The Calm Before the Storm

The identity of the research director who graced the first page of the Mage Association's third-quarter journal...

The nickname [Suhak Sarang] has been revealed to the world.

This kind of reaction was understandable.

It was true that Park Ha-jun's paper had garnered tremendous popularity.

But the list of research participants prominently featured A-rankers Kang Eun-ho and Kim Ah-hyun.

The general view was that the real research had been done not by the math professor, but by those two.

So reactions like...

...didn't emerge. Instead, it only poked at the nerves of a few mages who had viewed the paper unfavorably.

Indifference, a touch of contempt, or inferiority complex.

These were the feelings that the awakeners who had attended the special lecture harbored toward Park Ha-jun.

For Park Ha-jun, this was a good thing. If [Suhak Sarang] became overly famous like [asd123], hiding his identity would lose all meaning.

With the math department researchers sharing the spotlight right now, this was the most ideal situation.

However.

'That doesn't mean I can slack off on the special lecture.'

This lecture was essentially the lab's performance record.

So, Park Ha-jun intended to fully fulfill his role as the presenter of this paper. He could handle that much spotlight.

"... ."

Park Ha-jun stepped onto the podium and scanned the audience.

He took a brief breath at the sight of the packed hall. He couldn't help but feel tense.

But he didn't let the tension bind him. Just the thought of sharing math-related stories with so many people made him happy.

"I'm Park Ha-jun, professor of mathematics at Yeonhee University. We will now begin the special lecture on understanding elements."

And so, his voice didn't waver in the slightest.

Park Ha-jun's lecture proceeded step by step. Though called a special lecture, it was essentially a paper presentation.

"...With this, we have proven the one-to-one correspondence between the four elements—water, fire, wind, earth—and topological knots."

This had already been proven in his paper. No one in the audience was unaware of it.

So, the lecture up to this point held nothing particularly special.

Of course, mages nodded repeatedly as they learned facts they hadn't grasped from reading the paper, delivered as smoothly as flowing water.

But there were quite a few high-level mages in the crowd as well.

One of them, Hwang In-su, listened with a bored expression.

'Damn, he talks so smoothly... But he doesn't think he can charge that exorbitant admission fee just for summarizing a paper, does he?'

If so, it could tarnish his reputation as a mere merchant.

As he swallowed such sour thoughts, Park Ha-jun opened his mouth in a slightly different tone.

"In the previous content, I defined elements as knots, and stated that only when topological invariants take specific values can pure elements be realized."

Park Ha-jun advanced the slide.

At that moment, Kang Eun-ho quietly ascended the podium.

With what was presumed to be the actual researcher now present, the mages straightened up and focused even more intently.

But.

Kang Eun-ho merely stood behind Park Ha-jun. The lecture continued under Park Ha-jun's lead.

"But from now on, let's talk about something a bit different."

The slide showed a knot symbolizing the purest fire, alongside another that appeared less refined.

"If you've read my paper, you'd choose this knot corresponding to the perfect element."

He pointed to the purest ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠fire knot, which equated to 100% circuit completion when expressed as a circuit.

"Magically speaking, this knot is indeed more perfect. But..."

Park Ha-jun flashed a subtle smile.

"Topologically, it's not."

The hall stirred. After defining perfect elements up to now...?

Why claim that a simpler, less information-dense knot was also perfect?

Wasn't this a direct denial of his own paper...?

Regardless of the audience's confusion, Park Ha-jun's explanation continued.

"To be precise, the two knots are topologically the same. Properly deforming this simplified knot allows the realization of pure fire."

This was called topological equivalence.

The magic of topology—like deforming a coffee cup geometrically into a donut—

"In other words, even this simplified knot holds the essence of pure fire, despite the different form."

Of course, since the forms were completely different, drawing the simplified knot directly in the element circuit section might prevent the circuit from activating at all.

Just as you couldn't pour coffee into a donut and drink it, even if they were topologically equivalent.

However.

"What I want to say is simple."

Park Ha-jun advanced the slide again.

This slide featured four simplified knots, one for each element: water, fire, wind, earth.

"These simplified knots all possess the essence of pure elements, and..."

Park Ha-jun advanced the slide once more.

Now, an image appeared of those four simplified knots 'harmoniously arranged.'

This was the four knots in the purification circuit—precisely, their 'arrangement.'

Water, fire, wind, earth—none stood out; they were arranged in perfect harmony.

"...!"

The audience stirred again. They understood what this implied.

"Implementing this as a phenomenon yields the following."

Park Ha-jun picked up a stone imbued with faint magic.

