This is an unusual statement from Halliday, whose reality was OASIS, and who never seemed to have found any sort of happiness in the real world at all. Halliday's actions lead us to believe that he would choose OASIS over "reality" any day.

If Wade himself can't achieve eternal life (and who knows, maybe he can with his zillions of dollars), at least his avatar is immortal. Except, if there's no one left to control it, does it technically exist?