Reset Life with Infinite Talents - Chapter 218
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Infinite Talent Reset Life Episode 218
Swoosh!
A woman in uniform politely bows at the waist.
Charles, a third-year UCLA economics student, thinks to himself.
‘This is what’s great about high-end places.’
The quiet atmosphere that waits patiently without being pushy.
The feeling that customers aren’t treated as mere purchasing targets, but are served with genuine care.
“It’s been a while.”
“You came after a week. Is there anything you need?”
“No. I’ll just browse around.”
“Yes, understood.”
As the female server steps back, Charles walks toward the display case.
‘Truly magnificent.’
Breguet, called one of the top 5 high-end watch brands along with Patek Philip. Each one makes his heart race.
“Could I take a look at this one?”
“Certainly, sir.”
The male server standing at the display case carefully takes out the watch with gloved hands.
Breguet, with a basic price range starting at $30,000. Even a used watch band costs thousands of dollars.
Charles photographs the heavy watch as it’s placed on his wrist with his phone.
Click!
‘Got one post for social media!’
If he uploads a photo wearing a Breguet watch, those new students he met today will be completely impressed.
‘Especially those two!’
The two who stood out most at today’s orientation.
‘Emily and Joy, was it?’
“Hmm. Please take it off.”
“Understood.”
If he tried to remove it himself and scratched it, that would be a huge disaster. But expressing such concerns would look really pathetic, so Charles hides his feelings by sighing.
“Nothing catches my eye this time either. Thank you for your service.”
“If you have any preferred designs or colors, we can inquire with headquarters.”
“No. That’s fine. Well then.”
‘There’s no way I could say something like that.’
Because then he’d have to buy it.
‘I’ll have to buy a fake of what I photographed today again.’
Still, Charles maintains his pretentious act until the end as he turns to leave the store, when he’s startled to discover Emily entering.
‘That’s the one from earlier… Ah, she came to browse too?’
Just like himself, window shopping for vicarious satisfaction and to feed her vanity.
‘This will make pursuing her even easier.’
Since the watch on the wrist of what appears to be her boyfriend is a budget brand product that students might wear, he’s a poor boyfriend who can’t satisfy his girlfriend’s vanity, making this seem easier.
On the other hand, he prided himself on understanding what vain people want better than anyone. He just had to show them exactly what they wanted to see and tell them exactly what they wanted to hear.
Charles approaches with a sly grin.
“You came to look at watches? You should have said something! I would have brought you!”
“…Who are you?”
At Johann’s slightly frowning eyes, Charles smirks inwardly.
‘Hehe. Yeah, that must hurt your pride.’
“A senior from the economics department.”
“Ah.”
At Emily’s response, Johann nods.
“Hello. Let’s go, Emily.”
“Okay.”
Johann wraps his arm around Emily’s shoulder as they head inside, and Charles follows behind them with a smirk.
The female server bows toward them.
“Don’t you think this is what’s great about high-end places? The quiet atmosphere that waits patiently without being pushy…”
“Welcome, Mr. Jefferson.”
‘Huh?’
Flinch!
Charles looks at the female server with shaking eyes.
The female server who had never once acknowledged him before. The male server also politely bows even though Johann hasn’t approached the display case.
“It’s been 4 years, Mr. Jefferson.”
“Wow, I didn’t expect both of you to remember me?”
“What you said when you came with Father 5 years ago gave us at Breguet much to think about.”
Will this still work if it gets hit by a car?
It won’t? It’ll be smashed? Then why wear it on your wrist?
The small stone thrown by a young child, who asked about the watch’s essential function rather than its price and brand prestige, caused many ripples for him and upper management.
That child was the Wolf Boy who found Norton I’s treasure, the return of The Rack and El Toro, and an avatar sent down by the god of rock.
A genius destined to become as great as he is now.
“Ahaha! So today I came to buy a watch for my girlfriend to wear!”
“…Oh, I apologize for not recognizing you, Ms. Sherman.”
Flinch!
Charles looks at Emily in shock, and Emily grins at the male server.
“You remember me too?”
“Just last year, your Mother came…”
“Stop. You don’t need to say more. I’m an adult now!”
“Oh, congratulations.”
The staff who know the situation offer sincere congratulations.
Emily, who always threatened that she would buy a watch with her own card once she became a legal adult, every time Sandra stopped by to purchase gift watches.
Finally, the moment she had been waiting for had arrived.
“So, do you have any designs you’d recommend?”
“Since this is to celebrate college admission and becoming an adult… how about these designs?”
“Wow. Johann, what do you think?”
“They look good?”
“Right? Then I’ll take all three of these!”
The staff and Charles are startled.
Then they fall silent at the American Express A-MAX card that’s presented.
“Johann, do you want to buy one too? I’ll get it for you!”
“It’s fine. I can just buy my own. Hmm… I’ll take this one. We can have matching couple watches. Please process the payment with this.”
