Verum Inveniri Shonin Puzzles

Update

We speculated in our previous post that there is a new keyword format. While the keyword format is new, it won’t be replacing the previous format.

New code format:
[a-z]{8}[2-9]keyword[2-9]

Previous code format:
[2-9][a-z]{3}[2-9]keyword[a-z][2-9][a-z][2-9][a-z]

The general consensus is that the new format is used to distribute information (L1 Media) about volatile portals for Shonin 01 and Shonin 02.

Puzzle 1

Verum Inveniri posted an image at 01:30 UTC with the following text:

A mind on a cipher can be worth two eyes on the sky. May the fastest cryptographers win.

Inscribed in the image is the following code:
mqwkdpuy2zigrhg2

Using atbash with numbers, the following passcode is revealed
njdpwkfb8artist8
Congratulations to agent @kokuryuu of the Enlightened for the solve.

Puzzle 2

At 02:00 UTC, Verum Inveniri posted another image with this text:

Think quickly, Agents.

The image had the following code
THDRKTGN$6%

On a QWERTY keyboard, $ is the symbol for 4, % is the symbol for 5, and 6’s symbol is ^ . Translating the code gives us:
thdrktgn4^5

The glyph which resembles the ^ symbol is attack, substituting it in:
thdrktgn4attack5
Congratulations to agent @Unchi of the Resistance for the solve.

Puzzle 3

Posts are every 30 minutes or so now. As with the previous 2 images, there is text written in the glyph:
,hixj,li7sd[otsyopm9

On a QWERTY keyboard, the comma and [ are next to the alphabetic characters m and p respectively. If we shift all the characters positions to the left, we reveal:
mguzhmku6aspiration8

Which does not produce a valid passcode. Undoing the shifts to 6/8 gives us a valid passcode.
mguzhmku7aspiration9

Congratulations to agent @SQL of the Enlightened for the solve.

Puzzle 4

Following the every 30 minute trend, we don’t see an image posted for the 4th code but rather a SoundCloud link.

Listen fast, act fast.

Listening to the file and transcribing the morse code gives us this representation:
-- ...- .- .--- ..- -.- -.-. -.- -.... .- .-. - .. ..-. .- -.-. - .....

Converting it from morse gives us:
mvajukck6artifact5

which isn’t a valid code. Inspecting the spectrum graph:

We notice there is a longer pause after the a, trying out both r and w in place of a gives us w as the valid character for the passcode
mvwjukck6artifact5

Puzzle 5

Another SoundCloud link was given for the 5th code. The text associated with it gives us a hint to the solution:

Looks can frequently be deceiving.

Looking at the waveform, we see letters inside it:

GJEXPXCG4ANSWER6
Thank you agent @keyclick for providing the solution

Puzzle 6

No more SoundCloud links this time, but links is in the hint:

Many questions, many missing links.

/LiJ9kR

6 characters normally mean goo.gl links, visiting the link (goo.gl/LiJ9kR) leads us to a series of reddit replies to a post regarding decoding passcodes. Combining the posts gives us:
YWN4bWR3Y2hWSWJvd3N0cmluZ0lJ

Converting as a base64 to ASCII:
acxmdwchVIbowstringII

Translating VI to 6 and II to 2:
acxmdwch6bowstring2
Congratulations to agents @SQL @keyclick and @kokuryuu of the Enlightened for the solve

Puzzle 7

No more links, just a bunch of text at the top left section of the image and a hint:

s⁻¹

QBKPAOO TKST ZMKS
ZMKS SMRODMO YTYT
VMJAXLAD AIEM CAJAV
LDATOEA SMBD

Noticing there are 11 sets of words, we can start making assumptions:

• 11 sets are the 11 parts of the new keyword format
• sets 9/10/11 directly correlate to number/keyword/number
• if 9 is a number, it must be SEVEN
• if 10 is a keyword, it must be BREATHE
• if 11, after the assumption that D=R, is a number and ends in R, it must be FOUR

Viewing our code after these assumptions:
_u__ett a_fa _o_f _o_f fo_trot _a_a nove_ber e_ho seven breathe four

Parts 7 and 8 resemble the words november and echo, both of which are in the NATO Phonetic Alphabet. Filling out the rest of the words:
juliett alfa golf golf foxtrot papa november echo seven breathe four

jaggfpne7breathe4
Congratulations to agents @SQL and @kokuryuu of the Enlightened for the solve.

Puzzle 8

The eighth post has the following text:

Not all mysteries are solvable. But the joy comes in the pursuit.

Reading the code in the glyph from the left side:
jxsmefricazlkzdyagartqroh

The glyph is mystery and using vigenere with ‘mystery’ as the key gives us:
xzataotweightbrainwavetwo

xzataotw8brainwave2
Congratulations to agent @SQL of the Enlightened for this solve.

Puzzle 9

The ninth code is back to SoundCloud:

Familiar, yet different.

Transcribing the tones gives us:

...-- .- --- .-. --.- ...- ...-- .... -.. .--. --. ... -- -..- ---

Reversing the morse pattern and converting it into numbers and letters:

oxmswpuh7byron7
Congratulations to agent @SQL of the Enlightened for this solve.

Puzzle 10

The next code was delayed but had a message of relief:

EOL

This was the last code.

SE1:4
SE2:1 X
SW2:5 J
N3:2 J
SE1:2 2 B
N2:1
SE5:1
N2:1
SW2:1 9

The cardinal directions reference 3 portals that were used to make a field over western Canada/United States before Shonin 02.

• (N) Grey Owl’s Cabin
• (SW) F-117A Nighthawk
• (SE) McDonald Ranch House Trinity Site

(portal)(word):(letter) is how the letters are discovered with the other numbers/letters being the actual characters in the passcode

SE1:4 McDonald Ranch House Trinity Site
SE2:1 McDonald Ranch House Trinity Site
X
SW2:5 F-117A Nighthawk
J
N3:2 Grey Owl’s Cabin
J
SE1:2 McDonald Ranch House Trinity Site
2
B
N2:1 Grey Owl’s Cabin
SE5:1 McDonald Ranch House Trinity Site
N2:1 Grey Owl’s Cabin
SW2:1 F-117A Nighthawk
9

oRXtJaJc2BOSON9
Thanks to agent @Unchi for providing the solution.

Conclusion

It is not know whether or not we will see this code format again for Shonin 03 and 04 in March.