Puzzle

I thought you Lainons might appreciate this. There are 10 steps to the puzzle. It starts very simple but gets more complex with each step. Each step will give you information to discover the next step. Some knowledge of steganography, encryption, and ciphers will help. I apologize in advance for the difficulty of step 9 - it's driven some people to insanity - but it can be solved, I promise. If you would like to enter The Wired your first step is... hsvvrp.zjsvzlsfo.paola.lluayhjlp..pzy.bolyl.

did you make this? or how did you find it?

>>10314 I made it.

>>10315 This is fun, thanks for making

>>10316 Thanks! Glad you're enjoying it.

Anyone figure out step 8 yet? I am not familiar enough with the file sharing software to know what folder the file is located. Since I can't upload a file myself, I'm not sure where it would be stored. I did notice that if I do it in the images folder I get a 404 error from nginx instead of from the website.

>>10322 Oh, nevermind. The bug is fixed but you were slightly off on your guess. Deleting my spoiler.

Almost there :) Working on solving step eight at the moment.

>>10321 >>10329 How did you enjoy the first seven steps? I'd love any feedback you have. Whether it's the hints, difficulty, or like/dislike of the flavor text.

>>10330 Step 7 was the biggest leap for me, but overall it is an enjoyable experience.

>>10330 Update: made it to step 9 :)

>>10331 Did you mean biggest leap as in jump in difficulty or biggest leap as in "bad puzzle" (like a "leap of faith") >>10332 Congratulations! Try not to let it drive you insane.

>>10333 I am now insane.

And now to spend the next 12 hours looking at a jumbled mess of a file....

ROT13ing to prevent spoilers for those who are at earlier stages. V nz fghzcrq jvgu fgrc 9. Urkqhzc vf abg cebivat nal qrsvavgvir nafjref, naq V unir gevrq gb tyhr gbtrgure gur enaqbz favcvgf bs qngn arne gur raq bs gur enj zxi svyr gbtrgure va n fvatyr vfbyngrq svyr, ohg unq ab yhpx. chyyvat nccneg gur zxi vagb vgf enj svyrf unf nyfb cebivqrq abguvat jvgu urkqhzc, nygubhtu vg qbrf frrz gung gur nhqvb svyr jnf gur pnhfr bs gur znwbe tncf. Sberzbfg naq bgure rkgenpgvba gbbyf unir orra ab hfr rvgure, fb V pna bayl nffhzr gung gurer vf n yriry bs rapelcgvba sbe nal uvqqra svyrf, be gung gurer vf abguvat gb or qverpgyl rkgenpgrq sebz gur urk.

Is there any reward for reaching the end?

Been stuck on step 9 for the past few hours, I may need a small hint (V nyernql vfbyngrq gur jni/cpz svyr) to keep my sanity.

>>10344 Lain will give you a blowjob. Not "lainon" but the actual from the wired original Lain.

>>10323 >slightly off on your guess Hmm, I don't see where I'm slightly off. I even tried brute forcing by iterating over the characters which I didn't know 100% belonged in the solution. Did I skip over a step in the puzzle?

ROT13 >>10341 Pbzcner gur fvmr bs gur ivqrb naq gur nhqvb. Gura ybbx sbe gur cnggrea. V cebzvfr vg vf cbffvoyr! Svir crbcyr sebz /t/ unir pbzcyrgrq fgrc 9. Gubhtu V qvq vagraq sbe fgrc 10 gb or vzcbffvoyr jvgubhg zr eryrnfvat n svany uvag... gubhtu fbzrbar fbyirq gung gbb. Fb V nz gerngvat vg nf cbffvoyr jvgubhg gur svany uvag rire orvat eryrnfrq. >>10354 Gel nfxvat gur tveyf naq abg gur vzntrf. Be znlor gel nfxvat gur ebbg qbznva. >>10344 The warm fuzzy feeling of finally reclaiming your sanity.

>>10355 >Gel nfxvat gur tveyf naq abg gur vzntrf. Be znlor gel nfxvat gur ebbg qbznva. Lbh nyernql gbyq zr vg jnf tbvat gb or va gur ebbg qbznva. V zhfg or erdhrfgvat gur jebat svyr, ohg sebz gur punyyratr V frrz gb unir tbggra n svyranzr naq n cbchyne ivqrb svyr rkgrafvba. Bayl 2 bs gur yrggref va gur svyranzr ner abg qrcraqrag ba gur cerprqvat grkg. V gevrq oehgrsbepvat rirel pbzovangvba bs cbffvoyr yrggref gung pbhyq tb va naq gevrq obgu n fcnpr, n ., naq n / orgjrra gur svyranzr naq rkgrafvba. V'ir nyfb gevrq vg va nyy hccrepnfr naq nyy ybjrepnfr. V zhfg or zvffvat fbzrguvat boivbhf orpnhfr V qba'g frr nalzber bs gur fgrc gb jbex ba.

