Ch.26Additional Interview

In Stellarium, there are three educational tracks.

Academia.

College.

Graduate.

Among these, the Academia track that I applied for corresponds to high school.

Academia students study on an artificial planet that looks like the Death Star. Only the remaining College and Graduate students continue their education on natural planets.

In other words, Stellarium is one enormous foundation. Stellarium Academia and College tracks are essentially one massive facility and brand established by the same foundation.

Anyway, Academia is taught by teachers. It’s subtly different from College, which is taught by professors. Naturally, the educational structures of the two tracks are completely different.

And the person I’m going to meet now is a professor. Not a teacher.

Professors at Stellarium typically live in apartments on the College planet. Cases like the Rheinland family, where a spaceship serves as home, are uncommon.

[This stop is ‘Planeta,’ the 4th planet in the Stellarium planetary system. The exit is on the right. I repeat. This stop is…]

After a long journey, Sonia and I set foot on solid ground.

“Whoa.”

“Be careful. The platform is slippery.”

My body staggers after stepping on real ground for the first time in a while.

“Your fever only broke recently. Aren’t you pushing yourself too hard? I, Sonia, am concerned about young master’s well-being.”

“I’m just dizzy, that’s all…”

Warp technology does exist in this era. However, it’s extremely expensive to use. For distances like between the moon and Earth, taking a shuttle is more cost-effective.

I’ve had occasions to visit other ships before. For instance, when I went to take mock exams at Seti’s academy. But this time was particularly difficult to adapt to.

“A real planet feels different.”

Enduring the landing alone was arduous. This affects bone density too. If your body can’t handle it, you can’t travel between planets.

And I’m still weak.

“Ugh.”

Pain surges through my ankle with every step.

“Are you alright?”

“No, I’m not.”

“You need to exercise more diligently.”

“I already promised to ask Rustila for a personal coach when I get back today.”

“…You mean that young lady from the Kersil family?”

Sonia frowned slightly, which was unlike her.

Rustila apparently did well in her interview, and since then, the distance between us had decreased significantly. At the very least, I could say we had become “friends.”

“It’s good that you’ve made a friend knowledgeable about exercise, but… please get your healthcare from professionals. Don’t you remember collapsing after being beaten with a wooden sword last time?”

“You beat me up too.”

“How is that the same?”

“Are you jealous right now? Ow-!!”

Sonia jabbed my side and lifted her chin.

“Let’s go. The professor will be waiting.”

***

After taking the designated shuttle and traveling for about an hour, we arrived at the location written in the letter.

Ding-dong.

After pressing the call bell and waiting for a moment, someone opened the door.

“Thank you for coming all this way.”

A tall, young man.

It was indeed the same person I had seen at the interview.

I bowed my head with relief inside. The deeper my respect, the sharper the angle of my bending waist.

“You are Professor Richard Feynman, correct?”

“…Hehehe.”

Richard Feynman.

A name that anyone interested in physics would have heard at least once.

Of course, he was a genius who lived in the same era as Einstein.

Obviously, the person standing before me wasn’t the Richard Feynman I knew. Richard itself is a common name.

However, what’s important is that this world is a fictional world, and the author has based many characters on real-life figures.

Professor Feynman was one of them. Though a namesake, his way of thinking and behavior were similar to the real Feynman.

Who else but someone like Feynman would stubbornly send a handwritten letter for a request that could have been sent by email?

At any rate, he was definitely an eccentric.

“Please come in.”

“Excuse me. By the way… you don’t need to speak formally to me.”

Feynman waved his hand dismissively as he led me into the entryway.

“It’s proper to be formal at first.”

“But we’re not meeting for the first time, are we?”

“Is that so? Is this the second time?”

“It’s the third.”

Once at the interview venue, once in the restroom, and now once more.

Originally, I was going to say it was the fourth time, counting the profile picture I saw on the College physics department website. But since this gentleman had uploaded a picture of a cat as his profile, it became the third meeting.

Feynman seemed to know this as he chuckled and offered me a chair.

“Let’s have something light.”

He brought two cups of green tea. They were quite cool, probably from the refrigerator.

Come to think of it, this Feynman liked his tea cold and his ice cream hot. Just like how I eat Einspänner without the cream.

“You know why I called you here, right?”

“Yes.”

Normally, interviewers shouldn’t meet with students to maintain fairness.

But Feynman wasn’t the type to follow such rules.

He was the kind of person who would meet privately if he was interested.

Therefore, anything problematic said here would never leak outside.

Feynman began in earnest.

“I understand your family is quite prestigious. Compared to that, this place must seem modest?”

“Not at all. I actually prefer places like this.”

This was sincere. It’s not that I’m frugal. I just feel more at ease in a comfortably adequate place like this than in an unnecessarily spacious spaceship.

