Reborn To Master Time

[Guessing game rules]

Rules for a Valid Question:

1. The question must be something that can logically change within the next 20 minutes; otherwise, it will not be accepted. (This is the first validity filter - majority rule + reasonable objection against question.)
2. The question must be something that can be proven within the next 20 minutes.

Rules for an Invalid Question:

If a question is initially accepted as valid or passes the validity filter but is later found to be either:

1. A question that cannot be proven within the 20-minute time frame, or
2. A question that will always lead to an incorrect answer—meaning that any logical answer would inherently be wrong due to the nature of the question,

then the question becomes invalid. In such cases, the only correct response is to leave the answer blank.

Scoring:

- A correct answer to a valid question = 1 point.

- A correct answer to an invalid question (leaving it blank) = 2 points.

-An incorrect answer to a valid or invalid question = -1 point.

***

"I guess I’ll go next," I said, causing curious faces to turn toward me as they braced themselves for my question. Roran’s first question had been a bit hard, but not impossible to guess. Seeing their expectant gazes, I smiled before asking;

"How many red-colored shoes will be inside Precious' bag when she arrives?"

"What the heck?" Rin muttered with a furrowed brow and I shrugged as I replied,

"Is it not a valid question?" which caused her to roll her eyes as she shrugged as well.

It fell within the rules—something that could be changed within the next 20 minutes and could be proven within that same time frame—making it a completely valid question. Seeing the others' frustrated expressions, I typed out my answer and relaxed, watching them.

Oh.

Lily was the second to type her answer, and she looked at me suspiciously. Seeing this, the others eventually did the same. The likely question that came to their minds when I asked this was whether or not I had already asked Precious to bring me red-colored shoes. Or maybe I was just bluffing? I suspected most of them probably left it blank, though they still obviously typed something out to fake out everyone else.

"Can I go next?" Lily asked, looking at me and I nodded. Everyone’s stress levels seemed to rise as they looked at her, hoping for a better question, but unfortunately for them, hers was much worse than mine.

"What’s the second-to-last letter of the third word Liam will say after entering this room?" she said with a straight face, causing the rest of the group to look at her with confused expressions. It was a completely valid question, but almost impossible to guess. There were 26 letters in the alphabet, and only one of them was correct. The other 25 would qualify as 'valid' answers but would still be wrong, meaning that leaving it blank would automatically be incorrect too.

That’s a bit...

"I can see why you’re related. Can we move on to the next person?" Rin said, haphazardly typing something on the hologram before moving away from Lily. The others seemed to lose some motivation as they typed out their answers, and afterward, Ruby raised a hand.

"C-can I go next?" she said, and I simply nodded. It wasn’t really my decision in the first place, but they seemed to think I would dictate who got to ask the next question.

"What will be the color of Precious' shoes when she arrives?" she asked, and everyone immediately began typing. This question also tied back to whether they thought she would be in her school uniform. It was a question that removed the 'blank' answer but was more grounded than Lily's, which seemed too broad even to guess. As everyone finished—strangely relieved by the more straightforward question—it was finally Rin’s turn. I could more or less guess what she would ask.

"How many items will be inside Precious' bag when she arrives?" she asked, giving me a sidelong glance.

A question with the possibility of a blank answer.

She was taking a huge gamble with this one, but it was also a direct attack aimed at me. She was betting on the possibility that my question was baiting them into leaving a blank, assuming Precious was indeed coming with a bag that contained red-colored shoes. By making that assumption, she presented a new question derived from that, designed to counter me. Even if I knew Precious would be bringing a bag, I wouldn’t know how many items were inside, forcing me to make a wrong guess and potentially canceling out the point I might have gotten from my question about the red-colored shoes.

I must say, I commended her efforts in leaving her comfort zone and putting herself in a much worse position just so she could potentially beat her opponent using their own strategy. I smiled, tapping my screen a few times. As she saw this, she seemed to reach a conclusion and did the same.

Did she use her authority just now?

I couldn’t tell anymore—she had started consciously paying attention to her facial expressions when using it. This was because of the misstep she made the first time I saw her use it, which was how I discovered it.

"Well, looks like time's up. Do your final touch-ups, then we’ll send the messages," I said to them, concluding the game.

Everyone immediately started tapping on their screens a few more times, and once they finished, we all decided to start sending our answers.

Ding~!

Ding~!

The messages arrived one after the other. After making my submission, everyone's faces suddenly soured.

"You’re a piece of shit," Rin muttered in the calmest tone she'd had since entering the room. She turned to look at Lily, who gave a wry smile.

"What’s going on? I don’t get it..." Roran said, looking at the submissions a few times, still confused.

Questions:
1. Will Precious be wearing a skirt or pants when she arrives?
2. How many pairs of red-colored shoes will be inside Precious' bag when she arrives?
3. What’s the second-to-last letter of the third word Liam will say after entering this room?
4. What will be the color of Precious' shoes when she arrives?
5. How many items will be inside Precious' bag when she arrives?

