2025.
For a long time now, Karida’s mornings had begun with the monologue, 'Should I quit.' They had been breathless days.
From the memory of running and playing with children in the dusty soil of Iraq, to the sense of accomplishment from having contributed to the birth of Artistea, the pinnacle of human intellect, after moving to America.
The pride of belonging to the most important group in the world, while simultaneously gaining global fame, was undeniable.
Of course, the guilt of having left her father figure, Zahir, behind to join this project always weighed heavily on a corner of her heart.
Her time at CAI was enjoyable and rewarding.
With the sole exception of one person: Demisass Chapman.
Throughout the project, Chapman was like an active volcano that could erupt at any moment.
The day she created and added code that could significantly improve Artistea without Chapman's knowledge was particularly terrible.
'Perhaps this is what the people next to Mount Tambora felt when it erupted.'
Her colleagues told her to understand, that’s just how he was, but for her, it was unacceptable.
Chapman, who was particularly harsh on Karida, would unleash a torrent of irritation at even a simple word like telling him to eat.
After Artistea was released to the world, Chapman gradually focused on his media activities and rarely came to the institute.
People worried that the Artistea project would lose its direction, but she felt as if she could finally breathe.
She was the person who had contributed the most to the program's development after Chapman, and everyone else liked her.
Other researchers would sometimes praise Chapman’s sense of humor or his genius-level leadership.
However, Karida often found herself breaking down whenever she faced his extreme emotional swings.
She had once confided in Dr. Song Joo-eun about this.
At that, she would get such a troubled look on her face that Karida, who was trying to consult with her, would end up feeling sorry.
“Chapman… he has a pathologically strong sense of self. He’s the same now as he was when he was a kid. I’m sorry, Karida. As the person who brought you here, and as his friend, I apologize on his behalf.”
The same conversation, and her same reply, repeated every time.
“It’s alright. If there’s something I’m lacking, I should fix it.”
“I’m sorry to say this but… Karida, how about you try to speak with a little more consideration for the other person’s feelings?”
The first time she heard this, she couldn't believe her ears.
She knew Song Joo-eun wasn't saying this to criticize her, but she still felt hurt. People often told Karida she was eccentric.
But Karida couldn't understand them.
Why they worked in such inefficient ways, why they lived so crushed by authority.
She had fled to America to escape an environment surrounded by authority.
The Rashid family, with its power and wealth, was nothing but shackles to her.
Even though her father loved her.
Come to think of it, it had been over 20 years since she had last seen her family face to face.
Though they had seen each other’s faces through video calls since the technology became available.
But lately, she had been feeling a growing sense of homesickness.
Recently, Artistea had been plagued by unstable servers and energy problems.
People didn't understand the situation of slowed speeds due to increased usage.
They weren't wrong.
But the problem was that all the responsibility for the current technical issues fell on Karida.
Without Chapman, no matter how many new ideas Karida and her fellow programmers and the board members proposed, there was a limit to the improvements.
It was Karida’s job, as a senior member, to embrace all the internal and external complaints.
It was the same when Chapman was around.
When she painstakingly organized and reported a solution to a problem that arose during the project, the answer that came back was always the same.
“Get lost. You can’t even handle that on your own?”
“I am reporting this because a final decision is needed. At the last meeting….”
“See, you can’t do anything without me. Right, Karida?”
Chapman sneered at her with a smile that an outsider might have mistaken for charming. Karida no longer knew how to react.
'Should I quit?'
The words she had only repeated in her head slipped out of her mouth without her realizing.
Her colleagues were startled and nudged her arm.
But now, she almost missed Chapman’s insults.
A sense of powerlessness, that everything was just a temporary fix, was crushing her.
'My role here is over. Should I go back to Iraq?'
The thought that surfaced every morning gradually made her, once the mood-maker of the institute, more and more quiet.
The dream’s engine sputtering out was an event that was draining the life from her.
On a holiday afternoon,
Karida was rolling around in bed, nursing a throbbing headache from the previous night’s drinking.
Then, the phone rang.
“Arti, who is it?”
