Chapter 215

Translator: Dreamscribe

"Back then, it really was like a war."

Hugo smoothed the collar of his coat, a faraway look on his face as he reminisced about the past.

A young mathematician who had won the New Horizon Prize.

He was currently an Assistant Professor, a promising scholar whose future tenure was all but guaranteed, but the credential he was truly proud of was the two mobilization orders he had answered.

Kevin's shoulders shuddered.

"If I have to hear that one more time, my ears are going to bleed."

"But this is the really good part! What do you know about that hellish forty-two-day march? Nature gave us a killer cover again, and everyone who took part bought ten copies each. I bought more than that, obviously. So? Want one?"

The MIT math department had recently been producing unprecedented results.

The university Silicon Valley companies favored most was MIT, too. Naturally, the competition to get in was going through the roof. Even he, who had graduated at the very top of his class at Caltech, had only barely managed to secure a doctoral slot here.

But life at MIT had turned out to be hard to endure in a way he hadn't anticipated.

"Oh! You're from Caltech? Then you weren't around for the Total Mobilization, were you?"

"The Officers' Mobilization Order, now that was the real thing. Man! I thought I was losing my mind. Questions were pouring in from universities all over the world, and I was scared to fall asleep. Sleep a few hours, wake up, and it was back to the beginning again."

It was a sense of exclusion.

Even now, whenever there was an important event, they showed up wearing T-shirts printed with the number '512'.

'It's not like they proved it themselves.'

Not that he couldn't understand it.

They had, after all, played a part in solving the Riemann Hypothesis of all things. Having pulled off the defense of that legendary paper was, even in his opinion, a pretty impressive credential. He had come here hoping for something that cool himself.

'Of all the times, why does he have to be away right now?'

Unfortunately, his luck was atrocious.

Seo-ha and Team Apex were away in Korea for the time being.

Because of that, he hadn't even had the chance to submit an application to Apex Lab. By the time they returned, he would already be settled into some other lab. It was the thing the new arrivals felt most cheated about.

"There might be another chance. When it comes, make sure you join us."

"Not interested. I'm plenty busy with my own research, thanks."

Kevin bristled at Hugo's pity-laced consolation and shook his head.

'And this guy is a New Horizon Prize winner.'

He came across as a goofball, but when he was doing math he became a different person.

The proof he had published in his last paper made it clear just how formidable a mathematician Hugo was.

The trend at MIT these days was hunting hard problems. Every lab competitively spread out the list of unsolved problems and scouted around for a target.

From his perspective, coming as he did from another school, it was ridiculous.

An open problem?

Solving one would be great, but failing meant throwing away years for nothing. Yet these people threw themselves at hard problems without fear, as though tomorrow didn't exist.

"That's Seo-ha's influence. We learned that we can do it too. Once you get called up for a mobilization, you'll understand."

Kevin shook his head over and over.

MIT was home to no small number of Nobel laureates and winners of the Three Major Math Prizes. Walking down a hallway and brushing shoulders with people whose names alone were famous was an everyday occurrence.

But even they held deep affection and pride for Seo-ha. How could anyone not get curious in an environment like that? Whenever he had spare time, he read Seo-ha's Riemann Hypothesis proof paper and the 13-Step Hypothesis over and over again.

Bzzt-

At the sound of the vibration, Kevin's eyes went to his desk.

Beep beep beep-

Bzzt-

Phone alerts going off all at once. He could feel every face in the room hardening.

A silence fell over the lab, as though it had been vacuum-sealed.

Baffled, Kevin picked up his phone. An emergency message from MIT's campus-wide notice system was displayed on the screen.

[General Notice - MIT Department of Mathematics]

-Regarding the formation of a joint task force.

-The purpose of this TF is the verification of 'Seo-ha's 13-Step Hypothesis', and it will be operated jointly with the Harvard Department of Mathematics. Participation is limited, and final selection will be made subject to the approval of the department head.

-Members wishing to participate are to assemble in the auditorium by 4 p.m. Master's students, doctoral students, and postdocs are all eligible to apply. However, consent must be obtained from one's advisor before submitting an application.

Crash-

Kevin turned his head toward the noise.

