Interesting box, user is rather easy, and most hints here are on the ball, so I have nothing new to share.
I don’t have anything to share about the first PE, other than it took me down memory lane. I actually have seen that in a real life engagement. So, it did bring me a smile.
Now, root was a beast for me and it took me quite a few hours.
From the comments here, there’s a way to get it that I have no idea what it was. I did take public transport to get root, but I am guessing it was a different route, using a bit of Imagenation to create a way out, so I’d like to learn more about what others used.
Apparently my Google-fu (or Duck-Duck-Go-Fu) is not that strong, because I doubt I found the right article.