Suddenly wide awake, Karida quickly answered the phone.
“Hello, this is Karida.”
A sense of tension washed over her at the sound of her father’s voice after so long.
Karida had barely contacted Zahir after she left.
The guilt of leaving her father behind.
It had not faded with time. Zahir did not blame her.
In subsequent calls, he would only make small talk, like updates on his sons or stories about a new business he had started.
That consideration was both grateful and heavy for Karida.
“Yes, Karida. Are you well?”
At his warm voice, Karida couldn’t bring herself to say she was having a hard time.
She believed that repaying him with success was the only right thing to do.
“…Yes. Are you well too, Father?”
“I’m glad to hear it. The reason I’m calling is, could you possibly come see me in a few days?”
Karida answered without hesitation.
“Yes, of course. You sound happy, has something good happened?”
She considered it a chance to clear her head, just when she wanted to quit.
“Well, it is good news. Chazra is getting married. I would like you, who are like family, to be there.”
Her nose tingled at the sincere words from her stern father.
“Of course. I’ll be there.”
“Thank you. But… could you come about two days before the wedding date? There’s something I really want to show you.”
A voice filled with excitement, so unlike Zahir.
There was clearly something more.
“Yes? Is there more good news?”
“There is. We’ll talk when we meet. See you then.”
After hanging up, Karida was at a crossroads.
'Should I take a vacation, or should I resign.'
Now that she realized she couldn't lead Artistea's next leap forward, there was no reason to stay here.
She ended up submitting a one-month leave of absence to the institute.
Many people objected to her, the project leader, taking a leave of absence.
Among them, Visnail vehemently opposed it, mixing in harsh curses.
But Song Joo-eun and Sato Haru took her side.
Though Karida was currently the head of the programming department, it was Dr. Song and Dr. Sato who were leading the institute.
After Karida’s leave was approved and Visnail left, fuming on the phone with someone, only Song Joo-eun, Sato, and Karida remained in the conference room.
“Aren’t you going to the wedding, Dr. Song?”
Karida wanted to attend with Song Joo-eun.
She thought it would be a small excuse if she went to see Zahir with Song Joo-eun, the person who had invited her to the Artistea project.
“I wasn’t invited. So please congratulate them for me as well.”
“What? You weren’t invited, Dr. Song?” Karida was so surprised that she slammed the table with much more force than she had intended.
“Ah, hot!!” The drink on the table spilled onto Sato.
Feeling terribly sorry, Karida tried to get up quickly to wipe it off with at least a wet towel, but she caused another accident.
The chair pushed back too quickly, knocking over the flower vase by the conference room window.
“Ah…”
Karida covered her mouth with her hands, at a loss at the situation that had unfolded in an instant.
In the meantime, Song Joo-eun quickly wiped Sato’s clothes with a tissue and then calmed the angry Sato.
“Is this the reward for taking your side, Karida?”
Sato glared at Karida, pointing at the stain on her clothes.
“Don’t be so hard on her, she didn't do it on purpose. People make mistakes. You’re not hurt, are you, Haru?”
At Song Joo-eun’s gentle words, Sato swallowed whatever else she wanted to say and just sighed deeply.
“Ugh, I don’t know. Is this institute going to fail now too? Have a good vacation, Karida.”
Sato left without any lingering resentment.
She probably went to change her clothes.
“…I’m sorry.”
Karida felt a sense of self-loathing for her clumsiness.
The thought that she couldn't do anything right was dominating her.
“Huh? It’s okay. Can you help me clean up what fell on the floor?”
Karida nodded and ran to the cleaning supply closet near the restroom.
The stares of the people she passed on the way felt frightening.
Perhaps because she was beautiful, she was much more well-known than the other developers, except for Chapman.
Her father in Iraq was happy that Karida had become famous, but Karida couldn't be purely happy.
She was already in her forties, but still just a child who repeated such mistakes, and the world expected too much from her.
Even as she took out the cleaning supplies, the burden on her felt incredibly heavy.
Tears suddenly began to well up, but she held them back with the hope that she would surely be able to smile when she met Zahir.
