Chapter 1
Chapter 1
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 1
Chapter Title: I Obtained an Omnipotent Brain
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I remember the day I was born.
Was it a blessing from the heavens?
My brain was mature enough from the moment of birth to accept everything I saw as reality, and I became aware of that fact right there at the gateway to the world.
The sharp light suddenly pouring down over my closed eyes.
Because I'd been receiving nutrients and oxygen through the umbilical cord, my respiratory system—which I'd never used before in my life—wasn't functioning properly.
I was suffocating. My chest felt tight.
Smack—
"Waaahhh!"
I tried to hold it back, but the stinging pain in my backside made it impossible not to cry. Thanks to that, along with my wails, the air I was experiencing for the first time wrapped stickily around my throat and flowed into my lungs.
"Congratulations. It's a healthy baby!"
Someone who was clearly the source of my pain flashed a bright smile as they showed me to Mom. From her teary-eyed gaze, I could feel her love for me so intensely.
Mom took me with trembling hands and cradled me against her chest.
My body reacted before my mind could.
The smell, and the touch.
I probably felt a sense of relief from that familiar scent and warmth.
And just like that, my crying stopped.
"Oh my! Honey, look!"
Dad's face lit up with emotion at Mom's excited voice.
"Yeah... Incredible. Does he already recognize his mom?"
It was the first day of my life in this world.
"Momma! When's Dada comin'?"
Right after my first birthday passed, I could already speak in full sentences.
"He said he's finished work. He'll be home soon."
Sizzle.
Mom answered as she stir-fried my favorite meat over the pan.
It was my favorite time of day.
As the sun set, the crimson glow beyond the window crept slowly over the edge of the yard like spilled paint. Those vivid natural colors looked utterly beautiful and mysterious to my young eyes.
A gentle breeze drifting in through the open window mingled with the aroma of the sizzling beef.
I still miss those days so much it brings tears to my eyes.
"Momma smells good."
I toddled over on unsteady legs and hugged Mom's thigh.
"Oh my! Is our little Seo-ha hungry?"
Mom turned around, saw me, and beamed.
I'd never told anyone because they'd think it was a lie, but the memory from that time remains as clear as a photograph to me.
When I turned two, I could read without anyone teaching me. It was thanks to the Hangul primers and picture books Mom had stuck up on the wall.
"Okay, today let's read 'Puppy Ppong Ppong'!"
Mom sat me on her lap and opened the book.
Dad lounged nearby, leaning back against a pillow, watching us with a fond smile.
Mom's finger slowly traced along the words.
"Ppong Ppong let out a big poot again today."
Her voice was soft and tender.
My eyes went straight to the text instead of the pictures.
Before Mom could even finish the line, I started reading the next one.
"But that's okay. Farts mean our body's working hard, after all."
Mom's eyes went wide. Then she smiled warmly at me.
"Huh? Did I read it too many times? You already memorized the whole thing?"
Instead of answering, I read on to the next sentence.
"It smelled, but Mommy Dog hugged Ppong Ppong tight anyway. Ppong Ppong loved Mommy's embrace the most."
Whoosh.
Dad quietly got up before I knew it. He moved to the bookshelf, picked out another book, and brought it over.
"Well then... can you read this one too?"
It was a cover I'd never seen before.
"Yeah!"
The monster grinning on the cover was scary, but I took the book, flipped it open, and started reading.
"Long, long ago, beyond a great mountain, there was a goblin village."
Mom and Dad flinched in surprise as I read steadily, word by word.
"In that village lived a goblin who stole people's dreams every day, one by one."
I could feel their faces growing more serious the further I read.
"My goodness. He really can read. Is our kid a genius? Honey, this is a big deal, right?"
Mom alternated between staring at me and the book, hand over her mouth.
"For a child of parents like us to turn out like this..."
Dad picked me up and held me silently for a long time.
In that moment, my chest tickled with a strange feeling. I didn't know why my parents were so shocked, but I could sense that reading the book made everyone happy.
Starting the next day, new things began appearing one by one on the walls of my room.
