The Female Lead Saves the World - Chapter 232

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Yeo Joo Saves the World
Part 2, Episode 53

The method for selecting the Association Director of the Korean Awakener Association was unique and complex.
It was neither a fully government-affiliated organization nor a representative body of private guilds.
Candidates for Association Director had to receive official endorsement from at least one guild to run.
However, those who actually cast votes in the Association Director election were not the guilds, but thirty-two department heads of the Association.
The candidate who received the most votes would be elected as the Association’s representative, but that wasn’t the end.
There was the President’s appointment.
One had to be nominated through guild recommendation, gain the confidence of the Association’s department heads, and finally receive the President’s official appointment.
“Hello, I’m Hunter Seo Tae Young.”
Candidate Seo Tae Young had received endorsements from the Sama Guild, Utopia, and Fantasia Guild to run.
Having received recommendations from three top-tier guilds, he appeared remarkably at ease.
“Hmm.”
His grin, so out of place for the occasion, was rather grating, yet none of the Association executives gathered here would openly point it out.
Part of it was due to the major guilds providing substantial funding to the Association, but Hunter Seo Tae Young’s own track record was also formidable.
As an A-rank physical enhancement Hunter who had worked for the Sama Guild for a full twenty years, he had earned reasonably positive public regard.
In his youth, he had made a name for himself as a raid team leader, and as he aged, he continued to gain recognition as an executive of the Sama Guild.
If he had brought in someone as absurd as the now-former Association Director Jo Gye Young, opposition could have been voiced, but Hunter Seo Tae Young was a minimally qualified candidate.
“….”
The department heads of the Awakener Association exchanged glances in silence.
Since many of them received covert support from the Sama Guild, there was no particular need to voice much opposition openly.
“Let us hear Hunter Seo Tae Young’s campaign platform.”
An executive temporarily serving as Association Director in the vacant position spoke.
“First and foremost, I would like to express my gratitude to the leaders of the Sama Guild, Utopia, and Fantasia Guild who have placed their trust in me. While I admittedly lack experience working in the Association, I am confident that I understand field operations better than anyone. I will leverage that experience to pursue harmonious coexistence between the Association and the guilds.”
Whether because he knew he was the only candidate, or because he trusted the massive guilds backing him.
His words were closer to an inaugural address than a campaign platform.
While somewhat dissatisfying, there was no alternative.
“Then let us proceed with the vote for and against.”
It was when Sa Ma Young, observing all this from the back, rushed the proceedings in this manner.
Click.
With a soft sound, the conference room door opened and three people entered.
And the woman at the front spoke in a cheerful voice.
“Hello! I’m here to run for Association Director.”

