Beautiful Campus (4)
“We tried everything—cranes, helicopters, bulldozers, you name it—but it was all for nothing. Don't be shocked. Observations show it hasn't budged even 1mm. No matter how much force we applied, pushing or pulling.”
“Isn't what we see just the tip of the iceberg, like with an iceberg?”
Jeong Seo-hoon tossed out the question he already knew the answer to, pretending ignorance.
“No, that's not it. We've mapped the entire comet precisely with non-destructive observation gear. What our eyes see is the full size.”
He added that since it had crashed to the surface, it should technically be called a meteorite now, but the resident research team stuck to calling it a comet out of habit.
“The comet's surface is ambiguous—metal? Rock? Can't tell. We can't even chip off a tiny piece for composition analysis. But from electron microscope scans of the surface...”
The comet's surface sucked in endless light, exuding an intense darkness that seemed to pull at the human soul itself.
“It's confirmed to be an element not found on Earth. Effectively recognized as element 119. Still classified, of course.”
“Element 119...”
“Surprising, right? Naturally, this can't leak out yet. No teasing the kids about memorizing the periodic table again.”
“Mass measurement must be tricky too, then.”
“Someone suggested digging under it and slipping in a scale, but that got shot down. Too risky—what if we trigger something?”
Lee Se-jong's cool gaze fixed once more on the comet radiating darkness.
“A lump of the 119th element from deep space... defying every known law of physics like it's showing off. Can you imagine its academic value?”
“Too big a burden for Korea to hog alone, huh.”
“This resident team was formed under strict secrecy mainly due to political and diplomatic pressures.”
The comet had fallen on Korean soil, so it was rightfully Korea's. No foreign country had a legitimate claim from the start.
But like gold bars suddenly rolling into a shantytown, bringing misfortune...
For those without the power to protect treasure, immense value often spells disaster.
“From our perspective, a sudden 1,000 billion-barrel oil field popping up would've been easier to swallow comfortably.”
“Foreign powers must covet the comet badly.”
“Every imaginable underhanded scheme, diplomatic coaxing, pressure, lobbying—it all happened, leading to the current deadlock.”
The final compromise, forged through every smear and backroom deal imaginable.
“The fact that the comet won't budge at all is actually a huge blessing for us. Otherwise, the Americans or Brits might've snatched it like it was theirs by now.”
The Korean government, as owner, received all research results first priority.
Foreign researchers had to relay even trivial measurement data to Korea in real-time.
“A new 119th element showing stable binding reactions at room temperature... Finding a use for it would revolutionize global science again.”
“Makes sense they'd invoke the UN for total access lockdown.”
Jeong Seo-hoon stared piercingly at the comet.
Within the darkness absorbing over 99.99% of light, a shimmering golden sphere undulated faintly.
It felt like glimpsing a scorching sun hidden inside a black hole.
A small sun in the darkness.
The glowing golden orb concealed within the comet.
Yet Lee Se-jong made no mention of it.
Either observation failed, or it was beyond his clearance level.
You couldn't just blurt out everything visible to the naked eye.
It was clearly invisible to ordinary human sight.
“Can we touch it yet?”
“Not yet. Contribute to the research and level up.”
Jeong Seo-hoon glanced around casually.
Invisible micro-surveillance devices dotted the research barracks everywhere. Just the ones monitoring him and Lee Se-jong numbered 27.
Slipping through that net to touch the comet undetected? Impossible.
No need to push it. I've taken the first step—now take it slow, bide my time...
Jeong Seo-hoon decided against rash greed.
Plenty of time, and legal paths to approach it.
Stepping out of the barracks with Lee Se-jong, cool dawn air filled his lungs.
“Did my father suddenly come to Korea because of the comet too?”
“One option among many. But Professor Jeong isn't as deeply involved as me. He's just handling UN-commissioned subcontracts through our university—fair summary.”
“Still higher clearance than me, right?”
“Obviously.”
Jeong Seo-hoon looked up at the sky.
Stealth drones hovering 5 to 8 meters off the ground pinged on his senses.
Mimicking flying insects, their flight paths imitated living creatures, scanning the ground flawlessly.
Hundreds registered on his senses—maybe more.
Even sharp-eyed folks wouldn't spot those micro-drones at that distance; if they did, they'd dismiss them as bugs.
