Chapter 241

Translator: Dreamscribe

[Pianist Han Gyeo-ul Advances to Second Round of Chopin Competition]

Gyeo-ul had made it through the second preliminary round in Poland, which cut the field from 160 contestants to 80, and then the first main round, which left only 40. Now, only the second and third main rounds remained.

Only around ten pianists would remain for the final.

Bzzt.

-I think I'll be able to take time off for the final. I'll definitely be there.

The corners of Gyeo-ul's lips rose slightly when she saw the message.

She liked the way he had no doubt whatsoever that she would make it to the final.

Even after they had confirmed their feelings for one another, nothing about their relationship had changed. Their messages were still brief, and they still only contacted each other when they had something to say. But she did not feel hurt by that distance. Seo-ha had always been like this. He was someone without even the slightest trace of falsehood in his words or actions. Now that she knew how he felt, that was enough for the time being.

"Han, it's your allotted practice-room time."

"Yes!"

The pianist who had been practicing before her brushed past.

The atmosphere grew sharper with each successive round. The Competition participants did not even exchange glances with one another.

It was a familiar atmosphere.

Back when she had been called the 'Competition Machine', Gyeo-ul had found this sort of atmosphere uncomfortable. Perhaps that was why she had deliberately pretended to be even calmer than she really was.

"Phew."

But things were different now.

Gyeo-ul sat down and gently ran a hand over the piano. As she gazed at the keys, an indescribably deep emotion shimmered in her eyes where there had once been a cold gleam.

Gyeo-ul simply wanted to pour those feelings into her performance. So-

All she needed was sincerity. Nothing else.

***

Ever since publishing the paper, Seo-ha had barely had a moment to breathe.

His days had been consumed by reviewing clinical data, holding video conferences with research teams from around the world, and dealing with an endless flood of collaboration proposals.

The emergence of the Life Matrix, with its potential to fundamentally transform humanity, was more than enough to set capital and political power across the world into motion. The direct lines from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Science and ICT rang day and night. Unidentified foreigners had also begun appearing frequently around the research institute.

"What a mess."

Seo-ha sighed with an exhausted expression.

Proposals from more than ten Big Pharma companies and prestigious foreign universities were piled on his desk. They ranged from research funding terms that amounted to a blank check, to extraordinary stock options, and even guarantees of permanent residency and citizenship.

Rustle.

Seo-ha picked up one of them and opened it.

[Coban Bio Science]

-The Life Matrix you have unveiled contains limitless possibilities. A world in which humanity has overcome aging and disease, what vision could be more exhilarating than that?

Coban Bio Science hopes to become the perfect companion on your great journey.

"Doesn't look like you're very interested."

Theo asked as he watched Seo-ha push the envelope aside with an indifferent expression.

"I have no intention of becoming an employee of a pharmaceutical company."

"Then why not start a biotech company of your own?"

Seo-ha shot him a playful look with a smile.

"Don't say things you don't mean."

"Wouldn't that be a waste? The whole world made a fuss when you solved the Riemann Hypothesis, but this is on an entirely different level."

Seo-ha did not deny it.

Aging and death.

Everyone wanted to live longer, and everyone wanted the people they loved to remain healthy as well. It was one of humanity's most primal desires, something mankind had carried for thousands of years. The Life Matrix had touched precisely that desire.

But Seo-ha shook his head.

"Let's leave the rest to the doctors."

Nod.

Theo looked at Seo-ha with satisfaction.

A man who could not be swayed by the logic of capital. Nothing could have been more reassuring than that.

Seo-ha's gaze was always fixed somewhere farther ahead.

Even when he had shaken the academic world by proving the Riemann Hypothesis, and even now, after opening a new era in the biotech industry with the Life Matrix.

None of these things were Seo-ha's true goal. They were merely byproducts of the process of pursuing truth. That was why he never became consumed by his achievements.

But-

'Will the world be able to understand you?'

