Chapter 65: National Healer Jiwoo Ping

The minor debate was nearing its end.

Despite an earlier mishap, the first part had wrapped up successfully.

The second part was also reaching its conclusion.

“You’re promising to give 100 million won to every citizen—this isn’t just empty populist propaganda, is it?”

Yet the candidates’ words showed no signs of stopping.

This minor debate was on track to achieve unprecedented viewership.

The reason was none other than Kang Jiwoo’s participation.

Thus, the candidates knew they had to say even one more word.

They needed to show their faces even one more time.

Jang Seokdu of the Transparent Politics Party shared the same mindset.

Though, contrary to his hopes, he wasn’t receiving any attention.

‘Why is no one asking me any questions…?’

Jang Seokdu felt confident in his pledges.

He believed he had crafted them well.

He had also prepared extensively for the debate, focusing on his pledges.

He had even thought through counter arguments for every possible attack.

Counter arguments to counter arguments to counter arguments.

‘But what’s the use? No one cares.’

No one was talking to him.

It was, of course, natural.

Jang Seokdu was far too honest for a minor candidate.

He had zero attention-grabbing appeal.

‘Will someone, anyone, please talk to me? Please!’

Ironically, his sincerity as a candidate made him the least noticed.

There were far juicier targets in the debate.

Even a slight jab at extremists would be more effective than targeting someone as dull as Jang Seokdu.

As time passed, his anxiety only grew.

He could almost see the faces of his party members flickering before his eyes.

‘We worked so hard to gather 300 million won…’

Three hundred million won was the deposit for running in the presidential election.

It was money painstakingly collected by party members.

They had entrusted it to him, saying:

“Use this opportunity to promote your wonderful policies.

Even if winning is hard, try to lay the foundation for a new kind of politics.”

But Jang Seokdu felt he wasn’t fulfilling his role.

He felt pathetically small.

He recalled the mocking words of others:

“You think you can make it in politics?”

“Starting fresh with a new party? You think that’ll work?”

“Isn’t your dream too big?”

These were all things he had heard from people he knew.

The most painful remark of all was:

“Seokdu, will this even make you any money?”

It was a scornful jab.

He wasn’t doing this for money.

He simply wanted society to become fairer and more transparent.

But people whispered that Jang Seokdu was wasting his time.

What could he do about it?

This was the path he had chosen.

And it was precisely this kind of thing he wanted to change.

He wanted to normalize politics.

He wanted to create an environment where people could engage with politics more openly.

A society where discussing politics felt easy and accessible.

“…Lastly, we’ll give the floor to Candidate Kang Jiwoo.”

Finally, the last turn.

The game was over.

Jang Seokdu accepted his failure.

‘I lacked a strategy to draw people’s attention. That was my mistake…’

Through today’s experience, Jang Seokdu would become a slightly better politician.

The debate wouldn’t return, but…

And then, a miracle happened.

“I’d like to ask Candidate Jang Seokdu a question!”

“Yes…? Oh, yes!”

Kang Jiwoo had directed a question to him.

The situation was so unexpected that Jang Seokdu’s eyes widened in disbelief.

“Earlier… you mentioned… making the president and congressman’s promises… transparent… transparent…”

Seeming unscripted, Kang Jiwoo struggled to finish his sentence.

Seeing this, Jang Seokdu quickly stepped in to help.

“It’s a plan to compile and transparently disclose all pledges and track their implementation. The goal is for a government agency to manage this while ensuring it operates as a fully independent body.”

Thanks to Kang Jiwoo, Jang Seokdu had the chance to explain his pledge once more.

That alone was incredibly helpful, but Kang Jiwoo went a step further.

“I think… that’s a good idea!”

“Oh, really?!”

“Yes, my party members said being transparent is good. So I’m trying to be more transparent too!”

“Thank you so much! Personally, I also think highly of Candidate Kang Jiwoo’s pledges!”

“Thank you… chu!”

Once again, Kang Jiwoo’s campaign of compliments continued.

Jang Seokdu felt his throat tighten with emotion.

It felt like a small reward for all his efforts.

And then, he thought:

‘I’ll have something to say to my party members.’

He felt like he could finally look his party members in the eye again.

“Well, with that, let’s conclude and wrap up here. Candidates, thank you all for your hard work.”

In the end, Jang Seokdu became the highlight of the debate’s positive moments.

Immediately after the debate.

The community supporting Kang Jiwoo was buzzing with activity.

Title: Anyone who thinks participating in a minor debate is a huge loss is delusional. Big upvotes!

(Meme of a frog character shooting someone)

“Lolololol.

That was hilarious~

It could’ve been a disaster if we sent out someone with bad optics.”

User R.O.: Where are all the basement analysts who said minor debates would screw us over? Lololol.

“How does public opinion flip like this overnight? Lol.”

Participating in the minor debate had not been well-received by Kang Jiwoo’s supporters initially.

However, once the debate aired?

Public opinion turned on its head in an instant.

Title: Restoring logic to nonsense—Kang Jiwoo.

“Is it real that minor candidates got absolutely wrecked in debate skills by Jiwooping? Lol.

How are they worse at debating than elementary school kids? Lolol.”

This was all thanks to So Jinping’s crash course in debating.

“Ka~ Daejinping~ Nodaejinping! Specialdaejinping! Xijinping!”

“?”

“???”

“What the hell is a sneak dictatorship? Lololol.”

“No, no, it’s So Jinping! So Jinping!!”

Title: Breaking news! Current Yoo Hangcheol and Cho Saeyoung status!

(GIF of Yoo Hangchul and Cho Saeyoung running somewhere)

“They’re rushing to get debate lessons from So Jinping.

Apparently, it’s first come, first served, so they’re having a race.”