She returned to the conference room and saw Song Joo-eun cleaning up.
Her figure, crouched down, picking up the glass shards one by one, seemed so immense.
And she thought of the burden that would fall on her when she was gone for a month. Karida hugged Song Joo-eun from behind.
Song Joo-eun let out a startled scream, but once she confirmed it was Karida, she smiled benevolently and helped Karida up.
Karida hugged Song Joo-eun tightly and began to cry in her arms.
“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. For not being good enough. For being full of mistakes…”
If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
Song Joo-eun patted Karida’s back.
“It’s okay, it’s okay. Karida is still a baby, isn't she?”
At her warm words, Karida’s crying grew louder.
“Have a good trip. We’ll manage somehow without you. It’ll be a little tough, of course. But you can just work hard again after a good rest. Right? Karida, are you okay?”
Karida’s tears wouldn't stop.
“If things get really bad, I’ll drag Demisass, that bastard, back here to work, so don’t worry too much. Okay? Huh?”
At Song Joo-eun’s cheerful consideration, Karida was able to smile a little.
“This is something we say in Korea.”
Karida slowly pulled away from her embrace.
“If you laugh while crying, you'll grow hair on your butt.”
“What? Hahaha, what’s that?”
“When I was little, a lot of kids used to tease me. So when I came home crying, my mom would play a lot of pranks to make me laugh. Then I would burst out laughing while crying, just like you did now, Karida. That’s what my mom used to say to me every time. Funny, right?”
Song Joo-eun’s face, over fifty, held both mischief and warmth.
At her playful words, Karida hoped for moments filled only with laughter, even if it meant growing hair.
After the vacation issue was settled, Karida boarded the plane, looking forward to meeting Zahir.
Even at the airport, many people recognized her.
She couldn't rest properly, greeting people and taking pictures.
Among them were people who complained about the recent problems with Artistea.
She wanted to escape from all of this quickly.
The air on the East Coast, where she had arrived after a long time, brought back memories of the past.
As soon as she landed and dropped off her luggage at the hotel, she called Zahir.
He thanked her for coming and said to meet at his research institute the next day.
She rested well at the hotel and waited for the next day.
She woke up early in the morning and set off for the institute with a fluttering heart.
Arriving at the institute, Karida was greeted by an unfamiliar scene right from the entrance.
The exterior of the building was the same, but the moment she opened the door and stepped inside, she felt as if she had entered a completely different world.
The old, bleak lobby of the past was gone.
The marble floor shone like a mirror, and the central wall was proudly adorned with a golden logo that read 'MIT Energy Institute'. The walls were filled with the numerous patents and awards Dr. Zahir had received, and photos taken with high-ranking government officials.
This was not the institute that had been struggling for lack of people when Karida was there.
'It’s gotten much better, that’s a relief.'
Karida had heard from Song Joo-eun that Dr. Zahir had succeeded after she left, but she hadn't expected it to be this much.
She remembered the time in 2013 when she had heard from Song Joo-eun about the humiliation he had suffered in his meeting with Chapman, and how she had held the phone, at a loss for what to say.
She had never contacted him first, afraid that her comfort might hurt Zahir’s pride.
Just then, a sharp voice came from one side of the lobby.
A woman was standing over a security guard, berating him fiercely.
The guard’s blue uniform had a name tag that read ‘Ben’.
“Hello, Mr. Ben. Excuse me for a moment.”
Karida interjected between them with a gentle greeting.
Ben turned to her with a look as if he had met a savior.
“Yes, hello! How may I help you?”
The woman scolding the guard was a white woman in an impeccable suit, with sharp eyes that seemed to see through everything.
She glared at Karida, as if displeased that her conversation had been interrupted.
“It’s rude to interrupt a conversation.”
“I’m sorry. I have an appointment with Dr. Zahir. I don’t know where to go.”
The woman’s expression softened for a moment at the words ‘Dr. Zahir’s guest,’ but she still didn't let down her guard.
“He should be in the director’s office. What is your name?”
“My name is Karida Rashid.”
Karida revealed her name.
The woman's eyes widened slightly.