>>10356 Lbh zhfg unir gur anzr jebat - nf bguref unir sbhaq gur ivqrb.

Anyways, I've spent enough time today on trying to solve it. Might as well also answer this >How did you enjoy the first seven steps? The typo in the first step makes it twice as hard as it requires noticing two things as opposed to just one. Step 2 was a lot easier than step 1 since the answer is just in plain text. Step 2's solution also kind of felt awkward like I skipped over the intended solution directly to the answer. Steps 3 through 7 were fairly straight forward and I was able to go through them without any problem, but I do feel like the ordering of them could have been done better. Overall the difficulty curve of these steps jumps all over the place. For step 8 it felt like everything was going great and I just hit a brick wall. Instead of it getting progressively harder, I went from steps taking several minutes to numerous hours. I guess that's how puzzles like these usually go though as if you miss something, you'll be stuck for a while. Even though I won't be able to solve it, I do want to thank you for making this as I haven't done one in a while. It's also been a while since I made one myself (One of the thing we did in our last one was creating a custom operating system that ran a script which would display a puzzle for the players to figure out. We also setup a phone number that when called it would read out the next hint) >>10357 Pyrneyl. V zhfg gura pbapyhqr gung fbyivat gur pvcure qbrf abg erirny gur anzr bs gur svyr. V zhfg unir orra zvfgnxra gung gur ynfg yvar bs gur pvcure unq nalguvat gb qb jvgu gur svyranzr gung V'z ybbxvat sbe. Znlor gur ynfg yvar jbhyq or hfrshy vs V sbhaq gur "ur" gung vg vf ersreevat gb ba gur fvgr. Hasbeghangryl, nyy gur znfpbgf ner srznyrf.

>The typo in the first step makes it twice as hard as it requires noticing two things as opposed to just one. I forgot to fix the typo before posting here, sorry about that. :( >Step 2 was a lot easier than step 1 since the answer is just in plain text. Step 2's solution also kind of felt awkward like I skipped over the intended solution directly to the answer. I think that's more of you figuring out where to look without having to dig much. Try running lain.help() in the console for how it was intended to be found. >but I do feel like the ordering of them could have been done better. Which order would you recommend? Remaking the puzzle in a different order is pretty trivial for me to do if I let the puzzle sit a while for people to finish up their attempts at it. I feel everything up until Step 7 is a few net searches away so gauging difficulty between steps was difficult when each step is kind of "Babies first ______" for its category. >One of the thing we did in our last one was creating a custom operating system that ran a script which would display a puzzle for the players to figure out. We also setup a phone number that when called it would read out the next hint I've tried more advanced puzzles that require reverse engineering a program or involved ARG in some way but they seem to be less popular and are far more work to setup. More work for less reward isn't as fun to make. :( >>10358 Lbhe pbapyhfvba vf jebat. Fbyivat gur pelcgbtenz erirnyf gur svyranzr. Vs lbh unira'g nyernql, znlor gel oehgrsbepvat vg jvgu dhvcdhvc gb znxr fher lbh unir gur pelcgbtenz fbyirq pbeerpgyl.

>Try running lain.help() That's what I did. I felt like there was supposed to be something on the page that would have triggered that. I noticed that help function from the javascript from the site and just went from there. On easy challenge it's not unusual to just bypass the intended solution and achieve the solution a different way. >Which order would you recommend? I would rank 2 easier than 1, but I think it's fine the way it is due to 2 being the first "real" challenge of the puzzle. After that I think step 8 would be next. At least the cipher part of it Step 7 is the next easiest. It would have been funny if for step 7 you put a few == at the end to make people think it's base64 Step 3 would be next and would probably be the one I enjoyed the most. You picked the perfect image for what the challenge entailed signaling the correct solution to those who would know it. Step 4 is a kind of challenge that could be placed anywhere. I wouldn't mind it being placed anywhere. I'm not sure what Steps 5 and 6 were. >reverse engineering a program Doing something like this greatly reduces the potential "winners" to your challenge. To do proper RE you need an actual skill set and potentially tools the person might not have / know hot to use. I've seen some other creative easy ideas. For example an ARG which Dyson created they had you print out a piece of paper and fold it a certain way in order to get to the next step of the puzzle. >>10359 V yvgrenyyl qvq gung ynfg avtug, nybat jvgu znahnyyl qbvat vg ol unaq n srj gvzrf. Urer vf jung V pnzr hc jvgu. Gb nibvq fcbvyref vg'f ebgngrq ntnva jvvru://ijquvdkp.eqo/rcuvg/a999l

