I Got an Omnipotent Brain Chapter 108

Translator: Dreamscribe

The sound of a violin drifted in gently from sowhere.

A soft lody of strings spread outward, as if soone were whispering quietly.

The viola and cello joined in after.

'What piece was this?'

The sound floated like mist, wrapping itself around Seo-ha.

'Ah! Bach's Sinfonia!'

A stage stretched out before his eyes.

A space both unfamiliar and familiar.

Seo-ha looked around.

The soaring ceiling was made of wood. The walls and floor were entirely wooden as well.

The gilded Baroque ornants affixed to the walls stirred a strange sense of deja vu in him.

Candles set in candelabras swayed in the breeze, dyeing the entire hall in a warm yellow glow.

'Huh? Where is this?'

Where Seo-ha sat was a wooden chair roughly in the middle of the hall.

Up ahead, he could see large, ornate chairs. Elegantly dressed people sat in them.

Wigs he had only ever seen in portraits, and every woman wore a voluminously puffed dress.

'The seventeenth century?'

Vmmm- shhhh- eeee-

The sweet lody of the violin grew gradually softer as the piece drew to a close.

At that mont, soone beside him stood up, raised both hands high, and clapped.

"Bravo!"

Startled by the sudden shout, Seo-ha looked to his side.

A man with a sohow familiar face.

He was not particularly tall, but his weight made his belly stick out prominently.

'Where have I seen this person?'

On his head sat an oversized Baroque-style wig.

His appearance was comical, but in his eyes, Seo-ha could sense an intelligence as deep as the abyss.

Clap, clap, clap!

The man rose from his seat and sent fervent cheers toward the perforrs.

"Perfect structure, beautiful balance and symtry! Bach must surely have been one who understood the divine!"

He turned his body and looked straight at Seo-ha.

"Don't you agree, Seo-ha Hartmann?"

Seo-ha felt the hair on his entire body stand on end.

But unable to turn away from those eyes seeking an answer, he managed to force out a reply.

"...I'm not sure about the divine, but he certainly must have understood mathematics."

The man's expression turned to one of utter shock, and he stepped closer to Seo-ha and whispered.

"Shh! Don't say such blasphemous things where there are people around. We had better head ho."

Once they stepped outside the theater, the sll of the air changed.

The cool, damp scent of dirt rising from the road, the stench of waste soone had discarded, and the mingled sll of dust and li exhaled by old stone buildings, all of it mixing together until nausea washed over him with every breath.

"Why are you making that face?"

The man looked at Seo-ha with a puzzled expression.

"It's nothing."

The language they were speaking was dieval German.

In the distance, two spires rose tall into the sky. The Marktkirche, a historic German building.

'Hm? How do I know this?'

Seo-ha gathered information naturally as he conversed with the man.

The portly middle-aged man's identity was that of the seventeenth-century German mathematician Leibniz, and Seo-ha was said to be his one and only disciple. He was living as an apprentice in Leibniz's ho, studying mathematics and philosophy.

'Seo-ha Hartmann, is that my na?'

Clatter, clatter.

An elaborately decorated carriage approached.

The two stepped aside to the edge of the road and waited for it to pass.

"Whoa!"

When the coachman pulled the reins, the horse let out a rough breath and ca to a stop.

"Lower your head and wait a mont. They appear to be nobility of high standing."

Seo-ha quietly swallowed his breath.

Clank.

The carriage door opened, and a beautiful noblewoman stepped out.

Unable to contain his curiosity, Seo-ha lifted his eyes.

"Huh?"

Skin so translucent it seed to hold light within it, and calm, composed eyes.

Even dressed in a seventeenth-century gown, Seo-ha could recognize her at a glance.

But he could not rember who she was.

'She seems like soone I know....'

She flicked open her fan with a soft rustle and covered her face with an elegant gesture.

"That is the young lady of the Winterfeld household."

Leibniz whispered.

"Winterfeld (Winterfeld * winter)."

Seo-ha quietly repeated her na to himself. It felt like the answer was on the tip of his tongue, but a thick fog seed to cloud his vision.

She approached with light, graceful steps, brushing past Seo-ha as she went.

Seo-ha stared blankly after her.

Back at the house, Seo-ha prepared Leibniz's al.

It was not as though he had cooked often, yet his body rembered, and he did everything naturally.

The cast iron pot hanging over the fireplace, the three-legged pot, the mortar for grinding spices, all of it was familiar.

A al of bread as hard as a brick (Schwarzbrot) and cabbage stew; the two sat across from each other at the table and enjoyed their modest supper.

Leibniz's days were simple.

He researched mathematics and frequently stayed up through the night. For him, morning was rely the hour when he no longer needed to keep the candles lit.

No one ca to visit his house.

Leibniz's relationships with others existed only out of necessity.

As a diplomat and administrator, he had to et many people, but he never exchanged more words than necessary with anyone.

Contact with his family was rare, and he had no lover, let alone anyone he could call a friend.

A few days later, during dinner,

he looked at Seo-ha with a disappointed expression.

"I see you couldn't take your eyes off the Winterfeld young lady again today."

"Cough, cough!"

He nodded as if he already knew everything.

"I understand. She is a beautiful person. But mark my words. If you seek achievent, never give your heart to a woman."

It was far too sudden a remark.

Not understanding why, Seo-ha made a puzzled face.

"Pardon?"

"What do you think is the common trait between myself and Sir Isaac Newton?"

Newton?

He knew who that was. Knowledge flowed naturally from Seo-ha's lips.

"You both devised calculus around the sa period."

He shook his head.

"That is rely the result. What common trait allowed us to accomplish such a thing?"

