Chapter 020: Delivered to the Door

Wang Bo wasn't sure if his guess was correct, so he thought he should log into the game to test it.

Of course, even if he guessed wrong, it wouldn't matter.

Because besides Anorak, there was another person who could modify the game's data and increase the difficulty of the quest.

That person was James Halliday's partner, Morrow.

The Oasis was developed by James Halliday, but during the development process, Morrow also contributed a great deal. He was James Halliday's business partner; without his help, James Halliday could not have so smoothly developed the epoch-making game, the Oasis.

So when the Oasis was launched, Morrow also had some GM privileges.

Throughout the Oasis, the only ones who could target Wang Bo, or rather had the ability to target Wang Bo, were the two of them.

"Friday."

"I'm here, master."

"In a moment, I'll log into the game. You hack into the game and take me to a place."

"Yes, master." Friday readily agreed.

Without another word, Wang Bo put on his helmet and logged into the game. A few seconds later, Wang Bo appeared in an ancient castle—the place where he had logged out last time, and also where he had been killed by the Blood Knight.

Wang Bo waited for a while, and a small robot appeared before him—it was Friday.

"Master, I'm in."

"Good. Now, take me to James Halliday's office. He replicated this office in the game. Find it and take me there." Wang Bo decided to confront him directly.

But the next second, Wang Bo's vision went completely black.

A few seconds later, Wang Bo found himself standing in an oak-paneled room. The vast space was enclosed by a white ceiling and earthy hardwood floors, with no windows and only one exit—a double-leaf door on the opposite empty wall.

An old motion-control rig stood in the very center of the huge room, surrounded by over a hundred glass tables arranged in an ellipse. On each table sat different vintage home computers or game consoles, along with controllers, joysticks, game cartridges, and discs.

They were perfectly arranged and combined, like exhibits in a carefully designed museum.

Around this ellipse were many exhibits, arranged in order of release date.

PDP-1, Altair 8800, IMSAI 8080, Apple I, then Apple II, Atari 2600, Commodore PET, several TRS-80 test models, Atari 400 and 800, TI-99/4, Sinclair ZX80, Commodore 64, all the arcade machines, and the PS and X-BOX series of home consoles.

At the end of the ellipse was an Oasis console—it connected to the equipment in the center of the room.

"Actually, you didn't need to hack in. If you wanted, I could have brought you here."

Just then, a voice came from behind Wang Bo.

Wang Bo turned and saw a tall wizard in a robe. He had a face more appealing than the real Halliday, wearing a high-end black robe with embroidered badges on both sleeves.

This man was Anorak, James Halliday's in-game character.

"So, the one who arbitrarily increased the difficulty of my quest was really you? James Halliday."

Anorak nodded. His appearance began to change, from the tall wizard into a slightly short, thin, pale middle-aged man, wearing jeans and a faded Bee Gees T-shirt.

"Yes, it was me."

This was James Halliday's true form. "I'm sorry for testing you this way, but I wanted to know if you were the person I was looking for."

"The person you're looking for? What kind of person are you looking for?" Wang Bo asked meaningfully.

James Halliday said, "I'm looking for people who have had the same experience as me."

"The same experience? You mean the experience of having traveled to other worlds, James Halliday?"

James Halliday was startled, then readily admitted, "Yes, that's right. I'm looking for travelers."

"Why are you looking for them?" Wang Bo asked curiously.

"I just want to offer them some help, that's all," James Halliday said. "Because I've been through it, I know very well that going alone to a brand-new world is not easy. If it hadn't been for a kind person who took me in back then, I might have died within the first few days of my travel."

"Later, I returned to my own world. When I had the ability, I thought I could help them. Although I can't send them back to their original worlds, I can help them live better in this world."

Wang Bo looked into James Halliday's eyes, and the other met his gaze openly.

His eyes were clear, without a trace of gloom.

Wang Bo couldn't help nodding and praised, "Having been helped by others, you want to help others in return? You're a truly admirable person, James Halliday."

The other couldn't help scratching his hair, seeming a bit shy. "I just did what I could."

Seeing his expression, Wang Bo recalled that this guy seemed to be a complete, socially awkward, older otaku.

The kind who never married his whole life.

"I can tell you, James Halliday, I am not the traveler you're looking for."

"Yes, I've already figured that out. Ordinary travelers, when they enter a new world, would panic, feel helpless, despair, even be lost. But you have none of that. Yet you know a lot about travelers. So I guessed you're not the one I'm looking for, but you must be the one they're looking for."

James Halliday said.

"They? You mean the travelers?"

"Yes, I mean them." James Halliday nodded.

Wang Bo recalled what James Halliday had just said and seemed to understand something. "So, you've met travelers who came to this world."

"Yes, I have." The other gave an affirmative answer.

"How many have you met?" Wang Bo couldn't help asking.

"Three."

Wang Bo couldn't help asking his cheat, "How many travelers have come to this world?"

[Three]

So he had met all of them.

In a sense, James Halliday was really a lucky star. Before Wang Bo could even look for the travelers, this guy had delivered all the travelers in this world right to Wang Bo's doorstep.

You're really something, you know that?

But the problem was, Wang Bo only wanted to play games, not to look for travelers.

However, since the other had already delivered the travelers to him, Wang Bo felt embarrassed to slack off. "Alright, tell me their identities and addresses, and I'll send them home."

James Halliday couldn't help laughing. He had guessed right—Wang Bo was indeed the one who sent travelers home.

Just like the person he had encountered back then.