Episode 46

Jung Min-shik stood there blankly for a moment, unable to answer.

All sorts of emotions flitted across his face like a kaleidoscope.

His cheeks flushed crimson red, and then he let out a breath of disbelief, "Huh."

"You're getting cocky," Jung Min-shik said, finally regaining his composure and glaring at me.

"You think the world is yours just because you got lucky and climbed up a bit? You feel like you're the best now?"

A low voice flowed out from between his twisted lips.

"You're still below me. This isn't a place where someone who lived like trash can climb up just because they got a bit of luck. This is a different world."

'Ah, that familiar echo.'

Jung Min-shik's appearance brought back a faded memory.

It wasn't that long ago, but it already felt like a distant past.

"There was someone who said those same words before. On your team," I said, shrugging my shoulders.

"What happened to that guy in the end?"

"...!"

When Bae Hyun-joong had picked a fight with me, my score had been 139th.

Bae Hyun-joong was 37th. It was a huge gap that wouldn't even fit on the same page if they were listed in a row.

But at the end of the free spirit evaluation, I had proudly earned a spot within the top five.

"If 139th and 37th places can be overturned, do you think 5th and 3rd places can't be?"

"...They can't," Jung Min-shik replied, trying to suppress his trembling lips.

"Because the competition among the top ranks is much fiercer than among those below a hundred. This is a battlefield where only the 'real' ones can enter."

Well, was that really the case?

I had no intention of trying to win with words. Showing it with results was my way.

I had said all that I wanted to say, so I was about to turn away when...

"Um, I'm sorry to interrupt," Lee Ha-roo said, approaching me and tapping me on the shoulder.

"What's wrong?"

"It's out."

"What is?"

"The midterm scores."

Lee Ha-roo showed me her smartphone screen, which displayed the ranking of scores.

"...It's real?"

It was just today that I had been complaining about why the results hadn't been released yet, and it seemed that the professors at Korea University Law School were no different from anyone else.

"That's good. We can prove it here, the difference between you and me," Jung Min-shik said, his dark voice sticking to me.

But I didn't miss the fact that the end of his words was trembling slightly, as if they were mixed with anxiety.

"Well, alright," I said, nodding. "Then let's show it here. The results."

I took Lee Ha-roo's smartphone.

The grading system in law school was similar to that in undergraduate studies, with grades ranging from A to F.

Since grades were given after the final exams and the total score was calculated, there was no way to know the overall ranking based on the midterm exam alone.

But it was different in the world of 'In the Law School'.

Here, in order to encourage competition, they released the rankings for each subject for the midterm exams, and they also separately announced a midterm overall ranking table that was calculated by multiplying the grades by their weight.

This time as well, a large poster that was impossible to miss had been put up on the first-floor hallway.

Just like the ranking table that had been sent to each student via text message.

I quickly scanned the top 10 with my eyes.

10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5. My name wasn't next to any of those numbers.

"See, just as I thought," Jung Min-shik said. "5th place was just a fluke. You've obviously returned to a position that suits your level."

"4th place, Jung Min-shik," I said in a mechanical voice.

"What...!"

Jung Min-shik ran over to me in a flash.

His face was a mess.

He couldn't believe that he had been pushed down by someone other than Han Seol or Shin Seo-joon.

"What? Jung Min-shik is 4th?"

"Who is it? Who beat him?"

The students who had gathered around us started to murmur.

It was also almost time for the preliminary rounds of the moot court competition to start, so there were quite a few people passing by us.

Everyone's eyes were on me and Jung Min-shik.

Jung Min-shik snatched the smartphone from my grasp and swallowed hard.

His restless eyes searched the top of the ranking table.

"...Joint 2nd place. Han Seol, Shin Seo-joon."

'Oh.'

I hadn't checked properly, but it seemed that Han Seol had finally caught up to Shin Seo-joon.

While studying, I had often argued with her over the application of legal principles and precedents, and maybe that had helped her improve her understanding and application skills.

