Chapter 53: If I Can’t Get Smarter, I’ll Just Crush the World’s Intelligence

The newsroom studio before a live broadcast.

Even though it was early morning, the atmosphere was oddly buzzing.

There was big news.

The major polling agencies had reported that Kang Jiwoo had overtaken Yoo Hangcheol.

Meanwhile, Gansina arrived at the waiting room with unusually light steps.

“Ah, Congressman Gan, you’re here!”

It was Professor Nam Palsu, a conservative panelist, who quickly stood up to greet her.

Despite his age, Nam Palsu was a political drifter, unable to secure a prominent position and instead wandering around broadcasting stations.

“……”

Gansina casually ignored Nam Palsu’s greeting.

She was an active member of parliament.

In her mind, someone like Nam Palsu was beneath her.

Nam Palsu handed over a convenience store coffee.

“It was a one-plus-one deal, so I grabbed an extra.”

“Oh, thank you.”

She removed her earphones late and accepted the coffee.

Of course, no music was playing.

“How’s the New Democratic Party’s mood these days? I hear there’s been some noise.”

“Nothing much. I think the Republican Party’s situation is far worse. You’ve been overtaken in approval ratings, haven’t you?”

“Sigh… I heard Representative Yoo is furious. I don’t know what’s going to happen to people like me who’ve been loyal to the party…”

‘What’s going to happen, you clueless man? You’re just screwed.’

Gansina knew why Nam Palsu was trying to cozy up to her.

The motives of political wanderers were always clear.

They were just looking for an opportunity to align themselves with someone better.

Party differences didn’t matter.

If switching party allegiance were a big deal, half the politicians in the game would have been ousted by now.

“Anyway, thanks to Congressman Gan these days, we feel very reassured!”

“Reassured?”

“You’re Kang Jiwoo’s sniper, aren’t you? Isn’t it great that we can agree on something after all the mudslinging?”

Gansina, the so-called sniper targeting Kang Jiwoo.

Until yesterday, that label would have fit.

But not anymore.

“We’re heading to the studio now.”

Following the staff’s directions, Gansina took her seat.

Just before the broadcast began, Nam Palsu smiled and caught her eye.

“I’ll rely on you again today, Congressman Gan.”

“Yes. Sure.”

The host began with the news of the approval rating reversal.

“Kang Jiwoo has recorded 25.5% support, rising to second place. The gap with first place is only 5 percentage points, and the gap with third place is 3 percentage points. The so-called ‘Pink Storm’ is becoming a reality…”

From the numbers alone, it was a tight race.

But it was undeniable that Kang Jiwoo’s momentum was terrifying.

“Professor Nam Palsu, how do you see this poll result?”

“Our party believes this reversal will be temporary. Kang Jiwoo’s popularity is just a passing meme. Even this surge is due to her appearance on entertainment programs…”

The approval ratings didn’t really matter.

Nam Palsu’s words were predetermined anyway.

“…Above all, Kang Jiwoo lacks the ability to think for herself. The fact that she hasn’t withdrawn yet is a betrayal of the public.”

“Thank you. Congressman Gan, how do you see this?”

Gansina smiled softly.

Then she began to wield her wicked tongue.

“Looks like Professor Nam Palsu got scratched pretty badly. Judging by how shaky you are.”

“…Excuse me?”

Nam Palsu and the host turned their heads, shocked.

No one expected such words to come out of Gansina’s mouth.

“Until now, I also saw Candidate Kang’s rise as a temporary phenomenon. But now that she’s surpassed 25%, the situation has changed. That means the concrete support base has cracked. That’s the truth the Republican Party stubbornly refuses to admit.”

“Ahem…!”

Nam Palsu coughed uncomfortably.

It was an unexpected attack.

He couldn’t just sit quietly.

“Congressman Gan, you seemed to dislike Kang Jiwoo so much. What made you change your mind overnight?”

“If you’re a critic, act like one and analyze the data. Don’t analyze my feelings.”

“….” 

Gansina suddenly became eloquent!

By abandoning her blind criticism and regaining her logic, her attack power skyrocketed.

“The Republican Party must immediately stop its low-grade politics. According to the information I’ve received, there’s talk that severe edits were made after Kang’s entertainment show was filmed. Yet, they have the audacity to criticize the show as biased nonsense.”

“D-Do you have proof of that…?”

Gansina held up her smartphone.

“An article just came out. See for yourself.”

“Well, that still needs more confirmation…”

“You also criticized the show on social media last night, didn’t you, Professor Nam? Apologize for that statement right now!”

