Ready Player One: Level Three: 0037 Summary & Analysis

Wade is standing in totally dark, empty space, when suddenly he sees a coin-operated arcade game appear before him: the 1980 game Tempest. Wade admits that it’s not his “best game,” and Art3mis chastises him for not realizing that Tempest would feature in the Third Gate, considering that a quote from Shakespeare’s The Tempest appears on the last page of Anorak’s Almanac. There is only one name on Tempest’s high score: JDH, the initials of James Donovan Halliday. Wade realizes with dread that he will only have one chance to beat Halliday’s high score.

As Wade is freaking out, Art3mis tells him not to panic. The game was made in 1980 and features a bug which means if a player dies with a certain score, they get free credits. Art3mis takes out her notes and tells Wade exactly how to exploit this bug. Wade follows her instructions and he is awarded 40 free credits. He triumphantly declares that Art3mis is “a genius.” The game continues to go well, but then Art3mis informs Wade that a bunch of other Sixers have managed to get through the Third Gate and are now playing Tempest too. She reveals that every OASIS user is able to see them as well as Wade himself, something she previously didn’t mention in order to prevent him from becoming too nervous.

Although he is nervous, Wade’s inner competitiveness gives him a powerful edge. On Level 81, he hears Shoto shout: “You did it, man!” Wade exits the game and sees a message appear that tells him to “prepare for stage 2.” Wade materializes on a hillside with a castle in the distance, and quickly realizes he is inside the 1975 film Monty Python and the Holy Grail. It is another Flicksync, and Wade feels confident, as he has watched the film 157 times and knows it by heart. Although he has to switch to a different character in each scene, he barely makes any mistakes. The only tricky part is not laughing at the jokes.

Aech warns Wade that three Sixers are now inside the Holy Grail Flicksync too. Wade completes the film, and is greeted with the message that he has “reached the end,” followed by the words: “Ready Player 1.” He materializes inside a giant oak-paneled room filled with computers and videogame systems arranged  museum-style. He realizes it is a replica of Halliday’s office. He looks around, concluding that the computers are in an egg shape and that the egg is surely hidden somewhere in this room.