If that was the case, then it was a good thing.

Jung Min-shik, who had read their names aloud, was frozen like a stone statue.

As if he didn't have the courage to check what was above that.

"1st place... 1, 1st place..."

The voice that he had managed to start speaking was also stammering over the same section, like a broken cassette tape.

The students who had been watching and talking eventually got tired of waiting and took out their smartphones from their pockets.

Of course, they had also received their ranking tables as students of Korea University Law School.

Even if that wasn't the case, it was about time that the people who had seen the poster on the first-floor hallway would spread the news around and it would become a hot topic.

There were plenty of ways to satisfy their curiosity without waiting for Jung Min-shik.

Then, the murmuring suddenly grew louder.

"Ugh, how frustrating."

Han Seol, who couldn't stand it any longer, snatched Lee Ha-roo's smartphone back from his hand.

"1st place."

She read the name that was shining at the very top with a confident attitude.

"Park Yoo-seung. Congratulations, you finally did it."

* * *

Leaving Jung Min-shik standing there as if his soul had left his body, we entered the mock courtroom where the preliminary rounds would be held.

I had heard that there was a separate waiting room for the participants on the inside.

Having finally caught our breath, our team talked about various things.

Lee Ha-roo was amazed that I had actually gotten first place, and Han Seol declared that she wouldn't lose next time.

Having outstanding rivals was a good thing, as it would help improve our skills.

'1st place, 1st place...'

Surprisingly, my feelings were calm. I had worked hard, and I had gotten good results.

I had proven that I wasn't wrong.

That was it.

'There was also a bit of luck involved.'

For some reason, all of the exam questions for every subject were of a type that was a perfect fit for me, as if someone had planned it.

The fortune was good, but I had never imagined that things would turn out so well.

The fact that I had prepared by gathering good study partners and had gotten a high score on Constitutional Law I also played a part.

Although I was neck and neck with Han Seol and Shin Seo-joon in Criminal Law and Civil Law I, I got a first place with a score that was overwhelmingly higher than the other students in Constitutional Law I, which I had been confident in.

And rather than celebrating the past achievements, there were still things that we had to do.

We had to conquer these preliminary rounds of the moot court competition first.

When I had seen him earlier, Jung Min-shik had looked like a broken cleaning robot, but I wished that he would lose his will and fall out like this, but he wasn't the type to do that.

Rather, the more he experienced setbacks, the more he would struggle and try to fight back.

That was why I had thought of Jung Min-shik as not a bad person in the original story.

He wasn't a likeable person by any means, but at least he never gave up on his conviction to stand at the top through his own efforts in a 'fair competition'.

'So, he'll recover soon.'

And as expected, that thought wasn't wrong.

A few minutes later, when the time for the match came and I entered the mock courtroom, I could see Jung Min-shik and his teammates standing opposite us.

"..."

He didn't say anything, but Jung Min-shik's eyes were blazing with fighting spirit.

I liked that.

Those who were going to the battlefield should have eyes like that.

"From now on, I will explain the procedure of the match," Jang Yong-hwan, who was acting as the judge, or rather, the examiner, explained.

Although he was the one who was sitting in the judge's seat as the representative, there were actually a few other professors who were observing as examiners.

"First, each team will receive the materials, and after quickly skimming through them for 10 minutes, they will decide which side they want to take, the prosecution or the defense. If both teams want the same side, it will be decided with rock-paper-scissors, and if they don't want the same side, they will each take the side that they wanted. Any questions up to this point?"

"...Is it a method where we decide the side, instead of having a designated side?" Han Seol asked.

"Yes. Until last year, the organizers had decided in advance, but they said that they changed the policy because there were criticisms that deciding which direction to develop the argument was also part of the skill," I heard.

The reason why he said 'I heard' was because it wasn't just the preliminary rounds that were held in Korea University, but all of the rules of the main and final stages were also changed at once.

Ultimately, if both teams wanted the same side, they would have to play rock-paper-scissors, but the important thing was that it provided an opportunity to make their own judgments and compromises.

