
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
We write on the board the equation

$$
(x-1)(x-2) \cdots(x-2016)=(x-1)(x-2) \cdots(x-2016),
$$

where there are 2016 linear factors on each side. What is the smallest positive value of $k$ such that we can omit exactly $k$ of these 4032 linear factors in such a way that there is at least one linear factor on each side, and the resulting equation has no real roots?

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