Those in power would never relinquish their desires. Theo left the office with a grim expression.

In the corner of the room, Daisy's avatar watched with gleaming eyes from the screen.

'It's a reasonable concern. Master will soon need a means of protecting himself.'

From Archimedes in ancient times, to Newton in the Middle Ages and Einstein in the modern era. Historically renowned geniuses had received the protection of their nations.

The reason was simple.

'Because if they couldn't be possessed, it might have been better to destroy them instead.'

Moreover, the future would likely be a society in which whoever controlled technology became the hegemon of the age.

Under such circumstances, Master's refusal to belong to any nation or corporation would become both a gnawing thirst and a source of fear for them.

Nothing mattered more to Daisy than Master's safety.

Her blue eyes blinked as she began analyzing the situation. The history of humanity, the value Master's mind was capable of producing. The situations he might face in the future took shape in real time.

Soon, her expression turned cold.

'It seems Master has awakened humanity's desires far too soon.'

Humans would never understand that sunlight was not something to possess, but something to simply appreciate and enjoy.

[Probability of Master Facing a Threat: 99.2 Percent]

Of course, Daisy had no intention of simply standing by and watching.

***

The office of the Minister of Science and ICT.

Minister Lee Hyun-seok stared blankly at the calendar on his desk. One date had been circled in red. Seo-ha's discharge date.

With only a few months remaining until his release from service, the government's anxiety had reached its peak.

The previous day, he had been summoned by the president.

"Minister, I hear the Life Matrix is a core technology that could determine global hegemony in the future?"

Hyun-seok nodded with an uneasy expression.

"That's correct. As far as I know, the United States, Britain, and Japan are already moving at the national level. They've even allocated emergency budgets to build dedicated research institutes."

The president lifted his teacup and said,

"But when you get down to it, isn't that technology exclusive to Korea?"

"Ah.... Director Yu said he doesn't intend to claim any patents on the Life Matrix. The moment it's locked behind patents, medicine won't be able to properly utilize it."

"What an admirable young man."

"I think so too."

Clack-

The president set his teacup down roughly.

"Very admirable. So admirable that it makes a petty man like me ache inside."

"Pardon?"

Hyun-seok's eyes widened.

"Haven't you ever thought about what would have happened if we'd made it an exclusive technology of our country?"

"W... when he left the country, we couldn't have predicted that this would be the result."

"Minister Lee!"

"Yes, Mr. President."

"Korea is currently facing a crisis. The only industries we can truly call globally competitive are semiconductors, shipbuilding, and automobiles."

"We also have secondary batteries and the defense industry."

The president's expression turned cold.

"Hey! Listen to what I'm saying!"

"Y-yes!"

"Do you honestly think those industries will still maintain the same competitiveness ten or twenty years from now?"

"It won't be easy. That's why companies are also substantially increasing their R&D budgets."

"Exactly!"

He stared directly into Hyun-seok's eyes.

"Advanced biotechnology. How perfect is that? And I hear it's practically a magical theory capable of delaying even cancer and aging. Imagine how much we would gain if the state monopolized it. It could have become an industry that sustained our people for decades."

Han Seong-hee's face flashed through Hyun-seok's mind. She must have been the one who put the idea in the president's head.

'I warned her about this!'

He bit his lip.

Judging from the president's expression, he had already made up his mind. He would surely order Hyun-seok to somehow keep Yu Seo-ha in Korea.

"Phew."

The president looked at him questioningly.

"Why are you sighing?"

"I always thought a day like this might come eventually."

"Pardon?"

Rustle.

Hyun-seok pulled an envelope from inside his jacket and placed it on the table.

"It's my letter of resignation."

"What do you think you're doing?"

Hyun-seok removed his glasses and rubbed his eyes.

"You may have forgotten, but I graduated from engineering and started out as a scientist myself. I don't think I can bring myself to carry out what you're asking, so I'm saying I'll step down."

