Chapter 94

Chapter 94: The Paper (4)

After my presentation ended, the Main Auditorium was engulfed in silence.

The unexpected reaction threw me off.

What is this reaction?

I wished someone—anyone—would just say something.

─G-good work...

It wasn't until the Emcee's trembling voice reached my ears that I could finally step down from the podium.

When I returned to my seat, even Lee Yeeun was staring blankly into space.

"Yeeun."

"......"

"Lee Yeeun."

"......"

"Yeeun!"

Only when I called loudly did Lee Yeeun finally look at me.

Her shoulders jumped in surprise before she managed an answer.

"Whoa! You scared me! Don't sneak up on me like that."

What? Since when did I hide my presence?

If anything, I'd been practically screaming 'look at me,' and she'd ignored me to the very end.

Trivial matters aside, I asked Lee Yeeun with the excitement of a child about to open a gift.

"How was it? My paper?"

I'd had the researchers do the data-gathering legwork, but none of them knew the paper's full content.

From fragmentary data alone, it would've been hard to predict exactly what kind of paper was being written—so the only ones who knew the full story were Lie Xiao and Zhuge Soyon.

Both had said kind things, but honestly, I wasn't confident.

I knew it was a fairly unusual approach.

But a hard-to-conceive idea and a good idea were two different things.

No matter how complex a theory you created, what good was it if it couldn't actually be used?

Lee Yeeun lowered her voice out of awareness of the surrounding eyes, but she was visibly excited as she chattered away.

"What's there to say? This is revolutionary!"

"Revolutionary?"

"Yes! Everyone in this room probably thinks the same. Best Paper is already decided!"

Lee Yeeun piled on more embarrassing praise after that.

Right about when it was getting hard to keep a straight face, the torrent of compliments finally stopped.

"I can tell you think highly of me."

"It's not just me! Everyone in here had the same thought, I'm sure."

At her words, I focused my hearing, and the jumbled voices that had been indistinguishable began to separate out.

─Monster Taming... Best Paper is locked in.
─Seriously, how does someone come up with a theory like that? He's not human.
─As expected of Professor Cha. He lives up to his reputation.

The stream of praise let me finally relax.

I'd had serious doubts about the Monster Taming paper going in.

Tactics were my strongest suit, and Lee Yeeun's magic paper—which drew on in-game lore and future knowledge—wasn't mine, so I could view it objectively and took its praise for granted. But Monster Taming was different.

It was entirely my original research, and I had a memory of the reaction being somewhat lukewarm when I'd posted it as a strategy guide online.

The majority opinion was that while it was a useful strat, at the end of the day it was just a cheese tactic. And a cheese tactic, no matter how well-crafted, could only ever be recognized as B-tier.

Think about it. Even a revolutionary ramen recipe wouldn't score well if you brought it to a five-star chef cooking competition.

So the current outcome left me a bit stunned.

Not a bad feeling. I'd probably regret it if the inevitable hassles piled up, but for now, I'd enjoy it.

"Yeeun, are you ready?"

"Ready for what?"

"I drew all the attention, so eyes are going to land on my top student too."

"Ugh......"

It was half a joke, but not entirely wrong.

Even now, glancing around, a fair number of gazes were directed at Lee Yeeun.

─That girl is......
─Cha's student, they say?

The journalists' cameras in particular were capturing Lee Yeeun to an excessive degree.

They were probably typing headlines in their laptops like "Genius Professor's Genius Student" or "Handsome Professor's Beautiful Student" or something equally trite.

Lee Yeeun was stiff with tension, trying to manage her expression while conscious of the cameras.

Next came the researcher presentations.

The overall polish was a step below the professors' papers, but the fresher, more creative ideas carried the energy of youth.

"There are a lot of good papers."

"The competition's fierce."

This summer's presentation was exceptionally high-caliber.

The professors' papers had been impressive, but even among the researchers, there were more promising attempts than expected.

"Ooh, what do I do? If I embarrass myself up there in front of everyone......"

As her turn approached, Lee Yeeun forgot all about managing her expression and was fidgeting anxiously.

Even I had worried about getting panned, so it was no wonder Lee Yeeun felt the same. Anyone would feel nervous facing others' judgment.

I steadied Lee Yeeun with a warm voice.

"Don't worry. Who am I? The best professor who approved that paper—so feel a little more confident."

"...Really? You're not just saying that to make me feel good?"

"When have you ever seen me lie?"

"...Never."

Having steeled herself, Lee Yeeun gave two firm nods.

Her trembling had mostly subsided.

─Researcher Lee Yeeun of Florian Academy.

The Emcee called Lee Yeeun's name.

Lee Yeeun rose slowly, exhaling.

"I'll be back."

"Go."

Lee Yeeun swept her green hair behind her once and stood up.

Immediately, flashes erupted from every direction.

"It's Professor Cha's student!"

"Don't miss a single thing—get it all on camera!"

"I wonder if the genius's student lives up to the hype......"

"She might just smear her teacher's name."

Lee Yeeun stood at the podium and calmly surveyed the audience.

As her gaze swept across and met mine, I showed her a fist-pumping gesture—and her tense expression melted away at once.

"I am Researcher Lee Yeeun of Florian Academy. The theory I'll be presenting is a study of Magic Circles."

The moment Lee Yeeun spoke, the hall stirred.

