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Question: The question above was made by who?
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Question: The question above was made by who?
Using 10010100102ohno's answer as a starting point, I'd like to propose a conclusion I've found.
We start with the same steps from that answer:
The Markdown source of the question post contains an HTML comment hinting to ask who created this image.
From the image, we see:
The image is a PNG with a single pixel of colour
#2e0c19
. Converting each of the three channels from hex to decimal, we get:
(46, 12, 25)
These three numbers represent…
a code that can be entered into the sound test of the Sonic the Hedgehog CD to open a screen.
However, this is where I'd like to branch off:
This screen is not an anti-piracy screen, as was mistakenly identified by 10010100102ohno's answer! Rather, it is an easter egg (or cheat code) that can be found by entering these numbers.
The image looks like this:
Within the image, we can see these lines:
The top line is 「なのしさ∞」, which approximately translates as “infinite fun”.
The middle line is Katakana for “Sega Enterprises,” 「セガ・エンタープライゼス」.
But the bottom line is more interesting, it reads, 「まぢん画」, or “Image by まぢん”.
Source credit (in addition to my pretty basic Japanese skills)
Now consider that…
「まぢん」(pronounced
/madʑiN/
) is only hiragana, which indicates pronunciation; it is possible for this to refer to several different meanings. Contrary to popular belief, 「まぢん」 in this context is not intended to refer to 「魔神」 nor 「魔人」, which refer to supernatural entities along the lines of “devil,” “demon,” and similar. The previously-linked source also goes into some detail on that.
Rather, 「まぢん」 here is instead meant to refer to the nickname of one of Sega's designers, 西村 真人さん 「にしむら まさと さん」; Nishimura Masato-san, who was the artist of this image.
Therefore, my conclusion is that:
「西村 真人さん」 is the correct response to the question posed in the HTML comment.
However, I'm still wondering whether…
this answer loops back to the words, "You can't solve this puzzle. Quit trying." or whether it loops back to the words, "A warning from below."
Perhaps those were just clues to find the HTML comment and corresponding image, and that is sufficient to be the answer.
Or perhaps there is more to it than just that.
Edit: Oh actually maybe this might be the case:
Maybe the puzzle mistakenly took 「まぢん」 as “devil” and associates it with “hell.” In fact, given the puzzle's title, “A warning from below,” that would actually make sense, because the faiths believing in hell often refer to it as being “below” our world.
Recall that the original question asks, “The question above was made by who?” and that we found clues referring to “the devil” and hence “hell” in a hidden comment that was placed below the question.
So perhaps the intended solution would be to think of the opposite of “hell,” i.e. “heaven” as being above the question, which would make the answer along the lines of “god” or “angel”.
P.S.
If this is the intended answer, knowledge would probably have been helpful here as it does require venturing out into outsider knowledge; I had to do a bit of learning of the context here as well as test out my limited Japanese skills.
My answer is:
Question: This image https://i.stack.imgur.com/piq8g.png was created by who?
Explanation:
The source code of the question contains an hidden comment below the OP question (see Edit link under the question).
The comment is the warning from the title and states:
pssst... you should probably ask who created this image instead...
With a reference to the image I linked before.
One can think that the image contains some information about their author, but nope, its a single pixel with hexadecimal color #2e0c19. The hex value doesn't seems to have any particular meaning (not in ascii on in decimal, little endian or big endian). Also, there isn't any helpful metadata in the binary, so You can't solve this puzzle -, and then there is not answer at all.
I dunno if it is relevant (missing knowledge tag in question) but googling "46, 12, 25" (the converted 3 bytes in hex form into 3 decimals) gives me a Sonic CD code to trigger some antipiracy screen that shows a creepy Sonic.