While Ben contacted Zahir, Karida left the angry woman behind and approached the glass display case in the center of the lobby.
'What is this? Has it been turned into a museum?'
Inside the glass case, a past failure was displayed like a glorious relic.
The substance they called ‘EmS-375’.
The 375th attempt that Zahir and she had researched through the night, the one with the most potential but ultimately failed.
When she put on the headset, a familiar voice flowed out.
She listened to the explanation from the headset and smiled bitterly.
At the time, Zahir had dismissed it as a failure, saying it ‘only lasted 200 hours.’
'Only 200 hours.'
Did her father really not know how many stages this palm-sized energy storage device, which maintained 1,000W of power for 200 hours, had advanced the world’s battery technology?
“Karida!”
Even with the headset on, Karida was startled by the loud, passionate voice from behind her.
The Dr. Zahir she knew was not a man with such a booming voice.
“Father!”
Karida took off the headset and happily faced him.
Instead of messy hair and stained clothes, a neat lab coat and a well-groomed beard.
The man standing before her was a different person from the father in her memory.
But the biggest change was in his eyes.
The tired look of the past was gone, and a confidence as if he owned the world and a fiery passion were burning like a flame.
“Well, are you not tired?” Zahir asked after their greetings.
“No, I’m fine. Father, you look amazing today.”
Karida’s compliment was sincere.
Thinking of the past institute that wouldn't have been strange if it had disappeared at any moment for lack of people, she realized how great his appearance now was.
“You think so? It’s changed a lot since your time, hasn't it?”
Zahir, as if he were the master of a kingdom, spread his arms wide and pointed to the lobby filled with evidence of his success.
“It really has. How did this happen? You haven't said a word about this.”
“Haha, let’s talk about the details in my office.”
Zahir said towards the lobby desk.
“Mr. Ben, don't let anyone into my office until I say otherwise.”
And he turned to the woman who had been scolding Ben earlier.
“And Julia, this is my former student, Karida Rashid. She was with me from the beginning of this institute, and now she is the lead programmer for Artistea.”
“Ah, Karida.”
Julia instantly hid the sharp look behind her glasses and extended her hand to Karida with a gentle smile.
Her platinum blonde ponytail swayed elegantly.
“Hello, Ms. Karida Rashid. I am Julia Marier. It’s a pleasure to meet you. It’s an honor to meet the student the director has praised so highly.”
She was a completely different person from the one who had been cornering the security guard just a moment ago.
Karida felt a shiver run down her spine at the perfect change in attitude.
“When did I ever praise her, Julia. Don’t say such things.”
Zahir’s embarrassed look was truly a rare sight.
Karida thought that perhaps she knew nothing about her father.
“Yes, a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Marier.”
After shaking hands, Karida followed Zahir to his office.
Zahir’s office hadn't changed much from when Karida was there.
The old sofa, the guest desk, even the coffee cups.
The sense of relief from the things that hadn't changed made her smile.
“It’s still the same here, Father.”
“Isn’t it?” Zahir said, bringing her coffee.
“So, why did you ask me to come before the wedding? You said you had something you wanted to show me.”
As Karida put down the cup after a sip and asked, Zahir’s eyes sparkled like a boy’s.
“Ah, yes. There was something I really wanted to show you.”
Zahir stood up and headed to a heavy safe in the corner of his office.
After disengaging several security devices, the heavy door opened.
He came out with two things in his hands.
One was a colorless, transparent but faintly shimmering gel in a small glass vial, and the other was…
Karida held her breath.
In Zahir’s hand was a cubic core that emitted a faint blue light.
“Father, what is this?”
“I named this the Finite Conductor. What do you think?”
Seeing a substance that looked like it came from a movie or a comic in real life felt strange.
“Finite Conductor? You mean energy flows through it for a finite time?”
Karida remembered the countless failures from her time researching with Zahir.
'Could it be that Father really succeeded?'
“But it’s only a six-month temporary solution.”
Zahir nodded and placed the core in his hand on the table.
It was an object that could be called the pinnacle of current human science.
“Congratulations! Father, you succeeded, didn't you?”