Roran's Answers:
1. Skirt
2.
3. o
4. Black
5. 6

Well, 'o' is a common letter, but if we’re talking about possible greetings, then 'afternoon' was probably the word he was thinking of. I could imagine a few instances of Liam using that as the third word, but it was a bit of a risk betting on a specific greeting alone. As for the rest of his guesses, they seemed logical, so I didn’t really blame him.

He skipped question two and answered question five, which meant he was sure Precious wasn’t coming with a bag. However, after hearing Rin’s question about the bag again, he was likely tricked into believing there might actually be a bag with red-colored shoes, so he decided the best option was to answer one question assuming there was no bag and the other assuming there was.

If you assume:
- No bag = max 4 points [2 blanks]
- 50/50 chance bag is present = max 2 points [1 valid answer and 1 blank]
- Bag is present = max 2 points [2 valid answers]

Betting on a 50/50 chance was probably the best option, since the other two are extremes that could result in 0 points if you either made the wrong assumption or just answered the questions wrong. The 50/50 chance allowed for two possibilities but restricted you to gaining a maximum of 2 points from 2 questions.

Ruby:
1.
2.
3. e
4. Black
5.

She chose the most common letter in the alphabet to play it safe, but unfortunately, if we're looking at common greetings, it’s not really a letter I would gamble on. She also went with one of the extremes, gambling that there was no bag for the chance to get 4 points.

Rin:
1.
2.
3. a
4. Black
5.

So the last question was actually a fake-out.

It seems like she had already guessed I was lying about the bag and made it seem like she fell for it. The question was a good way to throw off those who had already assumed there was no bag—like Roran—making it an effective strategy to make your opponents doubt their previous answers. By bringing up the bag on another question, you make everyone question if there really was no bag. Plus, since it was the final question, it made the tension all the more real. But it seemed Roran was the only one caught in that trap, though he still gained 2 points since he bet on a 50/50 chance.

Lily:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Predictable.

Ian:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

"I guess it’s a draw between me and Lily for first place," I said, yawning and falling back onto my bed. If we tallied up the points, the scoreboard would look like this:

Ian: 10 points
Lily: 10 points
Rin: 6 points
Ruby: 6 points
Roran: 2 points

"So those guests you were talking about aren't coming, are they?" Rin finally said after calming down. She deduced this just from seeing my answers.

"Eh, then no one wins? Why's he acting like he won?" Roran retorted, looking confused.

"If the guests aren't coming, then it just means all the questions we asked can't be proven in the next few minutes..." She checked her wristwatch before continuing "And since we can’t prove any of the questions in the next few minutes, it means all of them are invalid, and therefore, leaving them blank was the only correct answer," she explained, causing Roran to nod a few times before turning to look at me. Even if we assumed the questions were valid through the first validity filter, whether or not Precious would enter the room wearing a skirt becomes an invalid question because she won't enter the room any time soon. So, leaving it blank was the only answer.

"Then what was the point of the game?" Roran asked, still confused.

"Wait, before that—how the hell did you get everything right too?" Rin turned to Lily, who gave a small smile as she looked back at me, and I nodded.

"Well, he was putting a lot of emphasis on time, so I figured he would use that to win. He could’ve locked the door and hidden the keys until time ran out, or maybe he was meeting them later, not in the '20 minutes' he kept mentioning. I didn’t know there was no meeting in the first place, though, so I’m also a bit surprised," she explained, and Rin looked at her suspiciously. If she had indeed concentrated on the time limit to 'prove' the answers, then she may have also caught on to this.

"Is that really all? So you risked getting 0 points over that?" Rin retorted, sounding skeptical. It was indeed a bit absurd—even if you knew about the trick, you would at least invest three questions in your theory and maybe answer two of the questions just in case you were wrong. But Lily went all in.

"Mmh. I guess so?" Lily answered, causing Rin to sigh as she turned back to me.

"So why? Why go through all the effort for a rigged game?" she asked, sounding more curious than angry. Hearing this, I rolled to the edge of the bed, sitting upright. Seeing all their faces focused on me, I asked back,

"You all agreed to play by my rules and lost. I don't see where exactly the problem is," I said casually, and Rin quickly retorted.

"The whole game was built on lies you presented as truth just so you could win. This wasn't a proper game to begin with; hell, I don't even think we should call it a game," she explained, her voice growing more annoyed by the second.

"Yeah, she's right. You are shifting goalposts," Roran added, backing her up, and Ruby nodded meekly, as if making sure I didn't see her opposing me.

"And yet you still played, and every one of you lost. You never once questioned if anything I said was true in the first place, so it's not my fault that you're all so gullible. You agreed to play by my rules, and now that you’ve lost, you're complaining about the same rules you agreed on. That's why you lost," I explained, causing dissatisfied gazes from all of them as they looked at me. While they tried to think of a counter, I chimed in again.

"Let this be a lesson—especially to you," I said while glancing at Roran, who looked at me, confused, holding his chest.

"Me?" he asked, and I nodded.

"That's right. I don't normally give out lectures like this, but your performance against that man in the dungeon was very disappointing," I said, causing his face to sour a bit as he looked at me. He was likely already beating himself up over it, which was why he wasn't trying to defend himself.

