THE STORY · EPISODE 04
She had thought it was convenient for one key to open every door.
Until someone else picked up that key.
At the entrance to the Settings Maze, Mana saw doors stretching endlessly to either side. Their names were slightly different, but their keyholes were identical. Black chains reached out from deep within. Each time one door opened, another opened by itself.
“Reused keys.”
Logrin compared the scene with the previous incident’s records.
“And another way of checking identity hasn’t been set up.”
Yuki held the communication board at the entrance while Sapo checked the names of evacuated residents. Mana could still see both of them. That reassured her.
“This way, those who can get through first!”
Mana nodded back at Yuki, whose red hair swung as she waved. This was a journey to find a way home, yet the towns she had meant merely to pass through kept giving her reasons to stop.
“Set up later” glowed on Mana’s device.
Later.
A familiar word. A convenient little exit that let her skip one thing she did not understand. On her first day at work, she had piled so many laters into her notebook.
Without waiting for them to act, the shadow hurled a black ring. Defense lit up along the edge of the WS Encyclopedia.
“It’s attacking first!”
Four choices floated in front of Securidon as he raised his shield.
OPTIONAL QUESTION · 04-D1What makes authentication multifactor?What is MFA (multi-factor authentication)?Open illustration & choices
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“We just need to check twice. A!”
At Mana’s command, a double shield appeared. But both layers had the same keyhole. Once the shadow passed through the first, it passed through the second as well.
The black ring slipped through the shields and swept across the floor.
Securidon’s shield flew upward. Patchron tumbled, clutching his first-aid kit, while Logrin held on to his hat.
A door slammed shut.
Mana alone was left on the other side.
“Securidon, are you hurt?”
“My arm’s a little numb, don.”
She wanted him to say he was all right. But realizing she was the one who needed to hear those words, Mana bit her lip.
“Everyone!”
From beyond the thick door came the sound of someone tapping a shield.
“We’re here, don! You don’t have to force it open, don!”
Similar-looking settings windows appeared on her device, one after another.
Two-step. Multi-factor. Recovery. Restoration. Continue. Later.
In her panic, the words began to look alike. She wanted the door open now. Everyone was on the other side. They were stuck because of her.
“Disable protection to continue.”
Remove the protection, and she could go on.
Its very simplicity made it frightening.
With her back against the door, Mana contacted the doctor.
“Which one should I press?”
Then she corrected herself.
“What should I check? I’ve been separated from everyone.”
The doctor’s voice did not hurry.
“MFA doesn’t mean doing the same thing twice. A secret you know, something you possess, a characteristic of your body. It verifies you using different kinds of factors.”
“I was only counting the number of times.”
“And now you’ve noticed the difference. This enemy gets through your shield when you confuse meanings. If you understand the terms and defend successfully, it becomes your turn to attack.”
Attack meant choosing a safe action suited to the situation. Defense meant understanding the terms that supported that judgment. The doctor explained the two separately.
“First, is the window you’re looking at an official settings page?”
Mana closed the earlier notification and returned to the legitimate entry point she had been taught. Opening the relevant account’s settings from there brought up a simpler display. No flashy arrows. No countdown.
“Here, I can check what I’m changing.”
“What was missing, according to Logrin’s records?”
“A password that isn’t reused, and MFA. Somewhere safe for the recovery codes too.”
Mana surprised herself by saying it. These were supposed to be unfamiliar words. Now she could see where they connected to the doors.
The doctor checked the scope Mana was responsible for and guided her to work with the maze’s administrator. A newcomer could not simply change every key in the city. In the official interface, connected to the responsible staff, they narrowed the targets one by one.
Episode 4, Illustration 1 | Mana returns to the official settings page
A second ring raced beyond the door. Mana waited for Securidon to answer before reading the question.
OPTIONAL QUESTION · 04-D2Password and PIN: the same factorThis service checks both a password and a PIN as secrets the user remembers and enters. It does not use a mechanism that unlocks a key stored on the device. Why does combining only these two not constitute MFA?Open illustration & choices
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“D. They’re both secrets you know!”
Two knowledge factors did not count as different types. As Mana’s answer recognized the distinction, the locks on the shield meshed. The shadow’s ring burst apart.
“Defense successful. Choose an attack command.”
They had held it back. Before hugging the encyclopedia to herself again, Mana called once more to her companions beyond the door.
