Player 1

Chapter 31 Level 2(10)
I took out the emerald key, which caused the personality tester to respond, and it popped out a panel with a keyhole on it.I quickly insert the emerald key and turn it.The machine vanished, and in its place a second door appeared, its edge gleaming with emerald.Like the previous door, the starry sky is shining inside.

I jumped onto the table and fell through the door.

This time I appeared in a dilapidated bowling alley, and the mess around it looked a bit like a disco.The carpet pattern is a bright green-brown turbine, and the plastic of the chairs around it was once bright yellow, which has faded a lot.There are no lights in the empty arena, and there is not even an NPC in the front desk and canteen.I wasn't sure where I was until I saw the bowling lane and the big words on the wall: Middleton Lane.

At first, all I could hear was the tinkle of the overhead fluorescent lights flickering on and off, and then I noticed another electronic crackle to the left.I glanced in that direction and saw a road behind the bar disappearing in the darkness.Above its entrance flashed three red words "Game Room".

Suddenly, a gust of wind roared out of nowhere and filled the bowling alley, pushing my feet across the carpet.I realized I was being pushed into the playroom, where there seemed to be a black hole that swallowed everything.

The wind sent me to the room at the other end of the passage.Out of the corner of my eye, I saw many familiar arcade machines in the mid-to-late 80s, including "Sin Warrior", "Thunderbolt" and "Great Melee".But I didn't stop there, but was pushed to a game console in the back of the room.

"Black Tiger".Capcom, 1987.

A vortex appeared in the center of the game screen and began to suck in everything around it: trash, paper cups, bowling shoes—anything that wasn't secured, including me.When I was sucked into the screen, I instinctively grabbed the joystick on the "Space Time Fighter" arcade machine.As the gravitational force continued to increase, my legs also floated off the ground, heading straight for the "Black Tiger" game console.

At this point, I grinned.It was the moment when the hard work paid off, and I had mastered Black Tiger a long time ago, back in the first year of the competition.

During Halliday’s reclusive years before his death, the only thing updated on his website was a simple looping animation.His character, Annora, is pictured sitting in the castle library mixing potions and reading dusty spellbooks at the same time.The animation loops indefinitely, until the morning of his death is replaced by the scoreboard.In that scene, there was a picture of a black dragon hanging behind Anola's back.

Hunters have spent countless hours debating what the black dragon in this image represents, or if it's just decoration that doesn't serve any purpose.But at least I was convinced from the beginning that this painting must have a deep meaning.

The Anola Almanac account of Halliday's early life: Whenever his parents started yelling at each other, he would sneak out of the house and ride his bike to the local bowling alley to play "Black Tiger" because the He only needs to spend one coin to pass the game.

In the sentence on the third line of No.230 on page 20, he said this: "One coin can make a person escape from a disgusting life and enjoy three hours of light. This deal is worth it."

"Black Tiger" was called "Black Dragon" when it was released in Japan for the first time. Later, in order to adapt to foreign markets, the name was specially changed in the US version.I believe that the black dragon portrait on the wall of Anola's study means that the black tiger will occupy an important place in this game, so I started to study this game, and later became as proficient as Halliday. Clearance.After that, I also replayed "Black Tiger" every few months to maintain my feel.

Now it looks like that effort and foresight is about to pay off.

At the same time, my hand holding the joystick of "Space-time Fighter" gradually lost its strength, and finally fell into the display screen of the "Black Tiger" arcade machine.

The surroundings fell into darkness, and after seeing again, I found myself in a surreal world.

I am standing in a maze.On the left is a high wall of gray cobblestones, on which hangs the skull of a giant dragon.The wall extends upwards, and as far as the eye can see, there is no heaven.On the ground are floating and rotating platforms, they are arranged together and extend into the darkness.As for my right side, there is nothing there but an endless void.

I turned around and found that there was no exit behind me, just another high wall extending into the endless darkness overhead.

Looking down at my body, I realized that Parsifal had turned into the main character in "Black Tiger"—the muscular barbarian in animal skins and horned helmet.The heavily armored gauntlet on my right arm is connected to a retractable chain that ends in a meteor hammer.After throwing the three flying knives I was carrying into the endless void on the right, another three identical flying knives appeared in my hand.Then I tried jumping, and found that I could fly up to thirty feet in the air, and then landed gracefully like a civet cat on the point where I jumped.

now I understand.What I want to play is indeed "Black Tiger", but it is not the 2D game that has entered the age of 3, but the [-]D real somatosensory version of "Black Tiger" designed by Halliday himself.

Based on my familiarity with the original weapons, skills, and enemy behavior patterns, clearing the level is a piece of cake.But it's a completely different game, requiring skills and abilities I'll have to rediscover.

The first door threw me into Halliday's favorite movie, and now the second door throws me into his favorite video game.Just when I was thinking about the hint, two large characters appeared in front of my eyes: Start!
I looked around, stretched and took a deep breath, then drew my weapon and ran forward, jumping platform after platform to meet my first opponent.

Halliday faithfully reproduced all the details of the eighth dungeon of "Black Tiger".

At the beginning, I didn't grasp the essentials of the action, and lost my life before killing the first boss, but after gradually getting familiar with the 3D screen (and the No.1 viewing angle), the state returned.

I kept going, jumping across platforms, grabbing, jumping and hacking, and dodging ambushes from orbs, skeletons, serpents, mummies, Minotaurs, and, of course, ninjas.Every enemy I kill drops coins, which are used in-game to buy armor, weapons, and potions, and each dungeon has a long-bearded sage who sells items (these "sages" apparently think that when monsters become A small shop in a pile of dungeons is a good idea).

