TL: Skye
Yu-jin had an exceptional mind for studying, as one would expect from a graduate of a prestigious Korean university.
This was only natural, of course. No matter how much luck played a role on test day, you couldn't get into Korea University without solid fundamentals to back it up. You had to be at least second-tier material for a critical hit to bump you up to first tier.
So when Yu-jin decided to evaluate the job competency of San Marcos civil servants, the first thing he did was create textbooks. It was common sense: to take a test, you need to study, and to study, you need books.
Yu-jin began work on compiling an official duties manual. Together with SIA agents who had experience in public service, like Lucio, he documented the ad-hoc administrative procedures while simultaneously summarizing textbooks from Portugal and the United States.
The agents were already stretched thin enough to need two bodies each, but there was no other option. In San Marcos, nearly all the highly educated personnel were concentrated in the SIA.
This phenomenon had only accelerated since Yu-jin made the SIA a direct presidential agency. On top of that, Isabella had been recruiting overseas-educated talent, so the current SIA could hold its own against any intelligence agency in the world in terms of personnel quality.
Two weeks after beginning the project, Yu-jin attended the Cabinet meeting carrying thick booklets.
"Thank you all for making the effort to be here. Shall we begin?"
Throughout the meeting, the air in the conference room was as cold as the Siberian tundra. The Vice Ministers, clueless about what was happening, trembled in fear that the booklets in front of Yu-jin might contain records of their corruption.
'I've only been wasting budget lately, haven't pocketed anything myself.' 'Is it not mine but my subordinates' dirt? Don't tell me he's going to hold us collectively responsible?' 'Is he digging up old stuff from the past?'
Their terror was not unreasonable.
What kind of person was Yu-jin? A psychopathic killer who had snapped his political rival Major General Thiago's neck with his bare hands on his first day in office, and a cold-blooded tyrant who just two months ago had shipped 1,500 gang members from Libertad to the hellish Central Basin for forced labor.
Purges and gulags. His actions were no different from those of Georgia's human butcher, Joseph Stalin.
'If I get caught up in this... I'm dead!'
The only sound filling the silence was the gulping of saliva.
"Alright, let's wrap up here... Today I have an announcement for everyone."
The meeting finally ended, and Yu-jin held up the booklets.
"These contain fundamental laws like the constitution and administrative law, guidelines for drafting official documents, instructions for office programs, and high school level general knowledge along with English and Portuguese grammar."
"...?"
"You could call these comprehensive textbooks covering knowledge and work manuals that any civil servant should know."
Confusion crept into the Vice Ministers' eyes at this unexpected explanation. Textbooks, not a purge list. What kind of random nonsense was this?
"Why would you..."
When one Vice Minister cautiously asked, Yu-jin smiled and answered.
"I wish to provide all of you with an opportunity to learn."
"An opportunity to learn...?"
"Yes. As they say, a person should keep learning until the day they die. So, about that..."
Yu-jin paused for dramatic effect, then dropped the bomb.
"Exactly two weeks from now, there will be an examination based on the contents of these books."
"...?!"
"I've already sent trucks to distribute copies to every ministry, subsidiary agency, and regional office, with exactly the right number for each. By now, there should be a nice neat stack on your office desks as well."
Yu-jin tapped the cover of the book and smiled pleasantly.
"Don't worry about the cost. I paid for them out of my own pocket. All you have to do is 'open,' 'read,' 'memorize,' and 'absorb.' Easy, right?"
"......"
"The examination will be administered simultaneously across all ministries. From the Vice Ministers sitting here to the newest Junior Clerks, there will be no exceptions whatsoever."
Yu-jin's gaze swept over each Vice Minister one by one.
"Two weeks should be plenty of time, wouldn't you say? Please reduce unnecessary work during this period and focus on your studies. I trust none of you will disgrace the nation by lacking even this basic level of competency."
"......"
"Now then, off you go to study. I'm looking forward to it."
Yu-jin was about to open the door and leave when he turned his head as if something had occurred to him.
"Oh, there will be penalties for those in the bottom rankings, so I suggest you prepare thoroughly."
With that, Yu-jin closed the door and left.
Thud!
A massive stone dropped into the Vice Ministers' hearts.
***
That night, officials from various ministries gathered at a seaside villa on the outskirts of Libertad.
During President Juan's era, this would have been where a drinking party erupted the moment a meeting ended, but in Yu-jin's era, that was impossible.
After watching bureaucrats who habitually neglected their duties get dragged off to the mines, they had returned to their respective ministries and only gathered after regular work hours.
And truthfully, even gathering like this was idiotic.
The SIA could be watching from anywhere at any time.
But if these men had the foresight to anticipate that, would they have been swindled out of five million dollars and wasted two million dollars worth of vaccines?
