Player 1

Chapter 16 Level 1(14)
Back in the mid-90s, when GSS was still called a social gaming company, Morrow lived with his high school girlfriend, Keira Underwood.Keira was born and raised in London. (Her original name was Karen, but she insisted on changing her name to Kayla after seeing The Dark Crystal.)
In her autobiography, Moreau called her "the ultimate geek girl," a fan of Monty Python, comics, fantasy novels and video games.After meeting in class, Moreau fell in love with her at first sight.He invited her to join his Dungeons & Dragons run (as he had done with Halliday years before), and she graciously said yes. "She was the only girl there," Morrow wrote, "and we all had a crush on her, including James. Kayla even got his nickname 'Anola' because she Said it was British slang for 'super geek'. I think James changed his character name to this to please her, or to let her know that he likes her. The opposite sex makes James very nervous, and Keira She's the only girl I've ever seen who can keep James from being tongue-tied, though that's only when he's Anola in the game. Jaime calls Kayla Lukoshia—that's when she runs a group character name."

Morrow and Kayla started dating, and by the end of the school year, and before Kayla returned to London, they went public and exchanged daily flings in emails.After graduation, Kayla flew to the United States, lived with Morrow, and became the first batch of employees of the social game company, in charge of the art department. (For the first two years, she was the entire art department.) By the anniversary of Oasis, the two were finally married, and Kayla quit her job as art director. (She's also a millionaire now because of her company stock.) Morrow stayed on for another five years before announcing he was leaving the company in the summer of 2022.At that time he explained it as "personal reasons", but in his autobiography written a few years later, Morrow said it was because "we are no longer in the game business", and he felt that "Oasis" had become some kind of terrible thing. “It has become a cage that man has made for himself,” he writes, “where men escape reality to seek solace in oases, without regard for a civilization that is collapsing.”

There were also rumors that Morrow's departure was due to his break with Halliday.In this regard, the two neither admitted nor denied.While their friendship lasted a long time, some inside the company say that by the time Morrow resigned, Halliday hadn't spoken directly to him for a long time.But even so, when Morrow left GSS, he secretly gave all his shares to Halliday.

Morrow and Kayla "retired" back home in Oregon to start a nonprofit educational software company, Halcyon Interactive, which provides free interactive learning games to kids around the world.I grew up playing them, and everything in the game takes place in a magical kingdom called "Halcyon World".It can be said that Moreau made me no longer an orphan in the slums. He taught me how to count, how to solve puzzles, and how to respect and love myself.It can even be said that Moreau was my first teacher.

For the next ten years, Moreau and Kayla lived a semi-reclusive life, living in peace and happiness, the only regret being that Kayla never got pregnant. In the winter of 2034, just as they were starting to think about adopting, disaster struck.Keira died in a car accident, and the icy mountain road where the accident happened was just a few miles away from their home.Since then, Morrow has shouldered the Halcyon Interaction himself.

He had been kept out of the public eye, but Halliday's death left him suddenly surrounded by the media.As Halliday's closest friend, he naturally became the target of people's inquiries.The troubled Morrow finally held a press conference to meet everyone's demands. This was also the last time he took the initiative to speak in front of the media.I watched this presentation many, many times.

Morrow began with a terse statement that he had not heard from or spoken to Halliday in more than a decade. "We had a falling out," he said. "I refuse to comment on that, not now, nor ever. In short, James Halliday and I haven't spoken to each other in over ten years."

"Then why did Halliday leave you his collection of arcade games?" a reporter asked. "If you weren't friends, why would he leave that stuff to you?"

"I don't know." Moreau's answer was simple.

Another reporter asked if Morrow would also join the Easter Egg Contest, because he knew Halliday well, so the probability of winning the championship was obviously higher.Morrow reminded the reporter that Halliday banned anyone who had worked for GSS and their loved ones from the game.

"Do you know what Halliday has been doing all these years in seclusion?" asked the third reporter.

"I don't know, maybe some new game is being developed. James is always doing this kind of thing. For him, making games is as natural as breathing. But I really didn't expect him to make such a shocking decision .”

"As someone who knew James Halliday best, do you have any advice for the millions of egg hunters? Where do you think they should start?"

"I think James made it clear enough," said Moreau, pressing his knuckles to his temple, as Halliday did in "Anola's Invitation." "James always wants everyone to love It’s what I love, but this time it’s a little wider.”

