Chapter 28
Chapter 28
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ace
Chapter: 28
Chapter Title: The Mathematical High
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Seo-ha checked the time, but the first thought that flashed through his mind wasn't Woo-hyun's earnest plea to rack up overwhelming results at the IMO.
"Oppa, you have to bring back a gold medal for me too, right?"
His little sister back home, waiting for her medal.
Knowing Seo-eun's personality, she definitely couldn't have held back and had already sketched herself wearing a gold medal in her sketchbook.
"If I break that promise, she'll be so disappointed."
Cold sweat trickled down his back.
Seo-ha quickly scanned problems 4 and 5.
Solving each would take at least ten minutes, and writing up the answers another ten. With two problems left, that doubled the time needed. Since the solution process itself was scored, he couldn't shave off any more.
"Ah! No helping it, then."
Seo-ha took a deep breath.
"Ducky."
No response came—probably because he'd deliberately left problem 6 unsolved.
"Ducky, don't you want to see Seo-eun happy too?"
Something squirmed in his mind at that moment.
Instinctively, Seo-ha knew Ducky cherished Seo-eun just as much as he did.
"Time's short. I'm counting on you. Let's do this together."
Seo-ha yielded control to Ducky.
Instantly, he felt something uncoil in his brain—like a tightly wound screw finally loosening. The abilities he'd always suppressed exploded into full liberation.
Seo-ha began reading problem 4.
[From a point P inside a cube...]
Understanding hit him the moment he read it.
Geometry, optimization, symmetry, topology.
Ducky's obsessive precision instantly constructed a complex coordinate system. The second Seo-ha's intuition seized the core idea, Ducky transformed it into flawless equations.
Seo-ha's hand started moving at an astonishing speed.
"Coordinate setup: P(a,b,c), distances to cube vertices... "
He understood as he read and wrote simultaneously.
The transmission from eyes to brain to hand had shrunk to near zero.
Ducky systematically classified every possible case, while Seo-ha's intuition plucked out the key ones. Their powers harmonized perfectly, unleashing synergy.
But physical time constraints remained unrelenting.
Seo-ha glanced at the clock.
"Can't write out every step."
He compressed a ten-step process into five.
Problem 4 complete.
Five minutes so far.
He moved straight to the next.
[Selecting r marbles out of n...]
A fusion of combinatorics and probability.
As Seo-ha read, Ducky rearranged every possible pattern in his mind.
Inclusion-Exclusion Principle, recurrence relations, generating functions.
All the necessary tools flashed through his head like lightning.
His pencil glided across the paper like a calligrapher's brush.
"The essence of combinations is choice and exclusion."
Ducky arrayed the n marbles in his mind as a perfect lattice. Each possibility manifested as mathematical probability.
"This has deeper implications. Look at the chain reaction of conditional probabilities."
Ducky reacted instantly.
A complex probability distribution unfolded in his mind as a perfect tree structure.
[First selection: P₁ = r/n]
[Second selection: P₂ = (r-1)/(n-1)]
[Product of conditional probabilities...]
Yet his hand never stopped.
Thought and answer completion happened in tandem.
"Time's short. Essentials only!"
He condensed a proof that would normally span fifteen lines into five. No logical leaps, though—by Seo-ha's standards, every step carried full conviction.
Problem 5 complete.
"Time's up!"
The exam ended the instant he finished writing.
Marcello had watched the entire process from two steps away.
The boy's focus and speed in those final moments.
It felt like witnessing something beyond human limits—thrilling, yet unnerving.
Unconsciously, he approached and spoke to Seo-ha.
"Are you alright there?"
The boy stared blankly.
No response—maybe he hadn't heard.
He'd submitted his paper, stood, and was scanning the room.
An uncomfortable expression, like something bothered him.
The boy muttered softly.
"Why arrange the desks like this? It's not symmetric. And why only 21 desks in row three? If space is an issue, just use a hexagonal layout or..."
Seo-ha genuinely felt uneasy. The imperfect desk arrangement pricked at him like a thorn under his nail.
Marcello stepped closer, peering into Seo-ha's eyes.
Pupils dilated, focus darting endlessly.
"This is..."
Marcello had experienced extreme focus states over decades immersed in math. He recognized the boy's condition instantly.
A kind of "high"—the brain hyperactivating in specific areas, blending flow state and hyper-arousal.
"No, not quite."
The boy solving problems like a divine inspiration didn't match the textbook flow state.
Then, a figure popped into Marcello's mind.
"Ramanujan?"
Records described Ramanujan's math sessions at Cambridge looking just like this (Ramanujan studied math at Cambridge).
Mystical ability to derive answers without proofs.
Mathematical intuition rising from the unconscious depths.
Unreal insights transcending logic.
That was Seo-ha on problem 6.
Like someone who already knew the answer reverse-engineering the proof.
"That's enough, Ducky."
Seo-ha muttered to himself softly and snapped out of it.
But he was still breathing heavily—his state looked unstable.
Worried, Marcello asked again.
