Chapter 54
The day of the ceremony.
The Sorbonne University auditorium in Paris.
Clay Mathematics Institute staff members were doing a final check of the stage setup.
A staff member from the foundation was speaking quietly with a colleague beside the stage.
“Today will truly be a historic day.”
“Indeed. When we selected the seven Millennium Problems, I never thought two of them would be solved in our generation.”
“I was shocked when Mr. Perelman solved the Poincaré Conjecture too, but this time it’s the Riemann Hypothesis.”
The colleague nodded.
“Honestly, I still can’t quite believe it.”
“It’s always amazing no matter how many times I see it. But Yoo A-yeon’s paper is beautiful without a single flaw. We cross-checked it several times.”
“That’s right. It’s because the foundation recognized Yoo A-yeon that we’re here today.”
The staff member took one look at the Millennium Prize plaque prepared backstage, and the giant panel with [1,000,000 $] written on it.
“I thought someone would eventually emerge as the winner of this prize... but for that person to be six years old...”
“Sometimes reality feels even more like a novel.”
The colleague shrugged.
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At the entrance to Sorbonne University’s auditorium, reporters invited by Clay had gathered noisily.
Far more people and cameras than at Seoul National University’s auditorium.
The installed cameras swept across every corner of the auditorium.
Normally, academic interest alone wouldn’t bring so many media outlets into such fierce competition to attend.
Still, there was a reason so many media outlets had gathered here.
None other than Yoo A-yeon.
The reason was that Yoo A-yeon, the person who had caused a stir on social media all over the world, was the star of this ceremony.
Even as pure gossip, it was an issue that could send ratings soaring.
That was why far more media outlets than expected had come to the ceremony.
From the scholars’ point of view, that might be a little unpleasant...
Still, if even a few viewers who were only watching for fun were led to take an interest in academia, it was a good direction for academia.
A reporter said to another reporter,
“This is a live broadcast, right?”
“Right. Headquarters arranged a special slot for it.”
“I never thought the day would come when a math event would be broadcast live.”
“Me neither. But most viewers won’t care about this Riemann Hypothesis thing or whatever; they’ll just want to see six-year-old Ayeon Yoo.”
“Remember when we first saw her lecture? She was so short she had to stand on a step stool to write on the blackboard.”
“I remember. How many views did that MiTube video get? It hit tens of millions.”
“Exactly.”
The reporter adjusted the camera and said,
“I can finally catch the famous Ayeon Yoo on camera. It’s been six months since then; how much has she grown?”
“Who knows. Kids shoot up when you don’t look at them for even a moment.”
✒️✒️✒️
Murmur, murmur~
We entered the auditorium packed with people.
Unlike the previous special lecture, this ceremony didn’t require us to keep up the mystique, so we strode straight in through the front entrance.
For the record, among the holy trinity of outfit, hair, and makeup, I was currently missing the makeup part.
Probably because I had gone to that outrageously expensive makeup shop in Gangnam and gotten a taste of top-tier K-beauty.
The makeup shops in France just couldn’t be trusted.
So I just came bare-faced.
‘But even bare-faced, I’m already MAX cute, so it’s okay!’
I adjusted the neck scarf of my sailor uniform and looked around the auditorium.
Someone familiar came into view.
“Ah, Professor Park Muyeol!”
I raised my hand high and shouted.
Professor Park Muyeol turned around from the front row and met my eyes.
“Heh heh, nice to see you, Ayeon.”
The professor stood up from his seat and offered a handshake.
I bowed politely and took his hand.
“You’re here too, Professor!”
“I can’t miss an important occasion like this. No matter how busy I am, I had to make time to come. Still, while I was away I dumped a pile of research projects on the students under me.”
“Gasp... I see.”
Poor graduate students...
I offered a little sympathy to the graduate students in Professor Park’s lab who would be staying up all night working like crazy.
Professor Park looked at Mom.
“Seol-ae, you came too.”
“Yes, Professor. It’s been a while.”
“You must have had a hard time getting all the way here.”
Mom lowered her head.
Dad also gave an awkward smile and greeted him from the side.
“Hello.”
“So you came too, sir. Nice to meet you.”
“Yes, it’s an honor. I heard you vouched for my daughter’s paper—uh, endorsed it? Anyway, thank you so much.”
“Heh heh. I’m the one who should be thanking you. Ayeon showed an excellent paper and truly solved the Riemann Hypothesis.”
Arin looked up at the professor and quietly said,
“H, hello...”
“Ah, so you’re the younger sister. Nice to meet you.”
Arin bowed with a voice so small it was almost inaudible.
