Chapter 28: The Astonishing Price a Sketch Drawn by South Korea’s Genius Engineer Fetched on the Black Market
Chapter 28: The Astonishing Price a Sketch Drawn by South Korea’s Genius Engineer Fetched on the Black Market
Zhongnanhai, Beijing, China.
A secret conference room for the nation’s highest leadership.
Footage of Ryu Hyesung’s HPM drones slaughtering Chinese drones played across the enormous front screen.
It showed a live operational test of the South Korean weapons recently introduced by Taiwan’s military.
“How many of those did Taiwan buy?”
The expressions of the Vice Chairman and the newly appointed Director of the Equipment Development Department were utterly grim as they silently watched the scene.
“The initial order consists of fifty R-Type drones, five HPM drones, and twenty reconnaissance drones. The problem is that they reportedly intend to purchase an additional quantity nearly one hundred times larger.”
The Vice Chairman pressed his throbbing temple, his head aching.
Taiwan had begun arming itself with Ryu Hyesung’s South Korean weapons.
The implications were enormous.
“Ryu Hyesung’s drones are small and maneuver in such bizarre ways that intercepting them with conventional shotguns is extremely difficult.”
“But we cannot simply choose not to intercept them.”
The Chinese military now faced the worst possible cost-efficiency battle, forced to waste antiaircraft missiles worth hundreds of times more just to shoot down one cheap drone.
“What about our drone-interception systems? When will that laser-interception system be developed?”
When the Vice Chairman pressed him viciously, the newly appointed Director answered while staring at the chart, his face turning pale.
He clearly remembered how his predecessor had been executed in this very room, and his voice trembled.
“C-Currently, all of China’s finest engineers are working on it. At the earliest, it may be ready for practical use within three years...”
“You bastard!”
The Vice Chairman’s bloodshot roar thundered through the conference room.
“Those weapons appeared out of nowhere, and you’re telling me that China, a supposed military power, needs three whole years? Does that make any sense?”
“Our finest scholars from Tsinghua University are also working together day and night to develop—”
“That was made by one high school student!”
At the Vice Chairman’s shout, the newly appointed Director lowered his head deeply.
“We do not have anyone like Ryu Hyesung...”
The Director’s brutally painful statement of fact sent the Vice Chairman’s fury surging to the top of his head.
“Haah... Then what do you suggest we do about this situation?”
“We must fire a high-altitude missile at Ryu Hyesung’s factory. This nightmare will end only when we physically eliminate the source.”
“You lunatic! Are you proposing an all-out war with South Korea?”
Considering the Republic of Korea’s current defense capabilities and Ryu Hyesung’s strategic value, it was a catastrophic decision that even the Vice Chairman could not easily choose—no, could never choose.
“If Ryu Hyesung leaves South Korea, that may be another matter.”
The newly appointed Director wiped away his sweat with a handkerchief and added quietly.
The moment Hyesung left South Korea’s ironclad territory might be China’s final remaining opportunity.
Principal’s Office, Jinseong High School
“Hyesung... solved this?”
The principal hurriedly put on his glasses as he spoke.
“Yes. A friend of mine is a mathematics professor at Seoul National University, and he said this goes beyond merely solving it.”
“I cannot understand it even while looking at it, but you mean...”
He stared intently at the sheet of paper containing the mathematics problem.
“If Hyesung competed in the International Mathematical Olympiad, the IMO... he might win a medal.”
“Goodness...”
The principal had mixed feelings.
If Hyesung actually won a medal, universities around the world might begin offering him admission.
Even Seoul National University would attempt to recruit him through early admission without considering his College Scholastic Ability Test score.
“Honestly, I never thought he was that gifted in mathematics.”
The principal spoke calmly.
“If he is capable of winning a medal, it would be better to send him to the Olympiad...”
“But that would make it harder to get him into MIT.”
The homeroom teacher looked anxious.
“I suppose so. Tsinghua University and Bauman Moscow State Technical University would want him, while Seoul National University and KAIST would also be desperate to recruit him.”
“What should we do, Principal?”
“Where is this year’s IMO being held?”
“Shanghai, China.”
“Hmm... Shall we send him for now?”
“But...”
“Past examination questions are still only past examination questions. Geniuses from around the world gather there. Would solving a few previous problems really be enough to win a medal?”
“Understood. Then I will send him to the KMO.”
The KMO, the Korean Mathematical Olympiad.
(Translator’s Note:Korean Mathematical Olympiad (KMO) — South Korea’s national mathematical-competition and selection system for students seeking places on the country’s International Mathematical Olympiad team.)
A student had to place in the competition to qualify for the IMO.
KMO Examination Center, Seoul National University
Yellow buses belonging to famous private academies stood lined up, and middle and high school students in uniforms poured out with tense expressions.
“Do not make any mistakes.”
Private-academy instructors could be heard warning students throughout the area.
There were overbearing mothers pressuring their children and young students wearing indifferent expressions.
Today was the Korean Mathematical Olympiad examination.
Amid this crowded, suffocating, absurd atmosphere, I was in a completely different world.
“Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense wants to purchase one hundred times the initial quantity?”
I thought Secretary Seo Dojin was saying something absurd.
Not ten times, but one hundred?
“Yes. With the military conflict with China intensifying, it seems they have no other choice.”
“No, even so, our current production volume...”
The HPM drone production line was already fully booked, while the reconnaissance drone existed only as a prototype.
I had not even drawn the blueprints for its mass-production equipment yet.
“No matter how quickly we work, this is a little...”
“Should I tell them to wait?”
“No, hold on.”
Come to think of it, it did not seem entirely impossible.
Unlike before, I already had production-equipment suppliers lined up, so perhaps we could move faster.
