Translator: Dreamscribe
KAIST Department of Mathematical Sciences, Professor's Research Lab,
Thud!
Thud!
Professor Kim Ji-yoon was sitting in her chair, banging her head on the desk.
In her mid-thirties, she was already a world-renowned mathematician with outstanding research achievements in the fields of combinatorics and design theory.
After earning her Ph.D. in combinatorial design theory, Professor Kim gained international acclaim through her research on combinatorial structures over finite fields.
In the fields of cryptography and statistics, the citation count of her papers was truly overwhelming, and she was one of the few domestic candidates for the next Fields Medal.
Her participation this year as a first-round question writer for the Korean Mathematical Olympiad was not just a matter of voluntary service.
Opportunities to see mathematical gifted children from all over the country in one place were rare.
She intended to use the exam to find out whether there were any students with exceptional talent in her area of expertise. Once the answers were completed, maybe a student who understood the message would emerge.
It was another hidden test that assessed intuition, number sense, and logical thinking.
But....
"Aaaaagh! Who the hell ruined my work? Was it you?"
The teaching assistant, who had been hiding to avoid her hysteria, flinched.
He was the one who received the call about the answer change.
"Professor, I already told you it wasn't my fault. The Mathematical Society decided it."
"Those damned old bastards! Then they shouldn't have entrusted it to me in the first place! Why ask me and then change things as they please?"
Still fuming, she picked up and put down the phone repeatedly.
"The committee also explained they had no choice. If the correct answers are evenly distributed with five of each number, there will always be kids who count and guess based on that, so at least one has to be changed.
And honestly, who would even notice that? Everyone’s too busy solving problems to even think there might be a hidden pattern in the answer sheet, right? It’s impossible to realize just by looking at numbers!"
The assistant protested, seemingly feeling wronged.
At this moment, he found himself wondering why all brilliant mathematicians were a bit unhinged.
Was he not recognized for his research because he was too normal a person? Then he would need to go mad too, but not like this. This kind of madness was unacceptable.
To think someone could pass this perverted professor's test....
"What if someone does notice?"
"Sorry?"
"What if a student does realize it? How confused would they be? The answer should obviously be number 1, but it's number 5! Do you even understand the agony of having to destroy order with your own hands?"
He didn’t understand such a thing.
The assistant shook his head as if giving up.
“There’s no one, really. I guarantee it. Korean kids can’t do that stuff. They’re always just solving past problems...”
The assistant himself had been a KMO participant. A second-round passer at that.
At this university alone, there were plenty of first-round passers. His respected professor’s overestimation was appreciated, but he could say with certainty that there was absolutely no chance.
“R-really?”
The professor took a step back at the assistant’s firm denial.
‘If someone has talent in design theory, they should be able to see it.’
It was a trick she had created, believing she would never miss it herself.
“Yes, and if there is someone, Professor, bring them to our department. I’ll treat them as my sunbae.”
“Hm....”
“But still...”
“Yes.”
“If someone completes the arrangement, please let me know.”
“Complete it? Isn’t that impossible?”
Now that the answer to question 25 had been changed to number 5, the probability of getting the Latin square the professor had intended was practically zero.
Any student who got even the hardest questions like 23 and 4 right surely wouldn’t miss the relatively easy last question. But to complete the arrangement?
‘They’d have to get it wrong on purpose, right?’
“There are things like that. There's a world you kids don't know about."
Seeing the assistant’s confused face, Professor Kim chuckled softly and lightly tapped him on the shoulder.
The assistant flared up.
“There you go again. I’m the genius Park Hyung-joo from Nowon-gu, you know? Back then, there wasn’t a single person in the Junggye-dong academy district who didn’t know me. My mom was so proud... If she knew I was being treated like this in the lab, she’d cry.”
“That’s why you shouldn’t have come to graduate school. You should’ve gone to medical school or gotten a good job.”
The assistant pouted his lips and grumbled under his breath so she wouldn’t hear.
He wanted to study more because he liked cryptography, but she said he had no talent... Still, seeing the professor's achievements, he couldn’t help but acknowledge it.
Even so, the reason he kept studying was because, up to now, not a single student had ever met this professor's standards. Was that why she insisted on writing the KMO exam questions herself?
Sip.
Professor Kim, who had just barely calmed down, took a sip of her coffee.
‘Ah, I hope there is someone.’
At first, she was furious at the Mathematical Society for ruining her arrangement, but thinking it over again, it might actually be an opportunity. And if someone did manage to form a Latin square from the answers, they would be a truly crazy bastard.
"Right, people who don't understand mathematical aesthetics won't succeed no matter what they do anyway."
“Sorry?”
“No, not you.”
The assistant seriously considered whether he should flee this lab.
***
After finishing the exam, Yu Seo-ha came out looking refreshed.
‘The cutoff score should be comfortably within reach anyway.’
For Seo-ha, peace of mind was far more important than a perfect score.
The completed answer sheet had a flawless, beautiful form. That he got one answer wrong was, to him, a trivial matter.
“Seo-ha!”
Woo-hyun waved at him from in front of a flashy sports car that didn’t suit the neighborhood.
“Sunbae! What are you doing here?”
Seo-ha spotted him and ran over, delighted.
“Your father said he was busy today, right? I came to pick you up instead.”
Seo-ha, who had been planning to take the bus, looked visibly happier.
He’d been in a tough spot due to the long intervals between buses.
“Get in.”