Then she hid herself a little behind Mom.
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After that, the networking continued.
A tall professor came up to me and greeted me.
“Ayeon Yoo! We finally meet. I saw your Q&A on the broadcast; it was great.”
“Oh, you’re the one who kept sending me a lot of trace formula questions by email, right?”
“That’s right! You remember my question?”
“I remember every one of them. I filled a whiteboard twice explaining that part.”
“Haha, thanks for the kind explanation.”
Mom also naturally joined the conversation from the side.
The tall professor, after hearing Mom’s research background, widened his eyes in surprise.
“You studied under Professor Lee Jun-shin?”
“Yes. I learned a lot under him.”
“He and I had a bit of a connection... When I heard that the research he left behind before he died had inspired Ayeon Yoo, I was moved to tears. What would he have thought if he could see this?”
Mom glanced at me, then quietly stroked my head as she said,
Pat pat-.
“He would surely be delighted.”
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There were a few familiar faces scattered around the auditorium.
There were also plenty of mathematician acquaintances I’d made while traveling around overseas conferences as Shin I-jun.
‘Of course, those connections were all reset back then.’
Wouldn’t it be awkward if I went up to them now and acted like I knew them?
With that thought in mind, I slowly swept my gaze across the auditorium.
“Heeeek!”
I froze for a second as if I’d seen something unbelievable.
The white-haired old man sitting in the front row.
A mathematician who left a mark on the history of mathematics.
“Professor Wiles!”
The one who smashed Fermat’s Last Theorem in 1994, the impossible problem no one had solved for 350 years.
The man who was also a member of the Clay Mathematics Institute’s advisory board and helped put forward the Millennium Problem known as the Birch and Swinnerton-Dyer Conjecture.
A legend among legends!
A living legend was right before my eyes.
Rustle rustle-.
I rummaged through my bag and took out a sheet of paper.
“Ah, Ayeon, wait...”
I let go of Mom’s hand and scurried over to Professor Wiles.
The professor was talking to the person beside him when he spotted me.
I politely bowed and held out the paper and pen.
“Professor Wiles! I’m a fan. Could I maybe get your autograph?”
Professor Wiles looked down at me for a moment.
Then he laughed and took the paper, writing his signature on it.
I received the paper with both hands and said,
“Waaah! Thank you so much. I was deeply moved by your proof of Fermat’s Last Theorem. I wasn’t even born yet when you proved it, but reading the paper really touched me. Especially the stylish proof when you proved that every semistable elliptic curve is modular!”
Professor Wiles held out his hand to me and said,
“I’m glad to hear that. When I heard that Ayeon Yoo had proven the Riemann Hypothesis, I was truly surprised. I’m sincerely delighted to meet you here today.”
“Me too! I was shocked when I saw you were here, Professor!”
I grinned from ear to ear and took his hand.
“Ehehe!”
I pressed the autographed paper to my chest.
Unable to contain my joy, I skipped back in little bouncy steps.
Mom gently scolded me.
“Ayeon. If you want to go somewhere, you have to tell Mom first before you go... You could get hurt.”
“Yeah. I’m sorry... but I really wanted that autograph...”
Dad said from the side.
“Ayeon, who is that guy?”
“The one who proved Fermat’s Last Theorem.”
“Ahh. I see.”
Pat pat-.
Dad placed his big hand on my head and carefully patted it.
“You even got the autograph of such an amazing person. Our Ayeon must be happy.”
“Heheh.”
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By the time the networking had mostly wound down,
the director of the Clay Mathematics Institute came up to me.
The director smiled brightly the moment he saw me and held out his hand.
“Ayeon Yoo. I’ve been looking forward to meeting you. Thank you for attending the ceremony.”
I took his hand with both of mine.
“Me too, Director!”
The director shook my hand, looking very pleased.
He really couldn’t resist shaking hands with a child the age of his granddaughter.
“I had hoped that before my time was up, I’d get to see the moment the Riemann Hypothesis was solved. I wanted a genius of the century to appear and solve the great problem with a beautiful proof. And today, you became that person, Ayeon Yoo. Thank you for proving the Riemann Hypothesis.”
“Hehe! Thank you as well!”
Then he also offered Mom a handshake.
“Ms. Seol-ae Han. You’re the paper’s coauthor. Today was possible thanks to your hard work.”
Mom lowered her head.
“Ah, no. I only helped with the typing, that’s all.”
“That isn’t a small thing either. It’s more than enough.”
The director looked at me again.
“Then, shall we begin the ceremony?”
I nodded.
“Yes!”