The Mad Prosecutor Picked Up AI - Chapter 109



Only Krnovel

Episode 109: A song that makes me happy

Gong Min-ho returned to the lawyer’s stand feeling wronged, and I headed to the witness stand feeling relieved.

Now we can begin to seriously interrogate, or rather question, Jeong Min-gu.

I explained to Jeong Min-gu, who was looking at me with a nervous expression, what we were going to do from now on.

“There was a minor interruption for a moment, but it didn’t have a big impact on the overall situation. Well then, shall we continue with the witness statement?”

Although he didn’t answer, I continued talking.

“Then let’s start over from the moment we were interrupted earlier. Mr. Jeong Min-gu, shall we start the game now?”

“A game?”

“Don’t be nervous. You know, like speed quizzes? It’s a game where you just have to answer questions right away. You know how to answer.”

“Well, that’s true.”

I was already nervous, but having to do a speed quiz in front of everyone seemed even more unpleasant.

“Please answer the questions I ask without hesitation, without hesitation, without stammering, without thinking, without worrying, just answer without any filter, whatever comes to your mind.”

I asked Jeong Min-gu, who was looking at me with a blank expression.

“Witness, do you understand?”

“Oh, so you’re saying that I should just say whatever comes to mind without thinking?”

“Yes, yes. You know very well.”

“You just have to do as the sword usually says.”

“Yeah… … . Hmm. That’s right. Wow. You’re smart? You have a great understanding.”

I quickly moved on to the next step, fearing that Judge Hong Sang-jin would shout, “No more than that.”

“Shall we practice first? Answer my questions right away.”

“yes.”

“What is your favorite season?”

“autumn.”

“What is your favorite number?”

“1.”

“Okay, okay. That’s all you have to do.”

“But, over there.”

Jeong Min-gu glanced at Gong Min-ho and asked a question.

“What does this have to do with my testimony?”

“Oh, didn’t I explain that? If you answer a question without thinking and just answer with whatever comes to mind, you can’t lie.”

“Is that so?”

“You just start spouting off the truth without even realizing it. For example, hot pink is a real man, or the judge is a jerk… … .”

“test!”

Judge Hong Sang-jin glared at me with a face slightly tinted with hot pink.

“Please only speak about matters related to the trial.”

“Yeah.”

As expected. The old man was right. There’s a lasting effect.

I looked at Jeong Min-gu and took a deep breath like someone about to run.

“Witness, are you ready?”

“yes.”

“I’m going to call out a number now. When you hear that number, just say the first word that comes to mind.”

“yes.”

Jeong Min-gu nodded with a determined face.

[Ready, ground!]

At Aliotta’s signal, I fired a rapid-fire barrage of questions at Jeong Min-gu.

“112.”

“information.”

“114.”

“Oh, phone guidance!”

“119.”

“Fire station!”

At first, he answered in a very nervous voice, but now he seemed completely absorbed, as if he were a contestant on a quiz show solving problems.

My upper body was leaning towards the microphone. I kept calling out the numbers I had prepared without giving myself a moment to rest.

“2424.”

“Moving Center!”

“914!”

“The Leopard of Kilimanjaro!”

“2487!”

“About romance!”

“Oh yeah!”

“… … !”

After I shouted “Oh yeah,” Jeong Min-gu looked surprised. His face gradually turned into one of shock as he realized what had happened.

But the courtroom was filled with silence. Everyone was looking at me, who was excited, and Jeong Min-gu, who was deep in thought. No one knew what was happening.

As I was looking around the courtroom with a pleased expression, Judge Hong Sang-jin met my eyes and called me with his hand. As I approached the judge’s seat, he leaned forward toward me and spoke.

“Prosecutor Do Hyeon-gwang.”

“yes?”

“Oh yeah, no.”

Wow. They’re banning that too?

“No, that’s not a bad thing. It’s just an exclamation.”

“It is forbidden in my court.”

“Ugh.”

