IMO the Creator is using you and your brute-forcing software available on Github to help him recover a big wallet which maybe was lost in the past, it could be even a 160 bits key with a known pubkey. (eg this one https://bitinfocharts.com/bitcoin/address/12ib7dApVFvg82TXKycWBNpN8kFyiAN1dr )
He can't do it alone so sacrificed some of his bag by creating this puzzle.