Chapter 54
Chapter 54
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 54
Chapter Title: Synapse Engine Project
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Yoo Seo-ha's mind brimmed with all sorts of ideas for making money.
But he soon shook his head.
'Ah... none of these will work.'
Not a single one could bypass the restrictions of his age.
He was about to turn fourteen soon,
a frustrating position where he couldn't even open a bank account, let alone register as a business owner, without a guardian or proxy.
Seo-ha gazed at the dinner spread before him.
Pumpkin leaves steamed moist and wrapped around rice with soybean paste—a flavor he'd loved since childhood that made everything else unnecessary for pure bliss.
Pumpkin leaves were a fussy ingredient, requiring each one to be carefully peeled after steaming.
Beside them sat neatly arranged side dishes that clearly took a lot of effort: ferns soaked overnight, boiled, and gently stir-fried in sesame oil; bellflower roots meticulously blanched multiple times to remove bitterness while keeping their crisp bite.
Seo-ha set down his chopsticks and looked at the two people across from him.
Calloused hands and threadbare clothes.
No one could call their home well-off, even politely.
Yet strangely, Seo-ha had never once felt poor.
Books he wanted might take time, but they always ended up in his hands through his father.
Foods he craved would appear on the table a few days after he mentioned them.
Even in their tight circumstances, his parents had always shielded him from any sense of poverty.
Maybe that's why.
Seo-ha couldn't bring himself to voice the words swirling in his head.
'If I said I need to make money, would they smile proudly?'
No.
They'd surely see it as their own failings burdening their son, who should focus on studying hard, and feel heartbroken.
'It's fine. I'll do it alone.'
His sister Seo-eun wouldn't head to college for at least another ten years.
"Mom, this is really delicious."
Mi-young's face lit up with a smile when her usually quiet son not only ate but praised the food.
"Right? Way better than dorm food, huh?"
"Yeah, no comparison."
Seo-ha scooped a big spoonful of rice into his mouth.
The savory soybean paste aroma filled his senses, punctuated by the sharp pop of finely chopped peppers.
A familiar taste, but home-cooked rice after so long felt wonderfully warm.
Seo-ha was at a large bookstore in Daejeon for the first time in ages.
"Whoa, it's huge."
Stepping into the computer section revealed shelves packed far denser than the psychology aisle ever could be.
The night before, he'd deeply pondered how to make money.
Stock or crypto trading was off the table first.
He could succeed in short-term predictions with mathematical models, but it was inherently too risky.
Next up: app development.
But that didn't appeal either.
Apps merely filled existing demands.
With enough time, Seo-ha wanted to earn money doing what he truly desired.
'Something that helps society!'
Creating the laundry app had taught him one thing.
Humans weren't purely rational beings.
Selfish yet social, sometimes inexplicably altruistic.
This complex contradiction in humanity ignited something in Seo-ha.
Human behavior was filled with exceptions and anomalies, like quantum particles.
But what if he could mathematically predict these imperfect human choices?
And calculate the ripples they created?
It resembled the Riemann Hypothesis in finding order amid uncertainty.
'Individuals are unpredictable, but groups form patterns.'
Seo-ha wanted to turn human decision-making itself into an engine.
Books filled his hands.
[Reinforcement Learning and Decision Making]
[Game Theory in Practice]
[Uncertainty and Information Theory]
[Stochastic Optimization and Markov Processes]
[Cognitive Science and Artificial Intelligence]
[Behavioral Economics]
The empty suitcase filled up with them. Seo-ha's first goal: model his current school. Hundreds of students competing or cooperating over laundry resources—the patterns in those choices were already fascinating data to him.
Now expanding: dorms, cafeteria, club activities, library and self-study room seat assignments, exam prep strategies, leisure pursuits.
Every big and small daily decision by students could be prime research material.
If he could mathematically model all that data, he'd complete the skeleton of his decision-making engine within the school. And ultimately, scale it to predict a city or nation's movements.
When people move, what they consume, their leisure activities.
Traffic systems, commerce, education, culture—even individual political choices could fall within modeling scope.
Society was, after all, the aggregate result of countless personal choices.
Reading those patterns mathematically could reduce urban chaos, cut resource waste, design fairer, more efficient societies.
And make the people living there a bit happier.
Thirteen-year-old Seo-ha truly believed that.
"Ready?"
At Seo-ha's question, Seo-eun crossed her arms with a serious face.
Her lips puffed out like a duck's beak—adorable.
"Hmm... yeah!"
Seo-ha spread out the cards he'd made himself.
Each featured numbers, animals, fruits, and such.
