Translator: Dreamscribe
Teachers' office,
Park Sung-dae stacked a pile of test papers in front of him and flipped through them one by one.
Dense calculations, lengthy induction, tables listing all the possible cases.
He traced the line of calculations with the tip of a red pen, then soon shook his head.
It was a proof endlessly circling detours to find the answer. Only when, by luck, the correct path appeared, did the spinning stop.
Unnecessary assumptions were divided again and again, needless propositions were proved over and over again...
The logic wasn’t wrong, but each ti they passed over the core, the sentences multiplied and the truth faded.
The red pen moved busily.
3 points, 5 points, 2 points.
As expected, the students' scores did not stray from the average he had intended.
Teacher Park glanced at the test paper on top.
“P ↔ P’, therefore the answer is even.”
Even on a question asking about the degree of a graph, the answer was just a single line, the generating function was concluded with one formula.
“Each edge contributes 2, therefore the answer is even.”
“G(x) = 1 / ((1−x)(1−x²)(1−x⁵))”
Question 3, 4, 5... all answers were wrapped up concisely in this manner. They were excessively short, but there were no incorrect answers. And no logical flaws could be found either.
Park Sung-dae stopped his pen.
‘Is it lack of process?’
No, that’s not it. The entire process was already embedded within the answer itself.
He opened the scoring criteria sheet.
‘Look at the flow of the solution rather than just the correct answer’. That’s what he himself had said.
Was there no flow?
There was.
It just didn’t go in circles and instead cut straight through to the core.
He quietly wrote down the scores.
Question 1: 10 points, Question 2: 10 points, Question 3: 10 points...
Ten circles were drawn in sequence at the top of the test paper.
Total score: 100.
Park Sung-dae leaned back against his chair.
‘I hope the other kids take this well...’
Just by looking at the answers, he could tell his personality.
Seo-ha pursued extre efficiency in proofs. He couldn’t tolerate anything unnecessary.
He was straightforward, and at the sa ti, stubborn. Once a proof was complete in his own mind, he didn’t explain further.
And he was incredibly outstanding.
Teacher Park began to wonder whether it was even right for him to continue teaching Seo-ha.
***
The next day, before the second period started, a large sheet of paper was posted on the back bulletin board of the classroom.
[Math Quiz Results]
1st Place: Yu Seo-ha - 100 points.
2nd Place: Jo Tae-jin - 47 points.
3rd Place: Kim Eun-bin - 46 points.
4th Place: Park Ki-bum - 45 points.
(and so on)
The classroom, which had been noisy with students trying to match their scores, instantly froze.
Soone read the numbers twice.
"100 points, is that for real?"
No one could laugh at the comnt a student tossed out like a joke.
Tae-jin looked at the results list with a blank face.
‘47 points?’
It was an understandable score. The test had been excessively difficult.
But Yu Seo-ha’s score was beyond their common sense.
Tae-jin turned his head and looked toward the front row.
Seo-ha was sitting upright in his chair, just like always. He showed no interest in the results, as if he didn’t even need to look.
There was no surprise, no excitent, no arrogance.
Creak.
The classroom door opened and Teacher Park walked in.
“You’ve all seen it, right?”
“Yes.”
At the students' weak responses, Park Sung-dae smiled.
“I’m sure you all have a lot of questions about the test results.”
The students nodded slightly, their eyes full of unspoken words as they looked at the teacher.
Tap.
Teacher Park placed a single test paper on the teacher’s desk.
“I could explain it myself, but it’s best to hear it directly from the person who got 100 points. Seo-ha, would you co up and explain?”
All eyes turned in one direction.
“Yes!”
Seo-ha stood up cheerfully from his seat. Then he walked to the front and grabbed a piece of chalk.
Seo-ha felt confident.
During the IMO period, he had explained many problems while studying with his teammates.
Seo-ha drew a large square grid on the blackboard. Then he drew a diagonal line through the center and looked at the students.
“When solving this problem, I used the concept of ‘pairing’.”
Normally quiet, Seo-ha’s tone exuded confidence whenever he was explaining.
“Counting every path individually is difficult. But it becos simple if you use symtry. If there’s an arbitrary path P, you reflect it based on the center point. Then, another path P’ is created.”
Everyone’s eyes followed the graph being drawn by Seo-ha’s hand. A few understood his explanation and let out exclamations of awe, “Ah!”
“In other words, every path must have a symtric pair. Mathematically speaking, it creates a one-to-one correspondence grouping the entire set into pairs.