“Lololol. I actually thought it was real news for a second.”

“Even if it’s not So Jinping, they must be getting debate lessons somewhere. Lol.”

The atmosphere was festive once again.

Participating in a minor debate was undoubtedly risky.

Yet, Kang Jiwoo had performed well.

Positive news was already pouring in, and tomorrow, the topic would dominate the airwaves.

This would undoubtedly lead to a rise in approval ratings.

The supporters were well aware of this.

As a result, the community became overheated, and voices of caution began to emerge.

Title: Don’t get carried away.

“We won’t know anything until the election is over.”

Jiwooping has been doing well so far, but it wouldn’t be strange if things went south at any moment.

That’s just how presidential campaigns are. 

Who would’ve thought a few days ago that Jiwooping would become a frontrunner?

“So everyone, don’t get too excited. Especially those of you who bash the Namu Party every chance you get. It’s one thing to vent here, but stop spamming their office with prank calls… Their small-scale campaign is already stretched thin, and these complaints are just wasting their resources.”

User N.R.O.: By now, we should just trust Jiwoo no matter what happens.

‘Do your best and leave the rest to fate.’

“It’s not like our phone calls will change anything at this point…”

User Noah: Lol, our brains are all fried anyway. Lolol.

“I still have some brain cells left! Don’t dismiss Jiwooping!”

Proceeds to melt while typing.”

Amid the mix of opinions, discussions about Cheonsangyo surfaced.

Cheonsangyo was a religion founded by Heo Kyungyeon.

Title: Left Cheonsangyo after watching the debate. Lol.

“I used to like Heo Kyungyeon, but after watching the debate, I like Jiwooping more. Lol.”

(Photo of a Cheonsangyo membership card)

“What??? Wait, are you serious? Is this not just a joke?”

“No, but they have a verified nickname.

It’s not edited; it’s real?”

The poster, known as Shindohyung, was an actual member of Cheonsangyo.

Not just a regular member, but a mid-level administrator.

The reason he posted this was simple:

“Because it’s true.”

Shindohyung had stopped attending the church a few days ago.

He had already made it clear he intended to leave.

However, the calls kept coming.

“Brother Dohyung, please reconsider. If you leave now, especially when so many other members are defecting, we’ll be in trouble…”

Shindohyung was responsible for recruiting new members.

Recently, he had witnessed a wave of collective defections among the congregation.

The reason was unclear.

The only correlation seemed to be that the timing coincided with Kang Jiwoo’s rising approval ratings.

His own decision to leave was also influenced by Kang Jiwoo.

“Watching Jiwooping feels so healing…”

Why do people fall into cults?

Because they need something to lean on.

Cults prey on those who are vulnerable.

People who have experienced significant hardships, leaving them emotionally devastated.

They lure them in with sweet words.

Shindohyung was one of those people.

There was a large scar on his chest, and it naturally led him to seek solace in religion.

But then, the scar began to heal.

A simple happiness washed over him, accompanied by a sensation as if his brain was melting.

It was this happiness that healed Shindohyung.

“I can’t believe I ever believed in such a religion.”

As the scar healed, there was no longer a need to rely on anything.

On top of that, the image of the religious leader at the debate…

“Frankly, I was embarrassed for him.”

It was the worst.

The change was truly astonishing.

Just a few days ago, he had felt a strong charisma emanating from that person.

But now, that was no longer the case.

Shindohyung realized something:

A strong charisma is nothing compared to the charisma of a kind heart.

Recently, the pseudo-religion industry had been facing a major crisis:

a wave of collective defections by believers.

It was an inexplicable phenomenon.

—

“Han Seoyoung, who has had a total of five people confess to her in her lifetime, turned two of them down by saying, ‘Let’s just stay friends’, realized one was simply a misunderstanding, and eventually lost contact with the other two. Calculate the total number of Han Seoyoung’s relationships.”

“Hmm… zero?”

“Correct.”

Thwack!

Han Seoyoung slapped Bong Soohee on the back.

Bong Soohee flailed around like a piece of paper caught in the wind.

“What kind of question is this, attacking me personally?”

“I was studying math with Jiwoo-ping.”

“What kind of math problem is this?!”

Han Seoyoung’s reaction was a bit intense.

She seemed more sensitive than usual.

Well, it’s not like she’s truly never been in a relationship, so why get so upset?

“It’s because she hasn’t dated that her personality is so terrible-ping…”

“Who says I haven’t? I’ve done everything, okay?!”

“Dream relationships don’t count-ping.”

“Ugh! Never mind that! This isn’t the time for this nonsense!”

Han Seo-young reached out her hand to me.

I got down from my chair and took her hand.

—

“The survey results have been fully released.”

“Approval ratings?”

“Yes, they’ve gone up again.”

“Wow… Thank you so much, citizens-ping…”

Jiwoo-ping mumbled like that.

I also felt immensely grateful, but at the same time, deeply anxious.

How much had it risen this time?

Previously, the gap with Cho Seoyoung was about 5 percentage points.

Yoo Hangcheol had plummeted below 20%, causing my approval ratings to soar significantly.

However, Choo Seoyoung’s side also made gains, keeping the gap consistent.

“Siljangping, Siljangping… How much of a gap is there between Cho Seoyoung’s approval rating and mine-ping?”

My biggest concern was, of course, the gap with the first-place candidate.

A 5% gap might not seem like much, but narrowing it required pulling votes from the New Wind Democratic Party—a tough fight ahead.

Han Seo-young answered my question, her lips curling upward in a grin.

“It’s a 2% gap now.”

“Wow…”

A 2% difference was almost within the margin of error, wasn’t it?

But then her next words completely broke my brain.

“You’re ahead by 2 percent points.”

“…???”

What is she talking about?

Did I just hear that wrong?