The 0% Win Rate Lawyer

“An innocent defendant?”

[Yes, that is correct. From today onwards, Lawyer Yoon Eunho may take on any case he desires.]

I was quick to assess situations.
The current circumstances and the question I heard just before losing consciousness overlapped.
The question of whether I wanted to achieve the justice I dreamed of.
As I sat on an unfamiliar bed, conversing with the empty air, the reality of it all slowly began to set in.

“…After today, are all decisions left entirely to me?”

[That is correct. You may also speak comfortably.]

‘So it really can read my thoughts.’
I confirmed one last time.

“…So if I lose, I really die? This life in this body, too?”

[Yes, that is correct.]

In conclusion, I had essentially traded my life for the life of a lawyer I had dreamed of, but I was happy.
That’s how desperate I had been.
And besides, I had no intention of ever losing.
I immediately got up and headed to the bathroom.
Now that I’d confirmed what I needed to, I had to hurry and get ready to save that client.

“…What is this?”

But when I faced the mirror, I couldn’t help but be shocked.

‘Can a person’s face really look like this?’

The man in the mirror looked like a sculpture painstakingly crafted by a god over a long period.
Perfectly symmetrical eyes, long and dark eyelashes, a well-defined nose, and red lips that curved slightly even without a smile.
And a jawline that fell in an aesthetically beautiful line.
I stood there, mesmerized, staring into the eyes of Cha Yohan in the mirror for a long time.
As if it couldn’t watch any longer, the hologram brought up a new topic.

[You look like you’re about to fall into the mirror. To aid in your quick adaptation, a portion of Cha Yohan’s memories will be synchronized.]

Immediately, all sorts of information began to flood my mind.

Name, Cha Yohan.
Graduate of a provincial law school.
Graduated last in the 4Xth class of the Judicial Research and Training Institute.

After that, Cha Yohan’s life played out in fragments, like a video cut into multiple pieces.
From the image of him wearing thick, high-prescription glasses, unable to utter a single word while being pushed around by a prosecutor, to the murmurs of people watching him.

“He lost again, didn’t he?”
“I don’t know how he can be like that. I heard his training institute grades were good.”
“What good is a perfect score on the written exam? I heard his practical skills were failing grade.”

Surprisingly, a lawyer’s eloquence was as crucial in a trial as evidence or witness testimony.
But in these videos, there wasn’t a single scene where Cha Yohan spoke properly.
And so, the short film ended.

‘Is this it?’

Next to the towels in the medicine cabinet, I saw the thick-rimmed glasses from the video.
As I picked up the glasses Cha Yohan must have worn, my vision immediately blurred.
It was enough to make me feel nauseous.

‘Ah, I’m dizzy. His eyesight must have been really bad.’

I quickly took off the glasses and put them back in their place.
It was then.

Ding-dong.

The doorbell rang exactly once. No more, no less.
Soon after, a soft voice came from outside the door.

“Lawyer Cha, are you ready?”

Someone who knew Cha Yohan, but not me.
As I hesitated to answer, the hologram appeared again.

[You can rest assured.]
[It is Office Manager Jeong Donghyeok. Please open the door.]

As soon as I read the guide, I turned the doorknob.

Click.

The man who appeared as the door opened was very different from my expectations.
A neat suit, a cold face, and a stiff tone that struck like ice.

‘…An office manager? He looks like he’s in finance…’

The man in front of me looked like he was about to recite the full amount of Cha Yohan’s debt at any moment.
But he gently urged me on. As if this was a common occurrence.

“Lawyer Cha, we don’t have much time until the trial. Please hurry and get ready.”

While changing under his strangely gentle yet cold urging, I gathered various pieces of information from the hologram.
His favorite food was kimchi fried rice he made himself, he sometimes fed stray cats, and despite his tone, he and Cha Yohan got along quite well.

‘Where are the case files?’

[Ah, I didn’t mention that. They are on the table. The one on top. And it’s a jury trial.]

A jury trial? Then this will be a big stage.
I gathered the documents, put them in my bag, and approached Jeong Donghyeok, who was waiting silently.

