It was already week three since Na-me visited Korea University for a Q&A about proofs.
Considering the child’s stamina, we decided to take a short break.
Some sat still on chairs with their eyes closed, beginning to meditate, while others diligently transcribed equations onto their electronic paper.
Then, two professors stumbled upon each other in front of the restroom and greeted warmly with a handshake.
“Hello, Professor! Good to see you here.”
“Uh? Ah, yes! Resort? You’re Professor Seo, right?”
“Oh yes, that’s me! How have you been?”
They were the two who had been stuck together for a month at a resort in Gyeonggi-do, serving as ping-pong opponents while on the KGSAT math committee last year.
The young professor immediately brewed some instant coffee to break the ice for conversation.
“Isn’t it fascinating?”
While there was no direct object in his statement, it was clear who he was referring to.
“Fascinating indeed! When the kid explained the elliptic curves, the Mordell-Weil group came up, and I almost screamed. This relates to the Birch-Swinnerton-Dyer conjecture and, oh, Goldbach’s conjecture too—”
“Oh, Professor, I specialize in geometry, so that part isn’t really my expertise.”
“Haha, I’ve only ever taught twenty-year-olds; I never imagined I’d learn from an eight-year-old!”
“It’ll probably take some time to reach a proof, right?”
“Goldbach’s conjecture requires at least two years to tackle. Just proving the prerequisites is quite a workload…”
“The sofa relocation problem is currently under rigorous study at the University of Colorado using quantum computing. We’re looking at about six months for that too.”
He took a sip of his coffee.
The bitter taste had been completely removed; it was like sweet, canned coffee.
After only grinding through derivative works of proofs or follow-up studies, their brains melted in sweetness, soaking in Na-me’s fresh insights.
“Professor, actually, I ran into Chief Park at a restaurant right in front here yesterday while eating Jajangmyeon.”
“Who was Chief Park again…?”
“The guy in sunglasses.”
“No way, the National Intelligence agent? He’s here?”
He was the National Intelligence Service employee responsible for the security of math professors during exam preparations.
“He asked me not to talk too much about a kid named NoName when we go back to campus. It wasn’t a serious request, more like a personal favor.”
The ‘The Great Generation List’ document was half treated as a joke in the news.
But it seemed that it was an urgent issue at the National Intelligence Service.
“Right now, the U.S. stands firmly with us, criticizing Switzerland, but who knows when they’ll flip their stance.”
“Flipping stances, you say…?”
“We simply must prevent a child born in Korea from winning the Fields Medal as an American citizen.”
“…!”
Though it might be premature, if even one of Na-me’s seven proofs came out confirmed, the Fields Medal would be practically assured.
But who knows when that will be?
What if Na-me moves abroad in between?
Even now, the U.S., UK, and Japan consistently beef up their Nobel Prize and Fields Medal counts every year.
How long will Korea continue to present embarrassing headlines of ‘Korean-American award winners’?
“There were professors from the Theory of Magic Department among today’s attendees. While we can’t help the kid moving into magic studies, we should at least try to prevent them from going abroad, right?”
The professor nodded.
“Well, in this day and age, it’s hard to say if they’ll deploy comment trolls, but this time, I’d like to support the National Intelligence Service.”
Some quiet groundwork might be going on somewhere to ensure Na-me can remain in Korea.
*
[The Great Generation]
…
[5. Ahmed Mustafa (15) – Egypt]
[4. Ashwin Ramakrishnan (16) – India]
[3. Katsuhata Emika (14) – Japan]
[2. NoName (8) – Republic of Korea]
[1. Cecilia Nieto de Sampaio (12) – France, Brazil]
In an era flooded with spies, a country’s secret leaks barely made headlines.
However, the Swiss document generated significant buzz among netizens due to its ranking.
It lined up promising kids from around the world as if to spur some competition.
Finding out about geniuses from other nations was quite fun, and related V-tube videos poured out in droves.
[But why isn’t NoName first? Is this a joke? Are they racist?]
└ But wait, won’t three Asians be in the top five?
└ Who is this unknown loser in first place?
└ The person with the highest IQ in the world.
└ 12 years old and already graduated from college, working at NASA.
└ What a scam character! Hahaha!
[Personal Opinion) Still, it’s only natural for NoName to be first]
└ They haven’t shown anything, though.
└ Our Na-me has done stuff! The magic cast in Wagal is rumored to be Unique Magic.
└ If that was Unique Magic, they would’ve announced it already! Come on, lol.
└ Why are there so many anti-Korean trolls here? Are you a communist? Or a troll?
└ The moment that math thing proves true, it’s game over. Na-me is smarter than the other 99 combined, sorry.
└ There are 100 people, but only three Koreans. Sigh!
└ With a population of 8 billion, having 40 million Koreans means one in 200, so having three isn’t bad.
