Chapter 14

EP 4 - A Big Picture Requires a Big Brush (2)

"......An orphanage?"

"Yes, I'm not sure if it's right to call it a war, but didn't many war orphans appear?"

Jae-geun Cha wore a dubious expression.

"That seems like something we can deal with after driving away the monsters and handling the situation."

"You mentioned looking for psychics, didn't you?"

"......That's right."

"Can't children be psychics?"

Instead of verifying if a reliable person is a psychic,

it's more efficient to make psychics trust us.

Jae-geun Cha remained expressionless for a moment, lost in thought. I added more explanation.

"Of course, not all the orphans we accept will be psychics. And not all of them will be children."

There's also the case of Bae Chae-won.

"Isn't it a good thing to take in homeless minors? We can also create jobs for those with 'talent.'"

Among the orphans, those who can absorb mana stones will be deployed to the National Intelligence Service or 'social welfare.'

It's not a bad thing for them either. Jae-geun Cha asked me for confirmation.

"Is this an organization to manage psychics?"

"It's also an educational welfare project run by the foundation."

I smiled confidently.

Actually, a single member of parliament can't do much.

Legislation requires at least 10 people, and significant resolutions need hundreds. The same applies to the current situation.

Are we going to hold a national audit now? Or draft a budget? It's only the early stages, but everyone will soon realize that members of parliament are just figureheads.

If you don't want to be a figurehead, you need to grow. You need to make people see you as a 'politician' rather than just a 'member of parliament.'

By creating a labor agency for psychics, we can restore infrastructure, hunt monsters, form a private organization under my control, manage social image, and increase my influence.

By establishing a research park for psychics, we can monopolize psychic research, peek at 0-level information managed as military secrets, and increase my influence.

By setting up an orphanage, we can enhance my social presence, build connections with the National Intelligence Service and the Security Command, interact with various psychics, and increase my influence.

Plus, it creates jobs.

This is politics.

I nodded and smiled contentedly.

"How about it, Vice Minister?"

"......It's good. All of it is good. But."

Where do you plan to get the money from?

With this core question, Jae-geun Cha tilted his head, and I pointed at him with a meaningful smile.

"Vice Minister."

I didn't plan to spend my own money on this.

In fact, not having money is a bigger reason.

*

"The social welfare project will be funded by commissions from the military,

and the research and development project will receive investment from the military and share research results."

"......"

"The educational welfare project will receive donations from the military and arrange 'jobs' for orphans."

Jae-geun Cha is both the martial law commander and the commander-in-chief of the military.

'Commander-in-chief' is a higher authority that combines 'command authority' and 'administrative authority.'

Here,

command authority is operational command,

and administrative authority is military 'administration.'

Personnel, logistics, organization, etc.

It means controlling the military's financial lifeline.

In other words,

"Vice Minister, if you help, everything is possible."

"So, you mean......"

Jae-geun Cha flicked his finger on the desk.

Click.

"Running three public welfare projects within a foundation to manage psychics."

Click.

"Using the martial law commander's authority to bypass legal procedures."

Click.

"Isn't this essentially running a defense industry company?"

I nodded proudly. Jae-geun Cha added,

"Practically, a military-industrial complex."

A military-industrial complex (軍産複合體) refers to a mutual dependency system between the military and defense industries.

And in our country,

"Mr. Han."

"Yes."

"Are you crazy?"

It's called defense industry corruption.

Jae-geun Cha frowned deeply.

"I became a vice minister for my efforts in eradicating defense industry corruption. I actually despise it."

"Yes."

"Even in a national crisis, it's a rather unsettling matter."

Jae-geun Cha glared at me intimidatingly.

Suddenly, the vice minister is acting cute. There's no reason to be disheartened here. It seems like a kind of test.

From my experience, such high-ranking people often test whether someone is capable of handling big tasks. If I run away here, he might use this idea himself.

Most importantly, he said it was unsettling, not that he wouldn't do it.

I smiled slyly.

"Vice Minister."

I leaned my chin on my crossed hands on the wheelchair.

"Are you not going to do it?"

Ha. Jae-geun Cha, who had been glaring at me intimidatingly, suddenly burst into a hollow laugh. He couldn't stop laughing, covering his mouth as if he had just seen a joke.

Wiping away a small tear, Jae-geun Cha said to me,

"Mr. Han Seung-moon."

"Yes."

"Isn't this all within my authority?"

Interpretation: I wasn't 'unable' to do this good method, but I 'didn't' do it. Because I was stupid.

It was essentially an acceptance.

I nodded contentedly.

"Thank you, Vice Minister."

"I don't know if it's because I'm in the military and my mind is rigid, or if Mr. Han is exceptionally talented."

"I majored in political science and economics."

He chuckled and said to me,

"Bring the documents this evening."

*

"Indeed, people need to study for this!"

"Shut up, you privileged one."

Yeo Doyeon, who was pushing the wheelchair, smacked my head. I grinned and continued.

"Relief, research, education, welfare. The Han Seung-moon Foundation leading this, and the Han Seung-moon MP! Isn't this a great picture?"

"Tsk. You're showing off again. But can't MPs have other jobs?"

"That's called the principle of non-concurrent positions, but honorary positions for public welfare are exceptions."

Of course, whether it would be legally recognized was a 'different' issue,

and whether it would truly be an honorary position was a 'wrong' issue.

"Whatever, as long as you report it to the Speaker and get it approved by the Ethics Review Advisory Committee......"