“Shall we go?”

Jeong Donghyeok nodded, his eyes crinkling just a tiny, unnoticeable bit.

Jeong Donghyeok checked the back seat through the rearview mirror several times.
To Jeong Donghyeok, who had been working as an office manager at the public defender’s office where Cha Yohan belonged, Cha Yohan was nothing short of an aching finger.
He felt more pity for Cha Yohan the longer he watched over him than when he first heard Cha Yohan had barely passed the bar exam.
People often said this one thing to Cha Yohan.

‘He’s a nice person, but…’

It was a phrase that sounded like an insult without a single curse word.
Nice person, but… the words that would follow were all too obvious. Lacking substance, or frustrating.
Cha Yohan was exactly that.
A person who would go to excessive lengths in everything, never even asking for a cup of coffee.
A person who worked hard, sleeping only one or two hours a day, yet became so small the moment he entered a courtroom.
A person who would close the door and wipe away his tears alone on the days he returned after a loss.
In conclusion, since he had never won, it was the same as saying he cried every day, but yes, that was something to keep quiet about.
It would be different if he didn’t try, but to this man who always worked hard, even the heavens were cruel…
Anyway, it was another day in a series of repetitive days.
But today, something was a bit strange.

‘…Has his atmosphere changed a bit?’

Besides not wearing his glasses, something else seemed to have changed.
He had buried his head in the documents since leaving the house, so I couldn’t properly meet his eyes.
But unlike in the past, when he would just stare blankly as if trying to memorize them, today there was a certain composure.
Instead of being stiff, he would nod his head as he turned the pages.
That demeanor even had the seasoned air of an experienced lawyer.

‘Can a person change this much overnight? And why the Buddhist scriptures all of a sudden…’

Jeong Donghyeok realized he had been unconsciously holding his breath amidst the quiet chanting of the scriptures in the car.

‘I don’t think he’s ever been this serious before.’

He had always been a goody-two-shoes who never joked around, but he had never exuded this level of seriousness.
On the contrary, he had always shown a withdrawn side.
Especially when someone tried to comfort him by saying “cheer up.”
Checking Cha Yohan’s face in the rearview mirror once more, Jeong Donghyeok thought.

‘I guess it’s because this is the last one…’

From the moment I held the case file until I arrived at the court, I didn’t take my eyes off it for a second.
The estimated travel time of one hour was far too tight to absorb all this information.

[…no realm of nothingness, no realm of no-consciousness, no non-existence…]

It was a good thing I was used to reading documents in a car; otherwise, I would have complained of motion sickness and asked to stop several times.
The file was that thick.

‘If this is really real, and I’ve become a zero-win-rate lawyer named Cha Yohan…’

I had to at least prevent this client from being wrongfully imprisoned because he met the wrong lawyer.

[…You’re going too far.]

I thought I heard someone next to me express a sense of sorrow, but I had more pressing matters at hand.
The main issue of the case was one thing.

‘Can the defendant’s self-defense be proven?’

The circumstances were roughly as follows.
The defendant acted to save his mother and younger sibling who were being threatened by a robber, resulting in the robber sustaining an injury requiring 12 weeks of recovery.

‘His statements have been consistent from the beginning to the most recent.’

The robber did not die at the scene. He hit his head on the corner of the dining table during the scuffle.
The police, who arrived after the sibling’s report, arrested both the client and the robber.
However, the robber was soon transferred to a hospital and remained unconscious for two weeks before waking up recently.

‘It definitely said he was an innocent person.’

The prosecutor indicted the client not for assault or battery, but for ‘special injury.’
In the records, which were neatly organized in order, perhaps a testament to Cha Yohan’s work, the most impressive part was the conversation between the defendant and the detective.

Detective: Do you admit to injuring the plaintiff with excessive force?
Man: It happened during a scuffle. It was absolutely not intentional. It was self-defense.
Detective: We have confirmed your record as a former Taekwondo national athlete, your service in the special forces, and your recent employment at a security company. Is that correct?
Man: That is correct.
Detective: With this level of skill and experience, couldn’t you have easily subdued him?
Man: He was holding a knife, and my family was threatened. Should I have let someone get stabbed?

