353rd Daisy Trials, Elimination Round.
A figure emerged in the woodland, her grey tunic marked with a blue hexahedron—a clear sign of her rank as a sixth-tier mathematician. Black and grey hair cascaded over her shoulders, framing what she liked to think was impeccable skin for a woman her age. She was Helen from sector 1J, and as the laws of probability would have it, a second-time trial runner.
Feeling the weight hanging around her neck, she ran her bony fingers along the strap until she found the machine Daisy had strapped to her. A camera. She studied it briefly, then let her gaze sweep across the endless expanse of trees. Her heartbeat had quickened again. That wouldn’t do.
Clearing her throat, she began her chant.
“One point six one eight zero three three nine eight eight seven…”
As soon as the sequence left her lips, her pulse steadied, her mind sharpening as the tension of the impending exam lost its grip on her. She had relied on the golden ratio for years to keep her mind clear—though in sector 1J, Pi was the favored constant. Personally, she had always preferred something more divine.
Muttering to herself, she examined the dense woodland again before shifting her focus to the device hanging from her neck.
“A camera,” she murmured, rolling the word over her tongue. The chant faded, but she was calm now, her mind primed for analysis. “These haven’t been around for decades.”
She picked it up and peered through the viewfinder. Immediately, something caught her attention. The frame’s aspect ratio. The ratio of its length to its height was the same as the ratio of their sum to the larger of the two—an unmistakable recurrence of the golden number.
You can’t help yourself, can you, Daisy?
Finding patterns so soon boded well. It was a sign that mathematics would be at the heart of this year’s trials. But before she indulged in more pattern hunting, she needed to establish a baseline for the exam’s mechanics. The camera was clearly key to this trial. Testing it seemed the logical next step.
She pointed it at the nearest tree and pressed the shutter.
Capture successful!
Tries left: 19 of 20
Time left in Snap Arena: 1:59:42
Two hours. Not much time. That likely meant this was only the first stage.
A mechanical whir startled her as the device spat out a card.
Pine Tree ?? (Common)
4 of 5
HP: 2
VP: 1
“Fascinating,” she murmured, turning the card over in her hands. Numbers. Always numbers. Another sign that mathematics would be vital this year. A slow smile crept across her lips.
Her last trial had been a disaster—one of those dreadful exams that forced her to interact with other sectors. Interpersonal skills were not her forte. Nor her people’s.
This time, the odds would be in her favor.
Now that she understood the gist of the game, Helen focused on searching for patterns. Beneath her feet lay a bed of fine pine needles—too many to count with a mere glance. Unfortunately, she lacked the gift of subitizing, the ability to instantly recognize the number of objects in a set. That meant she had to do things the hard way.
She turned her attention to something more manageable: the trees. Fixing her gaze on a distant point, she kept her head still and counted the trunks within her line of sight. Thirteen. She rotated her head ninety degrees and repeated the process. Twenty-one. One last turn. Eight.
As she had suspected. The Fibonacci sequence.
Daisy had woven it into the very structure of the arena. Helen resisted the urge to get too excited. Her people often fell into the trap of overanalyzing patterns, seeing order where there was none. If one looked hard enough, one could find mathematics anywhere.
But this was different. There were too many signs: the proportions of the camera, the layout of the trees, the very choice of pines as the predominant species in the arena. After all, pine cones and their spirals were some of the most elegant examples of the Fibonacci sequence in nature.
She had found the pattern. Now, it was time to use it.
Helen already had a photograph of a single tree. Now, she needed two. She pressed her face against the viewfinder and searched for a frame that captured exactly two trees—no more, no less. It was harder than expected, requiring careful adjustments and a lot of walking. Finally, she found a sparse patch of woodland where the composition was perfect.
Capture successful!
Tries left: 18 of 20
Two Pine Trees ???? (Common)
1 of 5
HP: 2
VP: 2
Seeing the numbers on the card, she smiled. “One, two, and five. All part of the sequence,” she murmured in approval. Another reassuring sign that she was on the right track.
Next, she searched for a location where she could frame exactly three trees. Strangely, it proved even harder than finding a clear shot of two. After several meticulous adjustments, she finally captured the perfect image.
Capture successful!
Tries left: 17 of 20
Three Pine Trees ??x3 (Common)
1 of 5
HP: 2
VP: 3
Helen exhaled, pleased. The numbers aligned: one, two, three, and five—all Fibonacci. But then her gaze flicked to the trial interface. Seventeen attempts left. Twenty minutes passed. Neither of those numbers belonged to the sequence.
