
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
Given that the real numbers \( a \) and \( b \) satisfy that both quadratic trinomials \( x^2 + ax + b \) and \( x^2 + bx + a \) have two distinct real roots each, and the product of their roots results in exactly three distinct real roots. Find all possible values of the sum of these three distinct roots.

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