The Genius Decided To Live An Ordinary Life [EN]: Chapter 252

It was time for exercise, so I headed to the gym, still smoothing Yu-jin’s messy hair. The small, round, and firm shape of her head in my palm calmed me down.

‘Hehe, it’s round and fun.’

It wasn’t fear or shyness.

That’s why I avoid private interviews.

‘The record is everything.’

It’s a relief that portal news and social media aren’t as developed yet.

The record of Jin-hyuk’s life is enough to be remembered by his family and friends, not a narrative crafted by a reporter to suit the public’s taste.

I wouldn’t make a slip of the tongue in front of reporters, but if I did, wouldn’t that also be preserved forever? A preserved moment is harder and more permanent than a diamond.

I didn’t want to leave behind a mistake that could become a dark mark on my history.

There was also Hong Ki-joon’s request.

It was in the reply that arrived right after I revealed the conversation with the shadow and the news that the gangsters Hong Ki-joon had dismantled had infiltrated various redevelopment projects.

「Now that you’ve found your center, find your weight. I don’t mean to be arrogant or haughty. I mean, choose whether you will remain a clown for the public or be remembered as a person who is faithful to his work.」

There was no longer a request to read and delete.

Still, Jin-hyuk deleted it himself. It was enough to keep it in his head and heart.

“A documentary is enough. There are no lies in it.”

Even though I don’t know what kind of directing will be inserted in the editing process, there were no interviews that could cause misunderstandings.

The fact that it contained the trivial daily life of sleeping and waking up, which ordinary people also experience every day, was a bit unusual.

“Oppa! I want to be in a documentary later too!”

“Does Yu-jin want to be an athlete too?”

“Nooo? That’s too hard.”

Yeah, I don’t want to recommend the path of an athlete to my sister.

It’s a path where you’re ultimately fighting against yourself, the loneliness is extreme, and the temptation to stray is more numerous than the stars.

Even the pervert Son Jin-hyuk, who enjoys pushing his body to the limit, feels primal loneliness when he exercises.

“Then what do you want to be?”

“It’s not like I have to be something.”

Wow, that’s true.

“But if I had to choose one, I’d be the president of an engineering company.”

What kind of president is that?

“Um-um-. Like-, like-. Um-.”

It seems like the expression isn’t coming to her right away. She flails her arms, but her mouth doesn’t open easily.

“You know-. Um-. I make computas-, and cars and robots-, and spaceships too. I make bugs too-. And clothes and food. Um-. But I have a lot of money-. This much-!”

That’s a bizarre hybrid.

“If I become president, I’ll give oppa a huge salary too.”

“Wow-, really?”

Yu-jin, fighting!

***

Notices were posted in the school’s main building lobby and hallways.

「Notice of Candidate Registration for the 34th Student Council President Election at Taeyang High School」

「Eligibility for Candidacy: Current 2nd-year students of this school, within the top 50% of academic ranking from 1st year, regardless of gender.

Candidate Registration: Submission of a list of student council officers, including the student council president, vice president, and heads of each department (running mate system).

Candidate Registration Deadline: After the announcement ~ 00.00.00

Campaign Period: From the day after candidate registration ~ until the day of voting.」

The lobby and hallways buzzed with the sound of students murmuring as they checked the notices.

It was as if on a day of heavy rain, the sounds that couldn’t escape outside were shaking the interior.

“Hey! Should we run too?”

“Damn-, my grades aren’t good enough. I was going to start studying this year-.”

“Wouldn’t they vote for me?”

“Ha-, I lost favor last year for being in the disciplinary committee, what a waste.”

“Who wants to be my vice president if I run for president-!”

People always get hyped up during election season, and schools were no different.

It was an unusual sight for Lee Seung-hoon.

Middle school was all boys, so the atmosphere was gloomy, and no one was excited about the election, but high school was lively, and everyone seemed excited, like a festival.

He analyzed the reason in his own way.

‘It’s all thanks to our Mi-kyung being at this school-.’

Lee Seung-hoon, who came to a strange conclusion, nodded his head.

Lee Seung-hoon was well aware of Choi Mi-kyung’s ambition.

She would definitely try to run for president, so he intended to help her with all his might.

To do that, he had to eliminate the most powerful competitor.

“Sorry, president. For Mi-kyung’s sake, you’ll have to remain the former president now.”

Jin-hyuk, who had been watching Lee Seung-hoon talking to himself from right behind, gritted his teeth.

‘This son of a bitch······.’

The swear words he had learned from the rough people in his neighborhood, which became harsher whenever he needed them, naturally swirled in his mouth.

You ungrateful bastard.

How did I raise you?

‘I guess you can’t help it with black-haired beasts.’

Was it a black-haired beast?

*

To Jin-hyuk, who was worried about his family’s safety, Hong Ki-joon promised.

「I will make sure no one can touch you.」

Well.

Even though Hong Ki-joon made such a bold statement, if you think about whether Jin-hyuk was someone who needed help, he wasn’t really.

