Wolf Prize Politics
The Wolf Prize is announced every October with the consent of each review body. Candidates are kept strictly confidential, and winners are usually notified the day before. Unlike the Nobel Prize, they don't contact winners just 1-2 hours before the official announcement—that had led to frequent delays due to communication issues. But while notifications happen the day before, the actual review process has been underway for much longer.
The Wolf Foundation had evaluated and ranked the achievements of thousands of scholars worldwide, narrowing them down to the finalists. All that remained was a majority vote to select the winners—until a wildcard appeared.
"We've never had a case like this. Why show up three days before the announcement and suddenly demand we change the candidate?"
A directive had come from the top: insert "NoName" directly into the final candidate deliberations, bypassing the earlier review stages. The mathematician judging the math category shook the painstakingly prepared documents in frustration and shouted.
NoName was undoubtedly brilliant, but seven of her proofs remained unverified. If they were being pressured to award the prize based on unverified proofs, the judge was ready to resign on the spot.
But the foundation representative crossed their arms and replied confidently.
"It's verified."
"Pardon?"
"The twin prime conjecture. We got a report from the International Mathematical Union early this morning. Verification committees from MIT, Oxford, Zurich, and Singapore University all simultaneously confirmed the proof's validity."
"Oh my God...!"
Did that mean an 8-year-old girl had really solved a problem over 200 years old? The judge, furrowing their brow gravely and invoking Jesus' name, pondered deeply before finally speaking.
"The prestige of proving the twin prime conjecture certainly qualifies her for the award. But the timing is too late. And it's not like the Wolf Prize is given once every four years—there's next year, the year after... We could just give it to her next year, no problem."
"Do you really think so?"
The representative shook their head. They glanced at the mountain of documents and grimaced.
"Our Wolf Prize lags behind the Nobel in magic and science, and behind the Fields Medal in math. If word gets out first that she proved it, what do you think happens?"
"What happens?"
"No one will give our Wolf Prize a second glance—they'll all be buzzing about when this girl gets her Fields Medal."
"Ah..."
There was no achievement more definitive than proving the twin prime conjecture.
"Conversely, if she wins the Wolf Prize first? We'll always be mentioned before the Fields Medal. For at least three years."
"..."
"We need to beat the International Mathematical Union to the punch. Isn't that why our esteemed judges pull all-nighters through this ordeal? Wouldn't it feel more rewarding if the whole world took notice?"
They called it one of the world's top three math prizes, but overseas, the Wolf Prize barely made a blip in the news. The judge, working in Israel, had felt this disconnect between academic prestige and public interest all too keenly.
"Fine. I'll pull a couple more all-nighters over the next two days to review her qualifications."
"Good thinking."
NoName's achievements were impressive, but politics played a role too. Israel was in an internationally precarious position like never before. Neighboring Syria and Iraq were reportedly under Walpurgis control—or at least, their governments operated in secrecy, with members hiding their identities and following orders from above, making it hard to confirm. Walpurgis preachers occasionally appeared in Saudi Arabia and Israel's holy sites, proselytizing unchecked, suggesting deep infiltration.
It doesn't sit right, but we need to counter antisemitism in Europe and Asia and secure their aid.
NoName was Korean, yet hugely popular in America and Europe. If she attended the Wolf Prize ceremony—real life or VR—it could help resolve several diplomatic issues.
That was, until two days later, when the Israeli Embassy in Korea brought back an unbelievable response.
"She says personal circumstances prevent her attendance."
"The Wolf Prize, and she has something more important?"
"It's a friend's debut broadcast that day..."
"Debut? What, like an idol?"
The representative first thought of K-pop. The diplomat's explanation dragged on, but the gist was some obscure VTuber thing.
"What? V-Tu... V-Tu... VTuber? That's absolutely not happening!"
"Then change the winner to someone else—"
"That's not an option either! Argh!"
Panic gripped the foundation. A man who'd devoted his life to it couldn't watch the Wolf Prize's prestige hit rock bottom. In the end, he made a patriotic decision.
If she can't come to the ceremony, we'll go to her.
It was all VR anyway—what did the backdrop matter? With a banner stand emblazoned with the Wolf Foundation logo, anywhere could be the ceremony venue.
Connecting to Void Space.
Welcome, User Name: NoName.
It had been quite a while since I'd last logged into VR. Ever since parting with Emika, I hadn't needed the capsule much. I synced my avatar with my real body to reflect even the tiniest growth in height. Every millimeter counted now.
NoName has accepted the invitation.
Moving to Kariri's waiting room.
I dove onto the plush mat on the floor and started venting my grievances.
"Lately, it feels like I'm getting scolded almost every day. What did I even do wrong?"
