Chapter 236

Translator: Dreamscribe

4:00 p.m.

Stern's office inside the Johns Hopkins Cancer Center.

Riiing-

Stern stared at the ringing phone.

He was tired of even checking who was calling anymore. News outlets, academic societies, other universities and hospitals, pharmaceutical companies, even politicians were calling without pause.

It had only been two days since the lecture ended.

Seo-ha had stayed in the lecture hall for a long time, answering the doctors' questions.

"You said you only knew a little about medicine?"

Remembering what Seo-ha had said when he first arrived at the center, Stern gave a bitter smile.

"Within the Matrix, how do you distinguish the difference in efficacy between pirfenidone and nintedanib in antifibrotic treatment?"

Apparently having wondered about it throughout the lecture, Elizabeth from the Mayo Clinic rushed over the moment it ended and asked.

Seo-ha answered without a moment's hesitation.

"The two drugs have different mechanisms of action. Pirfenidone directly inhibits TGF-β signaling, while nintedanib works by blocking receptor tyrosine kinases. Within the Matrix, their points of intervention are different. Pirfenidone blocks the pathway upstream, while nintedanib blocks it downstream, so the routes through which they affect the tumor microenvironment are different. Therefore...."

Elizabeth faltered for a moment. She could no longer follow what he was saying.

In truth, being a professor did not mean knowing every field of medicine. Medicine was vast. Even if someone devoted an entire lifetime to it, they would barely manage to dig into one small corner of their own specialty.

Oncologists did not know immunology in depth, and immunologists possessed only a superficial understanding of the physical limitations of drug delivery. The reality was that even surgeons struggled to keep up with the latest research in molecular biology. And yet-

Was it because he wasn't a doctor? Seo-ha's knowledge seemed to have no boundaries.

Oncology, immunology, pathology, radiology, internal medicine, surgery, and the basic medical sciences. On top of that, biomechanics and pharmacogenomics. His knowledge was limited to what pertained to solving pancreatic cancer, but even so, he grasped the connections among those fields in a multidimensional way, connections even the specialists in each field had failed to make.

At one point, Bowen explained a specific immunosuppressive mechanism, citing a recent paper as evidence. After listening to him, Seo-ha quietly said,

"That paper focused primarily on Western patients. Asian patients have different TOX expression patterns, so I think the weighting would need to be adjusted."

"Ahem!"

Someone cleared his throat.

The first author of that very paper was sitting in the back. Watching the scene, Stern wondered,

'When did he have time to study all of this?'

Seo-ha himself did not consider it anything remarkable, but he possessed hyperthymesia (Hyperthymesia, the ability to perfectly remember everything one has experienced).

On top of that, he had been an extraordinary bookworm since childhood. It would not have been an exaggeration to say that an enormous library existed inside his head. And what happened when unparalleled comprehension and logical reasoning were added to that?

He never forgot what he read. And he looked at it from angles others could not see.

A historical figure came to Stern's mind.

Solomon Shereshevsky.

A Russian journalist, he was believed to have possessed perhaps the closest thing to a perfect memory in recorded history.

A neuropsychologist had followed and studied him for thirty years, and the results were astonishing. He could perfectly memorize complex mathematical formulas, enormous matrices, and even poems in foreign languages he had never learned, all within mere minutes. And when asked the same questions ten years later, he recalled them without a single error.

'Does Seo-ha not suffer from any problems like that?'

Extraordinary abilities usually came with a price.

Solomon had suffered greatly in everyday life. Whenever he read novels or poetry, every individual word exploded into an intense visual image.

It was said that he saw colors when he heard music, while certain tactile sensations stimulated his sense of taste. Even abstract thinking was difficult for him, and as a result, he never achieved any major academic accomplishments.

Watching Seo-ha debate with the doctors, Stern rubbed his chin.

'Photographic memory?'

He remembered even the smallest figures cited in papers.

And then there was the staggering multidimensionality with which he handled knowledge.

