With a little over three weeks to go, Min began the final preparations. One of the earliest lessons he learned in the military was the importance of preparation. Nothing could supersede it. Even more so in his case. After so many years, it was ingrained into him.First, he started with the university and the department he was joining. National University had a colourful history it was only too proud of. No other site was more informative than the university"s official website. From the afternoon the first brick was laid almost two centuries ago, every little detail was listed. The website was as ma.s.sive as the university itself.
Min read through every sentence in the website. 250 words per minute was the national average reading speed. The average reading speed at the National University was a little higher, at about 500 words per minute. It wasn"t for nothing that the university earned the t.i.tle of being home to the brightest minds. The last time Min measured, his reading speed was at 23,237 words per minute. That was about three years ago. He had only improved since. Still, Min wouldn"t be too proud, for he was merely among the upper echelons. There were elites who were at least fifty percent faster than him in the military.
The other thing Min was very good at, probably the best even among the elites, was persistence. In the military, persistence was inseparable from patience. For Min"s job description, persistence was paramount. And so, Min stayed glued to the chair in front of the computer, staring into the screen, reading without pause. Boredom was a word that had no place in his dictionary. He was cramming his head with everything about the university.
The department of sociology was one of the first departments started at the university. As such, its prestige was the highest. Unlike the rest of the world, the department of sociology at National university was highly preferred. Only the best of scorers at the college entrance examination made it into the department. As such, Min was automatically counted among the brightest. Graduates of the department found employment in different departments of the government. They aced the tests and interviews, being alumni of the National university pushed them onto the fast track. Getting admission to the department was no different from scoring a ticket to a future guaranteed bright.
The military hadn"t only taught Min to read what was written, but also read between the lines. Sometimes a lot more lay hidden underneath words. It was that information Min was collating to complete the map of the university in his head. After the official website, he went to many other websites, reading up about the university, gathering the many stories of the innumerable hallways of the many buildings of the university. He wasn"t the only one in all of the world able to do so. Surely there would be others who drew a map just like him, and faced with the same result. They had the complete map of the university, but there were dark spots that the majority might not see. National university was extremely important to the country. How could all the information about it be released to the world?
Min was intrigued. And pleased. For someone like him, nothing held the same allure as secrets. He was happy that he had something to do at the university. Discover all the secrets of the university.
He then turned his attention to the professors of the department of sociology. There were names of great repute, people who were looked up to all around the world. Min read up on their histories. By the end he knew them all as well as he knew himself. But he didn"t stop there. He read every paper each of the professors had ever written. The papers were a lot more difficult than the stories of their lives. He persisted, though. And he ended up truly feeling like a student of the department. Maybe he would actually graduate from the university, and everyone that knew him would be shocked. He laughed at the thought, and continued reading.
Finally, he turned his attention to the students of the department. Primarily, his cla.s.smates. He didn"t have access to the country"s civil and military databases. He was relieved of duty, which meant he was no more than a civilian. It wasn"t the first time all avenues of information were cut off. Every time this happened, he felt amputated. Now was no different. Only worse. And he hated the feeling. Not one to accept defeat, he turned to popular media. He created pseudo ident.i.ties on all platforms and started gathering information on every one of his cla.s.smates. He felt elated, like he was on a very real infiltration mission.
With a few days to go for the start of college, Min was a live information hub about the university, the department and his cla.s.smates. He was almost ready.
The last remaining step, was himself. Min always left his ident.i.ty for the last, so he would have maximum information about the field and the other parties, and would be able to chart the best course for integrating himself into the scenario. He wasn"t given much information about his ident.i.ty.
Min was an only child. Was six when he was in an accident with his parents. They pa.s.sed away. He survived. His grandparents took him in. He couldn"t leave home for two years, the duration it took to recover fully from the almost fatal accident. By then, he had gotten used to staying at home, and continued so. He had an extremely sharp mind, evidenced from his extremely high grades. He appeared for school examinations from the library of his grandparents" home, which also doubled as his school and cla.s.sroom. He also appeared for the college entrance examination from the library, his score good enough to get admission into the department of sociology at the National university. He wouldn"t go to college, if not for the unfaltering insistence of his grandparents that he should integrate himself into society.
It didn"t seem much. Actually, it was a lot. His grandparents could make everything happen for him without him having to set foot out of the library. Even appear for the college entrance examination. Could get him into National university without him attending the interview. Obviously, they had an extremely powerful ident.i.ty, especially since they weren"t named. By extension, he had an extremely powerful ident.i.ty. His name was still Min, which made it easy. It also gave him a strange feeling. In his line of work, such vague feelings were called instinct. And instinct could never be ignored. Min decided he was going to keep an even lower profile than he usually liked to. Most importantly, his grandparents wanted for him to integrate into society. That meant, he had to cultivate relationships, forge bonds and create a world for himself. All of it as Min. It was clearly a long term mission. And the longer the mission, the greater the difficulty. In his head, Min cla.s.sified the mission as SSS, a mission of the greatest difficulty.
There was a bit of excitement growing in him. Who didn"t love a challenge?
A day before the start of college, Min walked in through the large first gate of the university. Students could arrive two days in advance for the allotment of dormitories. Min timed his arrival so he would be among the majority and wouldn"t attract any attention. He was just another student, no more remarkable than anyone else.