The sound of the lab door being flung open.

Hugo was sprinting at full speed like a track athlete. Then the other researchers kicked back their chairs and shot to their feet as if by prior agreement. It was a speed no one would believe from mathematicians who were normally so unhurried and sedentary.

"What's going on?"

Kevin sprang up and shouted.

But no answer came. He bit down hard on his lip, then took off running after Hugo, who had already gone ahead.

'Desk-bound nerds, the lot of them.'

It was the moment Kevin's physical ability, honed as a football running back right up through high school, came into its own. Weaving nimbly around the nerds clogging the corridor, he caught up to Hugo in no time at all.

"Hugo! You could at least explain what's happening!"

"Huff! Huff! Run first! I heard somebody got cut once for showing up late!"

'Were there always this many people here?'

Even as he ran, researchers kept spilling out of the labs.

"Move! I was back home during the last Officers' Mobilization Order! I have to get into this allied force no matter what!"

"Shut up! I go home next year, so this is my last chance!"

It was a scene too absurd to laugh at.

Come to think of it, all the research drawing attention right now was being driven by the people who had taken part in those two call-ups. From that experience they had walked away with a hefty haul of spoils. Namely, ideas!

The old saying that one has to go swim in the big pond held true in academia as well.

He hadn't exercised in a long time, and his breath came short almost immediately.

But he never once slowed his pace.

* * *

One Oxford Street, the Harvard Science Center.

Kevin looked around.

Even on a Harvard campus lined with red brick buildings, this one stood out. Perhaps because it had been built relatively recently, it had a completely different character from the antique architecture surrounding it.

"So this is the home base of Harvard math?"

Ellie, who had just started her master's, caught her breath and looked around.

She was wearing a T-shirt with 'Joint Task Force 13' printed across the chest. And it wasn't just her; all thirty of them who had come were wearing one.

"They definitely told us this was a joint task force, but it feels like we've walked into enemy territory."

Hugo shook his head and quickened his steps.

The eyes watching them from all sides were anything but friendly.

Harvard's pride seemed badly bruised these days. Going by the history of the math department alone, they were two hundred years ahead of MIT. They had produced more Nobel laureates and winners of the Three Major Math Prizes, but MIT had lately been closing the gap at a steep pace, which was probably the reason.

"Maybe it's because we showed up in matching outfits?"

Kevin awkwardly tugged his coat lapel over the lettering on his shirt.

512.

The number of people who had taken part in the Total Mobilization.

After someone had shirts made to commemorate the occasion, it had turned into a tradition. Wearing one was, in a sense, the equivalent of announcing, 'I was there.'

They hadn't gone as far as getting tattoos like actual special forces soldiers, but Kevin guessed the meaning behind it was much the same.

"Embarrassed by the shirt? If you are, it's because we haven't accomplished anything yet. Once this is all over, you'll wear it prouder than anybody."

Step, step.

As he crossed the lobby, Kevin's eyes swept along the walls.

Photographs of Harvard math's award winners through the ages. A history stretching back to 1727 packed the frames.

The Fields Prize, the Abel Prize, the Wolf Prize. A tradition of real pedigree passed down over three centuries. The sheer weight of it made his body want to shrink in on itself.

"Shoulders back! Our university has the mathematician who proved the Riemann Hypothesis."

The moment he thought of Seo-ha, confidence welled up in him.

Everyone gave one deep nod and climbed the stairs.

The fourth-floor hallway.

Room 406, their destination, came into view. Hugo threw the door open without a moment's hesitation.

Someone spotted them and called out loudly.

"The MIT team has arrived."

Inside the spacious seminar room, Harvard's elite had already taken their places.

At the center, Dennis, the young face of Harvard's math department, stood with his arms folded, glaring at them. He read the lettering on the shirts and let out a laugh.

"Welcome, uninvited guests."

A winner of the Cole Prize, the counterpart that stood shoulder to shoulder with the New Horizon Prize. His paper on continuous functions was famous enough to be cited in numerous studies at MIT. He was also Hugo's rival in the race for the Fields Prize.

"Strange. I was fairly certain we came here in response to a distress call."