At Karida’s congratulations, Zahir smiled and then showed her the second object.
The object in the glass vial made her feel even more amazed than the Finite Conductor she had just seen.
“And this, this is the Eternal Conductor. Made with the ‘Salashid Gel’ we dreamed of.”
Karida, beginning to understand the situation, her eyes widened and she started to get excited.
But before she could let her emotions erupt, Zahir opened the glass vial and put the Finite Conductor inside it.
Then, the gel in the vial perfectly enveloped the core and seeped into it.
Something unbelievable happened.
The faint blue light inside the core activated explosively and began to rotate violently in all directions.
The entire room was bathed in its brilliant light.
“What… what… how did this happen?”
Was all Karida could manage to say.
“Do you remember that our dream was to make energy circulate forever?”
She nodded vigorously and waited for Zahir’s next words.
“I thought the answer was to maintain the quantum vibration continuously. So I thought of this. How can we keep the small energy crystals vibrating continuously?”
“That’s… by putting them in countless lattices to resonate…”
Karida said, fumbling through old memories.
“Yes, you still remember the Continuous Magnetization theory.”
Zahir began to express the flow of energy with his hands.
“The theory of creating continuous electrical energy by placing non-interfering energy crystals in each lattice to ‘circulate’ the energy, and then causing resonance as they push and pull each other like magnets…”
Since meeting Zahir in the market as a child, she had read his paper, which she had received from a neighborhood boy, dozens of times.
“But we kept failing at that. How, how is it possible?”
The days of staying up all night and experimenting flashed through her mind.
The memories of frustration and failure.
That was the reason Karida had decided to join the Artistea team.
“It’s hard to explain in detail, but I figured out how to make the quantum vibrations not interfere with each other, thus making the vibration zero.”
Karida could feel the light radiating from her father’s, her mentor’s face.
Her father had succeeded without her. She, on the other hand, had lived with emotional ups and downs dozens of times a day after leaving Zahir.
Artistea was definitely a successful project, but it was hard to say it was hers.
No matter what anyone said, Artistea was the work of Chapman and Song Joo-eun.
Karida took the Eternal Conductor from Zahir and couldn't take her eyes off it.
She could feel the passion of a scientist, which she had lost, burning hot in her heart again.
“How… how could this be….”
The core, named the Finite Conductor, had become a perfect sphere within the gel, endlessly circulating energy.
“Yes, finally… it’s complete.”
Zahir’s voice was filled with a pride that was the culmination of decades of perseverance.
“Is this then really… the Eternal Conductor? Really?”
Karida looked back and forth between Zahir’s face and the brilliantly shining substance on her hand.
“Congratulations…!” That was all she could say.
It was the crystallization of her father’s long-held dream of wanting to rebuild his homeland, Iraq.
The dream she had heard of countless times while with Zahir.
Karida had so many questions she wanted to ask.
“Thank you. I really wanted to show you.”
“This is why you asked me to see you the day before the wedding, isn't it?” Zahir nodded with a face full of pride.
“The core of this Eternal Conductor is the ‘Salashid Spiral’ rotating inside.”
“Salashid…, didn't you also say Salashid Gel earlier?”
“Yes, that’s right. I named it after a mentor I respect. My mentor always taught his students with passion, even amidst the pain of a war-torn country. I couldn't do that.”
Zahir looked away as if ashamed.
“Come on, what are you talking about. Your lectures were popular too, Father.”
Karida knew that what she had just said wasn't true, but she wanted to make her father feel good.
She wanted to boast to the whole world that this man, who had created a great achievement that would go down in human history, was the man she could call father.
“Thank you for saying so. My mentor wanted us to endlessly learn and grow by Allah’s side, even if our country was in ruins. He said that countries are meant to fall and rise.”
“Like… an endless spiral?”
At Karida’s words, Zahir laughed loudly.
“Yes, that’s right. While thinking about how to make energy rotate endlessly, I remembered my mentor’s words and named it the Salashid Effect, Salashid Spiral.”
“Then, what is this gel? You said this was Salashid Gel too?”
