"Are you sure about picking ④?"
"What else? All three options seem plausible but not entirely so. In cases like this, picking 'all of the above' usually has a high success rate. Trust me."
Sonia didn't object. She couldn't decide which option was correct either. While she leaned toward ③, the future was unpredictable, and trying to deduce it from the past wasn't exactly reliable. Since Ash was so confident about ④, she went with it—if it was wrong, she could always blame him.
Sonia focused her thoughts, marking option ④. The paper lit up with a rainbow glow, and the text shifted:
"Congratulations, you've answered one question correctly. Would you like to continue?"
"It's correct?!" Sonia exclaimed in disbelief.
"See? I told you to trust me." Ash, a former college exam-cramming champion, was clearly confident in his blind guessing skills. "What's the next question?"
After Sonia chose to continue, the paper revealed the second question:
"Why do the swordswoman and the observer reconcile after their fallout?"
① For a greater benefit.
② To face a common crisis.
③ Because of love.
④ All of the above.
"It's definitely ④ again—"
"No way!" Sonia shook her head vigorously. "③ is clearly wrong, so it can't be ④."
Ash spread his hands, his smile curving mischievously. "Come on, this is about future possibilities, not certainties. Why so flustered? Keep a cool head—"
"You're smirking while saying that! Can you at least hide your glee before giving advice?!" Sonia nearly shouted.
After some back-and-forth bickering, Sonia returned to the question, pondering aloud. "It must be ①. If it's for a greater benefit, then no matter how much we've fought, we could set aside our differences temporarily."
Ash nodded seriously this time. "Agreed. ① makes the most sense, and it's unlikely for the same answer to be correct twice in a row."
Their reasoning wasn't just based on guesswork. Logically, ① was the most plausible. After all, if the observer and the swordswoman had already fallen out, how could love possibly bring them back together? A shared goal, especially one rooted in profit or survival, seemed like the only thing that could mend their fractured partnership.
Having come to a consensus, Sonia chose ①. As soon as she made her selection, the paper glowed with a murky, ominous light—bad news.
"You answered incorrectly. The Fate Quiz is over. You may now ask your question."
Wrong?!
Both Ash and Sonia were stunned. Among the remaining answers, two included "because of love." Did that mean there was a two-thirds chance they would reconcile due to love in the future?!
"Maybe it was ②," Ash mused aloud. "It's possible that two people who've fallen out might put aside their differences to face a common crisis."
"Yeah, that makes sense," Sonia quickly agreed, awkwardly steering the conversation away.
The sudden shift in tone made things uncomfortably awkward—almost teetering toward something more… intimate. Desperate to dispel the atmosphere, Sonia changed the subject. "So, what's your question?"
"Oh, mine's straightforward," Ash said, glancing at his paper.
"Question: Who was Shirin Dor looking at when they died?"
"Wait, why is yours a short-answer question while mine was multiple choice?"
"Probably because of the time gap," Sonia speculated. "If it's a far-off question that you couldn't possibly answer with your current knowledge, the Fate Quiz gives options to improve your odds. But if the event is closer to your present, and you could deduce the answer yourself, it won't give you choices."
She paused thoughtfully. "Shirin—is that the mastermind you mentioned before?"
"Yes," Ash confirmed. "Which makes the answer obvious."
With a flicker of thought, Ash wrote his response: "Shirin Dor was looking at Ash Heath when they died."
The paper lit up with vibrant rainbow hues.
"Congratulations, you've answered one question correctly. Would you like to continue?"
Ash proceeded, and the next question appeared:
"Question: How does the observer escape Bloodmoon Nation after the jailbreak?"
Ash read it aloud, and Sonia furrowed her brows. "No options? That means you should be able to figure it out from what you already know. Do you have a plan for escaping after the jailbreak?"
"Uh… Does 'surviving in the wilderness' count?"
In truth, Ash and his crew hadn't really thought about what came after breaking out. Everyone probably had their own plans and agendas—there was no need to share them with others.
For Ash, a man with no memory, his options were limited to becoming a hermit in the wild. But for people like Igula, Ronald, and Harvey, who were well-connected, they probably had safehouses or other escape routes lined up. Why share those resources with anyone else?
"Do you know any methods of leaving Bloodmoon Nation?"
"Nope," Ash admitted, clueless. "I don't even know where the nation's borders are."
Unable to make any headway, Sonia suggested, "If you're stuck, start with the most common methods. Either fake an identity and leave using legal transport, or find a smuggler for illegal transport. Among illegal options, sea routes are the most typical…"
"Faking an identity is out. Legal transport would require a chip scan, and after removing mine, I'm not about to implant another one," Ash said. "So, illegal transport it is. Sea routes make sense… Alright, let's go with that!"
"The observer escapes Bloodmoon Nation by sea."
The paper let out a puff of mocking gray smoke, as though laughing at Ash's stupidity.
"You answered incorrectly. The Fate Quiz is over. You may now ask your question."
Neither of them was surprised. With no concrete leads, their logical guess was a shot in the dark. The odds of getting it right were slim.
Sonia, however, was puzzled. "It doesn't make sense. If the Fate Quiz asks a question you can't possibly answer, isn't that just unfair? You must know the answer deep down—you just haven't realized it yet."
"Or maybe the Void Realm is punishing me for calling it petty earlier," Ash quipped.
"You kind of deserve that… But hey, if the Void Realm thinks you'll successfully break out and even leave the country, then you probably don't have to worry about the Bloodmoon Trials."
Ash blinked. Oh, right. In hindsight, every question—from "how Shirin Dor died" to "the observer and swordswoman's fallout and reconciliation"—confirmed he had a future beyond the trials. If he were doomed to die in the Trials, none of these questions would even exist.
That was the true value of the Fate Quiz: even if you got the answers wrong, the questions themselves hinted at your future and helped guide your decisions in the present.
With the quiz over, it was time to ask their questions.
They both stared at their papers. Sonia spoke first. "We shouldn't ask anything too ambitious. It's best to keep it within a one-wing silver mage's scope. In the Void Realm, one rule always applies: you get what you give. Since we only answered one question correctly, the answer we receive won't exceed what we've earned."
Ash nodded in agreement. "Whatever we ask should help us boost our power immediately. The second Bloodmoon Trial is coming, and every bit of strength increases my odds of survival."
As they both thought about it, inspiration struck them at the same time.
In unison, they shouted excitedly: "The Golden Fish!"