Hugo tilted his head and stepped forward.

"Your tongue's as slick as ever, Hugo."

"Home turf advantage, is that it? We'll treat you well when you come to MIT, so let's wrap up the posturing. We're all busy people here."

"Let me tell you in advance, this collaboration wasn't something we asked for. The higher-ups decided it on their own. It wasn't solid enough to bring to the professors, but we were closing in on a lead."

Hugo put on an exaggerated look of surprise.

"What a coincidence! We've got a direction in mind ourselves."

Dennis snorted.

"Don't bluff. We've been working on this for a month already. If you ask politely, it's not as though we couldn't share."

"Only a month? I've been digging into this since Seo-ha appeared on that live broadcast. And not just me. Probably everyone on our side."

Hugo glanced back over his shoulder.

Everyone nodded in unison, as if to ask why he'd even bother confirming something so obvious.

Seo-ha was practically a symbol of MIT. These people knew every single paper he had published inside and out.

"Then there's no need to worry. How about we work separately so we don't trip each other up? We can pool it all together and sort it out later. But let's be clear about credit."

"Deal!"

The negotiation between the two representatives was concluded.

Like territory being divided up after a war, a rolling whiteboard was planted down the middle. Front door and back door, even the entrances they used were different.

So much for calling it a collaboration.

* * *

A week went by after that.

The mood on the MIT side was pure energy.

Whenever someone stood at the board, two or three others would crowd in and pore over it with them. When they got stuck, they questioned one another and tracked down the cause. If something looked wrong, they erased it without hesitation and wrote it again.

They weren't sharing their results, but it was plain to see that progress was piling up steadily.

The Harvard side, by contrast, was quiet.

Dennis sat on a bench in the campus courtyard, sunk in thought.

"Why?"

The look in his team members' eyes, like patients suffering from chronic lethargy, weighed on him.

"Mind if I sit?"

He looked up to find Hugo standing there with two cans of coffee.

Hugo shrugged.

Click-

"Drink."

"Our school's food is still better than MIT's, right?"

Dennis took the can and offered a joke.

Both schools were famous for cafeteria food that fell well short of their reputations. MIT in particular had come dead last in the Princeton Review's best campus food rankings.

"It supplies enough nutrition to keep a brain running, so it's fine. Anyway, looks like you've got a problem. Are you going to be all right?"

Dennis let out a sigh.

"Over a month of nothing but failure. Of course nobody has any energy left."

"Didn't you say you'd found something?"

"It was a trap. What on earth is that equation? The deeper we go, the harder the proof gets. All we need is one tiny breakthrough...."

Hugo gazed at him blankly for a moment, then tossed out a single remark.

"What if you turned your thinking around?"

"Meaning?"

"Stop trying to find a counterexample. Assume that the equations Seo-ha wrote are one hundred percent correct, no exceptions."

Dennis shook his head, his expression saying he found the idea pathetic.

"Don't talk nonsense. No human being like that exists. People revise a single paper any number of times. Even the notebooks Newton and Euler left behind are riddled with errors."

Hugo spoke in a low voice.

"There's something strange about Seo-ha."

"What?"

"At MIT, the Infinite Corridor is the shortest route, right? But whenever Seo-ha has something urgent to do, he absolutely refuses to go that way."

"Is there some particular reason?"

Hugo nodded.

"There is. Even in the middle of rushing somewhere, if there's a wrong equation on the wall, he can't just walk past it. He always stops and fixes it."

"Huh?"

"Seo-ha can't let an error slide. I suspect it's a kind of compulsion. And that man wrote a wrong equation with his own hand?"

Dennis's eyes went wide.

"...."

"Believe it or don't, that's up to you. But that's how we're going about it."

"Then right now, you people are...."

Hugo grinned.

"Looking for the grounds on which the equations hold, obviously. Assume there's nothing wrong in the book, and you'll be able to find it too."

Left alone, Dennis still couldn't pull himself out of the shock.

He agonized over it for a long while, then rose from his seat.

The moment he flipped his thinking around, a path appeared.

Every failure to find a counterexample up to now was, at the same time, powerful evidence that the hypothesis held.

*****

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