Episode 18
Episode 18: The Former Bottom-Ranker Is Now on Par with the School's Top Ranker?!(2)
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[Through continuous studying, your Intelligence has increased by 1.]
[Through continuous studying, your Intelligence has increased by 1.]
[Through continuous studying, your Intelligence has increased by 1.]
[Intelligence: 157→194]
It had already been roughly a week since he had taken on the creativity problem assigned by the math teacher while under a +40% buff to Perseverance and Creativity.
Even now, Gyeongjun was at his study villa.
Scritch-scratch.
Having pulled all-nighters for who knew how many days, he wrote out formulas in his notebook with haggard eyes.
And yet, strangely, his handwriting exuded a confidence stronger than ever before.
Then he wrote one final sentence at the bottom-right corner of the notebook:
『Q.E.D. Proof complete』
"I... I did it... finally..."
"Yeah... thanks for your help too..."
Gyeongjun had finally seized victory after a week-long struggle against the creativity problem.
* * *
Class 7, Grade 2 at Cheongshin High School.
The fourth period in Gyeongjun's class today was math.
The fourth period, usually the class right before lunch, tended to be very lax or unfocused.
Yet Class 7 was currently filled with a very solemn atmosphere.
"Alright, the due day for the creativity problem I assigned has finally arrived. You've all thought about it hard, haven't you?"
"..."
The students were quiet.
It was only natural.
After all, this problem had been taken from the 2015 Calculus II final exam of KAIST, Korea's foremost science and engineering university.
Not only that.
It was the highest difficulty problem at that very institution, where the nation's renowned top 1% science-track students gathered, with a correct answer rate not even reaching 20%.
They say the only ones who actually solved this problem were students aiming for the mathematics department.
'There's no way a mere second-year high schooler could solve a problem like that. On the surface, it might seem like it's within the high school curriculum, but honestly, it's practically impossible unless you've studied college-level math ahead of time.'
Even so, the math teacher had his reasons for assigning this problem.
While teaching second-year science-track math, he had actually been searching for an "extraordinary student."
'A candidate for the Seoul National University principal's recommendation...'
Cheongshin High School was traditionally a school where the principal's recommendation held tremendous sway.
To put it in perspective, if you had the Cheongshin High School principal's recommendation, you would basically be accepted to any university unconditionally unless you cursed out the interviewers.
'...Because the principal told me to screen them in advance.'
This was all because preliminary groundwork was being conducted behind the scenes within the school.
By "groundwork," it meant selecting students to receive the principal's recommendation starting from their second year behind the scenes.
The evaluations produced through this process inevitably made their way wholesome into the principal's recommendation letters.
The college admissions officers who read these letters saw no reason not to accept such exceptional students and would snatch them up left and right.
Thanks to this process, despite being an ordinary general high school in Seoul, Cheongshin High School produced two or more Seoul National University acceptees every single year without fail.
'I hear all sorts of slander from the students... that I'm showing off my knowledge with things like creativity, obstacle ability, stuff that doesn't even appear on the CSAT... but this is all for the principal and the school.'
The "creativity problem" assigned by the math teacher was also part of this advance screening process!
'A normal high school student definitely won't be able to solve it. But if a student does solve it...'
Surely, that student would be no ordinary high schooler.
"You all look gloomy. But it's fine. I'm not looking for the answer; I want to see how hard you racked your brains and displayed your creativity."
The math teacher smirked, wondering if such a student might finally appear this time.
"Before I collect the homework, if anyone is confident and wants to come up front and explain it to everyone, raise your hand."
Unfortunately, not a single student raised their hand.
'Tsk. For a supposedly legendary year, this is nothing special.'
"No one? Then I'll collect the homework from the back—"
Before the math teacher could even finish telling them to pass up the homework...
Swish.
A girl sitting in the very front raised her hand.
"I'm not confident, but may I try explaining it?"