If the other person makes a slip of the tongue or I bring up an important testimony, you can shout ‘Oh yeah’. As expected, Gong Min-ho is good at reading people. Old fart.

While I was grumbling to myself, Aliotta took a rolled-up scroll out of her pocket and unfolded it.

The rolled up paper was long enough to reach the floor, and at the top was written, “List of Prohibited Words in Do Hyun-kwang’s Court.”

At the very end of that list were the words that Judge Hong Sang-jin had forbidden me to hear during the morning trial.

– 245. Stubborn (stubborn)

Aliotta took out a really fancy looking quill. Every time Judge Hong Sang-jin added a forbidden word, he would do that. As if he was looking at me.

‘Why are you doing analog work when you’re an AI?’

[Isn’t it cool?]

‘Just for show.’

Undaunted by my mental assault, Aliotta added a stylish note to the very end of the list with her quill.

– 246. Oh yeah (Oh yeah, yeah, and similar exclamations are prohibited.)

Even the ‘nothing’ that Judge Hong Sang-jin did not say.

‘Aren’t you working too hard?’

[You have to organize it like this so that Hyungwang doesn’t forget. If it weren’t for me, you would have been punished for using forbidden words all the time.]

That’s right. Just because there’s a forbidden word doesn’t mean I won’t say it. If that were the case, I’d be a slacker. Words just come out of my mouth without thinking.

But every time I tried to use a forbidden word without realizing it, Aliotta would highlight the word ‘forbidden’ in large red letters in my field of vision.

And that wasn’t all. The siren blared loudly as if a nuclear bomb had been dropped. I couldn’t help but stop talking.

Thanks to that, once a word is designated as a banned word, I never use it in court.

Judge Hong Sang-jin spoke to me as I stood still.

“Then please go and finish the investigation.”

“yes.”

Everyone in the courtroom was looking at me. When I excitedly shouted “Oh yeah” and whispered to the judge after Jeong Min-gu’s mind was half gone, everyone seemed to think there was something more.

I nodded thoughtfully as if I had just discussed something of utmost importance and returned to the witness stand.

The reality is that I was called to the principal’s office and was scolded like a student, but these people don’t need to know that.

“Hmm. Your Honor, what you said makes sense.”

To keep the mood going, I opened my mouth slowly.

“I need to explain it to everyone. It happened so quickly that everyone is confused, right? Something very important has happened, but it seems like not many people have realized it. Let me explain it to you.”

I opened my mouth as I looked around at Judge Hong Sang-jin, Gong Min-ho, and the audience.

“Witness Jeong Min-gu immediately shouted out the image that came to his mind when he heard the number. For example, when you say 119, you mean the fire department. Do you understand up to this point?”

There was no answer from the audience or the lawyers, but I continued my explanation.

“That means that when you hear a number, an image that you are already familiar with comes to mind. Others may be familiar with numbers up to 112 and 119. Most of you probably start to get confused starting from 914. What on earth is 914 that makes you shout ‘The Leopard of Kilimanjaro’? What does 2487 have to do with ‘On Romance’?”

Gong Min-ho’s eyes widened. It seemed like he finally understood. But the rest of us, especially our hot pink manly judge, didn’t seem to understand, so I continued talking.

“This is the number of the karaoke machine. Okay, now you know? When you go to a karaoke and press this number, that song will come out. How does someone who hates singing and doesn’t go to karaoke remember the karaoke machine number?”

“… … .”

“This isn’t the result of someone who has been there once or twice. How many times did you have to sing at a karaoke to memorize all the numbers?”

“Oh, no. I… … .”

“Now we all know. Prosecutor Jeong Min-gu’s number 18, a favorite song at drinking parties, a song that makes me happy when I sing it!”

As I kept pushing him, Jeong Min-gu looked as if he was going to lose his mind. Sweat was pouring down his forehead like rain, and his eyes were shaking anxiously.

