Using a Book Cipher with the WordSearch numbers

I’m really enjoying trying to figure out the Past and Future Box clues and thought I would share an idea in case it helps anyone out.

In the movie National Treasure, they use a Book Cipher. Basically, it’s a series of numbers that represent which words to pull out of a book. For instance, if you have the number 115, then you count the words in the book until you reach the 115th word.

The coded WordSearch message said “there are five clues in this WordSearch”. What if the five clues are the numbers found in the word search directing you to do a Book Cipher using Ready Player One?

Three - “Age” Five - “where” Eleven - “were” Twelve - “doing” Nineteen - “contest”

In the write up to the WordSearch, he says that Halliday and Cline were born in 1971. He also says he “happens to be a similar age to Halliday and Cline”. That would make him 53 in 2024 when the book launched.

Somebody else on this sub also pointed out that the bridge scene in Monty Python references the numbers 3 and 5 as well.

Also, if you turn 5 and 3 into letters, you get EC which are Ernest Cline’s initials.

Anyway, hope this helps spark some ideas in someone out there. Happy Hunting!!!