<P> In the year 2044, the world has been gripped by an energy crisis from the depletion of fossil fuels and the consequences of global warming, causing widespread social problems and economic stagnation . To escape the decline their world is facing, people turn to the OASIS, a virtual reality simulator accessible by players using visors and haptic technology such as gloves . It functions both as an MMORPG and as a virtual society, with its currency being the most stable in the real world . It was created by James Halliday who, when he died, had announced in his will to the public that he had left an Easter egg inside OASIS, and the first person to find it would inherit his entire fortune and the corporation . The story follows the adventures of Wade Watts, starting about five years after the announcement, when he discovers one of the three keys pointing to the treasure . </P> <P> Teenager Wade Watts lives with his aunt in the "stacks," a poverty - stricken district constructed of trailer homes piled on top of each other . He spends all his spare time logged on to the OASIS as a "gunter" (a contraction of "egg hunter"), an avatar under the moniker Parzival, reading Halliday's journal Anorak's Almanac and researching films, songs, and TV series from the 1980s mentioned therein, as well as playing classic video games . One day, he realizes during a fit of boredom that the location of the first key is on the world of his online high school, in a re-creation of the Dungeons & Dragons module Tomb of Horrors . He meets Art3mis, a famous female hunter and blogger who had been exploring the place, but is then able to solve the puzzle first by defeating its adversary Acererak in the video game Joust . He is awarded the Copper Key, and Parzival appears on the "Scoreboard", attracting the entire world's attention . </P> <P> Parzival completes the Copper Gate puzzles by playing through the Dungeons of Daggorath video game, and then role - playing Matthew Broderick's character in the film WarGames . Art3mis clears the gate shortly afterwards, as does his friend Aech . His fame enables him to make a living by endorsing virtual products . Nolan Sorrento, head of operations at Innovative Online Industries (IOI), a multinational corporation bent on taking control of the OASIS and monetizing it, attempts to recruit Wade to assist them in finding the egg, only to be swiftly denied . In retaliation, Sorrento attempts to kill Wade by blowing up the stacks under the guise of a meth lab explosion; he barely escapes death, but his aunt and neighbors are killed in the blast . </P> <P> Wade lies low, taking up the persona Bryce Lynch and a residence near IOI headquarters in Columbus, Ohio . He briefly considers an alliance with Aech, Art3mis, and two Japanese gunters, Daito and Shoto, who have also figured out the puzzles . Instead, he and Art3mis progress in a friendship, but when he asks her out, Art3mis declines . IOI operatives called Sixers attempt to assassinate the two at the birthday party of OASIS co-founder Ogden Morrow, but are unsuccessful . Five months after the finding of the Copper Key, no one has made progress on the next clue, the Jade Key, during which Wade finds himself more isolated from both Art3mis and Aech . </P>

Who is playing wade in ready player one