‘Heh. Why did this bookworm come looking for me?’
In fact, Wide Pot Lid was curious about why someone who rarely went outside came all the way here, but he didn’t take Warm Hat’s visit seriously.
That was because, although he admitted that Warm Hat read a lot of books and knew a lot of things in various fields, he couldn’t imagine that he had made any important discoveries just by reading books.
But his light-hearted attitude soon began to change little by little.
And when Warm Hat’s explanation was over.
“…”
Wide Pot Lid was silent for a while, lost in his own thoughts.
But the more he thought about it, the more plausible the hypothesis he had just heard seemed.
“…You came up with this idea just by reading books?”
“Yes. Is there something wrong?”
“Wrong? Of course there is. How can someone who is not a chemist come up with such an amazing hypothesis? Ah! This is not the time for that. If what you say is true, then the camera obscura is actually being used, right?”
“It should be in my friend’s workshop.”
“Then lead the way. I have to see the performance of the camera obscura with my own eyes. Hurry up!”
“Ah, yes…”
Warm Hat followed with a nervous expression, as Wide Pot Lid was very excited.
‘It wasn’t just my feeling that there was a possibility.’
He realized this painfully through the dean’s enthusiastic reaction.
After that, Wide Pot Lid gathered some chemists and followed Warm Hat to the workshop where the camera obscura was.
“Hmm? What’s going on at this time?”
“Uh, well…”
“I see you’re Steep Cliff.”
Warm Hat tried to explain the situation to his friend, but he couldn’t because of the dean and the chemists who came in right behind him.
“That’s right, but who are you?”
“Haha. I’m Wide Pot Lid, the head of the chemistry department at Imperial University.”
“…What?”
Steep Cliff couldn’t believe that the head of the chemistry department at Imperial University had come to his private workshop outside the campus.
But the dean didn’t give him time to understand.
“Where is the camera obscura?”
“If you mean that, it’s over there…”
He happened to be working with the camera obscura at that moment.
As soon as he realized that, Wide Pot Lid walked quickly toward the camera obscura.
“It’s true! The image of the outside is formed through a small hole! Hehehe!”
He exclaimed as soon as he saw the image.
And he was sure from his long experience.
‘This will work!’
He could tell which hypotheses were likely to succeed and which were not even while doing experiments.
But after seeing the camera obscura, he was convinced that this hypothesis would succeed.
And he could also roughly guess the impact that this experiment would have.
The desire for experimentation rose sharply in Wide Pot Lid’s heart for the first time in a while.
***
“What are you talking about? This is your idea. How can we proceed with the experiment without you?”
After returning to the dean’s office.
Wide Pot Lid said with an incredulous expression.
“But I’m just a librarian at the Central Library. How can I do experiments with scholars at Imperial University?”
“Why not? It’s not uncommon for people who are not scholars of Imperial University to do experiments together.”
“But most of them are people from the same industry outside. It’s different from me.”
“Your knowledge is much better than any mediocre person. And if we succeed in this experiment, you can become a scholar of Imperial University without taking the exam as a special case, you know?”
This was true according to the dean’s words.
***
The most common way to enter the Imperial College was through an entrance exam, but there was still another way for those who had achieved outstanding feats in their fields.
‘If this hypothesis succeeds, I might be able to get a special admission to the Imperial College.’
This was what Wide Pot Lid hoped for.
“Phew…”
However, Warm Hat sighed and shook his head.
That was not the problem.
“As you know, I’m satisfied with my current life. I prefer reading various books rather than becoming a scholar and doing research. I appreciate your offer, but I politely decline.”
“Hmph, really.”
Wide Pot Lid snorted with a sarcastic laugh.
He had momentarily forgotten about his friend’s addiction to books.
He chuckled and nodded.
“I understand your intention. But, you should know that your name will be engraved as the first proposer of this hypothesis. You won’t refuse this, will you?”
“Well… okay.”
Warm Hat had given up his chance to study at the Imperial College just because he wanted to read books, but he didn’t want to be a pushover who gave away all his credit either. So he reluctantly accepted this condition.
“Then I’ll take my leave now. I hope you get good results from this experiment.”
“Hehehe. Don’t worry and go ahead.”
With that, Warm Hat bowed and left the dean’s office.
Wide Pot Lid watched his back and thought to himself.
‘Will he be able to live a normal librarian life even after this experiment succeeds as I expect?’
He doubted it.
He was already somewhat famous among the scholars, and if this story became public, many scholars would surely pay attention to him.
Then he would be bothered by all kinds of scholars, much more than now.
Of course, he expected that most of them would be from the chemistry department.
‘I really want to see his flustered expression.’
But for that, he had to make sure this experiment was successful.
His motivation soared even more because of that.
***
“Make a camera obscura right away.”
Wide Pot Lid wasted no time and took charge of the experiment.
He temporarily handed over his duties as the dean to other senior scholars and opened his own laboratory.
Thanks to the case of Sharp Teeth in the past, he had established a system that allowed him to focus on his research whenever he had a project, even while sitting as the dean.
“I’m really grateful for your cooperation.”
“Don’t mention it. I also hope that your hypothesis succeeds.”