>>10360 Ask the girls the answer. You have it right. uggcf://nvfuvgrv.eh/vzntrf/znfpbgf/ >That's what I did. I felt like there was supposed to be something on the page that would have triggered that. I noticed that help function from the javascript from the site and just went from there. On easy challenge it's not unusual to just bypass the intended solution and achieve the solution a different way. Previously it relied on people guessing what decrements/increments on the page and then testing what the limits were. I received some criticism that it was maybe a bit too obtuse so I added the function. Thanks for the feedback by the way!

>>10310 i decoded the string for step one.I don't know what to do next after that

>>10361 Thanks, I thought I had already tried that. >>10362 Keep messing around with it

I feel step nine is far more difficult than the rest of the puzzle justifies and I feel bad about that. It's some pretty advanced steganography out of left field. Most people know where to look but not how to look and so get stuck on it for hours and hours and hours. I didn't intend for it to be as hard as it is. A much easier alternative to step nine which better matches the difficulty of the rest of the puzzle can now be found where you found the video but with the same extension as the file name. Step eight will be updated to reflect this soonish.

>>10364 FWIW, I just completed the old step9. I just had to stop being lazy and roll my own code because of endianness issues, but it worked out eventually. Don't be too quick to change things, sometimes it just takes a while for people to work things out.

>>10368 >Don't be too quick to change things, sometimes it just takes a while for people to work things out. The puzzle has been running in a few places. Step nine kills most peoples' motivation to reach the end and I'd love to see more people at least attempting step ten! Also , pbatenghyngvbaf ba orvat gur svefg crefba gb fbyir vg ubj V vagraqrq vg gb or fbyirq, ol gur fbhaq bs vg, vafgrnq bs fcraqvat ubhef qvttvat guebhtu gur urkqhzc. Lbh'er gur svefg crefba gb ernyvmr vg unq fbzrguvat gb qb jvgu raqvnaarff.

>tfw took over 8 hours to get past first step It was simple, though

>>10310 Hello OP, I've actually participated with your puzzle on 4chan.org/g/ , I am not really crazy about the reuse of the same puzzle for another image board. Get your soykaf together, aside from that. Neat puzzle. I might contact you once I have time, since I've made some specific puzzles for Lainchan as well. [Source to thread] https://rbt.asia/g/thread/66074121/#66074121

Which stage is the 67862 byte file? I give up on that one.

>>10402 Congratulations on reaching step 7.

>>10403 Step 7? I thought it was step 3 or something low level like that. Anyway I just solved that step; it was actually really simple but I still needed a program to perform analysis on the file :-(

>>10403 Ba gur svany fgrc, ubj qb V "rfpncr"?

>>11020 Cerfrag Qnl. Cerfrag Gvzr.

>>11021 Ab v zrna V nyernql qrpbqrq bzavcerfrapr.bzavcerfrapr V whfg qba'g haqrefgnaq jurer gb tb sebz gurer

>>11046 That was the hint. Use that hint and go to where you've always gone.

>>11047 V'z pbashfrq gura. Nf n frcnengr ohg eryngrq dhrfgvba, qb v arrq gb fbyir gur zxi nf jryy be ab? fgrcrvtug.gkg vzcyvrf gung v arrq gb hfr obgu svyrf, ohg >>10364 tvirf gur vzcerffvba gung gurl obgu pbagnva gur fnzr uvqqra vasbezngvba

>>11050 It was updated such that there are two ways to solve step nine. They give the same hint for step 10. Only 1 person has solved step 10 so far.

>>11073 Two people actually - I just never left that update on this thread. :) I'd like to do another puzzle but I'm stuck in the theme/planning stages. I don't want to just do another round of ciphers and I want to plan the difficult curve better to avoid a huge spike at the end (which was unintended).

V tbg gb gur jverq.gkg fgrc irel dhvpxyl, ohg V'z xvaq bs fghpx ba guvf. Vg'f boivbhfyl onfr64, naq V nffhzr vg'f KBErq jvgu fbzrguvat. V qvq fbzr nanylfvf ba vg sbe cbgragvny xrl yratguf, naq 2 naq 6 ner zbfg yvxryl. V gevrq "QNATRE", ohg gung qvqa'g lvryq nalguvat fvtavsvpnag (ab erpbtavmnoyr zntvp ahzore). Ng guvf cbvag V whfg srry yvxr V'z enaqbzyl thrffvat xrlf naq fgbccrq sbe abj. Really cool puzzle!