“If this is the case, then the claim that the band was sent back because they didn’t like the song is also false. Shouldn’t this be punished not only under the Anti-Bribery Act but also under the crime of perjury?”

When the topic of perjury came up, Jeong Min-gu raised his hand.

“No! That’s not me!”

“What is it not?”

“Well, it’s true that I know the karaoke number, but it’s also true that I don’t like singing.”

“It’s funny even when you say it yourself, right? Because you’re talking nonsense.”

“It’s true. I memorize that number because I want to please my superiors at company dinners and because I want to record their favorite songs.”

“Aha. So you hate singing, but you memorized it to please your superiors who like singing, right?”

“That’s right! Yes! That’s it!”

Jeong Min-gu nodded his head madly as if he was grabbing a rope from the sky.

That may be true to some extent. That’s why I wrote this operation in the first place.

If you work in a company in Korea, you probably don’t avoid going to a karaoke room after a company dinner. You probably know at least a medley of exciting songs to liven up the atmosphere at a karaoke room.

Moreover, aren’t prosecutors a rigid organization? If you’re someone like Jeong Min-gu who wants to hold the line and rise up the ranks, memorizing the karaoke numbers of the songs your superiors like is a given.

Of course, he likes it too. If the person above him likes hiking, he goes to the mountain every weekend, and if he likes fishing, he becomes Jiang Taigong.

Anyway, Jeong Min-gu looked relieved when he saw that I seemed to believe him.

“Oh, I see. Mr. Jeong Min-gu really hates singing, but he really loves singing, and because Manager Kim Jong-hyeok doesn’t think of putting down the microphone at the karaoke, he had no choice but to memorize the karaoke number to please him?”

“uh……?”

“The next witness is Chief Kim Jong-hyuk. I’m really, really curious to know what he has to say.”

Jeong Min-gu, who was smiling happily, shook his eyes. He slowly turned his head to look, and saw Manager Kim Jong-hyeok glaring at him with an attitude as if he was going to kill him.

Poor Jeong Min-gu. He ended up framing Chief Kim Jong-hyeok while trying to get out of the swamp. But is he really that small-minded to continue passing the buck to Kim Jong-hyeok?

“No, that’s not it. It’s not because of Manager Kim… … .”

“So you memorized it because you like the song?”

“Uh… … , that… … , yes.”

“Yay!”

I clenched my fists in excitement.

“Yeah, but then, the other guys didn’t like the song, so the band sent it back.”

Jeong Min-gu tried hard to make excuses. He must be a smart guy. He came up with such excuses in such a short amount of time.

[You must have taken the test because you’re smart.]

‘Anyway. Those guys called prosecutors are all just going in the wrong direction.’

While admitting that he liked the song, he continued to push the claim that he saved Kim Jong-hyuk and sent the band back.

‘But the atmosphere is good. If we keep defeating them one by one, we can take down the other side’s argument, right?’

Jeong Min-gu, who had wasted all his energy racking his brain, was out of his mind, like a shell of a person.

“I am concluding the witness examination. Mr. Jeong Min-gu, you may leave.”

Jeong Min-gu got up and walked in like a zombie.

“The next witness is… … .”

“Prosecutor Do Hyeon-gwang.”

After sending Jeong Min-gu in, I was about to request the next witness when Judge Hong Sang-jin called me.

What’s going on?

As he approached the bench, Judge Hong Sang-jin covered the microphone and raised one eyebrow as he asked.

“Do you know why I called you?”

“No. I don’t know.”

“No way.”

“Oh! Did you call me by any chance to compliment me on my good work?”

Hmm. There’s a vein growing on his forehead again. Does Judge Hong Sang-jin have unusually thick veins?

I think this is the first time I’ve seen Judge Hong Sang-jin in real life, other than in a cartoon or animation. The way he suddenly got a tendon on his forehead while talking. I don’t think I’ve ever seen it in other people.

While I was blankly staring at the tendon, Judge Hong Sang-jin spoke.

“Oh no, no.”