At his glance, Kang Eun-ho cast [Purification].

Blue mana enveloped the stone.

Soon, it purified the magic on the stone, scattering multicolored mana particles.

"Isn't that the phenomenon from asd123's purification scroll...?"

"To see that here of all places..."

No mage could be unaware of it—the sight that had once painted Seoul's skies.

To be precise, it was a degraded version of harmony. Compared to asd123's, its beauty fell far short.

However.

Until now, the only mage to understand and implement purification through 'element arrangement' had been the association president.

The fact that a fresh-faced rookie not even out of university had achieved it was enough to shock everyone.

Scanning the audience captivated by the scattering multicolored mana particles, Park Ha-jun spoke.

"The conclusion is simple. Purification uses simplified knot forms, yet achieves 100% circuit completion because these simplified knots differ only in form—they hold the essence of pure elements."

This perfectly backed the claim that knots reach perfection when taking specific topological invariants.

The simplified knots in [Purification] shared the same 'topological invariants,' differing only in 'form.'

It fully proved that the system-defined perfect knot took specific topological invariants.

"Moreover, by viewing circuits based on shapes and space, we can more easily understand 'element arrangement' and..."

Wrapping up the lecture, Park Ha-jun glanced at his watch and added a remark.

"That's all. Due to time constraints, I won't take questions here. If you have ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠any, feel free to email the lab anytime."

As Park Ha-jun descended the podium and left the vast hall, the mages merely followed his path with dazed eyes.

Even after he left, the mages couldn't snap out of their shock for a while.

The next day.

Despite the looming monster wave threat, Korea buzzed with strange excitement.

The special lecture was a resounding success.

The awakeners who attended reacted enthusiastically, and sponsorships were pouring into the once-stalled lab.

Many were shocked by Kang Eun-ho's [Purification].

Quite a few were stunned by the math professor's solid theory and lecturing prowess, despite prior disinterest.

In short, it satisfied the board's conditions. Department operations support and full science building renovations were incoming.

But Park Ha-jun was currently breaking a sweat, surrounded by his researchers.

"Professor, when did you awaken?!"

"Is [Suhak Sarang] your nickname?"

"No way... Did you start magic fusion research because of your awakening...?"

"Waaah... You're not abandoning us now that you're awakened, right?"

Joking questions rained down.

Park Ha-jun could only offer an awkward smile while checking his watch repeatedly.

"Professor, why won't you answer...?"

At that moment.

The researchers' smartphones buzzed in unison.

"...Abandon you? Don't talk nonsense—check your phones."

Wasn't this special lecture a huge success?

Though called a special lecture, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠it was practically an academic presentation.

This could be recognized as clear performance.

It was also a chance to legally give the researchers massive bonuses.

Through compromise with the board, he'd arranged bonuses despite it not being payday.

"...One, ten, hundred... A million? Five million?!"

Five million won in bonuses alone.

In this surreal situation, they were too stunned to speak properly.

Then, exchanging glances, they burst into bright smiles, hugging and cheering wildly.

'...Good timing.'

Revealing his awakening to the researchers wouldn't be hard.

But whether to come clean as [asd123] or [Suhak Sarang] was the dilemma.

He didn't like lying to them.

'If they learn I'm [asd123], they might feel burdened to keep the secret...'

He didn't want to saddle grad students focused on studies with that pressure. Let them study in peace for now.

'...I'll think on this a bit more.'

Watching the joyful researchers, he returned to his seat.

Park Ha-jun was quite satisfied with this special lecture too.

But with the monster wave approaching, he couldn't bask in the reactions and aftermath.

'...Let's prepare thoroughly for the next 7 days.'

First, he checked his held gold.

19.5 billion gold.

About 20% toward the legendary magic quill pen's 100 billion gold price.

'...The legendary magic quill pen ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠will have to wait until after the wave.'

If the legendary quill definitively resolved the wave, he could request gold support from the association.

But even 8-year veteran crafter Kim Ah-hyun hadn't obtained it. No info available.

Plus, the association needed plenty of gold for wave prep, so he couldn't ask lightly.

In the end, he'd have to help the association with special circuits as planned.

Though the ideas in his head weren't guaranteed to work.

'...In 7 days, I can take one more commission.'

Park Ha-jun rummaged through [Mail], searching for gate commissions involving flying monsters.

This would likely be his last before the wave.

As he sifted through mails for quite some time.

Tae-san Guild had requested a crafting commission—the exact type Park Ha-jun sought.

But at the time, Park Ha-jun didn't know how the ripples from his lecture would affect the wave.