James Halliday dies and releases a video announcing that whoever finds a hidden Easter egg in the OASIS will inherit his entire fortune.

Wade discovers a hidden clue in Anorak's Almanac revealing the Copper Key is connected to a Dungeons and Dragons module hidden in the OASIS.

Wade defeats Acererak at three games of Joust inside the Tomb of Horrors and receives the Copper Key.

Wade plays through a fully immersive WarGames movie simulation inside the First Gate and receives a clue to the Jade Key's location.

Nolan Sorrento reveals he knows Wade's real identity and threatens to detonate explosives at his home if he logs out of the chatlink.

IOI detonates explosives at Wade's aunt's trailer, killing her and several neighbors, after Wade refuses all of Sorrento's demands.

Wade uses endorsement money to move to Ohio, creates a new identity, and vows not to leave his apartment until the Hunt ends.

Art3mis finds the Jade Key first, and the Sixers immediately use a tracking artifact to pinpoint her location in Sector Seven.

Wade travels to Frobozz and completes the text adventure game Zork, obtaining the Jade Key.

Nolan Sorrento clears the Second Gate and obtains the Crystal Key, putting the Sixers ahead of every other gunter in the contest.

While posing as an IOI indentured employee, Wade hacks their database and finds footage of Daito's murder and plans to abduct Art3mis.

Wade escapes IOI, reclaims his real identity, and distributes the stolen Sixer data to his friends and major news channels.

Wade programs a supply droid to carry a bomb into the Sixer armory and detonate it, destroying the force field around Castle Anorak.

Wade activates the Ultraman artifact to destroy Sorrento's Mechagodzilla avatar, then runs inside Castle Anorak to reach the Third Gate.

Wade plays through the game Adventure inside the Third Gate, finds the hidden Easter egg, and receives Halliday's fortune and control of the OASIS.

James Halliday's death launches a global contest called the Hunt, sending millions of gunters searching the OASIS for a hidden Easter egg worth an enormous fortune. Wade Watts, a poor teenager from Oklahoma, becomes the first person in five years to make meaningful progress, finding the Copper Key and clearing the First Gate. The corporation IOI and its Sixers, led by Nolan Sorrento, resort to murder and intimidation to stop Wade and seize control of the OASIS. Wade outmaneuvers the Sixers by infiltrating their headquarters, hacking their systems, and releasing damning evidence of their crimes to the world. The final confrontation outside Castle Anorak becomes a massive battle between gunters and Sixers for the future of the virtual world they all depend on. Wade ultimately wins the contest, claims Halliday's inheritance, and steps outside to begin a new life beyond the OASIS.

Wade escapes his aunt's overcrowded trailer, climbs down the stacks, and logs into the OASIS from his hidden buried van hideout.

Wade and Aech meet in the Basement chat room and enthusiastically quiz each other on obscure 80s video game and pop culture trivia.

Wade discovers his school's football team is playing near the Tomb of Horrors and obtains a free teleportation voucher to reach the area.

Wade meets Art3mis outside the Tomb and lies, claiming he was beaten by Acererak, to conceal that he has already won the Copper Key.

Art3mis shows Wade the public Scoreboard displaying his avatar's name at the top, revealing he has instantly become famous across the OASIS.

Wade enters Halliday's childhood bedroom replica on Middletown, beats the game Dungeons of Daggorath on a TRS-80, and opens the First Gate.

Aech clears the First Gate the day after Art3mis, placing a second of Wade's close allies on the public Scoreboard.

Two new avatars named Daito and Shoto clear the First Gate in quick succession, completing what the world begins calling the High Five.

Sorrento meets with Wade via chatlink and offers him a lucrative job as IOI's Chief Oologist, which Wade flatly refuses.

Gunter clans pool resources to purchase powerful antimatter bombs and destroy the Sixer force field surrounding the Tomb of Horrors on Ludus.

Wade and Art3mis go on virtual dates inside the OASIS and share a kiss after watching The Rocky Horror Picture Show together.

