Became a Dark Merchant in the Academy - Chapter 204



203 – Student Council President Election_7

Although there was some commotion, the first event of the election campaign, the announcement of pledges, started without a hitch and at the scheduled time.

The first batter is Park Yul-cheon, a third-year student and president of the student council.

He stood in front of the microphone stand installed in the center of the square stage, following the instructions of the event staff. Despite standing in front of a large crowd of people, he tapped the microphone without showing any sign of nervousness, and made the same annoyed expression as when he was lying on the bed in the candidate waiting room.

“Ahhh, mic test. Nice to meet you, cadets. I am Park Yul-Cheon, the former student council president of Laplace Academy, a school with a long tradition, who narrowly missed out on a second round of reappointment.”

The announcement of pledges began soon after.

At first glance, it seemed like a somewhat loose speech, and the presentation started off with something that sounded like self-deprecation.

Those gathered in the square began to concentrate on his words.

The position of Laplace Academy student council president is one that even an extraordinary cadet would have a hard time holding out for a year.

This was because, rather than bragging, he was subtly revealing, through a self-deprecation that was similar to humor, that he had served as student body president for two years.

‘Not bad.’

I nodded slightly while watching the broadcast on the TV set up in the candidate waiting room.

I don’t know what to make of the absolute evaluation of the content, but the pronunciation, the pitch of the voice, the gestures, and the actions were all not bad.

“Does anyone know me? If so, please raise your hand.”

Although the slightly annoyed expression was a minus, looking at the loose words and tone that continued, it was clear that he was speaking with some intention.

Perhaps it is a type of speaking technique to ease the tense atmosphere and draw the atmosphere to one’s own side.

‘I guess that means he’s an experienced person.’

The biggest obstacle in this student council president election.

However, he was not reappointed for a second term due to various incidents that occurred within the Academy.

He was the son of a famous conglomerate family and a capable person who had served as the student council president since his freshman year, so his skills were not lost.

Of course, I couldn’t help but feel like a show host whose words and actions were different from his pledges.

There is no set format for announcing a pledge, and what is important is what the audience hears.

The audience there is usually impatient.

Considering that no matter how formal or fancy the words are, they are useless if they don’t stay in the audience’s mind, that wasn’t a bad method at all.

“One, two, three… Are there any more? I think I’ve been working hard so far. Who would have thought no one would know?”

When only a few people among those gathered in the square raised their hands, Park Yul-cheon slightly lowered his head as if shocked.

“I did everything: the renovation of the plaza you’re standing in, the state-of-the-art simulators in the training grounds, the special scholarships for each semester, the special budgets for each department, and even the change to the outdated gym uniform design.”

And then, with small tears in his eyes, he spoke casually of his achievements.

“Well, there’s nothing we can do about it. They say that in times of peace, it’s natural not to even know the face of the king.”

Not only that, but many incidents and accidents that occurred last year that could have been attack points were quickly brushed aside so that they could not be recalled.

“I’ve rambling on for too long. Now, I’ll announce my pledges. My pledges are as follows. In order for the cadets to have a more fulfilling and enjoyable academy life, I will increase the tuition by 50% from last year’s standard. Next, I will replace all of the old and outdated classrooms with new ones.”

And then the promises started to be made.

It was Park Yul-cheon who put forward a very ordinary promise.

“also…”

After two minutes, it seemed like the pledge announcement that had been prepared was almost finished.

Park Ul-cheon shook his head slightly.

“No matter how much I think about it, I think I did a good job. It’s really sad that the cadets don’t remember me.”

Then he let out a small sigh.

“I guess it’s because it lacks impact. To be honest, they only make these simple promises. When I think about it, I think, ‘Ah, this is unmemorable.’”

The end of a sigh.

Park Yul-cheon looked straight at the audience as if something had occurred to him.

“So, to make sure it leaves an impact, let me urgently add one more promise here.”

The audience’s attention began to focus on the stage due to sudden words and actions.

“Here is my urgent additional commitment: I will change the unfair special scholarship selection ratio.”

But that soon became dull.

I think it might be because the thought crossed my mind of how much it would change if I changed the scholarship selection ratio.

Park Yul-cheon smiles as if he had guessed it.

“Regardless of my vote percentage, let the voter turnout in this election be the percentage of scholarship recipients. If the voter turnout is 100%, then all students will be able to receive it, right?”

Total time taken: 3 minutes.

“This was symbol number 1, Park Yul-cheon. Thank you.”

The time was short though.

It was enough to cause a commotion.

**

Park Yul-cheon’s pledge announcement drew a great response.

That would be the case, because in other words, if the voter turnout in this election were 100%, it would be no different from saying that you would give hundreds of dollars to every cadet.

It wouldn’t be a bad idea to expand the buoy, or change shared items or academy facilities.

However, they are only indirect.

There was a significant difference between money that could be touched and spent directly and money that could be spent directly.

