Chapter 200

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Translated by Heavenly Cat

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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[Birth of America’s First Female President?]

Trent furrowed his brow at the news headline from the morning and turned off the TV.

“What the hell is going on? Why is Hillis’s approval rising even more?”

“All media are spotlighting Hillis right now. They’re hyping her up tremendously as America’s first female president in history.”

“Does it make sense to suddenly make some woman no one’s ever heard of the President!?”

Looking at Hillis’s political career, it wasn’t very long.

She hadn’t done anything particularly notable either.

Obviously, the Democrats had assumed Aiden would run for reelection and were caught off guard. she was a hastily pushed candidate.

Yet her approval was now surpassing Trent’s.

“What is our Republican Party doing? I told you to find a way to surpass approval somehow! Do you want to lose the presidential seat to the Democrats again!?”

“The Republican Party is also trying their best to raise the candidate’s approval. However…”

“However?”

“As long as Gwangwoon has a firm grip on the media, it’s not easy. No matter how much money we spend leaving articles and posts on social media, they get buried quickly.”

Trent had been born with a diamond spoon.

And what he learned was that there’s nothing money can’t do in the world.

But this was different.

No matter how much money he poured in, if Gwangwoon blocked him, there was no way.

Until now, whenever he made strong statements, it quickly became a hot topic and social media would buzz, but now no matter what he said, his statements weren’t going out in the media, so he wasn’t seeing any effect.

“Maybe even now you could try joining hands with Gwangwoon…”

“Gwangwoon is currently pushing the Democrats hard. If I extend my hand, would they even take it?”

“We don’t know. Because right now Gwangwoon’s direction is going opposite to the Democrats.”

“Opposite?”

“Right now, media companies Gwangwoon controls like Wizni and Enflix are thoroughly excluding the PC ideology the Democrats advocate.”

“Isn’t that just simply for entertainment?”

As Aiden took power, the PC craze had become very severe.

Before, only pretty and handsome people appeared in ads and media, but now the world had become one where people on the opposite end appeared more often.

The problem was this became too extreme and created displeasure among people, and Gwangwoon, who seemed to have little interest in PC culture, overhauled all such systems and created media companies that purely pursue entertainment.

“But Gwangwoon is very blatant about it. It’s the polar opposite of what the Democrats value. In other words, they might actually get along well with our Republican Party. There’s also a high possibility they actually want us to take power.”

Gwangwoon’s desired administration isn’t the Democrats but the Republicans. Is that it?

“…”

Trent fell into thought.

The person who will rule America as President having to bow to a mere company.

How humiliating was that?

“Candidate, you must think of the greater cause now.”

“That’s right. If the candidate takes power, the situation will be different from now. Just looking at Congress, isn’t it packed with our Republican Party?”

“Plan for the future. For now, it seems good to at least talk with Gwangwoon. The Republican Party wants this too.”

Have a conversation now, then change positions after getting elected.

If he could do that, bowing his head wasn’t difficult.

Wasn’t politics originally a world of stabbing each other in the back?

Trent’s lips began to curve upward.

***

“Seriously, President, who do you want to see elected?”

Our Prime department often has tea time.

I’m in the position of President, but these are people I’ve worked with for a long time, and I keep these dialogue channels open frequently for unity.

“Hmm. I think Hillis would be better. I think everyone here probably thinks the same, right?”

It’s not because I support the Democrats’ political inclinations.

It was just because of one person named Trent.

Trent is someone you never know where he’ll bounce.

And people in finance hate unpredictable variables.

“Trent is definitely someone outside common sense.”

Everyone who worked with Trent’s first administration says the same thing in unison.

That Trent is crazy.

“I thought at first the news about nuking North Korea was just a rumor. But I heard Trent really tried to do it. People around him barely stopped him.”

When Trent was President.

There had been various rumors.

Rumors that President Trent was trying to strike North Korea.

Rumors about launching nukes.

US troop withdrawal, 10x increase in defense cost contributions, and so on.

It was so outside common sense that everyone dismissed it as tabloid trash created by opponents.

But looking at the memoirs that came out one after another after his term ended, it was all true.

“Back then there was at least a brake. But this time there’s no one to apply the brakes, and instead only extreme right-wingers remain around him, so we really don’t know what will happen.”

“If Trent gets elected, the biggest problem is trade. Even now, he’s claiming that not just our country but all countries are ripping off America, and tariffs need to go up, right?”

President Trent was continuously making trade tariffs an issue.

He was strongly pushing that ruthless trade tariffs must be applied to those who dare to leech off America’s money.

“Just listening to what he’s saying, it seems like he’ll impose at least 200% tariffs. If this happens, the world economy already shaken by China’s collapse could be further damaged.”

If Trent really follows through on his campaign promises and drops ruthless tariff bombs on countries connected to America, the situation would become very serious.

“Still, the fortunate thing is that this election’s winner is pretty much decided. Hillis’s approval is quite high, so it looks very difficult for Trent to flip it.”

“That’s right. The media already seems to be sure of Hillis’s victory. China’s collapse was an enormous boon for the Democrats.”

“President, you obviously think the Democrats will win too, right?”

“…”

The employees were laughing happily, but I couldn’t.

“President?”

I drained the remaining tea in my cup at once, then spoke to the employees.

