Chapter 76
So agreeing to become a professor was a good thing, all things considered.
But one question flashed through my mind.
Why on earth was the president so desperate to bring me in, like he'd give up his liver and kidneys just to do it?
I even heard he personally went to meet the superintendent of the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education and made a deal about my compulsory education, no less.
I poked my head up and cleared my throat before asking.
"President, I have a question. Why are you being so nice to me? Aren't you a civil servant? Even if you give me all this, you won't get any personal gain out of it, right?"
Then the president looked at me for a moment with a steady gaze.
Then he slowly opened his mouth.
"Although this is a public office, it's a post you can't take unless you're truly serious about education."
The president's voice grew much more solemn.
"I've always believed this: raising talented people into outstanding adults is what can make Korea a better country."
"Ahh."
"And then, all of a sudden, a five-year-old solved the Riemann Hypothesis. A genius unlike anything in human history appeared."
The president looked at me.
"Even if you were inspired by Professor Shin I-jun's old research notes, those notes were the kind of thing other math professors would struggle to make sense of. The fact that you managed to teach yourself modern mathematics from them is proof beyond doubt that you're a genius."
"Heh-heh. I really am pretty amazing, aren't I!"
I couldn't hold back under that gaze, so I puffed out my chest with a smug look.
I had resolved to show as many mature moments as possible so I could play the role of the demure young lady Yu A-yeon in this situation... but it seemed I'd failed.
My mom making a "whoa..." face beside me was just a bonus.
Can't be helped. If they're going to praise me like that, how am I supposed to hold back?
The president continued.
"It has always been the top 0.1 percent of geniuses who changed human history. As the one in charge of education, I simply cannot stand by and let talent like this slip away."
"Wow..."
A gasp slipped out before I knew it.
Hearing that super cool philosophy about education made the image of the president in my head change.
From just some middle-aged guy with a receding hairline.
To someone who was somehow incredibly cool.
To ease the stiff atmosphere a little.
I gave a mischievous smile and giggled.
Since the demure Yu A-yeon route was already out the window.
I might as well be a bratty Yu A-yeon.
"But, President. Be honest with me."
"...Pardon?"
"If an article comes out saying I became a professor at Seoul National University, that counts as your achievement too. So you're expecting that a little, right?"
I separated my thumb and index finger just a tiny bit to emphasize that it was only this much.
"Haha..."
The president gave an awkward laugh.
"Honestly, I can't say that's not part of it."
"Nihihi, I knew it."
Hahaha-.
The stiff atmosphere in the room softened.
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After we talked some more.
I, Yu A-yeon, decided to become a professor in 2027.
"Then I'll start teaching as a professor from next year's first semester!"
It would be too late to become a professor right now anyway.
I also had things to prepare before becoming a professor, and unfinished things to take care of.
Seoul National University would probably need all sorts of procedures, too.
"Yes. I'll take care of the necessary administrative procedures in advance by then."
"Oh, right. I want to teach courses in my field too. I should be able to do that right away next year, right?"
Although I didn't have any teaching obligations.
Honestly, how could I resist teaching the little sprouts of future mathematicians?
I kind of wanted to toss absurdly hard math problems at clueless freshmen and say, "If you can't solve this, none of you are going home today," just once?
I kind of want to see the looks on the college students' faces then. Heh-heh-heh.
The dean of the College of Natural Sciences said.
"Yes. If you let us know in advance, I'll coordinate the class schedule with the other math professors."
"Thank you for taking care of everything."
I thanked him with a bright smile.
The president gave his final greeting.
This time, he changed the way he addressed me.
"See you next year, Professor Yu A-yeon."
"Hee-heh."
At being called Professor, the corners of my mouth twitched.
No. I have to hold it in for now, Yu A-yeon!
I'm not officially a professor yet, so it's fine to make a fuss after I become one!
"Bye-bye now~! Byeee!"
"Goodbye. A-yeon, 'bye-bye' is far too undignified."
Though Mom quietly scolded me, the men were already grinning like idiots at my lethal cuteness.
Yep, my cuteness really is the strongest.
Bow-.
We said our goodbyes and left that place.
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When we got home, Arin was in the living room, glued to Dad's side and playing Pookimon.
"Go, Mimin!"
I casually glanced at the screen Arin was playing on.
It looked like she was trying to take on the final boss.
The two sides were locked in a standoff.
Tension hung in the air, taut and heavy.
Then the opposing Pookimon let out a blazing red breath.
That terrifying strike put the Pookimon Arin had named Mimin on the verge of being knocked out.
"Eek! Mimin, noooo!"
Arin squeezed her eyes shut.
And then.
