Chapter 232

The eyes of the professors from the Department of Mathematical Sciences at Korea University widened in surprise.

What had all the passionate displays shown so far been for?

“Many people around the world have sent their affectionate interest and various questions, but unfortunately, it seems difficult to cover all of them in this time. I will display the link to my broadcast channel here on the screen. Then, I’ll select the more meaningful questions to focus on.”

A gigantic QR code appeared on the screen.

It was a link that directly accessed Namé’s Twish broadcasting channel.

As the public murmured in confusion, the sound of sponsorship ringing from her phone faintly came through the microphone.

[‘zmxncnvb’ donated 1,000 won!]

“- Can I ask question number 69?”

“Yes, let’s see number 69. But from now on, please use the paid voting channel.”

Namé smiled slyly and glanced at Dr. Robert Fuller.

He flinched, seemingly embarrassed.

There were various means to make money.

* * *

– Wh-what is this…

– Hahahaha

– This is really hilarious lol

– Who came up with this idea?

[Please vote for your question! Produce 365!]

[Current Rankings]

[1st]

185. p-adic valuations and application of Nagell-Lutz theorem ($852)

“Oxford University has sent in another question regarding elliptic curves. It seems everyone is quite interested in Goldbach’s conjecture.”

Namé picked up the chalk again, dragged a small chair across the floor, hopped up on it, and began to explain the proof.

It was like this again.

Once Namé finished the proof, she would check the broadcast to answer the question that had raised the most money.

Only two hours had just passed, and to reach the first place, one would need to pay $850.

Industry insiders were understandably astonished.

Submitting a truly beautiful paper to academia would barely yield 500,000 won in royalties.

And even that would see 80% taken by the agency, plus fees for review, publication, and membership, resulting in a deficit instead.

But to sell such amounts of money for a simple proof, not even a paper?

This was a result of the viewers’ fans’ enthusiasm.

– Wow, but no matter what question is asked, she answers like a pro lol

– I don’t understand at all, but if she’s cute, I’m a fan lol

– For real lol

– Anyway, Namé is cute, that’s the point

– Huh? But since this is a paid voting channel, can’t we create questions too?

– ???

– Are you a genius?

At first, questions could be asked for just 1,000 won, but they rose to 10,000, 100,000, and now approached 1,000,000 won.

To make matters worse, troublemakers appeared.

[Please vote for your question! Produce 365!]

[Current Rankings]

[1st]

368. Proving 1+1=2. ($1,348)

– Can this really be done lol

– Is Namé really going to do it?

– Who on earth put 400 dollars into this? Are they crazy? lol

– Mathematicians are weeping

– Is this really a joke? But it’s a good time, isn’t it?

– Proving 1+1 and pocketing $1,300

– Wow, math is actually a money-making field lol

“Defining natural numbers themselves could be a big help for understanding. I will prove that 1+1=2 using Peano’s axioms.”

“Namé! This has nothing to do with what you’re currently proving!”

“Shh. How can it not be related?”

She frowned.

She shot a glance that suggested she would report the mathematician to Emily if he continued to be noisy.

The mathematician, who had jumped up, looked around awkwardly and sat back down.

Meanwhile, the audience only found the situation amusing.

The questions needed to complete beautiful proofs now had to compete against the Pythagorean theorem and the methods to derive quadratic equations.

“I’ll take one last question before we finish.”

[Please vote for your question! Produce 365!]

[Current Rankings]

[1st]

403. Constructing a regular 17-gon. ($2,703)

[2nd]

319. Proving the equivalence of the twin prime conjecture and the Demon Lord sequence conjecture. ($2,698)

– Victory for constructing a regular 17-gon!

– How on earth do you draw a 17-gon? lol

– Amazingly, this was accomplished by Carl Friedrich Gauss at age 17

– What’s this?

– But I’m a bit disappointed about the Demon Lord sequence, I was curious about its unique form.

– If the Demon Lord sequence conjecture is proven, doesn’t that naturally prove the twin prime conjecture too?

– Compass and straightedge lol

– Why is Namé so cute? lol

The compass and straightedge were familiar tools to anyone who had completed elementary school in South Korea.

