In the original storyline, on this ordinary morning, a heinous crime that shocked the entire nation occurred.
—On her way to school, eight-year-old So-won kindly held an umbrella for an elderly man who was getting wet in the rain, but was kidnapped and sexually assaulted by a drunk man in his fifties named Cho Doo-soon.
Faced with a strong, adult man, the little girl had no chance to resist. The perverted Cho Doo-soon tortured So-won in all sorts of inhumane ways.
When the little girl, covered in wounds and barely alive, was found, she had almost stopped breathing.
After being taken to the hospital and examining So-won's body, every doctor present was filled with grief and indignation, their eyes reddening.
The child's lower body organs have suffered irreversible and severe damage and are completely destroyed.
His tiny body was covered in blood, with a section of his intestines spilling out. He was practically a bloody mess.
It took eight hours of continuous emergency treatment in the emergency room to save So-won's life, but the price paid was extremely tragic.
In order to save So-won's life, doctors had no choice but to remove her uterus and part of her intestines, and also made her an artificial anus.
In other words, this eight-year-old girl not only lost her fertility and will have to use an artificial anus for the rest of her life, but also has to carry a colostomy bag with her at all times.
At eight years old, a time when one should be innocent and naive, being gently cared for by the whole world, she suffered such cruel harm before her life had even begun.
What's even more heartbreaking is that this is only physical harm.
Physical wounds will eventually heal, but what about psychological ones?
When So-won's parents arrived at the hospital after receiving the news, they broke down upon seeing their daughter's horrific condition.
After learning what had happened to his daughter, So-won's father almost went crazy, and So-won's pregnant mother nearly miscarried.
They couldn't believe that their daughter, who had been so playful and lively that morning, had become like this in less than half a day.
Why is it them, So-won?
So-won survived the dangerous surgery, but the damage continues.
After regaining consciousness, she not only had to endure the torment of illness and the shadow of victimhood, but also needed to personally confirm the killer's appearance in order to catch the criminal as soon as possible.
This is undoubtedly a secondary injury.
As So-won lay in her hospital bed, an elderly policeman took out a piece of cardboard with more than a dozen photos of people pasted on it.
The veteran policeman leaned slightly forward, trying to conceal the ruthlessness he usually displayed when outsmarting criminals, and put on his most amiable smile. He held the photo up to the little girl lying on the bed and asked gently:
"Hope, tell the police officer, which one of these people is the bad guy?"
So-won had gauze on one eye, and the only eye she could open was swollen and bruised. Her small face was covered with shocking scars.
When a tall, unfamiliar man approached her, So-won initially flinched in fear, but then realized that he was a police officer and not a bad guy, so she cooperated and tried her best to identify the photo.
She immediately recognized the demon who had hurt her from among the dozen or so photos.
With her tiny fingers wrapped in gauze, she pointed to one of the photos without hesitation. So-won barely dared to look at the face in the photo, glancing at it only once before looking away.
"Are you sure it's him?" the old policeman asked.
So-won nodded slowly.
Fearing the child might mistake him for someone else, the veteran policeman mixed Cho Doo-soon's photo among other pictures and checked it several times. Each time, So-won was able to accurately recognize him among the pile of photos.
The old policeman put away the photos and smiled at So-won: "Good girl, so smart. Be a good girl and take your medicine. Our So-won will get better soon."
Based on So-won's identification, Cho Doo-soon was quickly arrested.
It turns out this man was a repeat offender. Before this, he had committed more than a dozen crimes. He had been imprisoned for two years for rape and then sentenced to three years for intentional homicide after his release.
With over a dozen prior convictions, over a dozen investigations, and frequent trips in and out of prison, Cho Doo-soon was already familiar with interrogation tactics and was not afraid of interrogations or investigations at all.
Instead, he always found ways to exploit legal loopholes to reduce his sentence, and he never showed any remorse in the dozen or so cases he committed.
This time is no exception.
In the interrogation room, Cho Doo-soon looked completely innocent, even somewhat naive.
"How could I have done such a terrible thing? I swear, I didn't do anything, or may I die a horrible death."
In fact, the police already had evidence before arresting him.
Although the scene had been cleaned up and was almost entirely covered in So-won's blood, the police still managed to find his fingerprints by sifting through every inch of the area.
Furthermore, blood-stained clothing was found in his home, and after testing, it was confirmed to be So-won's blood.
Faced with overwhelming evidence and unable to refute it, Cho Doo-soon began to deny that he was drunk and that he made the mistake while intoxicated and out of his mind.
"Did I really do it? If I did, then I deserve to die, but I really don't remember doing it. I can't remember anything because I was drunk and not thinking clearly."
He skillfully used the excuse of being drunk to absolve himself.
It sounds funny, but is it useful?
It actually works like a madman!
Because the laws of country H clearly stipulate that if a criminal commits a crime while intoxicated and unconscious, due to the uncontrollable nature of their behavior, they can be granted a reduced sentence, just like criminals with mental illness.
In short, drunkenness equals mental illness.
If it can be verified that he was intoxicated at the time of the crime, he might actually receive a lighter sentence.
Cho Doo-soon had used this trick to successfully escape punishment many times before, but it clearly wouldn't work this time.
The veteran police officer's sharp gaze was fixed on Cho Doo-soon: "You're lying. If you really weren't conscious, how could you have cleaned up the crime scene after committing the crime and then abused the victim a second time?"
The police officer said, enunciating each word clearly, "You are perfectly sober. This time, you won't escape punishment."
The case was so horrific, and the victim was a young girl, that it quickly sparked outrage across the country, with calls for the perpetrator to be severely punished.
It's a foregone conclusion that Cho Doo-soon will be tried. So-won's physical health is slowly recovering, but her psychological trauma is getting worse.
The ever-present reporter ignored all attempts to stop him and barged into the ward to interview her, his words piercing So-won's wounded little heart like knives.
One of the most disgusting questions is: Why would you hold an umbrella for a complete stranger?
The implication is that if you hadn't gone to all that trouble, none of what happened later would have occurred.
In So-won's heart, there was a question that frightened her.
—Was it because she did something wrong that she suffered those harms?
The reporter's words provoked her, and So-won screamed.
So-won's mother cried and pleaded, "Please don't do this to my daughter. She's only eight years old and has just experienced something terrible. Please, please let her go."
Nobody listened to her.
She broke down and screamed, "Don't any of you have children?"
Several reporters put down their microphones, but many more continued to frantically push them forward, prompting doctors and nurses to rush over to condemn and stop them.
With the help of the crowd, the furious father of So-won pushed aside the reporters, picked up his daughter, and ran down the hospital corridor.
So-won leaned on her father's shoulder, looking at the reporters chasing her like zombies, her eyes filled with helplessness and fear.
After carrying the child to an empty hospital room and locking the door, So-won's father finally placed her on the bed.
As soon as So-won lay down, she felt a wet patch beneath her, with yellow stains spreading and staining her clothes and sheets.
The little girl, who loved beauty and cleanliness, burst into tears again, completely at a loss: "It's dirty, it's dirty..."
So-won's father had red eyes and felt heartbroken. He grabbed a towel and wiped So-won's face.
"It's okay, Daddy will clean it for you. It'll be fine once it's clean. It's not dirty, So-won isn't dirty..."
"It's dirty, it's dirty, I can't clean it..."
The little girl's cries echoed in the hospital, bringing tears to the eyes of everyone who heard them.
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