"How are you feeling right now?"
Seo-ha looked up with a bright smile.
"Great. I got to solve the coolest problem ever."
Only then did Marcello let out a small sigh of relief.
"Guess I worried for nothing."
Seo-ha's answer was pure joy to the problem-setter himself.
Three days of free time followed the exam.
Results would be announced at the awards ceremony in four days, so the students could enjoy London sightseeing in the meantime.
"It's finally over!"
Ji-hoon shouted, throwing his arms up high.
The pent-up tension melted away in an instant.
"Now I can live like a human again."
Do-kyung's voice brimmed with liberation.
Prepping for IMO, the Korean team had spent denser time together than ever. As his last IMO, Do-kyung felt it especially.
"What's your take?"
Soo-jung asked Seo-ha.
"I just want to go home."
Being apart from family overseas had taught Seo-ha loneliness.
Beyond that, something demanded confirmation.
The euphoria from solving with Ducky—what was it?
"I wonder if Seo-eun's okay."
Seo-eun, fighting jet lag, stayed up till night to call him.
"Yeah, you're still at that age where you miss family."
Soo-jung chuckled knowingly and patted Seo-ha's shoulder like an adult.
"Good work, kids."
Professor Park beamed proudly at his students.
Results aside, he truly believed they'd shone this year.
"No thinking for the next few days—just enjoy London. Anywhere you want to go?"
"For real?"
"We can actually have fun?"
"Yes!"
The professor's words drew screams of joy.
"British Museum for me!"
"Thames cruise."
"Buckingham Palace first!"
Mature or not, they were still high schoolers who'd planned spots between studies.
Model student habits die hard—the six gathered quickly, spreading out travel guides to plot their tour.
"We still gotta hit a Korean restaurant, though."
"All science track kids—why Shakespeare's birthplace?!"
"Newton's apple tree? Cambridge is too far!"
"Notting Hill bookstore? That movie's older than us!"
Heated debate finalized the itinerary.
The next morning, the Korean team rode the Tube (London Underground) en masse to the British Museum.
The free entry sign sparked interest even in those indifferent to artifacts.
"Whoa! This is why Britain's great. Advanced country for sure!"
Everyone cheered at the entrance sign.
But inside, the mood shifted.
Vast halls brimmed with Egyptian, Greek, Mesopotamian relics.
"Scale's beyond imagination."
Ji-ye murmured softly.
Parthenon marbles, Egyptian pharaoh sarcophagi, Babylonian clay tablets—Seo-ha, well-read, easily guessed how these vast, majestic items ended up in London.
"If I were Egyptian, I'd cry."
Soo-jung scowled at the massive obelisk, indignant.
Professor Park noted their expressions and spoke quietly.
"You've grown to think like adults.
It's complicated—past glory and karma? The UK government's got headaches from repatriation lawsuits. But thanks to it, we get to see these."
After touring key exhibits, the Korean team hit the gift shop.
"Whoa! What's that?"
Seo-ha's eyes went wide.
One display case overflowed with ducks.
Pharaohs, Union Jacks, Greek myths, even Roman soldier ducks.
Seo-ha rushed over, inspecting each closely.
"Rubber ducks—for the bath. You really love ducks, huh?"
Soo-jung laughed in disbelief.
Seo-ha browsed for ages before picking a Union Jack duck.
The next day,
Kingston University Math Building, third-floor conference room.
The six problem-setters were exhausted from three straight days of grading.
Day one, they'd gone wild over Seo-ha's miracle five-page proof.
A genius had perfectly solved IMO's toughest problem ever.
But the answers after that were the issue.
Marcello rolled up his shirt sleeves to his elbows, removed his glasses, and rubbed his brow.
Graded papers sorted by score sat before him; his coffee cup held dried remnants.
"Alright, let's wrap this up today."
All nodded, pulling out files.
Seo-ha's answers to problems 4 and 5.
"I still say 3 points max."
Roberto spread the paper.
"Jumps straight here—skips at least three steps in between."
It looked that way, sure.
But that wasn't all troubling the graders.
"Those 'skipped' parts might not actually be omissions."
Marcello stood, sketching a simple diagram on the whiteboard.
"This student omitted unnecessary calculations, presenting only the logical skeleton. No flaws logically—just not hand-holding."
The Russian grader spoke up for the first time.
"But following this logic is brutally hard. Didn't it take us over a day to interpret? These answers go public with scores. Will everyone buy high marks?"
Marcello wouldn't budge.
"The key is, this answer isn't wrong."
"IMO's for high schoolers, right? How do we grade if we accept this style?"
"Then let me ask the reverse."
Marcello eyed the committee.
"Can anyone find logical contradictions or math errors here?"
Silence fell.
"None. Every step precise, conclusion correct."
Roberto admitted frankly.
"It's just not our familiar format."
Marcello concluded.
"Then it's a perfect mathematical proof. No right to deduct for a different language."
But fierce opposition from most graders denied full marks.
No logical flaws, yet too far from a model answer.