Ch.414409 – Seclusion

# [Real-time Best Gallery]

[World’s First Human Retinal Ganglion Cell Map Released][2193]

(Janseol Clan – Optic Nerve Connectome.jpg)

Over 10 trillion synapses perfectly mapped with connection strengths.

Theoretically, any optic neuropathy treatment can now be developed in any lab worldwide.

It’s just a matter of when treatments will emerge, not if.

Dedifferentiated stem cells needed for damaged area reconstruction can be found with just a few “clicks” on the website without complex experiments.

Even blindness with unknown causes can be treated by comparing MRI or PET scans.

Wealthy people overseas are already hiring dozens of theoretical magicians to treat blindness using the Akashic Record.

Let’s take a vote:

NoName, the greatest genius in human history who conquered vision by releasing the optic nerve connectome without patents, is more magnificent – Upvote

No, Jesus who healed a blind man by spitting on dirt and applying it to his eyes is more magnificent – Downvote

【Upvotes – 9792】 【Downvotes – 813】

[Comments]

-I pressed both upvote and downvote because I don’t want to go to hell. Please understand.

└ Nice~

└ I have to agree with this lol

└ Assuming both are true, Jesus is technically more impressive haha

└ Modern-day Jesus wow

-This upvote collector is performing insanely well.

└ Looks like it’ll break 20,000 by tomorrow.

└ From now on when someone asks my MBTI, I’ll say I’m a NAME.

-Everything else is amazing too, but isn’t this Nobel Prize-worthy?

└ “Humanity has conquered vision.”

└ You watched the blind teacher’s broadcast haha

└ This deserves to be in textbooks worldwide starting tomorrow.

-Is this person even human? Proficient in mathematics, philosophy, medicine, sociology, education, computer science, magic studies, and resonance studies?

└ Even von Neumann would struggle to learn all that lol

└ Don’t compare with someone who was learning number theory at age 12

└ NoName must have spent a thousand years in self-reflection in the Room of Time and Mind. Nothing else makes sense.

└ If it’s been 1000 years, maybe we should forgive them.

-I’m a resonance studies major and the paper quality is insane. Pure essence with no filler.

└ The Andersen Keali Conjecture in just 5 pages.

└ The optic nerve connectome paper is only 3 pages if you exclude the radiation surgery part.

└ Wasn’t the philosophy paper over 70 pages?

└ Game addiction paper: ‘100 pages’.

[Humanity Missed an Opportunity to Advance][149]

After watching the blind teacher’s broadcast yesterday, I’ve been thinking.

First, the “L-shaped” circuit class will soon use quartz instead of granite slabs, reducing mana particles.

He said treatments for epilepsy and visual impairments will emerge soon.

The seven papers will each cause tremendous ripples in their respective fields.

But what about this game addiction paper?

It just says “your opinions are wrong” and that’s it. Nothing else.

What if humanity missed an opportunity to advance because of groups advocating game regulations?

What if NoName made an incredible discovery in a parallel universe where this paper wasn’t written?

Just feeling a bit bitter about it, so I wrote this.

[Comments]

-Now that you mention it, that’s true.

-Must have been really frustrated lol

-Instead, they caught all the tax thieves in our country. Cheers to that~

-Why isn’t NoName ending their self-reflection?

-I think we should acknowledge their achievements regardless of personality issues.

└ You still don’t get it. NoName has a great personality.

└ Seeing how you don’t even believe firsthand accounts, you must be brainwashed by some wrecking VTuber lol

Verifying the connectome’s authenticity was much simpler than mathematical proofs.

One simply needed to apply synaptic activation factors according to the map and confirm reactivity through amplification magic circles.

Just as Professor Shinya Yamanaka’s 2007 development of iPS cells excited the world, laboratories worldwide jumped into developing treatments for optic neuropathies.

Foreign journalists immediately boarded flights to Korea.

Star scientists are typically busy with various engagements.

They might be invited to presidential events, conducting interviews with media outlets.

