Chapter 22
Chapter 22
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 22
Chapter Title: The Study Group
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Sundubu jjigae, spicy pork stir-fry, pickled radish, seaweed salad, stir-fried mushrooms, and dried anchovy stir-fry.
The food was neatly arranged on the tray.
It all looked delicious, but Seo-ha's chopsticks were slowing down.
'I miss Mom's cooking.'
In the end, Seo-ha couldn't finish his dinner and left some behind.
At first, it had been great.
The variety of dishes at the university cafeteria had been exciting, full of foods he could never get at home, making every meal a joy.
But now it was already the second week.
Seo-ha was aching for the home-cooked meals his mom had made his whole life.
After leaving the cafeteria, he took a short walk around the area before heading back to his room.
'I wonder what Seo-eun's up to.'
He missed his little sister so much he could hardly bear it.
Maybe he was even more dependent on her than she had been on him, with her tearful tantrums.
He kept picturing her toddling after him everywhere, quick little steps trying to keep up.
'When I get home, I need to be even better to her.'
Seo-ha flipped open the campus notebook on his desk.
The pages were densely packed with equations and graphs.
[Four Color Theorem.]
The theory that any map drawn on a plane can be colored using just four colors so that no two adjacent regions share the same color.
Seo-ha still couldn't let it go.
In 1976, Kenneth Appel and Wolfgang Haken had used a computer to prove the conjecture true, but Seo-ha simply couldn't accept it as a proper proof.
"Attempt number 124."
He muttered to himself as he picked up his pencil.
To Seo-ha, mathematics was a beautiful language where human intuition met rigorous logic. And he believed there was always an elegant solution within it.
Appel and Haken's proof relied on brute-force enumeration, checking 1,936 special exceptions from the Four Color Theorem one by one with a computer. Humans couldn't verify the countless cases that arose from it, but the machine made it possible.
"That's not a proof. It's just verification."
Seo-ha was convinced. If Euler or Newton were alive today, they never would have tolerated it.
'There has to be a way.'
He stared at the duck on the end of his pencil, lost in thought.
His first attempt had been at age seven.
Lacking mathematical knowledge, he'd triangulated the plane and challenged it using only Euler's formula and basic graph theory.
Around the twentieth failure, he'd become certain: using the relationship between a graph's minimum degree and its chromatic number would surely break through.
The result, predictably, was failure.
By the fiftieth, he'd tried a topological approach. And eventually, he'd even delved into combinatorics.
But none were the answer.
Complicated cases kept emerging endlessly, and Seo-ha couldn't present a single theory to control them all.
Still, what mattered to him was the fact that he was making progress, bit by bit.
He believed that someday, a breakthrough would come.
Scratch, scratch.
'What incredible focus.'
Ji-hoon glanced at Seo-ha while solving problems.
He hadn't even heard Ji-hoon come in. Not wanting to disturb him, Ji-hoon quietly gathered his workbook and slipped out.
Two hours later.
Knock knock!
Someone knocked on the door.
Seo-ha snapped out of it and stood from his chair.
"Who's there?"
A hesitant voice came after a pause.
"...It's me, Soo-jung."
Click.
Seo-ha opened the door with a puzzled look.
She'd been in training clothes that afternoon, but now she wore a skirt and coat.
"Come with me for a sec? I need your help."
"Huh?"
Before Seo-ha could answer, Soo-jung grabbed his sleeve and tugged.
It was past nine at night.
The outside was already shrouded in darkness.
With break in session, the building was mostly empty, lights sparse.
They descended the stairs to the lounge, then went further inside to a study room.
Soo-jung opened the door without hesitation.
Creeeak.
"I brought him."
She gave Seo-ha's back a light push.
Seo-ha stepped in, bewildered.
"Took you long enough!"
Ji-ye scolded, and Soo-jung turned her head away, pretending not to hear.
Go Chang-seok, Seo Ji-ye, Sung Ji-hoon.
Familiar faces.
And one more from the problem-solving group.
"We've met, right? Have a seat."
Kim Do-kyung, the high school senior who'd gone to last year's IMO.
He'd led the problem-solving before too—a natural leader.
As Seo-ha sat, Do-kyung stood.
"Sorry to drag you here out of the blue. Not forced, right?"
Seo-ha nodded that it was fine.
"Our team at last year's IMO was a mess, honestly. No one had experience. But the real problem was even bigger..."
Do-kyung sighed.
"Zero teamwork. We spent all our time checking each other."
Soo-jung agreed.
Last year's disastrous IMO had a bad vibe from Winter School onward.
"IMO's both individual and team. Scores add up for the country's ranking. We didn't sabotage, but we didn't help either."
Chang-seok adjusted his glasses and chimed in.
"No info sharing at all."
"And the results... well, everyone knows."
Regret laced Do-kyung's voice.
"China and the US kids? Totally different. Moved like a real team. Constantly exchanging ideas during study, helping when stuck."
"Honestly, the seniors were too low-key. That's what tanked us."
Soo-jung pouted.
"If we'd had an overwhelmingly talented upperclassman, we could've ridden their coattails. Hindsight, but we were all mid-tier. You were the youngest, me and Chang-seok second-years—hard to speak up."
"So you gathered us?"
Ji-ye looked intrigued.
"Look, I refuse to flop like last year. I'm not the best at math, but as the oldest, I want to lead. What do you think?"
Everyone straightened at Do-kyung's serious expression.
"Sounds good."
"I'm in."
"Fine by me."
All agreed they needed to do something for a strong IMO showing.
Seo-ha, unsure, nodded anyway.
"I picked these six as the most likely to make the team. Arbitrary, but I consulted Soo-jung."