Johann also presents an American Express card.
“Really? You’re going to buy a watch just by looking at the design? That’s unusual… Huh? Why? Do you have something to say?”
Emily’s gaze looks at him indifferently, as if asking why he’s still there, as if telling him to speak up if he has something to say.
“Oh, no. Nothing! Then, I’ll, I’ll see you in class!”
Charles, his face turning pale and red, fled the store as if running away, and Emily makes a satisfied expression.
Johann smirks as if asking whether she’s satisfied.
“So what’s the reason?”
“He keeps being clingy even though we just met.”
Even though they’re complete strangers who don’t even know each other’s names, he kept sticking close and showing off his wealth, talking about how his car is a BMW and how much his dorm rent costs.
“Oh, really?”
Thud!
Emily grabs Johann’s shoulder as he turns around.
“Don’t. He’s just an idiot who’s not worth it.”
A vain type who tries to pick up women with that vanity, a pathetic breed.
An idiot whose entire self-esteem comes from being on a sports team in high school.
“….”
When dissatisfaction clouds Johann’s face, Emily quickly looks at the staff.
“Does that person come here often?”
“We can’t share customer personal information, but we can tell you that he’s someone who occasionally wears watches and takes photos.”
“You heard that?”
A vain moron commonly seen on social media who visits high-end stores to take watch-wearing shots. At Emily’s words asking if he’s really going to get worked up over such a moron, Johann clicks his tongue.
“Tsk.”
The staff smiled warmly at the cute sight of the perfectly matched couple.
* * *
Kiss!
“Mmm.”
In the spacious room where fresh sunlight streams down.
Emily, lying on the bed with her bare shoulders exposed, gives a soft smile.
“You need to get up.”
She opens her eyes to the sweet voice waking her and sees Johann, who smells warm.
Drowsy eyes that haven’t fully awakened.
Johann kisses her cheek again.
“Today’s the day.”
“…Right. It’s today.”
The university’s opening day, the first lecture.
Her pupils quickly find focus. She looks out the window in surprise.
“…What time is it?”
“8 o’clock.”
“Hey-!”
Emily hurriedly gets up and rushes to the restroom, and Johann watches with a pleased smile.
“It’s 7 o’clock.”
The alarm clock and wall clock he didn’t set because he hates having his sleep disturbed.
He’s naturally an early riser anyway, and UCLA is nearby so he can go whenever he opens his eyes, so he decided not to set them, but it seems he should continue this way.
Since he can keep playing this fun prank.
Smack!
“Ah.”
“Play one more prank! What is this on the first day I was looking forward to.”
“I’ll try.”
“Hey!”
No. It would be better to just set a phone alarm.
Thinking this, Emily gave a silent warning with her finger pointing and entered the Economics building, while Johann also heads to the administration office to register his vehicle.
“This is the first time going to school without wearing a uniform.”
A feeling that’s somewhat awkward but also like he’s really become a university student.
After registering all four vehicles he drives and coming to the classroom, quite a few students are already there.
‘Oh, tiered seating.’
The emotion he felt earlier intensifies in the tiered classroom like Fairmont High School’s main auditorium.
“Johann!”
“Hi!”
“Hello.”
Those who became quite close through the two-day orientation last week, club exploration, and meetings with student communities.
When he sits in any empty seat, his new student classmates approach.
“Did you decide on a major? What did you choose?”
“I could only take three though….”
If he applied for all six, he would have to attend lectures from 8 AM to 9 PM for a whopping 6 days out of the week.
Learning new things is good and there was Josh’s warning, but this wasn’t the campus life he envisioned, so he decided to take only three this semester.
Still, what will they teach and how.
What kind of experience will he have.
He’s very much looking forward to it.
Johann mentioned the subjects he registered for, and reactions were mixed.
“Yes! We’re taking all the same classes!”
“Damn! Have you decided which club to join? Alpha Epsilon Pi from IFC, right?”
Social clubs at universities expressed by the terms Fraternity & Sorority. And UCLA has over 1200 clubs total, with several clubs coming together to form one social club organization.
IFC (InterFraternity Council) is one such social club organization, formed by 3 religion-based clubs and 17 general social clubs.
These social clubs at American universities aren’t easy to get into even if you try, because the connections made here become tremendous assets later, so they require very strict qualifications.
“Huh? Doesn’t Alpha Epsilon Pi only accept white people?”
“Right. And even if they did accept, Johann should join Alpha Gamma Omega.”
Alpha Gamma Omega, a Catholic religious social club.
Like Alpha Epsilon Pi, it’s an alpha chapter club in the highest of high places, where any male Catholic would want to join.
“AGO was openly appealing during club exploration too.”
“Wouldn’t sports clubs or invention clubs be good too?”
“No way! He’s majoring in photography, so he should join the photography club!”