‘…It’s hitting home again.’

The cases I had handled were mostly large corporate cases.
Disputes between individuals usually didn’t make their way up to me.
No, they couldn’t.
I rarely took on personal cases, and Hyeon Yeongje rejected all cases that didn’t make money.
Personal cases were hard to come by unless they were pro bono cases I sought out myself.
Moreover, this was my first time dealing with a jury trial.

‘Did Cha Yohan request this? For a self-defense case of this magnitude, the grounds are sufficient… but the lack of time is a pity.’

I had frantically reviewed the file dozens of times, but it was still not enough. Normally, I would have read it hundreds of times before entering…

‘Self-defense…’

The more I reviewed the documents, the more I felt the sensations I had long forgotten stir within me.
It was the sense of justice that had been the driving force behind my decision to shed my judicial robes and become a lawyer.

Screech.

Just then, we arrived at the courthouse.
I hastily organized the documents I was reading and stuffed them into my briefcase.
Office Manager Jeong Donghyeok, who had been glancing at me throughout the drive, finally spoke after some hesitation.

“…It weighs heavily on my heart that this is your last trial.”

Last trial?

[Cha Yohan intended to quit being a lawyer after this trial.]

‘Quit being a lawyer? What does that mean?’

[0% win rate. A lawyer who cannot protect their client has no reason to exist.]

I was momentarily at a loss for words at the hologram’s unexpected answer.
Perhaps misunderstanding my silence, Office Manager Jeong Donghyeok added.

“If you are really thinking of quitting as a lawyer… perhaps you should consider becoming an office manager like me, who doesn’t have to stand in court.”
“Uh… yes, thank you.”

When I didn’t know what to say, this phrase was most useful.

“I have another appointment, so I have to head back to the office first. Have this and cheer up. This is your first jury trial, after all, Lawyer Cha.”

Office Manager Jeong Donghyeok handed me a vitamin drink and left.

‘…This feels strange.’

Jeong Donghyeok’s encouragement felt oddly heartwarming.
Hyeon Yeongje had always shown his displeasure whenever I took on cases like this, but here was someone cheering for me.
I felt guilty, as if I had stolen something that wasn’t mine… but I entered the courtroom with that peculiar feeling.

‘This is my first time in a district court since finishing my training.’

The slightly shabby interior, compared to the Supreme Court and High Courts, felt new and reminded me of my early days.

‘Still have about thirty minutes to spare.’

In the hallway in front of the courtroom, I saw other lawyers waiting for their respective trials, just like me.

“My trial is at 12, what time is yours, Attorney Kim?”
“Mine’s at 2. I need to meet my client before that.”
“You have some time. Oh my, but who is that? I’ve never seen him before.”

A question faintly heard from afar was followed by gazes landing on me.
It seemed the ‘that’ those people were talking about was me.
The stares I had been feeling since getting out of the car were not my imagination.
From all around, gazes continued to scrutinize me as I reviewed my documents again.

“I’ve never seen that face before.”
“Was there a lawyer with a face like that among us?”
“Oh my, who is he really?”

At that moment, as if on cue, a voice called out for me.

“Lawyer Cha Yohan! It’s time to enter the court.”

I casually nodded and headed towards the voice.
As I walked, guided by the court employee, I could hear the lawyers’ voices from behind.

“What? That lawyer is ‘Zero-Wins’?”
“Be quiet, he might hear you!”

As I walked, a word stuck in my ear.

‘Zero-Wins?’

[…It is Lawyer Cha Yohan’s nickname. Because his win rate is 0%.]

Ah, win rate zero.
You had a cute nickname, Cha Yohan.
I’ll change it for you, starting today.

Step, step.

And so, I entered the courtroom.

“Do you enjoy watching the news?”
“What do you think of the sport of baseball?”

After selecting all the jurors through alternating questions with the prosecutor, the client entered.
The young man with a stoic face who greeted me silently in the courtroom had not a single trace of brightness on his face.
But it didn’t matter.
In my head, all the arguments were already organized.