Chapter 68
Chapter 68
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 68
Chapter Title: The Final Gateway
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Yoo Seo-ha tucked the pamphlet into his back pocket and dashed straight toward Building 4.
'Huh?'
As he followed the hallway, Seo-ha slowed his pace.
Long blackboards stretched along the walls, lined up in a row.
'Did someone start solving this and leave it unfinished?'
Next to it was a solution scribbled using Maxwell's equations.
Every blackboard was covered in traces of problems that had been solved.
Hastily scribbled Post-its, traces of someone else completing a half-solved problem in a different handwriting. Someone would stay up all night proving a theorem, only for another to attach a counterexample by morning.
The boundary between classrooms and hallways here was indistinct.
Seo-ha's steps gradually slowed until he stopped in front of an unfinished problem left by someone.
'Restoration algorithm for noise and phase uncertainty.'
The problem clung to his eyes, refusing to let his feet move.
Seo-ha picked up a piece of chalk.
It was blocked at the point of introducing the Wirtinger derivative—a method for differentiating with complex variables.
Seo-ha scanned the chaotic arrows and erased symbols on the board. Then he pressed the chalk to an empty space.
Scribble, scribble.
This person's approach wasn't wrong. They just lacked a bit of experience.
By splitting the complex numbers into real and imaginary components to track changes, it was possible to capture not just the signal strength but also phase fluctuations in equations.
"Looks like it'll solve now."
After providing just the necessary hint, Seo-ha resumed running toward his destination.
As he entered the classroom, the screen lit up.
The rope binding Beaver had lowered a bit more. Next to the cauldron, masked figures were chopping onions and potatoes.
Beaver desperately twisted his body, trying to loosen the ropes.
"Onions chopped!"
"Potatoes in!"
One of them stirred the soup with a ladle.
"Once the veggies are done, in goes Beaver! Kahaha!"
Beaver was blubbering, with a "Help!" speech bubble popping out.
The timer numbers ticked down, flashing red.
A new problem appeared on the screen.
A question about matrix algorithms.
The hackers seemed more interested in whether they understood the concepts and could apply them, rather than raw computation.
Projection matrix.
"If the trace is 2, that means the matrix projects a 3D space onto a 2D plane."
The trace is the sum of eigenvalues, and in this case, they could only be 0 or 1, so the rank had to be 2.
Tap, tap.
Once he entered the answer, the rope hoisting Beaver rose upward.
And a number indicating the next destination appeared.
"The answer is 52."
Inputting the number revived Beaver. The annoying thugs spat curses, vowing payback next time.
"Not much left now."
A progress bar appeared below, like in a game, showing stage progression. Just two more to go.
Eleanor felt a strange unease. She'd thought she was first to arrive everywhere, but there was always a student who'd beaten her to it.
The screen helpfully counted her as a visitor.
Ellie loved math.
But it wasn't love for math itself—it was the clarity it offered.
As Ellie stepped out of the building, nearby students whispered.
"Girlfriend of someone here? Lucky guy."
"Must be family. There was a freshman orientation today, right?"
'She's a student here just like you losers!'
"Hmph!"
Ellie didn't bother explaining.
After today, everyone in her grade would know who was the smartest freshman.
Ellie had excelled at everything since childhood.
Essays, math, art, debates, even singing. She swept awards at every competition, and those around her took it for granted.
Gradually, she came to believe she was chosen by God.
Until that day.
The national debate finals.
Topic: "Should justice be judged by results or intent?"
She confidently ascended the stage.
In a white blouse with her golden hair neatly tied, Ellie began her refined speech.
"Justice always stems from good intentions.
Results are largely dictated by luck and circumstance, but intent alone reveals true human nature."
The audience erupted in cheers, applause punctuating every sentence.
Like a seasoned orator, Ellie captivated the crowd, making the debate hall her own.
But the opponent's opening line made her break into a cold sweat.
"Intent is always a tool for rationalization.
Thus, only results can verify human choices. If justice is judged by intent, every act of violence in the world could claim absolution."
A handsome Black boy whose words were as striking as his looks.
No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't dismantle his logic.
During the debate, Ellie conceded defeat and offered genuine praise.
'You're incredibly smart. Let's do this again sometime. Next time, I'll win.'
The results came quickly.