He had so much power left over that he was even getting rid of his mysterious energy, so what was with the protection?

But it was only later that I realized that the protection Hong Ki-joon was talking about didn’t just mean physical protection.

Hong Ki-joon, as a person who monopolized and privatized immense power, was using money to appease the media and using information and force to pressure the government. However, he didn’t act recklessly and indiscriminately, but rather used it appropriately, only as much as needed.

His sense of personnel placement and organizational structure was also outstanding and sharp.

‘That must be his political sense.’

That’s why I’m curious.

Jin-hyuk, who had always prioritized judging matters as right or wrong before discussing practical benefits, had no such qualities at all.

「I will teach you. That is my task.」

Hong Ki-joon began to reveal facts one by one that he no longer needed to hide. Like Cheon Gil-ryong’s story bag [a bag of stories, a metaphor for a person with many tales to tell].

In Hong Ki-joon’s words, a full-fledged education for Jin-hyuk had begun.

「No matter what the other party says, you don’t need to listen to it. It’s important to achieve my goal. That’s the strategy to lead the war called business according to my intentions.」

A tone that was quite different from what I had learned from Cheon Gil-ryong or my dad. It was a statement that didn’t feel human. However, I couldn’t judge such an attitude as right or wrong. The meaning of the same words would differ depending on who said them. Who in this world would take Hong Ki-joon’s words lightly? There was not a single person who could show such confidence.

「A certain team leader I knew was strict and a perfectionist. He had many plans that were realistic and easy to implement. But as a buyer, would I have been interested? The answer is ‘no.’ Business starts with satisfying the other party’s fantasy. If it’s too realistic, it feels stable and trustworthy, but a plan that doesn’t excite people has no appeal as a product. I’m not devaluing planning skills, but that team leader was more suitable as a manager.」

Ouch-, that’s bone-breaking.

The attack power was so strong that I thought I should fill up my meditation energy before reading it. To maintain my composure and prevent internal injuries.

‘I didn’t have any ideas, did I.’

No rebuttal.

I had lived a boring life, so there was no way I could have made up plausible fantasies.

「Pointing out that something is absurd is nothing more than intellectual vanity, intellectual display. Most fools point out inconsistencies with ignorance and irrationality. Trying to accommodate everyone, even those armchair philosophers, leads to missing the opportunity and turning the product into trash. This is a principle that applies to any world, any product.」

As if he was determined to break my bones, Hong Ki-joon beat up the past Jin-hyuk.

However, if you looked closely, it wasn’t a club aimed at Jin-hyuk.

It was a statement that reminded me of the executives who had been making ridiculous comments during strategy meetings, though somewhat vaguely. There may have been a purpose for fighting over their rice bowls and performance, but those with low intelligence or those who had little enlightenment compared to their experience showed such behavior. There were also people who had personally received something under the table. Buyers who tried to undervalue and lower the price could also be included in that category.

「In that respect, I evaluate the senses of ordinary people as the most refined. They know how to see phenomena as they are.

Don’t you see the purpose or greed of those who spout criticism like an old man’s phlegm? Those guys live in the arrogance of leading the world themselves. But their behavior is nothing more than what is called attention-seeking.

The consciousness that sustains the world is ordinary people who know how to see events, accidents, and things as they are in everyday life. They are value-neutral and truly productive.

Those people are decreasing.」

While receiving Hong Ki-joon’s education, Jin-hyuk realized that the world he had to stay in was expanding more and more. It was nothing that he could learn from teachers or friends at school.

「You need to know the background of how absurd stories like the loaves and fishes or pinecone grenades were created. Those with purchasing power are more interested in the story and the halo than the person’s true self. Of course, if it’s real history rather than such fakes, the effect will be even more powerful and long-lasting. You can’t equate a dead or hidden idol with a living idol who breathes by your side. Become a living idol, the only one. At least in this world, you need that much achievement to stand alongside Hong Ki-joon and me.」

I think you’re asking for too much.

There were also things that a first-time high school student would have tilted their head at, wondering what the heck it was all about. However, it was an education that the current Jin-hyuk had no trouble understanding and pondering.

‘Understood, Master.’

When he said that much of the future of the past that he had painstakingly recorded by obtaining parchment from the shadow had become useless, a sense of futility could also be seen.

「Chechnya, well, ······ after checking, these guys should have been at war since two years ago, but they didn’t. I don’t know what the money I spread in the US and Europe did, but history has changed too much. I don’t know anymore.」

When reading the text of the emails Hong Ki-joon sent, there were times when I felt like I was talking to the shadow. When I asked about that, Hong Ki-joon pretended to be upset, saying that old men’s speech patterns were all the same.

「My sins are too great. No matter what perspective you look at it from, that doesn’t change.」

The fatigue accumulated from eliminating countless enemies while living again also seeped out of the monitor.

‘I should help him.’

How lonely he must be.

It’s a relief that we can rely on each other from afar and talk through email every day.

However, it’s a bit awkward to talk on the phone. It’s not our style to hear each other’s voices.

