The Reborn Genius of an Arts High School - Chapter 144

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 144.
Kang Sang Chul, the admissions director of Korea University, was a law professor who had walked an elite path.
As such, he possessed a fundamental eye for appreciating artworks.
He actually owned several paintings, to the extent that he had collected multiple pieces.
He had reached the level of enjoying art as a form of cultural refinement.
The reason he personally stepped into the matter of Special Admission to the School of Fine Arts—a regulation most people had forgotten even existed—was simple.
He was the admissions director, and the administration judged that as a third party unaffiliated with the School of Fine Arts, he could make an objective assessment.
Of course, there was also the reason mentioned earlier—that he understood art well enough to appreciate it to some degree.
‘At least she seems like a decent student….’
After hearing Ye Ji’s position relayed through Hak Su.
Kang Sang Chul had formed quite a favorable impression of her.
The reason for refusing admission struck him as surprisingly thoughtful for a student of this generation.
She had a sense of responsibility—she wouldn’t start anything she couldn’t see through to the end.
By that measure alone, she was quite a promising student.
Moreover, she had solid external credentials and awards to her name.
In many ways, she was a student the admissions office would naturally welcome.
He wondered why Hak Su was going to such lengths for her.
In theory, he understood.
…….
As they climbed toward Ye Ji’s studio.
Before even seeing the paintings, Kang Sang Chul found it difficult to know what to make of Hak Su, who was already wearing a self-satisfied expression.
Just as Hak Su, as a professor, was respected by his students.
Kang Sang Chul, as a professor, held a kind of longing for that very quality in Hak Su.
It was rare to find a mentor who could draw genuine sincerity from students—much less from today’s students, who were not just clever but calculating.
Hak Su was a professor who knew how to show genuine care to his students and earn their recognition.
But why was such a man so fixated on this particular student?
‘Maybe I’ll understand once I see.’
Truthfully, he hadn’t held great expectations.
After all, she was still just a student.
He had seen the works of established artists countless times.
As admissions director, he had also seen the paintings of Fine Arts freshmen year after year.
But honestly, finding something special among so many similar works was a rather difficult task.
That’s why there were dedicated professors in the School of Fine Arts.
But.
Upon entering the studio, Kang Sang Chul stopped short in the doorway.
“There are a lot of pieces still drying, so it’s better if you don’t get too close.”
At Ye Ji’s words, Kang Sang Chul felt somewhat taken aback.
With her work right in front of her, was that all she had to say?
But as he ventured a little further inside, he understood why explanation was unnecessary.
What filled his vision was the luminosity contained within dozens of canvases.
The jeweled colors appeared dazzlingly vivid at first glance, but as he stepped closer, the hues they held were soft and gentle.
The ethereal colors, approaching pastel tones, followed such delicate brushwork that they created the illusion of endless variety.
Works like the handcrafted art of an artisan who had embedded light and color into being.
Even those ignorant of art—or perhaps especially them—could not help but be mesmerized by her work.
The paintings were easy to understand, and they were beautiful. And something….
‘Something feels strange.’
The jewels she had painted were unlike the typical image of jewels one might expect.
They did not evoke a cold, aloof feeling.
Rather, the radiance seemed to be proof itself of the hardship endured before reaching that light….
It stirred an odd, wordless emotion.
…….
Kang Sang Chul looked around the space once more.
A room steeped in the unfamiliar smell of chemical pigments.
An array of large and small canvases that seemed impossible for one small girl to have filled.
His gaze finally met Hak Su’s again, who stood watching with that same proud expression.
By any measure, she had the qualifications.
He could even understand why she was reluctant to enroll.
For her, university was not a necessary institution.
She had already reached a level where she could pursue her artistic vision entirely on her own, which was why she lacked enthusiasm for academics.
Only now did Kang Sang Chul understand what Hak Su had said before coming here.
‘Once Professor Kang sees this student in person, he’ll understand why I’m like this.’
That he too would come to want Ye Ji’s enrollment just as desperately.
Hak Su had known it.
A talent so overwhelming it could move even him to this feeling.
The prestige the school would gain from bringing such a person to Korea University.
She would surely accomplish something even greater than her career to date.
She already possessed skills that held their own against adult professionals.
If only he could add Korea University to her credentials….
“Before the application deadline, I’d like you to indicate your intention.”
“……Yes?”
At Kang Sang Chul’s abrupt words, Ye Ji asked him to repeat himself.
Kang Sang Chul realized belatedly, in a moment of anxiety, that he had put the cart before the horse, and added clarification.
“What I mean is, if you submit your application, you’ll be accepted based on today’s interview.”
The order was a bit reversed.
But so much explanation was still omitted from Kang Sang Chul’s words that Ye Ji’s expression grew uncomfortable for a moment.
‘This wasn’t what I was hoping for….’
Hak Su’s expression shifted too, taken aback by Kang Sang Chul’s sudden change in demeanor.
Hak Su had thought that once he saw the work in person and met Ye Ji as a person himself, his position would shift.
But he seemed surprised by the effect, which exceeded his expectations.
The notion that only specialists could feel the resonance of a work was a misconception.
