PC Is Profitable

The world keeps changing.

Any investor worth the name cannot afford to fall behind the current of that change.

"The victim's tears are the evidence!"

"One more time!"

"The victim's tears are the evidence—aaah!!"

The hottest issue of late.

The MeToo movement had plastered itself across the news, YouTube, and every community board until it was practically wallpaper.

There sure are a lot of people with nothing better to do.

But this was Korea.

A country where the loudest voice wins.

Mob rule didn't invent itself for nothing.

"Even the President is listening to our protests."

"We're all women, aren't we!"

"Women have to help women."

The political class was trying to ride it—for approval ratings, for the interests of particular blocs.

Of course. With a female president…

She took a keen interest in women's rights.

She had thrown her full support behind this MeToo wave.

"MeToo changes the world—aaah!"

"The victim's tears are the evidence—aaah!!"

Emboldened, they were protesting everywhere.

Even here at Hankuk University they had become a target.

For me, that was good news.

I had been looking for any point of contact I could get.

"Everyone, thank you for your hard work on the protest~."

"Thank you for your hard work!"

"And you, Chan-uk."

"Ah, yes."

"Having a Hankuk University student like you come out in active support really gave our protest strength."

"Not at all. As a democratic citizen, it was only natural."

There it was.

I had joined the protest.

They needed it, apparently.

Well, it is Hankuk University.

Naturally none of them were actual Hankuk students.

People with that much free time were rare on this campus.

They needed a pretext.

At least one collaborator on the inside.

I was happy to lend a hand.

"Why the hell are you doing that!"

"And that person is… who, exactly?"

"An ugly bitch. Just an ugly bitch. Don't mind her."

"Hey!"

Sora barked at full volume.

In the middle of a sacred women's-rights protest, she had no filter left.

Honestly, when is she going to grow up?

She still couldn't see the essence of the situation.

Same old clueless act as always.

"Anyway, I support the protest, and I truly hope this IPO succeeds."

"We have to change a society that only has male CEOs."

"When good companies that champion PC receive fair valuation, women's rights rise with them. In that spirit, I'd like to lend a hand myself."

"Someone like you, Chan-uk, is more than welcome!"

I shook hands with one of the protest organizers.

In that warm atmosphere the demonstration wound down.

Then—

Smack!

Sora's palm smashed into my back.

Apparently she had objections to the advancement of women's rights.

"What kind of insane stunt are you pulling this time?"

"Can't you tell by looking?"

"That's exactly the problem—I can."

"You don't seem to understand a single thing."

"?"

She's a woman herself. Why is she throwing a fit?

No matter which angle I tried, it made no sense.

Not even from an investor's perspective.

The reason I had joined this protest.

Obviously it wasn't because I agreed with their ideology.

"Investment?"

"Yeah."

"Joining a protest like that counts as investing?"

"Think about it."

Social phenomena.

Most of them rise from the demands of the public.

But the world does not always run on pure reason.

There are also forces that deliberately sow discord for their own interests.

Simply put: money is the goal.

The easiest way to make money in this world is to exploit absurdity.

"If you're going to invest from now on, memorize this line."

"Here comes some nonsense."

"PC is profitable."

I was digging for gold.

A women's community board.

.

.

.

Lately one topic had become the issue of the hour.

To them, nothing in the world mattered more.

The MeToo movement.

One branch of the women's movement.

Important enough to some women.

But this was Korea.

Unlike freer sexual cultures overseas, there simply weren't many major victim cases.

They were doing everything possible to light a fire.

Most cases were exposed as false, but every so often one stuck.

In a country of tens of millions, that was inevitable.

Even in a clean nation with low crime rates, criminals still exist.

That was how they found their kindling.

They inflated the topic, turned it into an issue, and made it into a major incident.

And if the public still refused to care?

They forced the public's attention anyway.

Protests.

When you stand on a crowded main street and scream at the top of your lungs for the whole neighborhood to hear, people notice whether they want to or not.

And among them, some even like it.

Certain media outlets take their side.

They granted the protests legitimacy.

Until now the claims had lacked persuasive power.

Trials don't wrap up in a day or two.

Cases with actual evidence were a tiny minority.

Now they no longer needed to dig them up one by one.

The victim's tears were stirring public emotion.

Riding media and public opinion, they ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠grew bolder and launched protests across the country.

Especially around universities.

Young people with no immunity to agitation, easily swept along by the crowd—those were the primary targets.

They kept recruiting new people.

Like a virus, it was spreading through society.

"About the protests the CEO is sponsoring."

"You mean the MeToo movement?"

"Yes. Personally I tend to take a skeptical view…"

There were groups that profited from it as well.

09Lady.

The corporate sponsor of this MeToo protest wave.

Protests cost money, of course.

Famous PC activists don't show up for free either.

"It's bad for the corporate image, and more importantly, you can't expect any real capital from the people who run those kinds of sites."

"Hoho."

"If the CEO has a personal passion for the women's movement, I support that privately, but—"

"Hohoho! MeToo is a women's movement?"

Not everyone was happy about it.

At Director Kim Jun-sung's words, Hong Ye-seul, CEO of 09Lady, let out a derisive laugh.

As if.

From a normal person's perspective it made no sense.

As a businesswoman, she couldn't possibly be unaware.

She knew exactly what she was doing.

"MeToo was never a women's movement to begin with."

"Excuse me? But…"

"The founder, Tarana Burke, drew a clear line. And Asia Argento, who lit the fuse, turned out to be a child sex offender herself—pot calling the kettle black."

It had been corrupted.

By a handful of sharp operators and interest groups chasing private gain.

'Potential perpetrators' and all that nonsense was black propaganda from Soviet spies to begin with. As if I would ever place my hopes on the brain-dead idiots who get whipped into a frenzy without even checking basic facts.

That essence.

They had no idea; they were simply drunk on the ideology.

Those people just wanted somewhere to vent their rage.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

"Then why on earth…"

"Because they're stupid."

"Pardon?"

"They're useless lives anyway, aren't they? Letting them be used is doing them a favor."

Humans ruled by anger.

No—entire groups.

Even antisocial collectives could be useful if handled right.

Just play along just enough…

They were going to IPO.

A public listing.

They needed brain-dead idiots who would mindlessly hold the stock without a single thought.

"Don't tell me that man earlier today was also…"

"He was cosplaying as a 'woke guy,' so I played along. What a moron. Ah, excuse me—the more investors, the better. Hohoho!"

09Lady was about to list on the KOSDAQ.

Institutional participation had been so weak it had been giving them headaches.

They get life satisfaction. We get money. Mutual benefit, no?

The shortfall would be filled by ConfidentWomen.

Countless self-proclaimed PC activists would gladly throw their money in.