“Ah, that? It plays the role of allowing the shape to be flexible and change without being fixed.”
At Zahir’s casual words, Karida was shocked again and again.
It was to the point where all the surprise she had felt so far felt like a joke.
“Flexibly?”
“Yes, no matter how much you put the quantum crystals in the lattice resonator, they eventually break over time. That’s the Finite Conductor.”
Zahir took the Eternal Conductor back from Karida.
“So that’s why you said six months?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
Zahir went to put the Eternal Conductor back in the safe. Watching his back, Karida once again felt the greatness she had felt with Song Joo-eun.
'I want to have a back like that too. Like Dr. Song, like Father.'
Fear crept over her, that she might be too old for her age.
At the same time, Chapman’s face came to mind.
'Ugh, ugh, Chapman is a great man, but he’s not a venerable man, is he? Why is his face popping into my head right now?'
While Karida was waving her hands, Zahir, who had returned, looked at her with a benevolent smile, as if she still felt like a child to him.
“To a parent, a child is the same, no matter how old they get.”
“What? Do I look like a child to you? I’m over 40, you know.”
“Haha, sorry. But you still look like the girl I met at the market.”
At Zahir’s words, Karida’s face turned red.
She had to quickly change the subject back to the Eternal Conductor.
“What about the six months you mentioned earlier?”
“Hmm…, Karida, what do you think would happen if you continuously played a sound of the exact same pitch to a wine glass?”
“The continuous resonance would create a crack, and it would eventually break, right? Asking me something so easy is treating me too much like a child, isn't it? No matter what, I have a doctorate in energy physics, you think I wouldn't know that?”
As Karida spoke as if pouting, Zahir burst out laughing even louder.
“Sorry, sorry. Anyway, you’re right.”
Zahir’s eyes changed from those of a father to those of a scientist and began to shine.
“It’s the same with the Finite Conductor core. So even if you put in the lattice, if the vibration continues, it breaks the lattice.”
Zahir also looked grim, crossing his arms as if the thought of that time was terrible.
“I think that Chapman person probably knew this on that day.”
A name Karida had not expected at all came up.
“What? Chapman, all of a sudden?”
'Is Father about to talk about the humiliation he suffered? Then what should I say?'
Karida knew well that Zahir had immense pride.
The memory of that day must have been a huge wound for him.
“Yes, didn’t you hear from Dr. Song or Dr. Chapman? I thought you knew.”
“What? Ah… no, no. I didn’t hear anything.”
A lie slipped out without her realizing it.
“Ah, they must have done it out of consideration for me.”
“What? Come on, that's ridiculous. Maybe Dr. Song, but Dr. Chapman?” Karida snorted and waved her hand.
“No, now that I think about it, I think he was right. He said it wouldn’t work with the current method.”
“No one has heard those words more often than me. ‘Karida! You’re hopeless! You can’t do anything with that method, you idiot!’”
“Hahaha, are you imitating Mr. Chapman? You do it well.”
“What? I guess I’m just imitating him without realizing it since I’ve been insulted so much.”
Karida wanted to talk about what she had endured from Chapman.
These were things she couldn't easily say to the people she saw at the institute every day.
Though the superficial reason for coming to see Zahir was to celebrate Chazra’s wedding.
“Do you know how much I’ve put up with from Chapman?”
Karida spent a long time complaining about Chapman to Zahir. He listened carefully to her every word.
“Karida, you’ve been through a lot.”
At this one phrase from Zahir, Karida felt tears welling up again.
“I…, I… I’m sorry… I shouldn't have gone back then…”
“Huh? No, no. Aren't you, me, all of us doing well now?”
His warmth made Karida feel even more miserable.
Karida brought her hands to her eyes and suppressed her tears.
“By the way, Karida.”
At Zahir’s suddenly serious voice, she came to her senses and looked at him.
“Yes?”
“I hope you won’t tell anyone about the Eternal Conductor and the Finite Conductor.”
It was an incomprehensible request.
The Eternal Conductor was an achievement that would surely go down in world history.
It was an object that would shake the world as much as, if not more than, Artistea.
