Chapter 147
Chapter 147
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 147
Chapter Title: The In-Depth Interview
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Judicial Examination Third-Stage In-Depth Interview Room.
This was the venue for the "in-depth interview," conducted only with select candidates who had received individual notices after completing the group and individual interviews.
"Interviewee Number 23, Kang Hyun."
As soon as Kang Hyun's name was called, all the staff managing the interview room turned to look at him.
"That's Kang Hyun."
"He got perfect scores on the first and second stages of the Judicial Examination, right?"
"It's beyond imagination. I want a life like that too."
The staff muttered among themselves, while the other interviewees gazed at him with envy.
"But why did he end up as an in-depth interview candidate?"
"Probably because his scores are too good."
On the other hand, a few sensed something off and harbored suspicions.
The in-depth interview was a "procedure beyond procedure," held after the standard interview schedule. Its purpose was to screen out anyone with mental instability, criminal records, or ideologies opposing the national foundation of liberal democracy.
In truth, Prosecutor Kim Jeong-min had been right. There was no need to take the long way around when the easy path was available.
But Kang Hyun's mind hadn't changed. It was something he had to do eventually.
Before climbing to the summit, there were things he needed to persuade and confirm one last time.
The conflicts between Judicial Research and Training Institute graduates and law school graduates, and between the Ministry of Justice faction and the prosecution faction.
Conflicts over origins and factions.
To quell all these conflicts, he had to start boldly on his own terms, without being swayed by others.
Purely, by himself.
Clunk.
The interview room he entered after passing through the bright waiting area was dimly lit.
Only the sunlight streaming in from the window illuminated Kang Hyun.
There were three interviewers. They stared at him silently, observing his reaction.
"Hello. I'm Kang Hyun."
A single chair sat isolated in a low position, some distance from the interviewers. They all exuded a hostile aura.
"...So you're Kang Hyun."
As Kang Hyun subtly moved to take his seat, one man flipped through his documents and spoke.
"Perfect score on the first stage of the Judicial Examination, perfect on the second. Your group and individual interviews for the third stage were flawless as well. You're well aware this is unprecedented in Korean history."
"Yes."
The balding man to the left of the central interviewer chimed in, not hiding his discomfort.
"The gap with the second-place candidate is indescribable. Excluding you, the average scores are even lower than previous years. You're single-handedly turning the standard deviation upside down."
The interviewer on the right added his words, showing no favor toward Kang Hyun.
"People outside are praising you, but inside, there's a lot of concern. There's talk of cheating or irregularities."
Kang Hyun perked up his ears as if listening intently, then froze in place. After a while, with no further words from the interviewers, he slowly opened his mouth.
"I appreciate the praise. If I may add, my scores aren't that far removed from typical examinees. With the number of test-takers reduced by more than a tenth, it just looks that way statistically. It's a meaningless figure with no cause for concern."
"But the influence will be immense. Isn't that right?"
The central interviewer cleared his throat with a hum.
"A person with such immense influence is rumored to have no intention of attending Judicial Research and Training Institute education after passing. Is that correct?"
"Under Article 4 of the Act on Special Appointments of Judges and Prosecutors, I believe my ongoing law school classes can substitute for graduation. Taking another two years of training after passing the Judicial Examination would only delay my appointment as a prosecutor."
"What about the bar exam? Do you plan not to take it?"
"I intend to take the bar exam when the opportunity arises."
The interviewers' faces darkened abruptly.
"Tsk, then you'll be branded as a bar exam graduate."
"You won't be part of a Judicial Research and Training Institute class cohort."
This was the Judicial Examination interview room.
The stronghold of Judicial Examination graduates, right in the heart of a place where the organizational culture belittled law school graduates.
Kang Hyun's statement was perfectly poised to irk them.
He knew it well, but he didn't stop speaking.
"...Still, I qualify as a Judicial Examination passer. And I don't think passing the bar exam should be considered a stigma."
"You're well aware this isn't just about that."
The central figure leaned forward slightly from his seat.
'Who is he?'
Then, a diagram of the prosecution's "organization chart" flashed in Kang Hyun's mind.
He was definitely from the prosecution side.
But no matter how hard he racked his brain, it took a moment to identify him.
No name in the Central District Prosecutors' Office, nor in the Western, Eastern, Northern, or Southern branches.
Not in Busan, Daejeon, Gwangju, or any of the high prosecutors' offices.
'Ah!'
Tracing up the organization chart names, Kang Hyun finally recognized him at the very top.
'The Prosecutor General!'
The Prosecutor General, of all people.
A wrinkled face with a small scar on one side of his forehead.
A monster who had endured the storms of power struggles alone to reach the highest position.
It was truly Prosecutor General Bae Seong-shin, the head of the prosecution and all prosecutors.
The leader of Korea's most powerful investigative agency, wielding immense authority. A man who could wield the full force of state power or manipulate the political arena at will.
For the interview of a mere prosecutor candidate, the Prosecutor General to attend in secret?
It was something that had never happened in history, nor could it.
Gulp.
Kang Hyun swallowed dryly. The man before him was someone rarely seen.
But the other paid no mind to Kang Hyun's reaction. He simply proceeded slowly, testing him with the documents.
"The 'Judicial Examination pass' you speak of is only half-complete. By appointment standards, prosecutor qualifications are only fully realized after completing the Judicial Research and Training Institute training post-exam."
"..."
"I assume you know that."
Prosecutor General Bae Seong-shin's eyes gleamed.
His expression was as if he were testing Kang Hyun, and the two interviewers on either side began to tear into him sharply.