TV shows, entertainment programs, and commercial shoots would make them even busier, so journalists couldn’t afford to waste time for effective coverage.

But reporters searching for NoName’s recent activities eventually encountered shocking news.

On the first day of December, as the first snow began to fall, NoName remained in seclusion, blocking all contact.

D+41.

* * *

“So-wol, do you absolutely need to get surgery from Name? There are many skilled doctors in our country too. Can’t you reconsider, hmm?”

So-wol’s expression visibly darkened at her father’s words.

“I’ve told you many times, it’s not the kind of surgery you’re thinking of. And Name’s method is actually safer. It creates regenerative resonance circles directly from the Akashic Record itself.”

“So-wol’s dad, stop pestering her. We’ve come all this way, and it’s rude to talk like that.”

“I’m just worried about our daughter…”

“Name, I’m sorry. I’m ready whenever you want to start, just let me know.”

So-wol bowed apologetically.

Ban So-wol’s parents had flown to Korea on an early morning flight.

At age 13, she suddenly lost vision in both eyes and had lived that way for seven years.

Comments like “Can’t you see in virtual reality anyway?” gradually chipped away at her heart.

While not incorrect, it wasn’t something that should be said.

Even if one could extend their aura to sense object surfaces, it was fundamentally different from “seeing” the world.

Like a two-dimensional being dropped into a three-dimensional world.

Name took So-wol’s hand and guided her to her parents.

“Please tell each other that you love one another. A good ending will make the days when you couldn’t see not seem so bad.”

Ban So-wol’s family shyly comforted each other at those words.

Name smiled softly watching this harmonious family.

The operating room was Name’s bedroom.

It was actually questionable whether to call it surgery.

All Name needed to do was maintain a magic circle for an hour.

But despite the simplicity of the treatment, preparation wasn’t taken lightly.

They analyzed Ban So-wol’s optic nerve layer thickness and retinal conditions while creating the optic nerve connectome together.

The entire room was equipped with clean magic, turning it into a sterile environment.

“Should I lie down here?”

“Yes. It won’t hurt, so I won’t use anesthesia.”

“Hmm.”

So-wol, who was about to lie down on the pillow, suddenly sat up again.

“It really doesn’t hurt. Even a 5-year-old wouldn’t cry. Actually, would a 5-year-old cry? Let’s say a 10-year-old then.”

With a dubious expression and licking her lips, So-wol slowly lowered her upper body.

Name handed her personal wand to Ban So-wol and had her grip it firmly with both hands.

“There’s a component that regulates intraocular pressure, so your eyes will feel a bit cool. Like skiing without goggles.”

“That suddenly makes me nervous when you put it that way.”

“It’s bearable.”

“By the way, Name, have you ever been skiing?”

“Um… no.”

“Wait a second-“

[Casting: Diagnosis]

[Joint Casting: 3D Interference]

A small magic circle formed above So-wol’s right eye.

Soon after, a 3D hologram replicating her eyeball rose enlarged above the magic circle.

This is why Akashic Record treatment is both easy and difficult.

The minimum qualification requirement is 5-circle triple casting.

Her hands gripped the wand tightly.

Name, with heightened concentration, inserted a very thin mana needle into one part of the hologram.

Neuroblast cells would be generated at the exact corresponding point.

[Casting: Akashic Record]

“Hmm…!”

So-wol trembled slightly at the sensation she’d never felt before.

As the Akashic Record was cast, a single rune divided into tens of thousands, billions, trillions, generating a series of information.

The runes infused with mana were sucked into the magic circle and traveled along the thin needle.

Now began a period of tedium.

Name sat on the edge of the bed and spoke to So-wol.

“Right eye 19 minutes 41 seconds. Then left eye 18 minutes 37 seconds. Then about 15 more minutes of rest. I wonder if it takes longer than LASIK.”

“This feels strange. Like someone’s licking my eye with an ice cream-covered tongue.”

“What do you want to do when you can see, unnie?”

“Hmm.”

So-wol repeatedly pressed and released her lips as she pondered.

