Thunderous Applause and the First Questions
I stood in the middle of the thunderous applause. The sound of clapping wrapped around my entire body.
My chest swelled with emotion, filled with pure joy.
‘Huaa… I’ve been waiting for this moment all along…’
All the hardships I’d endured seemed to wash away with just this one round of applause.
Before I knew it, my eyes grew moist. Tears began to well up.
I thought I’d sealed them away at age three, but apparently they still come spilling out whenever emotions overwhelm me like this.
At the same time, dopamine and endorphins came flooding out.
It felt like my whole body had been tied to two thousand helium balloons and was floating gently up into the sky.
The applause coming from every direction tickled each and every cell in my body.
‘Aah… I’m so happy. If you asked for the happiest person in the world, it would be me…’
“Heeheeheeheehee…”
I couldn’t hide the corners of my mouth curling upward.
…
The applause that had lasted over thirty seconds gradually began to fade.
“Hup!”
I snapped back to my senses. I tightly grabbed Mom’s hand beside me.
With the momentum of raising and lowering our arms together, like a curtain call at the end of a stage performance, we bowed once more.
“Huhehheung! Thank youuu for listening to my lectureee-! Thank you for listening!”
The applause erupted again.
***
“Now then, I’ll take questions. Any questionsss?”
The Q&A session after the lecture began.
Hands shot up like bamboo shoots after rain.
‘Whoa. There are so many.’
The way hands kept popping up really did look exactly like bamboo shoots sprouting everywhere after the rain.
‘Playing whack-a-mole with these hands would be fun…’
Suddenly, I remembered the whack-a-mole game at the arcade corner in the mart Mom had taken me to recently.
Five holes with ridiculously cute moles popping up, and the satisfying feeling of smacking them down with the mallet while they went “Aya!” and your score went up. The impact feedback was very good.
Whoosh whoosh-! Snap out of it, Yoo A-yeon!
This was an extremely important moment, so I shook my head to clear my thoughts.
I pointed at one of the raised hands at random.
The person called on was a professor in his forties sitting in the front row.
He took the microphone and spoke.
“Is it really true that the author of [Regarding the Proof of the Riemann Hypothesis] is Yoo A-yeon?”
I thought he was still doubting me just from the question, but when I looked into his eyes, there was no suspicion there.
What filled his gaze was awe—or perhaps fear. The look of someone witnessing the unknown for the first time.
The professors in the lecture hall no longer thought I had come here as some kind of prank.
Instead, their eyes held questions about how a young child could possibly study modern mathematics at this level.
Well, that was fine. I had already prepared evidence to make even the most skeptical people believe.
“Yes, that’s righttt! I’m Yoo A-yeonnn-!”
I smiled brightly and continued.
“But I’m sure there are still people who won’t believe me just from words. Especially the viewers watching through the cameras!”
I looked straight at the camera in the very front of the press section. Reporter Lee Dong-hyun, meeting my eyes, scratched his head awkwardly.
“I don’t know how many viewers are watching right now, but I’m sure most of you watching the broadcast probably didn’t understand what I presented. So! Without any headache-inducing content, I’ll submit proof that I’m Yoo A-yeon in one go! Watch live! Keep the channel on! If you’re watching the recording, please subscribe, like, and comment!”
I stretched my arm forward and pointed my index finger downward. A gesture telling them to press the subscribe button.
At this point, the editors would probably add subtitles to the recording on their own. I was such a kind child that I was even promoting the news channel for free.
Swish-. Mom took out the laptop she had prepared in advance from her bag. When she connected the HDMI cable, the laptop screen was shared on the large screen behind the stage.
I stepped onto the footstool and touched the laptop on the podium.
Tap tap tap-. With my tiny hands, I typed on the keyboard.
I accessed the archive link and logged in.
The laptop screen was shared on the large screen.
Username. [Yoo A-yeon]
My Page. [1 paper published: Regarding the Proof of the Riemann Hypothesis]
Click on the paper.
When opened as a PDF, the very paper that had been the talk of the internet appeared on the screen exactly as it was.
[Regarding the Proof of the Riemann Hypothesis]
[Authors: Yoo A-yeon, Han Seol-ae]
Not a single letter was wrong. This proved in one shot that I was the author Yoo A-yeon. QED. Proof complete.
…Though I suppose there might still be people claiming even this is fake. If there are, I don’t have the courage to convince them… They can wear their aluminum hats to their heart’s content.
“No way, it was real…”
“Then really?”
The audience wore expressions of shock. When I presented irrefutable evidence, they had no choice but to accept the unbelievable reality.
