〈 Chapter 227 〉 223 Chapter – Voting (2)
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Academy voting.
The process is the same as other votes in society, yet it has its own quirks.
The similarity lies in how the voting itself is conducted.
Once the voter’s ID is scanned and they’ve verified their identity in front of the camera, a ballot is printed.
Here, only those treated legally as persons can have voting rights.
Which means, those who don’t meet this criterion have no voting rights.
Then, they enter the voting booth, stamp their chosen candidate’s name on the ballot, and finally drop it in the ballot box to complete the process.
Of course, since the machine compares the photo on the ID with the real person, minor issues can arise.
“No law says you can’t use an Insta pic for your ID!!!”
“Who the hell made this machine?! Why does it show a warning saying to take a human face when I flash mine?!”
“It’s so unfair that I can’t vote just because I gained weight! Did I balloon up on purpose? A thug threatened me with donuts!”
“F*ck! I didn’t even get full plastic surgery, I just tweaked my eyes, nose, mouth, and chin a bit! Why can’t they recognize me?!”
“I passed with a penis pic, you fckers! From tomorrow, I’ll wear a condom on my face! I look fcked up anyway! F*ck!!”
[Your talking is f*cked up, so cover your vocal cords with a condom.]
‘Make sure to put a condom on your eyes later. I’m torn between seeing ‘grandma’ or ‘grandpa’.’
[…Shall we just call it a draw?]
Anyway, the overall flow doesn’t differ much from the way voting happens in society.
However, because it’s the special society of the Academy, there’s one unique point in the voting process.
Candidates wait in the voting area until the voting ends.
Not in their own spaces, but all gathered in one place.
Of course, it’s optional, and they don’t have to wait if they don’t want to.
Logically, they could gather beforehand to check each other out and then disperse.
Yet, nobody chose the option of not waiting.
The reason is simple.
Because.
“Hey! If you get any closer, I’ll report you!”
“Stop! Were you trying to do something sneaky just now?”
“That guy just sexually harassed the ballot box! My tears are the evidence!”
“Don’t move! Anyone moving here is a criminal from now on!”
“Freeze, you f*ckers! Don’t touch the ballot box! I’ll chop your hands off!”
To keep an eye on the ballot box and each candidate.
Again, there’s no real need to wait.
In some ways, it’s a pointless waste of time.
But.
In case a serious issue arises.
First, they’ll throw the blame on the candidate who isn’t present.
[Just because they’re not present doesn’t mean they aren’t the culprit!]
‘You learn this in class too. In a party, it’s the one who isn’t present that’s in the wrong.’
[This f*cked-up Academy has to be this way!!!]
This wasn’t the original case.
It was brought about by an established precedent.
To explain the precedent, there was a time when a leading candidate, due to his arrogance, didn’t show up.
As a result, the other waiting candidates conspired and committed cheating, claiming they were threatened by the strong candidate.
Inevitably, the absent candidate was disqualified without any chance to defend himself.
Of course, later it was revealed it wasn’t his fault.
But the Academy just quietly swept it under the rug out of annoyance.
[…Wasn’t that a big deal? Didn’t it blow up?]
‘What do you expect from a national institution? They’re quick to bury things to save their skins.’
Anyway, due to that precedent.
It’s only natural for all candidates to attend.
And this is not the end.
If anyone tries to use their abilities here or pull some nonsense.
They have to quickly control and bite back.
This, too, is implementing what they learned at the Academy.
As long as you don’t get caught cheating, it’s not considered cheating.
Even if they do get caught, it should happen when the student council president’s term is over.
That way, they can enjoy their gains and wipe their mouths clean afterward.
On the flip side, if you catch the other side cheating.
You can use that to crush them down to the ground.
You could even flip any cheating you did back onto them.
[Man, you’re sure learning good things, you f*cker!!!]
‘This is real social education.’
Anyhow, with the additional rules I added, the voting began.
For the heroines, as soon as voting started, they quickly finished and rushed out.
“Shinwoo, tell me later if there’s someone you don’t like. I’ll kill them.”
“Master! Just let me know, and I’ll dig up everything before killing!”
