chapter 8

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the last thing i could remember before everything went black was that i was taken by IOI. Slowly I regained consciousness, in the distance I could hear voices. I just couldn't understand what they were talking about.

with enormous effort I managed to sit up straight. when I regained my sight I took in my surroundings. I was in a small room, the walls and ceiling were white. I was handcuffed and a helmet with VR goggles on. I started to hyperventilate. I was in a very small room and was chained up, not much of a stress relieving situation. I got up and the VR glasses light up blue. I logged in as my avatar (G/T). But instead of wearing my normal clothes, my avatar was wearing a white and black striped suit. It seemed like I was a prisoner.

A guard walks towards me. "Hey, newbie! Get to work." It didn't sound very nice but when I didn't listen to him he touched me with some kind of staff, the moment the staff touched me an electric shock shot through my body. The voltage of the electricity was so high that the muscles in my legs relaxed and I fell to the floor. "Get to work!" he shouted again. "Lay those charges every 6 feet. Keep it moving." I got up quickly and began to place the cylindrical objects 6 feet apart. It looked suspiciously like bombs. After placing a number of bombs, the guard walks away and I quickly hide behind a large broken stone. The guard started shouting at a person who has placed an explosive device wrongly. while the guard was distracted I look around the stone for a way to get out of here, although that was actually impossible because I can't take off the VR goggles.

I quickly got back behind the stone when another guard walked by. After a moment of silence, I swore I heard Wade say my name. Startled, I quickly looked around, but no one was there. After a few seconds I hear it again. "(G/T)."

"Wade, is that you?" I asked quietly so the guard wouldn't hear me. "Don't say anything, I'm tapped directly into your audio feed." He answered. The guard walked over to me and I quickly started working again, trying to move my mouth as little as possible, I ask. "How did you find me?"

"We got his password and hacked Sorrento's rig." He said. "Z, I have something to tell you." I said but Wade cut me off immediately. "Not now (Y/N) I have something to show you that'll get you out of there." I sighed, sometimes he is really stubborn. "The Sixers found the third challenge. It's on Planet Doom." I said. "And there's more, they just put a force field around Anorak's Castle I heard one of the guards calling it "The Orb of Osuvox," and the only way to take it down is from the inside." I explain. It sounded like an echo but I heard Sho confirm my story and explained the artifact to the others. "She's right. Level 99 artifact. Creates a magic-resistant, impenetrable barrier. No way through it."

Wade sighed. "Okay, listen, that's not important right now. What's important is that we get you out of the rig." He said. After a few seconds of silence, he continued. "All right, so I'm looking at a diagram of your rig. If you reach up with your left hand at 11 o'clock, there's a panel above your head." he explains. I quickly look around for a guard and when none was in sight I stood in the same spot behind the stone and reached up with my left hand looking for a lever that would release me. After a few seconds I find it. "Yeah, I can feel it." I say quickly to Wade. "Okay, there should be two release handles. Nine o'clock and three o'clock. Can you feel them?"

I now also reach up with my right hand and grab the handles. "Yeah, I got it." I said. "Okay, pull it towards you." Wade instructed. I did as he did and hear a click from the handles. "Okay, what now?" I ask him.

"inside the panel, there's a lever. Grab it with your right hand and slide it to the left. That should release you." I grabbed the handle on the wall and slide it to the left. A beep sounded through the VR glasses and with my hands I loosen the closing clip under my chin and remove the glasses from my head. "it worked. It worked, I'm out" I said. I take a deep breath.

"Wait, Wade, you're still there?" I ask quickly. "Yeah, I'm here. Where are you?" He answers immediately. I put the VR glasses away and quickly take the cuffs off my hands and legs. "Where's Sorrento's Office?"

"It's in the IOI War Room, two levels above where you are now. But that's not the way out." He said. "What's his password?" I ask. I sighed when he didn't answer. "Wade, answer me!" The rest spoke to him and after a few seconds he finally answered. "Okay, it's capital B-0-55-man-69. But, (Y/N), you need to go." I ignore him and say "You need to raise an army."

"An army? but (Y/N) you have to get out of there." he said, sounding very concerned. "Get to Planet Doom and wait for my signal. I'm gonna take down that shield." I opened the door. And before Wade can protest any further, I broke the connection. I carefully walk down the hall, trying to remain unnoticed. After a while I find the stairs and quickly walk up. Once upstairs I carefully look around the corner of the wall and spot Sorrento's office. I was just about to walk towards the door when it suddenly opened and Nolan and some of his workers walked out. Nolan looks very angry and was really ranting at the others. The group walks past me and into another room. I quickly walked into Nolan's office and started looking for a way to take down the shield. Finally, I decide to sit in the chair in his office. I know he controls his character in the oasis from this so maybe I'll find something here. A digital manual of the oasis appears and I start scrolling through it. Finally I come to the Orb of Osuvox. "Congratulations, you're the proud owner of the Orb of Osuvox, a 99th level magic artifact. Read these instructions before deploying. To turn orb on, off..." I click the Turn orb off option. And read through it quickly. "Utter spell within 10 feet of orb. Anal nathrak, uthvas bethud, do che-ol di-enve." I practice pronouncing the spell a few times until suddenly a live video of the oasis starts playing. It was Wade and the others on Planet Doom.

"Citizens of the OASIS. I am Parzival, first to the key. I'm here talking to all of you now because our future's being threatened by people who will stop at nothing to win this contest. Some of you already know this. And you've lost much more than just your avatars or your weapons. Some have lost their freedom. Some have lost their lives. And now...This. A force field. Around the third challenge. I only came here to escape the shitty hand that life dealt me. ​​But I stayed Like many of you. Because I found something much bigger than just myself, I found a cause. I found my friends. And yes I know it's kind of a groaner but... I found love. And I don't wanna lose that to this colossal douchebag, Nolan Sorrento." I feel myself starting to smile. Wade tries to encourage the players of the Oasis to fight against IOI.

"Ask yourselves. Are you willing to zero out for the OASIS? Are you willing to fight?

I am Parzival.

In the name of (G/T).

In the name of Art3mis.

In the name of Aech.

In the name of Daito and Sho.

We ask you to join us on Planet Doom! In the name of James Halliday himself. Help us save the OASIS."

After his encouraging speech, I hear footsteps outside the office and quickly hide behind the chair. Nolan and his team came back inside. Nolan set up his equipment for the oasis and while they were distracted I quickly walked out of the office.

As I walked out of the office I found myself in a flood of IOI operatives going to fight Wade's army and had no choice but to walk with them. We walked into the Sixers war room and I was sent to a platform to log into the oasis. When I put on the VR goggles I was greeted by the familiar login intro of the Oasis and appeared inside the castle. Inside the castle I had a view of the orb and saw several people guarding it. I open my inventory and grabbed a small drone with a microphone and piloted it towards the orb and cast the spell. Anal nathrak. Uthvas bethud. Do che-ol di-enve. The orb created a shockwave that destroyed the shield. And the battle on planet Doom began

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