Chapter 60
Chapter 60
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 60
Chapter Title: Dawn of the Riemann Hypothesis Era
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Knock knock.
Seo-eun, sitting on the hotel sofa, perked up her ears at the sound of the knock.
The same rhythm echoed again from the door.
Seo-eun jumped up and opened the bedroom door.
Mi-young, exhausted from sightseeing, lay asleep on the bed.
What do I do?
In the end, Seo-eun dragged a stool over to the door and climbed onto it.
Peeking through the peephole, she saw a man in a suit and an East Asian woman wrapped in a scarf, standing politely.
Relieved, Seo-eun called out softly.
"Who is it?"
Her childish voice seemed to catch them off guard for a moment, but a reply came soon enough.
"We're from MIT."
The man held up his badge.
A strange logo in red and white—Seo-eun, who couldn't read English, tilted her head.
The woman beside him kindly repeated in Korean.
"Hello. I'm Choi Ye-ji, a graduate student in MIT's math department. I'm here to help with interpreting. Is your mother around, by any chance?"
Ah! The school that sent Oppa the invitation!
Seo-eun hesitated briefly before opening the door.
Creeeak.
…
A pretty little girl in pajamas opened the door and stared at them blankly.
The two barely suppressed their laughter.
The woman showed her open palms to prove she meant no harm, then slowly crouched down to meet Seo-eun's eyes.
"Hi there?"
"Hellooo."
Seo-eun bowed her belly in response to the greeting.
"It's safer to open the door when an adult's around. Especially here in America."
Just as she was about to ask if she could fetch an adult, Mi-young rubbed her eyes and stepped out.
The woman quickly stood and bowed.
"Hello. We're from MIT."
Ye-ji gave a glance, and the man lightly bowed while showing his ID.
"I'm Mark, from MIT's External Collaboration Office. Sorry to bother you so late."
At this hour, all of a sudden?
The memory of Seo-ha collapsing flashed through Mi-young's mind.
Her expression hardened.
"Has something happened to Seo-ha?"
Ye-ji waved her hands frantically.
"Nothing to worry about—it's actually good news. Today in the research building, Yoo Seo-ha came up with some meaningful observations and ideas.
The relevant researchers have all gathered to verify the data. So he's staying in the lab tonight to continue discussions. It was his decision, of course."
"He's pulling an all-nighter? Isn't that dangerous?"
"Safety is being strictly maintained.
It's a controlled area, so no outsiders can enter, and the dean is personally overseeing rest and meals. We just got word they had soup and sandwiches for dinner."
Mark handed Mi-young the shopping bag he was holding.
"Since the schedule might run long, the school asked us to check if you could stay in the U.S. a bit longer."
"Pardon?"
"We'll cover extended lodging and meals. This has meal vouchers, tour passes, and a small gift."
Seo-eun's eyes drifted to the bag.
Ye-ji smiled and pulled out an extra small envelope.
"We have a gift for the little miss, too. It's our school mascot, 'Tim the Beaver' plush."
The buck-toothed animal was adorable. Seo-eun's face lit up.
"Beaver?"
"Yeah, the cute animal that builds dams in rivers. You might spot some on campus tomorrow."
Mi-young could hardly process it.
Just this morning, she'd thought We'll be heading back to Korea soon, and now MIT was footing the bill to beg them to stay longer.
"Could I speak with Seo-ha, by any chance?"
"Equipment's running right now, so calls are restricted."
Ye-ji pulled a business card from her wallet.
"But if there's a break between sessions, we'll call right away. And tomorrow at 9 a.m., I'll come pick you up and give you a campus tour."
"Does this happen often?"
Ye-ji thought for a moment before shaking her head at Mi-young's question.
"I've been here eight years, and this is the first time professors and researchers have been urgently called in at night. Supporting lodging costs for an overseas student is extremely rare, too.
It just shows how seriously the school is treating Yoo Seo-ha."
Mark made the final check.
"Then we'll come back tomorrow morning. Call this number anytime, even tonight. I'll pick up."
The two bowed politely and walked away.
Mi-young neatly placed the two business cards on the table.
Seo-eun rummaged through the bag and pulled out a gray hoodie to try on.
"Mom, can I wear this tomorrow?"
"Sure, it'll keep you warm."
Mi-young smiled and adjusted the hood's drawstrings.
Her son had always been far from ordinary, even as a child.
At first, she'd agonized over how to raise him, but now it felt like he'd completely slipped from their hands as parents.
A midnight summons meant one of two things to researchers: an accident or a discovery.
Those called late hoped desperately for the latter as they took taxis over.
"What is it?"
"No idea. Project got dumped on us suddenly?"
Researchers trickled into the lab one by one. The building blazed like midday despite the hour.
Their reactions upon entering were all the same.