Polifessor.

A professor-turned-politician and bureaucrat. But there had once been a time when he, too, spent day and night in a laboratory wrestling with equipment.

Even if the filthy waters of politics had soaked him to the bone, he could not abandon the conscience of the scientist he had buried deep within himself.

"Minister Lee, have you lost your mind?"

"No. I'm perfectly sane."

He had felt guilty toward his juniors throughout his entire time as minister.

Now that things had come to this, perhaps it would not be so bad to say everything he wanted to say and then return to the university.

"While you were speaking, Mr. President, I kept thinking about one thing."

"Go on."

"What has this country ever done for Yu Seo-ha?"

"...."

Silence fell.

Hyun-seok slowly continued.

"He placed first at the IMO when he was twelve, and proved the Four Color Theorem at thirteen. Did he receive any benefits along the way? A few hundred thousand won in transportation expenses from the local government. That was all. Korea's semiconductor industry received enormous benefits from Yu Seo-ha's Minimum Energy Theory, because there were only a handful of companies capable of properly utilizing the process."

"M-Minister...?"

"I'm not finished yet. He solved the Riemann Hypothesis and even received the Fields Prize at such a young age! Those are achievements that would already have had him revered as a great figure in another country. And how did our country treat him?"

His throat must have been dry, because he gulped down some water.

"We demanded that he fulfill his Military Service Obligation. We placed the burden of creating the Next-Generation Cipher on the shoulders of someone so young. And now...."

He roughly rubbed both hands over his face.

"Mr. President, do you know why talented people keep trying to leave this country?

When someone talented appears, we squeeze them dry. When they produce results, we seize those results. And once we've used them up, we throw them away. That's how this country has treated scientists. It was that way before Yu Seo-ha, and it still is now!"

The president remained silent for a long time. Hyun-seok sighed and continued.

"Treat him as he deserves. That must come first. We already owe him more than enough."

"Minister. Every country in the world makes use of individual achievements. Perhaps the compensation offered in that process has sometimes been somewhat lacking. Isn't that why I'm saying we should discuss ways to make up for it starting now?"

"That isn't making use of someone. It's exploitation."

Anger appeared on the president's face.

"Minister Lee!"

"If you believe this country can only develop through the sacrifice of individuals.... then I no longer wish to contribute to that development."

He bowed politely before walking away.

Step.

Step.

'Damn it.'

He regretted it immensely.

Why had he said something so unlike himself? His conversations with Yu Seo-ha flashed through his mind. He thought he had once asked Seo-ha whether he felt it was unfair that he had to serve.

Seo-ha had answered,

"Not at all. I want to help the country too. When I was in elementary school, the county office paid for my transportation and lodging. Thanks to them, I could travel to take exams without worrying about the cost."

The image of his innocent smile.

Just a few hundred thousand won.

Hyun-seok did not want to show an ugly side of himself to someone who had remembered such a small kindness from difficult times for so many years. So at the very least, as one of the elders of the scientific community, he could do this much....

"Minister Lee Hyun-seok."

"Yes."

He turned around.

The president was looking at him with a complicated expression.

"I'd like you to remain Minister of Science and ICT in the next cabinet as well."

"Pardon?"

Hyun-seok stared blankly.

"I'm not that shameless either. I wasn't saying we should blindly exploit him. But it's also true that we don't stand a chance if this turns into a battle of money. Minister, I'd like you to think of another way."

Hyun-seok bowed deeply.

"Thank you."

The president gave a brief smile and gestured for him to leave.

On his way out.

Hyun-seok fell deep into thought. The reality was that Korea's scientific community desperately needed Seo-ha's help.

'Then what can we do?'

He could not think of a solution.

But he did not feel hopeless.

Director Yu was someone who still remembered even a small act of help he had received in elementary school with gratitude.

Hyun-seok felt that if they spoke to him sincerely, he would understand.

*****

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