His custom 'Memory Challenge'.
The memory challenge he'd first tried at the IMO had been fun.
Feeling guilty about only playing numbers and shapes with his sister, he'd redesigned it with pictures she'd love.
The first time, Seo-eun memorized only her favorites.
"Strawberry, plum, banana, kiwi..."
Seo-ha felt rewarded watching her flip cards one by one, beaming with joy.
But the memory challenge was to boost her memorization skills, so he decided to be a stricter big brother.
"No just fruits this time? Remember them all."
"Okay!"
Seo-eun's eyes sparkled at the fun new game, peering at the cards.
Ten cards lay on the floor.
"Go!"
As he flipped them, Seo-eun's eyes darted, scanning the images.
After thirty seconds, Seo-ha flipped them back.
"Okay, match them now."
Like she'd been waiting, Seo-eun pointed to each in sequence.
"Apple, rabbit, star, duck, banana, number 5, sun, strawberry, moon, teddy bear!"
Seo-ha flipped as she called, and each matched perfectly.
"Kyaaah!"
Seo-eun jumped up, dancing in delight.
Her short arms flapping like a chick mimicking wings.
"I got them all—got them all—"
He'd known it before, but Seo-eun had fiercer competitive spirit than expected.
"Good, now fifteen!"
"Yeah!"
At his declaration, Seo-eun nodded with a resolute expression.
And nailed all fifteen flawlessly.
Even Seo-ha was a bit surprised here.
Picture cards were harder than playing cards.
Numbers allowed easy patterns: odds/evens, colors, suits for mental sorting.
But even with categories, unrelated images made patterns tough.
"Kyahaha—"
Seo-eun spread her arms like airplane wings, scampering across the floor.
Seo-ha watched a moment, then burst out laughing.
'I just meant to play, but this could be serious training.'
Strong memory was invaluable for doctors facing mountains of info to memorize.
Seo-ha resolved to increase the card count each home visit.
Weeeeng—
The library printer hummed nonstop.
A thick stack of papers already towered beside it.
[A New Approach to the Zero Distribution of the Riemann Zeta Function]
[Riemann Hypothesis and Quantum Chaos Theory]
Seo-ha checked titles as they printed, stacking them neatly into his bag.
Twenty today alone.
Around 10,000 more papers to go.
He'd decided to review every significant Riemann Hypothesis study to date.
A monumental task—even ten a day would take three years.
But to Seo-ha, it wasn't painful at all.
Excitement, almost.
Tracing traces left by thousands of mathematicians over centuries was pure joy for him.
Of course, his reading speed—far beyond normal—made it possible.
No matter how complex the equations or proofs, he grasped them instantly.
"Ahem!" A throat-clearing made him turn. "Books not enough? Now printing too?" A young woman librarian, around thirty, shook her head. "Sheesh! Used to struggle hauling books back; now ink changes too."
Seo-ha smiled sheepishly, tidying the printed papers.
She always bore the brunt of his habits.
"Sorry. I need them." Thinking her annoyed, she switched to teasing instantly. "Don't worry! Principal specially instructed it." "Huh?" "Didn't know? Anything you need, get it no matter what." "Ah, that explains..." Seo-ha nodded.
His requests were never common books.
Some rare originals barely in Korea.
Even desperate requests never rejected—made sense now.
"Thank you so much." He bowed politely, gratitude clear. "No problem! Pride of our school, the genius. Keep shining." Seo-ha left the library in high spirits. Thud. Closing the dorm door, he dropped the heavy bag on the desk. Click. Crash.
Opening it, printed papers spilled noisily onto the floor.
White sheets crammed with equations and graphs carpeted the room.
He flicked on the desk lamp, picking up the top paper. [Riemann Zeta Function and Zero Distribution Near the Critical Line] Content that would dizzy most, but to Seo-ha, an engaging storybook. 'They interpreted zeros statistically here. Could link to Gaussian distribution.'
The page ended.
He grabbed the next.
Jotting thoughts in neat handwriting whenever they struck.
After the tenth, he set down the pen.
Sweat beaded his forehead, but his eyes sharpened more.
Mathematicians' diverse footprints beckoned him to follow.
"Not yet."
Riemann Hypothesis was a marathon. No rash sprints.
But Seo-ha was confident he wouldn't tire, no matter the length.
He glanced at Isaac Newton's portrait on the shelf. "Sir, the world still teaches your formulas. Could my name end up in textbooks someday?" Newton seemed to grin: give it your all.
But that's enough for today.
Ducky clamored to dive into the digital realm.
Time for the first step of his now-named 'Synapse Engine' project.