I Became a Law School Genius

Chapter 52

『 Translator – Divinity 』

The day of the final match in the mock trial competition preliminaries had arrived.

“Let’s go. Are you ready?”

“Ugh, I’m a bit nervous…”

“It’s just the finals in name, it’s the same as the matches we’ve had so far. We’ve done well, haven’t we? Just do what we’ve been doing.”

“But still, our opponent in this final is that person. The second-year, the one who worked as a police officer.”

“Well, he is a tough opponent.”

I nodded.

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

Han Seol had developed a trauma towards Police University graduates after losing first place to Shin Seo-joon for the first time in her life.

But even aside from that, it was clear that this would be a difficult match.

“From other people’s perspective, we’re also quite formidable,”

Lee Ha-ru said casually.

“The second-ranked student of Hankuk University Law School, the top student who took back first place from that second-ranked student in two months. And this programming genius… who developed this AI.”

She puffed out her small chest proudly.

“Where else would you find a dream team like this?”

She had a point.

In terms of titles, we were also a team that wouldn’t be ashamed to show off anywhere.

Although Lee Ha-ru’s law skills weren’t at the level to be included here, she was doing more than her fair share just by developing and maintaining ‘Effortless’.

“Yeah, that’s true.”

Han Seol also smiled and patted Lee Ha-ru’s head as if she was proud.

It seemed like she was encouraged.

“Let’s get going now. If we delay any longer, we might be disqualified for being late.”

“Come on,” I said, pushing the two of them forward.

“…Why are there so many people?”

When we arrived at the mock courtroom, a different scene unfolded than before.

The audience seats were packed, with hardly any empty spaces.

The Mock Trial Competition was open to the public, and anyone could freely watch other teams’ matches.

Even those who weren’t participating in the competition could do so.

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

The reason was simple. Lack of time.

Hankuk University Law School students were accustomed to saving every minute and second and dedicating it to studying.

They didn’t have the luxury to waste hours watching someone else’s match.

In the matches we had so far, even if there were spectators, they were few in number.

But what was with this crowd?

The mock courtroom was bustling, as if almost the entire student body, except for the third-year students who were busy with their own exams, had gathered.

Among the clamor of voices, I could find the reason.

“This is a once-in-a-lifetime match in the history of Hankuk University Law School.”

“The top first-year student with the blood of a Supreme Court Justice versus the master of criminal practice? This is not to be missed. We’ll learn a lot just by watching the match.”

“Min-hwan hyung doesn’t usually show his face in places like this, so we have to take this opportunity to witness his skills.”

It seemed like the lineup for this final match had become a hot topic.

It was understandable that people were interested, especially because Gu Min-hwan was a mysterious figure who was difficult to approach even among the second-year students.

“But still, this crowd is a bit much.”

With this population density, anyone would think it was an idol concert, not a mock trial competition.

Just as I was about to turn around and escape to the participants’ waiting room, a dark shadow suddenly loomed over me.

“…?”

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

‘How can a person be this big?’

Even Park Yoo-seung’s body was quite tall, easily over 180cm.

But Gu Min-hwan was a head taller than that.

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

In addition to the intimidation his size brought, intelligent eyes gleamed from his sharp face.

“I saw the match,”

Gu Min-hwan said.

“Excuse me?”

“The preliminary rounds you participated in. 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 could be a substitute for that guy.”

‘Huh.’

—About Min-hwan sunbae-nim…

Shin Seo-joon’s explanation suddenly came to mind.

—…Hmm, have you ever read any martial arts novels? To put it simply, he’s like a martial arts master from the unorthodox faction.

He had said that.

—Min-hwan sunbae-nim’s only interest is victory. He’s not interested in anything other than solving difficult problems and defeating his opponent in a battle of wits. He became a police officer because he enjoys the process of investigating and catching intellectual criminals, and he went to law school just to find a new battlefield.

He didn’t have values like pursuing justice or truth, not even worldly success.

Finding an opponent worthy of fighting and achieving victory.

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

In other words, he didn’t react to those he didn’t feel were worth defeating.

That’s why he rarely showed his face.

‘Did he participate in the Mock Trial Competition… to face Shin Seo-joon?’

—That person still thinks he has unfinished business with me. I don’t really care, though.

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

Gu Min-hwan was fixated on competing with Shin Seo-joon, and Shin Seo-joon, not bound by such things, was slipping away.

Even this time, he chose the civil division instead of the criminal one.

It must have been frustrating for Gu Min-hwan.

It was understandable that he became interested in me after watching my match and finding my skills unexpected…

“A substitute, you say?”

There was one thing I had to correct.

“I, I beat that guy.”

This body, first place in the Hankuk University Law School midterm exams.

I refused to be treated as someone’s substitute.

“And,”

“Hmm?”

“I will defeat you too, sunbae-nim.”