The lack of harmony made her stomach turn, but she reined in her thoughts. Not everything fit into perfect mathematical order. Sometimes, patterns existed. Other times, they didn’t. And sometimes, order followed a logic she had yet to uncover.
Helen focused on the pattern and discarded all other disquieting thoughts. She added three to the previous number in the sequence, two, to get the next one: five. Finding an angle that framed exactly five trees was considerably easier than before.
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Capture successful!
Tries left: 16 of 20
Five Pine Trees ??x5 (Uncommon)
1 of 4
HP: 2
VP: 4
With another Fibonacci number secured, she continued, methodically searching for angles where she could capture eight, thirteen, and twenty-one trees in a single shot.
Capture successful!
Tries left: 15 of 20
Eight Pine Trees ??x8 (Uncommon)
1 of 4
HP: 2
VP: 5
Capture successful!
Tries left: 14 of 20
Thirteen Pine Trees ??x13
(Uncommon)
1 of 4
HP: 2
VP: 6
Capture successful!
Tries left: 13 of 20
Twenty-One Pine Trees ??x21 (Uncommon)
1 of 4
HP: 2
VP: 7
The more she climbed in the sequence, the higher the victory points climbed with it. A positive correlation. Encouraged, she sought a spot where she could frame thirty-four trees. In a dense patch of woodland, she finally managed to squeeze them into a single shot, capturing the last piece of her mathematical puzzle.
Capture successful!
Tries left: 12 of 20
Thirty-Four Pine Trees ??x34 (Rare)
1 of 3
HP: 2
VP: 8
The next number in the sequence was fifty-five. Helen sighed. That was out of the question. Finding the right vantage point for thirty-four trees had been difficult enough. Fifty-five? Highly improbable.
Still, it wasn’t a bad outcome. She had secured Fibonacci-based cards for eight key numbers in the sequence. Since eight was also part of the pattern, it neatly closed the circle, creating a satisfying symmetry.
Now, it was time to search for new patterns.
She turned her attention to the pine cones. Green and hidden beyond reach, they clung to the highest branches like treasures fiercely guarded by an army of needles. Helen approached one of the trunks, reaching up to climb it—only for her hands to phase right through. She yelped, startled.
What a strange rule.
So, she couldn’t interact with the map? That meant the pine cones were entirely beyond her reach.
Perhaps it was time to investigate the arena itself. She walked as far as she could, eventually bumping into an invisible barrier at the arena’s edge. Pressing her fingertips against it, she studied its surface. There was a slight angle to it. She took a few careful steps along the wall and noted how the curvature continued.
“A circle. Very well,” Helen mused, pleased. She loved circles—simple, elegant testimonies to the perfection of mathematics. Now, it was just a matter of discovering what secrets lay within.
With her back against the invisible wall, she took off running in a straight line. After a few minutes, she reached the opposite side. Estimating the circle’s diameter by counting her steps and factoring in her stride length, she made a quick mental calculation. Satisfied, she turned ninety degrees and repeated the process.
Three crossings later, she noticed a pattern. Each time, she passed by the same dead tree. That had to be the center of the circle.
Unlike the other trees, this one looked drained of life. As she approached, she spotted clusters of mushrooms growing at its base—eight in one patch, thirteen in another. More Fibonacci numbers. A warm sense of satisfaction filled her.
She squinted, digging into her memory for the steps to construct a Fibonacci spiral. A few mumbled formulas and a quiet recitation of the golden number later, it all came back to her.
With the dead tree as her starting point, she took one step forward. Then, she turned clockwise and took two. Another turn, three steps. Then five, eight, thirteen, and twenty-one. Following this pattern, she traced the rough path of a Fibonacci spiral across the arena.
After walking 144 steps, she paused. Before she could turn for the next stretch, something caught her eye—a pine cone resting on the ground. She knelt beside it, studying its structure. The spirals radiating from its base were perfectly arranged. Naturally occurring Fibonacci sequences. She reached out to pick it up, but her hand passed right through.
No matter. She would simply take a picture.
Capture successful!
Tries left: 10 of 20
Spiral ?? (Rare)
1 of 3
HP: 1
VP: 6
Helen smiled. She had been right. Daisy had hidden valuable resources along the Fibonacci spiral points.
She turned again, this time walking 234 steps toward the next point in the sequence. The pattern continued to hold. After two more turns, she came to an abrupt stop.
A breathtaking scene unfolded—golden rays of sunlight pierced through the pine needles, casting intricate patterns on the woodland floor. The way the light refracted made the entire space glow, a dazzling interplay of shadow and radiance.
Helen raised her camera and framed the shot. This had to be important.
Capture failed!
Strange. She had been so sure.
Before she could dwell on it, a bell rang, and the world around her dissolved.
