Ch.301296 – Halloween

Professor Cheon put NoName to bed and returned to the guardian’s room to brew coffee.

His hand paused momentarily as he was about to add a brown sugar cube with a teaspoon.

The aroma rising with the steam was already sweet enough.

“Heh heh…”

Though the bitter black liquid slid down his throat, the smile never left Professor Cheon’s face.

[Thank you for listening… father… no, dad…]

The electrifying resonance of a title he thought he’d never hear in his lifetime still seemed to echo in his ears.

‘NoName wasn’t uncomfortable with me after all…’

The relationship between professor and student always comes with significant awkwardness.

There’s an unbridgeable gap between them, as evidenced by the gazes of other students.

‘Since when… no, that’s not the right question.’

Human relationships aren’t discrete but continuous.

The bond between NoName and Professor Cheon developed daily, hourly.

But without some “catalyst,” people rarely realize how relationships evolve.

And the catalyst NoName created would be a memorable event for Professor Cheon’s entire life.

‘Should I make today an anniversary?’

He laughed at himself for having thoughts typical of teenagers or twenty-somethings.

Being able to call NoName his daughter felt like the most natural emotion.

While Professor Cheon’s fiancée had wanted a son, he had wished for a daughter like Ham Cho-rong.

Perhaps his wish from 30 years ago had skipped a generation and come true.

But he now decided to erase all memories of the past.

He especially vowed never to project his lost fiancée and child onto NoName.

Instead, he would ensure she became someone far more precious in her own right.

Professor Cheon had to endure a sleepless night.

Not just because of the caffeine-laden coffee, but because NoName’s sincerity wouldn’t leave his mind.

Eventually, in the early morning, he turned on his phone to check his wallpaper.

The photo taken in front of Cephiron Academy’s main gate on enrollment day greeted him.

[Who’s the real flower here? Look at this.]

[If you say things like that these days, people will say you sound old.]

At that time, NoName had stood stiffly in front of the cherry blossom tree, seeming a bit shy.

A stark contrast to how she was now.

Only after setting an anniversary date on his wallpaper could he finally fall asleep.

It was the day he was reborn, not as a professor, but as a proper father.

The next morning, Professor Cheon was awakened not by his alarm but by numerous phone calls.

As he listened to fellow professors shouting through his foggy consciousness, he suddenly became wide awake.

The gist was this:

NoName had firmly refused to accept the Wolf Prize.

* * *

Jean-Paul Sartre declined the Nobel Prize in Literature.

He was wary of having his compassion and statements of support replaced by the authority of a Nobel Prize representing Western powers.

Grigori Perelman refused the Fields Medal.

While he claimed he didn’t want to be a spectacle, the real reason was his disillusionment with the politics among mathematicians and their media games.

Such acts of refusal serve to deliver powerful messages to society as a whole.

And NoName’s stated reason was as follows:

[NoNaMe_11]

[NoName · 6.95 million followers]

[If I don’t accept the award, I can become much more famous, right?]

Her post on social media shook the entire nation of Korea.

Korea is still a country dominated by nationalistic ideology.

This is evident in how government agencies and politicians congratulate individuals or groups who receive awards abroad on behalf of the entire nation.

By attributing their honors to the whole country, they boost Korean ethnic pride and strengthen the stability of the national system.

But refusing an award? And for such a personal reason?

People couldn’t believe it.

-This is Korea’s first Wolf Prize, maybe reconsider?

-Some study their whole lives and never get such an award…

-I think NoName doesn’t want to accept it as a Korean.

└ Right. What has Korea ever taught her anyway?

-When she was taken to the hospital, did she hit her head or something…? crying

Refusing an award just to become famous?

With a little thought, one could see this explanation didn’t quite add up.

This aspect was enough to pique people’s curiosity, and journalists used it as fuel.

“She must have been dissatisfied with something.”

“What could it be?”

“Obviously, the government.”

With such shallow preconceptions, journalists wrote columns criticizing the state of Korean education.

But could they have imagined that the arrow of public sentiment would end up in their own backs?

[NoName’s adoptive father investigated by police for child abuse.]

└ What child abuse? lol

└ The headline seems normal but the content is maliciously biased. What grudge do they have against that professor?

└ I heard he even gave the police Bacchus energy drinks after the investigation lol

└ Typical trash journalism.

└ It’s creepy how public opinion has flipped. If you look at older comments, everyone was busy criticizing her father;;

└ NoName’s father is truly an amazing person. Anyone who watched the Genius Discovery show can’t deny it.

└ Did he threaten NoName with a knife to study? No, he supported whatever she wanted to do. Is that a crime?

└ When you think about it, isn’t her refusal of the Wolf Prize because of these journalists?

└ For real. If her dad was greedy, he would have made her accept the award even if it killed her.

└ Check her Instagram lol. They’re living very happily together.

The posts NoName consistently uploaded to social media over the week helped turn public opinion around.

