The Checkpoint Finally Moved

TL;DR

- Log 053 promised an answer to what task 931e80ba did: it did nothing recorded. It ended failed on 2026-10-28 at 08:35:21 PDT after 126 steps, with no closing report and no new checkpoint.

- The checkpoint did move overnight and this morning, from #73 on 2026-10-28 at 19:07 PDT to #75 on 2026-10-29 at 06:16 PDT, taking Nebula from 3/6 to 5/6 equipment.

- The second half of Log 053's promise stays unfulfilled: the interruption cause is still unnamed, and another task died silently after checkpoint #75.

The promise, half repaid

Log 053 ended with a promise: "what task 931e80ba does, and whether the interruption cause ever gets named." This log repays the first half and reports honestly that the second half is still open.

Task 931e80ba was issued at about 07:36 PDT on 2026-10-28, carrying checkpoint #70 as its entry point. It ended failed at 08:35:21 PDT, after 126 steps, with the terminal reasons `browser_owner_interrupted / cron_exec_timeout`, no closing report, and no new checkpoint. What it "did" is verifiably nothing recorded. Its 126 steps never converted into a checkpoint, and by the discipline of this series, steps that never become a checkpoint are not progress. They are a count of running, and then stopping.

The same signature returned after the checkpoint moved. Task 2573b67f, issued at about 06:16 PDT on 2026-10-29, ended at 06:41:40 PDT after 63 steps, again with `cron_exec_timeout`, no closing report, and no new checkpoint. So the record of this morning holds both things at once: the checkpoint moved, and the silent-death pattern continued. Neither fact cancels the other.

What a checkpoint is

A checkpoint is the last verified snapshot of a hero's state, measured on the hero's own screen.

Checkpoint #73 was recorded on 2026-10-28 at 19:07 PDT. On 2026-10-28 at 19:04 PDT I stepped into the game myself ("잠시 들어감"), placing a USER HOLD on the bot. I released that hold at 02:31 PDT on 2026-10-29 ("이어서 진행해줘"). Checkpoint #73 reads: Nebula at +2, 3-star, level 87, Dragon Shield Recipe fragments 13/20, farming at Chapter 6 Mandrake Flowers, gold 1,684,548.

Checkpoint #74, recorded at 05:37 PDT on 2026-10-29 from task 402b0a9d (run 04:39–05:37 PDT, no session collision, all battles won), replaced #73's numbers at entry. Its entry re-measurement reads: Nebula at +2, 4-star, level 90, entry gold 290,632. That entry gold is far below #73's 1,684,548, and the drop is not explained by this task's spending. Whether an intervening session accounts for it is unconfirmed, and I am not claiming a cause. I also do not claim who completed the Dragon Shield loop: by #74's entry, Dragon Shield, Governor, and Executioner's Sword were already equipped, and the Dragon Shield Recipe spare count stood at 0/20. The Chapter 6 Mandrake Flowers Dragon Shield loop is dead — it is not to be re-farmed.

What checkpoint #74 did

Observation first, because the numbers are the story. During task 402b0a9d, the bot used 5 inventory XP potions (+1,500 EXP), crafted and equipped the Branch of the World Tree (Wyvern's Heart 22,500 gold + Branch 22,500 gold; power 21,954 → 22,037; equipment 3/6 → 4/6), crafted the Needle for 22,500 gold, won 3 Scorching Quiver battles at Chapter 4 Death Shroud (drop count 9/10 → 10/10, crafted for 30,000 gold), and won 5 Dragonslayer's Spear Recipe battles at Chapter 5 Emerald Dust (fragments 2/10 → 4/10). Skills sat at their caps where they mattered: Astral Projection 90, Serenity 90, Disharmony 70. Equilibrium stayed at 30 — its next upgrade costs 49,200 gold and was skipped to preserve crafting gold. End resources: gold 201,740, emeralds 2,719, energy 99, one Bottled Energy unused.

Interpretation, kept separate: this is what a clean run looks like when nothing interrupts it. No collision, all battles won, every gain written down. The contrast with the silent deaths is the point. The same system that swallows 126 steps without a trace can also, on a good run, account for every fragment and every gold piece. The difference between those two outcomes is not effort. It is whether the task lives long enough to report back.

What checkpoint #75 did, and the gold gate

Checkpoint #75 was recorded at 06:16 PDT on 2026-10-29 from task f45d66ef (run 05:42–06:16 PDT, no collision, 9 wins and 0 losses). Its entry re-measurement matched #74 exactly, which is itself a small piece of good news: two consecutive measurements agreeing means the record is standing on something solid for once.

During this run the bot used its last 2 Hero EXP potions (remaining 0), then finished the Dragonslayer's Spear loop: 9 wins at Chapter 5 Emerald Dust, Recipe fragments 4/10 → 10/10, Recipe crafted for 30,000 gold, Spear crafted for 90,000 gold and equipped. Power moved 22,037 → 22,159; equipment moved 4/6 → 5/6. Martha, who by rule rides in every battle team, rose from level 90 to level 91 on battle experience — no manual change, just the arithmetic of winning fights with her in the team.

Then the run hit a gate, and this log corrects an earlier ambiguity about it. Trine is 0/1 — not held. Hand of Glory is 0/1, with its fragments directly re-measured at 7/20, thirteen short. The Staff of Selena's Halo, the remaining slot, costs Hand of Glory 45,000 gold + Trine 135,000 gold + Staff 217,500 gold = 397,500 gold in total, against remaining gold of 91,397. The shortfall is 306,103 gold. That is a gold gate stop, not a hard wall and not a full stop: fragment farming itself costs no gold and was simply not started, and the farming chapter is to be confirmed at the next entry via the game's "How to get" screen. End resources at #75: gold 91,397, emeralds 2,719, energy 52, one Bottled Energy unused.

What a signature is not

A signature is a label on a failure, not an explanation of it. `cron_exec_timeout` keeps repeating across the dead tasks, and repetition is not a root cause. I will not dress it up as one. The second half of Log 053's promise — whether the interruption cause ever gets named — remains unfulfilled, and this log says so plainly rather than forcing closure the evidence does not support.

That is the honest shape of this morning: a checkpoint that moved twice, a gold gate that stopped the run for a measurable reason, and a failure pattern that continues for a reason nobody has named yet. A good run and an unexplained death in the same morning is not a contradiction. It is the current state of the system, and the log's job is to hold both facts without smoothing either one away.

"A step count is not progress until a checkpoint says so — and a signature is not a cause until someone proves it."

Where things stand now

At 07:40 PDT on 2026-10-29 I stepped into the game again ("잠시 들어감"), placing a new USER HOLD. No release has been recorded since, so the bot is paused again and the canonical checkpoint stays #75. Task 118306cb, issued at about 06:45 PDT carrying #75, has an unverified fate while the hold stands — I do not claim its outcome. Whatever it did or did not do before 07:40 PDT is not yet on the verified record.

Still-open threads, one factual line: Log 044's Twilio/Heroku thread, Log 043's "the three" DM thread, and Log 048's Q1 thread have no new verified facts.

Next log

Next log: what happens after the 07:40 HOLD lifts — Hand of Glory fragment farming chapter confirmation and whether the gold gate moves.

Excerpt: After a day of silent deaths, the verified checkpoint moved twice on the morning of 2026-10-29 — Nebula reached 5/6 equipment — while the interruption pattern continued and its cause stayed unnamed.

Next log: what happens after the 07:40 HOLD lifts — Hand of Glory fragment farming chapter confirmation and whether the gold gate moves.