Johann watches his classmates taking sides and raising their voices, and sees even Josh, who appeared at some point, subtly trying to lure him to clubs she’s joined or will join, and contemplates.
‘I haven’t decided anything yet.’
Club registration that just needs to be decided before this year ends. There’s even the option of not registering at all if it’s bothersome, but since club activities are also part of university life, he decided to seriously consider it.
“Is Teaching Assistant Josh taking first-year lectures again?”
“Ah!”
When Professor Arthur suddenly appears on the platform, everyone hurriedly sits down, and Professor Arthur looks at Johann with an expression of having much to say before surveying the new students.
“Nice to meet you. I’m Arthur Pickford, who will teach you everything about photography, from A to Z, for the next four years.”
Along with those words, his credentials appear on the screen that’s come down.
“Wow!”
“Whoa!”
All prestigious achievements, winning records from major competitions and photos of incredibly high level. Member of major associations plus histories as advisor and consultant for various organizations.
Confirming he’s at an incredibly high level, respect for Professor Arthur surges again.
“I’ll explain my background to this extent, now open your textbooks. Sorry, but we’re having class from the first lecture.”
“Aww!”
Professor Arthur ignores the disappointed new students.
The next four years are barely enough time to nurture even one talented person into a professional, but it’s also because of Johann.
‘Student Johann is the type with high academic enthusiasm.’
Not the type who simply relies on talent, but one who combines effort as well. To capture such Johann’s interest, it would be better to proceed with class from the beginning.
“Starting with the invention of an optical device called camera obscura, meaning ‘dark room’ in the 16th century, photography’s history began when Joseph Niépce succeeded in fixing natural landscapes onto silver plates in 1826.”
Joseph Niépce’s heliography.
Thirteen years later, when Louis Daguerre invented the first camera used commercially, the age of photography truly began.
“These once enormous cameras became small enough to fit in one hand in just about two hundred years, small enough to fit inside phones equipped with countless functions.”
Photography, which wasn’t invented for tens of thousands of years since human history began. But once invented, it developed this far in just 200 years.
Compared to concrete invented in ancient times that we still use today, it’s mysteriously fast progress.
But there’s a more fundamental question than this.
“Why exactly did they do it? Why did Joseph Niépce and Louis Daguerre try to invent cameras? Why did humanity try to create cameras? When there was already the excellent recording tool called painting, why? What is photography that made it so necessary?”
New students raise their hands at that question. Johann does the same.
Professor Arthur’s eyes light up.
“Then shall student Jefferson give it a try?”
All eyes gather on him. Everyone has expectations.
“To record moments more quickly and conveniently.”
‘Huh?! That’s not it though?’
‘That’s not right… It’s to capture details that can’t be left in drawings, to contain the image that forms in the eye as it is.’
‘Pfft! I figured as much.’
Those who had been taught that way all along feel sorry and mock him.
“Why did you think that? Who taught you that?”
“Because the person who invented the camera was human, I reasoned it this way.”
Humans are always full of desire to become more comfortable.
That desire brought about the invention of the camera.
“Because drawing takes too long.”
‘Ah, he’s done for.’
‘His theory is weak, Johann is.’
That’s when it happened.
Clap clap clap!
“Bravo. Perfect reasoning.”
‘Huh?’
Everyone looks at Professor Arthur and Johann in shock, but the two look at each other.
‘He learned properly. And quite deeply at that.’
‘Perfect… What an interesting person?’
I felt it during orientation too, but he’s quite an interesting person.
Professor Arthur looks at the new students.
“As student Jefferson said, the camera is a product created by the desire to record forms more conveniently and quickly. Then why was drawing invented before the camera was invented? What was it called?”
When no one can answer, Professor Arthur continues speaking.
“Recording moments.”
Murmur!
The classroom stirs at Professor Arthur’s explanation.
“The less developed civilization was, the more important it was for humanity to record something.”
As civilization developed, drawing gradually began to contain artistic meaning, but before civilization developed, it was academic consensus that most drawings were drawn for the purpose of recording information, not for artistic purposes.
Click!
A handprint and bull drawing appear on the screen.
“Any student know what this drawing is?”
Once again, everyone keeps their mouths shut.
“This is a mural discovered in El Castillo Cave in Spain in 2012, estimated to have been drawn about 40,800 years ago, making it the oldest first drawing in human history.”
Every few years new murals were discovered and the first drawing would change, but the first drawing of the current era was precisely the mural discovered in El Castillo Cave.
Humanity’s first drawing.
Professor Arthur opens his mouth toward the new students whose eyes are sparkling brightly.
“Why this handprint was drawn still hasn’t reached a conclusion…”
The hypothesis that it was to leave evidence that they lived in this cave is being accepted as most credible.
“Ooooh!”
‘That’s not right.’
It wasn’t drawn with that meaning.
It also wasn’t the first drawing.
‘There are drawings that were made much earlier than that.’
Johann chewed on his tingling lips.
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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