* * *

The moment I, Kang Han, and Ji Jung Hwi stepped into the Conference Room, an immediate shift rippled through the space.
It wasn’t a change I had caused.
“Director!”
The Awakener Association department heads who recognized Ji Jung Hwi rose from their seats in unison.
They addressed him as “Director” from the start, and many bowed their heads in greeting.
Though four years had passed since his retirement, Ji Jung Hwi’s influence remained formidable.
Indeed, with minimal personnel changes among the Association’s department heads over the years, most of them were likely people who had worked hand-in-hand with Ji Jung Hwi during his tenure as Director.
Ji Jung Hwi gazed at each of the welcoming department heads’ faces, as if committing them to memory.
“It’s been a while, everyone.”
“Why, if you were coming to Seoul, you should have let us know!”
One executive who had circled the large table and approached Ji Jung Hwi in a single stride spoke with a note of disappointment.
From the affectionate way he patted Ji Jung Hwi’s shoulder, one could discern what kind of Director he had been.
“I hadn’t planned to come, but someone was making such a fuss about it.”
Ji Jung Hwi continued, casting a sidelong glance at me that wasn’t entirely unkind.
“Anyway, I heard there was a Director election today, so I came in a hurry.”
As he spoke, he sent a subtle glance toward one of the department heads still seated, who gave a small nod in response.
It seemed this was the person who had forewarned him that Sa Ma Young was bringing a Director candidate today for a surprise vote.
Meanwhile, the others began to stir at the word “candidacy.”
“Now that I think about it, she just said she was running for candidacy….”
“I’m pretty sure Yeo Joo the Healer said that?”
One of the executives who had been whispering among themselves asked.
“Is it Kang Han Guild Master or Yeo Joo the Healer who’s running for candidacy?”
“Hmm, they’re still quite young.”
“Still, if the former Director is recommending them….”
“Right.”
It seemed they were all thoroughly misunderstanding the situation.
I poked Ji Jung Hwi in the ribs as he watched the executives’ conversation with apparent amusement.
Clear this up quickly.
“Tsk.”
Ji Jung Hwi brushed at the shirt where my hand had touched and spoke.
“No, I’m the one running for candidacy.”
“…Pardon?”
Everyone blinked with bewildered expressions for a moment.
“You’re returning to office?”
The executive who had patted Ji Jung Hwi’s shoulder asked hesitantly, as if unable to believe his ears.
Though the word “returning” was technically inaccurate, no one bothered to correct it.
“When we asked you to come back, you absolutely refused!”
“We’d be grateful if you returned now—what are you saying, Chief Choi?”
“Well, that’s true, but…”
There was one thing I needed to confirm.
“Former Association Directors can also run as candidates, right?”
When I asked, all the department heads’ gazes turned toward one person in unison, and it was clear he was implicitly the most influential among them.
“There are no restrictions on that.”
The one answering was none other than the executive who had contacted Ji Jung Hwi.
‘Oh, excellent connections.’
He appeared to be one of “Ji Jung Hwi’s people” who remained within the Association.
“Well then…”
“Why waste more time? Let’s vote immediately.”
“Would a simple yes-or-no vote suffice?”
“There’s another candidate, so we can’t skip the proper procedures.”
At Ji Jung Hwi’s words, the others suddenly remembered the existence of the other candidate they’d forgotten, their faces showing embarrassment.
‘They’ve completely lost their will to compete.’
Seo Tae Young from the Sama Guild, wasn’t it?
He was quite a competitive candidate.
But that was only when he ran alone in a surprise vote.
In the meantime, Ji Jung Hwi submitted the documents he’d prepared to the interim Association Director.
“I believe I was supposed to announce my campaign platform.”
Ji Jung Hwi seemed to recall when he first became Association Director long ago, paused briefly, then spoke.
“Since you all know my working style well, I won’t say much. But I will make this promise. The Korean Awakener Association will be an association again. An association must be the pillar of Awakeners. A pillar doesn’t sway in the wind, and it doesn’t set down what it supports just because it’s heavy. Let’s work as an association should.”
There was no need for a vote.
Life returned to the eyes of the Association department heads at Ji Jung Hwi’s pledge.
The game was already over.
The moment I looked toward where a scorching gaze had been burning my face ever since entering the conference room, my eyes met Sa Ma Young’s.
He must be quite irritated.
I’d overturned the board he’d set up.
I was tensed up, planning to hide behind Kang Han if anything seemed off, but he showed a completely unexpected reaction.
‘Is he… laughing?’
Sa Ma Young was laughing.
It wasn’t a sneer or a cold, sarcastic smile.
What spread across his beautiful face was a genuine smile, his shoulders trembling slightly with what seemed like true joy.
Fine, let’s see if he can keep smiling like that.
I glanced around briefly before sticking my tongue out playfully at Sa Ma Young.
Bleh—
True to his strange nature, Sa Ma Young’s affection rose at this strange moment.
But the number seemed odd.

《 ♥ 35 : Mine 》

…What is this? I’m scared.
This seemed like the perfect moment to hide behind Kang Han.
Without thinking, I reached out and gently tugged at the hem of Kang Han’s clothes, when the electronic display board hanging across the front of the Conference Room caught my eye.
While I was having a staring contest with Sa Ma Young, the voting had already concluded.
Ji Jung Hwi was elected as Association Director by unanimous vote.
The President, who was already suffering headaches because of the Awakener Association, wouldn’t dare refuse the appointment, so Ji Jung Hwi had now become the Association Director of the Korean Awakeners Association once again.
“Are you satisfied now?”
Ji Jung Hwi asked me.
Why ask?
Instead of answering, I simply raised my thumb in approval.
“Tsk.”
Ji Jung Hwi, now the Association Director, clicked his tongue at me, but at that same moment, I heard a cheerful ‘ding’ sound.
With a light heart, thinking I’d successfully changed the Association Director as well, I looked up above Ji Jung Hwi’s head.

《 ♥ 20 : Troublemaker 》

…Why does the keyword look like that?

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————