I turned off the online video and checked my mailbox, and the system informed me that there were more than 200 million unprocessed messages.Of course, they are all from unknown people, and I can deal with them later.There were only two marked emails, one from Edge and one from Artemis.

I opened Edge's first.It's video mail, and his face fills almost the entire window. "Fuck!" he yelled, "This is so fake! You're already past the first fucking door and you're not calling me? Call me now! Right now! Right now!"

I thought about calling Edge again in a few days, but quickly dismissed the idea.I need someone to talk to about these days, and Edge is my best friend.If I could trust anyone, it was him.

He immediately connected to the video connection and appeared in another window in front of me. "Son of a son of a bitch!" he yelled, "You can fucking pretend! When did you get so smart?"

"Hey," I pretended to be ignorant, "what's the matter?"

"What's wrong? What's wrong? You know what? I have a friend whose name is number one on the scoreboard!" He leaned over and covered the entire camera with his mouth and yelled, "You fucking want to hear something else News!"

I smiled, "I'm sorry, it took me so long to call you, I just couldn't bear it after staying up late."

"Eat shit, you stay up late!" He said, "Fuck! You are still so calm! Are you a fucking dick? Legend of legend! Fuck your sister! Passy!" He suddenly turned to I bowed, "The little one really has blind eyes!"

"Come on please? It's nothing. I haven't won anything—"

"Nothing?!" he yelled, "No, what, what? You're kidding me? You're fucking amazing, Patsy! The first hunter ever to get a brass key! Or the first The first one to pass through the first door! You are electricity, you are light, you are the only myth! Got it, idiot?"

"Don't, don't do this, I'm going crazy."

"Have you read the news? Hunter.com is crazy! Oasis is crazy! The whole world is crazy! Everyone is talking about you, my dear friend."

"I know, hey, I didn't mean not to tell you, I'm sorry I haven't called you back—"

"Fuck off!" He rolled his eyes, "I would do the same thing if I were you. This is the rule of the game, but—" His voice suddenly became serious, "I'm curious that Artemis is following your ass What happened after that. Everyone thinks you're in a gang, but I know it's bullshit. What the hell happened? You're being followed?"

I shook my head, "That's not the case. She found the key more than a month ago, but never got it." I was silent for a while, "I can't go into details, if you—you know—"

Edge raised his hands, "Don't worry, I didn't mean to let you betray the news, I'm a free hunter, and I know how to respect myself." He suddenly smiled, his big white teeth almost took up half of the window, "Speaking of which, Do you know where I am now?"

He adjusted the camera to reveal the background behind him—the hill looked familiar, but in fact, I just went there yesterday.

My jaw dropped in shock, "Damn—?"

"Uh, when I saw your name on the screen that night, I thought you were poor and had no money to go elsewhere. The brass key must be hidden near Ludus, or even on Ludus."

"Nice job!" I sincerely admired.

"Not really, it took me a few hours to figure out how to compare Tomb of Horrors and Ludus' map, but after that all doubts were cleared up."

"Congratulations."

"Well, thanks for pointing me in the right direction." He glanced back at the grave. "I've been looking for the key for years, and it's right behind my ass! I'm so fucking retarded."

"You're not stupid," I said, "at least you've solved the mystery of the poem alone, or you wouldn't have thought of the Tomb of Terror, would you?"

"Aren't you laughing at me?" he said. "I figured this out by analyzing your movements."

I shook my head, "No way, I would think the same way."

"Well, even so, I owe you a favor."

I nodded towards the grave behind him, "Have you ever been inside?"

"Well, I went in there, but the tomb is empty. Your friend Artemis cleared the entire area early this morning. Now I'm waiting to refresh."

"Artemis and I don't know each other well. She showed up just a few minutes after I got the key."

"Have you PKed?"

"No, this cemetery prohibits PVP." I glanced at the time, "You still have hours to kill."

"Well, I've been working on that Dungeons and Dragons mod, and the more detailed the preparation, the better, do you have anything else to say?"

"No."

"But I do." He was silent for a moment, "Hey, I have to ask you something, does anyone at your school know your character name?"

"No, even the teacher. I have been careful not to leak the news."

"Very well," he said, "me too. But the trouble is, the hunters who frequent the basement know that we go to school in Luders, and they might relate to it, and besides, I'm particularly worried about one person."