“Why?”
“I want to announce it when the time is right.”
“Well, of course. You keep talking to me as if I’m a child.”
It was a playful remark meant to lighten the mood.
But Zahir did not accept her joke this time.
“Please. I beg you.” Karida could only nod.
“Are you hungry? Shall we go get something to eat?”
Zahir led her to the restaurant inside the research institute.
“By the way, Father, how did the institute get so big?”
It was a question she hadn't been able to ask due to the shock of the Eternal Conductor and the Finite Conductor.
Now that they were going to eat, she relaxed and the surroundings came into view again.
“Ah, yes, you were very surprised, weren't you? It’s changed a lot compared to when you were here.” Zahir explained the various parts of the institute.
“…And then one day, some people introduced by Dr. Song came to the institute all at once.”
“Dr. Song?”
She was a truly remarkable person.
The research institute of Artistea, CAI (Chapman Advanced Intelligence), was a place she had actually founded, despite its name.
“Yes, and they said we needed to grow the institute. That my research wouldn't progress properly in its current state.”
“Wow, Dr. Song was always so busy, but she really did a lot of things.”
Karida knew that Song Joo-eun, whom she relied on the most, was busy, but she didn't know the details of what she did.
She had only thought that she was busy with her academic activities as a world-renowned scholar.
“Do you remember Julia, whom you just met?”
There was no way she could forget someone she had met just a short while ago.
The beautiful but strong-willed woman who had been scolding the security guard.
“She started with public relations, saying we needed to change the institute’s image.”
As Karida nodded, Zahir continued his explanation.
“She also arranged exchanges with other universities by persuading President Hudson. She’s a very grateful person. Well, though she lacks a bit of scientific knowledge.”
It was completely incomprehensible.
The Zahir she knew was not a person who would accept such a thing.
“What? The deputy director of an energy research institute lacks scientific knowledge?”
“Haha, the institute is run like a company now. Julia is like the head of the management support department.”
Karida thought about how much Zahir had given up.
“That’s just how it is these days.”
That was right.
Zahir had done everything he could for his dream.
Come to think of it, the artificial intelligence research institute where Karida worked had a similar structure.
Dr. Robert Visnail was a political scientist, but he had brought in investment for the institute with his immense connections.
The same was true for Dr. Song Joo-eun.
Without the funds the two had brought in, Artistea might not have been born into the world.
Karida, thinking she had to understand her father’s change, spoke with a hint of regret.
“It’s similar for us. I guess that’s how everyone has to operate these days.”
Zahir just nodded silently at her words.
After finishing their meal, the two walked along the forest path surrounding the research institute.
At the end of the path where they walked, sharing old memories, Karida’s car came into view. As Karida was opening the car door, Zahir said with a grim expression.
“Karida. What you saw today, you must not tell anyone.”
The image of him, who was famous for being scary during her university days, came to mind.
“What? You said it was a secret earlier. Who would I tell?”
Zahir approached her and took both her hands. His hands were trembling slightly.
“No, I need you to really promise me. Not until I say it’s ready, absolutely not. This is for the best.”
A deep fear was embedded in his firm gaze.
When Karida asked for the reason, he hesitated for a moment and then whispered in her ear.
“After the wedding, come to my lab the next day. The keyword… is treasure hunt.”
“What? Treasure…”
“Enough!”
At Zahir’s desperate cry, Karida fell silent.
She had no choice but to nod.
Getting into the car and watching her father disappear in the rearview mirror, Karida was thrown into deep confusion.
'Julia, the Eternal Conductor, and the keyword… treasure hunt… what is it all?'
Thank you for reading, and for staying with the world of Artistea.
Part 1 is fully completed (Chapters 0–15 + Asha’s side story).If you prefer not to wait for the scheduled uploads, the entire volume is already available on:
?? Amazon Kindle / Google Books — Search: Artistea: The Indelible Reminiscence(Links aren’t posted here to respect site policy, but the title alone will bring it up instantly.)
The free uploads here will continue on schedule no matter what. Your presence alone means more to me than I can express.
Next upload: ?? 2026-01-08