WeTried Translations

Translator: Coughing Baby

Editor: Coughing Baby

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 300: The Season When Roses Wither

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Chairman Go Geon-cheol hated lies. In the same vein, he was not especially fond of Virtual Reality or augmented reality. Important discussions, therefore, always meant arranging to meet someone in person.

“Um...”

Today’s visitor watched the Chairman’s expression and glanced sidelong at Gaeul.

“Are you not going to have that young lady... no, that person leave?”

When the guest entered, the Chairman had told everyone to leave, but Gaeul had remained standing at attention without moving an inch. She had always been the exception, and now that she was his secretary, that was even more true. Considering why the Chairman kept Gaeul by his side, it was only natural. The tyrant wanted to show her the necessity of tyranny.

The Chairman gestured.

“She is one of my closest aides. Introduce yourself.”

“Ah.”

A soft exclamation. The guest, who had been weighing Gaeul’s status while letting a murky sort of anticipation show, quickly changed his expression. He bent at the waist without regard for their age difference.

“Since you are introducing her to me directly at this meeting, she must be a truly important person. Hahaha! It is a pleasure to meet you. I am Representative Bang, Ho, Jae! of the Future Korea National Party. Please forgive me for being captivated at first sight. You are simply so beautiful.”

This meeting. To me. Directly. Those words carried a subtle emphasis. Whether conscious or unconscious, the meaning was the same. The only difference was whether it came from cunning or arrogance. Gaeul returned the greeting.

“It is a pleasure to meet you, Representative. I am Han Ga-eul, his secretary.”

“...”

The politician stayed silent for a moment, smiling. His gaze flicked between the Chairman and Gaeul. To Gaeul, what was going through his mind was obvious. Only a secretary? Is he treating me on the same level as a mere secretary, or is there something more to Gaeul than the title suggests? That seemed to be the question he was weighing.

Go Geon-cheol said, “She is a secretary now, but that will change.”

“I knew it. I thought that must be the case.”

Nod, nod. The politician looked pleased now. But even that was another layer of performance. In his narrowed, smiling eyes, Gaeul read suspicion that had shifted color. What exactly is this woman? Just his lover? Or a hidden child? Today is an important meeting. He would not have called in just anyone. The tyrant is famous for being on bad terms with his only daughter, so perhaps the succession structure of Hyeseong and Paradise...

Gaeul could read that far partly because she had always been as sensitive to other people’s inner thoughts as her younger brother, and partly because her duties went beyond those of an ordinary secretary. In certain fields, she had come to know even more than Kang Young-il, the special secretary who was the most trusted of the Chairman’s confidants. Because of that, the snake-like man sometimes looked like a hound jealous of a baby. Viper and guard dog both, he was quietly waiting for his moment.

In any case, Chairman Go Geon-cheol had not lied.

This time, the politician showed a different concern.

“But Chairman, you look even more unwell than before. Are you receiving treatment?”

Cough. Of course the cough came out right then. Holding back the rage that flared up inside him, the tyrant answered with savage composure.

“I am receiving whole-body regeneration. I am also having a clone body made in case of emergencies. So there is no need to worry about the contract.”

“Oh dear... I only said that because I was truly worried. In any case, whole-body regeneration... If it has gone that far, I can rest easy. I am sure you are managing it properly. It seems I was worrying for nothing.”

“Even if I die today, you will receive your payment for the deal.”

“Hahaha.”

The politician laughed as though embarrassed. Since earlier, that smiling face had been all he had shown.

Gaeul quietly pressed down on the Chairman’s shoulders as they shook from coughing. The body that had once been Gyeoul was truly dying in reality, too. It was breaking down faster than whole-body regeneration could repair it. His personal doctor had many bruises and many fears. If you wish to last until the new clone body is complete, you must receive sixteen hours of cellular regeneration treatment per day from now on, the doctor had said. And that was a minimum estimate.

But for the Chairman, who trusted no one, reducing his work hours was impossible. Even though the illness was psychosomatic, he refused even medication.

“The goods?”