“Don’t worry about that.”
Steep Cliff’s help was quite helpful in making a camera obscura.
He had already used a camera obscura in practice for a long time.
The preparation for the experiment started with this.
“Wow. I never thought that my experimental journal would be used like this. Haha! It’s really convincing.”
“Right? That’s why I hope you participate in this experiment as well.”
“Of course. This is a rare opportunity to work with you again, Dean.”
He first visited the author of the book that Warm Hat had read, which was related to photosensitivity.
Red Bowl was also a chemist at the Imperial College, so it was not a difficult task.
Rather, he was surprised that his long-term research on photosensitivity could be used like this, and he voluntarily wanted to join the experiment.
“Hehe. Thank you very much.”
Red Bowl agreed without any hesitation, and Wide Pot Lid smiled brightly.
With the most authoritative person in photosensitivity on board, the experiment would be smoother.
Indeed, Wide Pot Lid’s expectation was right.
“This substance is more suitable than that one.”
“Really?”
Thanks to Red Bowl’s participation, they were able to overcome many trials and errors in the experiment that started in earnest.
As the experiment progressed, more and more meaningful values were derived.
“As expected… our hypothesis was correct.”
“Of course, the light intensity varies, so it’s natural that the reaction also differs accordingly.”
“Hehe. I feel like I’m just riding on the coattails of a good idea.”
Before they knew it, their doubt turned into confidence, and the spacious laboratory was filled with excitement and vitality as they approached the brilliant success.
Time passed, and
“Hahaha! This is it!”
The spacious pot lid held up the first photo ever taken, laughing loudly.
Although it was still an early stage photo that took several days to shoot, and because of that, the light was reflected on both buildings depending on the position of the sun, and the photo was blurry beyond compare, it was undoubtedly a photo.
‘If this technology develops further, and we can get clearer photos in an instant…’
The spacious pot lid smiled brightly, imagining the feasible future in his head.
***
After that, the spacious pot lid applied for a patent on the camera and the photo, and officially announced the concept to the academic world.
“Now we can see pictures that automatically draw landscapes in our lifetime!”
“It’s blurry and weird… but that’s definitely the chemistry building, right?”
After that, many scholars from various departments flocked to see the first photo.
And they marveled at the new technology.
“My goodness!”
“Hmm…”
But not everyone had such positive thoughts.
The first photo made artists, especially painters, unable to smile.
The first photo was blurry and strange, and it was black and white.
But as with all technologies, painters realized that photo technology would also develop and threaten their livelihoods.
But knowing this did not mean they could do anything about it.
They could not stop researching this promising technology called photography.
Regardless of their thoughts, the response to the first photo was very hot.
The spacious pot lid was satisfied with this, but he never intended to stop here.
“There’s still a lot to be done. We need to be able to take photos faster to solve the problems that have emerged.”
“That’s true.”
This was just a small success.
Only when photography became widely used in real life could it be called a true success.
Therefore, he and the scholars continued their research vigorously.
They found out more suitable combinations of photosensitive materials, and found the conditions necessary for rapid ignition.
Thanks to their efforts, photo technology gradually developed.
And finally, they succeeded in taking practical photos using silver plates.
“Wow! How can it be so clear…”
“It’s like looking at a real landscape.”
This groundbreaking method took only about seven minutes to expose to light and produced a clear black-and-white photo.
“…”
The spacious pot lid stared at the landscape photo that had just been developed with a blank expression.
‘I really did it…’
He had been conducting experiments for quite a long time, so his face had much more wrinkles than when he started his research.
But the moment he saw this landscape photo, he felt like all his hardships had melted away.
“With this, we can also take clear pictures of people’s faces.”
“Wouldn’t it be better to engrave your face first? It would surely be a historic photo.”
The spacious pot lid came to his senses at the words of the scholars.
And he shook his head vigorously.
“I can’t do that. The first photo must be of His Majesty’s face.”
“Ah…”
“Indeed.”
No scholar dared to oppose this opinion.
Of course, this opinion was partly influenced by the broad loyalty to Kim Kiwoo, but that was not all.
‘It will make the technology of photography more widely known.’
The symbolism of capturing His Majesty’s face for the first time was bound to be a huge topic among the imperial citizens.
Thanks to that, the first practical camera using a silver plate was sent straight to the imperial palace.
“Haha. A camera…”
And Kim Kiwoo smiled faintly as he checked the silver plate camera.
He was happy to be able to take pictures, and he felt good about being the protagonist of the first portrait photo.
“Your Majesty. Please stay still.”
“I understand.”
A little later,
Kim Kiwoo was able to receive his photo.
And this had a much greater impact than Kim Kiwoo and his broad supporters expected.
“This is His Majesty’s actual face!”
“Haha! It’s almost similar to the statues on the streets or the images engraved on the coins.”
“As expected of the great spirit, he has no change at all.”
Although it was black and white, the imperial citizens who saw Kim Kiwoo’s real photo were more in awe of his unchanging appearance.
“…Is it true that the emperor of Wakan Tanka Empire is an immortal spirit?”
“That means, spirits really exist?”
This photo also ironically played a decisive role in spreading the spirit faith overseas.