Cheon Professor seemed to be watching my VTube videos a lot these days. The moment a vlog went up, he'd call me over and chew me out. He'd zeroed in on the time I recreated a magic circle runaway for the kids without a backflow prevention spell. He insisted it wasn't just him—showing me the comments below the video.
Kariri, listening to my complaints, pinched and stretched my cheek.
"You should be grateful to have a family worrying about you! Why are you so fearless?"
A worrying family. I still couldn't quite grasp having one. And thinking of my old families kept making my heart feel unsettled. I stretched my limbs, yawning widely.
Kariri returned to her seat, tweaking the broadcast settings for the debuting kids. Her mouse danced across the screens, manipulating four monitors at once.
"You really look like a pro when you're doing this."
"About time you noticed? I've got years of streaming experience!"
"Part 1 is individual intros for about an hour each, then Part 2 is a four-way talk show, followed by a World of Arceria 4-queue together, right?"
"Yep. But Part 1 might run a tiny bit late—cool with that?"
"I'm free all day. Cleared my schedule."
"Okay! Let's have a great day, NoName-sama!"
"How are Adella and Niel-unnie holding up? Think they'll do okay?"
They'd apparently done some collab streams pre-debut without showing their avatars.
"They're rough around the edges, but they'll improve. No one's perfect from the start."
Even as she said it, Kariri nervously nibbled her thumbnail. She seemed the most tense of us all.
We passed the time watching the debut MV for Safari Dream's first gen, "Coup d'État," to calm our nerves.
"What do you think, Nami? The song's amazing, right? Niel-unnie wrote and composed it all! The more I see of her, the more I realize she can do anything!"
"She didn't just goof off for three months."
"Obviously! She confirmed avatars with Adella and Yudex, did vocal training, shot the MV, practiced games—super busy."
She proudly listed Niel's accomplishments.
Broadcast Start: 3 Minutes
[17:57]
With Kariri rolling her eyes back in white-eyed panic, I took over monitoring.
Adella, already an idol in VR, lounged carefree, digging at her cat ears. Gone were her ragged old clothes; the fluffy fur-lined jacket and skin-tight white pants suited her perfectly.
Turning to another monitor, I saw Danielle—clad in black scale clothes—wriggling ominously in the corner.
"...! Kariri—no, Yoonseul-unnie, wake up. Is that okay?"
"Mmm...? Wha—EEK, what the heck!"
A decorative [Extra-Large Ice Block 2m×2m×2m] in the room. Danielle's long tongue was stuck fast to it.
"Big trouble!"
Broadcast Start: 1 Minute
[17:59]
Kariri hurriedly turned on her mic and broadcasted to her channel.
"Judex, what are you doing! Why'd you stick your tongue on that!"
"Open your inventory and store it!"
Danielle mashed buttons randomly at Kariri's urgent voice. The settings menu only blocked her view more, worsening things.
"She's asking how?!"
"Damn... I can't control decorations from central...! What do we do... what do we do!"
Even Kariri panicked and flailed as the second hand completed its circle.
⊳ STATUS:ON AIR
⊳ STATUS:ON AIR
"Kill the camera first."
"R-right, the camera!"
NG on the debut stream was a shame, but we had to avert disaster. Pop!—one screen went dark, and the adjacent chat flooded with question marks.
"Nami, hold the fort here. I'll go fix it quick. Aish, that airhead unnie...!"
This is surprisingly nerve-wracking...
Adella fiddled with her jacket's fur, glancing at the clock. It'd be a lie to say the debut moment wasn't tense. Her claws itched to scratch the wallpaper. The more she understood modern life, the more she realized how much money a physical body would cost.
[300 billion or 500 billion, no problem! The moment Lady Adella appears, money will pour in!]
[You sure talk big.]
She'd brushed off Nami's joking words back then, but even a hero slaying the Demon King wouldn't earn that much. She worried Nami was overdoing it out of responsibility to free her from VR. So Adella resolved to do her best—like gathering dust into a mountain.
This VTuber debut would be the start. She wasn't as versatile as Danielle, but her energy was unmatched.
Broadcast Start: 00:00
[18:00]
⊳ STATUS:ON AIR
Today, I'm burning it all up!
And so, the promised Wednesday 6 PM arrived sharp.
Category:Just Chatting – Your kingdom is doomed! Adella rules here now!
Broadcast Time:0:00:01
Viewers:3,929
Her gray ears perked up, her well-groomed long tail swished. She alternated mischievous glances between the screen and chat, lips—glistening red—about to part.
⊳ STATUS:OFF AIR
"Eeeeh? What? My broadcast turned off!"
A black screen and a chat plastered with question marks greeted Adella.