Past Life Ego Search

I turned five.

In the meantime, work on the paper had progressed slowly but steadily.

Mom took dictation for the parts she could easily understand and typed them up quickly. For the complex sections she couldn't follow, we agreed I'd type them out slowly, one by one.

Lately, with my muscles growing a bit stronger, I've been doing more of the typing myself, which has really sped things up.

The big-picture structure is mostly done now; I'm just polishing the finer logical progressions bit by bit.

The proof of the Riemann Hypothesis is almost at the finish line.

On the day of my fifth birthday.

"Happy birthday to you~ Happy birthday to you~"

"Unni! Happy birfday!"

"Fuu~"

Wearing my party hat, I puffed out a big breath and blew out all five candles on the birthday cake in one go.

Clap clap clap clap clap—!

With the candles out, it was time for birthday presents.

"What could the birthday present be? Drumroll~"

"Drumroll drumroll..."

Mom started tapping the table, so I joined in, smacking it too. Dad and A-rin followed suit. With all four of us pounding away, the table shook with a drrrr- rumble.

What could the present be? So exciting, heehee.

Mom pulled out the prepared gift. It was a box prettily wrapped in pink paper and ribbons.

About 9 cm wide, 20 cm tall, and 3 cm deep—a rectangular prism a little bigger than my palm.

A size like this? Probably some handheld gadget. A hand mirror, maybe?

"Waaah—thank you!"

"A-yeon, go on and open it."

"Okay~"

Nothing beats the thrill of unwrapping a present.

I peeled off the wrapping with eager eyes.

Riiip—.

A black LCD screen. A camera lens.

No way, is this...

"H-huh?!"

Thud—. Shocked by the totally unexpected gift, I kicked back my chair and jumped up. No way... my fifth birthday present was a smartphone...!

And it was even that apple-brand one with a bite taken out of it...!

"We were originally planning to get you one when you started elementary school, but you're so smart, A-yeon, you probably can't go to a regular one anyway... So Dad and I talked it over, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠and as long as you use it responsibly, we figured it was okay now."

"R-really...? Yayyy—!"

I was so thrilled I hopped up and down right there, pumping my fists in the air.

Having my own smartphone meant I could finally go online. Excluding those sneaky late-night laptop sessions while Mom slept, internet had been off-limits for the past five years. Now it was unlocked!

"Ehehe."

"Does our A-yeon like it that much?"

"Yeah!"

"If unni ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠likes it, I like it too!"

A-rin spread her arms wide and hugged me tight as I grinned ear to ear.

✒️✒️✒️

The next day, I took my new smartphone with Dad to a carrier store and got it activated in my name.

"Mister, mister."

"What is it, little one?"

"This phone? Got it as birthday present yesterday, heehee."

"Haha, must've been super exciting. Here, all set up."

"Yay—! Thank youuu—!"

I was so pumped about the gift that I bragged to all the store staff.

"Heehee."

Who am I? IQ 160 genius and now Apple phone owner. I'm an Apple phone owner~ Apple phone owner~ Decided! If anyone asks later, I'll be their ad model!

Fiddle fiddle—. I toyed with the powered-off Apple phone in both hands.

This smooth feel... just holding it makes me happy...!

True Apple owners carry its weight with pride—and that changes your whole demeanor.

Suddenly, I felt like picking up roadside trash.

Look around look around—. I shaded my eyes with my hand like a visor and scanned the street for litter.

"A-yeon, whatcha doing?"

"Picking trash."

"Why trash?"

"'Cause it's the fate of Apple owners..."

"Pfft, what’s with you suddenly."

Back home, I flopped onto the sofa and powered on the smartphone, finishing the initial setup.

I immediately opened the web browser.

One thing I wanted to do right away: hit up the gallery.

The College Math Majors Gallery. A community where math majors gather to talk shop.

Of course, being an anonymous gallery, it's full of trolls and fights.

Still, it's the biggest spot in Korea for discussing college-level math.

Even in my past life, studying abroad in the US, it helped when I missed home.

My old account's probably gone by now, right?

It's been five years and ten months since Shin Ijun died.

Most sites would've marked my account dormant or deleted it.

A bittersweet reality: Shin Ijun's online footprint fading away.

Doesn't really bum me out, though.

Shin Ijun's dead. I'm just Yoo A-yeon with his memories.

Of course, all the key research records from my past life are backed up on Mom's cloud. Those can't disappear.

Time for a new account!

I pulled up the signup page.

"Hmm... what nickname to pick..."

I pondered nicknames for ages.

Naming yourself is harder than solving math problems...

After deep thought, I typed one in.

"Heh."

Perfect. Humble yet fact-based.

What could be better?

Signup complete. I entered the College Math Majors Gallery.

As expected from an academic gallery, lots of problem-solving Qs and career advice posts. Plus all-time math greats debates and study tips.

"Hm...?"

One post caught my eye.

I clicked it like I was mesmerized.

"Oh my god..."

Rub rub—. I rubbed my eyes, unable to believe what I'd just seen, and looked again.

But rubbing didn't make it vanish; it stayed right there, bold as ever.

"..."

Yeah, whatever. Anonymous communities gonna anonymous.

I quietly hit back.

"Ahem, ahem."

Time to get to my real goal.

Why I'd come to this gallery in the first place: ego search.

Search... Shin Ijun...

I tapped the magnifying glass and entered my past life's name.

Shin Ijun wasn't the type to care about his name popping up in magazines or articles.

Ego search? Never did it once.

But now I'm Yoo A-yeon, a girl who loves praise.

What did they think of my past self...? Gotta know...!

Search results scrolled up.

No recent posts. Makes sense—dead five years.

I thumbed down, scrolling.

Posts from five years ago started appearing. I opened them one by one.

Oh. So my research notes got open-sourced.

First time hearing a colleague posted them online. Mom never mentioned it—probably didn't know.

Wait... so someone could've decoded them and stolen my results?

Chills ran down my spine at the thought.

I'd felt safe with the physical notebook in Mom's study, but it was online too?

What if a handwriting expert deciphers it? Publishes under their name?

"Then I wouldn't get credit...!"

No way! Can't let that happen! No more leisurely paper-writing. Publish ASAP!

Fidget fidget~ Anxious, I jumped up and paced the living room.

"Hiiiing..."

"Unni, why suddenly sad?"

A-rin piped up seeing me.

Whew... finish the ego search first...

A bit panicked, but I calmed down and flopped back on the sofa.

Yeah. It's been five years since release. No Riemann papers emerged, so probably no one decoded it.

I kept searching for Shin Ijun mentions.

The title alone was ominous. Gulp—. Heart pounding a bit, I opened it.

Classic tsundere rant.

I read it twice. Curses mixed in, but it didn't bug me. Actually grateful for the high praise of my skills.

"Heh."

Kick kick—. My feet swung in the air.

Next eye-catching post, I clicked.

I furrowed my brows.

What'd you say...?

Comments were split.

"Grrr... I solved it! I did! Riemann solver right here!"

"Unni?"

Fuming, I flailed my limbs while lying down. "Hiiing..." So wronged and mad, tears welled up. Couldn't hold back—I tapped into comments and dropped a long reply.

"Phew..."

IQ 160 intellectual style: crushed with logic, no emotions. Calm rebuttal without rage—self high-five!

This arrogant fool will see my reply, realize his argument's weak, and...

Wait. "Oh right."

Post from five years ago, floating IP. He won't see it.

Wave of futility hit. Sluuump—. Deflated like a popped balloon doll, I sprawled on the sofa.

No more ego searching as Shin Ijun...