Leibniz gazed out the window into the darkness as though looking at an old friend.

Seo-ha saw an undeniable loneliness in his face.

"It is that we both kept won at a distance our entire lives."

Seo-ha blinked.

"Excuse ?"

He continued in a calm, matter-of-fact tone.

"Neither of us ever married, nor even had a romance, our whole lives. Won are beings who demand a frightful amount of ti and emotion. No matter how exceptional a person may be, once they give their heart to another, their focus scatters. It ans that the driving force of one's life becos divided."

Seo-ha swallowed hard at his utterly serious expression.

"And it is not only won. Family, friends, all relationships only interfere with research. For those of us who pursue truth, such things are entirely unnecessary.

He and I realized this early on, and that is why we were able to leave behind great achievents."

He took a sip of water.

Then he looked Seo-ha straight in the eye and spoke.

"You have talent. And your attitude toward life is much like mine."

Unable to hold back, Seo-ha countered.

"? No, that's not right. My family and friends are all precious to ."

He shook his head and spoke with a resolute expression.

"No.

Seo-ha Hartmann, I know you. You place the highest value on finding truth. Everything else is rely secondary.

Family? Friends?

You will abandon them all when the ti cos. How do I know? Because Sir Newton and I did the sa. The power God has granted us is finite.

You too, Seo-ha, will soon realize that you must reduce the 'waste.'"

It was confusing.

What could this man possibly know about him to make such harsh declarations?

But Seo-ha could not call his words entirely false. If he could understand all the laws of the world, how great a price would he be willing to pay?

"Forget the Winterfeld young lady. I say this as one who has walked that road before you. Marriage is the ultimate waste."

He could not bear it.

Just as Seo-ha was about to lash out in anger, a knock ca at the door.

Knock, knock.

Seo-ha unclenched his fists and slowly rose to open the front door.

"Hellooo."

A young girl with a red kerchief on her head, a small duck cradled in her arms.

Seo-ha felt a powerful sense of deja vu so strong it nearly split his head.

"Quack, quack!"

"Hush, Ducky. You'll startle him.

Excuse . My mother sent to bring you bread."

She handed over the bread, waved, and walked away.

Seo-ha hurriedly called out to her.

"Wait! Your na.... What's your na?"

The girl smiled brightly like sunshine.

"Liné, my na is Aureline."

Clank.

After closing the door, Seo-ha leaned his head against the wall and turned the na he had just heard over in his mind.

"Aureline."

A word derived from Latin.

Its aning: dawn's grace, blessing of the daybreak.

"Seo-eun (曙恩)?" [TL: 曙 (dawn) 恩 (grace) — the sa aning as Aureline]

Seo-ha murmured the na once more.

"Aureline.... Seo-eun."

In that instant, a spark ignited inside his head.

The two nas overlapped into one, and a massive flood of mories poured in.

The beloved hanok in Okcheon, and on its wooden floor, Seo-eun was running about.

"Oppa! Let's play the number ga!"

Seo-ha's eyes flew open.

Then he walked with firm, determined steps to stand before Leibniz.

Leibniz watched Seo-ha with curious eyes.

"Sir, I will not live the way you did. My family and friends are precious to ."

Leibniz furrowed his brow.

"Are you saying you would give up truth? You?"

Seo-ha shook his head.

"No. I intend to have it all. My precious family, the friends who care about , and even a partner in the future, every single one, without exception."

A shadow of the loneliness he had kept hidden all this ti flickered across Leibniz's face.

"A truly grand ambition.

It is not just us. Among the great scholars of your era, was there even one who was devoted to family life? Go on, tell .

Einstein, von Neumann, Alan Turing, none of them managed to build a normal family. Do you think you can approach truth without paying the cost?"

For the first ti since arriving here, Seo-ha beca fully himself.

"I can do it."

"How?"

The corner of Seo-ha's lips rose. And with eyes that held not a shred of doubt, he said,

"Because I'm better than all of you."

Leibniz's jaw dropped.

"Well then, I'll see you again soday. I have a lot of questions I want to ask."

"Seo-ha Hartmann!"

"Call by my real na. My na is Yu Seo-ha."

"Yu Seo-ha?"

"Yes, rember it. It's a na that will be written far ahead of yours in the history of mathematics."

Seo-ha kicked the door open and left the house.

Running along a seventeenth-century cobblestone road in uncomfortable leather shoes, he could not move as fast as he wanted.

'I need to go back, don't I?'

This place was most likely a dream.

In a dream, the length of ti is proportional to the processing speed of consciousness.

Considering his own cognitive abilities...

Seo-ha realized that five minutes in reality could expand to sothing nearly infinite in this place.

'Wake up, now! Don't tell I have to live out my entire life here?'

He ran aimlessly down the road.

'Where am I supposed to go?'

What appeared before his eyes was a grand mansion like a palace, the crest of the Winterfeld household engraved at the entrance.

Seo-ha walked inside without thinking.

The hall was blindingly bright.

'There shouldn't even be electricity here....'

Looking up at the ceiling, an ornate chandelier was pouring down light.

The floor was polished marble gleaming smooth, and dozens of people were dancing elegantly to the music.

"...A ball?"

An orchestra was playing.

A rhythm similar to a waltz, yet sowhat more rustic.

The clink of glasses, the chatter of people here and there; Seo-ha stood frozen at the doorway like a man turned to stone.

"The young lady of Winterfeld has arrived!"

At the announcent of soone who appeared to be a butler, every gaze turned to one direction.

Turning his head, Seo-ha saw a figure descending.

Hands in white gloves,

a dress of soft ivory,

from a slender waist, voluminous skirts cascade down like a waterfall.

It was winter.