Episode 52

The final match of the preliminary rounds of the moot court competition. The day of that decisive battle had arrived.

"Let's go. You ready?"

"Ugh, I'm a bit nervous..."

"It's just the final match in name only; it's the same kind of match as all the others. You've done well so far. Just do what you've been doing."

"Still, this final match is against that guy, isn't it? The one from the second year, the one who used to be a police officer in charge of investigations."

"Well, he's a tough opponent, that's for sure."

I nodded.

It was like a retired national team player suddenly appearing at a youth soccer tournament.

Han Seol, having lost first place to Shin Seo-joon for the first time in her life, had developed a trauma toward anyone from the police academy.

Even without that, it was obvious that this would be a difficult match.

"From other people's perspectives, we're plenty tough too, you know?"

Lee Ha-roo said, as if throwing the words out casually.

"The runner-up of Korea University Law School, the top student who snatched first place from that runner-up in just two months, and this body, the programming prodigy... and the AI I developed."

She proudly puffed out her small chest.

"Where else are you going to see a dream team like this?"

When you put it that way, it was true.

In terms of titles, we were all people who wouldn't be out of place anywhere.

Lee Ha-roo wasn't really up to par in terms of law skills, but just developing and maintaining 'Free-Loading' was more than enough to make her worth more than one person.

"Yeah, you're right."

Han Seol also smiled, and with a look of affection, she stroked Lee Ha-roo's hair as if she was praising her.

It seemed like she had received some encouragement.

"Let's get going now. If we dawdle any longer, we might be disqualified for being late."

"Alright, alright," I said, nudging the two of them forward.

"......Why are there so many people?"

When we arrived at the mock courtroom, a scene that was a bit different from usual unfolded before our eyes.

The gallery was so full that it was difficult to find an empty seat.

Originally, the moot court competition was open to the public, and anyone could freely watch the matches of other teams.

Even people who weren't participating in the competition at all.

But it was very rare for so many people to gather like this.

The reason was simple. There was no time.

The students at Korea University Law School were a group of people who were so used to saving every minute and second to spend on studying.

They didn't have the time to waste several hours just watching someone else's match when it wasn't even their own.

In the matches that had been held so far, there had only been a small number of audience members, if any.

But what was this crowd?

Except for the third-year students who had a fire under their feet, it was as if almost the entire school had gathered in the mock courtroom.

Amidst the boisterous voices, I could find the cause.

"It's a once-in-a-lifetime big match in the history of Korea University Law School."

"A first-year top student with the blood of a Supreme Court Justice versus a master of criminal practice? I can't miss this. You can learn so much just by watching the match."

"Senior Min-hwan doesn't show his face often, so I have to watch his skills when I get the chance."

It seemed that the human composition of this final match had been spread around the entire school.

I was one thing, but Gu Min-hwan was a mysterious figure who was hard to approach even among the second-year students, so it was only natural that he would attract even more attention.

"Still, this crowd is a bit much."

The crowd was so dense that it seemed like it was an idol concert, not a moot court competition.

I turned around to take refuge in the participant waiting room, when suddenly, a dark shadow fell over my face.

"......?"

When I looked up, I saw the opponent of this final match. Gu Min-hwan was standing in front of me.

'What is this guy, so huge?'

Park Yoo-seung's body was also tall, easily over 180cm.

But Gu Min-hwan was even taller than that, by at least a head.

Moreover, his entire body was so muscular that it felt like I was facing a giant gorilla, not a human.

On top of the intimidation that his physique gave off, a sharp intelligence was gleaming in his two piercing eyes.

"I watched the matches."

Gu Min-hwan opened his mouth.

"Huh?"

"The preliminary matches you had. They were worth watching."

Was that a compliment? Just as I was about to bow my head and express my gratitude, Gu Min-hwan added.

"You're about as good as a replacement for that guy."

'Huh.'

• Senior Min-hwan, you see.

Suddenly, Shin Seo-joon's explanation flashed through my mind.

• ......Hmm. Have you ever read any martial arts novels? To put it simply, he's like a master of a heretical sect in the martial arts world.

Was that what he had said?

• Senior Min-hwan's only interest is victory. He shows no interest in anything other than solving difficult problems and defeating his opponent in a battle of wits. The reason why he became a police officer was because he wanted to enjoy the process of investigating and catching intelligent criminals, and the reason why he went to law school was just because he was looking for a new battleground.

He didn't have values such as justice or truth, or even the pursuit of worldly success.

Finding an opponent worth defeating and winning.

Gu Min-hwan was a man who only moved for that purpose.

In other words, he wouldn't react to people who he didn't feel were worth defeating.

That was why he rarely showed his face in public.

'He participated in the moot court competition... was it to target a match with Shin Seo-joon?'

• That person still thinks that he hasn't settled things with me. But I don't really care about that kind of thing.

I didn't know what had happened in the past, but I could roughly understand what their relationship was like.

Gu Min-hwan was obsessed with a match against Shin Seo-joon, and Shin Seo-joon was dodging him, not wanting to get involved in such a thing.

That was probably why he had chosen civil law instead of criminal law.

For Gu Min-hwan, it must have been a letdown.

Then he saw my matches and became interested because of my unexpected skills... If that was the case, then it made sense.

"A replacement, you say."

There was one thing that I had to correct.

"I already beat him, though."