Everyone wore expressions of confusion.

"Magic Circles?"

"What's there to research? Magic Circles are already complete as they are."

As if declaring she wouldn't tolerate side chatter, Lee Yeeun at the podium opened her mouth.

"By observing Magic Circles from the perspectives of general physics and algebra, I was able to obtain fascinating research results."

As Lee Yeeun continued, the audience's reactions gradually shifted.

At first they'd been dismissive, but they were drawn deeper and deeper into the compelling narrative, until the shocking data at the end left them all speechless.

In the stunned auditorium, only Lee Yeeun's clear, resonant voice echoed.

"In conclusion, through this process, I came to hypothesize that Magic Circles are not randomly generated shapes, but rather figures created by layering specific messages."

It was a form of violence.

She'd calmly recited a theory too shocking to accept.

The people here might now understand how Europe's scientists once felt when they put Galileo on trial for claiming heliocentrism.

If this was recognized by academia, the entire tower of magic theory that scholars had painstakingly built would collapse in one stroke.

But in the tower's place, a far sturdier and more complete tower would be erected.

Someone shouted.

"Th-that's a lie! There's no evidence! Ultimately, for that claim to hold, physical proof is needed! And there's no way such proof exists!"

Interrupting Lee Yeeun's presentation to deny her premise was poor etiquette, but no one reprimanded him.

If anything, everyone was silently cheering him on.

But Lee Yeeun spoke with the finality of a judge pronouncing a death sentence.

"I'll demonstrate that right now."

"Wh-what?"

At a glance, Magic Circles appeared to operate without any rules whatsoever.

An illusion. Magic Circles actually followed clear rules—the shape of the figure determined the spell's properties.

In simple analogy, draw a triangle as the base and it became a fire attribute. Draw a square and it became water. A large circle inside made the spell travel in a straight line; a small circle made it spread in all directions. Two squares consumed 100 mana; one triangle consumed 10.

Of course, the actual method wasn't nearly that simple. If it were, someone would have figured it out long ago.

The reason no one had ever discovered the rules of Magic Circles was that an intuitively impenetrable trick existed.

"Magic Circles are not actually shapes drawn on a flat plane."

"A flat plane?"

"What are you saying?"

That was it. The secret of Magic Circles—

"Magic Circles are in fact hypersolid figures drawn in four-dimensional space. The Magic Circles we use are merely those figures projected onto two-dimensional space."

A simple trick.

Shine light on a 3D object and a shadow appears. That shadow lets you transfer a three-dimensional figure onto a two-dimensional plane.

Magic Circles simply repeated a similar process twice—transferring a hypersolid from 4D to 3D, then a 3D solid to 2D.

"I see, so that's how it is."

"B-but what can you learn from that? Projecting a hypersolid onto a plane is simple, but reconstructing a flat figure back into four dimensions is impossible!"

Everyone nodded at the objection.

Shining light on a 3D object to create a shadow was simple.

But deducing the original object's shape from nothing but the shadow was impossible.

Of course, Lee Yeeun had the answer to that question prepared as well.

"The key is the incantation. The magic incantation is itself the formula that adds height—and the fourth axis—to the orthogonal projection."

"Wh-what?"

"Convert the incantation into a mathematical formula and use it to integrate—and the hypersolid appears. Applied to Magic Missile, this is the result."

A 4D hypersolid couldn't be explained through human intuition, but it could be understood mathematically.

Lee Yeeun released all the data she'd accumulated through her experiments.

She demonstrated how specific alterations to Magic Missile's Magic Circle changed its attribute, which parts controlled power, and which parts altered trajectory.

"Good lord."

"I have no choice but to accept it."

Even the dissenting professors tucked tail once she produced actual data.

Someone asked a question.

"That principle—it applies to all spells, not just Magic Missile, right?"

"Yes."

Lee Yeeun's answer sent another wave through the hall.

I could tell what they were thinking.

Soon Lee Yeeun wrapped up and descended from the podium, returning to her seat.

Her returning steps were noticeably quick.

My student, cheeks faintly flushed, asked.

"How was I?"

"The best."

"Even as flattery, that feels nice to hear."

"It's not flattery. Look at those people."

Lee Yeeun looked around, and her eyes went wide.

Professors were standing up one by one and heading for the exit.

"H-huh?"

Even the Emcee was caught off guard by the unexpected development—it wasn't just Lee Yeeun.

When questioning eyes turned to me, I explained.

"They're all heading back to their labs."

"Their labs? Why?"

"Because they're magic addicts. They want to research the theory you just presented."

Lee Yeeun stared at me in disbelief.

But it was true.

Those people really were that kind of people.

─Wait, wait! Everyone, please just vote on the magic category before you leave! That's all I need!

The Emcee blocked the door and pleaded, barely managing to prevent their escape.

The hastily conducted vote—meant to pacify the restless tide of mages—produced immediate results.

─The Best Paper in the magic category goes to: Professor track—Cha Eunwoo of Florian Academy! Researcher track—Lee Yeeun of Florian Academy! Would the two of you please come forward!

"Ah......!"

My student, who'd refused to believe it no matter how many times I'd told her, finally showed a look of realization when her name was called.

"Let's go."

"Yes!"

Lee Yeeun and I walked to the podium together.

We were showered with an uncountable barrage of flashes.

Today, Lee Yeeun smiled with all her heart.