Translator: Dreamscribe
“Good morning, Seo-ha!”
Bread, who ran the fruit shop, lightly tossed an apple toward Seo-ha.
Tak!
“Thank you!”
Seo-ha, riding a bicycle, skillfully caught it.
It took 15 minutes on foot to get to school, but most students here rode bicycles. Seo-ha, too, had been gifted an old bicycle by a researcher who was leaving MIT.
It had only been one month since they arrived in Arica.
Seo-ha's family was smoothly adapting to life in the U.S.
***
The house provided by MIT was a small townhouse with three rooms.
It was a typical two-story wooden house common in the U.S., with a lush green garden in front of the porch.
Seo-eun, looking at the grass, kicked off her shoes and ran in like a country girl.
“Mom! The ground is so soft!”
Mi-young smiled and captured the mont on her phone.
The living room wasn’t spacious, but it had good sunlight, and the kitchen had a four-seater walnut dining table.
The entire interior was finished with wood, so it felt warm to the touch.
“This room will be Seo-ha’s.”
Chul-ho opened the door to the room at the end of the second floor.
It was a room with a desk, a bed, and a small built-in closet. When he opened the window, a faint scent of river water wafted in from afar.
“This is my room!”
Seo-eun ran into the room next door and flung open the curtains.
Sunlight poured into the room. With a garden just below the window, it was a room that Seo-eun instantly loved.
What the couple appreciated most about this house was the garden.
Chul-ho, after unpacking, imdiately put on gloves and began digging.
Seeing that, Mi-young picked up a small hoe and sat next to him.
“Should we plant sothing here? Lettuce or chili peppers might do well.”
“No matter where you go, you end up making a garden.”
Chul-ho laughed as he pulled out weeds.
In one corner of the garden, there was a small patch of soil. So herbs, likely planted by the previous tenants, were still growing.
Mi-young picked a leaf and tasted it.
“Basil and mint. I was worried the garden might be illegal, but I guess it’s fine.”
“They sll nice. Let’s plant peppers and perilla leaves over there. Green onions and lettuce should suit the weather, too.”
Seo-ha looked out the window and watched the two working.
Seeing his parents smile seed to lighten the heavy feeling in his heart, even if just a little.
***
The day the internet was installed, Seo-ha opened his laptop for the first ti.
‘Hm?’
An email had arrived from the academic affairs office.
[Register your Kerberos account.]
“It’s finally here.”
Kerberos was a personal authentication account that every MIT student and researcher was required to have.
From email, course registration, and data cloud access to building entry and campus administrative procedures, everything was managed through this account.
It was a network authentication system independently developed by MIT, and many institutions and research centers were said to have designed their own security systems based on it.
A digital key far more powerful and versatile than a student ID, receiving it made him truly feel that he had arrived at MIT.
“Kerberos... what a na.”
he system is actually nad after the demon hound of hell, of all things.
It must have been a bold expression of confidence that unauthorized users would never be allowed in.
Tap, tap.
‘Seoha_Yoo’
After choosing his ID, the authentication process proceeded swiftly.
‘Registration Complete’
A smile appeared on his face.
With that, Seo-ha officially beca a mber of MIT.
***
On the day of the freshman orientation, Killian Court at the center of the campus was filled with people from the morning.
A welco banner was hung beneath the large dod roof, and red and white balloons were strung between the buildings on both sides.
“Are you in high school or sothing...”
A student standing next to Seo-ha grumbled.
On the lawn, students from around the world gathered in small groups, introducing themselves to each other.
Having passed the tough admissions process, they all seed dressed up, as if to reward themselves for the hard tis they had endured.
But sohow, all of them looked a bit awkward.
Suits with bow ties, high-top sneakers paired with T-shirts printed with math formulas, laptop bags covered in stickers, and even one student who had brought a cane made with a 3D printer.
‘So these are the so-called nerds?’
Seo-ha let out a sigh of relief. At least at this school, it seed he wouldn’t be criticized for his fashion sense.
Just then, a strange voice ca from behind.
“Hmph, losers!”
Seo-ha turned around.
‘Eh?’
A combination that didn’t match this place at all.
It was a beautiful blonde female student.
Her golden hair shimred in the sunlight. Each ti the wind blew, her hair fluttered like silk. Her eyes were a clear, icy gray.
A white blouse, a deep navy cropped jacket, and a black skirt that ca down to her knees.
Her outfit was so stylish that she looked like she had just walked out of a fashion magazine.
The surrounding students turned their gaze toward her, but she didn’t seem to care at all and flashed a grin at them.
“What’re you staring at? Never seen a smart blonde before?”
‘She’s scary.’
Seo-ha quietly shifted away, moving farther from her.
Once the seating was arranged, the orientation soon began.
The president’s welco speech, a jazz band performance, the student council president’s school introduction...
Even Seo-ha, who had a high tolerance for boredom, felt like yawning at the program. Everyone was desperately fighting off sleep.
Just as they were about to form groups and begin the tour, the host stepped up to the podium and tapped the mic several tis.
"What's going on?"
"Did it break?"
“Thank God. I thought my ears were bleeding...”
Students chuckled here and there.
At that mont, a masked figure appeared on the main screen.
The host’s face went pale.
The entire screen flickered for a mont, and the MIT logo shattered, replaced by a black screen.
Through the static-laced electronic noise, a distorted voice rang out.
-Hello, self-proclaid geniuses!