"You let that man control the flow of the battle. That's why you lost," I said casually. That battle mirrored the game we just played.

From the very beginning, none of them were ever meant to win, nor did they have a chance, and the main reason for this was because they were playing under my rules.

The despair they felt when they thought they might lose. The little hope that came when they thought they could win. All of it was just an illusion, because the moment they agreed to play, was the moment the winner was decided.

"You saw how he fights. He was just too strong, so we were forced to react to whatever he did," Roran tried to explain, giving a logical reason. Seeing my unchanged expression, Rin decided to jump in.

"You also got beat up. Why'd you wait for the last second to fight back?" she asked, trying to change topics. Well, I guess to them it might’ve seemed like I was just holding back and only fought back at the last minute.

"My opponent was the masked woman. I entrusted Roran to handle that man, but it seems I might have made a mistake," I said, diverting the topic back to Roran, who seemed a bit surprised by my answer, as if thinking back to the dungeon. Since I had explicitly told him to handle the Giant Killer at the time, he must've been connecting the dots and thinking I did so because I thought he could win. Before Rin could answer back, I added,

"Your excuse is that he was too strong, and yet, you still decided to play by his rules. I’m not saying you should completely change your fighting style, but I think you shouldn’t try to force a fair confrontation against people who are much stronger than you." I explained, gaining a few nods from him.

"Right." He replied, his eyes showing a spark of determination.

Misguided growth is the worst kind of growth.

Roran didn’t have anyone he could look up to at the academy, and therefore, he will likely try to break down my words on his own. In the pursuit of growth, he will destroy the progress he’s already made. He will keep trying over and over again to reach this image I’ve implanted in him that doesn’t even exist in my own head. And because of that, he will eventually hit a wall. And when he does, he’ll try to climb over it using the same principles I taught him, falling again and again in pursuit of a nonexistent power. When all hope is lost, he’ll decide to confide in someone. When that happens, I will be the one to guide him. But Roran is a very instinctual person, and I believe their type has their own way of learning. So, if by some chance, he breaks through that wall by himself, then he may become one of the strongest in the golden generation—stronger than even Eliana herself.

As the thought raced through my mind, I looked at the students once more and spoke,

"Anyways, you should all leave. I actually have some guests coming."

"Eh, the heck? Wait, so they’re actually coming?" Rin replied, looking at me confused and I shook my head.

"It’s not the people you’re thinking of, so I wouldn’t recommend staying," I said with a smile, but she looked at me suspiciously. In the next moment, Lily suddenly stood up.

"I guess I’ll be going," she said, causing Rin to look between her and me, confused, before saying,

"Wait, you also left everything blank. You’re trying to trick us into leaving, aren't you?" she said, looking at Lily, who let out a sigh. There were still a few minutes before the time limit ended, so the game was technically still on, and if the two guests walked through that door, then there was still a chance...

"Mmmh. Good luck then. Don’t say I didn’t warn you," Lily simply said, walking to the door.

"What’s that supposed to mean? Are you threatening us?" Rin shot back, but Lily simply shrugged her shoulders, walking out of the room and closing the door. The remaining students all turned to look at me simultaneously.

"Who exactly are you meeting up with?" Rin broke the silence, and everyone looked at me curiously.

"Well, you know I would never hurt any of you, but it might be different for whoever walks through that door," I said, turning my attention to the door, causing all of them to quickly do the same.

"We’ll be fine; we have Roran," Rin shot back, causing Roran to give a worried smile as he looked back at me. Well, he’d probably hold his own, but he would still lose. Seeing them act like this, I let out a sigh.

"So you didn’t learn anything from this lesson? Are you sure you want to continue playing under my rules?" I shot back, looking at Ruby and smiling, making sure Rin caught the action.

"Be sure to keep the same attitude when it’s my turn to pick a game," Rin said, standing up and signaling to the other two with her head, prompting them to stand.

"I’ll look forward to it," I simply replied, returning the taunt without a hint of hesitation.

Throughout my life, I’ve always seen rules as a concept more fragile than the people who create them. It’s the Rule-maker’s Law: What kind of idiot would make rules that don’t benefit themselves?

The first person to suggest that stealing from another should be considered a crime did so not for society, but for his own personal protection.

If you’re not making the rules, then you’re dancing in the palm of the person who made them. Never forget that.

The natural progression of battle works in a similar way. Unspoken rules that every warrior adheres to. In that aspect, the one who initiates the fight is the one who makes the rules, and the other is forced to play along, regardless of how powerful they are. But that kind of combat doesn’t suit me.

Rewrite the rules and become the rule-maker.

To force people into a game they’ve never played.

A combat style lacking in emotion? Don’t make me laugh. If that kind of style can kill a god, then who the hell cares?

That’s the type of thinking I’ll indoctrinate my team members with, and with it, I’ll prove why this way of combat is superior.

The only thing that matters in battle is winning.

There's no honor in battle.

No fairness.

No respect for the enemy.

No noble sacrifices.

There are only those still standing and the corpses that lie beneath them.

I hope you’re watching... Devil.

I thought to myself as I looked at the time again.

They should almost be here.