Once in elementary school, one might have fumbled to draw circles, only to accidentally poke themselves with the compass or break the pencil lead from pressing too hard.

So, constructing a regular 17-gon was the highlight of that day.

It was far more exciting to demonstrate the ultimate construction possible with just a compass and straightedge than to discuss elliptic curves or Morera’s theorem with other mathematicians.

Baek Arin and Seoyuna, who had been daydreaming an hour ago, rubbed their eyes and got up when the professor woke them up.

Namé progressed the discussion while drawing a large circle with her compass as the foundation for the regular 17-gon.

Her long broadcasting experience had given her an exceptional ability to sense what parts might bore the viewers.

“Have you heard of Fermat’s Last Theorem? Pierre de Fermat, who came from that, was the first to conceive the idea of ‘Fermat primes.’ Roughly, F is in the form of 2 raised to the power of 2 to the n plus 1.”

Countless semicircles formed and disappeared between the circles.

With great effort, Namé moved her chair and connected two points with her ruler, which was about her height.

“All Fermat primes can be constructed. Hence, you can construct regular triangles, regular pentagons, regular 17-gons, regular 257-gons, and regular 65537-gons.”

A single line and two half-lines extended from the y-axis.

It was now time for the chalk eraser to get to work again.

As the white chalk dust danced in the air, she coughed lightly.

Then, she stretched her little arms up again to hold the center of the compass, her heels lifting slightly off the ground.

“I think the field of mathematics is greatly influenced by collective intelligence. Even when one is stuck, someone else’s view can often lead to a simple solution. I hope that other kids who are inspired by my construction of the regular 17-gon might solve proof problems that I couldn’t finish. Just my personal thought.”

With that, all the other lines were erased.

Only one tree, standing firm on the x-axis, was left within the large circle centered around the origin.

She had gone through all this trouble just to draw this one line segment.

‘This is why math can feel futile.’

Maria Euphrasia was the kind of person who could devote her life to discovering something that was essentially nothing.

Namé preferred the idea of using an aura or magic to help people directly than that.

“Would you all count along with me?”

Now, it was time for the compass to take its last turn.

“One, two, three!”

As she plotted points on the circle, a flower petal of uniform shape was created each time the compass spun.

“Four, five, six!”

Having traveled a long and hard road, Namé drew her white lines very carefully and meticulously.

It could feel futile.

But at the same time, she thought that if she found beauty in this, maybe it didn’t matter.

After all, there are no answers in life that leads to death, so whatever way of life one chooses, it will all be correct.

“Seventeen! Eighteen! Nineteen!”

As she drew the final arc, remarkably, the end overlapped with the initial point.

Seventeen points had emerged on the circle.

Normally, the last step would be to connect them all with a ruler without markings, but Namé thought differently.

[Casting: 17-Directional Tracing]

A magic circle that closely resembled the original drawn circle appeared in the air.

From the geometric-patterned magic circle, 17 lines emerged.

It was a regular 17-gon.

Namé moved the magic circle slowly, as if handling a soap bubble, and aligned it with the chalkboard.

“Wow… it’s identical…!”

Yuna exclaimed in admiration.

The 17 petals created by the white chalk perfectly matched the glowing golden magic circle.

Ding-!

The clock struck exactly 6 PM.

Namé checked her wristwatch and made her closing remarks.

“I discovered a truly astonishing proof regarding the Demon Lord sequence, but unfortunately, I ran out of time today to share it. Thank you all for listening. This was Namé.”

That day, some witnesses claimed to have seen two horns rising from Namé’s shadow cast on the curtain.

* * *

“I understand that proving the Demon Lord sequence proposed by Namé would perfectly prove the twin prime conjecture! But is there any particular reason for delaying the announcement? Or has the idea of the twin prime conjecture completely been abandoned in your mind?”

A latecomer reporter caught me as I was about to slip out through the back door with a microphone in hand.

I rolled my eyes, taking a moment to think.

Then I let out a small chuckle and replied vaguely.

“I don’t really feel like talking in Korea. Maybe it’s because Korea has abandoned me…?”