The studio suddenly turned into a hearing.

The host didn’t stop it, instead slipping into direct observation mode, thoroughly entertained.

“Are you not going to apologize?!”

“No, it’s just… this isn’t that kind of place…”

“This is exactly the low-quality politics of the Republican Party! Admit your mistakes, correct them, and give credit where it’s due…! Is that so hard? Even elementary school kids know how to do that!”

Her tongue lashed out like a venomous sting.

It wasn’t even a fair fight.

That day, the political forums were abuzz with talk about Gansina.

Title: Why is Gansina acting like this?

(Gansina seen defending Kang Jiwoo)

“Did you see Gansina shielding Kang Jiwoo today? She used to gang up with Nampalsu all day to tear him apart, but suddenly she switched sides. I’m scared…”

-“Is Gansina just testing the waters because Jiwoo-ping’s approval rating keeps rising?”

-“Is she thinking of joining Kang Jiwoo’s party? No way.”

-“Could be. There might be some under-the-table deal or fund at play.”

-“I hate Gansina so much… did her brain just melt?”

-“Hahahahahaha”

“This is it. Lol. Gansina with a melted brain… how are we supposed to stop this?”

-“Fourth round, huh? You’re all trembling~ Oh~ the news is delightful~”

…..

Meanwhile, at Yoo Hangcheol’s office.

The atmosphere was like a funeral due to the reversed approval ratings.

Even the staff were silent and solemn.

No one dared act out of line for fear of crossing Yoo Hangcheol.

“…It seems we’re losing the public opinion battle as well. Whether they’ve been contacted or not, key voices are starting to defend Kang Jiwoo. Even the likes of Gansina from the Saebaram Democratic Party.”

“Of course. His approval ratings went up. Political drifters are like moths drawn to the brightest light.”

Surprisingly, Yoo Hangcheol remained calm, as if he had seen this coming.

“Everyone leave. Only the political chief of staff stays.”

The chief of staff tensed up. 

Yoo Hangcheol handed him a document.

“May I ask what this is?”

“It’s Bong Soohee, Kang Jiwoo’s campaign PR advisor. All the good ideas come from that woman’s brain.”

“…This is a report on her alleged academic fraud!”

“Yes. Send it to all the media outlets.”

“I’ll go right away!”

“No.”

Yoo Hangcheol stopped him, sounding slightly frustrated.

“Don’t you have any sense?”

“Sir?”

“Just throwing someone off won’t kill them, right? You need to drop them from as high as possible, ideally onto a jagged stone floor, for it to be fatal.”

“……!”

Timing was critical for an attack.

So was stirring up attention.

You had to release the bomb at the peak of public interest.

“First circulate it to the YouTubers. Once the media takes the bait, that’s when we drop the bomb.”

“Understood.”

Yoo Hangcheol planned to drop Bongsuhee from the highest point possible so she could never set foot in politics again.

—

“Alright, say cheese~ Kimchi~”

“Kimchii~”

Click.

In Kang Jiwoo’s office, party members gathered for a commemorative photo.

It was to celebrate achieving second place in the approval ratings.

“Congratulations on reaching second place!”

“It’s all because of you, candidate!”

“Jiwoo-ping is the best!”

“Th-Thank you so much…”

Well, this was a little embarrassing.

Me, a second-place presidential candidate…?

To be honest, I had seen this coming for days now.

Still, experiencing it firsthand was indescribable.

Most importantly:

“I wonder what Yoo Hangcheol’s face looks like right now…!

I’m dying to tease him about it!

Will he show up again like before? I hope he comes begging for unification. Though with his personality, that’s unlikely…”

“Candidate, we’re going to film a video message for the supporters.”

“A video message…?”

“Yes. No script. Just say what you want to say to the people who supported you.”

Ding-

The camera started rolling.

Jiwoo-ping’s body was already dancing, as if being second place had caused his hips to shake.

Unintentionally, he delivered his thanks to supporters while doing a hip dance.

“Thank you for believing in me~ I’ll work harder to become the president~”

“…Is that it?”

“No… wait a second…”

I leaned into the camera and whispered softly:

“My supporters… I love you♡”

Did I think whispering would make it inaudible?

Anyway, kids’ thoughts are always so unpredictable.

“Alright, shall we start the meeting?”

Today is the day for the strategy meeting.

The staff gathered in the conference room.

I sat at my desk as well.

But I didn’t participate in the meeting and just studied.

I wouldn’t understand it anyway.