Time had run out.
She found herself back in the white room. Something was different this time. A table stood at the center of the space, its dark surface contrasting starkly against the sterile white surroundings. She stepped closer and ran her fingers along its edges. The dimensions felt familiar.
Helen grinned.
Of course.
The depth and width followed the golden ratio.
“Perhaps this is why they call them irrational numbers,” she murmured. “They make Daisy behave irrationally.”
She trailed her fingers across the surface, soon discovering two shallow engravings. Their dimensions matched the cards she had collected.
Where were the cards, though?
“Inventory,” she called out.
A floating window appeared—standard trial protocol. Inventory systems had been a staple in many trials, including the first one she had taken years ago. She retrieved her cards, arranging them on the table according to Fibonacci’s sequence, with [Spiral] set slightly apart.
Placing the cards in the engravings seemed the logical next step. But in what combination? And in what order?
Helen smirked.
“Daisy, you’ve made these trials exceedingly easy this year.”
Helen placed her first two cards on the engravings. As soon as they touched the surface, circuit-like patterns lit up, and the cards merged.
[Pine Tree ??] + [Two Pine Trees ????]
?? | HP: 2 → 0
???? | HP: 2 → 2
Crafting failed!
She frowned. “Did I do anything wrong? Why does it say I failed?”
Inspecting the cards, she noticed something odd. The first card had dulled, its HP dropping to zero. But the second card had increased in value.
Two Pine Trees ???? (Common)
HP: 2
VP: 3
“The second number rose! That means… it can’t really be a failure, can it?”
Numbers spoke louder than words, so she pressed on, following the same pattern. She set another card onto the engravings.
[Two Pine Trees ????] + [Three Pine Trees ??x3]
???? | HP: 2 → 0
??x3 | HP: 2 → 2
Crafting failed!
Three Pine Trees ??x3 (Common)
HP: 2
VP: 5
Helen’s eyes widened as realization dawned on her.
She was climbing the Fibonacci sequence.
The more she progressed, the greater the gap between values. A small gain now would snowball into something much larger. She methodically continued, running through the sequence she had seen so much of in the woodland.
[Three Pine Trees ??x3] + [Five Pine Trees ??x5]
??x3 | HP: 2 → 0
??x5 | HP: 2 → 2
Crafting failed!
Five Pine Trees ??x5 (Uncommon)
HP: 2
VP: 8
She continued.
[Five Pine Trees ??x5] + [Eight Pine Trees ??x8]
??x5 | HP: 2 → 0
??x8 | HP: 2 → 2
Crafting failed!
Eight Pine Trees ??x8 (Uncommon)
HP: 2
VP: 13
She moved on.
[Eight Pine Trees ??x8] + [Thirteen Pine Trees ??x13]
??x8 | HP: 2 → 0
??x13 | HP: 2 → 2
Crafting failed!
Thirteen Pine Trees ??x13 (Uncommon)
HP: 2
VP: 21
She could feel the numbers escalating.
[Thirteen Pine Trees ??x13] + [Twenty-One Pine Trees ??x21]
??x13 | HP: 2 → 0
??x21 | HP: 2 → 2
Crafting failed!
Twenty-One Pine Trees ??x21 (Uncommon)
HP: 2 | VP: 34
Helen’s fingers trembled slightly as she placed the final two cards.
[Twenty-One Pine Trees ??x21] + [Thirty-Four Pine Trees ??x34]
??x21 | HP: 2 → 0
??x34 | HP: 2 → 0
Crafting successful!
You’ve crafted [Pine Woodland ?????].
Recipe book unlocked! New recipe added to your recipe book.
Pine Woodland ????? (Legendary)
HP: 0
VP: 55
The thrill of harmony!
Helen picked up the radiant new card, marveling at the pattern that had led her here.
The participant with the highest score would win and right now, she was feeling extremely confident.
Three centuries ago, her sector had made a bold choice—investing everything into mathematics. The reasoning had been simple: Daisy, bound by logic and numbers, could be mastered through mastery of math itself.
That choice had paid off. Sector 1J had thrived, its population growing, its success in the exams undeniable.
Not every year favored them. Some trials required other skills—social cunning, physical endurance, sheer luck. But in the years when the exams followed mathematical patterns, they dominated.
Exactly 31.41% of the time, to be precise.
Pi. Mathematically poetic.
And this year?
It seemed the odds were in their favor once again.
[Reader ??] + [Rating ?]
?? | HP: ∞ → ∞
? | HP: 1 → 0
Crafting successful! You’ve crafted [Author Motivation Boost ???].
Don’t forget to for this novel!