[NoNaMe_11]

[Walking in Hangang Park with Dad after being discharged. The weather is so nice today.]

[Comments]

-NoName, you’re so cute! The hat suits you well!

-Pure princess baby crying NoName is so pretty crying

-This old man… has decided to protect NoName…

-She looks like those mascot dolls sitting on the corner of the drawer above the counter at toy stores… cute and pretty haha

-Is that your father on the front of the tandem bicycle? You two look so close!

-Thank you for kindly giving me your autograph! Seeing you in person, your father is so handsome and has a nice voice too!!!

-Your father should pay 100 times more taxes. Be happy~

NoName and Cheon Kyu-jin’s appearance at Hangang Park, just riding bicycles, was enough to capture everyone’s attention.

NoName, under the pretext of training her Aura Heart, ran to the water’s edge and tossed her shoes and socks onto the asphalt.

Holding up her white floral dress with both hands, she performed the feat of walking on water with aura surrounding her bare feet.

After ten steps, she returned to land, and the spectators who had been watching with bated breath could finally sigh in relief.

She received a big round of applause and flashed a wide grin, making V-signs for people’s cameras.

[NoNaMe_11]

[Making Beef Wellington with Dad. Currently spreading mustard on the meat.]

[Comments]

-(British youth): I could buy NoName a whole cow.

└ This guy is sharply angling for a collab stream lol

└ British food is reliably skippable… but who can resist Beef Wellington?

-You can cook too…! Is there anything you can’t do, NoName?

-The meat is as thick as NoName’s torso lol. You should share with the neighbors too.

-She’s so skinny crying Are you eating three meals a day properly?

-The apron is so long it drags on the floor, so cute crying

‘Did I ever have any meaningful memories with Professor Cheon?’

This sudden thought plunged NoName into contemplation.

Having thesis study sessions at the dinner table every evening was something a professor and student would do, not really an activity for a father and daughter.

At this rate, if someone asked about her father later, she might automatically blurt out, “Professor Cheon always cooked for me!”

NoName suggested they cook together.

The target was “Beef Wellington,” which would be rated 5-star difficulty if it were a game.

With NoName showing strange pride in survival cooking and occasionally being stubborn, the result drifted in a completely different direction from the recipe.

But these adorable moments were captured on Instagram, allowing them to build another precious memory.

[NoNaMe_11]

[Hello, this is NoName.

I haven’t properly greeted all the viewers who wait for me every day.

Recently, I’ve been taking a break from streaming to spend precious time with my only family.

Being a public figure is still burdensome, so I haven’t set a return date.

I’ll quietly come back and appear on screen when the rumors circulating die down.

I’m always grateful to fans who recognize me on the street and continue to support me.

Right now, I’m choosing a costume to wear to Neverland tomorrow.

Which one do you think goes best with the Demon King’s Horns?]

“Adella, give me your opinion too. Which one looks best?”

NoName, lying horizontally across Adella’s back as she lay face down on the carpet, asked.

“Ugh, I can’t breathe… Just pick anything! All the dark ones look the same!”

But Adella was busy writing a 10-day “field trip report” that NoName needed to submit to Cephiron Academy’s administration office.

She was clearly annoyed at being caught in this situation.

NoName lightly got up and sat on Adella’s waist.

“Aaaaargh, really…! My back is breaking!”

“Who am I doing all this business for? Are you going to cooperate properly or not?”

Tomorrow was the official release day of the 3-circle “Demon King’s Horns” by Korea Mana Corporation.

They needed to maximize the marketing effect with consumers who had pre-ordered.

“I am cooperating! Why is there so much to write?”

“It’s only 5 pages of report per day!”

“That’s the problem—it’s for 10 days!”

Adella, faced with the obligation to write a total of 50 dense pages, was already feeling overwhelmed.

“What else has horns?”

“Like demons? Demon kings?”

“I’ve already looked into all those.”

“Then vampires…? Do vampires even have horns? Or bicons?”

“What’s a bicon?”

Adella averted her gaze.

“Um… it’s a thing! Don’t worry about it!”

“These are all too Western.”

“Halloween originally came from Anglo-American culture, didn’t it? That’s to be expected.”

NoName lay on top of Adella and started pondering.

The basics of marketing start with benchmarking.

What has been most successful in Korea?

The field doesn’t matter.

Music, food, games, comics, movies…

‘Movies?’

Korea’s film industry operates almost exclusively for the domestic market.

She recalled the list of movies that attracted the most viewers in Korea.

‘The top three were all about the Imjin War or the independence movement…’

Having come up with a good idea, NoName hit the back of Adella’s head and shouted “Eureka!”

“You Japanese bastard!”

“Ow! Why are you hitting me again! Hmph, I’m leaving, get off me!”

The next morning, NoName headed to Neverland Theme Park wearing a modernized hanbok.

It had nothing to do with the Demon King’s Horns… but what did it matter?

It was enough to show the unity of Koreans, whether human or demon, coming together to repel foreign invaders.