I know there is no pause button here.Once you enter the door, the system will not allow you to exit halfway.Even if you take off your mask, you are still logged in.There are only two ways to leave the door: either pass the level or die.

Within three hours, I rushed through all eight floors of the dungeon, and in the end I almost got caught by the final boss—the black dragon.The shape of the black dragon, well, of course, looks exactly like the one on the wall picture on the wall of Annola Castle.I used up all the remaining health points, even the last bar of blood was drained, and finally killed it with the throwing knife before being swallowed by the dragon's breath flames.When the last blow was over, the dungeon turned into dust of 0 and 1 in front of me.

I let out a long sigh of relief.

When I came back to my senses, I found that I had returned to the game room, standing in front of the Black Tiger game console.On the screen, the barbarian was in a triumphant pose.His text below reads:
You have brought back peace and prosperity to our nation.

Thank you, Black Tiger!

Cheers to your strength and wisdom!
Then a strange thing - which I never encountered in the original - happened.The "Wise Man" of the dungeon appeared on the screen, with the following dialogue displayed above his head: "Thank you, I owe you a favor. Please choose a giant robot as a reward."

A long row of robot icons appeared below the wise man.I moved the joystick left and right, looking for the one I wanted among hundreds of different giant robots.When a robot is selected with the joystick, its details will be displayed next to it.

There are a few robots here that I don't recognize, but most of them are familiar.Iron Man 28, Mazinger Z, Iron Giant, Iron Man with a Sphinx, Space Dragon series, and of course, the Gundam series.Eleven bots are grayed out with an "X" on the list, and I can't select them.They must have been picked first by Sorrento and his men.

It looks like I can get a giant robot that can actually be operated. I have to think carefully about which one is the right one. It should be the most powerful and well-armed.But I stopped when my eyes passed Repparton. In the 70s, Japan broadcast a special film of "Spider-Man". What subverted the common sense of the United States and comics was that Spider-Man actually drove the super robot Repparton to fight against the enemy. After seeing this episode by chance, I fell in love with it Fascinated by it, so I decided to choose Leapparton, whether it is the strongest or not is irrelevant.

After clicking OK, a twelve-inch model of Repparton appeared on top of the arcade.I bag it.It has no instruction manual, and the item description column is empty.I'd better study it when I get back to the fort.

At the same time, the image of the barbarian protagonist sitting on the throne with the slender princess appeared on the screen of "Black Tiger", and the list of game producers began to emerge above his head.I watched with admiration as the names of the game's participating designers rolled out, all Japanese except for the last line:
JD Halliday introduces Oasis.

When the playlist ended, the screen went black for a moment.Then a sign slowly appeared in the center: a five-pointed star surrounded by a glowing red circle, the five corners just protruding a little from the edge of the red circle.Then, a ray of light overflowed from the screen.Soon, it turned into a crystal key.

My mood was agitated, and I knew what this red star was and what it represented.

I quickly took a few screenshots just in case.After a while, the display screen went black, and the Black Tiger Arcade turned into a door with emerald edges.

I yelled excitedly and jumped out the door.

0027
After stepping out the door, I returned to the Terry Building again.The Personality Tester reappeared in its former location.I check the time.Three hours had passed since entering the second door.The room was silent, and the replicant security guards should have disarmed the alarm.

I took the elevator back to the tarmac without encountering any obstacles.Vonnegut was still on the tarmac with the cloaking device turned on.I ran into the cabin, and drove the spaceship out of Eslennoth. After leaving the planet's gravitational circle, I immediately entered the state of light speed cruise. Vonnegut traveled through hyperspace and headed for the nearest star gate.And I opened the screenshot with the red star logo, then took out the Holy Grail Diary, and turned directly to the section introducing the legendary Canadian rock band "Rush".

Halliday was very fond of the rush band from a young age.That's what he revealed in an interview, in which he says that he designs every game (including Oasis) without the company of Rush Album.He often referred to the three members of The Rush—Neil Peart, Alex Lifeson, and Eddie Lee—as the "Holy Trinity" or "God of the North."

The Holy Grail Diary contains a hasty collection of all songs, albums, bootlegs, music videos, HD scans of cover art and intros, live concert footage, interviews with band members, their unabridged biographies, respective side projects and personal work .Skipping these, I turned to the album I wanted to check: "2112", the most classic sci-fi themed album in a hurry.

Immediately, a high-definition scanned cover of "2112" appeared in front of my eyes.The band and album titles were imprinted in the sky like red stars reflected in a babbling lake—exactly the same as the ones I saw on the Black Tiger console.

I made the window translucent and moved over to that screenshot.Two red stars perfectly overlapped.

The eponymous title track of "2112" is a classic seven-part harmony work, running more than 10 minutes, and the lyrics describe a group of nameless rebels in 2112, a time when creativity and self-expression became illegal.The red star on the cover is actually the symbol of the Solar Federation, and the Solar Federation is the interstellar oppression organization in the lyrics. Its controllers are a group of "bishops", who appear in the second part of the song.This section is also called "The Temple of the Lyre", and its lyrics reveal the location of the crystal key:
We are the priests of the Temple of the Lyre

Our great computers are all over the temple

We are the priests of the Temple of the Lyre

The mysteries of life are all in the temple

(End of this chapter)