The familiar workplace of their daily grind had transformed into something alien.
"Oh my God…"
"Oh my God."
Equations covered the entire glass wall. The tables that had been there that morning were pushed aside, replaced by multiple whiteboards from who-knows-where.
Several researchers were engaged in heated debate there.
"Even the deans are here."
"Who the hell wrote this?"
"Someone explain what's going on!"
Once most had arrived, Leonard stepped forward to brief them.
Seo-ha sensed something unfamiliar.
No need for second explanations with this crew.
"Seo-ha, explain that formula to them."
Leonard pointed at the glass wall.
These were top-tier researchers from the world's best lab.
They listened intently to Seo-ha, firing questions without hesitation when needed. After an hour—far quicker than expected—everyone grasped the significance of the day's events.
Finally, the goal for tonight was set.
"Alright, let's get to it!"
The researchers sprang into action.
Some dashed to the whiteboards to verify equations; others opened laptops to code simulations.
"Data pattern team, left side!"
Under Leonard's command, the lab turned into a war zone in seconds. Everyone moved to validate Seo-ha's hypothesis in their specialty.
"Seo-ha, this simulation doesn't make sense…"
"Seo-ha! Check this equation."
His name echoed from all directions. But Seo-ha felt no fatigue at all.
"Seo-ha, the phenomenon you described is showing up here too!"
A young Indian postdoc spun a 3D model on the hologram display.
Several researchers crowded around him.
"Rotate the angle another 15 degrees."
"Hold on—what if we reverse the time axis?"
"Overlay the zeta function traces from earlier."
Watching the scene, Seo-ha felt his heart race.
The power of collective intelligence, impossible to feel alone—dozens of experts refining and expanding a single idea he'd tossed out.
"Coffee for anyone?"
Someone entered with a large box: midnight snacks rushed from the school.
"Thanks!"
"More sandwiches outside."
But no one left their post. All eyes glued to screens and boards.
As midnight approached, cheers erupted from one corner.
"Yes!"
"Got it! Simulation passed!"
A young East Asian researcher thrust his fist high.
Leonard hurried over.
"Certain?"
"Yes, ran it three times—all same result. Error within 0.03%."
"Good."
Leonard clapped. The whole lab paused to look.
"Phase one verified! Keep going!"
Excitement and passion rang in his voice.
Seo-ha and Whitman stood at a whiteboard, scribbling new equations. They wanted to neatly formalize the implications of today's find.
A true Abel Prize winner.
Whitman had refined Seo-ha's concept into an even more elegant form. He was eager to teach the boy as much as possible.
Researchers stole glances at them.
Like grandfather and grandson.
The harmony between two mathematicians sixty years apart drew eyes.
They worked relentlessly into the deepening dawn.
No one complained.
Nothing excited scientists more than contributing to research that would stun the world.
"Ugh, we're gonna drop dead from overwork."
Mike flopped dramatically onto a lab chair.
Lab-coated researchers slumped asleep everywhere: sofas, under desks, even the hallway floor.
Like corpses strewn across a battlefield.
"Thought this was just undergrad life…"
Sarah nodded.
It was past 6 a.m. before rough verification wrapped.
Tension released, the adrenaline-fueled researchers collapsed one by one like powered-down robots.
"Aaaagh!"
Someone who'd face-planted on his keyboard screamed awake. His monitor still ran the simulation.
"Those guys are unreal."
Mike nodded toward one side.
Beyond the glass partition, Leonard and Dean Whitman sat drafting a paper. Hard to believe they were pushing seventy.
"The real monster's Seo-ha. I still can't wrap my head around it. That level of thinking at his age ain't normal."
"Those freaks pop up once in a blue moon. Beyond common sense. They say Eliya Kronen was like that too?"
Silence fell between them.
A topic they wanted to broach but couldn't easily.
"When this experiment hits papers, it's gonna be chaos, right?"
Mike lobbed the curveball.
"Obviously. It's basically a new lead on the Riemann Hypothesis. Physics too, but math world's gonna flip."
And the real question burning in him.
"We're co-authors, yeah?"
Sarah nodded.
"Leonard said so. Seo-ha lead author, Leonard and Whitman corresponding. Rest by contribution order."
Mike finally exhaled.
"Whoa! Seo-ha's not even got a bachelor's, and he's already on a Nature-level paper."
"Not surprising. First time? Heard he's already a rising star in math."
A few days later,
BBC and The New York Times posted articles almost simultaneously.
MIT's servers crashed briefly under traffic overload.
After decades with no real progress, a powerful lead had emerged on the hypothesis.
Proof meant guaranteed wealth and fame.
All eyes in math turned one way.
The door Seo-ha had flung wide open.
The Riemann Hypothesis Era had begun.