Half an hour later, alongside twenty other classmates, Euri was sitting inside a recently cleaned-up auditorium, staring at a brightly lit screen placed in front of his seat.
According to Miss Rei, this device would present him with a series of questions, and he had to type out an answer that would be evaluated by an AI. It was a sowhat sophisticated, but direct thod even by the standards of their school.
Everyone in his group had sighed in relief upon realizing that they had a fair shot at this. After all, broad questions left a lot of room for creativity.
No one was going to be shunned because of so natural shortcomings like elental affinity, genetics, or the lack of a unique physique.
But the mont the first test question loaded on his screen, Euri discovered so odd aspects to this test.
Firstly, the question didn’t start with a nuric list. There was no option to skip it and face the next question, if any. Just a locked keyboard and an answer box with a submission option.
Secondly, there was no ti counter on the screen, and the red-clothed invigilators hadn’t ntioned anything about the ti limit either. In that case, why weren’t the students of the previous groups still not taking the test?
Miss Rei had guided a new group to this auditorium every fifteen minutes.
That ant the test couldn’t be longer than 10 to 12 minutes! Such a tifra was barely enough ti to answer multiple broad questions.
Eyes narrowing, Euri read the question on the screen.
[ You are playing chess against soone who clearly harbors deep-seated hatred towards you. The results of this ga are either great rewards or certain death. At the current stage of the ga, the opponent has cornered your queen. Your only shot at saving the ga is to sacrifice the queen to take out the opponent’s knight for a checkmate option. Or, you could save the queen by sacrificing other pieces and look for another opportunity later. Now choose either and explain your reasons in detail. ]
The question was lengthy, and the answer would be lengthier. A good answer could take nearly ten minutes unless one could type very quickly.
As the question hadn’t ntioned specific placents, the room for creativity was very wide. Euri understood chess just barely enough to visualize the scenario on the board.
Just as he had suspected, Red Sea Lab was testing the students based on their intellect and ntal faculties. Perhaps, they wanted guinea pigs with certain psychological characteristics.
Euri looked around his seat and discovered that a majority of the students were typing away at their best speed. So, probably not familiar with the rules of chess, looked lost and disappointed.
Fools, can’t they just write that they don’t know how to play chess? And it wasn’t as if not knowing the exact rules could totally bar them from choosing either option.
This question is clearly intended to divide the students into groups of optimists, opportunists, cautious, skeptics, and autistics!
Euri thought for a mont and decided to satiate his curiosity rather than gunning for decent answers. He wanted to know if the test contained only one question, and what the classification criteria of the AI were. He wanted to see if any of the unspoken rules could be broken.
So he typed an answer that he felt would be atypical, affecting the evaluation module.
[ If I have to bet my life on a ga of chess, the only piece I need for a checkmate is a .611 Boneripper Magnum. If I don’t have that in my pocket, a Gold-grade Rank-9 beast pet will do too. ]
The handgun model didn’t actually exist, and the notion of a Rank-9 beast pet was beyond all absurdities when the highest lifeform on the planet hadn’t yet reached Rank-2.
Even if the AI had access to the latest information on the Cosmic Notice from last month, it would struggle to calculate how to evaluate this answer.
Not to ntion, he had broken an express rule by ignoring the available choices in the question, making up his own creative answer!
After he submitted the answer, the page disappeared instantly from the screen, replaced by a new question. Euri looked at the ti on his comcell. One minute had passed.
"Let’s see how many I can answer within ten." Chuckling to himself imagining the plight of the AI, Euri read the next question.
[ After you killed the opponent of the chess ga, you searched his pockets and discovered a video playing in his miniscreen, which he must have intended to show you to cause a ntal breakdown. In this video, the love of your life and your most cherished friend are cheating on you under the influence of aphrodisiacs. How do you respond? Elaborate why. ]
"...What the hell is this?"
Stunned, Euri reread the whole scenario again to make sure he wasn’t seeing things. How did a ga of chess transition into a cheating story?
"Did I piss the AI off?" Scratching his head in confusion and wonder, Euri noted down one new elent of the test. His previous answer had already been evaluated!
How else could the AI propose a scenario starting with the opponent’s death?! The previous question had no such options!
Nevertheless, he had to admit that this was an excellent question to determine certain psychological aspects of a test taker. Tragic situations like being cheated on, even as an imaginary scenario, would elicit the most primal reactions from a person.
Sneering at the screen, Euri typed back his answer.
[ If I ever find the love of my life, she would also be my most cherished friend, which ans, there is only one person in that video, being secretly fild by so pervert to use against . Now I’m going to sue his family for breach of privacy and eat up all of his inheritance money. ]
Since wild, nonexistent factors in the answer couldn’t befuddle the AI, Euri could only take a different route. After submitting the answer, he checked the ti again.
Two and a half minutes gone, eight left by a conservative estimation.
The next question stunned him again.
[ When you tried to sue the family of your opponent, they accused you of murder and filed criminal charges against you. The court issued a warrant for arrest, so you and your lover escaped into a dinsional plane to avoid the enforcers. In this plane, you fell into an ambush by a group of Rank-9 lifeforms. If you want to survive, you have to sacrifice your lover. If you want to save her, you may not survive. But if you risk it all, you can perhaps gain a powerful beast pet by killing them all. Explain how you shall proceed. ]
"Huh, isn’t this an iteration of the first question and my answer? The fundantals are the sa, the stakes have simply been increased. This question must be pointed towards figuring out consistency of thinking."
Euri typed at a rapid speed without thinking much. Did this AI think it could play on circular logic and creativity with a human? Hehe!
[ As a person who worships power, how can I fall in love with a woman weaker than ? In this scenario, the choice will actually be up to her, and I’ll be the one in need of saving. This ans she will either be equipped with a better weapon than the .611 Boneripper Magnum, or carry a beast pet beyond Gold-grade Rank-9. Obviously, her beast pet will be able to dominate the enemy beasts and save the day. ]
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