Mana reviewed the authorized settings with the administrator. They securely managed a long password not used elsewhere and checked the available multi-factor authentication options.
She did not write the secrets themselves in her explanatory notebook; she followed the administrator’s procedure for storing them.
As they checked the settings, one chain connected to the shadow lost its light.
While they were verifying an action she had initiated, an unrelated approval request appeared in her usual authentication app.
OPTIONAL QUESTION · 04-A1An approval you did not requestYour usual authentication app asks for approval, but you have not started a sign-in. What should you do first?Open illustration & choices
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“A. I didn’t initiate this request. I won’t approve it; I’ll check through the official contact.”
Mana waited for Securidon’s reply.
“Securidon, block the route that request is using!”
Light extended from the shield and pushed the black chain back. The power came from evidence they had checked, not from a button pressed in haste.
“I’m not pressing that.”
Mana drew her hand back.
Recovery information was managed so that the people who needed it could retrieve it securely. She also asked the administrator to check for unfamiliar sessions or registrations, and they responded according to the service’s procedures.
She did not mistake creating a new password for completing every check.
Something creaked loudly on the other side of the door.
“Use MFA and a unique password.”
Mana put what she had just done into one sentence.
“MFA and a password that isn’t reused. Not just one or the other.”
The false doors fell like thin boards stacked together. Beyond them waited Securidon. His shield was raised, but his eyes were close to tears.
“You took a long time, don.”
“I’m sorry.”
“But not rushing to open it was good, don.”
He sounded as though he had spent the whole time deciding which thing to say first.
Mana crouched and hugged him over his shield. It was hard and hurt a little. She did not want to let go anyway.
At the center of the maze, the remaining shadow clutched many thin chains.
None was connected to a door anymore. Mana checked each one before using Securies.
Slender wings opened in the light.
Pale blue-green hair, a little wand, a gear, and a board marked MFA. The new companion looked at her feet, then at each face around her.
“...You didn’t leave anyone behind.”
“I thought someone might get left behind, don.”
Securidon spoke.
“Us?”
At Logrin’s question, Securidon shook his head.
“Mana. Pretending she was fine on her own.”
Mana tried to smile, but could not. He had seen her clearly today.
The winged companion gently held her board to her chest.
“Miscure. I want to remember how to get back when things go wrong too.”
Patchron nodded.
“A way forward and a way back. We need both.”
COL-024: Miscure was registered in the WS Encyclopedia. Four companions. Far from the hundred or more required for the tournament, but that number held the voices that had answered from beyond the door.
Episode 4, Illustration 2 | Reunited with her companions, and meeting Miscure
“I want to say we won’t get separated next time...”
Yuki took Mana’s hand.
“But call us if we do. A promise not to be alone is better.”
In small letters, Sapo wrote in his notebook: The number of times and the kinds of factors are different.
As the four companions stood together, a storage shelf deep in the maze lit up. COL-001 through COL-020. Black-covered files stood in a long row.
No one tried to open them all immediately.
That evening, there were not enough chairs around the doctor’s dining table.
Securidon insisted on sitting beside Mana. Logrin chose the light coming through the window. Patchron began fixing a wobbly chair leg. Miscure silently stared at the doctor’s hands as he started spreading work records over the table.
“...Shall we eat first?”
Everyone agreed.
After dinner, Mana showed him her notebook. There was still plenty of space for things she did not understand.
“Every time I understand one thing, I find three more I don’t know.”
“That happens to me often too.”
“Even to you?”
“Perhaps that’s why I keep needing more bookshelves.”
Mana looked up at the books filling the room.
The size of everything she did not know felt a little less frightening.
As they began clearing the dishes, Miscure lifted a small cup with both hands. Apparently, she thought she could fly with it. Its weight pulled her straight down onto a floor cushion.
“Would you like some help?”
At Mana’s question, Miscure’s cheeks reddened.
“I thought I could carry it.”
“We can if we carry it together.”
Together, they took it to the sink. Securidon came over and nearly dropped a plate he was trying to wash first. Patchron hurried to catch it.
Collecting four strong protectors did not make the dishes put themselves away.
Watching them, the doctor silently took out another dishcloth.
Outside the window, a notification flashed: the first threat file had opened.
Human Resources. Payslip. Request for reconfirmation.
The instant Mana saw those words, a trace of her old world returned to her chest.
END OF EPISODE 04