Chapter 174
Click—
“Wow, that's amazing...!”
Everyone held their breath in the cramped hospital room, their attention fixed on the girl.
Click-click-click—
“You're a real genius, aren't you?”
The clicking sound wasn't a camera shutter or anything like that.
Click-click
Clack—!
“Done.”
“Waaaaaaah!”
The moment Name completed the regular dodecahedron puzzle and set it down on the desk, a thunderous cheer erupted from the children.
“Hey, try this one too!”
“No, I asked first!”
“A cube looks way too easy for her. Go get something harder!”
The children were squabbling over the cubes in the hospital room.
They wanted to ask Name to solve their own cubes, too.
That was the scene Seol Yoonseul had witnessed the moment she woke up.
Name sent all the children, each a span or two taller than her, outside, then sat beside Yoonseul's bed.
“Good morning. You slept a full twelve hours?”
“What? Is this a dream?”
Yoonseul pinched her cheek hard. Aside from the stinging in her cheek, she didn't feel anything in particular.
“It doesn't hurt, does it?”
“Uh-huh. It doesn't hurt... Well, my cheek hurts a little...”
“That's a relief.”
Yoonseul looked Name up and down before asking.
“What?”
“What is?”
“This isn't virtual reality.”
“It isn't virtual reality.”
“Then why...?”
Yoonseul's head was filled with confusion.
She was so confused that, rather than assuming Name's real age was seven, she first wondered how Name had brought a virtual-reality avatar into the real world.
After thinking and rethinking for a long while, Yoonseul finally realized what had happened.
“You... y-y-y-you...! You're really Name? Really?”
“Yeah.”
“Did you maybe get a disease that keeps you from growing taller—”
“Not at all, okay?”
Name puffed out her cheeks in annoyance.
“Since you're awake, I'll bring the doctor. Wait here a moment.”
A doctor with fatigue written all over his face gave her a brief examination.
Afterward, the attending physician asked Yoonseul when she planned to be discharged.
“Can I be discharged whenever I want...?”
“Yes. There's nothing wrong with your health, and if you feel like your strength hasn't returned, you can stay another day or so.”
“Ah... No, it's okay. I'll be discharged right away...”
Yoonseul stared blankly at both her palms.
They were still as smooth and unblemished as ever, without even a blister, though she could have sworn she'd been burned.
“Do you have somewhere to go, sis?”
“I should go home...”
“Your place is probably a disaster right now.”
Name pictured the state of Yoonseul's home.
If she slept there for even one night, she'd inhale enough carcinogens to last a lifetime.
“Your parents' place, or—”
“No!”
“Why?”
“Because I can't... I don't want to.”
Yoonseul pulled her knees toward herself and buried her face in them.
“I don't want to go to my parents' house.”
Yoonseul's fingertips trembled slightly, as though insisting she absolutely must not return home.
“Then do you want to come to my house?”
“Huh?”
“I'll let you stay for a few days. I have a spare room, too.”
Name had taken in a wild honey badger.
* * *
Pat-pat—
“Sis.”
Knead-knead—
“Sis Yoonseul.”
Pinch—
“...! Seol Yoonseul!”
“Eek! What?”
“Stop touching me.”
“Ah, sorry...! You were just so fascinating.”
No, there had to be a line somewhere!
Stroking her cheek? Fine, that was understandable.
Among my elementary-school friends, some had cheeks that puffed out adorably when viewed from the side, and it was incredibly hard to resist the urge to touch them.
I could tolerate the fiddling. After all, we'd built up a certain degree of inner familiarity in VR.
But giving it a hard pinch was going too far, wasn't it?
“Hahahaha. I guess it's because Name is so cute.”
“If you keep doing that, I won't let you sleep at my house.”
“That's fine. It's my house, not yours. As the homeowner, I grant permission.”
“Ah, Professor Cheon, that's so unfair...!”
You're not taking my side here?
We stopped by Kariri's house, packed only the essentials, loaded them into the trunk, and headed for my house.