“Secretary Songyeon, have you finalized the street campaign locations?”

“I’ve roughly mapped out the routes, and it’ll be done by tomorrow.”

“And the specific locations?”

“I’m focusing on elementary schools, but I’ll need a bit more time.”

Holding a presidential campaign event at a school—it’s going to make for quite an interesting picture.

I heard they plan to spend a day experiencing school life.

My legs instinctively kicked the air.

“School sounds fun…”

Jiwooping has always longed to go to school.

Before I knew it, the topic shifted.

“Minor candidates are hosting a debate. They’ve even invited candidate Cho Seyoung and candidate Yoo Hangcheol, but naturally, they refused.”

“We’re refusing too, right?”

“No. I think it would be good to participate.”

Minor candidates.

These are the ones who don’t get invited to televised debates because their support rates don’t even reach 5%.

Their approval ratings are rock bottom.

No one runs in elections just for fun. 

However, they’re desperate enough to organize their own debates.

Of course, there’s no reason for major party candidates to attend such events.

But in my case, things were a bit different.

“I think this is a great opportunity to showcase our candidate’s inclusivity.”

“I agree. Just differentiating ourselves from the two major candidates is meaningful.”

Politics of inclusion, not confrontation.

That’s the kind of politics I’ve demonstrated so far.

“Alright, moving on to the next item…”

Not all the news was good.

The negative attacks against me and our party were escalating daily.

YouTube conspiracy theories were especially rampant.

“Rumors keep spreading that our candidate will merge with Yoo Hangcheol. There’s supposedly an interview with a so-called ‘key insider,’ but it’s impossible to tell if it’s true.”

“That damn ‘key insider’…”

Though no one said it out loud, everyone likely thought of the same person.

Kim Shinbae.

He showed up briefly before, completely wrecked the party atmosphere, and then disappeared again.

Such a consistent and transparent person, really.

If I had known it would turn out like this, I’d have filtered him out earlier.

No matter how capable I was before TS, I couldn’t see through people’s minds.

“Another notable issue involves Director Bong.”

“Me?”

“Yes. There are rumors about college admission corruption, but there’s no solid evidence—people are just talking about it.”

“That’s nonsense-ping.”

“Well… it’s nothing to worry about, right?”

Bong Soohee accused of college admission corruption?

As far as I know, she was at the top of her class in her first year while studying mathematics.

It’s not for nothing that her professors begged her to stay when she considered changing majors.

She was so good at math that she avoided expulsion despite getting four academic warnings.

The school practically begged her to graduate.

‘She’s definitely a genius… Even if she’s a little unhinged, I can vouch for her genius.’

If she had connections, she wouldn’t have gone to a Korean university—she’d have studied abroad.

“Alright, moving to the next item: the issue of verifying the candidate’s competence.”

“Ha…”

As soon as the agenda was brought up, the party members sighed.

It was that complicated.

“I trust that everyone knows the details since we’ve discussed it so much.”

Simply put, it’s this:

Kang Jiwoo? 

Isn’t she dumb?

If she becomes president, can she handle the job?

The president has to communicate with the people and politicians—can she even hold a proper conversation?

Wouldn’t she just be a puppet with a shadow figure pulling the strings?

This so-called ‘competence issue’ was a constant attack.

It was the most valid and painful criticism directed at me.

“I know there’s no sharp answer, but let’s brainstorm together again today.”

Under Han Seoyoung’s lead, the party members began squeezing out their ideas.

“How about something like an IQ test? We can prove it with visible scores!”

“I doubt the score would be high, so rejected.”

“How about hiring experts to quickly teach communication skills?”

“It feels too superficial…”

“It’s important to show something impressive, isn’t it?”

“I don’t know if that issue would even reach the moderates…”

“If we hold a roundtable discussion with young people, it’ll look good on camera.”

Ideas kept coming.

The problem was, they were all just meh.

At this point, everyone’s gaze turned toward one person.

“Director Bong…?”

Scratch, scratch.

Bong Soohee, who was scratching her back with a back scratcher.

“Don’t you have any good ideas? Something that can dramatically improve our candidate’s job performance.”

“……”

She stared blankly for a moment.

It was impossible to tell where exactly she was looking.

At first, that expression made her look like a fool, but after experiencing her flashes of genius a few times, even her dazed moments started to look cool.

Finally, her sloth-like lips moved.

“Why are you trying to make Jiuping smart?”

“?”

“You can just destroy the voters’ critical thinking, no?”

“???”

What the hell kind of mad scientist statement was that?