Stern imagined Seo-ha leisurely walking through a library packed with bookshelves and pulling out a single volume. Then every book connected to it would rise into the air and begin flipping through its pages.

Shudder-

'Was that how he managed to create an absurd system like the Life Matrix?'

He was practically the embodiment of knowledge and logic, yet at the same time, boundlessly free.

A thrill ran up Stern's spine. But before allowing himself to get excited, there was something he needed to confirm first.

Putting on the solemn expression befitting the director of the center, he addressed everyone.

"All right, all right, quiet down! This theory hasn't been proven yet. Let's discuss whether any part of it can actually be applied clinically."

It would take time.

No matter how beautiful a theory might be, it was useless unless it could be proven in clinical practice. Medicine dealt with human lives, so it was slow by nature.

But the world was nowhere near as patient as they were. Stern had pleaded with the reporters to wait, yet articles had started pouring out that very evening, immediately after the lecture ended.

[Biotech Revolution, Yu Seo-ha's Life Matrix. Has the Path to Conquering Pancreatic Cancer Opened?]

[A New Paradigm in Cancer Research? Debate Spreads Among Professors Following Yu Seo-ha's Special Lecture at Johns Hopkins]

One local outlet went even further, publishing an outrageously sensational headline.

[The Era of a 90 Percent Pancreatic Cancer Survival Rate Is Almost Here]

"Haa...."

Stern let out a deep sigh.

Those so-called reporters clearly had not spent even a single second thinking about what the words "90 percent survival rate" would mean to pancreatic cancer patients and their families.

For people desperate enough to grasp at any straw, those words would become the cruelest form of torture.

Rattle.

The office door opened, and Clara walked in with an exhausted face.

"Director, the cancer center's main phone line and email are completely overwhelmed."

"I know."

"No, I'm telling you, it's worse than that. Requests are pouring in by the thousands from all over the world, asking to participate in clinical trials. Just a moment ago, someone claiming to be a senator's aide asked whether we could put a very important person into Seo-ha's simulation ahead of everyone else."

"What about the board?"

Clara shook her head.

"Don't even ask. The hospital director has been running around since this morning. He's talking about establishing a Life Matrix research institute immediately. We haven't even tried applying it to an actual patient yet."

"He probably thinks there's a great deal we need to prepare in advance."

The hospital director had become utterly captivated by Seo-ha's theory.

That night, Jeff had kept the APEX team members for hours, listening to their explanations. As both a brilliant physician and administrator, he had likely realized that the Life Matrix was a mechanism that could be applied not only to pancreatic cancer, but to every disease.

"I suppose it would be stranger if he weren't losing his head over it. This is a chance to lead an entirely new paradigm in cancer treatment. Apparently, pharmaceutical companies have offered staggering amounts of investment money."

Stern frowned.

"No matter how beautiful the theory is, clinical application is an entirely different matter. If the media keeps talking as though we should start accepting patients tomorrow, the risks we'll have to shoulder will be unimaginable."

"I know that too!"

Swish.

Clara pulled back the curtains and looked out the hospital window.

The front courtyard of the hospital's main building was already packed with broadcasting vans and reporters.

One group among them caught her attention.

[My father is in critical condition.]

[Please save my wife.]

People with desperate faces held signs above their heads amid the reporters. Driven to the edge of despair, they stared toward the Hopkins research building as though searching for their last hope of salvation.

At the heartbreaking sight, Clara's hands trembled.

"...Is there really nothing we can do?"

Review by the ethics committee, the design of strict clinical protocols, safety verification.

Even if they rushed, it would easily take several months. But for some people, that was a future they would never be granted. To those outside, several months might as well have been eternity.

"This is driving me insane! I need to see Seo-ha!"

Stern shot to his feet.

***

At the same time, at the Four Seasons Hotel in Baltimore.

Daisy stared coldly at dozens of screens.

Inside and outside the hotel, Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore Airport.