“It was really close to our house...”
Yoonseul murmured as she watched the scenery rush past.
It was only three subway stops away.
Perhaps she found Professor Cheon, sitting in the front seat, terribly awkward; Yoonseul kept her lips tightly sealed for the rest of the ride.
He definitely had the intimidating look of an old man you would find frightening at first glance.
Did he have no plans to dye his hair?
Professor Cheon was the first to break the silence.
“You're the friend who's going to the gaming tournament with Name?”
“Y-yes...!”
“I've heard about you. Somehow, that bastard who wasn't fit to chew up and spit out came all the way here... You must've been through a lot.”
“Ah... No, I'm fine...”
“Don't worry about appearances. Think of this as your own home and make yourself comfortable. Name will help with the rest.”
According to Professor Cheon, the culprit had confessed during questioning, and the police had immediately requested a warrant for his arrest on attempted-murder charges.
Since he had recklessly used magic as well, the charges were ironclad. Naturally, he wasn't considered mentally or physically incapacitated.
Even so, judging by his accomplishments, he seemed like a fairly well-educated man. I couldn't understand why he'd neglected his schizophrenia without even seeking treatment.
“I'll come back as soon as my house is repaired... Thank you...”
“Come back? Who knows who else might come looking for you?”
The culprit was a madman who had taken a train all the way from Busan to harm Yoonseul.
Which meant he hadn't learned her address through mere persistent stalking.
“Your address has been exposed. It's dangerous.”
“It's okay... It's not as if only one or two people have come looking for me...”
Yoonseul seemed to brush it off as something that had happened before, saying it was no big deal, but apparently she couldn't hide the faint trembling of her hands.
We got out of the car, each carrying luggage in both hands, and left the parking lot.
It was much more comfortable not having to receive acupressure from Yoonseul's palms anymore.
“Thirty-ninth floor. That's really high...”
“It is annoying having to wait for the elevator every time.”
“It's okay. If I'm with Name, I like waiting...”
Yoonseul said something incomprehensible as she placed both hands on my shoulders.
What was that supposed to mean?
* * *
[You can use this toothbrush here. Sharing toothpaste is fine, right? You're not a germaphobe... No, you don't look like one.]
Name darted up and down the hallway, helping Yoonseul put away her belongings.
[Was it always this messy? Since this room isn't cleaned, it's dusty...]
[For tonight, I suppose you'll have to sleep in Name's room. Is that okay?]
[Then let's all come over and clean tomorrow when we have some free time.]
A soft blanket was spread over the carpet, and a pillow stamped with a cute teddy-bear design was set down.
Yoonseul had been unable even to go to public places.
And now she had gone so far as to start living in someone else's house.
Yet for some reason, she felt comfortable here, as though it were her own home.
And more than anything, she had a mountain of things she wanted to ask Name.
Her mind was a tangled mess of countless questions, but she felt too self-conscious to stop Name, who was rushing busily from place to place.
Yoonseul crouched in a corner of the room and sent her younger brother a reply asking how he was doing.
Seol Taeyang had gone on a three-day, two-night school trip and only learned about Yoonseul's situation later.
At times like this, she didn't entirely dislike having a younger brother who worried about her.
“I'm all done organizing.”
“Uh... Ah! Thank you so much...!”
“Make yourself comfortable. Really. Or do you want to watch TV or something?”
“I-I don't mind! I like TV, too.”
“Professor Cheon went out to buy groceries for a bit. So you don't have to worry so much about imposing.”
Name hopped over the back of the sofa and landed precisely in the middle.
She picked up the remote from the floor with her toes, brought it to her hand, and turned on a random channel.
Yoonseul, who had settled demurely at the edge, cautiously began to speak.
“Hey, Name, what is that person to you—”
“Professor Cheon is my adoptive father. I've been adopted for four months. I'm a second-year elementary student at Sephiron Academy. Anything else you want to know?”
The information came flying out like rapid-fire bullets before Yoonseul could even finish her question.
After so many similar experiences, Name had become quite adept at explaining herself.