At the Chairman’s question, Representative Bang Ho-jae took out a storage device with obvious hesitation.

“Here it is.”

“What do you think of the accuracy?”

“Ah, well... I pride myself on having a good memory, but when I saw the extracted result, there were quite a few blurry parts. As you instructed, I brought the original without any additional editing, but...”

“That is enough.”

“Just in case, I also attached my own opinion after reviewing the record. Even if I do not remember the entire meeting accurately, I still have a general sense of what was discussed. I thought it might be helpful as a reference when you view the memory.”

“Thank you. I will remember your sincerity, Representative.”

“Haha. No need to mention it.”

At the silent instruction, Gaeul collected the storage device. This was not the first deal of its kind, though Representative Bang Ho-jae did not seem to know that. In other words, there were others with just as much greed.

The Chairman exchanged empty conversation with the politician for a while. There was no other purpose. It was only to give the politician trust and reassurance. If a deal was the goal, even the Chairman could do this much.

“Then take care on your way back.”

At the Chairman’s farewell, the high-ranking member of the legislature bent at the waist in a right angle.

“I will see you again soon. For the sake of this country as well, you must recover your health, Chairman.”

The special secretary was waiting outside the door. The very fact that Representative Bang had come here was a secret, so the abilities of a secretary who had once been an agent of the National Intelligence Service were useful in seeing him out. On top of that, Hyeseong Group, which had acquired Paradise, managed Afterlife Insurance on consignment, and Afterlife Insurance in turn managed the unmanned traffic management system on consignment, so the closed-circuit cameras lining the roads would not be a concern.

The tyrant, who had been making an uncomfortable phlegmy sound, asked Gaeul, “Can you guess why that thing is making a deal with me?”

“...Maybe he thought that if he stayed where he was, he would be at the very bottom for a very long time.”

“Even though he is already above most of the trash?”

“Greed has no end. He probably cannot see what he already has.”

“Yes, that is right. People always need greater profit.”

The Chairman showed emotion. Faint satisfaction. A little impatience. Gaeul was the reason. He had decided to keep her by his side because he wanted to show her things like this.

“Play it. I need to compare it to the previous one.”

Following his instruction, Gaeul inserted the storage device into the console and copied the data. Many files already existed in the same folder. They were the memories of a certain politician who had opened a deal before Bang Ho-jae. Each file was named after a meeting. The Economic Reform Committee, the Afterlife Insurance Security Council, the Defense Policy Committee, even the National Vision 2070 Review Committee...

Technology that copied memories onto external media was easy to doubt in terms of reliability. Human memories were prone to distortion and erasure.

After today, there would be two files per meeting. That meant they could compare different memories of the same event.

The operating system here was the Trinity Engine too. Gaeul sent a silent command through augmented reality. A hologram appeared. Two memories intersecting at the same time began to flow, restored into a single meeting. She had already seen this content once through a deal with someone other than Representative Bang, but there were fewer broken sections than before, and it would be more accurate.

...

「Committee Member E: What does it matter? We will still exist even a hundred years from now.」

...

「Committee Member A: According to [corrupted data], the starlight hegemony of the existing plan is being built smoothly. This means that despite continual checks from major countries, the Afterlife Insurance cryptocurrency, the star, is becoming a de facto key currency in [corrupted data]. As of last year’s [corrupted data], 17% of global financial products and 9% of total trade volume were carried out solely through star payment requests, without passing through any other currency. If we include indirect transactions, the figure becomes far more staggering.」

「Committee Member D: We still cannot let our guard down. America is one thing, but China’s pressure is tremendous. They must be feeling a sense of crisis. At this rate, a hegemonic state will appear right next door to them.」

「Committee Member C: Even so, what can they do? If they try trade retaliation, they will only hurt themselves, and if they want war, there is no path except mutual destruction. What else can anything they say amount to besides [corrupted data] threats?」

「Committee Member B: If not for nukes, their conventional forces would not be any better than ours either...」

「Committee Member C: We simply have far too much money. Haha.」

「Committee Member E: It pains me to think of the people being sacrificed, but we, who were elected by public will, will survive, and the Trinity Engine Core, the heart of Afterlife Insurance, will be safe as well. So there is no need to fear only war. I believe we should take a stronger diplomatic stance than we do now.」

「Committee Member B: Hmm, my memory is hazy... How many megatons was the Trinity Engine containment facility designed to withstand?」

「Committee Member A: Three underground bursts of [corrupted data] tons.」

...