With this, even without counting the paths separately, it proves that the total number of paths is always even.”
The students, who had been listening unprepared, began pulling out their notebooks and taking notes on Seo-ha’s explanation before they realized it.
The explanation continued.
Question 2, 3, 4...
Seo-ha solved every problem in a similar way.
He didn’t take long detours.
There were no unnecessary calculations or lengthy explanations.
For each question, he pinpointed just one core concept and proved it with a single-line summary.
The difference was that, back then, his teammates had been the top five handpicked students from across Korea.
Even at a gifted high school, the level couldn't be the sa. More than half of the students couldn’t fully understand Seo-ha’s explanation.
“Does anyone have any questions?”
The problem-solving had ended.
Seo-ha looked at the students with sparkling eyes.
His expression said, ‘I explained it this easily!’, full of pride.
The students couldn’t bring themselves to raise their hands, feeling sorry to disappoint him.
Then he smiled in satisfaction and returned to his seat.
“Writing a lot isn’t necessarily a bad thing.”
Sensing the atmosphere, Teacher Park thought of so comforting words for the students.
“But if you can see the essence, you can keep it short. I don’t think that’s a privilege reserved only for geniuses. You all can see that path soday too.
It’s just that, for now, this is the ti to learn how to go around. So don’t overdo it.”
At Teacher Park’s words, the students lowered their heads as if disappointed.
Class ended.
“It’s lunchti.”
At soone’s words, the students stood up one by one.
Even as they walked toward the cafeteria, they couldn’t shake off the shock left by Seo-ha’s solutions.
“As expected of the IMO’s top scorer! Yu Seo-ha’s on another level.”
Ki-bum, who had placed fourth, was the first to speak, and everyone nodded.
“I thought he was just good at solving problems, but he explains well too.”
“Did you guys even understand him? I had no clue. I feel so worthless.”
“He’s on another level anyway. Let’s not compare.”
“Honestly, even just being selected as a Korean representative ans you’re top six in the country, right? But Seo-ha is literally number one in the world.”
“It’s practically cheating. When he asked if anyone had questions, it felt like he was saying, ‘Co on, hyungs, you’re not telling you didn’t understand this, right?’”
They were proud students, but not so foolish as to be in denial about reality. Like many other gifted students Seo-ha had t, they too were going through the process of understanding and acceptance.
Tae-jin, who had been walking behind them, was thinking along similar lines.
Maybe he was just an ordinary student. Thinking that way made his past behavior feel embarrassing.
The one with truly exceptional ability had always been the one to speak to him first, so why had he tried to act so superior?
Had the friends around him all this ti rely been putting up with his arrogance? Was he soone who could only be friends with others if they had the patience to tolerate him?
With the realization he suddenly gained, Tae-jin felt like running away sowhere.
***
Evening ti,
The cafeteria was filled with the typical rowdiness of high school students.
Laughter burst out from here and there, and students were enjoying lively conversations on various topics.
Seo-ha received his food on a tray, looked around a little, then went to sit in a corner.
“Oh! As expected of the best school al in the country.”
He couldn’t help but admire the high-quality al.
A thickly grilled chicken breast steak was served with a brown demi-glace sauce poured over it.
The savory aroma of corn butter, fresh salad, and warm mushroom soup served instead of the usual broth wafted through the air.
It was definitely an upgraded school al compared to elentary school.
As Seo-ha ate, he reflected on the past week.
The school atmosphere that was hard to blend into, students who kept their distance, and teachers who seed to find him a bit overwhelming.
Everything was quite different from what he had imagined.
‘It doesn’t matter.’
He shook his head, trying to shake off the negative thoughts.
‘It’s just a phase to get through, that’s all.’
As he ate, Seo-ha pondered how he would endure life here.
Before he knew it, he had finished his al. Seo-ha cleaned up his tray and got up from his seat.
“Thank you for the al!”
The nutritionists responded to Seo-ha’s polite greeting with smiles.
As he walked toward the dormitory, soone was coming down from the front. It was Tae-jin from his class.
“Hello.”
Seo-ha bowed his head slightly as usual and tried to walk past.
He assud Tae-jin would ignore him, but this ti was different.
Tae-jin took out his earphones.
“Hey. Did you eat?”
Seo-ha was startled by the unexpected response.
“Yes, I just ate and was on my way back.”
Tae-jin nodded.
“The food’s not bad here, right? By the way, do you play soccer?”
“Sorry?”