Airship balloons.
Higher up, airships dangled ads for new corporate appliances.
But Jeong Seo-hoon sensed the mismatched long-range sensors protruding from their hulls.
And even higher, twinkling lights moving like stars.
Mistakable for shooting stars at a glance, but low-orbit military satellites rotating surveillance shifts overhead.
Ironclad monitoring from unseen angles—Jeong Seo-hoon chuckled softly.
“To really grip the comet research, do I need a real Nobel or two?”
In this setup, true research demanded that level of authority.
Surpassing Lee Se-jong wouldn't cut it.
He needed a name every global scientist and superpower politician would nod to—only then could he delve deep without interference.
Beautiful Campus Episode 2 aired.
While Episode 1 centered on Cha Do-jin and Yoo Jeong-ah's conflict with rival universities over new equipment usage rights...
Episode 2 focused on undergrad Han Seo-hee, grad students Chae Ji-hyun and Lee Seo-hyeon in a science-tech contest.
The three pulled entries for the robot fighting division, prepping with labmates and professors' help.
“ Weird. It worked fine last week.”
“Algorithm's tangled, maybe? Gotta rewrite from scratch?”
“How much time we got left?!”
Real Korea University robotics department bots glitched hyper-realistically like electrocuted, hooking viewers.
“No such thing as bug-free programming.”
“But I rolled back to when it worked fine last time. Not software.”
“Hardware then?”
Han Seo-hee in a white shirt, jeans, ponytail.
Chae Ji-hyun's striped tee hugging her curves.
Lee Seo-hyeon's short shorts and green crop top radiating youthful vibrance.
The trio sweating over disassembly, assembly, coding—hearts raced.
They scraped through qualifiers with jury-rigged fixes, then dove into root-cause analysis for finals.
“Yeah, for tracing circuit issues.”
“But Professor Hwang Geon-wook gonna let us? Other profs are twiddling thumbs already.”
“I'll go beg.”
Soon after, Han Yu-ra (Han Seo-hee) and Im Se-rang (Im Seo-rin) spot Woo Si-yeon (Lee Seo-hyeon) and Hwang Geon-wook alone at a bar.
Woo Si-yeon's mature allure, contrasting her usual lab casuals, shocked them.
“For what?”
“Robot contest glitch. Might flop in finals round 1.”
“Getting serious over kids' play?”
“We're pros. You'll lend it, right?”
“Using an ox-cleaver for sardines?”
“I'll bring the girls tomorrow.”
“Don't make scenes like this.”
“I'll try. Oh, tomorrow I'll greet first—play nice.”
“Timeline's off.”
“Changed. Happens often?”
Viewers caught the hint: Woo Si-yeon wasn't your average grad student.
She pecks Hwang Geon-wook's cheek goodbye; he wipes with a tissue, locking eyes with Cha Young-woo and Kim Jung-ae.
Ignoring their shock, scene shifts.
Woo Si-yeon drags Han Yu-ra and Chae Sa-ra to Hwang, greeting perkily to flaunt familiarity.
Hwang sighs inwardly, nods curtly.
“Thanks, Professor!”
Particle acceleration/trajectory tracking pinpointed the faulty chip; thrilled, they figured swapping it would do.
Han Yu-ra, beaming, sensed the subtle vibe between Woo Si-yeon and Hwang—flashing back to the bar intimacy.
Wait, are they actually dating? Professor and student?
Imagining the ever-icy Hwang smiling at a woman? Unfathomable.
Her solo fantasy of his smiles hit viewers with half-embarrassment, half-flutter.
Root cause found, the trio cruised finals to runner-up.
Kim Jung-ae confronts Hwang, arms crossed, smirking.
“Just using my rights as I see fit.”
“Not crushing on one of the girls, right?”
“What do you take me for?”
“Good if not. Hope not—lab rumors spread like wildfire.”
Beautiful Campus skipped heavy, dark themes.
Focusing on 'plausible' grad school incidents, it calmly traced characters' emotions intertwining, clashing, maturing.
A clear shift from Kim Sang-hee and Jeong Seo-hoon's tension-packed priors.
Song Jeong-woo leaned into visuals: stunning actors, grand pro lab vibes.