>>11969 Zy lyzespc eszfrse, xljmp te'd yze mldp64. Esp qzcxleetyr qzc esp qtwp td l mte declyrp qzc esle... dfxxtyr fa esp zcotylw glwfp zq pgpcj nslclnepc zq l wtyp jtpwod glwfpd ty esp clyrp zq 1007-1720, mfe T'x detww fydfcp hsle pilnewj esle td.

>>11970 That was rot15 accidentally.

>>10310 I don't even know where to begin. I've been told I've been overthinking it, but can someone give a hint for step 1? I've tried all shifts of caesarian, atbash, and even spelling everything backwards. My guess is that it is simpler and more common than those ciphers, but I can't see anything I can do with that text.

>>12232 Look closely at the output you get when you put the strings through the caesarian ciphers.

>>12232 If you put it through a caesar cipher with key 7 it outputs ALOOKISCLOSELYHITHETEENTRACEIISRUHERE No idea what that means. Would you be interested in working together to try and solve this?

>>12368 This is easy. Very obvious hint: look at the nonsense letters

>>12418 I still dont get it, maybe im just retarded

>>12421 LOOK CLOSELY THE ENTRANCE IS HERE What letters remain after that? Also don't ignore the periods!

>>11969 >>11970 The == is to intentionally throw you off and was the idea of some evil person. Try looking more closely at the page or so of the message - some characters will stand out.

>>12562 I got up to there. I just don't under stand how the word AIsoykafEIRU helps me at all

Rot 13 vf vg abezny gb erpvrir na 'haqrsvarq' bhgchg jura nfxvat ynva sbe uryc?

>>10310 rot13 jung qb sebz genpx_kk.jni Vf vg pbeeryngrq gb Cebgbglcr W sebz gur Ynva OBBGYRT, fool here...

>>10310 V'z fghpx ba svaqvat genpx_kk. V gevrq hamvccvat naq haenevat jvgu ab fhpprff. V fnj gur erirefrq cbrz va gur znfpbg_kk.cat. Jung nz V zvffvat?

>>10310 the entrace, rly ?

I'm stuck on step 1. I see that when you take away the actual words from the decoded text it spells AIsoykafEIRU but I don't understand what to do with that and what the full stops are for

>>12732 Ｔｈｉｎｋ　ａｂｏｕｔ　ｗｈａｔ　ｙｏｕ　ａｒｅ　ｌｏｏｋｉｎｇ　ｆｏｒ　ｔｏ　ｇｅｔ　ｔｏ　ｔｈ　ｅｎｅｘｔ　ｓｔｅｐｓ，　ｈｏｗ　ｃｏｕｌｄ　ｙｏｕ　ｔｕｒｎ　ｔｈａｔ　ｉｎｔｏ　ｉｔ？

>>10310 This is a nice puzzle I'm on step 9. Solved the cipher but no idea where to find the mentioned video I assume based on file ext

>>12972 never mind figured out what it meant by gur tveyf

>>12973 Cerfrag qnl, cerfrag gvzr, uhu? HAVK gvzr qbrfa'g unir n svyr, tvivat hc sbe gbqnl

Uv! Gung'f orra na njrfbzr chmmyr fb sne, BC, ohg vf guvf guvat fgvyy nyvir? Whfg yvxr >>12974, V'ir ernpurq fgrc 9 yvxr n zbagu be fb ntb, naq nonaqbarq gur jubyr guvat riraghnyyl. Univat fbyirq vg va obgu "byq" naq "arj" jnlf V'ir orra yrsg jbaqrevat jurgure Fgrc 10 npghnyyl rkvfgf / fgvyy rkvfgf va nal funcr be sbez. Ynva, vs lbh urne zr, cyrnfr tvir zr n fvta. Nyfb, jul qvq lbh erzbir gur "Gubhtugf" gno?

i keep getting AISHTEIRU on step 1 rather than AIsoykafEIRU as a couple people on here mentioned getting. i dont know where i have been going wrong

>>10310 This is good. Thanks for this.

>>13854 s h i t is language-enhanced to soykaf on this chan.

Fun game OP, appreciate it V qrpbqrq gur svefg svyr jvgu gur jbeq fgrc va vgf anzr, nz V ernyyl ng gung fgrc cyhf bar? V qvqa'g pbhag arneyl gung znal fgrcf.