I leaned my head back in the wheelchair.

In the upside-down world, I saw Yeo Doyeon's face and grinned.

"Is that possible in this world?"

- Slap!

"Ah!"

"Disgusting. Move your face away."

Yeo Doyeon slapped my face.

"What's the point of saying it after hitting me...?"

While rubbing my face to ease the pain, Yeo Doyeon asked me,

"But what did you talk about just now?"

"Didn't you understand?"

"R something. I ignored it from the moment English came up."

"Actually, it doesn't matter if you don't understand."

"Then why did you bring me?"

To show off that I have a great psychic.

"Prop."

Yeo Doyeon hit the back of my head, but I didn't stop talking.

"To explain it at your level, we're going to create a foundation with military money, and the foundation will run a labor agency, a research institute, and an orphanage to control all psychics. Okay?"

Yeo Doyeon nodded as if she understood.

"So, what does that mean?"

"How did you graduate from college?"

"You know I dropped out and became a professional athlete, right?"

"Uh-huh."

Yeo Doyeon said in a caring voice,

"Seung-moon."

"Yeah?"

"Think about who's pushing this wheelchair."

"Sorry."

- Clunk!

The wheelchair hit a stone and shook. I bit my tongue. I immediately got angry and poked Yeo Doyeon's stomach while shaking my head.

"Can't you drive properly!?"

I realized that it's quite simple for the person pushing the wheelchair to strangle the person sitting in it.

*

"Uncle's neck is red!"

"Because I got hit by an aunt."

"I'll bite you, sister!"

"How much do you want?"

I rolled a ten-thousand won bill and put it in Gam Ji-yun's pocket. Chun Hwara, who was watching, smiled and replied,

"Thank you, MP. You're back to your main job."

"No, I'm more grateful that you accepted. Ms. Chun Hwara, you'll be in charge of the research and development company."

The person next to her tilted her head.

"Research, what?"

"A research and development company. I want to entrust psychic research to Ms. Chun Hwara."

She's not single and can't be sent to the field. She's a golden spoon.

If Chun Hwara gets hurt, I might face backlash.

Gam Ji-yun nodded as if she understood and grinned.

"Ah! R&D? I couldn't understand because the pronunciation was too Korean."

"Um. Is it because you went to Korea University...?"

"Oh! You're a junior?"

Tsk. Come to think of it, journalists are also high-education jobs. If it's a major newspaper's international department, they've learned a lot.

I stuck out my tongue and tilted my head.

"Anyway, Ms. Chun Hwara, the Research and-"

"Just say 'research and development.'"

"Originally, you need to use English frequently."

*

- Creak!

Yeo Doyeon forcefully opened the old warehouse door. Inside were the ammunition boxes we saw last time.

"Put that on the table, sister."

Yeo Doyeon glared at me with a 'don't you have hands and feet?' look, so I annoyingly wiggled my left leg.

Thud. She put the ammunition box on the table and opened the lid, revealing a pile of faintly glowing gem fragments.

"Don't absorb them recklessly. Sister, absorb a little first, and if it's okay, then give a little to Ji-yun."

"Am I a lab mouse?"

"Better than being weak and getting hurt by a monster. Absorb slowly while checking your body condition."

A slightly surreal scene unfolded. The faintly glowing gem fragments began to be absorbed into our bodies.

Yeo Doyeon grabbed a handful of gems with her shirt and approached me.

Then she smeared them on my face.

"......What are you doing?"

"Why isn't it going in?"

This is strange.

"Why can't I absorb mana stones?"

"Isn't it because you're a disabled person who can't use psychics alone?"

"Shut up, you high school graduate."

Yeo Doyeon grinned nastily and absorbed the gem powder on my body.

While thinking, 'Why can't I absorb mana stones?' Yeo Doyeon, who was absorbing the mana stones on my body, pressed her thumb on my thigh.

"Ah! What are you doing!"

"Your thighs are solid."

"Of course, they're solid because I always hop around on one leg!"

"Men's thighs are important."

"Nothing is as funny as a molester making sexual remarks."

Ha! Yeo Doyeon got a bit angry.

"Can't you distinguish between can't and won't?"

"Do you think I didn't know you wrote love letters to a guy with a girlfriend in high school? I just pretended not to know, but I actually knew everything-"

"Shut up! You bastard!"

Yeo Doyeon, with a red face and bulging eyes, grabbed my collar, and Gam Ji-yun, who was absorbing mana stones nearby, cheerfully shouted,

"Shut up!"

"Ha...!"

Yeo Doyeon covered her mouth. Gam Ji-yun smiled brightly.

"Bastard!"

"Ji-yun, don't use such words."

"Bastard!"

"That's a bad word. Using bad words makes you a bad-"

"Shut up!"

Yeo Doyeon, who didn't realize it, but I saw her hand flinch for a moment.

"Who teaches kids like that these days?"

Tsk. I clicked my tongue and rolled the wheelchair.

"Ji-yun. I'll give you ten thousand won. Let's never use 'shut up' and 'bastard' again."

"Okay!"

"Good, promise."

"Promise!"

I made a pinky promise with Gam Ji-yun and had Yeo Doyeon (28, molester) witness it.

Yeo Doyeon covered her face with her hands.

"Teaching kids good things......"

*

We held Gam Ji-yun's hand and returned to the dormitory. Ji-yun approached her father, who was preparing dinner, and said,

"Shut up, you bastard!"