“Yes... A lot... An incredible amount...”
For starters, the fact that you're seven years old...
Yoonseul still needed an explanation.
* * *
“On QBS's Six O'Clock News Talk Talk, we'll meet our final Top 1 topic under the keyword ‘genius mathematician’! Here we have an adorable voice paired with some decidedly terrifying mathematical proofs! The video you just saw was one of seven proofs that the internet broadcaster NoName uploaded to her V-Tube. How old did you say this girl is now?”
“Yes, this is certainly news that's been heating up the internet lately. According to netizens, NoName is believed to be fourteen years old this year—in other words, they speculate she was born in 2037.”
“So you're saying a fourteen-year-old student solved mathematical problems that look difficult even at a glance?”
“They're not merely difficult problems. Shall we take a look at the list?”
[#1 ABC conjecture and Brocard’s problem (1876)] - 6 days ago
[#2 Erdős–Straus conjecture (1948)] - 5 days ago
[#3 Weaire–Phelan structure optimization (1993)] - 4 days ago
[#4 Collatz conjecture bound further to n^0.737 (1937)] - 4 days ago
[#5 Moving sofa problem upper bound improvement (1966)] - 3 days ago
[#6 Twin prime conjecture (1849)] - 3 days ago
[#7 Strong Goldbach conjecture (1742)] - 2 days ago
“The terms sound unfamiliar just from hearing their names. But the numbers here are what we should pay attention to.”
“1876, 1948. At first glance, they look like years, don't they?”
“Yes, the numbers that follow indicate the year each problem was first announced. Looking at the last one, 1742, we can say it's a truly venerable problem in mathematics—one that has remained unsolved for no less than 309 years.”
“It's hard to believe, just from common sense. Problems that even people who devoted their entire lives to mathematics couldn't solve—and not one, but seven of them! Is this actually possible?”
“That's why some netizens have occasionally suggested that NoName isn't one person, but rather some kind of group.”
“What kind of reaction has there been from the mathematical community?”
“The mathematical community is said to have been deeply shocked as well. The European Mathematical Society immediately sent official letters to universities in each country, announcing that it would form a task force for verification. Next, we have an interview with the Cambridge University professor emeritus ‘Graeme Cowan Cronheimer.’”
[My students have continued contacting me as well. ‘Professor, my world collapsed yesterday!’ they say, haha. When I first saw the proof, I was suspicious, and before long I was astonished; now I feel thrilled. I can't immediately tell whether the proofs are true or false, but looking at the novel and meticulous techniques she employed, I could instantly tell how deeply versed in mathematics she is. I guarantee she isn't someone trying to scam people with mathematics, at the very least.]
[Professor, if all of these are proven true, could she win the Fields Medal?]
[Whoa, all of them? Just one. Proving even one would be an astonishing breakthrough. Especially if she succeeds in proving the twin prime conjecture or Goldbach's conjecture, she'll leave her name in history. Ah, the ABC conjecture and the Collatz conjecture too... Let's just lump them all together and say all of them, haha.]
[That's incredible.]
[It may be a long time since Ms. Ham, but Korea might have a Fields Medal winner again. Congratulations in advance.]
[Thank you for the wonderful interview.]
The program went on to introduce more of NoName's accomplishments.
Such as her incredible feats in World of Arseria,
and, finally, the news that she had recently entered a gaming tournament, bringing the talk show to a close.
Yoonseul watched the program intently without looking away, then looked down at Name, who was using her lap as a pillow.
The girl lying on the sofa and scratching her soft belly was far more extraordinary than Yoonseul had imagined.
“This definitely smells like bell peppers. Professor Cheon! Could you leave the bell peppers out of mine?”
“If you leave bell peppers out of japchae, what are you going to eat it for?”
“It'd be delicious enough if I just ate the meat...”
Seven years old—the age when a child was still just old enough to fuss over side dishes.
“Sis. Could you eat the bell peppers for me instead?”
Yoonseul was beginning to feel a little afraid of her.