Regardless of where the money comes from and whether it is legal or illegal, who would hate being offered free money?

‘It does have some impact.’

Special scholarships can certainly be awarded to those with certain qualifications and regulations based on the student council’s rules, so it’s not impossible if you become the student council president, the person in charge of the student council.

If he were the student council president of another academy, he would have to get permission from the academy, so it wouldn’t have been something he could make a pledge about.

The Laplace Academy student council president was able to do so.

‘Because he has so much power that it’s suspicious.’

Externally, it is interpreted as meaning guaranteeing the autonomy of cadets.

In fact, there must have been some kind of backstory saying that it was a successor to the cadet corps that existed during the old war.

Anyway, that promise was sure to be deeply engraved in the cadets’ minds and would lead to many topics of conversation.

And I did that first.

“If I become the student council president, I will listen to the students’ inconveniences and secure parking lots, etc…”

Even if the latecomer puts forward a standard pledge like the other candidates on the show,

Because I was pressed for time to present, I couldn’t even use everything I had prepared.

It was natural that it didn’t elicit any response.

“If I become the student council president, I will give you a scholarship, no, a grant for the students… Yes? That’s illegal? Then why Park Yul-cheon?”

Even if you try to make an impact without thinking about the consequences and just do something crazy like going after A and then going after B, you’ll be lucky if you don’t get called a rip-off.

The subject is different, the speech is different, and the vocabulary is different.

If money could buy votes in the first place, other candidates would have had similar promises in mind.

But why isn’t that the case?

Isn’t it because the line that touches the law, the clear boundary between legal and illegal, the tightrope walk, always ends up being a dagger that comes back to bite you?

At first glance, Park Yul-cheon’s pledge may seem like an urgent addition, but in reality, it is not.

That’s a thoroughly calculated promise.

Of course, there are grounds to believe that there is some hidden meaning involved, so we will have to consider Article 93 of the Public Official Election Act and the legal judgment on vote-buying in the future.

It was natural that there would be a difference between a promise made without proper calculation and a promise made after proper calculation and tightrope walking.

B had no choice but to leave the stage with his head bowed.

“I will invite the King to be my professor.”

But even if they are latecomers, not all latecomers are the same.

While some people prepared moderately to build up their profile like A or B, there were also those who honed their skills and made desperate efforts to become the student council president.

b Xiaolong, who came up next, was like that.

Using his connections as a weapon, he made an outrageous promise to invite the S-class hero, the King, as a professor.

“Remember, the gates of the King are always open.”

Just two words.

Xiaolong left the stage after giving a presentation that lasted less than 30 seconds.

Although it was a very short promise, its impact was no less than that of Park Yul-cheon.

If you are a mana ability user, you wouldn’t want to miss out on a stroke of luck like that.

The square was heating up again.

“With a 100% employment rate, we can assure you that many famous guilds and groups will be open to excellent Laplace Academy students.”

Lee Won-jun’s promise after Xiaolong.

In some ways, it was similar to Park Yul-cheon’s method, but in a different way.

Indirectly, not directly.

Things that may or may not be illegal.

A time of worry that every cadet would think about at least once.

A clever stab in the middle.

It’s not without conditions though.

It was meant to eliminate the anxiety about the future that most students have.

This also drew a good response.

“─ In addition, I would like to give you one more definite answer.”

The next person to go up on stage was Rie Tachibana.

A gentle expression.

It seems that it is not a lie that she is the daughter of the highest ranking official in the Eastern Army Alliance.

Her pronunciation and speech were very old-fashioned.

“That is safety. I will use the Ikatsuchi Guild as Laplace Academy’s defensive force so that all the Academy cadets can enjoy a safe Academy life.”

I felt a little strange.

It wasn’t because I liked her looks or the way she spoke.

It was simply because the promises Tachibana Rie made overlapped with mine.

“…”

There would be no problem if the pledges overlapped.

The Academy’s issues are limited, and the topic of safety is such a hot topic that it’s surprising it hasn’t come up before, so it could come up.

‘That’s true, though.’

The problem lay elsewhere.

Her pledges were so similar to mine that it felt like she had copied and pasted them, only changing the names.

How similar it is. In the last pledge, the safety-related item was changed to Ikatsuchi Guild as a myth, and if I just removed or added one or two sentences before and after, it would be exactly the same as my pledge.

‘Is there a traitor among the support group?’

Otherwise it wouldn’t make sense.

No matter how many coincidences there were, there was no way that there could be such an absurd coincidence that even the gestures overlapped with the movement lines.

“senior?”

Yukina, who was next to me, grabbed my sleeve.

“Are you okay?”

A worried face, but I think the expression has relaxed a little.

That’s why.

It was the moment when he was about to open his mouth and regain his expression.

-bang!!!

The image on TV changed, a loud noise was heard, and dust flew up.

The place is a square.

It was in front of Tachibana Rie.