Woo-hyun opened the car door for him.
Seo-ha looked around the interior of the foreign car with curiosity, as if unfamiliar with it.
Vroom-
Woo-hyun stepped on the accelerator as gently as possible, mindful of his passenger.
“How was the test? Easy for you, right?”
To be honest, he was curious about the result.
That was part of why he volunteered to pick him up today.
There was no doubt about Seo-ha’s mathematical ability, but he tended to do such unpredictable things that Woo-hyun could never feel at ease.
“Hmm....”
Seo-ha’s lukewarm reaction made Woo-hyun frown.
“What now?”
It was multiple choice, so there shouldn't be any room for mistakes. What was with this halfhearted attitude?
“No, I think I did well.”
Seo-ha glanced at Woo-hyun, then mumbled his words. Then he quietly turned his eyes to the window.
“‘I think’? You never use such vague expressions.”
“I got one wrong, but I don’t regret it.”
“What the hell does that mean?”
“I guess you could say it was worth getting wrong.”
“Ah! Seriously!”
Woo-hyun clicked his tongue. But then he quickly wore a resigned expression.
“Fine, what’s the point of me saying anything? I’ll just trust you. I’m sure you had your reasons.”
Seo-ha silently nodded at Woo-hyun.
The roads were crowded, perhaps because many people were out enjoying the weekend afternoon.
“If you only got one wrong, passing the first round won’t be a problem. Let’s talk later about why you did that. How was the difficulty?”
“Hmm... Lim Su-jeong noona would probably get them all right.”
“She’s not quite on your level, but she was always well-known. That should be fine.”
“You said we stay at a training camp after the second round?”
Seo-ha was already worried about being separated from his little sister. She would be really upset....
“Yeah, we have to prepare for the third round. By the way, how’s your English?”
Surprised by the sudden question, Seo-ha jumped slightly.
“Sorry? I can read fine, but why do you ask?”
“Next year’s competition is in the UK. All the participants stay in the same dorm building. Knowing English will help in many ways.”
“I’m not confident in speaking. The only foreigners I’ve met are the native English teachers who visit sometimes... Still, I think written communication should be okay? Even if I’m not fluent, I should be able to get the meaning across.”
“No worries. Most of them can’t speak well either.”
“Having hundreds of kids from a hundred countries together sounds like it’ll be really fun.”
For Seo-ha, who had studied in a class with fewer than twenty students, even that sounded very exciting.
But Woo-hyun shook his head.
“Do you think so?”
“It’s not?”
“Think about it. Most of the kids who go there believe they’re the best in the world. It’s full of unpleasant situations.”
“Hahaha!”
“It’s not funny. You think they’ll leave you alone just because you don’t speak their language? There are plenty of ways to show off your brain besides talking.”
“Uh... you really think they’d go that far?”
“Don’t underestimate teenagers filled with Ego and Narcissism. Come to think of it, you’re oddly lacking in those traits. Or maybe you’re the opposite, way too strong?”
Woo-hyun tilted his head in thought.
He had watched Seo-ha since he was very young, but he still didn’t completely understand him.
“Anyway, there are a bunch of games like mental arithmetic battles, Nim, Dots and Boxes, solving a Rubik’s Cube, and so on. People will challenge you from all over the place, trying to beat you.”
“I know mental arithmetic battles and the Rubik’s Cube, but I’ve never heard of the others.”
“The rules are simple. Even without practicing, you’ll probably be good after trying once or twice. But the real main event is something else.”
“What is it?”
“Chess.”
“That’s unfair.”
“I think so too. If it were Go, Korea, China, and Japan would dominate. But chess is intuitive and everyone knows the rules.”
“Did you play too, sunbae?”
Woo-hyun sighed.
“There’s an unofficial chess tournament during the IMO period.
I was pretty strong, but I lost in the quarterfinals to a Russian guy. He went on to win the whole thing, so I couldn’t complain too much, but the way he bragged was really annoying.”
“It’s just chess though.”
“It’s not like that. It’s practically a national competition.
In Russia, Eastern Europe, and Europe, chess is a national sport. There are lots of tournaments and big prize money. The guy who beat me was the Russian high school champion.”
“I guess I’ll just play half-heartedly like you and lose.”
At Seo-ha’s unmotivated attitude, Woo-hyun snapped.
“This won’t do. You’d better start learning chess right now.”
“Huh? Right now?”
“Yes. Think about it.
Let’s say you become a brilliant mathematician in the future and solve a Millennium Problem. Then some Russian punk appears on TV and interviews saying, 'Yu Seo-ha is nothing special. He was no match for me at chess.'”
Seo-ha grimaced.
“I really wouldn’t like that.”
“Right?”
Screeeeech-
Woo-hyun made a sudden U-turn.
The place they arrived at was a large bookstore in Daejeon, one that Seo-ha had been to before.
There, Woo-hyun bought a chess manual for professional players and a high-end chess set.
“Alright! First, try to beat me. I may not look it, but I was in a chess club, so I won’t go down easy.”
On the way home, Seo-ha flipped through the chess manual in the car. Then he gave a faint smile.
‘Sicilian Defense: White win rate 52%, Black win rate 27%, Draw rate 21%.’
The book calculated the number of possible responses for each move. Though there are already tens of millions of variations after just three moves, only a limited number of meaningful moves actually affect win rate.
Seo-ha quietly immersed himself in the book.
Woo-hyun glanced over and chuckled, as if he had expected exactly this.