Wade discovers an unplugged Pac-Man machine on Archaide, plays a perfect game to beat the saved high score, and wins a mysterious quarter.

Shoto meets Wade in the OASIS to reveal the Sixers murdered Daito in real life and hands over the Ultraman artifact as a gift.

Wade's team realizes the inscription above the Third Gate references the Schoolhouse Rock song Three is a Magic Number, requiring three keys at once.

Nolan Sorrento is arrested for murder after news channels broadcast the stolen IOI footage and Wade's recording of Sorrento threatening his life.

Behind the headline events of the Hunt lie countless pivotal moments that shape how the contest unfolds and who survives it. Wade's daily life in the stacks and the OASIS establishes who he is before fame finds him, and his early interactions with Aech, Art3mis, and the Scoreboard reveal the mounting competitive stakes. As more gunters clear the First Gate, rivalries sharpen and the Sixers escalate their aggression, forcing gunter clans to fight back together. Wade's growing bond with Art3mis and his accidental discovery of a Pac-Man Easter egg quietly plant the seeds for the contest's dramatic conclusion. Shoto's revelation about Daito's murder transforms the stakes from virtual competition into a life-and-death struggle for everyone involved. These secondary events connect the story's emotional core to its action-driven exterior, ultimately culminating in Sorrento facing real-world justice.

Key moments and milestones behind the scenes.

Wade studies maps of Ludus and deduces that Halliday hid the Tomb of Horrors on his school planet, intending a student to find it first.

Ogden Morrow appears on television to publicly comment on Wade and Art3mis's achievements, warning them against speaking to the media.

I-r0k tries to blackmail Wade and Aech for Hunt information and leaks details about them online when they refuse to pay.

Wade proposes a defensive alliance to the full High Five in Aech's chat room, but Daito and Shoto refuse and abruptly leave.

Wade confesses his love to Art3mis at Morrow's birthday party, and she tells him their contact must end until the Hunt is over.

Sixers blast through the walls of Morrow's virtual birthday party and Morrow retaliates by vaporizing the entire attacking Sixer force instantly.

Wade installs fitness lockout software on his OASIS rig that prevents him from logging in unless he meets daily exercise and diet requirements.

Aech sends Wade a copy of the Zork instruction manual as a peace offering, indirectly pointing him toward the Jade Key's location.

Wade opens the Second Gate inside a Blade Runner replica and plays through Black Tiger immersively, earning the giant robot Leopardon for his inventory.

Wade extracts a guitar hidden behind a waterfall in the Temple of Syrinx and plays a song that transforms it into the Crystal Key.

Wade manipulates a fake alias's debt records to trigger an IOI arrest, deliberately becoming an indentured employee to infiltrate their headquarters.

Ogden Morrow materializes uninvited inside Aech's private chat room and offers the group safe passage and physical protection at his Oregon home.

Wade meets Aech in person for the first time and discovers her white male avatar conceals her true identity as a gay Black woman.

Og tells Wade that Halliday was secretly in love with Og's wife Kira, a jealousy that ended their friendship for over a decade.

The Sixers' Cataclyst bomb kills every avatar in the area, but Wade's Pac-Man quarter revives him and he offers to split the prize with his friends.

Ready Player One turns on a series of pivotal revelations and decisive moments that repeatedly redirect the course of the Hunt. Wade's deduction about the Tomb's location and his later intuitive leaps about the Jade and Crystal Keys establish the pattern of insight that defines his path to victory. Key turning points — including Art3mis cutting off all contact, the Sixer ambush at Morrow's party, and the discovery of the Three is a Magic Number clue — each sharply shift the story's direction. Wade's bold choice to infiltrate IOI as an indentured employee, rather than waiting passively, reveals his growing courage and deepening commitment to protecting the people he cares about. The move to Oregon and the revelations about Aech's true identity and Halliday's secret love for Kira provide the emotional depth beneath the novel's action. Finally, the Cataclyst explosion and Wade's miraculous revival set the stage for the contest's ultimate and hard-won resolution.