“…!”

***

“Then, I’ll give you 10 minutes. Briefly review the records and decide on your desired positions.”

Jang Yong-hwan gave the instruction, and we received the familiar-looking stack of documents.

We each decided on our parts to read and divided the work efficiently.

We were already a well-coordinated team after going through several matches.

“Ah, wait a moment.”

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

“For this case… we will apply a slightly different evaluation criteria than before.”

‘What’s this all of a sudden?’

“This is because it’s a case where various issues are intricately intertwined, making it difficult to simply divide it into guilty or not guilty. Therefore, the prosecution and defense should focus on presenting the ‘best’ arguments from their respective positions, without being fixated on the outcome. We will determine the winner by comprehensively evaluating the arguments and conclusions.”

“Then, I’ll give you 10 minutes again, so begin.” Jang Yong-hwan said and turned away.

“…What’s that supposed to mean?”

“What’s the ‘best’ argument? What does he want us to do?”

Han Seol and Lee Ha-ru were confused.

Honestly, I understood how they felt, but time was of the essence.

‘We can’t just stand here blankly.’

I approached my team members and flicked their foreheads one by one.

There was no better way to bring them back to their senses than with a physical shock.

“Ouch.”

“W-what was that for?”

“Is this the time to be spacing out? The 10-minute time limit is ticking away. If you don’t focus, you won’t even be able to grasp the outline of these materials.”

I picked up my share of the documents.

“Just read it. We can’t interpret that sly fox’s intentions without even knowing what this case is about. Let’s think after we gather information.”

“…That’s true. I guess I was a bit flustered by the sudden change in evaluation criteria.”

“Sorry about the flicks. But I’ll give you the right to flick me back after this is over.”

“Really? Okay, you’re dead. I’ll flick you hard.”

‘Just how hard is she planning to flick me…’

Seeing Lee Ha-ru already blowing on her fingers as if to unleash the frustration of being beaten up in games, I felt a cold sweat.

Well, how much could it hurt to be flicked by those tiny hands?

As my teammates picked up their assigned documents, I also turned my attention to mine.

[Question: Examine the criminal liability of the defendant, ‘Lee Eul-nam’.]

‘This time… there’s no page like the first trial court record.’

It would be easier to grasp the overview if there was a page like the first trial court record at the beginning, as in the first preliminary round.

At least we could know what charges the defendant was being investigated and indicted for, and organize the facts based on that.

But it seemed like this case was set in the investigation stage, before it even went to court or reached the prosecutor’s hands.

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

‘That tactic won’t work. Let’s just read the facts first.’

I skimmed through the pages.

[Case Overview]

Kim Gab-dong is the son of the victim, the deceased A. After being fired from his workplace on April 17, 2009, A lived with his son, and repeatedly committed domestic violence, such as drinking every day and physically and verbally abusing his son and his son’s wife and children.

Then, on November 11, 2013, A, completely drunk in the middle of the day, was walking down the street when he hit his chest against a concrete pillar, sustaining serious external injuries, and was urgently transported to Hospital C, where the defendant, Lee Eul-nam, worked as a doctor.

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

…(omitted)… While the hospital continued life-sustaining treatment for A, Kim Gab-dong requested the defendant, Lee Eul-nam, who was on duty at the hospital at that time, to stop the life-sustaining treatment and discharge A.

Lee Eul-nam fully explained to Kim Gab-dong that there was a very high chance of A dying if life support was stopped, but when Kim Gab-dong insisted on discharge, he had Kim Gab-dong sign a written agreement stating that ‘the hospital would not be held responsible for anything that happened afterward’ and discharged A on January 13, 2014.

A died 5 minutes after being discharged.

…(omitted)…

‘No, this is…’

“…Euthanasia, isn’t it?”

“It seems so.”

I nodded at Han Seol’s question.

Euthanasia.

And among them, not ‘active euthanasia’, where you give a painless death to someone who is alive and breathing,

but ‘passive euthanasia’, where you end the life of someone who is relying on life support by removing the equipment, was the issue at hand.

‘He brought up quite a challenging topic.’

There had been countless debates on euthanasia, and even now, with no clear answer in sight, arguments about ethical issues continued.

The absoluteness of the essential value of life.

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

Concepts that were too daunting to even place on the scales were intricately intertwined.

It wasn’t a question I could presumptuously claim to have the answer to.

However… I wasn’t a philosopher.

Nor was I a thinker who studied moral laws, or a social activist.

‘Yes, I’m a law student.’

What I had to deal with were legal issues, and my mission was to identify actions that constituted crimes in light of the strict legal procedures of this country and assess their weight.

‘Then.’

There was an answer.

“Han Seol, Lee Ha-ru.”

“Yeah?”

“What is it?”

“I think I understand what Jang Yong-hwan meant.”