Chapter 203

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Translated by Heavenly Cat

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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It’s really almost over now.

“The day I escape this horrible White House.”

With retirement not far away, Aiden only did what he absolutely had to and pushed everything else back.

For the person who would become the next President to deal with.

“President.”

But the world seemed to have no intention of giving Aiden rest.

Democratic presidential candidate Hillis came swarming in with her aides.

“You people. I’m just an old man with retirement right around the corner.”

“Don’t say that. President, you are still the one who represents our America, and currently the most influential person in the world…”

“Stop it. I’m the one who made it a puppet administration. So, why did everyone come?”

“President. This is today’s poll results.”

Hillis had always been ahead in the polls.

But this time was different.

Surprisingly, Trent had finally surpassed Hillis’s approval.

“Is it credible?”

“It’s certain. Trent is leading in almost all polls.”

“I see.”

“…?”

Hillis and the aides thought Aiden would say something more.

But he answered only that much and said nothing else.

“President…?”

“What? What do you want me to say?”

“Th-This election, we Democrats must win it.”

“It seems you didn’t hear what I told the Democratic cabinet before. If I really wanted to win the election, I would have run myself. Why do you think I put Hillis up?”

“…What?”

At Aiden’s words, Hillis and the aides froze in place.

“You know the China situation made our Democratic Party and my approval shoot up tremendously. That’s why you, Hillis, benefited despite your short political career.”

“…”

“But I didn’t put you in that candidate seat to get you elected from the start. I was just filling the slot.”

“P-President.”

It had been a long time since Aiden, normally of mild temperament, spoke this harshly.

“I’m not saying this because I dislike you. It’s the opposite. I’m saying this because I truly care about you. I don’t want someone I cherish sitting in this seat.”

“…Is it because of Gwangwoon?”

“Yes. The American presidency is no longer the position with the strongest power on Earth. I really did my best while in this seat. I struggled with all my might to stop Gwangwoon from manipulating our America as they please. But you all know what the result was, right?”

Just for checking Gwangwoon and opposing them, Aiden ended up with the stigma of making the current administration a puppet.

“Watching that from the side and still coveting this seat is what I can’t understand.”

“But if our Democratic candidate gets elected, they can properly lead the country while fully inheriting that spirit. Above all, Trent has mental issues, doesn’t he? Entrusting the country to such a person…”

“It’s not that he has mental issues. that’s his strategy. Would Trent have been this spotlighted if he acted normally? What drives people crazy is always the provocative. That’s why Gwangwoon sniped Trent to flip the approval.”

At those words, Hillis and the aides flinched.

“President, you really think this sniper incident was a staged act by Gwangwoon and Trent?”

“Right after Trent extended his hand to Gwangwoon asking them to flip his approval, this incident happened. There was a similar incident in Japan. The terrible incident of a former Prime Minister being assassinated. Surprisingly, after that, the ruling party’s approval went up and won the election.”

“But Congress investigated very thoroughly, and even the Democrats closely investigated whether Trent staged it. But nothing came out.”

Then Aiden burst into a small laugh.

“The other party is Gwangwoon. None of our American agencies could find Gwangwoon’s traces or weaknesses. How do you expect to find it?”

“…”

“So give up cleanly. The truth is, Gwangwoon chose the Republican Party over the Democrats long ago.”

The American presidency was now nothing but a scarecrow anyway.

Rather than sitting in such a meaningless seat, it was better to do something else.

“Sorry for speaking harshly. But that’s all I have to say. If there’s nothing more to discuss, let’s end here for today.”

“…”

Everyone stood up completely drained.

Hillis, who was about to follow the aides outside, stopped in her steps.

“President. I didn’t come today to ask you to raise my approval.”

“Then?”

“As you said, President, my political career isn’t very long. My support base is weak. People supported me only because I was Democratic. That’s why my approval was reversed by the Trent sniper incident. If you had been the candidate, that would never have happened.”

“What are you trying to say?”

“President.”

Hillis turned around and looked straight at Aiden.

“There’s about a week left until the candidate registration deadline.”

“…?”

“The period varies by state, but there’s about a week left to change our Democratic candidate. This might be the last chance for Democrats to win.”

Then Aiden smiled and shook his head.

“I respectfully decline. I’ve already retired.”

“…”

Hillis left the White House without a word.

Watching her retreating figure, Aiden also felt a bit sorry, but,

“Well, what can you do? They learn from going through this.”

Honestly, it wasn’t his problem.

With retirement right ahead, and having even made thorough retirement plans, in this period when he’s happily waiting for that day. candidate replacement?

“Absolutely not.”

He had already suffered enough here.

He didn’t want to burden Hillis with this.

He only wanted Trent to sit in this seat and bitterly regret it.

“While I watch that enjoyably with a beer in hand.”

At the thought of watching Trent slave away in the White House while he played games with guild members all day, Aiden was already blooming with laughter.

***

“Congratulations. President.”

“Congratulations. You’ve successfully won reelection.”

“Tsk. Anyone would think the election was over. Hm? I’m still just a candidate.”

Laughter could be heard from all around Trent’s camp.

The approval that Hillis and the Democrats had overwhelmingly taken until now.

But they had flipped it.

Dopamine had to burst to the top of one’s head.