「Committee Member A: Even so, we should be wary of movements by so-called developed countries to win over the middle-income and lower groups. The probability is low, but if something goes wrong, the entire national vision could collapse.」

「Committee Member C: Well, I am not very worried. America, China, Russia, Japan, even the European Union, they are all struggling to take the lead for themselves, are they not? It will not work, probably.」

「Committee Member D: The investments we have made until now are finally paying off.」

「Committee Member E: Yes, exactly. Think how long our country has taken losses.」

「Committee Member D: Why did we hold back automation even though we had the world’s best artificial intelligence? Why did we bring in foreign laborers on a massive scale, even while claiming it was to guarantee the people’s right to labor survival, and even while knowingly bearing political backlash and economic losses? Why were we excessively lenient toward illegal residency...」

「Committee Member E: Other countries realized our grand plan far too late. Since it is already in the past, there is no point dwelling on it now, but they realized it so much later than expected that I was almost bewildered.」

「Committee Member B: It means that even the so-called human-rights advanced countries look down quite a bit on workers from the Third World, I suppose. That makes it easy for them to overlook the fact that foreign workers and undocumented residents are citizens and voters in their own countries. And workers who have experienced Afterlife Insurance cannot help but view Afterlife Insurance positively.」

「Committee Member A: There was no way they could have known early that voting rights were the goal from the start...」

「Committee Member D: Saying this now feels a bit like bragging [corrupted data], but what is wrong with bragging a little? The patience required was truly long.」

「Committee Member F: Thanks to that, regulations against Afterlife Insurance in the middle-income and lower groups have become practically nonexistent. Because we have made them politically and economically dependent, it has also become difficult to pass regulatory proposals at the UN.」

「Committee Member G: Loyalty, loyalty. You seniors are truly, perfectly wonderful.」

...

「Committee Member D: The problem is Chairman Go Geon-cheol, who has taken control of Paradise Group. Even if we complete the starlight hegemony plan, using the status of the key currency has become rather awkward. Since the star is a cryptocurrency, it can be managed far more aggressively than the dollar, so it is a shame.」

「Committee Member B: If I had to compare it, we are in a position similar to America.」

「Committee Member A: Are you referring to the Federal Reserve System?」

「Committee Member B: Yes. The Fed does serve as the central bank, but in reality, it is a private bank, is it not? Since the structure is one where private banks, not the state, take the profits from issuing dollars, I thought it was roughly similar to our position.」

...

「Committee Member C: Haa.」

「Committee Member A: Why sigh when everything is already finished?」

「Committee Member C: We are this competent, truly competent, and yet there is no way to explain it to the people.」

「Committee Member E: (Laugh) They say the best good deed is one that remains hidden.」

「Committee Member A: I understand how you feel, but we must not hope for the people to recognize us. Democracy cannot develop that way.」

「Committee Member A: We simply need to do what we must. We develop the nation.」

「Committee Member A: Everyone, you have worked hard for a long time. Today’s meeting will end here.」

The playback ended there.

Gaeul asked, “Did you know, Chairman?”

“I am not a fool. People always want greater profit. If someone goes out of their way to act at a loss, it is better to suspect their intent than their intelligence. And I was always suspicious. Thanks to someone, that grew even worse.”

Go Geon-cheol sounded weak and curt. Then he glanced at Gaeul.

“You make that face every time. Does it disgust you?”

“...”

“Do those things look like fruit without roots to you?”

“...”

Watching Gaeul refuse to answer again, Chairman Go Geon-cheol made a phlegmy sound. It was hard to tell whether he was simply frustrated or laughing coldly. In the end, it turned into a dry cough.