The problem was that I had not yet designed the reconnaissance drone’s mass-production equipment.
“Can I think about it briefly before answering?”
“How long will your answer take? The Taiwanese side is pressuring us heavily.”
“Hmm...”
The KMO exam lasted two hours and thirty minutes.
There were thirty minutes left before it began.
Would I finally have time three hours from now?
“I’ve never taken this examination before, so I don’t know how long it will take. Could I call you back in... around two hours?”
“Understood.”
Click.
The call ended.
“I should solve it roughly and leave.”
I had only come because my teacher forced me to.
I had no interest in Olympiads.
A short while later.
The students seated in the lecture hall waited for the examination papers with tense expressions.
“First, I should contact Researcher Kim Sangtae...”
My mind, however, was filled entirely with other thoughts.
“All right, the examination is beginning. Put away all your books.”
The proctor, who introduced himself as a mathematics professor, distributed the papers starting from the front row.
Each student received two sheets.
One was packed with questions, while the other was blank scrap paper.
“All right... begin.”
Rustle—
Everyone turned over their papers simultaneously and began scanning the questions.
I casually glanced through them.
I said I would call back in two hours, so I only have an hour and a half left.
There was no time to scribble on the scrap paper.
I had to solve them mentally.
Nine.
Five.
Twelve.
When I marked the OMR answer sheet without hesitation through Question 10, the proctor watching from the front stared at me strangely.
Then he checked the name on my admission ticket and flinched in surprise.
But I did not have time to care about that.
I needed to finish quickly and call the secretary.
Two.
1,014.
I had finished everything.
However—
I could not leave.
Students were not permitted to exit the KMO until at least seventy-five minutes after the examination began.
That meant I had to sit there blankly for another sixty-five minutes.
This was actually perfect.
I could use the remaining time to devise the mass-production equipment for the reconnaissance drone.
I began sketching a complicated mechanical blueprint on the blank paper provided as scrap paper.
The proctor watching from the front stared at me in astonishment, but there was nothing I could do.
He probably thought I was some lunatic who had given up on the examination and started doodling.
Seventy-five minutes after the examination began.
I raised my hand to indicate that I wanted to leave and submitted my OMR answer sheet to the proctor.
“Are you Ryu Hyesung from Jinseong High School?”
“Huh? Yes. How do you know?”
“A friend of mine teaches Korean there.”
“You mean my homeroom teacher?”
So my homeroom teacher was friends with a mathematics professor at Seoul National University.
“It looked like you finished all the questions in ten minutes. Is that right? Or did you simply guess?”
Uh, was I about to get scolded?
“Yes. I solved them all.”
“...”
“May I leave now?”
“Yes. Go ahead.”
Tap, tap, tap.
The moment I stepped into the hallway, I quickly made the call.
Because I was moving in such a hurry, I dropped the paper containing my sketch.
“Huh?”
Whatever. It did not matter.
I had already organized everything in my head.
Ring, ring—
Click.
“Yes, Secretary. It’s me, Ryu Hyesung.”
“CEO Ryu, what do you think? Since the mass-production equipment is not ready yet, should we tell them to wait around three years?”
“No. I finished the equipment design.”
“What?”
“Tell them it will take one month.”
Not long after that day.
People dressed in formal suits murmured among themselves upon an elegant marble floor.
“Next is an early sketch of the reconnaissance drone mass-production equipment created by the mysterious scientist known as ‘R.’”
The auctioneer carefully raised a single sheet of paper in his white-gloved hand.
It was the sketch Ryu Hyesung had hurriedly drawn on scrap paper during the KMO examination.
“Its provenance has not been disclosed.”
A world-renowned authentication expert slowly examined it through a magnifying glass.
“Hmm...”
After a long while, the expert finally spoke.
“It is unquestionably authentic.”
A commotion swept through the auction hall.
“Authentic?”
“How did they obtain something so valuable...?”
“They say it’s a real sketch by R.”
Among wealthy patrons of the underground black market, Ryu Hyesung’s sketches and doodles were already treated as more than mere blueprints.
They were regarded as the artworks of the century.
“How much do you think this piece will sell for?”
A mysterious masked woman asked the person beside her with interest.
Her unusually pale skin was striking.
“I don’t know. But this time, I will buy it no matter what.”
A potbellied man spoke while licking his lips greedily.
“We will begin at one billion won.”
At the auctioneer’s words, everyone focused their attention.
“We have two billion.”
“The lady over there bids three billion.”
As the auction began, the hall grew noisy with fierce bidding.
“I bid fifteen billion won.”
A solemn voice rang out.
When a gray-haired gentleman raised his paddle, the hall instantly fell silent as though cold water had been poured over it.
“He suddenly jumped past ten billion?”
As the audience began to stir, the auctioneer continued.
“Fifteen billion. Are there any higher bids?”
“I bid thirty billion.”
The room erupted into murmurs.
It was the pale-skinned woman.
She held up her paddle with a relaxed expression.
“Einstein’s original manuscript on the theory of relativity sold for nineteen billion won...”
“This is insane. I’m out.”
“We have thirty billion. Are there any higher bids?”
The auctioneer called out, but the hall had gone silent as a grave.
“Then the sketch by R is sold for thirty billion won!”
The auction hammer struck the table with a crisp sound.
The white-haired gentleman ground his teeth in frustration, while the masked, pale-skinned woman walked away at a leisurely pace with the sketch.
At that moment, a faint voice sounded through the earpiece in her ear.
Crackle—
“Have you secured Ryu Hyesung’s blueprint?”
She tapped her ear twice.
After confirming the signal, the man replied as though he understood.
“Yes, confirmed. Return safely.”