“There’s still a lot of time until the election, but… what’s the possibility of approval being reversed?”

“Almost none. As you know, Hillis originally had a thin support base. But with China’s regime collapse accelerating, the approval of Democrats who had been sanctioning China exploded, and Hillis, with no fame, got support with the slogan of first female president.”

“In contrast, my support base is solid?”

“Yes. The concrete layer supporting the candidate is very thick. People are sensing that something is going wrong in America. So they support you even more strongly, and the sniper incident amplified that effect.”

In other words, Hillis didn’t have the power to flip approval like Trent.

She might have briefly ridden the wave of popularity from the China collapse benefits, but she didn’t have the ability to close the widening gap.

“So victory is right around the corner.”

“Yes. Even though there are still a few more months until the election, we’ve really almost made it. If the candidate could just restrain your statements a bit until then…”

“Restrain what? I only speak strongly for America. And everyone knows, right? That’s how I got this far.”

“That’s true, but…”

“Enough. Just do as we always have. They said it’s difficult to reverse approval now, right?”

“Yes. The Republican side is also greatly promoting the brave action the candidate showed at the shooting scene, continuing to raise approval.”

There were a lot of people opposing the idea of handing Trent the presidency.

But more people thought it was better to give Trent, who advocates for a selfish America, the next presidency rather than giving it to Hillis.

“Of course, without that sniper incident, it would have been really difficult.”

“…About that incident. Really no connection to Gwangwoon came out? Not one?”

“Yes. We continued the investigation, but nothing came out. This incident was definitely Thomas’s solo act.”

To hide traces to this frightening degree.

As expected of Gwangwoon.

What the hell are they doing and how…

“Candidate. That’s exactly why we can’t leave Gwangwoon alone.”

“But they shot me. To flip approval. They even killed a former Prime Minister in Japan. And that’s not all? They say they cause earthquakes intentionally!”

“Honestly, some of those might be our speculation. We don’t have evidence that Gwangwoon really did them, right?”

“You think we’re just mistaken that they hide traces well?”

“Yes. That some of it might be such a misunderstanding. Actually nothing, but we just saw Gwangwoon as too big.”

If that were true, that would be fortunate.

But there were too many incidents to dismiss it as such.

“So what are you trying to say?”

“For now, you must pretend to cooperate with Gwangwoon. And we need to prepare internally too. Whether Gwangwoon really caused those incidents or not, they’re an enemy we must eliminate.”

“That’s right. And we will definitely protect the candidate’s safety. We’ve already tripled security and are constantly on guard around you. That kind of misfortune will absolutely never happen to the candidate again.”

Trent nodded slowly.

Actually, he always wondered if becoming President this way was right.

If he really becomes President like this, he’ll just be playing in Gwangwoon’s palm.

How can he make America great again if he grants everything they demand?

“Then as soon as my term starts, find a way to eradicate Gwangwoon. As long as they exist, we can never achieve our goals.”

So Trent had to make a decision too.

Whether to become a puppet fool like this, or return to a strong America.

And he had already made his decision.

***

“This really looks like Trent will win.”

“Yes, President. The approval is widening more than expected. As expected, it was too much for Hillis.”

I was looking at US polls with interest.

I felt this was really unfortunate for Hillis too.

She seemed so close, but then someone had to snipe Trent right at that moment, and the momentum completely went to the other side.

“What about the stocks we bought?”

“They’re hitting the ceiling consecutively. They shot up again after the poll. Everyone seems to think Trent has won.”

Then we also had to decide when to sell.

“This is the chart for those.”

We had bought quite a lot of stocks.

With so much money spread around, stocks had to be diversely distributed.

“But they’re all breaking through the charts.”

“Yes, the numbers are enormous. What’s surprising is that this is just the beginning.”

I judged Trent becoming President honestly carried big risks, but stocks going up still felt good.

“When would be the best time to sell?”

“Probably after the election ends? Stocks rise on expectation. If Trent’s election is confirmed, themed stocks will naturally fall bit by bit.”

That’s how themed stocks are.

They rise like crazy before election, but after election they hit rock bottom unless there’s special good news.

“Then we should also find a good selling point…”

The moment I said that while flipping through the documents.

“!?”

Intense intuition struck through my fingertips and slammed my whole body.

To the point I unconsciously staggered.

“P-President?!”

“President!”

All the employees stood up in surprise.

“Ah, I-I’m okay.”

“Okay?! I thought you were about to collapse just now! Deputy An, what are you doing! Get the car ready quickly! We’re taking him straight to the hospital.”

“N-No. I’m really okay…”

“It must be aftereffects from your traffic accident still remaining. And you’ve been working overtime just to buy these themed stocks lately!”

“Stay still!”

Even the bodyguards outside rushed in and were forcibly escorting(?) me.

“No. I’m telling you I’m really okay?”

“No you’re not. The Chairman said if there’s anything even slightly wrong with your condition, to take you to the hospital by force.”

Even if I wanted to resist, I couldn’t.

With these big guys grabbing me, what power did I have to shake them off?

‘But what exactly was that just now?’

Trent themed stocks will rise more from now.

Since there’s still time until the election.

‘That signal was like…’

It felt like intuition was urging me to sell quickly.

End