“On the way home, I’ll listen to new songs released this week, have samgyeopsal for dinner, and take a warm bath.”

Name asked in confusion.

“None of those have anything to do with sight.”

So-wol chuckled softly.

“Because when I listen to songs, I won’t see musical notes anymore; when I eat samgyeopsal, I won’t see pigs; when I bathe, I won’t see hot springs. If things that shouldn’t be seen aren’t seen, won’t things that should be seen be seen better?”

“That sounds like sophistry to me.”

“Hehe. I was trying to sound like I’m from Korea University’s Philosophy Department. I’ll just spend time with my parents. And see your cute face too. I’ve only seen you through screens until now.”

Ban So-wol said while suppressing her laughter.

“That’s why you still seem like a celebrity to me, NoName. I’m talking to a celebrity in my dream right now.”

A brief silence fell between them.

“I don’t think I’m cut out for anything like being a celebrity.”

Name’s voice, accompanied by a slight sigh, had clearly become more gloomy.

“Why?”

“It’s nice when people pay attention to me, but the gap between how they see me and who I really am keeps growing. At some point, it became hard to handle.”

“That sounds like something an idol would worry about.”

“It’s actually a childish concern. Naturally, as social fame builds, you need to show a constructed image rather than your true self.”

“What is Name’s true self?”

“I don’t know either. What’s certain is that it’s not who I am now.”

“There’s no such thing as a childish concern in this world. Why don’t you use this time to think about it? Name, you’ve always been so busy that you probably haven’t had time to reflect on yourself.”

The Akashic Record had already moved to the other eye.

Meanwhile, So-wol was pressing firmly on her treated eye with white gauze.

The sound of the magic circle turning permeated the silence.

Name ultimately couldn’t find an answer.

“Now press firmly on the left eye too. When you open your eyes, everything will look extremely clear for about an hour, then gradually become blurry. Your vision will return to today’s level over the course of a week, just so you know.”

“Did it work?”

“Yes. Doesn’t feel real yet?”

“Well, I can’t see anything because of the gauze. I don’t feel overwhelmed with emotion yet.”

“That’s because you were certain it would work. How did you feel when you got accepted to Korea University’s Philosophy Department? I bet you didn’t feel like you owned the world.”

“Hmm, I was happy, but as you said, I wasn’t jumping around with joy. Just relief that I got in without any issues.”

“I’ve felt that too. Working hard toward a single goal, but when you reach the summit, it’s not as great as you expected.”

“Name.”

“Yes?”

“You can act more like a child. No one will think it’s strange if you do.”

Name pondered So-wol’s words for a long time.

After 15 minutes, Name reached out to remove the gauze.

“Can I take it off now?”

“Mmm, wait a moment.”

But Ban So-wol stood up with the gauze still pressed firmly against her eyes.

She stood in front of the door and took a deep breath before opening it.

“Oh Name, I feel tears welling up a bit. Wouldn’t it be more dramatic if I held back and cried in front of my parents?”

“Ha! What’s that about? Do you calculate everything like that when you cry?”

“I’m showing you what you’re like right now. It’s strange, isn’t it?”

“Um… yes.”

“Just cry when you want to cry, without worrying what others think. An old man once said that only those who have shed tears of sorrow can shed tears of joy.”

Ban So-wol twirled halfway around.

She lowered her hand holding the gauze and gently lifted her long eyelashes.

“So small… so cute… so pretty.”

Tears that had been welling up rolled down her cheeks and brushed the corners of her lips.

With softly creased eyes, Ban So-wol embraced Name with a slightly husky voice.

“Thank you, Name. I’m so happy right now. The happiest I’ve ever been in my life. I’m so, so happy that my tears just won’t stop. Hic.”

In contrast to her calm tone, her tear ducts seemed broken, pouring out clear droplets profusely.

Considering Ban So-wol’s usually iron-like demeanor, seeing her burst into tears was unimaginable.

But somehow, Name thought tears suited her perfectly.

* * *

[Breaking News: NoName “Withdraws” from Cephiron Academy. Future Whereabouts Uncertain.]