She sat at a bolted-down metal table, wearing a faded green detention uniform that swallowed her thin frame. Her brassy blonde hair hung limp over her face. She was aggressively picking at the skin around her thumbnail, a tiny bead of blood pooling there.
I sat down across from her and clicked my pen. The sound echoed harshly.
"Ji-Won," I said, trying to keep my voice steady. "We don't have much time. The prosecutor is pushing for two years."
Her head snapped up. Her eyes were wide, the whites visible all the way around her dark irises. "Two years? For a convenience store? You said I'd get probation!"
"I said we could argue for a suspended sentence if you confessed," I corrected gently. "But you told me you were innocent. You told me you were at the PC cafe."
"I was!" She slammed her palms on the table. "I told you! I didn't do it!"
I stared at her. I wanted to believe the desperate, terrified teenager in front of me. I really did.
Then, the blue panel flared to life.
[Observation Mode Activated]
The system cast a faint, transparent grid over Ji-Won's face. Tiny green numbers began scrolling rapidly next to her features.
[Heart Rate: 115 BPM - Elevated]
[Pupil Dilation: Contracted]
[Micro-expression Detected: Fear / Defensiveness]
"The PC cafe manager said you weren't there," I said, keeping my tone flat.
"He's lying! He hates me because I never buy snacks!"
[Voice Pitch Analysis: +15% strain]
[Lie Probability: 72%]
The text hovered right over her forehead. My breath hitched. The system was analyzing her physiological responses in real-time. It was reading her tells.
"Okay," I said, leaning forward. "Let's say he's lying. Let's look at the police report."
I pulled out the grainy CCTV photo and slid it across the cold metal. "The person in this video is wearing a black, oversized hoodie with a white zipper. The exact same hoodie the police pulled out of your gym locker at school."
Ji-Won scoffed, looking away, her jaw tight. "Half the kids at my school have that hoodie. It's from a cheap brand in Dongdaemun. It proves nothing."
[Micro-expression Detected: Feigned Indifference]
[Lie Probability: 81%]
The numbers were climbing. She was digging a hole, and the system was tracking every shovel full of dirt.
"It proves opportunity," I countered, tapping the photo. "Now let's talk about motive. The register was short exactly five hundred thousand won. Not a random handful of cash. Exactly five hundred thousand."
Ji-Won's tapping foot stopped. The silence in the small room became suffocating.
I pulled out a printed sheet of paper from my briefcase. "The police pulled your phone records, Ji-Won. Two hours before the robbery, your landlord sent you a text. You were two months behind on rent. He said if you didn't have five hundred thousand won by midnight, he was throwing your belongings out onto the street."
She swallowed hard. I watched the muscles in her slender neck work.
[Heart Rate: 138 BPM - Critical]
[Sweat Gland Activation Detected]
[Lie Probability: 94%]
"That... that's a coincidence," she whispered. Her voice was trembling now, all the fiery defiance from yesterday completely extinguished.
"The prosecutor won't see it as a coincidence," I said, my voice dropping to a harsh whisper. "Han Seo-Young is a shark. She will stand in front of that judge, hold up your phone records, hold up the hoodie, and she will bury you. If you go into that courtroom and lie, the judge will punish you for wasting the court's time. You won't get two years. You'll get three."
Ji-Won wrapped her arms around her stomach, curling inward as if I had physically struck her. "You're supposed to be on my side," she choked out, tears finally spilling over her lashes, leaving hot, wet tracks down her pale cheeks.
"I am on your side!" I snapped, the frustration bleeding into my voice. "But I can't defend a ghost! I can't defend a story that doesn't exist! The evidence is a brick wall, Ji-Won, and you are asking me to drive us straight into it!"
I leaned in, resting my arms heavily on the table. The smell of cheap soap from her uniform wafted toward me.
"The system..." I caught myself. "The logic of this case dictates we have zero chance of winning if we plead not guilty. Zero. If you want any chance of walking out of here, I need the truth."
I stared into her eyes. The system panel pulsed a bright, warning red.
[Opponent Weakness Identified: Emotional Exhaustion]
[Press the Advantage? YES / NO]
I mentally selected YES.
"Did you take the money, Ji-Won?" I demanded, my voice cutting like a whip in the small room.
She squeezed her eyes shut. Her shoulders shook violently. A harsh, ragged sob tore its way out of her throat. She pressed the heels of her hands into her eyes, smearing her tears.
The blue panel flashed one final time.
[Truth Probability: 99%]
"Yes," she whispered, the word barely audible over the hum of the fluorescent lights.
She lowered her hands, looking at me with absolute, utter defeat. Her eyes were hollow.
"I took it. I took the money. I did it."
I leaned back in my chair, the metal creaking under my weight. The confession hung in the air, heavy and suffocating. The air conditioner rattled.
I had the truth. She was guilty.
I looked up at the corner of my vision, expecting the system to update. Expecting the probability to change now that we could enter a guilty plea and beg for mercy.
The blue text flickered, then solidified.
[Victory Probability: 0%]