“Please find out which stocks would rise if Trent gets reelected, where would benefit most. all of it.”

“!?”

“P-President. Are you saying you think Trent will be elected?”

I didn’t want to believe it either.

But no matter how many times I asked my intuition again, the answer was the same.

My intuition picked Trent as the winner of this election.

“But looking at approval ratings now and the current flow, it’s clear Hillis will win overwhelmingly.”

Even when asked for reasons, I couldn’t answer.

Because I also had no idea how Trent could get elected.

“Everyone quiet! If the President decided so, that’s that. You’ve all been slacking lately. did you forget the company motto we must engrave in our hearts first?”

Company motto? What company motto?

“Everyone abandon your ego! Just do as the President says. How dare you argue.”

“…”

I don’t know when that became the company motto, but the effect was certain.

“We’ll bring it right away!”

“Move quickly!”

“Yes sir!”

After that scolding, the manager smiled slightly, bowed to me politely, and moved quickly following the employees.

***

“You must be quite desperate. Seeing you came all the way here.”

“Who’s desperate?”

“Otherwise, why would you come to the White House? Hoho.”

Trent wasn’t pleased by Aiden who looked like the most peaceful person in the world.

With retirement ahead, did he have nothing to fear anymore?

“I heard you’re not even properly doing official duties.”

“I still do what I must. I’m just not trying hard. it’s already been a puppet administration for a while. I’ll leave here comfortably next year.”

“How irresponsible.”

“Who am I that I should talk about responsibility here? I’m the one who ran away with the nuclear football after you got elected.”

“Ugh.”

Watching the anxious Trent not knowing what to do, Aiden felt an inexplicable thrill.

“I heard about it. That you seriously tried to contact Gwangwoon?”

“Yes. I clearly conveyed our intentions to your former Chief of Staff John. That if they support us, we’ll push forward everything Gwangwoon wants to do.”

“But seeing you came to find me, there’s been no answer yet.”

“…”

Though his pride was hurt, it was true.

Even after expressing their willingness to negotiate to Gwangwoon, there was no reaction.

“But what use is coming to find me? I don’t have that much power.”

“Everyone knows you’ve become their lackey.”

“That’s not wrong, but well, I don’t really have any speaking rights.”

“W-What?”

Trent was rather surprised when Aiden agreed so easily.

“There’s a guild I belong to, and it has a peculiar rule. If you can’t pull your weight, you’re not even treated as human. You don’t even have speaking rights.”

“Wh-What does that mean?”

“Hoho. That’s how it is. Unfortunately, I still can’t pull my weight, so I’m just an old man without even speaking rights.”

“…?”

Trent couldn’t understand what Aiden was saying.

“Who the hell moves that guild and Gwangwoon? Who dares to toy with our America as they please?”

“No one knows. None of us have seen that person’s face directly.”

“That person?”

“That’s what everyone calls them. Don’t know the name, don’t know the face, but we know they exist. Those inside just follow the words conveyed by that person’s representative.”

“Sounds like some cult.”

“Maybe. But has there ever been a cult with power this strong in history? Didn’t you come all the way here to get their help too?”

The most powerful cult in history.

All cults are scams, but this one seemed to have something.

“So, when exactly will Gwangwoon give me an answer? Are they really going to make enemies with our Republican Party and just push the Democrats?”

“I don’t know that person’s will either. But one thing I can tell you is that they’ve already given you an answer.”

“What?”

“I heard Gwangwoon recently sold all the holdings they had in safe assets and started buying other stocks.”

“What does that have to do with me?”

“There’s definitely a connection. The news hasn’t fully spread yet, but according to what came into our intelligence agency, what Gwangwoon is frantically picking up right now are things related to you.”

Trent tilted his head at that.

Weren’t all stocks related to Trent currently worthless paper?

“Right. If you get elected, what happens to those stocks that no one would take even for free?”

“Could it be…!”

“Gwangwoon already gave you an answer. You just didn’t know yet.”

“!?”

Was that it?

But then they could have just told him directly…!

“Then somehow traces would remain. Gwangwoon is always like this. Rather than giving direct answers, they show through actions.”

“Wait. Then are they really saying they’ll make me President? Do you know how high Hillis’s approval is right now?”

“Of course.”

“Our party is putting in all effort, but approval has already gap widened beyond recovery. So the talk is that even if Gwangwoon steps in, nothing will change?”

At those words, Aiden burst into a small laugh.

“To our eyes, it may seem that way. But that Gwangwoon has given you an answer means they’ve already devised a method.”

“Then what do I need to do?”

“Nothing. Just keep doing what you always do.”

He needed to do nothing?

“Wait and you’ll see soon. How Gwangwoon will flip this game.”

But with Trent’s mind, he absolutely couldn’t think of a method.

“If I become President, wouldn’t it be bad for the Democrats?”

“I don’t particularly care. Honestly, I don’t even understand why you’re so obsessed with this position.”

“What?”

“I roughly know your intentions. You’re planning to stab Gwangwoon in the back after becoming President, right?”

“T-That’s…”

“But you’d better not let your guard down. If even an old man like me can predict this, do you think Gwangwoon wouldn’t know?”

Aiden was chuckling with a very carefree face.

It wasn’t just an expression because it wasn’t his problem.

There was a faith visible. that if Gwangwoon set their mind to it, it would definitely happen.

End