└ We need to eliminate all the fake ones who can’t even cast magic! What’s that miraculous calculation?
└ Just being the youngest among a hundred and still coming in second already feels like a complete scam.
└ No way, that’s not satisfying unless it’s first place.
[ENVY, Bong Chan-sik, Lee Sang-yoon, NoName Let’s Go!]
└ The lineup gets my heart racing, haha.
└ Do you know Na-me?
└ I can’t hold back anymore!
└ What?
└ Starting a campaign to promote Na-me from today, sorry.
Despite the government’s attempt to hide Na-me, the general public was outraged at her capabilities being underappreciated.
While other children were merely extraordinary for their age group, Na-me stood toe-to-toe with any adult.
Around this time, word spread that Na-me was regularly showing up at Korea University.
[Let’s share the story of how NoName joined our class.]
[Author: ㅇㅇ(147.47)]
*
“Does Na-me have a boyfriend?”
“Yes…?”
“A loved one, a partner. Today’s lesson is about ‘Romantic Relationships.’”
“No, I don’t.”
“Aw, there must be plenty of people who like you. It’s a shame for those friends.”
The liberal arts professor poked at me, refusing to leave me alone.
“What does Na-me think love is?”
Students in front of me swiveled their heads like whack-a-moles every five seconds out of curiosity about my answer.
Are they really that eager to know my response?
Love isn’t simple.
“It’s a psychological phenomenon manifested as a mechanism of species preservation imprinted in our genes, to produce offspring and protect partners and children.”
The essence of love revolves around survival and species preservation.
The reason siblings don’t fall in love with each other is that they see each other as competitors, not as protectees.
From an evolutionary psychology perspective, humans are also kept from feeling sexual attraction to the ones they’ve known since childhood to avoid incestuous relationships.
In other words, it’d be appropriate to say that love is more swayed by hormones than felt by the subject.
Though Woo Da-yeon next to me whispered, “That isn’t real love!” in protest, I firmly maintained my stance.
Look, even the professor is showing a slide from the scholar Wilson, who argued the same!
The psychology of human relationships turned out to be more intriguing than I anticipated.
Especially, Sternberg’s Triangular Theory of Love left the strongest impression.
“Intimacy,” “Passion,” and “Commitment.”
According to Sternberg’s theory, any missing part of these three results in incomplete love.
‘…?’
I pondered, lifting my fingers one by one.
If we spend enough time sharing secrets, intimacy builds up.
Even if we try to escape to the ends of the earth, that passion follows us like a leech.
Even the commitment that drives one to kill me to keep me comfortable.
‘Doesn’t that sound just like Hiasen?’
I think I’ve just stumbled upon an exception to the theory.
Family wouldn’t work like that.
I shook my head, folding my three fingers down, and woke up Ni-el, who had been sleeping next to me.
“Eek!”
“Sis, you just snored.”
“Whew… Thanks… Huh? The class is already over? Huuhhh…!”
While Ni-el stretched, capturing the attention of the boys, I checked the newly arrived text message.
The sender was the Korea University PR team.
*
Na-me’s wild exploration vlog was probably a brief phenomenon, or so common thought among her subscribers.
It had been over a month since the edited version of the Wagal ranked matches got uploaded to V-tube.
Ever since Wagal faced a month-long suspension, her videos had completely stopped.
-Na-me, open the door! Bang bang bang!
-Our Joseonjing made a mistake, please come back Na-me! Sob sob
-Ijo-won is the worst!
-A grade schooler should be gaming all day during vacation, why are they wandering around?
-NoName comeback day 26!
-Sebastian comeback day 26!
-Would you play Asteria since the LoL servers are open?
└ I personally hate LoL, but I might actually indulge in it like Nureongi right now.
-Just show up. We’ll cover all your costs.
└ Suddenly has 500,000 fiancées, lol.
-Didn’t this kid suddenly fall into rhythm games or something?
-NoName is back!!!
└ Really?
└ Nah, just kidding, lol.
-Na-me, start the stream! No lies, lol.
└ No lies, please!
└ For real?
└ Why yes, why is that real, lol?
As usual, Na-me’s return was sudden, with no announcement whatsoever.
[NoName]
[Just Chatting – Korea University Dojo Cracker]
And there stood NoName before the long-awaited fans.
She was waving around the Light Transmutation Circle Inscriber that exuded a luxurious vibe.
From IWC Schaffhausen’s ‘Reminiscence’ series.
“Oh my gosh, isn’t that like 30 million won?”
“Where did she get that?”
“IWC Schaffhausen.”
“Must have rich adoptive parents, huh?”
“Even so, would they buy something like that for an eight-year-old?”
Coincidentally, as the name of IWC suggests, its headquarters is located in Schaffhausen, Northern Switzerland.
“Could it be she bought it in Switzerland…?”
Fans’ misconceptions began to spiral out of control, ultimately culminating in an article.