“President.”

“Huh?”

Oh my, you scared me.

Jin-hyuk carefully folded the printed email from Hong Ki-joon so that it wouldn’t get crumpled.

“What are you looking at so intently?”

“Ah, this······.”

I showed him another piece of paper.

It was a list of student council officer candidates.

“······Are you going to run for president?”

Lee Seung-hoon, who had been wondering when I would bring it up, finally opened his mouth.

Jin-hyuk had been preparing for the student council president election early on.

From running mates to pledges, nothing was missing.

Thanks to his dad, who had been going around and meeting people to exert his political power, saying that there was nothing he couldn’t do for the development of the region, Jin-hyuk’s pledges were flawless.

Anyway, knowing what Lee Seung-hoon, who had become an icon of betrayal, was aiming for, it was necessary to take the initiative. Accept my attack, no, my proposal, you black-haired traitor.

“Seung-hoon, you should take on the head of the athletic department.”

“Eee-? Well, what······.”

Lee Seung-hoon avoided Jin-hyuk’s eyes and mumbled.

I knew it, you sly bear.

“It’s a running mate system. You have to prepare all the student council officers to run.”

“Uh······, I’m that thing-.”

“Mi-kyung is going to run for vice president.”

“Huh!”

Lee Seung-hoon is not the type to lie.

He’s the type who can’t hide anything and even confesses to Jin-hyuk first, so Jin-hyuk has no secrets from him. He couldn’t lie after being beaten to death by his father for lying when he was young.

Indeed, a beating is the best way to make a person honest. No, that’s not it.

“I’ve already talked to Mi-kyung.”

“When?”

I wanted to say, ‘When you were muttering about backstabbing me,’ but I held it back. There are things that shouldn’t be said directly.

Jin-hyuk is a smart student, so he knows that too.

“I met her before the second period started. You’ll do it, right? Head of the athletic department.”

“Well, there’s not much to do, right? Then I’ll do it.”

It’s not that there’s not much to do, but······.

There’s nothing to do at all.

You just have to come out in front during the sports festival, do the national gymnastics, and make a student oath, and that’s it.

‘Okay, traitor eliminated.’

I wrote Lee Seung-hoon’s name on the list of student council officer candidates. I guess this is what it feels like to write a death note.

Lee Seung-hoon, who was looking at the list, couldn’t hide his laughter.

“Is Woo-sung the head of the cafeteria department?”

“Is there anyone else you can think of?”

“Nope-.”

Hehe-.

It’s an officer position that was created when the cafeteria was built. On the surface, it’s to monitor the quality of the food and induce the provision of quality service, but······.

“Woo-sung must be excited to be the first to eat, huh-.”

······The reality is like this.

Due to the aftermath of the election announcement, friends who were interested in positions of power began to visit Jin-hyuk. The ones who thought they were close were unreserved, and the ones who thought they were distant were hesitant, but other than that difference, the purpose of their visit was the same.

“Is there anything you’ll make me do?”

“Make me the head of the choir, at least.”

Well. We don’t have such an officer in our school.

I couldn’t give them false hope, so I told them the truth.

“All the running mates are filled.”

“Maybe someone will transfer.”

“Then I’ll put you on the waiting list.”

It’s better than cutting them off too coldly.

It was a change from the past. A personality that would have cut them off coldly had changed into a personality that didn’t hurt them by rejecting them appropriately.

“Huh? The disciplinary committee is empty?”

A friend who was looking at the list Jin-hyuk had written pointed out.

“It’s my first pledge.”

I had decided on the first day of high school to get rid of the disciplinary committee.

It was an unnecessary power and violence that hindered autonomy and violated equality.

Such an organization is only suitable for General Jang [a reference to a strict military figure].

“Jin-hyuk, you haven’t forgotten our secret and close contract, have you?”

Wow, if someone heard that, they’d misunderstand.

Kim Eun-jung reveals her presence like this, out of nowhere.

Jin-hyuk silently held out the list.

“Hmm-. Good. Head of the literary department. With my writing skills, I’ll move the aliens’ hearts and make them invade Earth-.”

Okay, that’s enough.

I’m getting old listening to your ordinary nonsense. I guess Jo-seul’s wrinkles on her forehead are for the same reason.

“Let’s work on the campaign posters at my house this Saturday after school.”

“I was going to go see a movie with Jo-seul. Two Cops Two-.”

He’s such a useless guy.

But it’s also amazing how much effort he puts into going to the theater in the next town to see that boring movie. It must be to have some time alone.

It’s a good thing for Jo-seul.

“Eun-jung, if anyone picks a fight with you, call me right away.”

“I will. If 114 is dialed, know that it’s an emergency.”

Is 114 the number you use in an emergency?

Jin-hyuk, who roughly wiped off the spit that had landed on his cheek from Kim Eun-jung, offered another suggestion.

“Then how about Sunday?”

“I have no choice. If it’s you, I’ll make that much concession.”

Oh my, how generous.