It started with simple number charts and basic arithmetic posters.
"One plus one is?"
"Two!"
Doing number games with Mom was fun.
Every time I got it right, she'd hug me tight and bounce around like she couldn't contain her joy.
Colorful posters with pictures and numbers went up on the walls, soon followed by multiplication tables, English letters, constellations in the night sky, and even a days-of-the-week chart.
"Seo-ha, what day is it today?"
"Thursday!"
"Oh my, good job, my baby!"
Every morning, Mom would point to the days-of-the-week poster on the wall and quiz me. When I got it right, she'd pat my butt proudly and praise me.
I loved the praise so much I'd spend the whole day staring at the posters on the wall.
But that fun didn't last. Soon enough, they became boring to me—nothing more than that.
Crunch crunch.
Late summer. The couple sat on the porch, eating watermelon to beat the heat.
Their son, Seo-ha, laughed gleefully as he ran around the yard before plopping down in one corner to intently watch some ants.
Cheol-ho was worried. The boy who'd loved books so much lately seemed interested only in other things.
"Honey, Seo-ha hasn't been studying much these days."
Mi-young nodded casually at her husband's words.
"You're probably right."
They'd thought he was a genius, but maybe he'd just seemed that way because he was their own child? She regretted not spending more time with him lately due to her busy schedule.
"Hmm. I wonder why."
Mi-young chuckled at Cheol-ho's concerned face.
"He already knows it all. None of it's fun for him anymore."
"What do you mean?"
"It's been ages since he took down the posters from the wall. He memorized all the picture books. And he can do four-digit addition, subtraction, and division in his head."
"Really?"
Four-digit mental math?
'Even adults struggle with that.'
"Yeah. But I've been wondering if it's right to teach fractions to a kid not even four yet. I was planning to talk to you about it."
The joy of confirming their son really was a genius was short-lived. Cheol-ho found himself sharing Mi-young's dilemma.
'When do you learn fractions? Fourth grade in elementary school? That'd make him over ten...'
"Still, it's not good for him to have nothing to do and just play around. We should give him something to read."
Mi-young nodded at Cheol-ho's words.
"I think the same. I don't want to force him, but we can't hold back a smart kid's future as parents. Though honestly, I'm happy with how things are now."
Seo-ha, who'd been crouching for a while, struck a comical lizard-like pose and carefully crawled on all fours toward the porch.
"Why's he doing that?"
"He's worried about stepping on the ants. He always moves like that near their nest. He's got such a kind heart, our boy."
Mi-young didn't want to change his life. She figured it couldn't be wrong for a child to play like a child.
Snapping out of her thoughts, Mi-young beckoned to Seo-ha.
"Come here! Let's eat watermelon!"
Seo-ha's face lit up as he stood.
"Watermelon!"
He carefully got up and came toddling toward her. The sight was adorable.
After that day, a luxurious encyclopedia set took pride of place in Seo-ha's room.
Cheol-ho had personally consulted multiple publishers to select this masterpiece with over 200 years of history. Especially outstanding were the science sections, featuring direct contributions from world-renowned scholars like Albert Einstein and Carl Sagan—their expertise far surpassing any other encyclopedia.
It was a hefty expense for their modest household, but there wasn't a hint of regret on the couple's faces. Seo-ha had ditched playing in the yard and become utterly absorbed in his new books instead.
Even his ant-watching had changed dramatically.
"Mom, look! Ants march in a line. They're following something called pheromones."
Mi-young blinked at the unfamiliar word popping out of Seo-ha's mouth.
"Did you read that in the book?"
"Yeah! I wondered how they found their way home from so far away, but now the mystery's solved."
Mi-young smiled softly at her son's precocious speech.
She'd worried whether a kid would really like such thick encyclopedias, but it had been needless concern. Seo-ha was soaking up knowledge like parched earth drinking rain.
He started out like any kid his age, obsessed with dinosaurs, but his interests soon delved deeper: causes of dinosaur extinction, conditions for plant and animal survival, and even Earth and the solar system.
The couple watched their book-devouring son with pleased smiles.