After a moment, Gaeul spoke quietly.

“I feel this every time I listen to the meeting records, but the country those people speak of feels empty somehow.”

“Empty?”

“Yes.”

After thinking for a short while, she continued carefully.

“It feels like they believe a nation is something more than the people who live there.”

“Everyone believes that.”

The Chairman sneered.

“Anyone who demands something from a country believes that. To fools and idiots, a nation is something beyond human limits. That is why their demands have no limits either. They do not know that if I take something, someone else loses it. Even if they know it in their heads, they turn away from it in their hearts. They are liars who deceive themselves. So the first thing they do is throw tantrums. Hand it over. Hand it over no matter what.”

Another phlegmy sound. The tyrant spoke with thirst in his voice.

“Admit it. In this world gone mad, you will not find any answer other than me.”

========== Author’s Note ==========

#CSAT

I was drifting in and out with body aches for a while, but I am slowly getting myself back together.

An auspicious sign.

The chapter count is exactly 300 too.

Readers taking the CSAT will receive good scores.

#Q&A

Q. ParTll: @I preached the greatness of Tunguska to my exam-retaker friend who came down because the CSAT was delayed, and taught them the glory of the Ossuary through the physical book. Now I believe the author will bestow a blessing and they will do well on the CSAT.

A. Wow... That is too much... How could you recommend harmful reading material to a friend right before the CSAT...

Q. KTH: @The continuity I asked about before came out... Author, how far do you consider something a person? / I am on the side that sees a clone body as the same person if there is no original...

A. If you are asking my opinion... I believe a clone body is a person whether the original exists or not.

Q. Bug: @Hmm, percussive? XCOM’s MEC?

A. I looked up what MEC was, and it was a similar concept. You can consider America’s enhanced soldiers as being in that field.

Q. UnlimitedOne: @It is the Ship of Theseus. This is also quite a troublesome topic (...)

A. Shangjiang Yang Yongbin briefly mentioned it before. It was the author’s sinister foreshadowing.

Q. Eeiko: @Part of the brain, part of me... What happened to Tunguska’s joke childlike innocence?

A. Why! What is wrong with my childlike innocence!

Q. Third_Wing: @The committee members are arguing for and against the fun philosophical topic of personal identity. As expected! Now I understand that author, who writes such profound content, is over 40,000 years old. By the way, it has been cold lately, so I will offer tribute. Please make the weather warmer.

A. As I have said before, I accept only new works by author Lee Yeongdo as tribute. Bring them to me and I will accelerate global warming.

Q. qgegegqe: @Even policy is being handed over to Star Child, but there is no control method, and it cannot even be physically destroyed. This is total Skynet... / It would be fun if they copied Gyeoul’s personality hundreds of times and ran simulations.

A. Star Child was only a means of policy review. It has no decision-making authority. And physical destruction is possible too. At the current point in the story, for now, for now, the administrator account is still alive. :)

Q. Geupgeupyeoullyeong: @Author, are you filming Sunflower? Are we going for a Sunflower-version happy ending! Is that it? I am always enjoying it from a place several hundred million light-years away.

A. I searched for it, but I am not sure what a Sunflower-version happy ending is...

Q. kalba: @But surprisingly, I also get the feeling that it is functioning well as a normal government agency. Should I say it seems to be doing what it should?

A. I think that feeling became even stronger in this chapter.

Q. Calpis: @Is it my imagination that Jeon Min-hee comes to mind? Killing or parting for life and so on... I wonder.

A. No, it is not!... I do not treat that kind of ending as a happy ending... The Stone of Days... Children of the Rune... Tremble tremble...

Q. Rooterino: @Do the people around Gyeoul not find his bizarre strength strange? Gyeoul is not particularly big, but the strength he produces is superhuman... Is the control personality correcting it?

A. They do think it is a little strange.

Q. FallenPope: @Are they talking about Iron Man made from mutants right now?

A. There will be a chance to mention it more in the story. Compared to Iron Man, first, flight is impossible, and (...) in simple physical force, it could put up a fight.

Footnotes:

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