“We’re having a 5-on-5 mini-ga with so classmates. You’d make the numbers just right.”
Seo-ha hesitated briefly before answering.
“I was in the Best Eleven at Dodam Elentary in Okcheon... I was a starter when we played against other schools.”
At Seo-ha’s reply, Tae-jin burst out laughing.
“Hahaha! Got it. We’re gathering down at the lower field.”
“Okay! Then I’ll go get changed and be right back.”
“Sure, I’ll head down first.”
Seo-ha imdiately went up to his dorm room and hurriedly opened his closet to get ready.
By the ti he arrived at the field, the other nine players had already gathered.
When they saw Seo-ha, they exclaid in admiration.
“Whoa! You ca fully geared up!”
Seo-ha shrugged his shoulders and replied casually.
“If we’re gonna play, might as well do it properly.”
Shorts, a jersey, soccer cleats, even tube socks...
He was dressed well enough to walk right into a tournant. A stark contrast to the others in basic gym clothes and sneakers.
Seo-ha tapped the ground with the studs on the tip of his shoe. Then the ga began.
“Pass, pass!”
“Here!”
Short, sharp shouts echoed around the field following the ball.
A simple ga of soccer where you chased the ball and ran again when it was stolen.
But everyone was playing with heart.
“Defense, defense!”
"Go there first and block!"
The turf field made it feel great to run.
Seo-ha took control of the ball and sent out a long pass.
Ki-bum barely caught the pass after a full sprint. He gave Seo-ha a thumbs-up.
“Nice!”
A faint smile curled at the edge of Seo-ha’s lips.
“Shoot! It’s in!”
“Nice!”
Cheers erupted.
The teammates ran together and hugged each other. Seo-ha also joined in, jumping around joyfully with them.
When the ga ended, everyone collapsed on the ground, exhausted.
“Man! How are you so full of stamina?”
“He’s young. We’re done for now.”
“You’re good at soccer. Let’s play again next ti.”
Thanks to his daily running routine, Seo-ha was confident in his stamina.
His ears turned red.
“Yes! I had fun too.”
It was the day he had spoken the most since entering the school.
After that day, Seo-ha’s school life changed.
“Hello!”
"Hi."
The rate of responses to his greetings rose dramatically.
72.8%?
Seo-ha began to wonder how long he would need to keep tracking that statistic.
The place he had once labeled a different world was beginning to blend with reality.
***
Starting from his second week after enrollnt, Seo-ha began attending the "University Early Credit Program".
“Hey! Must be nice taking classes with your noona, huh?”
Su-jeong poked Seo-ha in the side repeatedly.
There were a total of 12 students in the room.
Among them, Seo-ha was the only freshman.
The early credit program was not a form of pre-learning.
Its goal was to study future university-level courses in advance and thereby reduce the ti needed to graduate. After entering KAIST, the credits earned were officially recognized, so only those qualified were allowed to apply.
“Who do you think will teach today?”
“The TA (teaching assistant) who ca before was really kind and nice.”
The students in the back whispered, as if this wasn’t their first ti taking the class.
Clack.
Before the murmuring in the lecture hall even quieted, the door opened.
Click-clack, click-clack.
Footsteps that sounded strangely familiar.
Seo-ha looked up.
And his eyes widened in surprise.
A young woman in a perfectly fitting black suit walked into the classroom.
“I’m Professor Kim Ji-yoon from the Departnt of Mathematical Sciences at KAIST.”
The classroom buzzed at once.
“The professor herself ca?”
“Weren’t these classes usually taught by TAs?”
“Professor Kim Ji-yoon? Isn’t she the one who was nominated for the Fields dal...?”
Whispers of amazent spread throughout the room.
Students’ eyes widened.
Even a student who had been sitting slouched closed their laptop and straightened their posture.
Even Su-jeong, a third-year student, looked visibly surprised.
Clack-
She placed a folder of materials onto the lectern. Then spoke in a cold voice.
“Everyone, I’ll tell you in advance. This sester’s early credit program is going to be very difficult. Don’t expect to be treated leniently just because you’re high school students like before.
So, if you’re not confident, drop the class now.”
Everyone instinctively held their breath at the professor’s unprecedented warning. But Seo-ha’s heart raced with excitent at the fact that he could finally take a class from Ji-yoon.
Ji-yoon silently scanned the lecture hall until her eyes t Seo-ha’s.
Then, with a wink, she smiled.
Seo-ha felt like his hair was standing on end.
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