The Degree
There's No Backward Way

It didn't take long to get rid of the losers and help Edward and Jack. They regrouped and had a short discussion in a short time.

“Are you sure you found the answer?” edward asked when he did not loosen his horses.

He was indeed a martial expert considering how calm and diligent his eyes wandered wary of the surroundings.

Even while talking he did not slack off at all. Edward was a reliable fellow but very dangerous as an enemy.

“Yes. Thanks to a little help earlier I managed to narrow down the answer and make it a single correct answer. Take it easy, as proof I will also answer the same thing.”

“That means you deliberately did not answer him immediately to prove that you did not lie, yes .. fair enough to me.”

Edward was sure that no fool would bury a man if his life would be buried.

It was just like a murder-suicide plot.

If Ray will answer it before Edward and the others then there is a possibility that he faked it. By thinking about the possibility, Ray deliberately did not answer it first.

“Are you sure you'll believe it, Edward? Even though she had been willing to save Diana and revealed that she wanted to join our group as friends, I still had a hard time accepting her considering her behavior all this time.”

So far Steve and his group agree that Ray is a man of calculation and vigilance.

A cold-blooded man who would not hesitate to kill his parents for his one wish. It has been ingrained in their minds.

But when Ray reveals his motives the thought is gone. Steve begins to understand why Ray poisoned him and Diana. He did it as his safety insurance because until now Ray is still considered a criminal.

Objectively there have never been villains and heroes in this world. No one can hate a criminal if they see the life he lives.

Man is not born into the world to be evil. But the world and man himself make other humans into criminals.

“Take it easy, Steve. We have agreed that this person will have a factual reason. In addition he will also send the answer in advance that does not allow him to cheat.”

Cheating in the sense that Ray wrote more answers than the answers he gave to Edward and others.

As expected, Edward is very important in this small group. In addition to the fact that he is the center, Edward himself is calmer than Jane who is the brain of this group. Thought Ray.

Ray's assessment of Edward has never diminished and will only increase with the emergence of other things.

With the increase in Ray's assessment of someone, vigilance and trust cultivation will be higher.

“We don't have much time. In addition to the deadline to send answers, people there may not wait.”

Until now there are several other groups that pounce on their group and are ready to attack. Just because Ray's whereabouts have a gun and the stage where they take down the big guy becomes a pivotal moment.

Previous events were not planned but Ray was grateful that it made people not just attack him.

“So what answer is there?”

“Close.” Ray whispered and asked Edward's group to turn their backs at close range rather than negotiate a circle while embracing.

“Come from the east brings happiness but will be the end when it comes from the west. Something that exists religiously certain that has been scientifically proven.” Ray repeats the sentence of the asked puzzle question.

At first it was an absurd puzzle but with a little help it disappeared.

“It's confusing. I initially thought the answer was day and night. Every day people will travel and the children will be happy. But when night falls everything will end because humans are not nocturnal.”

Jane had one of the answers that had been on Ray's mind before her little help came along.

“I thought about it from five answers. But day and night are natural so there is no connection with religious.” Ray made sure his voice was quiet but could be heard by Edward's group.

He went back to check the surroundings before revealing the important part.

“The answer is very easy, namely, sun.”

“We all know that the sun always comes from the east. But in certain religious beliefs, the coming of the sun from the west is a sign of the afterlife. It has been scientifically proven that it can create the possibility of the sun coming from the west. Let us mean that the afterlife is the concluding chapter of the story named man.”

Nothing makes more sense than that answer. Ray was one hundred percent sure that the sun was the answer.

“Do you follow religion?” asked Jane with an incredulous face.

“Seeing his behavior is definitely not.” Steve immediately denied it.

In any belief killing people for no apparent reason is a big mistake.

“I'm an agnostic. Let's miss this discussion because the time is getting shorter and shorter.”

Ray begins to access his clock and answer the riddle. Before sending it he made sure Edward and the others saw clearly that Ray wasn't lying at all.

Edward looked at his other friends and nodded for a sign that he was going to write a similar answer to Ray.

Coinciding with the finish they sent the answer of the time puzzle to answer the finish and a hologram emerged from the Guardian's eyes.

The hologram displays the names of the people who gave the correct answer and got the ticket to the finish line.

There's Ray's name and Edward's group. Ray also discovered Alpha, Beta and Testa as well. No need to linger anymore they immediately entered while hearing screams from people who received punishment for answering wrongly.

“Thank God the answer is not wrong .. otherwise we will have the same fate as them.” Jack breathed joyfully.

“My head started to hurt after all this.” Diana could no longer support her body and began to stagger.

Steve took the opportunity to snuggle and carry it.

“Next what will we do?” steve asked as he tried to keep up with his footsteps.

“The chair is already right in front of our eyes. But before fighting for it there is a final hurdle that really awaits us apparently.”

That assumption is based on the bodies of people who failed to reach a seat on his trip.

Ray himself does not know for sure because the obstacles in the last part are difficult to know because it continues to change.

Last he remembered there would be a super small needle fired.

“Isn't it dangerous to challenge something we don't know?” Steve was obviously worried because he was beginning to understand how ruthless the organization that made all this happen was.

“Although there is no other choice but to retreat!”

“Do you have a specific plan, Ray?” Edward asked Ray expectantly.

It was surprising because now they really depended on him. Not a bad thing for others to rely on.

Plan kah ... Ray certainly has his own plan. Something he had already run and was ready to execute right now.

...[***]...

Name: Diana.

Age: 21 years.

Origin: America.

Degree: Hair Cutter.

Able to bring up scissors artificially and make the owner able to determine the part you want to cut appropriately. Without defects and errors. Able to bring up other objects to cut hair artificially.