“If it’s about digging, don’t worry. There’s no one better at getting money than me!”
“……Just go die along with the Academy.”
So this time, I can say it firmly.
This situation is misfortune for me, and luck for others.
Thanks to the lack of heroines, after finishing their votes, the students began proudly bringing their ballots to the chief.
To prove they didn’t vote for me and to collect money from the chief.
“Here it is! Please check!”
“Good! Next!”
“Here! That Kim Shinwoo dog!”
“Great!!! You get an additional payment!!!”
Starting from there, the students began hurling insults at me.
All to get even a little extra cash.
It was the first-year students who didn’t realize the possible backlash at all.
[…What do they plan to do about the aftermath later?]
‘Once I become the student council president, I’ll deal with those bastards.’
Fortunately, the second-year students were already aware of the upcoming backlash.
They quickly completed their votes.
Without making eye contact or saying a word.
They simply dropped their ballots in the box and fled the voting area.
Considering they didn’t even show their ballots to the chief, it seemed they didn’t want to be seen voting for me.
The promotional efforts of the heroines definitely seemed to help.
[…Usually, we agreed to call that kind of thing intimidation.]
‘It’s persuasion. Persuasion.’
Meanwhile, the third-year students technically don’t need to vote.
Since I’ll be leaving the Academy as soon as I become the student council president next year.
However, since the chief was handing out money, they were just picking any candidate except me to cast their votes.
Honestly, this was territory of uncontrollable variables.
[They’re either job-seekers or already successful in finding jobs.]
‘But since they are given cash, their eyes may dazzle, and they’ll take it.’
Alongside that, all I could do concerning them was.
Pray that the votes don’t get concentrated in one spot.
Lastly, the professors and staff.
Their votes were dispersed among multiple candidates.
The reason was simple.
While keeping an eye on me, they were engaged in ugly and disgraceful fights for their own interest.
“No, that candidate doesn’t support our department; are you really trying to work with us now?”
“Shut up! That candidate agreed to be our lab’s research student! She even signed a contract!”
“…..Excuse me, professor? Wait a minute! Didn’t you say that was just some worthless paper last time?”
“Then we’ll go with that candidate! Don’t bother us anymore!”
“Wait a second! That candidate is useless to you and will only reduce support for our lab!”
[Your chances of winning are low, so they’re no longer paying attention to you.]
‘They’re morons. They have no clue how this will unfold.’
Of course, those morons then turned around and said.
“Chief. We also didn’t vote for Kim Shinwoo. Please give us cash.”
“…Do you dare? Are you asking for money while eating at the Academy’s public expense?”
“The rules you established must be followed strictly.”
“Grrr! Fine! Take it and get lost!”
They cleverly wrangled money from the chief.
After that, the overheated voting settled down for a moment.
It seems all who were supposed to come had already come, as the chief’s cash supply had run dry.
Then the chief pointed at me, laughing as if he’d won.
“Ha ha ha ha ha!!! Let’s finish this here!!! Nothing is going to change anyway!!!”
“Read the rules again, you bastard. It’s definitely not over now.”
“Hmm? What do you mean by that?”
At my words, the chief and the other candidates looked puzzled, activating the Academy app.
And there it displayed one newly added rule.
【All individuals waiting must remain only in the voting area until 9 AM the next day after voting ends. Violators will be disqualified as candidates and face monetary penalties.】
Initially, the candidates appeared perplexed by this rule, but soon they began to grasp its implications and wore expressions of despair.
They couldn’t go out for meals.
They couldn’t freely use the bathroom.
In other words, they had to stay in the voting area while enduring human hunger and bodily needs.
Of course, it was natural for the temporarily treated chief and the candidates to be thrown into chaos.
“I came without breakfast!!!”
“F*ck! I specifically starved myself yesterday for today’s delicious lunch!”
“Can I even take a dump in the corner? Anyone got toilet paper? Please!”
“Shit, close your eyes! Don’t look over here!!! Plug your ears, you bastards!!!”
“……Hey, doesn’t that guy look taller now?”
It was the start of hell.
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