Co-op Mode

Disclaimer: I do not own Ready Player One or any of its characters.

Summary: Set after the events of the book though their appearances will be that of the movie. Focuses on Wade and Samantha living together. Will contain lemons. ParzivalxArt3mis. Part3mis? Artzival?

WARNING! This fan fiction contains lemons, probably strong language, and is meant for people ages 18+. However, I can't stop you because I am just a warning message so read at your discretion.

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Chapter 0001

This story begins almost half a year after that night I won the hunt for Halliday's easter egg and gained control over the entire OASIS. But more importantly, it was the night I first met Arty face to face and shared my first kiss. Yet, it was over too soon and over the next couple of days things went back to the way they were during the hunt, each of us too busy working on things to really hang out. Aech used part of his share of the $240bil to host a high stakes pvp arena and was always busy maintaining that. Arty using her share to help solve the energy crisis, helping in charity. I never knew what Shoto was doing other than that it has made him busy. Then there was me, enjoying the OASIS in a very nice mansion, and top of the line everything. Despite what people might think, being the all powerful being that could do anything never got boring. I wasn't limited to what was already in the OASIS, I could create things such as a lifelike version of The Stacks or Joust. Still, it didn't quite fill the void that I was lonely, one that I longed for Samantha to fill.

It was late Saturday night and I was in the basement. My basement was a perfect replica of the chatroom that Aech had created aside from a large circle rug between the couches and the old school television. This rug concealed my main state-of-the-art immersion rig. It was in like a capsule and rose of the ground, lifting the rug up with it. It had a sectioned retractable cover so that nobody could potentially get their foot or hand broken when it was retracting. I could also stay in it and have it go into the ground so I was completely concealed. This wasn't really a safety thing as if anybody managed to break into the basement, my much more valuable collection of all Halliday's old games was on display and if anything those should be on retractable platform before my replaceable immersion rig is. Anyways, I was continuing to learn how to code better and working out the kinks on the 3D version of The Stacks. It was starting to get a little boring and the tedium of coding was starting to get to me.

I decided to freshen things up a little by spawning an NPC with no weapons near a flasher, which is recognized as a hostile entity. The npc kept dying due to it not knowing to look away. It went for a punch but then my attention was drawn to the video feed that someone was at my front door, who rang the doorbell several seconds later. The stranger wore heavy clothing (probably because it was cold and snowing outside) the obscured their face and prevented me from telling the gender. They also had lots of large objects at their feet. I quickly got out of my immersion rig, closed it down, and headed for the front door. I was quite suspicious of this person as the sensors around my property should have alerted me long before they reached the front door so I pocketed a stun gun just in case. I took a deep breath, trying to keep calm and be prepared for anything. The doorbell rung again. I turned on the porch light and then cautiously opened the door. My jaw fucking dropped.

"S-Samantha!" I managed to get out after an awkward silence.

She smiles, "Hi Wade!" she greets before stepping forward to hug me.

I returned the hug, a little surprised since the most we really did was kiss that one time. I very much welcomed it and took it as a sign probably she was still into me, at least based on how eager she was to hug me. She broke the hug off after a bit.

"What brings you here? I thought you were still traveling the country, helping others." I say, still a bit surprised.

"Well, I have done a sufficient amount of work, I would say, and I want to take a break from it for a while. I was thinking I would come to see you, m-maybe stay for a bit? You wouldn't mind having me would you?" Sam somewhat shyly asks.

My heart skipped a beat. Samantha wants to live with me? "N-not at all! Come right in, I am more than happy to h-have you." I stammer, "I can take your things to your room."

"Thank you." She blushes. I then proceed to pick as many bags as my hands could hold without breaking a hook like shape. She grabs the rest, following me inside, stomping on the doormat to try and shake off any snow. We go upstairs and then down the hall, to the 2nd door on the left, a guest master bedroom. It has a comfy king size mattress with the softest but very well insulated bed spread. On either side of the bed is a nightstand with a lamp on it. There is also a desk in the bedroom with a pair of haptic gloves and an OASIS headset, just in case quick access was wanted without wanting to get into the full immersion rig. Then there was the master bathroom which, like the rest of the room, was very spacious but plastered with pop-culture things like posters, pop figures, etc. I set her things by the foot of the bed while she does the same and also takes her boots off. She then searches around the bags, grabbing one, slightly see through, that looks to be full of hygiene stuff like body wash and etc.

"I am gonna take a shower, ok?" She said.

"Alright, are you hungry? I can make something." I offered.

"That would be really nice!" She replies with a smile.

I smile back and then head downstairs into the grand kitchen. Not knowing how long she would be, I decide to whip up something quick but easy to make taste excellent: spaghetti. I turn on some classic 80's pop at low volume and begin by heating up a large pot of water. Next, I put grease in a pan and begin to heat that up as well. While I'm waiting for those to heat up, I grab a package of noodles, several herbs and spices, a couple cans of tomato paste and several cherry tomatoes. I dice up the tomatoes and throw them in the heated up pan to begin cooking them. After a while, I add in some fresh herbs and a little bit of dried spices and place the noodles in the pot of boiling water. A little later of constantly stirring around the tomatoes, I dump in the cans of tomato paste and add some more herbs. Through all of this, I am trying to keep my mind off Samantha. The girl of my dreams is upstairs right now, naked, water running all ov- Keep it together, Wade. The water turns off and I start trying to finish up. About 10 minutes later, I set the table with the bowls and forks, and a small bowl of freshly shredded parmesan, just in time as I hear her door upstairs open.

"Wade, where are you?" She calls out as she reaches the bottom of the stairs.

"Head to right, around the corner." I reply back to her, "Would you like a drink?"

"Trying to get me drunk, eh?" She jabs as she comes up to me. She. Is. Hot. She is wearing a t-shirt with bra on underneath. The t-shirt has on it the cover art for Adventure. Her shorts are jean shorts which are purposefully ripped up.

Caught off guard by her beauty, I replied with a flustered look, "N-No, I was just thinking you might wa-"

"Relax, I was only playing with you." She giggled, making me feel even more flustered. "I could go for some rum."

"Su-Sure, I got that." I grab a bottle of rum for her and some hard cider for me and then proceed to sit across from her after handing her the bottle. She enjoys the meal and the bottle of rum, maybe a little too much of the rum, like maybe the entire bottle. Amazingly, she wasn't full on black-out drunk but she was definitely a bit tipsy.

"Alright, I'm gonna hit the hay." She said, standing up from her chair, stumbling a little. "Whew, maybe an entire bottle was not the best idea." She said as I quickly rushed to her side.

"I'll help you up the stairs." I smiled, putting her arm around my shoulder. We gradually made our way up the stairs to her bedroom door. I let go of her, opened the door, then turned to leave.

"Hey." She said. I spun back around to see what she wanted. She pulled me into a tight embrace, pressing her lips to mine for a long, passionate kiss. I never wanted that moment to end. She broke off, blushing hard but smiling. "Goodnight… Parzival."

I smiled back. "Good night, Arty." With that she closed her door. I headed back downstairs and cleaned up the kitchen, turned off the boombox, put the dishes in the dishwasher, and put my unfinished beer back in the fridge. I went upstairs into the hall way into the 3rd door on the right into my bedroom. I swapped into PJ's and climbed into bed, calling it a night.

End of Chapter 0001