"Oh! Yuseolha! Of course. Come up to the board."
'The legendary perfect student Yuseolha! I knew you'd raise your hand!'
Yuseolha was the biggest reason this year's Grade 2 was called a "legendary year."
She was a girl who effortlessly ranked in the top ten nationwide and first in the school on every mock exam.
A student who truly felt not the slightest shame about her nickname as the legendary perfect daughter of a mother's friend!
That very girl stood before the chalkboard and picked up a piece of chalk.
Clack, clack, clack-clack.
Yuseolha began writing out formulas on the chalkboard.
The white chalk dust fluttering about looked just like snow falling, exactly like her name.
"This problem is... (omitted) ...like this."
And so her explanation began, and soon ended.
"I believe this feeling concludes the proof. Is that right, Teacher?"
"Gasp. Y-yes, that's right. To think you actually completed the proof..."
The math teacher couldn't hide his astonishment at Yuseolha, who had truly solved the problem.
"Did she actually solve it?"
"Looks like it? The teacher said it's right."
"I don't get any of it."
"I bet only Yuseolha and the math teacher understand that."
"At least one thing's for sure. That won't be on the CSAT, and even if I go to college, I'll never see that again."
The students' reactions were lukewarm, on the other hand.
When the content was too difficult, and furthermore incomprehensible at all, it only approached them as a vague sense of rejection.
The students of Class 7 right now were exactly like that.
"Seolha, you may sit down now."
Yuseolha gave a slight bow and returned to her seat.
"Is there anyone else who wants to present? You don't have to be as good as Seolha; just say exactly what you thought."
The math teacher asked the class again.
Fortunately, a student raised his hand immediately after he finished speaking.
This time, it was a male student.
"Kekeuk, I'll try this time."
"Yes, Kim Cheolsu! Good hand! Let's hear it!"
"Keukeukeuk!"
Kim Cheolsu, the Human Calculator!
Once before, the teacher had bought ice cream for the class, but everyone wanted something different, making the price calculation extremely complicated.
That was when Kim Cheolsu suddenly appeared and finished all the calculations in just one second!
After that incident, the kids started calling Kim Cheolsu the Human Calculator.
'He's quite a bit behind Yuseolha, but he's still maintaining second place in the science track. Without a doubt, he's more than qualified as a talent.'
But the talent didn't end there.
"Teacher. Could I try as well? Could I?"
"Yes, Park Yeonghui! You come up too!"
The student who raised her hand this time was none other than Park Yeonghui, the polyglot!
True to her nickname, she was an excellent humanities-track student who could speak five languages.
However, angry that Kim Cheolsu had disparaged the humanities track as something only blockheads took, she had majestically chosen the science track instead.
And in the last midterms, she had proudly placed third in the entire science track, shocking everyone.
"Kekeuk... (omitted) ...kekeuk!"
"It is... (omitted) ...holly shit!"
Some time passed, and both of their explanations came to an end.
"Good, good! There are a few logical errors here and there, but both of you did quite well. I'll give you both bonus points like Seolha."
"Kekeuk, thank you."
"Oh my god-kimchi! I'm so happy!"
And so the Human Calculator Kim Cheolsu and the Polyglot Park Yeonghui went back to their seats with bonus points just like Yuseolha.
"Ah, when is this gonna end?"
"But did you kind of get it this time?"
"Kind of? But what's for lunch today?"
"They said it's seasoned half-dried pollack."
"Guess I'll die then."
Though it was better than Yuseolha's time earlier, the students' reactions were still cold.
Yuseolha, Kim Cheolsu, and Park Yeonghui were all too distant of existences for ordinary students.
"Kuuul~ kuul~"
A bizarre sound echoing through the classroom!
It was none other than the sound of Gyeongjun snoring.
"Hey, Lee Gyeongjun! Did you think we weren't having a real class today, so you decided to sleep like that?"