"The winner is Eleanor Winner!"
Ellie thought she'd misheard.
But all eyes were on her.
Woooaaah!
Clap clap clap!
The crowd roared, and the emcee approached with a satisfied smile, handing her the mic.
But Eleanor's gaze was fixed below the stage.
The boy calmly packed up and walked out without protest.
'Why? Raise an objection! We both know you won!'
But his face showed resignation.
Eleanor slowly scanned the audience. Everyone seemed satisfied with the outcome.
'You all really okay with me winning?'
After stepping down, Ellie headed straight for the judges' table.
"Can I see the score sheets? I think my opponent won."
The chairman looked troubled.
"Eleanor, decisions can't be overturned. Your debate was excellent. You deserved to win."
On the way home clutching the trophy,
the cold metal felt unbearably repulsive.
Thwack!
Ellie hurled it into a trash can.
Back home, her family was preparing a celebration party. Ellie claimed she felt ill and locked herself in her room.
Lying on her bed, she stared at the walls lined with trophies and awards.
Debate, essays, art, music...
An inexplicable sadness and guilt gripped her.
She wasn't chosen by God—she was a product of the world's biases.
Until now, she hadn't realized how the world had tilted the playing field in her favor.
Rip rip—.
Ellie tore the awards to shreds.
Each tear brought a rush of satisfaction.
'Cheering for me just 'cause I'm white and pretty? Are they insane?'
There were plenty of talented kids there too. She'd chalked her win up to luck, but was she naive?
Ellie tossed the trophies into a box out of sight.
'Huh?'
Her hand paused as she went to tear the last award.
Was even this tainted by favoritism?
Ellie shook her head.
No, this one was purely her achievement.
It was the moment she discovered the allure of a world where black and white, right and wrong, were crystal clear.
After that day, Eleanor never showed up to debates or art festivals again.
Instead, she headed to the library with math books in hand.
Math flattered no one, gave no extra points for beauty. So she could stand tall by its results.
"Ellie, you're so lucky. Everyone adores you."
A friend said enviously, watching a teacher over-celebrate Ellie's math competition win.
Was this "friend" actually trying to insult her?
But now Ellie could reply.
"If you're jealous, score full marks yourself."
The girl bit her lip and returned to her seat.
Only then did Ellie fully shake off the guilt of stealing someone else's chance.
Having abandoned everything else for math,
here, at least, Ellie refused to lose to anyone.
"Entropy, maybe the problems were too hard? Fewer kids passing than expected..."
She'd thought at least half the freshmen would participate, but they quit the game too easily.
Only a few dozen took it seriously.
Even fewer were breaking through the gates.
"Can't be helped. The math department has no interest in our project... We have to pick from freshmen. If they can't contribute immediately, they're pointless."
"That's true, Entropy."
Cipher Fox nodded.
"But the leader's moving fast?"
The third gate had already fallen.
Root checked his watch.
"Only 20 minutes in, and already the fourth?"
It was called hacking, but they had to respect the orientation's purpose. They'd designed the problems to tour all the buildings.
'Thought it'd take four hours to finish...'
They'd calibrated difficulty to the schedule.
"Huh? The fifth one's breached already?"
Entropy shot to her feet, staring at the screen.
"Wait, doesn't that mean we gotta prep too?"
Too fast. Way too fast.
Blasting through like these problems were child's play. At this rate, they'd hit the final gate in under 30 minutes.
For the first time in ages, Entropy felt excitement.
A premonition of something tremendous approaching.
"Let's get ready!"
The three hurried from their seats to set the final stage.
"Whoa! This is awesome."
The high-quality production, packed with effort, had Seo-ha hooked on the game before he knew it.
Each solved answer triggered a meticulously prepared animation, revealing the next path.
Different themes per problem showed clear signs of careful design.
A game-like setup,
but its depth was anything but shallow.
"That's a reference to Gödel's incompleteness theorems."
Seo-ha pondered briefly, then tore into the problem.
Quite tough, but he cracked it in 30 minutes.
As he left the building, someone called out to Seo-ha.
"Hey! You're number one, right?"
Nod.
"Wait right there! I'll catch up soon."
Ellie glared at Seo-ha, burning with fighting spirit.
'She a Beaver fan too?'
Seo-ha tilted his head and headed to the final stage.