"Oh, Arin, look!"
Dad, who had been watching from the side, shouted urgently.
— Mimin held on so Yu Arin wouldn't be sad!
"Huh! Mimin!"
Oh, that.
It was a hidden event that only triggered for Pookimon with high affection, and even then only at a very low rate.
A touching animation where, at the moment it should normally faint, it desperately hangs on with a razor-thin 1 HP left.
I hadn't seen that event when I played before.
...I'm a little jealous of Arin.
"Waaahhh—! Mimin, I'll definitely win!"
Arin was so moved by Mimin's touching display that she clutched the controller tight, bawling and sniffling.
And a little while later.
At last, Arin defeated the final boss.
Then a touching OST began to play softly, and the ending credits started rolling up the screen.
"What, what?"
Arin, who had been blankly staring at the credits, made a dazed face.
I told her from the sidelines.
"Arin, you just cleared this game."
"R-really? Waaah!"
Arin's eyes went wide.
Come to think of it, from Arin's point of view, this was the first time she'd ever seen a game's ending credits in her life.
A game she'd gotten completely absorbed in and cleared all the way to the end herself.
That must've been a huge source of emotion for a four-year-old.
When I saw this game's ending before Arin did, I think I too had unknowingly shed tears of emotion.
Arin's eyes glistened with tears as she looked at the credits streaming across the screen.
"Arin, how do you feel right now?"
"The best..."
Sniffle-.
Arin cried tears of joy.
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From that day on.
Even while eating, Arin would sit there with her spoon in hand, staring blankly into space.
Even when she slept, she'd murmur, "Mimin..." in her dreams.
When I asked her, she said Mimin was floating around on the ceiling.
It seemed the aftereffects were pretty severe.
Come to think of it, last year when Arin first learned chess, she was exactly like this too.
When she lay down to sleep, she said a chessboard would float around on the ceiling.
Arin was just like me, I guess; once she gets hooked on something, she has to see it through to the end.
Ever since she cleared the game, Arin had been going to the neighborhood stationery store to crack open Pookimon card packs much more often.
Usually, I was the one who took the lead and brought her there.
But lately, Arin had been the one begging to go to the stationery store first.
"Unnie, let's go open card packs again today toooo!"
"Again...? Okay."
Piled high.
Since we kept cracking open card packs whenever we got bored.
Before I knew it, Pookimon cards had piled up in the house like a mountain.
There were also rare and super-rare cards mixed in there, too.
Every time Arin pulled a sparkling hologram card, her eyes would light up.
But then one question started nagging at me.
There was no difference in performance at all between rare cards and common cards.
"Huh? Wait, what? Weren't rare cards supposed to be stronger?"
"Right?"
Arin tilted her head as well.
Just in case, I opened my laptop and quickly searched it.
Turns out Pookimon cards were designed so the collector side and the gamer side would be completely separate.
'What does that mean?'
Curious, I dug even deeper.
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Tap-tap-tap-.
After looking into it, I found out it was this.
This card game quietly slips in rare cards with pretty illustrations and dazzling holograms here and there to stir collectors' urge to collect.
But since so many collectors want those rare cards, when one shows up they carefully store it in a case without a single scratch, then later sell it to collectors for millions of won apiece.
Apparently, plenty of adults even buy them purely for investment.
They crack open hundreds or thousands of packs, pull out just a few rare cards, and throw away the useless common ones without a second thought...
If they let them sit for a few years, the cards' value skyrockets and makes up for all the losses, or so they say?
"Uh... this wasn't what I meant to look up."
It felt like I'd just gotten a glimpse into the abyss of grown-ups.
Why open card packs and throw them away if you're not even going to play? What a waste of paper.
Getting into the business of buying and selling cards so professionally is kind of over the top.
For little kids like us, it really wasn't a hobby worth recommending.
It would just suck up money and leave us stressed out.
'Why was I introducing the Pookimon card game to Arin in the first place again?'
Because this tournament is pretty big.
I wanted her to enter, go head-to-head with the other players, and build some connections.
Then, if she won, she'd get to savor the joy of victory—that was why I introduced it, wasn't it?
That's right. We're not collectors—we're pure gamers!
"Hmm..."
Thankfully, there was absolutely no difference in performance between rare cards and common cards.
We could just collect cheap common cards from the stationery store without worrying about it.
In fact, players who enter tournaments deliberately don't put expensive rare cards in their decks because they're afraid the cards will get bent when they shuffle them.
After reading that, I completely understood what it meant to say collectors and gamers are totally separate.
I told Arin what I'd found.
"Arin, you don't need to worry about rarity. So let's just build a deck from these and play."
"Okay."