"Kuuul~ mmm...? Ah, I'm sorry. I couldn't sleep last night."
Startled by the math teacher's shout, Gyeongjun came to his senses and apologized.
"What on earth were you doing that you're dozing off even in fourth period?"
"Well... I pulled an all-nighter trying to solve the creativity problem you gave us."
"Goodness, even so. I've heard you've been studying hard these days, but staying up all night isn't... wait, what?"
The math teacher thought he had misheard and asked again.
"I said I stayed up all night solving the teacher's creativity problem."
"What? Really? So did you solve it?"
"Yes."
"Right, you couldn't solve it. A problem that the school's top ranker barely solved isn't going to be solved just by staying up one night, that's why it's called a creativity problem... huh? What?"
This time too, the math teacher thought he had misheard.
"I said I solved the creativity problem the teacher assigned."
But Gyeongjun was saying that he had most definitely not been misheard.
* * *
"I thought about it. This clearly isn't high school curriculum, but I figured it could be solved to some extent using high school curriculum. Because if it weren't, it wouldn't be a creativity problem but just an advanced learning test."
Gyeongjun stood before everyone and explained.
"So I tried to find similar problems somehow. Chapter 10-A on rational and irrational numbers that we learned in Grade 1. The one where we had to prove that the square root of 2 is irrational. Since it's the same type of proof problem, I thought that would be the biggest hint. We all learned proof by contradiction in Grade 1, right?"
Not a single word beyond the curriculum was present in Gyeongjun's explanation.
He proceeded with his explanation using only vocabulary a second-year high schooler could know.
"If you don't know it, review the Grade 1 material. I forgot it all too and had to review it. Honestly, who remembers everything they learned in Grade 1?"
"Hahaha! True that!"
The students laughed in agreement at Gyeongjun's light, joke-mixed explanation.
It wasn't a one-man show with the speaker playing every instrument; the listeners were happily participating too.
"So for all of you who forgot it just like me, I've prepared an extremely easy way to understand this, and it's absolutely insane. What is it, you ask..."
Gyeongjun's explanation wasn't simply a list of logic.
Every one of his sentences contained a story.
A story of the joy and despair he had experienced over the past week.
A story of his own anguish built up steadily from rock bottom, where he knew practically nothing.
All of these were fully contained in his every word.
"Wow... so that's how it works."
"Teacher Gyeongjun! I have a question—then what happens with this part?"
"Teacher Gyeongjun is the best!"
The students' reactions were hotter than ever before.
Some truly understood what Gyeongjun was saying, while others were only half-listening.
Nevertheless, there was no denying that everyone was listening to Gyeongjun's explanation.
Something fervent that could be felt from the very depths of his words.
Combined with his highly relatable way of explaining, it was drawing out the students' passionate empathy.
Yuseolha, Kim Cheolsu, and Park Yeonghui.
Something that those three outstanding students from the start could never have accomplished.
Something that Gyeongjun, who hadn't been outstanding from the start, could accomplish precisely because of that.
Of course, Gyeongjun was originally someone who hung out at the bottom.
He had gone through times when he was so incompetent that even a passing schoolyard dog would've laughed at him.
It was precisely because Gyeongjun, never forgetting his experiences at that rock bottom, had struggled and strived to climb up, that he could create the spectacle unfolding before their eyes.
Here, Gyeongjun was their teacher, yet also a student they could relate to.
The explanation soon reached its closing stages.
"If we combine everything so far, this is the conclusion we reach. If we integrate this bizarre function, it will definitely be a number greater than 0.5, probably very close to 1. And when I searched online, the answer was indeed 1."
Clack, clack-clack.
Gyeongjun picked up the chalk and began writing something on the board in large letters.
"Therefore, though it's a bit incomplete, I shall write it like this."
It was a phrase he had already written once that morning...
『Q.E.D. Proof complete』
...With this, the proof was complete.
Or so it was written on the chalkboard.