"If you don't drop out of law school, we can't recognize you as a final Judicial Examination passer."
"We'll give you a chance to retract your statement. With the Judicial Examination pass right in front of you, what's the point of rebelling here?"
Even as the side interviewers chimed in, Kang Hyun fell into thought for a moment.
'This is the distrust and conflict.'
Prosecutor Kim Jeong-min must have worried about this.
They were right.
Resisting here would be an act against their mainstream—their "mainstream."
The upper echelons were firmly gripped by Judicial Examination graduates. From their perspective, the enemy wasn't law school or bar exam grads, but the superior Ministry of Justice.
Yet here was a greenhorn flashing a law school label while resisting from below. It must have been utterly displeasing.
All he had to do was tuck tail. Bow his head and enter, and he could walk the prosecutors' office halls proudly as a prosecutor.
Kang Hyun's lips twitched.
Still wrestling with the conflict to the end.
Finally, he spoke.
"...This is exactly why I'm here."
A clear, resolute voice echoed, distinct from the three interviewers before him.
"To quell all these conflicts and fights."
"What?"
Kang Hyun rose slowly.
"It's the method I chose, with no ulterior motives, no self-interest, no distrust—purely hoping our organization becomes a 'pillar of law' with integrity and righteousness."
This was what Kang Hyun had to do after becoming a prosecutor.
Quell all internal fights and confront external corruption and dark hands.
Root out those infiltrating politics, and devote himself fully to protecting the world's weak.
Only then would things stand right.
That was the prosecution, the law.
"I have nothing more to say in this in-depth interview. But allow me one final word."
"No..."
"What I said—taking the Judicial Examination but substituting Judicial Research and Training Institute with law school graduation—is simply my being 'honest.'"
"Hah."
"And pursuing the bar exam despite ample chance of prosecutor qualification via the Judicial Examination shows I'm 'brave.' Claiming these reveal political intent only proves you interviewers are at the core of 'organizational conflict.'"
"...Your words can't be taken back."
"It doesn't matter."
The interviewers tried to threaten and stop him, but they couldn't halt his speech.
Prosecutor General Bae Seong-shin merely watched Kang Hyun's expression as he spoke. Kang Hyun confronted the leader boldly.
"I may not know exactly what positions or ranks you interviewers hold. But you'll all understand. This is how I act to become a just and righteous prosecutor."
"..."
"And you'll know this is just 'one of many efforts,' needing no judgment of right or wrong."
The interviewers fell into thought.
They all stared at Kang Hyun, seemingly torn in intense conflict between their reality and his ideals.
"Kang Hyun."
Prosecutor General Bae Seong-shin spoke slowly. His voice lowered, carrying dignified authority.
He no longer hid that he was the head of the prosecution.
"Yes."
The words of one who had ascended to the Prosecutor General's seat carried the weight of a mountain.
Someone he'd never meet outside. A chasm like heaven and earth in power and authority.
"Can you live up to your words? Become a prosecutor who fights for the greater good, belonging to no faction?"
He tested Kang Hyun once more with a resounding voice.
Sweat that had never beaded on Kang Hyun's temples now trickled down.
Yet he maintained his composure and answered.
"I can."
"I don't believe you. It seems like passion alone. Many have met unhappy ends that way."
Thoughts flashed across Prosecutor General Bae Seong-shin's wrinkled face, making it twitch. In contrast, Kang Hyun regained his ease.
"I may have only passion now, but it will come eventually. People supporting me, a world believing in me."
"Is that so."
"I can do it. I'll pacify the prosecution and transform it into an organization protecting the weak. So everyone under heaven is shielded."
For a while, their exchange left the surrounding interviewers frozen like ice, glancing between Kang Hyun and the Prosecutor General.
They stared at each other like a battle of glares.
Their auras clashed fiercely.
If Bae Seong-shin's presence was as vast and heavy as the sky, Kang Hyun was a meteor storm radiating within it.
The prolonged silence.
It was finally broken by Bae Seong-shin.
"...You may leave now."
"Is it... over?"
"Yes."
Bow.
Kang Hyun bowed deeply to Bae Seong-shin's words.
Then, with resolute steps and no hesitation, he turned on his heel and headed out of the interview room.
Just over ten minutes. An exceptionally swift end to the in-depth interview.
Yet no one in the room, which felt like a whirlwind had passed through, could easily speak.
Kang Hyun was different.
He stepped out of the dim interview room's shadows into the bright world.
Now it truly began. His life as a prosecutor.
The first steps announcing that beginning.
Seoul, Nokrim-dong.
The grave of Judicial Examination students, lined with cram schools along narrow alleys.
On the rooftop of an old building, a man sat on the railing, gazing down below.
From behind, a news broadcast played from somewhere, tickling his ears intermittently.
[Several years ago, Kang Hyun, the Korea University law school graduate hailed as a 'legal genius,' has achieved the miracle of passing both the 7th Bar Exam and the 65th Judicial Examination second stage this year. With the Judicial Examination entering final abolition procedures after this second stage, Kang Hyun's feat is the first in Korean history and the only one under the current administration's judicial system...]
"No way, no way."
The man listening quietly muttered to the air.
He spoke as if he were deeply connected to the news' protagonist, yet with an attitude that this couldn't have happened.
As if struck by a thought, he clamped his mouth shut and stared endlessly at the cram school neighborhood visible from the rooftop.
What was so strange?
Or perhaps something didn't add up.
Enduring, muttering under his breath.
Finally, unable to hold back, he spat out a word.
"They took back all my abilities. So why him? It's truly bizarre."