wade. He decides to meet with them out of curiosity.  

Wade connects to IOI via chatlink, where he meets with Nolan Sorrento, chief of operations. The planet where IOI is located is “covered with armories, bunkers, warehouses, and vehicle hangars” as well as “gleaming gunships, spacecraft, and mechanized battle tanks” (136). Sorrento attempts to intimidate Wade, but Wade plays cool.

Sorrento explains that their system is set up so that if an IOI avatar encounters an obstacle they need help with, control is transferred to another team member who has the needed skill. Wade points out that this is basically cheating. Sorrento offers Wade a job as Chief oologist (egg hunter) with his own office, a huge salary, and benefits. He claims that IOI is “going to make the OASIS a better place” (139).

Wade plays along, saying he’ll work for IOI for money, Sorrento’s job, and if Sorrento is fired. Sorrento tells Wade that his superiors will agree to Wade’s conditions. Wade finally tells Sorrento that IOI can “fuck a duck” (141). Sorrento offers to give Wade money in exchange for a walkthrough up to the First Gate. Again, Wade refuses. Sorrento tells Wade he has one final proposal and reveals that he knows who Wade is and where he lives in the real world. 

Sorrento tells Wade that his trailer is wired with explosives, and if he logs out, Sorrento will detonate them. Wade considers complying, but can’t determine “a single good reason” why they would let him live either way (144). Wade tells Sorrento that he’s going to lose and logs out of the chatlink. The Sixers blow up Wade’s aunt’s trailer, killing her and many others. Wade tries to decide what to do next. 

Logging back into the OASIS, Wade sees a squadron of Sixer gunships hovering over Ludus. Aech calls Wade, and Wade warns Aech about the threat from IOI and the Sixers. He proposes that they meet with the others in the top five, now referred to as the High Five. Art3mis, Daito, and Shoto all arrive in Aech’s chat room. Art3mis tells them that the Sixers found the Tomb of Horrors and have placed a force field around it which prevents anyone else from getting inside.

Wade speaks about his encounter with Sorrento, the Sixers’ attempt on his life, and how they cheat in the OASIS. Daito and Shoto take offense to the suggestion that the High Five should form an alliance and leave the chat room. The others agree that “there’s no point in discussing an alliance” (158). When Art3mis leaves, Aech tells Wade that his crush on her is obvious. 

The Sixers begin clearing the First Gate. The school system abandons Ludus and inhabits a new planet to avoid the influx of gunters. Gunter clans attack the Sixer force field, but they fail to make headway until they purchase “two very expensive, very powerful antimatter bombs” that take it down and allow other gunters to try their hand against Acererak (162).

The Sixers planted drug equipment at the explosion site, so no one investigates the murders of Wade’s aunt and neighbors. Wade receives his first endorsement check and immediately buys a ticket to Columbus, Ohio where GSS’s servers are headquartered. Wade uses his new money and clout to create a new identity by deleting his fingerprints, retinal patterns, and other personal information. He finds an apartment to rent where he can focus on the Hunt. Wade vows not to step outside again he has completed his “quest” (166).