The people sitting here were authorities in theoretical fields, not any other. Even if something looked like an intuitively impossible paradox, if it wasn’t logically wrong, then it had to be the correct answer.
Just like being able to split one ball into two balls of the exact same size.
(*Banach-Tarski Paradox: In three-dimensional space, a single sphere can be cut into a finite number of pieces and reassembled into two spheres of the same size using only rotations and translations. This proposition is true but intuitively difficult to accept, hence called a paradox.)
“I’ll take the next question! Another question?”
Hands shot up again, and I pointed to the next person.
“May I ask how old you are, Author Yoo A-yeon?”
“I’m currently five years olddd!”
I spread my right hand wide to emphasize the number five. If anyone played rock-paper-scissors with me here, I’d have no choice but to lose…
Murmurs spread. The lecture hall grew even noisier. Some people probably thought I had a growth disorder and was actually much older.
‘Muuu. I really am five years old, exactly as I look.’
I puffed my cheeks slightly.
Next question.
“If that’s true… how were you able to study modern mathematics at such a deep level at that age?”
To that question, I smiled brightly and answered.
“Hehe. This is a secret they don’t teach you anywhere.”
I paused for a moment.
“Actually, I… am a genius with an IQ of 160! Of course, based on the Wechsler scale! I’m super smarttt-!”
Peace peace-. I made a V-sign with my hand and held it up to my face with a wink.
Hahaha-. Laughter came from the audience.
They had finally failed to control their smiles at my lethal cuteness. As expected, cuteness rules the world!
“I’m a genius, so once I see something, it all goes into my head. Nihihi. For reference, I’ve been studying math ever since I learned how to read letters-!”
To show off a bit of my genius, I gave a short self-introduction in seven languages.
Of course, giving a self-introduction in seven languages could be done by memorizing a script, so it wasn’t overwhelming proof of genius, but it was still an effective performance.
When I spoke in each country’s language, the people from overseas showed surprised expressions.
‘Hehe. Everyone’s starting to accept it little by little. The fact that this small, cute, and lovely child is actually a super genius with an amazing IQ!’
Next question.
“How did you come up with the core idea for the proof of the Riemann Hypothesis?”
The moment that question came out, I looked at Mom beside me.
Nod nod-.
I handed the microphone to Mom.
“Have any of you heard of Professor Shin I-jun?”
A stir arose in the audience. A voice came from somewhere.
“If it’s Shin I-jun… wasn’t he the unfortunate professor who passed away at a young age? He also declared he would prove the Riemann Hypothesis.”
“That’s right. In fact, during Professor Shin I-jun’s two-year tenure as a professor, I was his only student. And after Professor Shin I-jun passed away, since there was no one to take over his research notes, I inherited them. Even now, Professor Shin I-jun’s research notes are in our study at home.”
“Uh… Could it be?”
The audience had expressions as if they had realized something. They seemed to have found the connection.
I took the microphone back from Mom.
“That’s righttt-!”
I brought the microphone close and spoke loudly.
“I grew up reading Professor Shin I-jun’s research notes on the Riemann Hypothesis! After reading them for several years, I was able to interpret the professor’s research, and following his approach, I found a way to construct the ‘Operator H’ shown in the paper!”
The auditorium fell silent.
Shin I-jun. That name lingered in people’s minds.
Those who had known Shin I-jun in the past seemed to feel something at the fact that his research and his legacy had continued in this way.
“A- a-.”
I cleared my throat and lowered my voice to a slightly deeper, more solemn tone.
“If Professor Shin I-jun hadn’t existed, I would never have discovered the idea to prove the Riemann Hypothesis.”
Shin I-jun was dead. But his ghost still remained within Yoo A-yeon.
Not as his living personality, but as his living memories.
“Therefore, taking this moment, I would like to express my gratitude to the late Professor Shin I-jun, who passed away six years ago. Everyone, it would be nice if you could each send him a thought of thanks.”
This was a memorial service where I was sending off my past self with my own hands.
Since I couldn’t attend my own funeral, at least this much as a condolence gift should be fine, right?
At the very least, in this place. In this gathering of authoritative mathematicians. And in this place where countless viewers were watching.
Let us bestow honor upon Shin I-jun.
‘Good bye, Professor Shin I-jun.’
Shin I-jun was dead, but his name would be recorded in the history of the mathematics world.
That the research he left behind had given direction to the next generation’s mathematician, Yoo A-yeon, in solving the Riemann Hypothesis.
For some reason, my shoulders felt a little lighter.