This body, the top student of the midterms at Korea University Law School.

I refused to be treated as someone's replacement.

"And."

"Hmm?"

"I'll beat you too."

"......!"

* * *

"Okay, I'll start the timer for 10 minutes now. Quickly look through the records and decide which side you want to take."

Jang Yong-hwan's instructions were given, and we received the familiar stack of documents with a different cover.

We each decided which parts to read and started to divide the work.

Having already played several matches, we were now a team that worked together quite well.

"Ah, wait a minute."

Just as we were about to go to our team waiting room to analyze the materials, Jang Yong-hwan suddenly stopped us.

"For this case... I'm going to apply a slightly different evaluation standard than before."

'What is this out of the blue?'

"This is a case where various issues are sharply intertwined, so it's not something that can be simply divided into guilty or not guilty. So, the prosecution and defense sides should not be obsessed with the result, but rather develop their 'best' argument from their respective positions. I will determine the winner by comprehensively evaluating their arguments and conclusions."

Okay, I'll start the timer for 10 minutes again, so let's begin. Jang Yong-hwan said that and turned his head away.

"......What the heck is he saying out of the blue?"

"What's the 'best' argument? What is he trying to say?"

Han Seol and Lee Ha-roo were malfunctioning.

To be honest, I could understand how they felt, but right now, we were in a situation where every second counted.

'I can't just stand here blankly.'

I approached my teammates and flicked them on their foreheads, one by one.

There was no better method than physical shock to quickly bring them back to their senses.

"Ouch."

"Wh, why are you flicking us on the forehead all of a sudden?"

"Is this the time to be doing that? The 10-minute time limit is ticking away. If you don't get a grip, you won't even be able to grasp the outline of these materials."

I picked up my stack of documents.

"Let's read first. We can't interpret that sly old fox's intentions without knowing what this case is about. Let's think after we've collected some information."

"......You're right. I guess I was a bit flustered when he suddenly changed the evaluation criteria."

"Sorry about the flick. But I'll give you the right to flick me back one time each after this is over."

"Really? Okay, I'm going to get you back. Just you wait."

'No, how hard are you going to flick me...'

Seeing Lee Ha-roo already blowing on her fingers to warm them up, it made me sweat a bit.

Well, how bad could it be if I was hit by those small hands?

As I watched my teammates each pick up their documents, I also turned my eyes to my own documents.

[Problem: Review the guilt of the defendant, Lee Eul-nam.]

'This time... there isn't a page like a first trial record at the beginning.'

If there was a page like a first trial record at the beginning, like in the first match of the preliminaries, it would be easy to understand the outline.

At least we could know what charges the defendant was being investigated for and what the indictment was, and we could use that as a basis to organize the facts.

But this case seemed to be at the investigation stage before it had even gone to court or been handed over to the prosecutor.

There were only various investigation reports and evidence documents, and there were no documents related to the trial.

'So, we can't use tricks. Let's read the facts first.'

I quickly flipped through the pages.

[Case Summary]

Kim Gap-dong is the grandson of the deceased victim A. A was fired from his workplace on 2009.04.17, and after that, he lived in the defendant's house, where he repeatedly committed domestic violence, such as drinking every day and physically and verbally abusing the defendant, his wife, and his children.

Then, on 2013.11.11, A was heavily intoxicated in broad daylight and was walking around the street when he hit his chest against a concrete pillar and suffered a serious injury. He was urgently transported to C Hospital, where the defendant, Lee Eul-nam, was working as a doctor.

A was diagnosed as being in a vegetative state due to excessive bleeding.

...(omitted)... While A's life-sustaining treatment was being continued at the hospital, Kim Gap-dong requested that the defendant, Lee Eul-nam, stop the life-sustaining treatment and discharge A from the hospital.

Lee Eul-nam fully explained to Kim Gap-dong that if A's life-sustaining treatment was stopped now, there was a very high possibility that he would die, but when Kim Gap-dong insisted on the discharge, he wrote a statement saying, 'The hospital will not take any responsibility after this', and received Kim Gap-dong's signature on it. Then, he discharged A on 2014.1.13.

A died 5 minutes after being discharged.

...(omitted)...

'No, this is...'

"......It's euthanasia, isn't it?"

"It seems like it," I nodded in response to Han Seol's question.

Euthanasia.

Especially, not 'active euthanasia' where a painless death was given to a person who was alive and breathing, but rather.

It was a case related to 'passive euthanasia', where the life-sustaining equipment of a person whose life was being sustained by life-sustaining treatment was removed, and they were left to die.

'He brought up a difficult topic, that guy.'

There had been countless debates on euthanasia, and even now, there was no clear answer, and the arguments regarding the ethical issues were still ongoing.

The absolute nature of the essential value of life.

The right to self-determination that a human being has over their own life.

Those were concepts that were so complexly intertwined that it was terrifying to even put them on the scales.

It wasn't a problem that someone like me could dare to say was the right answer.

However... I wasn't a philosopher.

I wasn't a thinker who studied moral codes, nor was I a social activist.

'Right, I'm a law student.'

What I had to deal with were legal issues, and my mission was to pinpoint and weigh the actions that were deemed to be crimes under the strict legal procedures of this country.

'If that's the case.'

There was an answer.

"Han Seol, Lee Ha-roo."

"Yeah?"

"What is it?"

"I think I know what Jang Yong-hwan meant."