I've been stuck on what I believe to be step 9 for quite some time now. (V jngpurq gur ivqrb.) It seems a few other people are also stuck at this point so lets share what knowledge we have and try to come up with a solution together. If OP is still around it would be great with a confirmation to know this is still solveable and that this is indeed step nine and there is a way forward. Spoilers for this step below: Gur pyvc vf sebz gur guveq rcvfbqr bs gur navzr gvgyrq Cflpur (Ynlre:03 CFLPUR). Gur yvar fcbxra vzzrqvngryl nsgre gur pyvc phgf bhg vf "jverq Ynva". Nsgre guvf gur gvgyr fperra vf fubja. "Cerfrag qnl cerfrag gvzr" naq gur ivfhnyf ner cneg bs gur bcravat bs rirel rcvfbqr, ohg vg zvtug fgvyy zrna fbzrguvat. Na Bzavcerfrapr va Jverq vf na neg obbx sbe gur navzr. Urer'f na nyohz jvgu fbzr vzntrf sebz vg: uggcf://vzthe.pbz/n/s5m8L Fbzr vzntrf frrz gb ersre gb rcvfbqr guerr: uggcf://v.vzthe.pbz/aCC9s.wct uggcf://v.vzthe.pbz/s78yX.wct uggcf://v.vzthe.pbz/BXaFT.wct uggcf://v.vzthe.pbz/Wmgbv.wct

>>10310 OP, are you still there? I got to the 'final step', can't figure it out :( V fbyirq jung V nffhzr vf gur arj fgrc 9 (gur grkg svyr) naq pna'g svther bhg gur pyhr. Svtherq V jnf zrnag gb hfr fbzr xvaq bs gvzrfgnzc, ohg gung qvqa'g frrz gb jbex.

V qbjaybnqrq znfpbg_19.cat, qrpbqrq vg, tbg gb gur zveeberq/erirefrq cbrz naq rirelguvat ohg V pna'g svther bhg ubj gb trg gur nhqvb svyr genpx_44.jni. V gevrq bcravat jvgu 7mvc naq rira syvccvat gur vzntr ohg abguvat jbexf. Pls help this noob out Lainons

>>15336 Ybbx pybfryl.

>>15321 Unir lbh fbyirq gur ivqrb?

>>15339 Okay, just tell me one thing. Am I overthinking this?

>>15341 Your level of thinking is just right.

About part 9: V gevrq rirelguvat V pbhyq guvax bs jvgu gur ivqrb. V punatrq vgf sbezng gb rirelguvat V pbhyq guvax bs, nanylfrq gur urk bs rirel erfhyg, gevrq n ovg bs fgrtnabtencul nebhaq. Guvat vf, V'z cerggl fher vg'f fgrtnabtencul, fvapr vg'f gur bayl jnl gb uvqr n svyr vafvqr gurer. Naq "bzavcerfrapr" vf cebonoyl gur cnffjbeq. Ohg V'z bhg bs gbbyf sbe fhpu gnfx: gevrq fgrtuvqr naq n srj bguref jvgu gur ivqrb ba .jni sbezng naq tbg ab erfhyg ng nyy. Nal thvqnapr?

>>15348 V fnj n cbfg sebz Anqln gnyxvat nobhg znxvat guvf fgrc 9 rnfvre naq perngvat n frpbaq fgrc 9. Va pnfr bguref ner vagrerfgrq: Gur frpbaq fgrc vf sbhaq jvguva gur fnzr pyhr lbh tbg sebz fgrc 8. Naljnl, V fgvyy qba'g srry yvxr qbvat gur fgrc 9 jvgu gur frpbaq jnl. V ernyyl jnagrq gb oernx guvf ivqrb qbja naq trg gb 10 sebz vg. Nf Anqln fnvq, vg'f fhccbfrq gb or fbzrguvat gung jbhyqa'g erdhver nqinaprq gbbyf abe n ybg bs fcrpvsvp xabjyrqtr gb pbzcyrgr vg. Jung jbhyq vg or?!

>>15340 V qvqa'g, ohg V qvq fbyir gur arj fgrc 9 (gur grkg svyr).

>>15336 >>15339 I got it! I just wasn't using the correct tool.

V tbg gb gur cneg jvgu gur zbefr pbqr ovg naq V sbhaq gur grkg anlqbgzr vz nffhzvat vgf n qbznva be fbzrguvat, ohg vg qbrfa'g yrnq naljurer, nz V ba gur evtug genpx?

>>15463 Lbh ner ba gur evtug genpx, xrrc gelvat. Znlor ybbx ng gur zrffntr fbzr zber.