“I see.”

Feynman nodded.

“Let me brag a bit. I also make a decent living with my pen. But I spent all that money buying snacks for my lab colleagues.”

“Can I get one later too?”

“Hmm? Hahaha!”

Feynman burst into laughter and nodded.

“Of course. Perhaps you’ll also be in a position to distribute snacks someday. Then you’ll have no choice but to live in an apartment like this forever.”

Though he spoke jokingly, I realized that every word was a metaphor.

If you want to join our department, the physics department, abandon the desire for money. If you’re fixated on material success, look for another career path. That’s what Feynman was saying.

The interview had started from the moment I met this person—no, perhaps from the moment I received that handwritten letter.

If I hadn’t received that letter and traveled this difficult path to the professor’s home?

Feynman would have probably just seen me as a somewhat smart middle schooler and left it at that.

This was just the preliminary skirmish. We had confirmed each other’s intentions. Since Feynman disliked beating around the bush unnecessarily, surely…

“Student.”

“Yes.”

“What do you want to be when you grow up?”

From now on, he would take a direct approach.

Of course, I also greatly prefer direct communication.

“A professor.”

So I answered without hesitation.

It was from this moment that the atmosphere in the room changed 180 degrees.

[— The God of Wisdom and Curiosity anticipates your next answer.]

I said:

“I want to become a professor who researches black holes, like you.”

I want to follow in your footsteps.

“I want to understand what kind of universe we live in, why it’s so difficult to develop a theory unifying gravity with the other forces despite living in such a technologically advanced world, what form it would take if developed, and if it’s impossible, why it’s impossible… I want to understand all of that.”

I want to see the end of this novel.

“Hehe.”

“I’ve been suffering from a high fever for the past three days, so I couldn’t come. That’s why I’m visiting you now, just as my cold has ended.”

Even if I fail the Academia track, I’ll apply to College again.

If I get accepted there, make me an undergraduate intern.

Furthermore, if I also get accepted into the Graduate track, use me as a graduate student.

I conveyed all these numerous messages through this meeting.

Failing Academia immediately and giving birth to a child of the Outer God?

I hadn’t even considered it. At this moment, it wasn’t even a consideration. Fuck it, whether I give birth or not. Whatever the Outer God says.

[— The God of Wisdom and Curiosity is amazed by your spirit.]

[— You have received a donation of 100 pron!]

“Hmm.”

After hearing my answer, Professor Feynman closed his eyes for a moment.

He seemed to be thinking about something. Perhaps he was assessing my capabilities.

I swallowed hard. Before a genius, I am merely a speck of dust. I clearly knew that this conversation would have little impact on my acceptance to Stellarium. Yet, I couldn’t help feeling nervous.

“…Indeed, your intellectual capacity is outstanding.”

Feynman began with those words.

“But having outstanding capacity doesn’t automatically make you a good scientist. We have scientific knowledge accumulated by humanity over thousands of years. It’s absurd to think you can learn all of that in 2 years of Academia and 3 years of College.”

I nodded.

“So you’ll definitely need to go to graduate school, and perhaps before that, you might lose interest and become discouraged.”

Feynman asked:

“Do you still want to share snacks with me?”

He grinned.

“For reference, you shouldn’t be picky about the type of snacks.”

He meant not to be picky about research topics.

At the same time, he was telling me to find joy in understanding the world by studying steadily, one step at a time, even if results don’t come immediately.

Even from this simple metaphor, I could tell.

This person is a genius.

And also an excellent educator.

– You want to come to the physics graduate school? Aren’t you deciding your career path too early as a middle schooler? Wouldn’t it be better to think more about it?

While giving such warnings…

– If you still want to come, then come. I’ll support you as much as I can. Just promise me one thing.

– Work hard, be patient, and take one step at a time.

He’s exactly like the Feynman I know.

There was no reason to refuse.

“I’ll eat whatever you give me.”

I was already someone who could stand as an independent researcher.

No PhD? So what? My research capabilities remain the same.

Eidel is dead. Jinsoo Lee is alive. That’s all. So I can move forward as myself.

I don’t know why things turned out this way. I can’t know, and there’s no reason to know.

Everyone lives because they were born. I lived because I was born on Earth. It’s the same now. I live because I was possessed.

But as I live, I will fulfill the fundamental purpose of the path I walk.

Understanding nature.

For me, that means understanding the Outer Gods.

In other words, trying to understand the incomprehensible with a smile.

That is my fundamental purpose.

[— The God of Wisdom and Curiosity feels a slight affection for you.]

[— The God of Wisdom and Curiosity wants to test how far your resolve can go.]

I gazed steadily at Feynman.

Feynman also stared intently into my eyes for a while.

“…Very well.”

Finally, he spoke.

“I’ll see you on our campus.”