
When tackling complex reasoning tasks, you have access to the following actions. Use them as needed to progress through your thought process.

[ASSESS]

[ADVANCE]

[VERIFY]

[SIMPLIFY]

[SYNTHESIZE]

[PIVOT]

[OUTPUT]

You should strictly follow the format below:

[ACTION NAME]

# Your action step 1

# Your action step 2

# Your action step 3

...

Next action: [NEXT ACTION NAME]


system
Numbers $1, 2, 3, \ldots, 16$ are written in a $4 \times 4$ array, one number in each square, such that if two numbers are consecutive, then they occupy squares that share an edge. The numbers in the four corners add up to $34$. What is the number in the center of the matrix?

Present the answer in LaTex format: \boxed{Your answer}
user