The students murmured in confusion.
“What is this?”
“Is this... a hack?”
A masked figure appeared in the center of the screen.
-Relax, freshn. We’ve co to save you.
The host made a phone call sowhere, then shook his head as if horrified. The masked figure pointed a finger at him.
-Student Council! You clearly have no idea what the word ‘creativity’ even ans.
The sa welco speech every year, the sa band, even the sa recycled PowerPoint!
Even those kids over at Harvard across the river would be more fun than this. You almost killed us. That was practically ‘attempted murder by boredom’.
“Ha ha ha!”
The students burst into laughter.
“True! It was so boring!”
“Agreed!”
The masked figure laughed exaggeratedly.
-Keuhahaha! But don’t worry, freshn. Things will be different from this year on.
We’ve prepared an amazing event.
“Who are you guys?!”
Soone shouted loudly.
-Tsk tsk!
The masked figure clicked his tongue.
-If you’re curious, find out yourself. That’s the rule around here. Only the first one to co will be accepted as a comrade, so keep that in mind!
As the masked figure gestured, the screen changed.
With bright background music, MIT’s mascot ‘Tim the Beaver’ appeared.
The beaver in the video looked innocent.
He wagged his tail on a small log, gathering leaves. Then, using his hands and mouth, he took the collected branches to his nest and began building a house diligently.
Suddenly, the screen shook.
With an evil laugh, dark shadows appeared.
“Get him!”
Masked figures holding ropes and nets surrounded the beaver.
The beaver scurried around on his short legs, but in the end, he was tied to a log. Tears fell from his gentle eyes.
A speech bubble appeared next to him.
「All I wanted was to welco the new students.」
The screen changed again.
The beaver, tied with rope, flailed desperately in midair.
Below him was a giant cauldron, the kind witches might use, and inside it a mysterious soup was bubbling and boiling.
-Friends! Don’t you want to save the beaver?
The masked figure laughed wickedly.
But the students looked unimpressed.
"Do we look like elentary schoolers?"
“This is childish.”
“The Halloween event at my taekwondo gym was probably scarier than this.”
The masked figure began to sweat nervously.
-Where has your humanity gone?! D-Don’t you people have any compassion? If you don’t help, that adorable beaver might end up as soup!
The students booed.
"You can bring it back to life as it is just animation."
“Yeah, it’s just graphics anyway.”
-Even though the first-place prize is a high-end graphics card?
The atmosphere instantly changed.
“What did you say?”
“Graphics card?”
The prize appeared on the screen.
It was the latest NTX ■090 box.
“Is that for real?”
“No way!”
-Keuhahaha! That’s right. It’s even a limited edition. The kind you can’t get at regular price, no matter how hard you try.
In an instant, Killian Court exploded.
“Let’s save the beaver!”
“Who dares lay a hand on Tim the Beaver? Unforgivable!”
“Who wants to form a party with ?!”
Seo-ha was trembling.
‘Cruel... How could they do that to such a cute beaver....’
He thought of the stuffed toy Seo-eun used to play with.
The pitiful beaver, silently crying out for help, moved its mouth in desperation. Seo-ha resolved to be the one to rescue it faster than anyone else.
The masked figure was pleased with the enthusiastic response of the freshn.
-Then I’ll give you a hint.
A math problem appeared on the screen.
Students sat down and took out pens and paper. Many opened their laptops.
Seo-ha quickly grasped the intention behind the problem.
‘It’s a problem using cryptography.’
RSA,
A public-key encryption thod developed by Rivest, Shamir, and Adleman.
‘If there are two public keys and N is the product of two pri numbers, then factoring it would allow you to find the inverse of E.’
Seo-ha opened the pamphlet in his hand and traced the map with his finger.
‘MIT Building Numbering System’
All buildings on this campus are labeled with numbers instead of nas. It’s simply faster and more efficient that way.
The answer to the problem was 4312.
Building 4 was the physics departnt.
After confirming the building’s location, Seo-ha imdiately left his seat.
***
Inside a room, hackers had gathered.
A server attached to one wall blinked continuously, emitting a blue light.
Half-eaten pizza was scattered across the table.
“Will there be anyone worth scouting this year?”
A man with short hair and a hoodie spoke.
He was Cypher Fox, a programr and last year’s winner of the campus hacking competition.
“Hope soone actually makes it here.”
The woman who replied had blue headphones hanging around her neck, Entropy.
She was a prodigy who had won the National College AI Competition multiple tis.
“That’s why we even put up a prize. Tch! Smart little brats. Just rescue the beaver already.”
The man grumbled and took off his mask.
His face was shockingly handso. He was Root, the team’s system engineer.
“I told you it wouldn’t work, didn’t I? Back in our day, people would’ve gone all out to save a kitten. Kids these days are different. Their emotions are dried up.”
“Is that their fault? These days, kids care more about specs than empathy.”
Entropy and Root bickered.
On the monitor was a campus map, with students marked as red dots, moving around. It was thanks to Spectra, their real-ti tracking system.
Sensors planted throughout the campus displayed students’ movents as coordinates on the map.
“Oh! One of them is fast.”
“Really. Already solved it? It hasn’t even been three minutes.”
“The first problem was easy. The real test is whether they can make it all the way here.”
Entropy mumbled as she watched the screen.
“I hope soone insanely good at math shows up.”
The reason they had spent so much money preparing a bait prize was to find the final piece to complete their project.
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