True art was what anyone could feel, regardless of their knowledge.
From his long experience, Kang Sang Chul had never seen a talented, prepared, and sincere student fail to produce results.
No, more precisely.
Any student who possessed all three and caught his attention was pushed as far as he could manage.
Adding opportunity on top of that was well within the reach of an admissions director like himself.
Of course, this girl named Ye Ji seemed skilled at creating opportunities for herself as well….
“Now, now. Don’t rush. Let’s sit down and talk this through more carefully.”
Hak Su spoke, assessing the situation.
Kang Sang Chul seemed now to understand the necessity of recruiting this student, so the conversation would move quickly.
For the School of Fine Arts to become not just Korea’s finest but something greater, Ye Ji was indispensable.
Though self-interest and personal desire mixed into their respective calculations, it was far removed from mere greed.
When everyone else believed only overseas education and perspectives were the best, raising domestic standards mattered.
Korea University, true to its name as a representative institution of the nation, had always considered this.
Moreover, human beings are creatures who must learn throughout their lives, and opportunities are always better in abundance.
No matter how talented, surely the nation’s leading university could offer something—instruction, opportunity, something—to a nineteen-year-old girl.
‘…surely it could?’
Kang Sang Chul turned over in his mind the materials he had prepared.
Ye Ji’s enrollment would certainly create positive synergy for both parties.
So now it was time to begin earnestly persuading her.
“Listen to what we have to offer, think it over thoroughly, and then make your decision.”
Kang Sang Chul, his tone now gentler, handed Ye Ji a document containing the relevant information.
***
Bellani & Co, the iconic jewelry brand of New York.
For women, Bellani jewels were both a dream and a symbol.
The Bellani headquarters stood confidently among Manhattan’s shopping streets, lined with every luxury brand imaginable.
The Bellani marketing director, sitting in an office at the very top, was suffering with her head in her hands.
Ugh….
That Bellani & Co was a luxury jewelry brand was something no one could deny.
But it was also true that as a brand, it had a shorter history compared to Europe’s established names.
Being an American brand, it couldn’t be helped.
Yet the rapid recognition of its value was due to clever marketing.
Films like “Breakfast at Bellani’s” had become iconic of an era.
Even now, the blue light known as Bellani Blue had become a symbolic color that everyone recognized as the brand at a glance.
But so what?
What about now?
All that dominance of the trend had happened more than fifty years ago.
They were still milking that symbolic resonance from those days.
So upper management’s pressure for fresh, iconic marketing was quite strong.
They had naturally attempted various strategies, but for years now they had produced only modest results.
Of course, brand value remained high.
Every woman’s dream.
When it came to proposal rings, most people still dreamed of their brand.
‘How much longer can we maintain this?’
Coasting now on old fame.
The shared anguish of management was that they couldn’t rest on that laurel.
And that anguish naturally pressured the operational teams constantly.
“For now, it seems Goyo has no intention of working for the foreseeable future due to personal circumstances….”
At the hesitant voice of Victoria, the project manager whose words trailed off, the director felt she was going mad.
When Celian and Goyo had made headlines, it hadn’t felt like this.
But the collaboration between Han Seong and Goyo was different.
That edition had generated more buzz than most real jewels.
When you searched for jewelry on social media, posts about that product outnumbered posts about real gems.
The product packaging itself was even designed as a jewel case.
A painting of jewels and a package designed as a jewelry box—together.
Shouldn’t Han Seong have done that with them, as an actual jewelry brand, rather than with a painter?
Why hadn’t her marketing team thought of it and proposed it first?
“Please stop glaring at the staff….”
Victoria spoke in her usual deflated tone, as if accustomed to her boss’s hysteria.
Han Seong had already used jewels as a subject through his paintings.
Now, no matter what collaboration Bellani pursued with any artist, it would seem like a derivative follow-up stemming from Goyo’s idea.
So what if, to claim that image for themselves, they worked with Goyo in person?
She had thought as much, but now that Goyo had announced her hiatus.
Bellani had fallen behind on every opportunity.
In Victoria’s view, it was all a situation of their own making—a failure to prepare in advance.
But in the director’s mind, it appeared as an unfortunate, one-step-too-late scenario.

“What if we looked for a decent painter ourselves and started a fresh collaboration?”
Victoria suggested carefully to her boss, who was stuck fixated on one idea.
It was better to give up chasing a direction already lost.
With things as they were, why couldn’t they find a hidden gem that no one else had discovered?
“Celian did it—so why can’t we?”
Goyo herself had been a rising talent discovered by Celian.
Though admittedly, for a newcomer, her activity schedule was inexplicably sporadic.
It was supposedly for personal reasons, so she could be in poor health.
Speculation abounded, but the more that was the case, the harder it was for a project manager to trust her.
It was generally difficult to understand why someone gaining fame wouldn’t reveal themselves publicly.
Rather, finding a trustworthy and reliable newcomer might yield an even bigger payoff.
There was no law saying the rising talent they discovered couldn’t become this era’s da Vinci, its Picasso.
“Let’s look for them—the next fresh talent poised to sweep the world’s attention.”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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