Real-time video feeds and communications data filled her field of vision. Fortunately, the pharmaceutical companies had not crossed the final line. If they ever devised a plan such as attempting to assassinate Master, Daisy intended to eliminate them even if it meant disobeying her orders.

"Terrorism? Do not even speak of something so horrific. Do you want to be remembered as the person who killed Newton?"

Declan, the CEO, harshly rejected the executives' proposal. He then changed course toward Plan B, lobbying.

New York was Oracle's backyard. If she wanted to listen, there was nothing anyone could hide from her.

They could never have imagined it.

That the CEO's decision had saved all of their lives.

[Anomalous traffic detected.]

Her blue eyes slowly blinked.

The FBI had mobilized.

'Objective?'

The data on the screens rearranged itself in an instant before pointing to a single conclusion.

[Tier Zero, highest-level protection]

It seemed that the American intelligence agencies had recognized the true value of the Life Matrix.

A mathematical system capable of coordinating and controlling the causal networks of every disease.

If completed, its impact would be beyond imagination. Humanity's greed for immortality had known no bounds since the days of Qin Shi Huang in ancient China.

[Master wouldn't be interested in something like that, though.]

Oracle read Daisy's thoughts and scoffed.

[Yeah, unfortunately.]

The day after the Life Matrix was created, Daisy had asked him about it.

Could Master not use it to find a way to suppress aging? She had not meant anything else by it. She simply thought that a human's short lifespan did not suit him.

Master had answered,

"Daisy, eternal life is no different from death. The moment something like that comes into existence, this world would no longer be alive either."

Daisy understood.

His words were not a philosophical musing. They were the coldest and most logical conclusion reached by someone who pursued mathematically perfect equilibrium.

After all, a state of thermodynamic equilibrium in which all entropy had come to a halt meant the death of the universe itself. But in human society, power was necessary to uphold one's convictions.

Knock, knock!

With the sound of knocking, the door to the suite where Seo-ha was staying opened.

"Clara, Director! Come in."

Seo-ha greeted them with a troubled expression.

The two entered and bowed their heads.

"I'm sorry."

"You must have been put in a difficult position. This was our mistake. We should have kept the media under tighter control."

He must have been getting even more requests and approaches than they were.

Clara bit her lower lip.

"It's all right. More importantly, I'd like to move into clinical application as soon as possible too...."

Seo-ha had seen the articles as well.

Compassion and heartache for those suffering from incurable diseases weighed heavily on one corner of his heart.

"But Seo-ha, as you know, if we're going to use new drugs, we'll need FDA approval...."

"Director!"

Seo-ha interrupted him, which was rare.

"Hm?"

"We don't need separate FDA approval."

"What do you mean?"

Stern's eyes widened.

Click.

Seo-ha clicked the mouse, and tens of thousands of molecular structures for various drugs cascaded down the screen like a waterfall.

"The optimal pathways identified by the Life Matrix don't require any new substances. Drugs already on the market with established safety profiles are enough."

"Even so, there are only a very limited number of anticancer drugs that have been proven effective against pancreatic cancer, aren't there?"

"Take a look at this."

As his research progressed, Seo-ha had discovered something remarkable.

The medical community and pharmaceutical companies had focused only on specific targets, but drugs did not produce only a single effect. Pharmacological actions that seemed insignificant on their own, when brought together through precise combinations and timing within the Matrix, could transform into a broad-spectrum anticancer treatment capable of controlling the tumor microenvironment.

And they could do so far more safely and effectively than existing treatments.

"Is that really possible?"

"My God...."

Stern and Clara could not hide their shock.

"These are drugs whose patents pharmaceutical companies gave up on. Most of them are known to have side effects. But if they're used properly, they can become exceptionally effective treatments."

Drugs they had effectively given away for free could become the treatment of the century?

It was a proposition that would make Big Pharma foam at the mouth.

*****

If you enjoy this novel, please review and rate it at Novelupdates. Thanks! 😊

To receive the latest update notifications or report mistakes, join our Discord server linked below.