I panicked a little: "I-Lock?"

Edge nodded, "When you appeared on the scoreboard, he kept calling me and asking me what I knew. Of course, I fooled him, but if my name also appeared on the scoreboard On the road, this guy will probably go out and spread the word, telling everyone we meet that we go to school in Luders."

"Fuck!" I yelled, "that brass key is known to all."

I sighed, "You'd better get the copper key before anyone else."

"I will," he held up the "Tomb of Terror" model book in his hand, "Now, I have to study this book over and over again."

"Good luck, Edge," I said. "Call me when you're through the door."

"I don't know if I can—"

"You can do it, trust me. After that, let's meet again in the basement."

"That's right, buddy."

He waved to hang up, but I opened my mouth and added, "Remember, before midnight."

He frowned for a moment, then smiled. "Got it," he said, "thanks, buddy."

"good luck."

The video disappeared.I don't know if Edge and I can maintain our friendship in the future. We are both free hunters acting alone, which also means that we will become competitors.Maybe one day I'll even regret helping him today.

I put all of that to the back of my mind, and then opened Artemis' email.

Dear Parsifal:
congratulation!You're a big celebrity now, like I said, huh?Of course, I was also thrown into the spotlight.Is there any feeling of sympathy?

Thanks for that tip, you are right.But don't think I owe you anything, handsome.

That door is amazing, isn't it?It's completely different from what I imagined. It would be great if the film was "Genius Strikes Back", but I have no choice.

Halliday's puzzles are so confusing, how long do you think it will take us to solve them all? 15 years?

Well, I just wanted to say that it was an honor to meet you.Hope we can meet again.

Yours sincerely,

Artemis

PS: Enjoy the taste of No.1, I don't think this good time will last too long.

I watched it a few more times, giggled like an idiot, and started writing back:

Artemis:
Congratulations.You said that competition makes you stronger, and you are absolutely right.

As for the reminder, thank you.But you still owe me a favor hahahaha.

The new puzzles are a piece of cake, and I've already solved them.How about you?
If you want to chat anytime, just come to me.

MTFBWYA [73].

Parsifal
PS: Want to challenge me?You are far from class yet.

After a few revisions, I clicked send and started working on the emerald puzzle.I analyzed the poem word by word, but I couldn't concentrate. No matter how hard I tried, the figure of Artemis always appeared in my mind.

0013
Edge went through the first door early the next morning.

His name appeared in the third place on the scoreboard, with a score of 108000. The score bonus for obtaining the brass key was 1000 less than that of Artemis, but the score for the first door remained unchanged at 100000.

I went back to campus, and I didn't call in sick because I was worried that my truancy would draw the attention of the school.It was only when I got to the school gate that I realized that I had nothing to worry about, because of the resurgence of Halliday fever, half the students and teachers did not show up for class today.Walking around the campus, which is much quieter than usual, I have a strange feeling: I am like Clark Kent or Peter Parker[74]. Big jump.

That afternoon, Edge and I received an email from I-Rock, blackmailing us: If he doesn't tell him where the brass key and the first door are, he'll spread all known information on every hunter site .After we turned him down, this grandson literally started telling everyone we were Luders students, of course he had no way of proving he really knew us because hundreds of hunters had already said they were our buddies up.Edge and I hoped that no one would heed his words, but it didn't work, and soon at least two hunters discovered the connection between Ludus, poetry, and the Tomb of Terror. On the day I-Rock got wind of it, "Daito" appeared in fourth place on the scoreboard, and 15 minutes later, "Soto" appeared in fifth place.Somehow, they got the brass key on the same day.And a few hours later, they even got [-] points for the first door at the same time.

I've never heard of these two people before, but just by looking at their names, I know that they are a team. They are not partners, but they belong to the same guild. "Soto" and "Daito" mean short and long swords used by Japanese samurai respectively. Nicknames for them.

I've only been on the scoreboard for four days, and I've been followed by a ton of new names. On average, one person is added to the list every day. Secrets are no longer secrets.Fortunately, I have earned enough credits, and I can go to school every day to work without any effort, and focus on finding easter eggs.I've been thinking about the Emerald Puzzle every class, what's the truth about it?

The captain hides the emerald key
it is stored in the forgotten place
only after collecting trophies

Only then can we blow the whistle on the other side

(End of this chapter)