Having graduated from military academy, spent their careers flattering superiors, then retired from the military to become bureaucrats who did nothing but drink their way up the ranks, their cognitive abilities had long since fallen below average. Without a thought for the consequences, they gathered together and began denouncing Yu-jin.
As the mood heated up, the Vice Minister of Construction and Housing roughly loosened his tie and shouted.
"Booze! Bring booze! The strongest you've got!"
"Hey, calm down. Your blood pressure's going to spike."
"Calm down? How can I calm down? At my age... with my seniority! Telling us to take an exam! Does that even make sense?"
The Vice Minister of Agriculture, his face already flushed from drink, chimed in agreement.
"That's what I'm saying! Who are we? We're the pillars who've held this nation up since San Marcos was founded! And now he wants us to learn computers... Axel? Isn't Axel what we have in a car?" (TL: Mistaking MS Excel as Axel)
"And what about English? In my day, knowing 'Thank you' and 'Fxxk you' was enough to get by! But now grammar and conversation... Ugh!"
"Learning math at this age!"
Having spent their entire lives in the military and bureaucracy, these men were PhD-level experts at chewing out subordinates, but when it came to sitting at a desk and reading text, they were no better than elementary schoolers.
"This is a clear insult! He's obviously trying to push us out!"
"Exactly! That young punk got power and now he thinks he's above everyone!"
As they fumed and cursed, the Director of Commerce, considered one of the sharper minds among them, spoke up cautiously.
"We can't just sit here and take this, can we? We need to do something."
"Like what? The Acting President has Pedro and the Armored Division behind him. Are we going to stage a coup?"
"Are you crazy? Want to end up like Major General Thiago?"
The room fell silent at the mention of Thiago's name.
The brutality of the Korean gangster who could snap a man's neck with his bare hands was pure terror to them.
"That's exactly why we need to show our united strength."
The Director of Commerce proposed with a grave expression.
"Let's turn in blank papers."
"Blank papers?"
"Yes. All of us write only our names on the answer sheets and submit them with nothing else. We make our subordinates do the same. One or two people might get disciplined, but if everyone scores zero, even the Acting President won't be able to do anything about it."
"But what if the Acting President decides to play hardball..."
"Who's going to run the country if he fires all of us? The administration would be paralyzed. Could he really handle the aftermath?"
The more they listened, the more plausible it sounded.
Of course, it only sounded plausible. In reality, if such a thing actually happened, Isabella would never stand by and do nothing, but these men, already drunk, couldn't see past their own noses.
"That... makes sense!"
"What a brilliant idea!"
"Commerce really does have the sharpest minds! Ha ha ha!"
"Alright! Let's all turn in blank papers and flatten that arrogant Acting President's nose!"
The so-called Blank Paper Alliance.
They thought they could land a counter-punch against Yu-jin's tyranny.
"Ahem, I need to use the restroom for a moment."
After the Vice Minister of Commerce stepped out, everyone was drinking freely.
"But..."
The Vice Minister of Internal Affairs, who had been watching from the corner, spoke up in a trembling voice.
"Have you... heard the rumor?"
"What rumor?"
"The rumor that the bottom ten percent on this exam... will be sent to Tortilha Farm."
"......!"
Silence fell over the room as if someone had dumped cold water on them.
Tortilha Farm. What kind of place was that? It was the legendary gulag where 1,500 vicious gang members were imprisoned, forced to work fourteen hours a day in the blazing sun tending cornfields, where even gang bosses became meek as lambs after just three days.
Above all, eating, sleeping, and working alongside 1,500 gang members?
It would surely be a living hell.
Clatter!
The Vice Minister of Construction and Housing dropped the glass he was holding. Whiskey soaked the floor, but no one paid attention.
"Is that true?"
"There's a rumor that Chief of Staff Isabella ordered two thousand tents. This exam might be a pretext for a purge..."
Fear sobered them instantly.
Unity be damned. If things went wrong, they could get dragged away.
"......"
The Vice Ministers began glancing at each other nervously.
Resistance was only possible while you were here. What good would it do once you were taken away?
Cracks began to form in the hastily formed Blank Paper Alliance.
There wasn't a single person in that room with the guts to play Russian roulette with the possibility of being sent to a gulag.
"Ahem, I just remembered something urgent. I need to get home."
The officials who had been watching each other gradually rose from their seats and began gathering their things.
"Me too... my wife told me to come home early today."
"Alright, let's call it a night and adjourn for now!"
"We shouldn't be doing this. Drinking late in times like these is no good!"
As everyone prepared to disperse...
"Wait, where is everyone going?"
The Director of Commerce, having returned from the restroom, called out to them urgently, but the only response was silence. The conspiracy had collapsed in less than an hour.
And when those Vice Ministers returned home, the moment they stepped inside, they dusted off the desks in their long-neglected studies, found their reading glasses, and began studying through the night.
Purely to survive.