Soo-jung looked away, embarrassed.
"Feels impartial enough."
"Midterms yesterday, right?"
There were two exams during Winter School.
Post-exam feedback meant everyone here knew each other's scores.
"I think we've got a huge edge over last year."
"What's that?"
Do-kyung stared straight at Seo-ha.
"Yoo Seo-ha. You."
"Me?"
"Seo-ha, Olympiad past problems are brutally hard for us. Straight up."
Everyone nodded at Do-kyung's confession.
"Third year prepping, and I'm still stuck everywhere."
Chang-seok cleaned his glasses cautiously.
"Same. Number theory and combinatorics have approaches, but past problems? No clue where to start."
Ji-ye was talented but struggled with Olympiad-style geometry.
"Hits you like a brick wall. No hints on where to begin. Hours of agony for a faint path maybe."
Geometry was Olympiad's—no, math's—most devilish demon.
"It's not us being bad. Normal reaction, right? Even famous uni grad students can't solve Olympiad types if unfamiliar."
Do-kyung fixed on Seo-ha.
"But since Winter School started, I haven't seen you miss once. Easy for you?"
Started as curiosity.
Too young for this place.
But when Seo-ha solved a two-day stump in seconds, Do-kyung knew: different league.
"I... uh..."
Seo-ha stammered, flustered.
"Be honest."
Soo-jung's tone said she knew.
Ji-ye and Ji-hoon nodded encouragingly.
Seo-ha's mouth opened slowly.
"I... I don't really get why Olympiad geometry is supposed to be hard."
Jaws dropped.
Heard he was good, but this bold? No one expected.
But no bravado—just Seo-ha's honest take on IMO problems.
"Whoa! First time hearing that."
Quiet Chang-seok let out a hollow laugh.
"Expected great, but for real? Just glance and solve?"
"Should've recorded this."
"Guess my stuff wasn't showing off after all."
Laughter erupted, chaotic and joyful.
Seo-ha smiled too; he liked seeing them like this.
"Seo-ha, for real?"
As things calmed, Do-kyung leaned in for confirmation.
"Yes."
As he groped for words, Soo-jung snapped her fingers.
"Do-kyung oppa! Test him on that problem. Last year's IMO..."
"Ah!"
Do-kyung flipped his notebook, grabbed ruler and compass, drew the figure.
"Indian Institute of Technology entrance exam. An Indian rep brought it for prep last year. Couldn't solve, so shopped it around during the event."
IIT: India's ladder out of 1.4 billion for status leap.
Graduates snatched by Silicon Valley; whole families emigrate to the US.
Admissions: hellishly tough.
Do-kyung continued.
"Funny part? No one solved it by the end. Caltech prof advisor finally did."
He drew the figure fluidly—well-researched.
"Give it a shot?"
Everyone watched like an exciting show.
"No pressure. Just for fun."
Do-kyung grinned.
But eyes burned too hot for "fun."
Ji-ye, Chang-seok, Ji-hoon, Soo-jung: half-curious, half-hopeful.
Seo-ha took the notebook. Studied a minute, gripped pencil.
Scratch—.
Auxiliary line on the figure.
Do-kyung's heart nearly jumped out.
"Right there first?"
Scratch, scratch.
Second line, third.
Each light pencil stroke reshaped the diagram entirely.
Soo-jung held her breath.
She knew the answer but not the principle. But Seo-ha?
Almost no calculations.
Short angle notations, a few proportionality equations.
Finally, circled the conclusion. Proof done.
"Finished."
Silence.
Ji-ye, Chang-seok, Ji-hoon eyed Do-kyung for verification.
"I-it's... right. That's the answer."
Do-kyung's voice trembled.
Shock rippled.
Ji-ye broke the quiet first.
"Geometry: blank if stuck, three lines if solved. Our teacher always said it—never thought I'd see it live."
She stared at Seo-ha, incredulous.
Even Soo-jung, who knew him well, hadn't anticipated this level.
But Seo-ha felt no pride.
Olympiads weren't the math he loved.
Problems deliberately convoluted. Useless conditions sown for confusion. Figures overly complex to hide essence. Key conditions disguised.
Seo-ha's sharp intuition pierced every trick.
A con reliant on gimmicks and sleight-of-hand.
That's what IMO looked like to him.
Less math, more game.
'Can't be helped? Can't ask them to write theses.'
Organizers had their woes.
'The truly brilliant wouldn't fall for tricks anyway.'
As Seo-ha organized his thoughts, belated exclamations burst.
"Insane!"
"Saw mathematical intuition for real today."
"Too good—don't even wanna compete."
"I knew all along."
Our side invincible!
Faces lit with energy.
"There's Lui Chen, China's personal gold last year. Second-year then, so back this year. Total monster, especially geometry."
Soo-jung nodded.
"I remember. Solo-solved the last problem. Looking back, intuition like Seo-ha's."
"Lui Chen's in for a shock this year."
Soo-jung and Do-kyung exchanged grins.
"Alright! Don't slack just 'cause Seo-ha's here. We need our own medals."
IMO: top ~10% gold, then silver/bronze ratios. Half the participants medal eventually.
"Seo-ha, mind helping with our studies? Too much tough stuff."
"Me too!"
"Please!"
"Sure! If I can help."
Seo-ha nodded happily.
Next day, Do-kyung announced the study group to all Winter Schoolers, taking sign-ups.
Seo-ha, no teaching experience, found unexpected gains leading it.
Forcing him to verbalize his thought process for the first time.
And in doing so, deepening parts he'd glossed over intuitively.
Four months later, when Winter School ended,
the final selection exam happened.
The passers: the six from the study group.