"Once the prosecution and defense sides have been decided, both teams will have 150 minutes to carefully review the provided materials and write and submit a document containing the outline of their arguments. In that process, internet searches and discussions are allowed, but they cannot leak the content of the materials or ask for opinions from external third parties."

While preparing the arguments and documents, a supervisor would be dispatched to the place where each team was.

Therefore, it was not possible to do anything that was not allowed.

"The documents aren't just a simple script, but they are also an object of evaluation themselves. Please write them carefully and submit them."

The next procedure was the same as a trial. There would be an opening statement where the prosecution and defense would each explain their arguments.

If there was any evidence or witnesses that needed to be checked in relation to that, then they would go through the procedure of examining them.

Finally, after both sides gave their closing statements, the examiners would decide the winner and loser.

"Then I will start the timer for 10 minutes now. Let's begin."

Following the countdown, the teaching assistants distributed the materials to both teams.

Unlike the second evaluation in the free spirit state, where everything was provided as computer files, this time, most of the materials were given in the form of documents, except for a few pieces of evidence.

"It's thick," Han Seol said, making a brief comment.

The stack of documents was quite thick, so it was impossible to read it all. In order to grasp the overview, I first opened the page that said 'Record of the First Trial'.

[Case Name]

a. Robbery-Murder

b. Violation of the Road Traffic Act (Drunk Driving)

The charges were simple. The defendant in today's case was apparently accused of driving while drunk, committing robbery, and killing a person.

'That's strange.'

Both robbery-murder and unlicensed driving were relatively simple crimes in terms of the facts.

The fact that they weren't complicated meant that there weren't many issues to dispute.

'Is it a problem where we have to dispute the facts themselves?'

I continued to read on, flipping through the pages quickly.

As I was doing so, reactions that seemed puzzled started to come out from both our side and the other side.

"...What is this?"

"Huh?"

"Why are they giving us all of this?"

The reason why they were confused was clear.

Just by glancing at it, it was obvious that the materials were filled with ample evidence to prove the guilt of the defendant in this case, 'Kim Gap-dong'.

Kim Gap-dong's own confession.

The dashcam footage of another car that had recorded Kim Gap-dong's vehicle.

The murder weapon that was covered with Kim Gap-dong's fingerprints and the victim's blood.

Anyone could see that Kim Gap-dong was guilty of all of the charges that he had been indicted for.

"...Then, shouldn't we obviously be on the prosecution side?"

As Han Seol said, the winner or loser of the criminal division of the Jaine Moot Court Competition was decided strictly based on whether the defendant was guilty or innocent.

If he was guilty, the prosecution side won, and if he was innocent, the defense side won.

In a situation that was filled with so many disadvantageous conditions, there was no way that anyone would be foolish enough to choose the defense side.

"Didn't they make a mistake with the problem? If it's like this, then the other side will also choose the prosecution, and it'll be no different than deciding the winner and loser with rock-paper-scissors."

I didn't answer and was lost in thought.

'This case... could it be...'

"Time's up. Each side please say what side you wish to take."

While I was thinking, the 10-minute time limit had ended, and following Jang Yong-hwan's instructions, we gathered in the middle of the mock courtroom.

"We will take the prosecution side," Jung Min-shik said, representing the other side. He was sure of himself, as if there was nothing else to see.

"What about you? Are you also the prosecution?" Jang Yong-hwan asked, turning to us.

"Of course they're the prosecution. Only a madman would choose the defense side here," Jung Min-shik sneered from a distance.

After glancing at him, I whispered to my teammates.

"Hey, guys."

"Yeah?"

"What's up?"

I asked to confirm.

"Is it okay if I decide this on my own?"

"...What are you planning to do?"

Han Seol asked back with a suspicious look, but she nodded her head. It was something that we had agreed on beforehand, that she would leave these decisions to me.

After discussing it, I declared to Jang Yong-hwan.

"We are..."